This is gonna be a long one, so if you want the tl;dr version, just scroll to the bottom now. It will save you about ten minutes of reading. (Just past the bold big letter section should be alright.)
I often have the following discussion with my friends when I am frustrated with whatever game I happen to be playing online:
"Man this game sucks. I don't remember it being this bad before..."
"Yeah I know what you mean. It's probably all the camping little kids."
"Maybe, but it's probably is just all the noobish tactics they use."
Up until today I usually thought that was the reason exactly. That people had just started using cheap ways to win, and I was trying to "play fair" (whatever that might mean is anyone's guess) and that made me feel frustrated. But today I was looking at all my games, particularly the ones that had multiplayer modes and it suddenly dawned on me that all these games multiplayer modes had a leveling system.
Why is that important? Because it means that if your a new player, or a player who doesn't play often, you are at a significant disadvantage compared to other players who play religiously or bought the game on launch day.
Then I thought some more. Take Call of Duty for instance. At the start of the game you have very limited choices in what you can use for weaponry and equipment (you don't even have the ability to create a customized class until about level 5). If your brand new to the game, then you have to use a preset class, usually containing a somewhat okay gun and some interesting perks. Thats not so bad right? No maybe not if everyone else was using the same five pre-made classes. Instead most people playing have their own custom class, and the players who (like me) have reached level 50 have access to just about everything in the multiplayer. If I'm not liking the way my game is going, I can simply whip out the create a class menu and choice from a multitude of death dealing weapons. Hell, while I'm at it, how about I equip some C4 charges or a claymore.
I can already see the argument of, "It's not that bad to level up. Stop complaining."
Alright, thats a nice sentiment. If you play ten hours a day maybe you can get to level 50 in a few days. The reality is, most people do not have that kind of time. I have friends who are on for an hour or two and then are done. They have lives and can't sit there and level and grind their way up to get the coolest weapons and perks. One friend of mine took a week just to make it to fifteen, and the leveling progress gets slower and harder the further on you go.
It's no better in any other games. Except maybe Halo.
There is a reason Halo is considered a harder game to play, and why gamers who play MLG or other professional level type leagues take Halo over any other game. It is all about how skilled you are. There are no perks to buy, no guns to unlock. The only thing leveling serves a purpose for in Halo: Reach is as a sign of progress and a why to shoehorn in a credit system and armor customization system. Say what you will about Halo, if your not very good, you will not do well most of the time.
I don't consider myself to be a great Halo player, but among my friends right now, I'm probably the fourth, maybe fifth best. I can hold my own, I know some of the things that you should and shouldn't do. I know what guns are right for what situations, and I know where players tend to hang out on just about every map. On a good night, against players in my skill level, I can average a pretty solid twelve to twenty kills per match in slayer. Against a group of professional's I would be lucky beyond compare if I happened to get one kill.
But maybe that is what makes Call of Duty so appealing to casual players. It is a game where you have a better chance, once you can unlock some cool weapons anyway. Halo is daunting to new players because there is a huge gap between a player like me, and someone like Tom Taylor.
I know what I just started...no I'm not happy about it....
It may appear I'm rambling, but hold on. I have a point here (somewhere...)
Back in the day before you had leveling in multiplayer, you had only one way to beat someone in multiplayer. Through superior skill. Those old fighting games that used to be in the arcades fifteen years ago or so had no unlockable abilites or special moves. You won by simply being better. And if you wanted to win, then you had to practice and get better. Today, at level fifty in Call of Duty, you can set up a class where you could possibly spend half the match in the same place, and end up ruling the match, and if something's not working, you just buy a solution (or equip the tubes....)
Perhaps now I understand why I hate Call of Duty now. Maybe this is why I dislike it and everything it stands for. I apologize for what I am about to say here, but this needs to be said.
It Takes Much Less Skill to Win at Call of Duty than ANY OTHER GAME TODAY.
I don't like saying it. I used to enjoy playing this series, but truth is, somewhere around Modern Warfare, skill went out the window to a degree. And the way the game is set up now, it almost encourages you to camp it out. Killstreaks have a lot to do with it too. And yeah, it does take more skill to win a round in Bad Company 2 or Halo, or any other game really, probably because of the serious tip of balance killstreaks can have. They aren't quite so bad in Black Ops, and the fact that you have to get your hands dirty to earn them all makes it a little better, but the game would still probably be better without them there at all.
And don't think that any other games that are guilty of this are any better. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 feels a bit more balanced to me because it requires more teamwork, and there are no perks or killstreaks, but players with better weapons usually come out on top more often than not. Especially true of the snipers in that game.
It's now clear why multiplayer sucks these days. To me anyway...
We've forgotten what made the old fighting games, or the old Call of Duty games even, truly fun and challenging. The fact that you could only win through superior skill and knowledge of the game. Nowadays, being better sometimes boils down to having the best gun in the lobby, or the best way to camp and earn killstreaks. Teamwork can sometimes affect the outcome, but more often than not (in team dethmatch modes especially) one person can just annihilate the other team and come out with the win because he had some bizarre gun and attachment combo.
Things probably aren't going to change anytime soon either. This is an era of gaming when people want customization and choice. Leveling systems provide that, and it also keeps players coming back for more.
And thats a little upsetting to me...
I promise next update will be much shorter and much much much less serious.
(Oh and just to note, I never said Call of Duty takes no ability or skill to play. Just less than other games. And no, I will not take it back.)
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