Hello !games community 👋

I’m 26, born in 1999 in a small Chinese town. You can call me French Fry Noob – or just Fry.

Let me explain the nickname. In China’s Battlefield community, we call new players “French fries.” 🍟

Why? Because you’re fresh, you get eaten alive out there… but you always come in large numbers. It’s a self-deprecating way of saying: “I’m still learning. I’ll probably die a lot. But I’m here to have fun.”

So yeah – I’m a forever French Fry Noob.

A bit about me

I grew up blowing into Famiclone cartridges, sneaking into arcades, renting PS2 time by the hour, and using a PSP as an MP4 player. Just like many of you – just in a different place.

I don’t work in games. I’m just a player.

Recently I wrote a long, personal piece about how my generation in China grew up with games. From the Famiclone era to Steam. It covers the console ban, the grey market, the “Steam tipping point” – and why “piracy” was never the full picture for many Chinese players.

I’ve shared it with Chinese gamers, and the response was warm.

I’m currently working on an English version. It’s a story about why a kid from a small Chinese town ended up buying a physical PS2 copy of Most Wanted years later – just for closure. Not politics. Just games.

I’ll post it here in the coming days. I hope you’ll give it a read.

A quick note

I’m new to Lemmy. Still figuring out the etiquette. If I do something weird, just tell me – I’ll listen and adjust.

Thanks for having me. And if you play Battlefield… I’ll try not to trip on your revive.

🍟

– French Fry Noob

  • frenchfrynoob@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    10·
    4 hours ago

    You might notice no Battlefield 6 there. Truth is, my PC can barely run it smoothly, so I didn’t buy it. That’s the reality for a lot of us.

    And yeah, you see all those games? We have a tradition in China: buy first on sale, think about playing later. 😅 It’s a whole thing.

    EA has a special pattern in China — either no discount at all, or suddenly 90% off. So we wait. We always wait. That’s the “Pin Hao Bing” (Scrounged-Together Soldier) way.

    “Pin Hao Bing” is a joke in the Chinese Battlefield community. It means someone whose rig is barely holding on, but they’re still out there grinding, dying a lot, and telling their squad “I gave it my all.”

    That’s me. That’s the French Fry Noob way.

    Thanks for reading the small print! 🍟

    • FartMaster69@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      4·
      4 hours ago

      Not too different here in the states! Steam sales aren’t quite the cultural events they used to be about 10 years ago but they’re still great ways for getting cheap games!

  • frenchfrynoob@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    7·
    4 hours 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. 🍟

    • MrNobody@quokk.auEnglish
      8·
      3 hours ago

      In the west we make fun of and complain about EA a lot too, but we do it because we hate them and wish they would go bankrupt.

      EA ruins all it touches.

    • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      5·
      3 hours ago

      100%, I didn’t buy Battlefield 4 until it was 20USD with all of the expansions and everything. My friend urged me to get it at that point and honestly, one of my favorite shooters I’ve ever played. I haven’t picked any BF game up since then though, as they haven’t really been the thing I’m looking for—my favorite thing to do in BF4 was to fly people around on a helicopter, or fly myself around in the attack copter. I got REALLT good at circle-strafing around buildings and shooting people in them, once I got a flight stick! With a keyboard and mouse, I am not able to take off and land without exploding hahaha.