I started playing video games a year ago. I'm a mom of a 12-yr old boy, who loves fortnite (I do not), and he wanted me to learn how to play. He also wanted me to change my view of video games. I was pretty strict and definitely had the wrong idea about first person shooter games. My boyfriend then sent me a link to a Ted Talk given by a Scientist of Neurology- that drastically changed my opinion. She talked about many different studies, which showed a multitude of benefits ranging from improved memory to increased capacity for multi-tasking. And these benefits were long lasting. I posted the link above if anyone is interested in watching. So, I decided to take an interest in what my son is interested in, as a way to connect with him. When I started playing, I was absolutely horrible. My only experience playing video games was Ms. Pacman and Galaga at the pizza parlors growing up. I never had a Nintendo or Playstation, and I only used computers for college and then later photography and graphics design. The dual stick controller was a foreign concept to me. I was so bad, I would literally get stuck in corners. My aim, or should I say complete lack of, would make my kid dizzy watching me. It was pretty painful to watch. I was happy when I got one kill in a game. I'm pretty competitive by nature, and don't like sucking at things. I came close to giving up, thinking I was never going to get any better. Since that's just not who I am, I stuck with it. I died, ALOT. Some matches in BO3, I would get 0 kills and be killed 30+ times. It wasn't much fun, because who likes being shot that much? Luckily, a couple gamers felt really sorry for me, and took me under their wing. I started playing regularly with them, and I listened and did what they told me to. Slowly, I began to get more kills, and was dying way less. And I was having fun. They are a great bunch of guys, who can be sweaty, but they are fun to play with. They didn't care if I sucked, and they never talked trash or were mean if I messed up in Control or Domination. Even if my deaths were the reason we lost. Four months ago, I started playing Destiny 2. Only because they were playing it all the time and rarely on BO4. It was pretty overwhelming at first, and very challenging. I had finally gotten to a point in BO4, where I was mostly positive, and knew the maps. In the beginning, I died ALOT in the campaign. I had trouble getting to the farm lol. Jumping was most definitely the most challenging. I can't tell you how many times I've fallen to my death. But again, I had really patient people who stood there and watched me try to make a jump 30 or 40 times. It was absolutely maddening, but like I said, I don't give up. I have managed to level up 2 characters to 750, have successfully completed Leviathan 5 times, and have cleared EOW, CoS and Last Wish one time. I have greatly improved my jumping, tho I still have many misadventures. Which I now laugh about. And I have to say that in PvE, I've only come across one a******, who actually yelled at me in Calus, even tho I was doing what I needed to. I'm pretty thick skinned, and told him where to go, and was not bothered by it. PvP, on the other hand, I've come across sooooo many toxic and rude people. From Gambit matches to Crucible, I've had people send me messages talking trash about how bad I suck, ranging from sarcastic to just down right nasty. I get it, people do not like losing. I don't either. But, I have never thought to send some hate filled message to the weakest person in the game, because believe it or not, it's not always me. I've become fairly decent at Gambit, and managed to get the Malfeseance. So while I'm not by any means what I would come consider good yet, I am constantly learning and improving. And usually enjoying my time playing, until some jerk decides to send me hate mail. I have received 4 messages in one day. At the end of the day people, this is a VIDEO GAME. If you can't remember that and keep things in perspective, then get off the game. I don't care HOW bad someone does, it's never a reason to be rude or mean to them. Here's a thought - how about using the 5 minutes it takes to write the message to offer help instead. Most of us that suck want to get better. We just might not know how to improve. We are all playing, I think, because we enjoy playing the game. Video games have given me a common bond with my son, improved my relationship with him, given my boyfriend and I another shared interest. I've met so many great people (well not met exactly) online, and had a lot of fun. Until PvP in Destiny. And that's unfortunate, because I like the challenge of PvP. People in PvP: QUIT BEING SO TOXIC. IT'S NOT A GOOD WAY TO BE, AND YOU NEED TO FIND OTHER WAYS TO EXPRESS YOURSELF. TURN THE GAME OFF AND GO OUT IN THE REAL WORLD AND LEARN HOW TO INTERACT WITH PEOPLE. ITS CALLED SOCIAL SKILLS, GET SOME. That's all. I just needed to put that out there. Edit - I must clarify that I'm not talk to my about the entire Destiny Community. I've had great people help me here as well. From Raids to Gambit to Campaign. The post was originally titled "Why are people toxic?" But it was removed and I was warned not to violate the communication code of conduct. So I changed the title and reposted. How ironic is that? If you don't believe me, look at the Destiny 1 forum, bc I originally posted there. However the title remains the same. 🙄