Modern Warfare 2, that game my grandson always plays. He keeps talking about the leaderboards. I don’t know what that is. He says it’s important. Says it shows how good he is at the game. Leaderboards, leaderboards, all day long. Kids these days, all about their video games.
My grandson, he’s always glued to that screen. He says he’s trying to get to the top of the Modern Warfare 2 leaderboards. He says it’s hard work. Gotta shoot good, gotta win, gotta do all sorts of things. I told him, “Why don’t you go outside and play? Get some fresh air.” He just rolls his eyes at me.
He keeps talking about his “stats.” Says his stats are good. He’s got good “kill/death” ratio, whatever that means. And he’s got lots of “wins.” He says that’s important for the Modern Warfare 2 leaderboards. I guess if you win a lot, you go up the leaderboards. Makes sense, I suppose.
Sometimes he gets upset. Says his stats are not going up in the leaderboards. Something about them not being tracked. Says something about “level 56” and “level 45”. I don’t know what any of it means. One time, he was real mad. Said something was “shut down”. He says the game is not updating. Whatever that means. This “shutdown” thing, it messed up his stats.
He keeps talking about a “season” thing too. He said when a new season begins, he can move back a little bit. I think he said it depends on how he did the season before. And the “rank” thing, the game gives you a rank. Like “Gold” or “Platinum” or something like that. He said if you are “Platinum”, you will go back to “Gold”. Oh, young people and their games.
He also said that the end of the season will mark the end of the ranking. I don’t quite understand what that means. He said something about “Ranked Play will be taken offline at the end of Season Six”. I just nod my head and pretend I understand. It is so complicated. I don’t understand this game.
Back in my day, we didn’t have these fancy video games. We played outside. We played tag, hide-and-seek, hopscotch. We didn’t need no leaderboards to tell us we were having fun.
- We played until the sun went down.
- We played until our mothers called us in for supper.
- We didn’t care about stats or ranks.
- We just played.
But these kids today, they’re different. They need these leaderboards. They need to see their name up there. They need to know they’re the best. I guess it makes them feel good. I heard there is a way to get good stats, like “1337 stats” or something. Some special way, I don’t know. My grandson doesn’t do that. He plays fair.
My grandson, he works hard at this game. He really wants to be at the top of those Modern Warfare 2 leaderboards. I don’t understand it, but I support him. I tell him, “Do your best. That’s all that matters.” He smiles and nods. He knows I don’t get it. But he appreciates it anyway.
Maybe one day I’ll ask him to show me how to play. Maybe I’ll try to understand this Modern Warfare 2 leaderboards thing. But then again, maybe not. I’m too old for this stuff. I’ll just stick to my knitting. That’s something I understand.
But hey, if these leaderboards make these kids happy, then who am I to judge? Let them have their fun. Let them shoot and win and climb those leaderboards. As long as they’re happy, that’s all that matters. Even if I don’t understand it one bit. This Modern Warfare 2, it’s a mystery to me.
