A reader new to the world of online gaming describes how it feels to be a newbie and what should be changed to make things more accessible.
At the tender age of 41 I am a newcomer to online multiplayer games. I have been gaming since the days of the ZX81 but online has never appealed. None of my friends are gamers and multiplayer has always seemed better for groups rather than a person on their own.
This all changed when I bought an Xbox One. Everything seemed to be online in some way or other and so I decided to get stuck in. Immediately there are a couple of things that could be improved for a newcomer like me:
1. Weapon upgrades
It seems like every online shooter rewards your progress with better weapons and upgrades. The end result is that those who are already good or experienced at the game are given the tools to be better and even more dangerous to those around them. How is a newcomer to a game going to stand a chance if somebody can pick them off from 500 yards away with a weapon and scope that you did not know even existed let alone had access to?
All this does is make a total noob feel even more like cannon fodder than he already did. As a suggestion, why don’t people new to the game get given a set of weapons and power-ups that they can use until they are levelled up a bit which are then taken away. By then most players will have enough skill and experience to at least be able to stand a chance with the standard weapon set.
2. Matchmaking
The whole matchmaking thing seems totally random and, whilst I am sure that there are benefits to this, surely some ranking would be better for everyone. I bought Titanfall on day one and by the time I had loaded it up in the evening I was already in a group playing against people level 50 and above. Furthermore, when I log on now, the matches do not seem even; with some teams loaded with second or third generation level 50 players against a team in the low teens. You may as well log out before you start. This does not seem unique to Titanfall either.
My suggestion, at the very least, would be to split the teams to allow an even distribution of ability or at least move players around after each round to even things up. To go a step further, in an ideal world you would be put in teams of a similar ability. I would rather test my skills against a team of similar levels to me than be hammered by someone who is 50 or more levels higher. That would also mean that each team would have access to similar weapons and power-ups to make for a more even game.
So, I am really enjoying my time playing online shooters now and it is really extending the lifespan of many games. I just think that, with a few tweaks here and there, the whole genre could be made a bit more approachable for those who have not been playing Call Of Duty online since they were out of nappies and give us newbies a reasonable chance to be competitive in the early days.
By reader Gregory Begy
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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