Poll: The Auto-Aim feature...

[The Maddest March Hare]

PC gaming vs Console gaming has always been a big debate, and one of the things I see cropping up in arguments is the auto-aim function. It gets a lot of hate, and is seemingly used as one of the main reasons that PC gaming is superior to console.

Now, I only ever play on a console. I neither have the money for a gaming rig nor the will to save for one, as I'm totally content with my Xbox. However, I always have auto-aim off as it seems to spend more time pointing you at a shiny object or a terribly vicious looking rock than it does at the gigantic enemy tearing your kneecaps off.

So I ask you, people of the Escapist, if you are a console gamer do you use the auto-aim to help you or do you find it a hindrance? And to the PC gamers, do you think that auto-aim is as much of a cop out as some of the hate against it would have us believe?

Disclaimer: This is not, I repeat, NOT a console vs PC thread as that is a dead end topic that will cause nothing but a flame war that goes in circles. This is entirely about a single function on consoles, not which gaming experience you prefer.

Edit: By request, extra poll options added.

 

[RedPandaMan]

I don't use it on my x-box, as I feel it just points me in the wrong direction. Plus I prefer to trust myself and not the evil AI the game uses, those crafty bastards: always pointing you at the sky instead of the monster. But anyway, no, I do not use auto-aim and find it a hindrance and can aim well enough with the thumbstick.

 

[Chiddy]

it helps, not saying pros use it and im not saying im pro at all

 

[lostclause]

I don't like it. It crops up in SW Battle front 2 and it annoys me. It stops the crosshair from moving predictably which is a pain for headshots.

 

[McAster]

No "I'm a Console and PC gamer and I turn it off"? That's what I would vote for if given the choice.

To answer the question, I don't use auto-aim. While it's a decent feature for those who need it and I harbour no ill-will toward that require it or prefer it, it's not for me. When I'm playing a game I want to be able to be good at it because I have the skill or ken of it.
With FPS/FPAs, I want to learn how to aim so that I can learn properly where my shot is going to go with each weapon and thus adjust as I need it. Not aim sort of where I want it and hope the auto-aim gets to where I want it go all of the time instead of just most of the time.

Rail guns, splash damage with rocket launchers, Translocators, shotguns for spread damage, etc. All of which do damage or affect a player (depending on the game) differently on where the ammo hits. Auto-aim is okay if you don't really care or just want it to always go toward the main points of the body, but that isn't for me.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I'm both a PC and console gamer, and don't use auto aim on neither. I do like target locking on consoles. Not total locking though, more 'general' locking: you lock on a target, but you still have to precisely aim what part of the target you want to hit (preferable headshots, obviously). The Metroid Prime games work like that if I recall correctly, and I think that's perfect. I don't mind regular aiming though, ala Halo and GoW.

 

[The Giggling Pin]

I would always rather not use auto aim but sometimes games have been designed with that system in mind, so it sometimes feels unfair or too awkward to play with auto aim off. I always felt that this was the case with GTA4 but i would keep it on even though i constantly ripped for playing with it on by almost everyone i knew.

 

[Talendra]

I voted as no for pc gamer, as that's what I play most. I still vote no for consoles though, it takes away from precision aiming and makes it harder to hit them exactly where I want.

 

[The Maddest March Hare]

-snip-

I've added options for both PC and console gamer to the poll.

I would always rather not use auto aim but sometimes games have been designed with that system in mind, so it sometimes feels unfair or too awkward to play with auto aim off. I always felt that this was the case with GTA4 but i would keep it on even though i constantly ripped for playing with it on by almost everyone i knew.

You see this is what I'm talking about. I don't get why some people think that using the feature makes you less of a gamer. I can understand personal preferance against it, as it often aims at the thing you least want to hit, but that's not to say you instantly become scum of the earth for using it XD

 

[Boxpopper]

I find it necessary only on the PS3, like in Warhawk. I don't mean to troll or start a flame war (I know we escapists are better than that) but I simply cannot aim with the dualshock 3's sticks.

 

[jaeger138]

It all depends on the game. There are some games that the auto aim system is useless in, but in some games I use it as a general pointer. It points me in the right direction, then i fine aim onto the head and pop. Generally I don't use it, but i find some games are harder to control than others, where the sensitivity slider goes from way too much to way too little all too quickly. I don't think it's a cop out, it just adds to the console users something that PC users have, more control over their game.

 

[Ushario]

My opinion as hardcore FPS player:
I hate auto aiming, I just can't understand why anyone would want to remove the main challenge of an FPS. Allowing people to use auto aim is as bad as script kiddies using aim bots.

From the perspective of games programmer:
It could be useful for attractive a more casual or younger crowd, those that would generally shy away from any FPS games due to control difficulties. Would require multiplayer game modes where auto aiming is not available.

 

[savandicus]

As a pc gamer who occasionally dabbles in console gaming i can say that the auto aim on the console is the single most annoying thing known to man, not being able to lead your target means complete misses in alot of games and like the opener said it always targets the threatening rock rather than the guy chewing your knee off.

As far as i can tell if you master both control systems then you can be just as good on one as the other so no auto aim is needed for either even if it was perfect. I think consoles probably have a slightly higher learning curve for aiming though.

 

[Kermi]

I think auto-aim is a copout on the PC, if you can't aim well by pointing and clicking with your mouse I don't know what's wrong with you.
I can understand it more on consoles but I prefer to turn it off/down if possible. It's frustrating in games like Halo 3 multiplayer when something moves in front of the thing you're shooting and the reticle gets dragged off target.

 

[The Giggling Pin]

You see this is what I'm talking about. I don't get why some people think that using the feature makes you less of a gamer. I can understand personal preferance against it, as it often aims at the thing you least want to hit, but that's not to say you instantly become scum of the earth for using it XD

I can understand why people would think that auto-aim = inferior player but i just don't really care. If i am happy playing on super easy with holy deity guiding my aim then i bloody well will. Incidently, I am the scum of the earth but it was not caused by auto-aim!

My opinion as hardcore FPS player:
I hate auto aiming, I just can't understand why anyone would want to remove the main challenge of an FPS. Allowing people to use auto aim is as bad as script kiddies using aim bots.

From the perspective of games programmer:
It could be useful for attractive a more casual or younger crowd, those that would generally shy away from any FPS games due to control difficulties. Would require multiplayer game modes where auto aiming is not available.

I have never played a FPS with auto-aim and i don't think i would want to. I don't think the genre lends itself to one as most people seem to like to consider it a test of their skill, especially online. In fact, i can't think of one that has an auto-aim feature, but i know that i am wrong.

 

[Inco]

Being a main player of the two latest Call of duties on the 360 and every high class shooter on the PC i have to say that auto aim is more irritating then a help. On the COD's i have lost many kills to the auto aim attempting to aim slightly to the left of a player when they are not moving. To get people into context of how i feel, imagine 2 north orientated magnets (or south) and try and put them together. One of em is the aim ridicule while the other is the target.

That or,
When you aim at one person and the ridicule tracks another player running past him and get killed from the original target.

Though that is just me personally, maybe others won't have the same kind of problems.

 

[Lieju]

It depends on the game and how well the auto-aim feature works.

 

[Valkyira]

if im playing on an easy difficulty then i might use it, but when im playing on a hard difficulty i dont trust it because it usually targets the wrong enemy and i get killed.

 

[New Troll]

I don't think about it. I just start playing the game using default settings. So wether it's on or not is really up to the game itself.