Ask any of my friends, and they can confirm that I feel ashamed to be a gamer. I have been for a long time. As each day passes, with every online game, my faith in the gaming community descends deeper and deeper into oblivion.

For years, the media has portrayed the gaming community as a large, obnoxious and violent group of people. A few years ago, NBC even dedicated an entire news segment for parents on how to raise their kids if they play video games. While their attempts may seem pathetic and misinformed, I can’t help but agree that the gaming community is a gigantic mess. We may not all be bad apples, but just one can ruin the whole bunch. And it isn’t just gamers themselves, but also people in the higher ranks who actually make these games.

3. Electronic Ennui Expo (AKA the annual E3 convention)

Back in my youthful days, I always celebrated my summer breaks from school by watching the E3 convention on TV. I always tuned in to press conferences and kept updated with any trailers that truly stuck out to me and the press. Over the years, however, I’ve noticed that every year, E3 isn’t treated like a showcase or even an expo. Lately, companies like Sony, Microsoft and Ubisoft have been treating their press conferences more like fatigue-inducing concerts.

We have celebrities coming in to introduce a new game or tell jokes and host the press conference (Aisha Tyler with Ubisoft in 2012). Trailers and game demos go through lengthy and boring scripts with monotone speakers ("Kinect Disneyland Adventures" with Microsoft in 2011). Gamers treat every big-named franchise like they’ve seen the paradise and quickly latch onto titles that only release pre-rendered cutscenes before actual gameplay footage (this year’s examples being "FallOut 4" and "Call of Duty: Black Ops III").

I don’t need some script with cringing jokes and a celebrity telling me about the next action-adventure/shooter with stealth mechanics. Just show me the game with some actual gameplay footage, no matter how ugly the game looks now. I don’t care if it’s in beta, alpha, gamma, delta, epsilon, omega, omicron, zeta, kappa, phi, whatever. Show me the game, not some mini-movie, cinematic trailer of what could be a movie.

2. Originality Feels Extinct

Speaking of action-adventure/shooter with stealth mechanics, we seem to be getting a bombarded with those every year. Last year, at E3 2014, we were shown over 20 shooters and at least five games that heavily emphasized stealth mechanics. Everything else was a blatant RPG or hack-n-slash and followed a trending theme.

Confused? Allow me to explain from an executive standpoint. “Does the game contain heavy use of medieval times for the fantasy genre like 'The Elder Scrolls' or 'Dragon Age' series? How about a sci-fi game that has a cast of characters wearing generic armor like 'Halo' or 'Gears of War'? Does the main character wear a hood or live in a steampunk era that forces him to be stealthy all the time? If not, you’re probably better off with a game that says, 'Hey, I know I’m ridiculous and that makes me cool!' like 'Sunset Overdrive.' What’s that? You want a kart racer? Ha! You can just make like a tree and leave if you think we’re ever going to make that nonsense! Go beg on your knees to Nintendo, you cod!”

As newly formed developers, like Playtonic Games, have stated, bigger companies like ActiVision or Electronic Arts heavily rely on designs and gameplay ideas to undergo a painful approval process; it's forced a seemingly never-ending trend of dull ideas and formulas.

Horror games have to incorporate a type of crafting system. All characters have to follow the same archetypes of damsel in distress or femme fatale, muscular white male hero, evil villain with a seemingly intricate, but stupid, scheme, if the game isn't a shooter then it's a stealth game, the list goes on. Designs are approved by people NOT working on the game, directly. Certain key members have to go out to interviews and press conferences to try and hype anything that might seem controversial.

1. Gaming Online: What Will Be My Private Hell in the Afterlife

I try to stay away from games that require me to play with other people online. No, I’m not antisocial, but I enjoy playing video games without some little snot spouting the most crude and offensive language. And that seems to be found in nearly every online game I have ever played.

“Oh, Tyler,” I hear you say, “I’m sure they aren’t that bad. Just ignore them, and get over it.”

I guess I should. I should just ignore all the rude remarks about autistic kids and some of their mental challenges. Why waste the time reporting a player spewing the most racist venom I’ve come across, even going so far as to dropping the N-word? I mean, sexism and abortion jokes aren’t all that bad are they?

“But, Tyler,” you say, “Don’t forget, players can use the ‘Report’ and ‘Kick’ features to get rid of those players!”

First off, quit interrupting me. Second, those features never seem to be enough.

Below is a picture of a chat box from the Results screen of "Town of Salem" …

I’m sure your mind can fill in the blanks.

Throughout my game, this player used the most vulgar and profane language I had ever come across in my total of 70 hours since joining "ToS." Abortion jokes, ridiculing the autistic, racist slang and sexist remarks were just a small handful of the types of things this player said. This player was almost like the living embodiment of every obnoxious and crude online gamer. This player is just one of the many people that make the gaming community look bad and, unfortunately, the offenders seem to be growing more rapidly.

I tweeted to the developers of "ToS" after an incident occurred regarding a player spamming the chatbox. Their response: “If you report a player, we will handle it.” Will they handle it? I’m sure. Will the offender get banned? Most likely. Will that ban be forever? Nope. So, will the offender repeat their actions? Of course!

Punishments range from a simple note of disappointment to restricting online access for a small window of time. Developers just seem too scared of putting out harsher ban hammers on offending players. In turn, this forces the online gaming community to be at a standstill, with no encouragement to better player behavior and conduct.

In conclusion to my first listicle, I have just a little bit of hope left in the gaming industry (as a whole), considering this week is the week of E3 2015. Nintendo seems to be on the right track with their plans and showcases ... well, so far. Sony and Microsoft are probably going to screw up and repeat their same habits, as will developers like Konami, Square Enix and Capcom.

But, if there are any gamers reading this, please help me clean up this community so we can show the world we are not all bigots. If we want the world of gaming to be taken seriously, we need to get our act together and show them that we matter. Most importantly, we need to show it without the use of slang, racism, sexism, accusations and downright obscene behavior.

And if that's all the gaming community wants to be, is a bunch of banshees howling out the most revolting verbal abuse, I want no part in this community anymore.