trevor
Posts 702
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It wasn’t too long ago that online shooters offered up far less intimidating experiences for first-timers. There was little to no customization as far as what you could bring in to battle with you. You just chose a basic loadout and shot at other people who were using the same basic loadout. It was simple. It worked well. Everyone had a fighting chance—even the noobs. The only real advantage veteran players had over beginners was more practice. They knew the maps well. They knew all the good spots and maybe a few glitches—but that was all. They didn’t have increased health and armor, airstrikes or choppers, martyrdom or any other seemingly magical abilities. Just guns and nades—it was the good ‘ol days.
But Call of Duty changed all that. In 2007 Modern Warfare exploded on to the scene, bringing with it a leveling system ripe with Perks and rewards that would become the standard for online FPS’s.
Because of Modern Warfare’s popularity, more and more games are following its formula for character leveling. In this new generation of online shooters, players are rewarded with better equipment as their skills improve. This deadly mix of more practice and better equipment further increases the gap between ‘leveled’ players and players just starting out. The result is an environment where natural ability can only get you so far. What was once a pick up and play experience for casual gamers has become a case of the haves and the have-nots.
Now, this system is a great idea from the standpoint of developers who want you to play their game for countless hours. It gives the player a reason to keep playing; and it gives you a sense of progression that some earlier games have always been missing. It’s also a great system for competitive gamers who join clans and love playing against other clans with similar skills. The problem is that it’s unfair punishment for the players who aren’t playing every night. It locks out casual gamers who don’t necessarily want to put in the time and rank up enough to become competitive. Frankly, the noobs are suffering. Frustrated and mal-equipped, casual gamers are likely to crawl back to single-player and non-competitive game modes and leave the competitive modes for the rest of us.
So, what do you guys think? What can the developers do to level the playing field? MW2 addressed the problem a little bit with “Death Streaks” and Halo keeps it even by only letting you customize your armor’s appearance. What’s the answer? How can the developers give hardcore gamers and casual gamers an equally fun experience? Is it even possible?
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Joel
Posts 12
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I love mw2 to be honest last nite I had to go by another copy cuz my xbox had a mental attack and out rings on my disc Ps i ordered my FPS Freeks ( well my mom did tuesday ) HOPING ITLL BE HERE 2DAY!!
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kdxkeith
Posts 5
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I can both agree and disagree. I don't own a PS3 and have to rely on a friend to play splitscreen on weekends. I even went as far as to buy my own controller and now a FPS Freek.
Agreed: Yes, it is difficult to come in as a noob, but most of that was the learning curve of maps and controls. I own a Gamecube and Wii so there was a large learning curve of the controller. Maps is a normal learing challenge The choice of weapons and attachments and perks is limited, but the beginning weapons don't suck and a few levels later better guns become available along with attachments.
Disagree: It wasn't that hard to move up in rank and it was fun doing it. I usually am on the bottom of the list by games end, but once in a while I get a good streak going and have even won a couple of games. This is with 4 of us playing. I haven't played online yet, so I'm sure that there is a bigger difference in experience there.
From what I can see most of the noob vs. Rambo is the skill and not the weapons. Peewee Herman with an AK-47 is still Peewee Herman. I use my SCAR-H against a knife in CQB and I loose most of the time. Last I checked gun vs. knife should mean gun wins. My lack of skill shows otherwise. I guess the best test is for an experienced player to set up a new profile and try playing against the experienced players with the full profile.
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Alabama
Posts 48
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In order to level the playing field...
There needs to be better match-making. It's the simplest fix - or is it.
Offer 10th Prestige Lobbies, and match up players as best as possible based on SCORE (not level).
Those would be two easy ways to add a little more "easy" into the mix.
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Roguelike
Posts 82
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trevor wrote:
So, what do you guys think? What can the developers do to level the playing field? MW2 addressed the problem a little bit with “Death Streaks” and Halo keeps it even by only letting you customize your armor’s appearance. What’s the answer? How can the developers give hardcore gamers and casual gamers an equally fun experience? Is it even possible? Unfortunately it's not possible, for the simple reason of how games are approached by developers today. Trevor I'm going to assume you a bit older than an FPS' normal target market, say growing up at the same time as me with id software and when we had a dream of a Duke Nukem sequel.
Back then our rewards for spending hours/days/weeks on a game was intangible. We knew how great we were because we owned our friends faces, and then later we did it to random people online. We had to build up a reputation, not only by playing the games and being good, but being active in the community. Today's generation is a lot different. It's about instant gratification. They 're told they want the ranks and level and new toys so everyone that sees them automatically knows just how awesome they are.
It also comes from a marketing standpoint. Really how much advertising did id do back in the day? I got some demo disks and a couple reviews in magazines. You were kept in a game because it was well built, made to stand the test of time (I still get on zDOOM once in awhile). Well now we have achievements, trophies, levels, equipment; all of this stuff that wasn't needed in gaming 10-15 years ago. All of it to keep your attention on one game for more than a week so the developers feel they did their job right.
I'd like to take a minute to address another concern I see coming up in FPS gaming. Colour schemes of grey/brown/green. I'm red/green colour blind, this means when my friends want to play CoD I cannot see them standing in front of me half the time. The more games going to this ultra realistic digital camo gear, with ultra realistic/bland levels leaves me with less games I physically cannot play (even Halo, where it's either marines in a desert, or aliens in a blue world). Won't someone think of this.
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