Too scared to play online!

[Kahunaburger]

Depends on the game - some games have a harsher learning curve than others. TF2, as far as I can tell, has an incredibly forgiving learning curve. In my experience, at least 4 of the classes (Engineer, Heavy, Pyro, and Medic) can be played reasonably effectively with minimal practice.* CoD also seems to have a relatively easy learning curve - you can generally get a positive K/D by using your head unless someone on the other side has serious air support out. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood also looks pretty noob-friendly, because as far as I can tell from my limited multiplayer gameplay patience and forethought can easily make up for lack of experience.

Now strategy games, OTOH, are terrifying to play online. I think it might come down to the power gap between an experienced player and a noob. In CoD I can always get the jump on a better player from time to time, but there's no way my little starter town in Age of Empires has a shot against the army that a more experienced opponent has conjured out of thin air.

*Not to say they aren't as deep as the other classes - just that it's possible to read the wiki, jump into a game, and be credit to team.

 

[aescuder]

I'm as competitive as the next guy but it seems to me that a lot of online games (for most genres) these days have an extreme difficulty curve due to the high amount of hardcore gamers, fanatics, or kids with too much time. I can hold my own on some, like call of duty, magic, armored core, and others, but I just played mortal kombat online the other night and got into a "4 noobs only" room and got my ass handed to me by a wide margin.

Is it me or is prepping to play online just seems so exhausting these days? hours of practice, gameFAQs, youtube videos...no wonder gamers scare off a lot of casual players...I'm not sure if all this is good for the medium.

Any thoughts escapist? Has there been any game you thought just took too much work to play online?

I suggest Bejeweled 3.
Only games I ever thought required work to become "good" were the MMOs and Pokemon. MMO's are based on grinding yet I don't see you complaining about them? Perhaps you just don't like being emasculated over the internet...in which case I suggest just not giving a shit about how well you do while playing online and I dunno...have fun?
Your complaint is also kind of oxymoronic because a game that doesn't require some form of effort or skill to enjoy isn't what many of us would call a game. Even solitaire requires you to recognize the best use for a card at a given time.

Also..."prepping to do well" has been going on since man first competed against one another. Do you complain when other players beat you on the soccer field because they had more time to practice than you? Maybe you want games to just hand the win over to you so you feel accomplished?
Hmm...a bit more biting than it should be but I'm quite tired of seeing this kind of entitlement recently.

thank you for the suggestion almighty gaming god. I'll try it the next time I get my arse kicked in MK9 online. Oh and I hate MMOs...and I haven't played pokemon since I was 12. fact not a snarky remark or anything of the sort. If I can't do well online then I'm perfectly happy playing with my friends who are of equal skill level in MK. Believe me, If I don't have fun playing a game I put it down immediately. Which brings me to my ACTUAL point:

I'm not complaining that games are too hard. I like hard, I just don't like being thrown into hard right from the get go. I don't think David Beckham became good at soccer because he was made to play with FIFA world cup players when he was a kid. he got to play the little leagues first and found that he was better than all the little shitlings which fueled his interest for the big leagues..or so I assume.(yeah me and david are tight like that.lol) Haven't you ever been put off by the multiplayer portion of a game just because the lites just have too hard of a stranglehold on it?

It's not entitlement its just a wasted opportunity. Developers can design around the problem easily enough, why don't they?

 

[Wintermoot]

throw yourself into it and eventually you might become a good player.

 

[aescuder]

The best prep to play online is to play online. In every game.

Hence the "hours of practice". Agreed, although still laborious especially for games like Star Craft 2 and League of Legends.

i didnt find lol that hard. admitably i use to play dota, but i sucked at it.

LoL isn't that hard because it has a great learning curve and tries its hardest to put you with other low level players that are still learning the game. This is what every successful game should do.

Yeah I would agree that the level system in LoL was pretty effective. And i guess LoL really wasn't that hard, leveling just takes a bit longer than most because games can last up to 40 min. I wish most games have it. In COD you're going to end up with noobs and prestige guys in opposite teams. not fun.

