Carter Kawika Petty: A brief look into a man's gaming life

Fernando Orozco

Dr. Cryer

Composition 2

September 18, 2018

Carter Kawika Petty: A brief look into a man’s gaming life

“I would say I probably started playing games when I was 5 or 6 when my grandma got me a Nintendo 64 in 2001 or 2000.” Carter Kawika Petty started playing video games at a very young age, and he was born in what some may consider the golden age of gaming. His favorite game as a child was Pokémon Stadium. He enjoyed the classic game mode, and it was fun playing the multiplayer mode with his friends and family. However, he now spends more of his time playing League of Legends. For Carter gaming is something that he takes seriously and it has introduced him to new people and brought him joy.

The gaming community is massive, and according to Carter, "It introduced me to a lot of friends." League of Legends is a vast Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game. In League, you work together, communicating with four other people playing against five other gamers. Some of the people Carter has played with he has chosen to keep in touch with and has now known them for many years, considering them very close friends. They are all over the world, and he says that he has considered paying some of them a visit. These friendships are common in the gaming community, and something that Carter says keeps the game interesting for him. He believes it keeps us connected and can help us make new friends.

On the other hand, Carter doesn’t enjoy the toxic gamers stating, "I wish we could have an entire shift in the attitude of the gaming community." He says the people who are hypercompetitive like himself, take the game very seriously and it may not make it fun for some of the less competitive and more casual gamers. In his opinion, it is important for young gamers who are the next generation to enjoy playing so the gaming scene can continue to grow. Even though Carter himself admits, “I am a hypercompetitive individual,” he merely enjoys playing games and wants everyone else to experience the same joy, so a shift in the communities’ attitude would greatly benefit all gamers.

Carter said that his favorite game is Fallout 4, a single player game, and he is very excited for Fallout 76 later this year, a multiplayer version of the game. However, as time has passed, his gaming preferences have evolved and these changes haven't gone unnoticed, Petty said, “As I got older I realized that I play less and less single player games and I play more and more multiplayer games.” That doesn’t mean he’s only in it for the competition. It means that Carter is open to all kinds of games, but he has just noticed that he leans more toward multiplayer because that’s where he has the most fun.

I noticed while interviewing Carter that he is in somewhat of an expert in his community, he says, “I read PC Gamer [a magazine] almost daily.” This is where he says that he gets a lot of his knowledge about any release dates on highly anticipated games or updates or even just basic information on some of his favorite Esports teams or athletes. Another interesting thing I found about Carter was that he said he doesn’t watch much TV and most of the time when he wants to watch something live he goes to Twitch instead. Twitch is an online streaming website that connects gamers to people who just like to watch. These are just a couple more of the ways that Carter has found to incorporate gaming into his everyday life.

Carter watches a lot of pro players but a person that he looks up to is Faker. He had a few words to say about him, “I admire Faker just from a purely competitive sense.” He admires Faker’s dedication to the game and the way that he has been able to remain the best for so long, making him the GOAT. Carter watches Faker so that he can improve at the game or enjoy the great gameplay.

When I asked Carter about his gaming more recently, he responded, “I definitely have seen my play time go down.” That is quite tragic, but he has other responsibilities that have gotten in the way of gaming. However, he said he is still very passionate about gaming and can only see his involvement growing moving forward. The game that he has spent the most time playing is League of Legends, but more recently he says “I play it [Fortnite] pretty much every day or so.” He still manages to play most of the time because he does care a lot about gaming.

All thing considered, Carter doesn’t think of himself as either a casual gamer nor an enthusiast. He tip-toes right along a thin line that makes him more of an active gamer and not a no life. Whether it be to pursue a career in the community or to continue gaming, Carter plans to stay involved in the video gaming community and can only see his involvement growing. The competition isn't going anywhere, and that is one of the main things that keeps his passion alive and that will surely make him a lifelong member of the gaming community.














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