Perhaps Multiplayer FPS just aren't for me

[DoctorObviously]

Even though I dislike it, I still like giving the genre a try every now and then. I get to play most Call of Duty games at a friends house or I sometimes download a free game, like Blacklight: Retribution and yet there is never a moment where I just jump from my seat in victory. I spawn, kill one guy, get shot and killed in the back by a guy I couldn't possibly defend myself from, die, ad infinitum.

I wonder if I'm in the minority on this. I probably am, seeing how popular these games are.

 

[Aeshi]

Well that kinda depends on the type of FPS, since they're a lot more varied than most other genres (the current "Brown Realism" trend excluded)

There are some people out there don't like "Slower/Cover-based" FPS games like CoD, but those same people might enjoy "Faster" FPS games such as Tribes or Unreal Tournament.

If we include Third-Person shooters, then the Pot gets even bigger with stuff like Ratchet & Clank, World of Tanks (arguably), Warframe etc.

Never played Blacklight, so I don't know where that fits in.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Even though I dislike it, I still like giving the genre a try every now and then. I get to play most Call of Duty games at a friends house or I sometimes download a free game, like Blacklight: Retribution and yet there is never a moment where I just jump from my seat in victory. I spawn, kill one guy, get shot and killed in the back by a guy I couldn't possibly defend myself from, die, ad infinitum.

I wonder if I'm in the minority on this. I probably am, seeing how popular these games are.

You sound like my friend who used to love Call of Duty but now hates it with all the rest of the bandwagon. Multiplayer gaming isn't for everyone!

I find them a little bit too easy and people are predictable in their responses. Once you learn the levels and learn how people will react to certain situations you can pretty much dominate any game type. There is luck involved for sure but if you keep failing miserably then find something else to entertain you or put more hours in and learn how and why you are struggling.

 

[Thr33X]

Even though I dislike it, I still like giving the genre a try every now and then. I get to play most Call of Duty games at a friends house or I sometimes download a free game, like Blacklight: Retribution and yet there is never a moment where I just jump from my seat in victory. I spawn, kill one guy, get shot and killed in the back by a guy I couldn't possibly defend myself from, die, ad infinitum.

I wonder if I'm in the minority on this. I probably am, seeing how popular these games are.

You sound like my friend who used to love Call of Duty but now hates it with all the rest of the bandwagon. Multiplayer gaming isn't for everyone!

I find them a little bit too easy and people are predictable in their responses. Once you learn the levels and learn how people will react to certain situations you can pretty much dominate any game type. There is luck involved for sure but if you keep failing miserably then find something else to entertain you or put more hours in and learn how and why you are struggling.

Ah, the ubiquitous "if you don't like it you must be bad at it" response. Perhaps there's more to why people don't like FPS games, such as those with the similar "holier than thou" mentality as you? He didn't say Mutilplayer in general, he said multiplayer FPS. Multiplayer gaming on the contrary can be very fun & rewarding, especially co-op gaming. FPS however, in particular COD, is filled to the brim with dickheads and douchebags.

Sorry but the number of assholes in the COD community specifically outweigh the number of good players, and that sours a lot of people from the entirety of FPS games because for the unknowing who doesn't know of Planetside or Arma, COD is the "gateway" due to it's popularity (of which I still scratch my head as to why that is...another day). They get that bad taste in their mouths and associate that experience with ALL FPS games, and then disappear forever without ever seeing what else-and what's better-that's out there.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well you have to get into the idea of improving through practice, everything else will just keep repeating as you already said ad infinitum, so if you aren't in it to practice and hone the mastery of combat then there is no point at all.

Heck I love FPS MP but from time to time it will just bring me to the edge of tolerance and I need to keep away for a week.

 

[TehCookie]

I'm in the minority too. I never liked them once I realized the trick to winning was memorizing the map. I don't like shooters enough to play them that much. I'll stick to single player when I have a FPS itch.

 

[Magix]

Well, from your description, it doesn't appear as though you're actually giving the genre much of a try, that is to say, you're only giving modern military shooter type deathmatch games a try. But there's more to it than that. Search and destroy in CoD for example, or of course Counter Strike. A lot more skill based, but it's quite a different thing than FFA CoD. Or as someone said, more fast paced games like Tribes Ascend or Rise of the Triad. I'm sure the old quakes and stuff still have a playerbase as well.

 

[hermes]

How about some Borderlands, Left 4 Dead or Team Fortress 2? Something more co-op focus...

I have found that I enjoy a lot more multiplayer when its me and some friends against whatever the game can throw at us than when its us against them.

 

[GoaThief]

Blacklight is like a slightly SiFi free to play CoD clone. They play very similarly and I'm not a fan despite FPS probably being my most loved and played genre.

Try something different such as CounterStrike or Left 4 Dead. Quake Live is a nice free way into the arena shooter genre and you could go all looty with Borderlands in coop.

