...I used to enjoy playing TF2 and NS1, until someone explained to me that my habit of muting/shutting out communication with all other players was extremely rude and disruptive to teamwork, and probably making people angry with me.
State of multiplayer being what it's always been, it
really isn't. On either side. I've yet to see a MP game --
any MP game* -- where communication or lack thereof actually meaningfully impacted teamwork. It can help, or (
much more likely) hinder, but actually working with your ruddy team helps a lot more than wasting time and effort nattering about whatever.
And beyond the teamwork (for which communication isn't substantially necessary), you are under no burden to engage in conversation. Game isn't really the place for it (that's what chat rooms/teamspeak and stuff like forums are for), and you are in no way being rude by not involving yourself in unnecessary communication.
As for people getting angry. Folks who get angry at someone who's not deliberately disrupting the game (which being non-communicative
isn't, so long as you're still being responsive to what your team is
doing, or, at the very least, not substantially burdening them.) are not people who have opinions that are worth
any consideration, at least insofar as the world of gaming is concerned.
Point being. Whoever told you that was
substantially mistaken. Go mute everyone and have some fun. You weren't being rude.
*I'm sure there's a few out there, somewhere, but they're massively in the minority.