I’ve been playing Eleven Table Tennis on Oculus Quest 2 since January 2022. Often abbreviated ETT, it’s a virtual reality (VR) table tennis game that has very realistic physics and overall gameplay. One of the great features of the game is that there are multiplayer modes where you can compete against other players in real time. If both you and your opponent have the microphone enabled, you can also speak to each other during the match. As you’d imagine, there are a wide variety of personalities in the real world, and interesting things can happen when you bring 2 complete strangers together in VR.
When I first started playing ETT, one of my opponents said he liked playing against me because I was “normal”. Unsure what he meant by that, I asked him to clarify. He meant that I engaged in rallies, exhibited good sportsmanship, and acted respectfully during the game. It wasn’t until I played ETT for a few more days before I started to see a wide range of behavior patterns among different players.
Drawing upon the work of pioneers in personality psychology such as Carl Jung and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator that is based on the work of Jung, I have attempted to list 11 common personality profiles that I’ve seen in ETT.
1. The Beginner. Although I’ve only played ETT for about 2 months, it is obvious to me when I start a match with a beginner. They often do not know which buttons to push to start a match, and sometimes if they are playing the game for the first time, they do not know how to use their controllers to pick up the ball and serve. A player rating of 1500 is often a clue that a player is a beginner. Multiplayer modes include ranked play and unranked play where wins and losses impact your rating only in ranked play. Since a player rating of 1500 is the default rating, it is often indicative of a beginner who has not yet attempted ranked play.
2. The Gradeschooler. These players tend to be shorter in stature, but the obvious giveaway is their child-like voices which you can hear if they have their microphones turned on. I try to go easy on these kids, although I notice that I tend to make more dumb mistakes when playing against them.
3. The Muted. There are setting in my Oculus Quest 2 as well as in-game settings to mute audio. For whatever reason, many players simply choose to mute their audio. Nevertheless, there are ways to communicate with other players. Most commonly I see people wave to me at the start and end of matches, and clap when I win a point. Additionally, if I ask a yes/no question like “Are you ready?” they will nod their head when ready to play.
4. The Jerk. Some players are boorish and rude. This may manifest as arrogant trash talk, making noises while you serve, racist commentary, and any number of violations of etiquette. I’ve been told anecdotally that players who use the spartan mask as their avatar tend to be jerks. Oculus has a built-in feature where you can record the screen and audio, and ETT has a feature where you can report players who lack sportsmanship and common decency.
5. The Enraged. Some players are short-tempered and display visible anger during matches. They might virtually slam their paddle into the table, whack the ball off the screen after hitting it into the net, vocalize frustration with profanity, or any number of other actions to show frustration. Usually I find that their rage is directed at themselves, but if I become the target of their anger, I will promptly exit the room, even if it means that I must forfeit my match in ranked play.
6. The Speedster. Some players rush their gameplay. Immediately after joining a ranked or unranked match, they skip the pleasantries and immediately serve the ball. Some players even forget that they’ve already served twice and it is my turn to serve, but I can still see them going through their serving motion only to realize that they do not have the ball. I don’t know if they are trying to catch their opponents off guard because they almost always have their audio muted.
7. The Spinner. Some players apply a lot of spin on the ball—not just for their serves but also for their forehand and backhand shots. This is a legal approach to table tennis. While this could be perceived as annoying in unranked play where the goal is more to have fun, in ranked play the goal is to win points by whatever methods play to your strengths and to your opponent’s weaknesses. I see these kinds of shots more commonly in players with ratings above 1800. Depending on the mood that I’m in, and depending on how respectful they are, I may or may not enjoy playing against these opponents.
8. The Attacker. Some players are constantly on the attack, so points tend to be short. They either hit winners or unforced errors. I personally prefer not to play against attackers, even if I end up winning the matches.
9. The Defender. Opposite of attackers, defenders tend to be more conservative with their gameplay and keep the ball in play. They will attack and hit winners too, but the key is that they tend to hit high-percentage shots. I usually enjoy this kind of gameplay because it can result in longer rallies which I enjoy whether I win or lose the point.
10. The Actor. These players take on kung fu fighter, rope-a-dope boxer, or other personalities. They usually turn on their microphones and pretend to speak with foreign accents or employ other voice acting roles. I suppose they find it entertaining to take on acting roles, but I suspect that few players enjoy this kind of behavior from their opponents.
11. The Ideal Player. These players have well-rounded abilities that result in entertaining matches. They don’t rely on any particular technique (e.g., drop serve, spin) too heavily to win points. Regardless of their microphone status, they exhibit good sportsmanship by making sure you are ready and will wait if you need to adjust your Oculus headset or wipe the sweat off your foam or silicone cover. Above all, there are likely to be some occasional good rallies that add to the overall enjoyment of the game. These are the players who I add to my Friends list.
Similar to Myers–Briggs Type Indicator results, ETT players may not fall perfectly into any 1 personality profile, so there are numerous combinations of the above. Which personality profile(s) fit you best, and who do you like to play against?
