Hello, games community

I’m 26, born in 1999 in a small Chinese town. Call me French Fry Noob — or just Fry.

In China’s Battlefield community, new players are called “French fries.” Fresh, get eaten alive, but always show up in large numbers. A self-deprecating way of saying: I’m still learning, I’ll die a lot, but I’m here to have fun.

I grew up blowing into Famiclone cartridges, sneaking into arcades, renting PS2 time by the hour, and using a PSP as an MP4 player. Same story, different place.

I don’t work in games. Just a player.

Recently I wrote a long piece about how my generation in China grew up with games — Famiclone to Steam. Console ban, grey market, the Steam tipping point, and why “piracy” was never the full picture. Chinese gamers liked it.

I’m working on an English version now. It’s about why a kid from a small Chinese town bought a physical PS2 copy of Most Wanted years later — just for closure. Not politics. Just games.

Will post it here soon.

I’m new to Lemmy. Still learning etiquette. Feel free to correct me.

Thanks for reading. And if you play Battlefield… sorry in advance.

– Fry

  • frenchfrynoob@lemmy.worldBanned from communityOPEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    One more thing, kinda unique to Chinese players I think.

    When a new Battlefield game drops at full price, and a new player buys it right away — unless they’re a huge fan — we’ll jokingly make fun of them a bit.

    But honestly? We also feel bad for them. It’s not that we’re cheap or looking down on anyone. It’s just that we really care about spending money wisely. Getting burned by a full-price game that flops? That hurts.

    So the joke is also a way of looking out for each other.

    And yeah, we complain about EA all the time. A lot. But that’s because we genuinely want them to do better. To make something world-changing again. Like they used to.

    That’s the real talk.