In Defense of Honorable Players
To preface this, I am not trying to encourage an honorable play style, and I’m not trying to diss anyone. I am simply here to explain and define a particular point of view, so that some semblance of understanding can be reached.
I want to serve as a face and voice for people who simply are not listened to. My final goal is to hopefully foster a certain amount of sympathy or understanding for honorable players.
The following article is meant ONLY to explain what the “honorable player perspective” is- NOT to argue a point or try to convince people to do anything.
Hatred is born trough ignorance. Victory-obsessed numptys are, most likely, convinced that honorable players are simply immature children who lack skill and only winge about honor when they lose. but who seem to have no problem with using underhanded tactics themselves.
I see people constantly ridiculing others when they pontificate about honorable conduct. Now, there are two types of "honorable players" in my experience. The type that only use honor as an excuse when it suits them (I.E: crying about being thrown over a ledge), and the type who are actually quite serious and whom don't make excuses for themselves.
The former can go fu`ck itself- the latter is, in my opinion, is rather admirable.
Allow me to explain.
In most mature, and clear-headed circles, throwing someone off a ledge is not dishonorable. THAT IS a matter of skill.
However: ganking someone is NOT honorable.
Allow me to explain the logic behind this.
For example, in a 2v2 match, both players in each team are set in front of a single opponent. In the mind of an honorable player, it only follows that you would FACE said opponent, and focus on beating them. However, those who can't be bothered to think about Honor will gleefully sprint across the map in order to gank a single enemy with the help of their teammate.
The reason why people with honor see this as "dishonorable" is because they (and I) believe that doing so is a silent admittance of one's own lack of confidence. If your first instinct is to team up on someone, rather than simply fight one person, and THEN fight the next (should your teammate fall), it only makes sense in the eyes of an honorable player that ganking must be an indication of the Ganker's own cowardice, laziness, and lack of confidence in their ability to fight 1v1.
It's an admittance of fear and of general sliminess.
You may be asking "why play Brawl, then?". Because, the addition of a teammate and another enemy adds to the TENSION. You see, honorable players are the kinds of players who enjoy the thrill of a good fight, and the suspense of a nail-bitingly unpredictable punch-up. In Brawl, if you fight your opponent, beat them, and find that your teammate failed, it adds to the thrill of moment- your health is already reduced, and it pushes you to fight all the harder.
Ganking, however, offers no such excitement. It makes the outcome UTTERLY predictable.
And if you try to “help” an honorable player in this situation and gank the remaining enemy, an honorable player will probably back off and refuse to assist you. You know why? Because they take your “help” as an insult. They see it as an insinuation that you think they need your help. They see it as a show of arrogance and lack of respect for skill and ability to win on their own merits.
Now, onto why honorable players themselves refuse to gank other people...
Ganking makes honorable players (REAL honorable players) feel guilty. It leaves a bad taste in their mouth, and they simply can't take themselves seriously by doing it. When an honorable player ganks, they often look at what they are doing and feel absolutely NO satisfaction. There's no THRILL or CATHARSIS to be had in unfairly wrecking the absolute shi`te out of someone. You see, an honorable player, is the kind of player who simply doesn't like "winning" a match, if that victory came through means that were less than impressive. Ganking someone is not impressive. Ganking someone is not something you can have pride in- not for those with honor, at least.
The "win" at the end of the game, isn't the highlight of the game for them. Simply HANDING on honorable player a victory through ganking gives them NO satisfaction and no joy. It makes them become overwhelmingly aware of the fact that they DID NOT win the game by their own merits. It feels like you're about to start race, but then the umpire just walks up to you before even firing the starting pistol, gives you the trophy, and says "good job".
To an honorable player, ganking is a sign of a lack of skill and a lack of integrity. A lack of a will to improve. A lack of confidence. Simply winning for the sake of winning IS NOT why they spent 60 dollars on the game. It's the same kind of logic used by fighting-game players- they constantly improve themselves, and seek improvement.
Ganking offers no room FOR improvement. What it does is give you a crutch. And it is a crutch that most honorable players simply refuse to take, because they want to prove that their leg ISN'T broken. They want to prove that they are NOT crippled, and that they don't NEED help.
Of course, you might be convinced to think that getting ganked would make things more exciting for them. It doesn't. Getting ganked is NEVER fun. It gives honorable players the impression that the people who are ganking them have no skill, and it makes them feel as though they've been denied a decent fight.
And, again, you may think that Duels are where most honorable players find their homes. Well, Duels get very boring, very quickly. Dominion is fun as fu`ck, man. As is Elimination.
You might read this and say that honorable players just want something to brag about. That they're egotists, and that they shouldn't play multiplayer if they want to be masochistic Dark-Souls-nuts.
That may be true...
But you can be damn sure that they aren't going to do that.
As evidence that there are people who agree with this state of being, I shall present the words of what one forum-inhabiter had to say in response to this very article…
XImohtephXX:
Very well put and I'm happy to see someone make the distinction. I find far to many people either immediately throw insults and hypotheticals at any mention of honor and others see it as a foreign concept. SO I think this could very well be a great insight to the mindset of those that practice what they preach. But the biggest shame I've seen in this community is all the backlash regarding honor has for the most part secluded this group (one I very much consider myself apart of) to the mode Duel. I see this daily when after multiple attempts to educate or provide understanding is met with disdain and ignorance and I find myself once again in Duel to save myself the aggravation. It is my heartfelt desire to see more of this type content and more of this community to become more vocal against the toxicity and complacency that has gradually taken root. For people to appreciate the feeling that comes from meeting your opponent and refusing to underestimate or discredit before the first blows have even landed. To see that individual as an equal but also an obstacle. A lesson and test all at once.
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