I'd gladly join any fellow Escapist in a multiplayer game to help out, offer tips or just chat shit and cack around. Probably the key to most multiplayer games of any type really, find a good group of people to play with regularly and/or have a large friend list of cool folks who you know you get on and have fun with.

 

[Tom_green_day]

Slower/Cover-based" FPS games like CoD

I'm pretty sure no-one plays it like that. Maybe it's just on PS3, but when I play everyone is always running around . There are barely any campers, everyone is always moving looking for the next dude to kill.
OT: I can agree with OP when he says spawn, kill 1 guy, get killed and repeat. I just play for those moments when you get on crazy streaks, it gets really tense then!

 

[Clowndoe]

Getting shot in the back by someone you didn't see is pretty unique to CoD though. The low field of view, tight maps, random spawning and instant deaths all make for a fairly random experience, unless you're playing Search & Destroy in which you can predict where enemies will come from for the most part.

I'm going to name just one very unique game to try out if you're interested in giving shooters another go. It's PC-only, but a fairly modest gaming rig should do fine:

Natural Selection 2 - Set in cramped but medium-sized maps where each team has a commander who's responsible for building their team's base which allows for their player's capabilities to increase over the course of a match. For example, the Marines unlock jetpacks and pilotable mechs, whereas the other team can become spore-spewing pterodactyls and giant stomping rhino-things. Did I forget to mention the other team are alien animals? The game boasts good people who are capable of great teamwork, and even the sneakiest enemies will give you a chance to retaliate, as long as you're not running off on your own.

 

[MHR]

Play Team Fortress 2. It's free on Steam.

I play that damn game all the time. I'll be putting in countless hours on whatever "phase" or specific title I'm on in my gaming, but between them I'm always playing TF2. Like the name might imply, there is teamwork involved and there are many interesting mechanics and weapons. players have some durability to them and most deaths are avoidable, for example it can take multiple rockets to kill someone depending on what class they are and the medic class beomes important because he can make the players he heals significantly more durable. Some of the more unique classes are the engineer who makes sentry guns that automatically shoot enemies, the spy that can disguise, go invisible and kill people from behind and the Medic that is a nice detachment from actual shooting and everyone on your team will need you.

You have to play on a decent server though. I can't stress that enough. There are some really dumbcrap servers out there. What you want to play is Vanilla with stockmaps, regular respawn timers and 24 players max (fast-respawns and 32 players just becomes a cluster-f which devalues individual skill and contribution,) and no dumb bullshit like low-gravity or roll-the-dice. I have a hard time finding these servers nowadays and I usually settle with the furry pound servers. The servers are great. The downside is that they're full of furries and they spray their graphic furry porn on every wall.

If you're tired of getting rolled by the skill of the enemy players there's also Man vs Machine mode. It's 6-player co-op against waves of robot players.

 

[xDarc]

I spawn, kill one guy, get shot and killed in the back by a guy I couldn't possibly defend myself from, die, ad infinitum.

They're designed that way on purpose. If shooters still let you rocket jump around, dodge incoming fire, and wipe everyone on the map simply because you were better than them- no one would play them. They're designed so everyone gets kills, everyone is a winner, everyone buys the same game next year.

Slow movement, no run n' gun, rock, paper, scissors classes, vehicles- these are the things that were tweaked until the data showed everyone was having a "good time."

 

[sanquin]

I used to play quake 1 after school hours with friends. Later on I also played CS 1.6 for hours on end every day. Got pretty decent at it. I even played some CoD 2 multiplayer on lans and such. But ever since then fps's just don't have that same feel for me any more. Gritty spectacle shooters (CoD 4 and later or BF 3 and later), as they're definitely not realistic, are just boring to me. Shooters trying to do old school like CS:GO are more of the same old I used to do back in the day.

If there was ever a genre I would want to forget everything about, it would be FPS. Then I would pick up my CS:GO again and play that for years. >.>

 

[Costia]

I heard a lot of people complain about the spawn system in CoD.
There is even a video of someone killing the same guy 4 times in a row in the same spot.He kills him, walks around a pillar the guys respawns and gets shot again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8slavmOqLDw
Try other FPS games

 

[Magix]

I spawn, kill one guy, get shot and killed in the back by a guy I couldn't possibly defend myself from, die, ad infinitum.

They're designed that way on purpose. If shooters still let you rocket jump around, dodge incoming fire, and wipe everyone on the map simply because you were better than them- no one would play them.

Where are you taking this information from? Many of the FPS mentioned here work on that principle, and they have pleanty of people playing them. Yeah, you're not going to drive these massive sales figures every year, but saying "nobody would play them" is a bit of a stretch. There are loads of people who are inspired by wanting to be better, not getting the next prestige or silencer unlock.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Even though I dislike it, I still like giving the genre a try every now and then. I get to play most Call of Duty games at a friends house or I sometimes download a free game, like Blacklight: Retribution and yet there is never a moment where I just jump from my seat in victory. I spawn, kill one guy, get shot and killed in the back by a guy I couldn't possibly defend myself from, die, ad infinitum.

