Changing Game Rules and Technical Limits

Playing with a game's technical features also marks the development of creative responses to the rules created by the developer. There are many examples of players and server administrators altering the features of the game to change the way the game is played (for example, altering gravity). Playing is not simply mindless movement through a virtual landscape, but rather movement with a reflexive awareness of the game's features and their possible modifications.

In Counter-Strike, "live" players can chat with each other through a general chat function that is available to all players, and a team chat function that is only available to your own team. However, when a player dies, he or she can only chat with other "dead" players of either team and not with those still in the game. The other feature is the ability to jump from one player's perspective to another, including that of the opposing team when one is "dead." This allows the "dead" player to follow the game play. Even if one can see an ambush of their own team member in the making they cannot chat with any "live" members to warn them. However, a technical feature, that of calling for votes on which maps to play, can be read by all players regardless of whether or not they are dead or alive. This feature was used creatively in the following example to get around the limitations placed on normal chats.

Playing on one of Counter-Strike's favorite maps, "Dust," Digger, as terrorist, complained about the opposing team using their long-range sniper rifles (AWPs) to kill his/her team members. And both teams complained of both sides "camping out" and waiting for their opponents to show themselves. Digger complains to ALPHA, a teammate, that there is a "sniper in tunnels" after being killed. ALPHA who is also "dead" responded with a warning for next time, "don't go tunnel if there gonna dothat." Their teammate, Legend, responds with, "try the other way around." Two games later on the same map the same pattern of snipping returns. VonTune, playing terrorist, warns his other team members not to "rush the bridge…" and ALPHA chimes in with, "or the tunnel they are sittin and waiting."

At this point the counter-terrorists (CTs) have an edge with sniping, but begin losing. Then, ALPHA kills three CTs in a row, while Chaotic kills two other CTs leaving Tom, the remaining CT, to take on three terrorists. At this point, a fellow CT member who is "dead," DeadEar, uses the vote command to place the following vote, "vote Tom Tunnel." The server issues an automatic response, "Sorry, DeadEar, Tom Tunnel was not found on this server." Even though DeadEar cannot talk directly to Tom because he is dead, he can communicate using the vote command to inform Tom where the remaining terrorists are located. DearEar, again, issues a vote command, "vote UNDER TUNNEL TOM." The server responds automatically, "Sorry, DeadEar, UNDER TUNNEL TOM was not found on this server." Tom then thanks DeadEar with, "rgr, thanks."

The dead have found a way of communicating with the living. This creative subversion of game rules occurs consistently in the many debates over "cheating" within the game. While using cheat codes, scripts or hacks occurs on many servers, what constitutes cheating is more of a problem since players seem to differ as to what constitutes a cheat and what does not. What is consistent is the bending of conventional game rules, as we have seen in this example, which can easily be viewed as a creative innovation within the game.

Popular Culture Uses and References

The last example of creative player action is the conscious incorporation of popular culture references and names into the game. Many of the examples used from Homer Simpson's "doh!" on the television show, The Simpsons, to the movie, The Princess Bride, where one player employed the statement, "My name is Chiquita Banana. You killed my father, prepare to die" reflect an ironic use of pop cultural forms, spinning them and giving them new meanings within the playing of Counter-Strike. Nothing is more impressive to the outside observer than the way Counter-Strike players creatively re-fashion the resources of popular culture for their own expressive discourse purposes.

One of the best examples we found of the use of popular culture references was the following interchange that drew from the animated comedy television show South Park. In South Park one of the characters Kenny is almost always killed off within the show, prompting such statements as, "Oh, my god, they killed Kenny." In this case "Kenny," a player with a history of "weak" performance in the game, is one of the last remaining players on the terrorist team.

In the "final" scene Kenny's dilemma of going it alone against most of the opposing team members elicits the following interchange from his "dead" team members. Staying in one spot, or "camping" secures a kill for Kenny, prompting a response from the opposing counter-terrorist team by Big D, "r Kenny is a bitch." And a defensive reply from Face, on the terrorist team, "they're supposed to camp." (Camping is considered legitimate if one is guarding the bomb that has been planted by teammates). Even though all the other terrorists are "dead" Petrol, congratulates Kenny, with "good work Kenny," followed by "dead" Clover's, "ya Kenny." Then a counter-terrorist, The_Master, kills Kenny. Lane, one of Kenny's "dead" team member responds, "brave Kenny," followed by Clover's, "good Kenny." And finely Face says, "OMG they killed Kenny." Petrol, responds, "valient Kenny" followed by Lane's, "dead Kenny." Clover, issues a supportive comment, "taken on the hole team like that," and then finally calls out, "keeennnnny."

What is interesting about this example, aside from the obvious pop culture reference is the way it is used to support a weak player in the game. We saw many examples, not only of talk designed to degrade an opponent ("trash talking"), but also many supportive comments from fellow team members