Trolls. Specifically, internet trolls. If you didn't know these monsters existed in the digital realm, then I would like to personally greet you to the Internet, the world of computers and online gaming. Everyone hates trolls. Even trolls hate trolls. It's sort of like when you see someone fall down. It's hilarious when it happens to someone else, but when it happens to you, it's hard to take in stride. But trolls are so good at trolling, that even if they fell (got trolled) they would somehow make it seem like you are the one who should be laughed at and it is infuriating.
Generally I'm pretty good at avoiding Internet trolls. I know where they lurk, discussion boards, comments sections, political debates. But I also happen to play a lot of video games and some of which force me to play with other people online who, wouldn't you know it, are huge trolls. The latest game for extreme trolls is "Tom Clancy's: The Division." The premise is pretty straightforward. There's a pandemic in Manhattan, most of the island either dies or is evacuated, and the survivors are left to fend for themselves. During this chaos however, a paramilitary group simply called "The Division" is activated to quell the riots, restore order and hopefully find a cure for the disease.
Teamwork right? That's what that sounds like to me. You can group up with four other players to take on missions and get cool new weapons to do more missions to get cool new weapons to do more missions and get cool new weapons for all eternity because they will absolutely be releasing additional content as is the trend in gaming these days.
So where do the trolls come in? Let me tell you about a place called "The Dark Zone." In the very center of the island is a large walled off area where things got so bad that the city's joint task force of police, EMTs, firefighters and Division agents themselves simply had to leave. So why bother going in? Because that's where all the best loot is of course. But it also happens to be the only place in the game where players can kill other players. "Can" being the operative word because there really is no reason to do so other than being a giant gaping asshole.
When you kill another player, they drop all the gear they have collected in the dark zone so far, but there have been several times when I was killed by a "Rogue Agent", which is how the game refers to gaping assholes, and they didn't even bother taking my stuff. They just killed me for the sake of killing me. When you die in the dark zone you also lose some of your currency and even experience points. A rogue agent killing you can actually make you go down a level, making it easier for them to kill you in the future.
It's only, of course, high-level douche bags committing these murders. There are six regions in the dark zone, each one being more difficult than the last. You will never see a rogue agent in level 06 because there are bad guys and other agents there who could actually beat them. Level 01, however, is a slaughter house. You'll have a level 43 guy armed to the teeth, show up and mow down three level 24 guys just because he can. Just. Because. He can.
These people exist. They are not machinations of the game killing you. Behind that avatar is a real person, more than likely laughing about killing you and several other people. If they're reading this article right now, then they're probably laughing too. Because that's all they really want. They're pathetic people who can't get attention in real life and aren't even good enough at the game they're playing to take on people their own level. Everyone imagines a 14 year-old boy chugging cans of Monster Energy drinks when they think of Internet trolls, but these a lot of these people are grown men. Men older than myself going around doing this. You might know one yourself.
But if "The Division" isn't so good, it's worth the constant fury.
