Mind Your Wi-Fi Manners

One of the greatest features of recent Nintendo systems is the ability to play other non-computer people around the world in a "safe" and "fun" environment, but unfortunately there is a problem which can't easily be cured. Quitters, cheaters, and more quitters. With those problems, safe and fun are exactly what Wi-Fi gaming isn't. I'm sure if you have played Wi-Fi once or twice and were beating someone else, they left. Not only that, but some people think it's okay to use cheat devices during Wi-Fi battles! Heck, Pokemon Battle Revolution is practically run on it!

If you're one of those people who quits so their loss doesn't show up on their record (I'm sorry to hear that), you'll probably say, "Oh, it's just a game." Sure it is, but that doesn't mean you have to quit, because like you quitters, we like to display our wins too. If everyone quit when they lost, quitters wouldn't have any wins either, SO STOP, you only make enemies by turning the game off.

This argument is especially geared toward Zelda: Phantom Hourglass multiplayer. Every once in a while I see someone called "Undefeated" or something along those lines with 0 losses. I turn the game off immediately because I'm not playing with a quitter when I can get someone honest. I've seen an interesting cheat on this one as well. Someone used a cheat to walk through the air vents... too bad I beat them anyways.

Animal Crossing is a whole different story. Some people think it is funny to chop down all your trees and steal all your bells and valuables. To counter that we have to turn the game off and listen to the talking mole for 20 minutes... Luckily you can filter whose town you go to so it isn't a big problem.

Games like Mario Kart aren't as bad either because there usually more than 2 people playing, so if one quits it doesn't matter. I believe that this quitting problem is partly the game designers fault for not giving an automatic loss to whomever quits, but I guess they thought that maybe their power went out (which is a lame excuse). Mario Kart is one of the worst cheating games however... people put infinite mushrooms on or something because there is no way the people with stars next to their name can go that fast.

Regarding hackers. I think Nintendo needs to do something about this one; at least with quitting you don't need to buy a device to do it. Some people want to play Wi-Fi, but can't because they have to sift through so many cheaters (and even more quitters). This causes us to be forced to battle with friend codes, but what if you don't know anyone that has the game? Unfortunately I've heard that Nintendo refuses to even believe that hackers exist in the Wi-Fi environment... sad, but true.

I was thinking of ways to stop quitters and came up with this idea: Wi-Fi Manners. Now obviously nothing I do can stop all quitters and cheaters, but I wanted to create some form of empathy for people that can take winning AND losing. Wi-Fi Manners is kind of like a code that basically says that you will not quit or cheat. It is just like table manners. No one (unless it is your parents) is going to force you practice them, but people will like you a whole lot better if you do use your manners.

Following Wi-Fi Manners isn't hard, you may do it already. Wi-Fi Manners is supposed to keep me and all you honest people from thinking the world is overrun by quitters and cheaters. As I said above, it may also get cheaters/quitters to change their ways (I wish). You can sign the Wi-Fi Manners page showing your support and follow it and even add a banner in your signature on a forum. Sites can also put up some acknowledgement that they support Wi-Fi Manners, but make sure you put a link here so we can get more people to use their manners. Thank you for reading my rant, now go add your signature!

Rant by Kinopio