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Can Counter-Strike Players Be Summed Up By Nation?
Thanks to GotFrag for its article discussing whether players from different countries are good at different aspects of online FPS Counter-Strike. The writer tries to claim: "Some countries, most of which are the leading ones in Counter-Strike, have certain specialities. This often means that the players in this country will have a 'special touch' in this area." Among the supposed conclusions are that Americans excel at "shooting [and] logistics", whereas Germans are best at "thinking [and] teamwork", and the French come off best when using "reflexes". How seriously can we take such broad conclusions?
are probably best at playing too much and dying.
Remember, there were no nuclear weapons before women were allowed to vote.
Somehow I don't think that the location of a human being on the Earth inherently determines their specialty in Counter-Strike. Infact it's a ridiculous concept that suggests humans of a different nationality are fundmanetally different than that of another nationality.
The author needs to think about the generalizations he's making and realize that they're just that, generalizations.
Similar studies into cultural differences have been undertaken by, for example, Geert Hofstede et al. He identifies 5 dimensions by which cultures may differ. For instance some countries, like the US, score high on the individualistic scale, while countries like Germany or China score higher on the collectivist scale. Power distance indicates the need, or lack of, for structure in an organisational context. Cultures with high Uncertainty Avoidance will be take less risk and vice versa, etc, etc. Anyway... his summary explains it way better than I ever could. A country-by-country-chart can be found here.
In conclusion, according to this study, yes, where you are from may affect your fragging-routines, i.e. "storm the front" or "camp and defend". But it will certainly not be the only factor affecting performance!
It is likely the case that certain countries have a "special touch" in a video game, however the cause is likely not attributable to the country itself. Some of the commonly assumed attributes of countries have very little correlation to what would normally be assumed about the country.
I suspect that it is the way certain people play in a country that spreads the "special touch." I am an avid gamer, and have found myself playing in a certain style because all my peers play in a similar fashion, and they seem to be effective players. Thus, the "special touch" is caused by how effective the player's peer's style's of gaming are.
This is all very obvious. It just comes down to years of social engineering.
Americans excel at "shooting [and] logistics"
Years of gang warfare, drive-by murders and shooting to get the 'bling-bling' has provided Americans with unbeatable markmanship skills.
whereas Germans are best at "thinking [and] teamwork"
After the 2 World Wars, and having their Army, Navy, and Air Force taken away from them, the Germans have had to fall back on brains instead of guns. They regularly get together and team up for some beer and to try to take over the world again, only to pass out drunk.
the French come off best when using "reflexes".
These reflexes have been perfected through years of running away quickly and surrendering.
(All above comments made in jest, for those with a broken humour detector)
"Get out of the house, make some RL friends and stop wasting your time in front of a silly computer. You will be far happier and much healthier."
/.?
This comming from someone trolling on
Maybe you should just take your own advice.
I think this study has some signifigance, and I'll illustrate to you all why:
I attended a university with a lot of foreign students in the mid-90's. I play soccer. I played soccer at this university on the intramural teams. My team was comprised primarily of Americans. Because of the large population of foreign nationals at our school, there were teams made up almost entirely of the following nationalities: south african, mideastern/middle african, korean, japanese/chinese, mexican, south american, etc. I have played soccer since I was 5, and I can tell you for certain that each of these teams had a distinct playing style. The south africans were all about speed, but weren't as concerned about ball control - pass and run, the mideasterners had AWESOME ball control and passed ok, but didn't have a lot of speed (or didn't concentrate on that aspect - some of them were fast when they wanted to be), my team was of course a little more individualistic and generic in our play style, mexicans were very physical (not hacks, but in your face physical), and the differences continued.
Despite how much you think we're all exactly the same, our cultures and societies we grow up in do influence our lives a great deal, and do tend to show up in sports. While CS isn't the most grueling sport to play, it is none-the-less a team "sport" activity, and I think the differences in nationality do affect a team's playing style, strengths, and weaknesses. Just watch the World Cup sometime - you'll see what I'm talking about pretty quickly.