Newbie's Dilemma: How to get into an online game
More people are playing online games.
(Credit: Electronic Arts)Electronic Arts announced Wednesday that more than 500 million online matches have been played on its lineup of 2009 sports games. According to the company, all those matches took place between June 2008 and now. They include Madden NFL 09, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, and others.
It's an important feat. But is the online gaming space really the best environment for the gamer? I'm sure that the hard-core gamer who spends hours online each day would say that it's an ideal way to enhance the gaming experience, but there are some of us who disagree--myself included.
I don't like online gaming, for the most part. I find it overrun with people who spend more time screaming obscenities than actually playing the game. And unless you have the luxury of spending hours each day playing one title (something I don't), you'll be rolled over by someone who has honed their skills and tactics down to an art. If you ask me, it doesn't live up to the hype.
But if you're intent on playing, here are some pitfalls to watch out for:
1. Watch out for the predators. Though most online games attempt to find you a fair match by either asking you what your skill level is, or assigning it to you one based on playing experience, don't expect it to work perfectly. On numerous occasions, I've entered a game where I thought the competition would be fair, only to find out that there were players who had lied about their skill level, changed their username, or played a few other tricks to prey on those who weren't as good. It ruined the experience.
2. Ignore the fools. My biggest complaint with online gaming is the bad apples that spoil the whole bunch. These folks will scream obscenities, call you names, and use racial epithets. It's pathetic. The only way to handle them is to mute them (if the game allows) and leave feedback if there is such a mechanism to do so. I find no reason to talk to these people, or try to change their world view. You shouldn't either.
3. Beware of teams. Though playing as part of a good team can be fun, being on the receiving end of an elite squad can give you little chance of survival. When I play Call of Duty 4 online, I'm usually alive for 10 seconds before someone takes me out. Part of that is due to the fact that the other players are better than I am. But it's also due to competing teams who know exactly where to be at all times to maximize kills. It ruins the fun.
Before delving in, you might want to check if the developer has taken steps to avoid this "spawn killing" syndrome. Developers like Epic (makers of the Gears of War series) have specifically developed online matchmaking where players who are friends with one another cannot enter the same match if it's ranked. Whereas others, like Bungie, allow it in Halo 2 and 3.
4. Don't expect to be the best. You might perform really well in a game offline, but don't expect to be the best when you hop into online matchmaking. You'll be up against people that spend a work day (or five) gaming on their Xbox 360 and know every nook and cranny of the map, where every weapon is located, and the fastest and most devastating ways to take you out. If you have a life, you can't match them. So, if you're playing online to be the best, you'll likely be disappointed. Play for the fun of it.
5. Remember that the best experiences are with friends. Playing with strangers online can be a really rewarding experience, but for the most part it's the luck of the draw. When you play with friends online, the experience can be fun--even if you're losing. For one, you don't need to worry about getting matched up the people you don't want anything to do with (see item two), and chances are you'll have a pretty even match. It can also fill in those awkward silences you might have with strangers with real conversation. My best online experiences have come from playing with friends, and I think you'll find the same will be true for you.
Online gaming is, quite simply, a weird endeavor. It can be fun and it can be awful. It can be clean and it can be dirty. But if you find the right way to play (hopefully with friends), you'll have a great experience. Just watch out for the people who want to act like fools. They're everywhere and they do their best to ruin your experience.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
I sucked at Halo 2. By the time I got into it, there were a million hard core players waiting online to shoot me in the face with the rocket launcher I couldn't even find. Took me a good year to pretty regularly kill as many times as I was killed.
Halo 3 was a different story as I was online day one a pretty normal game is 15 kills ~ 10 deaths. Not really because I was "better" but because I new the maps/ guns like the back of my hand.
With split screen, it doesn't matter. My friend may be better or worse than me, but I can set the bots at whatever level I want. New map? Set the bots to stupid until I learn. Old map? Set them on insane and get on the trigger.
Plus, none of the bots have ever had sex with my mom... funny.
Most of them involve people in voice chat, but most of the time it's people being annoying then hateful. In fact, the only angry person I felt the need to mute was complaining because there was too much talking going on. Never mind people were using the voice chat to coordinate tactics.
Also, the natural structure of TF2 prevents most forms of griefing, and allows less skilled players to feel like they are making a contribution. I myself had never played much in the way of FPSes, on or offline, prior to this game, but I still was able to hop into a game and feel like I was making a difference. I still die a bunch and rarely do the best on my team, but I have fun anyway.
In any case, I could not imagine having the same experience with the game if I was playing with bots. It would be nice if there was an option to do so, since I then could experiment with different class and maps. However, I feel the game would lose something is there was a way play it without other people.
Those skills don't always transfer, however. I tried playing counterstrike a few times, and the familiar instant death syndrome returned.
The advice on the annoying voice chatterers is spot on. You aren't going to change anybody's mind by arguing with them. Just remind yourself that they are probably either pre-adolescent or hopelessly ignorant. Mute and continue with your life. I used to yell at teams that sucked, but now I realize that I had become the ****** I was trying to avoid. Oh, the irony!
- by nostawjd April 27, 2009 9:20 AM PDT
- I play online quite a bit.... Hateful people and kids are definitely a pain. I know I let my mouth run a bit more than it should when I get frustrated, but not at other players. I stared playing CoD 4 with friends who had been playing for a while before me. Fortunately they didn't care if I wasn't very good and I worked at it until I was better. After a lot of practice I'm not the best but I'm somewhere above the average. Best advice for a casual player I can offer is to be patient and find some people you know to play with. Try to watch what the better players are doing. I play CoD 4 regularly with several groups of people with a lot of different skill levels and we all manage to have a good time. I find the new Part Chat system in XBox Live helps a lot with filtering out annoying 3rd parties as you can limit the conversation to people you want to play with.
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