First, there are all kinds of players. Some of the best I've played with are guys who sound like truck stop good ol' boys. Sometimes I play with kids. Sometimes, with guys who are actually in the military. It's very rare that I encounter another woman, but that has happened, and I totally respect young women today who play these games, kick ass, and have no shame in playing a boy sport.
I am a woman. I have a female avatar - though to be fair, it's hard to denote gender in 26th-century battle armor. One guy complained that it freaked him out to hear a girl's death rattle when he assassinated me in combat. Others have blithely noted that my helmet looks gay. I don't know what to make of that, do they mean effeminate, or butch? FWIW it's the Air Assault helmet with some kind of extra communications bump above the visor.
In Halo, there are all kinds of games; my favorites are crazy kind and headhunter. Crazy king is king of the hill, only the hill is an arbitrary circle that changes locations randomly. In headhunter, every time someone dies, they drop a skull, and all the skulls they were carrying. You win by dropping skulls in a goal zone similar to crazy king, in that it changes locations.
I like team games. I do alright on my own, but team game even up the odds a bit. On a good day, I'll encounter people who know how to play as a team. most of the time it's just a bunch of individuals out for themselves. Team play is the best because when you coordinate action, you can achieve real results. In capture the flag, for example, one guy carries the flag while the others cover. If the flagman goes down, someone else picks it up and everyone else continues to cover.
Lately I've been playing some other variants. I like Team Sniper, though I don't do particularly well. The key of course is to hide and countersnipe the enemy. This is difficult in bright, blazing red battle armor. I tend to hide in caves and aim at ledges, but occasionally I will hop on an ATV and blaze across the field, hoping to draw enemy fire and kill them when I return from the grave.
Another game is called Juggernaut. In this game, one play has a powerful warhammer and can take a lot of damage. The other plays try to take down this Juggernaut. When that happens, someone else becomes the juggernaut. Winner is the player who lasts the longest as Juggernaut. I'm two for three.
In yet another game, the goal is to hold on to a ball. When you hold the ball, you cannot run or shoot, but you can kill another player with a single punch. I have a film where I won; Basically, I took possession and hid in what appears to be a locker room. Every time someone came around the corner, I punched them. It's pretty funny to watch.
I worry about my language sometimes. I can get really involved, in a way I don't with anything else. Have you seen guys at sports bars? I can get like that when I'm neck and neck for the lead. But I don't trash talk, and I don't say mean things about other players. I just curse and grumble. There are people online who say much worse things, who casually call people niggers and fags and . . .I usually bail and find other people to play with when the round is over. Plus, don't feel too bad about my language.
That said, it's weird to have kids around. I used to work in a school, and it's hard to have that adult-child distance when they're not right in front of me, and also when I'm inherently engaging in an adolescent pasttime. Plus, they kick my ass.
It is good, though, to find a group to groove with. No matter what, I much prefer to play with people who talk. It's nice to say "I saw that!". it's nice to have the back and forth and cheering on and consolation. Some games, no one talks. It's creepy.
So that's my online playing experience.