I wonder if I'm in the minority on this. I probably am, seeing how popular these games are.

You sound like my friend who used to love Call of Duty but now hates it with all the rest of the bandwagon. Multiplayer gaming isn't for everyone!

I find them a little bit too easy and people are predictable in their responses. Once you learn the levels and learn how people will react to certain situations you can pretty much dominate any game type. There is luck involved for sure but if you keep failing miserably then find something else to entertain you or put more hours in and learn how and why you are struggling.

Ah, the ubiquitous "if you don't like it you must be bad at it" response. Perhaps there's more to why people don't like FPS games, such as those with the similar "holier than thou" mentality as you? He didn't say Mutilplayer in general, he said multiplayer FPS. Multiplayer gaming on the contrary can be very fun & rewarding, especially co-op gaming. FPS however, in particular COD, is filled to the brim with dickheads and douchebags.

Sorry but the number of assholes in the COD community specifically outweigh the number of good players, and that sours a lot of people from the entirety of FPS games because for the unknowing who doesn't know of Planetside or Arma, COD is the "gateway" due to it's popularity (of which I still scratch my head as to why that is...another day). They get that bad taste in their mouths and associate that experience with ALL FPS games, and then disappear forever without ever seeing what else-and what's better-that's out there.

I would agree with you if it wasn't for my experience with my friends. The ones who are good at the game like it, the ones who are crap at the game hate it and the few in the middle think it's an alright game. But although i only mentioned Call of Duty (since it's the most popular) this carries over into almost any game of any genre. I'm not going to bother defending Call of Duty because although i used to play it quite a lot (6weeks ) i don't think it's amazing...just a fine example of how to make multiplayer gaming interesting and popular. It's popularity is a detriment to my experience because i like my challenges to be harsh not watered down with low quality players and children.

So tell me...is it the fact i mentioned Call of Duty that you didn't like or was it my last comment that was basically 'practice makes perfect'? If you find yourself dying over and over again it's more than likely a question of tactics and reactions, both of which are improved through persistant practice. The same can be said for Battlefield...or Fifa...or World of warcraft...even competing with people at single player games requires the same thing.

 

[MHR]

TF2 has unlocks but you get those at random intervals or you can just trade for them or just buy them with money.

It'd take real skill to wipe a whole server in TF2 by yourself. So much so that it almost never happens, but one great player with a medic strapped to him? Happens all the time.

I like to think the team aspect is what separates TF2 from some other shooters. A sniper, medic, and engineer are just going to get stomped if they're alone and nobody is there to protect them and they are important classes, so teamwork is pretty much required. Deathmatch mode though in games like halo and COD is a whole different kind of bad. There's really no point to it and I don't think you can respect a mode where there's spawncamping and random uncontrollable garbage involved. Except TF2 crits and forward spawn-camping. I just like crits for some reason and spawncamping is only a checkmate tactic on some forward spawns of 5CP maps; if you lose the point due to spawncamping, you're sent back to a better spawn with multiple exits, resupply lockers, and some time running back to the frontlines where you can contemplate where you went wrong letting that demoman get back to your spawn in the first place.

 

[Aeshi]

"Slower/Cover-based" FPS games like CoD

I'm pretty sure no-one plays it like that.

I'm aware that it's not played like that 99% of the time (hence the quotation marks), but I think that's how it's devs like to imagine it's played.

 

[Thr33X]

I would agree with you if it wasn't for my experience with my friends. The ones who are good at the game like it, the ones who are crap at the game hate it and the few in the middle think it's an alright game. But although i only mentioned Call of Duty (since it's the most popular) this carries over into almost any game of any genre. I'm not going to bother defending Call of Duty because although i used to play it quite a lot (6weeks ) i don't think it's amazing...just a fine example of how to make multiplayer gaming interesting and popular. It's popularity is a detriment to my experience because i like my challenges to be harsh not watered down with low quality players and children.

So tell me...is it the fact i mentioned Call of Duty that you didn't like or was it my last comment that was basically 'practice makes perfect'? If you find yourself dying over and over again it's more than likely a question of tactics and reactions, both of which are improved through persistant practice. The same can be said for Battlefield...or Fifa...or World of warcraft...even competing with people at single player games requires the same thing.

Don't think that I'm defending COD here, not at all. Of any modern FPS game with multiplayer, COD is what I call "easy mode". It's just that I've seen enough threads on places like SRK in terms of fighting games where if someone has any form of gripe the de-facto response is the person "sucks". Getting a little tired of the whole dismissive, elitist mentality that some people have...that's no dig on you personally though. The nature of internet anonymity coupled with the already hostile "community" of fighting games and FPS alike is enough to eventually sour anyone's mood or desire to continue to play the games with any level of enjoyment.