 

[thedeathscythe]

as kindly as i can put it, grow a pair. dont bother with all that stuff, jump in die a lot, get better and eventualy pwn the noobs. playing ai doesnt help you much when it comes to online

As kindly as I can put it, go f**k yourself. I'm trying to have a proper conversation I don't need your pompous elitist arse stinking it up the place. As I've said I can hold my own in most games, but there are some games like League of Legends where you have games that can last 40 min. To a certain degree it just starts feeling like work.

He's got a point. Seriously, human players and AI are completely different. Generally, human players can plan and adapt, while AI runs on scripts and is all predetermined. Sometimes you'll lock an AI into a combo in a fighter they can never escape, but a human player finds a way to get out, or it's a shooter and you can bottle neck them into a door way and trap them eternally, while the human player learns from what went wrong.

Tip one, never join noob only servers or games. I'm going to make a random number but I think it's like 90% of them are all fake and it's really good players trying to pick on scrubs.

Tip two, learn from all your mistakes. Don't get melee'd from behind in CoD and freak out. Watch the killcam and see how he came in the window behind you. Go back to the area and figure out what he did if there's no killcam, or even ask the person if it happens often (in Halo: Reach, you can parry the energy sword and I didn't know this. I actually asked someone eventually).

Tip three, learn the maps or nuances offline and then go online. Yes, you can play AI a bit or campaign mode or something, but I would only do this to learn the controls and maps, but afterwards go online. There's only so much you'll learn offline, but in a shooter, map knowledge goes a long way. On the fly in a gun fight, map knowledge can help like crazy so don't think yo won't learn anything offline.

Tip four, play often. I actually just started playing Halo: Reach for the last week but I've played it every night for a couple hours. This kind of daily practice builds muscle memory in certain techniques, as well as building just general knowledge. It may seem trivial if you game a lot, but sometimes there's things you don't want going wrong just because you haven't memorized this fighters combo or you can't pull it off 99 out of 100 times.

Tip five, play people better than you. You will die a lot, lose a lot, and feel frustrated, but playing your 6 year old nephew and wiping the floor with him doesn't mean you're getting better or are even good. I jumped into Socom and joined my friends clan. They were really good, I learnt a lot from them, but this also meant we played a lot of other clans that were really good. I got creamed a lot but eventually I could keep up with them, and even started destroying them. I'm now one of the higher tier players in our clan. Die a lot to people better than you, as long as you learn something from it and practice, you won't be losing for long.

Those are some basic tips I always use when I approach a game. I'm never afraid to ask for advice or to lose for weeks straight in anticipation for when I finally start playing well. The other guy may have come off as a jerk, but you shouldn't be afraid to just jump into online. I'll leave you with some reading material that also really helped. It sort of broke some unofficial rules offline play had enforced on me. When it comes online, you play to win, and you do that by any means necessary. Best of luck man, and as that other guy said, just grow a pair and get out there!

Read this!

 

[Blackpapa]

I'm not "Basically saying" anything. I'm not complaining that people are better than me, there will ALWAYS be people better than me. In any game. Some people have more time than others or like the game much more than others or are just born to be MLG players, I get it.

Nobody is born to be a superior player. About the only discriminating factor is your geographical location - no matter which ISP you choose ping times are limited by c. And unless you have a major disability then the playing field is level and all such complaints turn out to be more or less transparent baseless whines.

I would disagree that making online games more accessible automatically equates dumbing it down or that you're sacrificing depth.

Then you're wrong. Making games more accessible invariably means reducing depth and complexity. The funny thing is you're wrong thinking that reducing complexity would give you free kills.

The learning curve for Quake Live isn't very high. In fact it's one of the simplest games to learn. An experienced gamer can gain a full understanding of all the core gameplay mechanics in a few minutes of play. A new player no more than a day.

However even knowing all the mechanics doesn't mean you'll automatically be competitive. No, you'll get your ass handed to you on a silver plate. Apart from the familiarity of game mechanics there's also player skill.

I get the feeling you're not whining about gameplay depth being too complex but no "player skill cap".

