Honor. Such a quaint and somewhat almost archaic term which one would rather associate with a samurai movie or a Star Trek episode dealing with Klingons. But what has honor to do with online games like TF2?
Before I will try to address that let’s take a moment and discuss: What is honor in the first place?
The term is problematic enough. Dictionaries have a number of different definitions for the word depending on the context. [1]
There is honor as something a person defines for himself (or a group defines for themselves). There is honor as a sign of respect or admiration given to a person from others. Honor can also be the transference of respect and admiration by association.
To put it more simply: Honor is something you build, something you receive or something which rubs off on you.
The last definition is of no particular importance for the context of this editorial. [2]
The other two – Honor as something a person tries to define for himself and honor attributed to a person by others – are both potentially related, yet not necessarily mutual. Somebody might consider himself being honorable without having other people recognizing that person as such. Or vice versa other people might see honor in a person who does not think of himself in that way.
Since the respect and admiration given by others is not within our control [3] it’s far more relevant to contemplate what we define for ourselves as honorable and how we act on it.
If you search for examples for honorable behavior it reads like a comprehensive list of all kinds of good deeds [4]. One reason for that is that any kind of definition is highly individual. It reflects personal values, but also the values of the surrounding society (and might do so in favor of social values or opposing to those). Consequently certain actions might be judged differently in different societies; also values might change over time within the same society.
Generally I would define honor as a set of (usually positively attributed [5]) values, probably condensed into a code of conduct, which a person will strive to live by, act accordingly, defend if necessary and promote if appropriate.
The individual values themselves might differ, but the form honor is expressed or exposed is usually similar.
Many people consider a lot of rather common values as honorable. The most common and important would probably be: Righteousness, dignity, fairness, taking responsibility [6], integrity, morality [7].
And rightfully I think a lot of people stress the point of integrity. To this belongs the notion that one of the major attributes of honor is to stick to one’s principles and values even when it is hard and the consequences might be severe. [8] But the opposite is true as well: To do the same when no one is looking and when no one would notice if you’d be diverging from your principles.
Yes, all this as a concept is very complex, very demanding and highly daunting if one was to set out to be an honorable person. And because of that (and the fact that even the best of us are flawed human beings after all 
) I think that honor is probably not something one becomes, not a state a person reaches, but rather a constant striving to live up to those sets of ideals and values one has defined for oneself (or one has accepted when presented by others). IMHO honor is the path, not the goal.
But why should anybody care to be honorable?
In today’s result-oriented world honor appears to be more an obstacle than a useful virtue (hence: archaic). Dignity and humility might get you a sympathy points, but will it really buy you anything? Isn’t fairness a weakness when your opponents don’t play by the rules? Does being right mean anything when you lose or you get beaten? Is morality anything more than just subjective political propaganda?
A lot of that a person can only answer for him- or herself. Each of us has to find his own definition of self-respect, of principles and values which are beyond violability, points where compromises can no longer be accepted. All these things are important parts of what defines us. It has its part in shaping us, in forming our characters. It influences our self-esteem, our conduct and our reputation.
And though a lot of people might scoff at somebody trying to act honorable it is my experience that also a lot of people will meet such a person with respect. They may not share this person’s values, may not share his opinions, may disagree with many things or even everything, but chances are they will meet him with respect.
This is an invaluable currency, even today. Like love, respect can’t be bought and can’t be demanded [9].
Many people - heck, probably most of us - like to be recognized, to be the cause of attention. Some try this by being funny or cool. Some by being very good at something (like an online game ). [10] Of course someone might come along and steal your spotlight by being better, or funnier, or cooler. But being respected is one of the best ways to be recognized, because no one can take this away from you (unless you screw it up yourself ) [11].
Honor - Integrity - Character ... granted, all these things are easily ridiculed and scoffed upon in times where apparently the important attributes are who’s the fasted, the best, the most successful.
But at the same time I’m under the strong impression that many people are wishing for more women and men to show integrity, to act responsibly, to think further ahead than just the next quarter or the next election and who may actually speak and act by conviction rather than just pursuing an agenda. Don’t we wish for such people in politics, in pivotal positions in economy and the important places in society? [12]
So who knows: Perhaps Honor is not such an old-fashioned, archaic and outdated concept after all! Perhaps it has simply been fallen out of fashion and just needs to be rediscovered …
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