multiplayer progression

[Ando85]

Nowadays it seems standard that every multiplayer shooter has some sort of ranking system, stat tracking, rewards, things to unlock, etc. Do you like this, or do you wish it was like the old days when you just logged on and played and nothing was recorded?

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I miss the old days where games could just be great single player games and not everything had to have a multiplayer mode.

OT:

I like unlocks. They keep things interesting and reward the compulsive nerd urges in us.

 

[ultrachicken]

I find that without unlocks of any kind I cannot continue to play a multiplayer game for more than maybe an hour.

Stat tracking is something I don't really care for. It doesn't detract from the game, though, so I'm fine with it staying.

 

[Mr Thin]

No, that was crap.

Leveling & unlocks are the best thing to happen to multiplayer since broadband.

I prefer single-player, by the way; but if I'm going to play multiplayer, I may as well have something to play towards.

I can't conceive of a situation in which a well-designed leveling system (such as the one in CoD4) would make a multiplayer experience worse.

 

[Bravo 21]

Well I bought BC2 recently, and I'm enjoying the unlock system it has. I also like the dogtag system, where you can see who you have killed with nothing but you hands and a sharp piece of steel, TF2's drop system made me play compulsively, hoping to get something I could use, and damn did I get a lot of Direct Hit rocket launchers

 

[Cabisco]

I love unlocks personally, It gives me something to achieve and to aim for. For example the credits system in reach has made me play that game alot more as i've tried to buy armor I want, greatly increasing the amount of time I spend on that game.

In my eyes now, I honestly think I consider a FPS without some sort of unlock system/rewards sort of backwards. It's strange I admit but true.

I also like to check my K/D from time to time, so long as it's above 1.0 i'm happy though I find myself often secretly in competition with my friends.

 

[QuadFish]

I don't like it when games reward you for every tiny action, like how you get all these crazy bonuses (let alone killstreaks) in, say, Call of Duty. I prefer games when they stick to focusing on frags.
That said, I also like choice, so it's good to play a game like TF2 where some servers have HLXStats, but you have the choice of whether to use those servers or not. I do very much like unlocks (my TF2 backpack is brimming with stuff) but only as long as it doesn't significantly disrupt the gameplay.

EDIT: As much as I shouldn't go into a rant about killstreak rewards, that honestly must be the only situation where you can doing exceedingly well (like > 10 kills in a life) and still consider yourself a failure for not getting a nuke. That said, they probably weren't doing that well because it's CoD and the killstreaks more or-

 

[odBilal]

I like the "oldschool" way of playing multiplayer. All weapons for everyone. Why should people that play more get better weapons? Its kinda unfair for people that cant play 24/7 online to have inferior weapons.

 

[QuadFish]

I like the "oldschool" way of playing multiplayer. All weapons for everyone. Why should people that play more get better weapons? Its kinda unfair for people that cant play 24/7 online to have inferior weapons.

Who's to say the weapons are better? In an ideal game, the new weapons are simply alternatives to the vanilla weapons or at least only a little bit worse. I know I bang on about TF2 a lot (only because I've played it to death), but in that Valve so far have made sure the new items are rarely definitively better than the vanilla ones (cf. recent Powerjack nerf because it was way too awesome).

 

[Dawning Age]

I would like it if multiplayer games started you off with the same in-game skills and then it would be a true sense of human skill and strategy. I like the level and unlock system, it keeps things interesting and makes you want to go that extra mile as said by Extra Credit in one of their recent videos.

 

[Tjacu]

Okay, the unlock system is nice and all, but unlocking stuff just to get more stuff to use makes me feel like I'm playing an MMORPG almost, because if I play a game I wanna have fun, and ofcourse it's fun to run up to people with a granate and plant it in their head (old CS days) but having to unlock stuff doesn't make it fun or "fair" in my personal view.

Unlock rewards for singleplayer check
Unlock rewards for multiplayer, check if the rewards are only visual.

 

[AndrewF022]

I honestly don't care either way, stats are nice, unlockables are ok, but I don't like it when they withhold weapons from me until I kill X amount of noobs though, but if its just things like weapon skins, different uniforms etc, them I'm all for it.

But for me the best progression happens on the scoreboard, when you go from being near the bottom of the scorecard, to winning just about every game you play, you know your progressing, you don't need stats to tell you that.

 

[Sir Boss]

I dislike it, I don't play multiplayer games that much, like an hour or two a month maybe. which leaves me at a major disadvantage. For the record I just made rank 50 in Modern Warfare 2, it's taken me a year.

EDIT: I just ran the numbers again, it's taken me far longer than that FAR LONGER

 

[Zeema]

i like unlocking stuff but i don't like buying it

im looking at you Black Ops

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I am generally in favor of systems that confer no advantage to a veteran player; that gained by hard experience is more than sufficient. Dawn of War 2 or Halo Reach's cosmetic upgrades are one example of this sort of thing in action.