Current-gen's obsession with online progression is wrecking multiplayer (and making you a worse gamer)

"It used to be that the sole purpose of playing a game online was to enjoy an online game." It seems that, right there, you changed your focus. You talked about progressing "as a human," developing legitimate skills within the game space. But honestly, what you described, was just another form of grinding. I'll "grind" away at Quake III to reach the skill those who've been playing for years already have, and while that's not the same as the addictive grinding of gear is, it doesn't strike me as fun. I'd have have to trudge through a loooooot of shit just reach that point, especially now never having played it. In fact, I don't think there will ever be a point in my playing Quake III now that it's been out for over a decade and GOD KNOWS how good those people are now. Still, I agree and I don't. Something like Call of Duty and Halo (now, at least) don't make REAL improvement's to a player's skill in-game in large ways, but they still do, however slowly. Remember quick scoping in Call of Duty? Or no-scoping immediately after switching to the sniper rifle in Halo? Those things were ACQUIRED, and honestly, still very hard to pull off, at least for me. While I understand that it's not the same as manipulating the physics to the extent of Quake III, but you know what? It's FUN. I like unlocking things, it fulfills my basic human need to succeed, and I have a damn good amount of fun doing so. I still improve my steady shots in Halo, or my reaction times in Call of Duty, or my team-building skills in Battlefield, but it keeps me there not only because of the fun and experience, but because I'm guaranteed to constantly unlock knew toys to play with and new sweet cosmetic items to mix and match. Quite honestly, I don't want such a "hardcore PvP" environment, because those always make me a bitter, angry person more than half the time--I want a competitive environment where I play to win, but ultimately to have fun. And isn't that the point of every game in existence? Alas, this is my opinions, and I completely respect and see where you're coming from, Mr. Houghton. Well-written, as always.

I think Mr. Houghton's argument is that he practiced to get where he'e at in Quake 3. Whereas COD asks you to play long enough and then allow you to press one button to put one over other players. You're still not a better player. You just wasted more time than other players. Mr. Houghton's argument still stands. I'm not completely against unlocks in multiplayer. Twisted Metal pulled it off wonderfully, in my opinion. You can unlock extra vehicles or side weapons the more multiplayer you play. These new vehicles and side weapons are not more powerful, however. They just offer something new to try. I recommend giving Quake 3 ago. I hadn't played it years but tried it out the other week. Some players were insanely good. But three matches in I started getting a few kills and my rank hovered in the 3-7 range.

"Whereas COD asks you to play long enough and then allow you to press one button to put one over other players. You're still not a better player. You just wasted more time than other players." Could you elaborate more on that please?

Do you really want me to? ;-)

Do you really want to? ;)

Do you really want me to want to tell you? ;-)

Do you really think I want to? ;)

Nope. :-)

Good. ;)

Bad. :-(

The only thing that I disagree with is online grinding. There shouldn't have to be a grind to reach the higher levels, if they are going to stick with this horrible system they should at least make it worth playing. Multiplayer as it stands is something that I detest. Latecomers to any game are at distinct disadvantages from the off, regardless of it they're skilled at the genre or not and this is an annoyance to say the least. If the developers want people to stick with their games they should figure out another way of making that happen. It disappoints me that many good single player games are having multiplayer tacked on to it. It's not an excuse to stop people from trading, it's a way to make cheap DLC rather than expanding on the story.

I was pretty disappointed about Halo 4's change. Personally, I really enjoyed everyone having the same exact weapons (at least to start) and also a good chance at finding the weapons on the map. It was more about your skill with the weapons (or vehicles) on the map then your ability to play for hours and gain upgrades, at least for slayer.

A splendid write, Houghton. I was thinking about this as well not too long ago, reminding the days when I used to play Halo Custom Edition on the PC, man was that fun, and how long I played that...

Halo 1 CE was amazing