I'm pretty sure there are ways to design around this very simple problem. Why aren't there difficulty settings for multiplayer? why can't the noobs play with the noobs, the intermediates play with intermediates, and core play with the core, and a fuck all option? Is it so "Casual" of me to ask for that?

You are right, there are solutions to this. QL is in fact a good example of this with it's 5 tiers. Many RTS games like Supreme Commander have a ladder system and automatic matchmaking that pits you against opponents that perform statistically similar.

You, my friend, are the product of a console generation that treats everyone special. Where games are designed in such a way where even a brain-damaged child could complete them. And they do.

It's a generation of games where "Very Hard" isn't and "Impossible" is in name only.

Back in ye olde days you couldn't just pick up a game and play it straight away. And I'm not even talking about computer games. I'm talking about Bridge, the card game. I'm talking about Polo. I'm talking about amature boxing.


Also, here's something specially for you, OP:
http://endlessvideo.com/watch?v=4X2AvfSTi6Q

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

It's fun to practice, what you call work is actually enjoyable to the truly competitive folks. Mortal Combat is casual compared to some other fighting games in fact. My main game is Blazblue and the competition aspect of that is quite higher since you're actually required to internalize about 6 different and unique systems to be able to compete at any level. Thankfully, the tutorials are very good so noobs are given a good direction.

 

[EvilMaggot]

I'm as competitive as the next guy but it seems to me that a lot of online games (for most genres) these days have an extreme difficulty curve due to the high amount of hardcore gamers, fanatics, or kids with too much time. I can hold my own on some, like call of duty, magic, armored core, and others, but I just played mortal kombat online the other night and got into a "4 noobs only" room and got my ass handed to me by a wide margin.

Is it me or is prepping to play online just seems so exhausting these days? hours of practice, gameFAQs, youtube videos...no wonder gamers scare off a lot of casual players...I'm not sure if all this is good for the medium.

Any thoughts escapist? Has there been any game you thought just took too much work to play online?


EDIT: This is NOT an attack on core players. I'm a "hardcore" player in a few games myself and I enjoy the competitive nature of it. There just seems to be something terribly wrong with noobs being slaughtered in a COD game because the other team is filled with 10prestige guys.(albeit fun if you're in the winning team but wrong all the same) Why aren't there better ladders or even a better sorting system in online games? I feel like if there was than maybe even Yahtzee would warm up to online multiplayer.

dont get into games where the server says "4 noobs only" its A TRAP!... for the hardcore guys to get easy wins mostly

 

[Samurai Silhouette]

If you're not having fun, move to another session, or another game. Keep playing for fun and eventually you'll run into people you enjoy playing with. You'll probably end up adding them after the session's over. Sometimes I make it a point to myself to say "good luck" and "good game" no matter the opponent's or teammate's attitude. This sometimes falls in the good graces of the more skillful players and get invited to their parties and stomp opposing teams for about a good hour or so. Even when they carry me, I learn how they play, thus improving my own game play... and it's satisfying being on the winning team regardless of how much I contributed. Maybe someday you might fall into the hardcore gamer category with people that you enjoy playing with. Just as long as you have fun.

 

[TheCrapMaster]

Haha i feel you on this one. I used to play starcraft 1 on dial up modern like hell in my youth, i was even top 10.000 in europe for a period during that time.
Then starcraft 2 came and i waited a month or two after realese so i could upgrade my computer before getting it.
I watched youtube clips of people playing and when i finaly got starcraft 2 and had played through the campaign i....i....i just dident dare to play online . After watching matches with the experts and seeing their playstyle i felt" holy shit, im no where near that". Tho i played a 3vs3 with 2 of my friends and they are worse then me, and we facerolled the other team. BUT still dont dare to play as i felt we got lucky for some reason.

