The Silver Snipers

December 25, 2017 12:01 PM

You're probably not old enough to join (but I am).
posted by MovableBookLady (15 comments total)

I feel quite strongly that as my generation ages, we'll be able to maintain rich social lives in large part due to connectivity and multiplayer gaming options, even if our mobility is limited; at the very least, if I end up in a nursing home I'd like it to be one where everyone has a console, a headset, and the ability to play games with each other and chat (even if not playing) throughout the day.
posted by davejay at 12:38 PM on December 25, 2017 [15 favorites]

So, this is something I would have to be old AND own CounterStrike to appreciate?

Also, GET YER WALKERS OFF'N MY LAWN! MAKES HOLES IN THE GRASS!
posted by Samizdata at 12:41 PM on December 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

I had to retire before I had enough time to invest in nethack to begin ascending. It was something I had always promised myself I would do. Not exactly quick-twitch, high-def team combat but a nice mental (and sometimes emotional) workout nonetheless...
posted by jim in austin at 12:54 PM on December 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

I love that they're not only an e-sports team where everyone's over 60 but they're also an e-sports team where 2/5 of the members are women. I don't know if that's as totally unheard of in Counter-Strike as it is in MOBAs, but it still strikes me as pretty remarkable.
posted by tobascodagama at 1:03 PM on December 25, 2017

As the baby of the group, Idenfors decided to go by “Teen Slayer.

That monicker works on more than one level and is just so hilariously, wickedly dark. I want to meet her, that sense of humor is right up my ally.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 1:38 PM on December 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

Speaking of old people and shooting, is there a MeFi guild in Destiny 2?
posted by Samizdata at 1:50 PM on December 25, 2017

In fifty years there's going to be e-sports teams in every nursing home in the country.
posted by Query at 2:25 PM on December 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

> Query:
"In fifty years there's going to be e-sports teams in every nursing home in the country."

Think about, for example, combining that with the work they have done with virtual racers in Nascar...
posted by Samizdata at 2:42 PM on December 25, 2017

> los pantalones del muerte:
"As the baby of the group, Idenfors decided to go by “Teen Slayer.

That monicker works on more than one level and is just so hilariously, wickedly dark. I want to meet her, that sense of humor is right up my ally."

I want to hang with all of them. It would be cool, methinks.
posted by Samizdata at 2:42 PM on December 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

When they lose they call the other team things like "milksop poltroon" and "a white-livered slinksby".
posted by glonous keming at 3:17 PM on December 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

My father is now 80 and in fairly poor health. He's isolated both because he's not amazingly mobile and also because he's ashamed of it. One thing that has consistently frustrated the shit out of me is his absolute resistance to anything technological at all. He refuses offers of laptops, Ipads, all of it. He sticks to network TV, books and his paper. I'm so *angry* that he insists on remaining stuck and imprisoned inside what he's comfortable with and so resistant to even attempting to learn any of that stuff. I don't much care if he's playing multiplayer games online or not, but as mentioned above, his life is obviously richer in loneliness and isolation because of his reticence.
posted by nevercalm at 3:45 PM on December 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

> nevercalm:
"My father is now 80 and in fairly poor health. He's isolated both because he's not amazingly mobile and also because he's ashamed of it. One thing that has consistently frustrated the shit out of me is his absolute resistance to anything technological at all. He refuses offers of laptops, Ipads, all of it. He sticks to network TV, books and his paper. I'm so *angry* that he insists on remaining stuck and imprisoned inside what he's comfortable with and so resistant to even attempting to learn any of that stuff. I don't much care if he's playing multiplayer games online or not, but as mentioned above, his life is obviously richer in loneliness and isolation because of his reticence."

No, but it is comprehensible and well understood, as he sees it.

(My life is all the richer for being online. Prolly my best friend in the world and I have known each other for over 20 years and the closest we have been is Skype...)
posted by Samizdata at 9:00 PM on December 25, 2017

(Also, as per the old jokes, I am 50.)
posted by Samizdata at 9:01 PM on December 25, 2017

My father-in-law is still too young to join this team, but in his retirement he's taken up gaming. He's built computers in the past (he built us a new media PC because he was bored ;)) and he still has his woodworking, but he built a new computer and got a gaming-specific mouse, after talking to my brother-in-laws about the games and systems they have, and watching YouTubers who have gaming systems. He's more of a solo player, but I'll be sending this too him.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:34 AM on December 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm an old, and I'm a pretty avid long time gamer online, like from the Lord British era. I still play WoW, if anyone happens to play on blackhand or its sister server. I used to be world ranked in PvP, and they retired my title when the expansions changed how ranks worked, which is kinda cool. But, arthritis has gotten so bad that I'm nowhere twitchy enough to still do PvP, but I still love doing world events and just exploring around trying not to die. I like having a world of people to play and talk with. FPS like counterstrike hold no interest for me, but I think the silver snipers are awesome.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 11:09 AM on December 26, 2017