Are video games STS?

[Aion]

I actually don't see anything STS at all about wanting to excel at something or even wanting to be better at something than others. I think this is a really, really twisted view of STS whereby any sort of self-excellence is only acceptable when it is not acknowledged by the individual (what is usually called 'humility' but which isn't actually so, imo).

The key aspect of any true STS motivation is that of the use of deception for the sake of advantage. So, if you have someone who is cheating, using codes or a hack as a way to be superior, then I would venture to say the person is actually using STS tactics. Someone who just practices, plays a lot and gets really good is, imo, perfectly deserving of the confidence and pride which comes with the achievement of that skill. As such, gloating, boasting and arrogance are not, imo, at all STS in and of themselves and would only be so if the claims were not in fact true and thus deception would then come in to play.

So while such a person is obviously still just hanging out in the orange and yellow, I think it's silly to suggest such self-centeredness as being true STS polarization.