 

[aescuder]

The fact that hardcore players make "noob" rooms for them to have a little target practice speaks volumes. Why is there so much douchebaggery in online anyway? There's got to be a better way.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

I used to be scared of playing online in fighting games until I learned to play BlazBlue; afterwards every other fighting game I bought (namely MvC3 and SSF4AE) wasn't hard for me to get into online. There was a time when I was scared to even play a shooter online for fear of getting my ass kicked. Don't care so much anymore.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

The fact that hardcore players make "noob" rooms for them to have a little target practice speaks volumes. Why is there so much douchebaggery in online anyway? There's got to be a better way.

Those aren't the hardcores, those are the wannabes who get owned too by they actual pros and wanna feel strong too. They're basically jokes, not everyone is like them.

 

[Blackpapa]

Haha i feel you on this one. I used to play starcraft 1 on dial up modern like hell in my youth, i was even top 10.000 in europe for a period during that time.
Then starcraft 2 came and i waited a month or two after realese so i could upgrade my computer before getting it.
I watched youtube clips of people playing and when i finaly got starcraft 2 and had played through the campaign i....i....i just dident dare to play online . After watching matches with the experts and seeing their playstyle i felt" holy shit, im no where near that". Tho i played a 3vs3 with 2 of my friends and they are worse then me, and we facerolled the other team. BUT still dont dare to play as i felt we got lucky for some reason.

That's an odd attitude. In no way am I trying to insult you, but statistically speaking, chances are you won't be one of the 10000 richest/most influential/successful (by any measure) people in Europe. But you probably already know that and aren't looking into suicide because of it, right?

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Honestly, OP, there's nothing new about high learning curves online. Playing against a human is completely different from playing against a computer, and that's true whether they're on the couch next to you or in a city a thousand miles away -- and has been true ever since Pong gave the option of playing against either an AI or a human opponent. Fighting games have especially steep learning curves, simply due to the nature of the genre, but all competitive games are going to have a pretty steep curve when you first start to go against other humans. If you find online play too difficult, maybe online play isn't for you. Afterall, you wouldn't complain that playing a real game of football with real people is harder than playing a single player game of Madden; why would you expect playing a multiplayer game to be just as easy as playing one singleplayer? Humans are unpredictable, and that's what makes multiplayer great.

 

[Level 7 Dragon]

You can try TF2, the latest update made it free to play so there is plenty of new players to practice on, wait what?!

 

[ReaperGrimm]

I play with friends so even though we're getting our asses kicked we are still cracking jokes and having a grand old time.

 

[LordRoyal]

The fact that hardcore players make "noob" rooms for them to have a little target practice speaks volumes. Why is there so much douchebaggery in online anyway? There's got to be a better way.

That happens when you have a medium where competition comes naturally. Douchebaggery happens constantly in sports. It's something you have to deal with if you want to play online, the worst of people. In this case it's very "If you cant take the heat get out of the kitchen" People online are not always going to be nice.

 

[BaronUberstein]

I found I can't play against random players on Company of Heroes. I can hold my own against friends with the game, but against random players, they just move so much faster than I do it's insane.

I assume it's because I completely ignore hotkeys. <__<

 

[scar_47]

Well if there was no learning curve the game would require no skill or strategy, I haven't had much trouble in most multiplayer games but I usually stick to fps type games, the only time I've had trouble was if I bout the game well after release like team fortress 2 I'll agree it's kinda hard to learn when your getting whooped constantly but if you put in a few hours and start to get the hang of it you'll rather enjoy yourself theres nothing better than completing a task that once challenged you. Thats why I like bad company 2 so much I picked it up late so I was a little behind and saw people pull off stuff I thought I'd never be able to do but once I got the hang of it and started to be able to pull of a headshot on a target where your compensating for a good 3 feet of bullet drop while their at a dead sprint that makes it all worth it. I will agree its never fun to get steamrolled but it shouldn't happen very often and if it does I usually ditch that lobby its no fun losing to the same team match after match but most games do a decent job of balancing teams for the most part besides cod we wait forever for it to balance and it still shorts my tean by several people I'm talking 11 people in the lobby and the teams will be 4-7 or 3-8 which is ridiculous. You have to not be afraid to do poorly for a while almost no one started out as the best you work up to it.