Rothbart's Rant #20 - "Learning That You Suck" Edition
By Sean "rothbart" Workman

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m95/rothbart_photos/sarcasticgamer/yousuck.png

I was trying to come up with today's rant idea and was mulling over some back burner topics I had set aside for "the lean times" and some very timely topics and started thinking about what I've played recently that I might complain about. Call of Duty 4's Multiplayer Beta stood out. But I can't really fault the game, it's beautiful, the engine plays smoothly, and it's certainly action packed. But I haven't "enjoyed" playing it yet. And I think I know why. I suck at it. There's my topic, only I'm not limiting myself to the COD4 Beta, but pretty much online multiplayer as a whole.

When I grew up playing videogames, there was no online multiplayer. If you had multiplayer at all, the other player was on the couch right next to you. If they ticked you off or were dominating the game, it was nothing a sharp elbow couldn't cure. But today, with Microsoft's Xbox Live and Sony's Playstation Network, you're no longer competing to be the best in the house, best on the block or even best in the neighborhood... you're competing to be the best in the world whether you want to be or not (unless you stick to private matches, but more on that later). My point here is that there is only ONE PERSON in the entire world that is better than everybody else at a game. The rest of us are all lined up somewhere below him in the line of losers. Which degree of loser are you? Apparently, I'm pretty friggin' low on that list... I can't even see the top.

Another thing I've noticed is that I play a lot of different types of games. I don't focus on (or even prefer) first person shooters on consoles. A lot of skill can carry over from game to game when you primarily play the same genre all the time. My skill at playing Super Stardust HD or MotorStorm does me little good when it comes to avoiding a knife in the back when playing COD4. So since I play a lot of different games, my gaming knowledge and experience is more well rounded than someone who focuses on a single game or genre. My analogy to this is somewhat like going to college as opposed to a trade school. Getting a college degree requires you to study and learn things that may not necessarily interest you if it was entirely up to you but they'll help you out in a lot more situations than say going to a trade school to learn how to do one specific task really well. The problem is, I'm getting my ass kicked by the Call of Duty tradeschool graduates. And I'm pretty sure they're enjoying it QUITE a bit...

How am I, a general purpose gamer, supposed to compete with Johnny "I play COD4 18 hours a day" Gamer? I put in like an hour or two a week into the COD4 Beta (mostly because it wasn't fun dying over and over and over and over...), how can I expect to really hold my own against someone putting in ~100 times the hours? I can't. Now look at these international gaming networks and realize that there's quite possibly someone doing that for EVERY game made. Somewhere, someone has a goal of being the best at every multiplayer game (hell, even the single player ones with leader boards, etc.) What am I to do?

So faced with the inevitability that I will probably never be able to compete with these "pinpoint" gamers (they focus all their efforts for a long time on one specific game to the point they can dominate with ease) based solely on time dedicated to gaming versus other worthwhile activities, I'm left with only playing within a known circle of friends and acquaintances. And how I choose that circle pretty directly determines how I'll rank "relatively". At least XBL and PSN allow us (in most cases) to set up private matched to best simulate play with the type of people I'd allow on my couch for some "back in the day" multiplayer. Without that, I'd most likely never use the online multiplayer functionality. I don't like wasting what little gaming time I can find filtering out the jerks and overly-skilled.

I do feel a little better knowing that as I age and get my ass handed to me on a platter more and more often, I'm able to come up with more and more justifiable reasons for it happening (of course none of those reasons have anything to do with my performance while gaming). So I leave this question to you, the reader: Have you noticed as you've played games (specifically as you've moved from primarily playing offline to online) that your "relative" skill level has decreased? Do you find yourself beating your friends, but being beaten by "strangers"? And do you prefer being the big fish in the little pond or the little fish in the ocean?
Someone, somewhere out there IS kicking ass and taking names. My name's already on the list... multiple times.

Nothing frustrates me more than getting my ass handed to me by a complete stranger who then proceeds to dry hump my dead body to which I usually reply, "Congratulations, you just killed somebody who has played this game for a total of 10 minutes." (which is usually true because I don't invest much time into online multiplayer with strangers). When Halo 2 first came out with XBL I thought it was going to be the sweetest thing ever. Being able to play against people from all across the globe with different skill levels, but then I realized two things 1.)Halo 2 is a piece of shit multiplayer game when compared to Halo 1 and 2.)The world is filled with a LOT of people who are way better than me and for some reason feel compelled to brag about it.

Ever since my days with Halo 1 LAN parties, I've realized that I suck. FPSs are from my forté and I've come to accept that. I have a group of friends who are very good at video games and I usually end up in the middle of the pack somewhere when we play games. But I didn't mind that because I knew that they were really good and they didn't feel it a necessity to act like an asshole who has never gotten a kill before whenever they would frag me. That is why I almost exclusively only play online games with people that I know and like playing with. To me it doesn't matter what their skill level as long as I have fun playing with them and isn't that the main point of video games anyway? To have fun?

isn't that the main point of video games anyway? To have fun?

Exactly. One of the guys over on the GamerCast Network forums said I should try leveling up and that it's not that hard... but I sat there thinking to myself: Why? I don't need to like every game, I don't need to like every aspect of every game. Generally on games like that, I'll play the campaign mode first and then if I like that and have exhausted all the gameplay, I'll move on to multiplayer. I'm personally not interested in multiplayer with COD4 right now, I'm stoked to play campaign mode. Same with Halo 3. I've disliked Halo 1 and 2 in multiplayer. I just never liked them. I was moderately impressed with (but never got hooked by) the first two Halo games' campaign modes.

My son's getting Halo 3 when it comes out and he's not allowed to play online anyway, so we'll be doing a fair amount of single player (I'm not sure if there will be split screen co-op or not). If we beat that (or grow tired), we'll probably check out the multiplayer, but I don't expect it to be a huge draw for me except for the occasional "community" nights from GamerCast Network affiliates.

Speak for yourself Rothbart. I'm a ****ing god At Rainbow Six Vegas.... Kidding...

As for Call of Duty 4, the problem isn't your skills. I know, I know, but hear me out. The game is designed for low level people to fail, which is a design flaw in the multiplayer. Everyone you begin playing with are at a higher level than you when you begin which is a problem for several reasons.
1) you do not have access to any type of scope for any of your weapons except sniper rifle. this means you usually are playing against people that have scopes, laser sights silencers while you only have iron sights. which means you'll be at a tremendous disadvantage in medium to long range firefights, which predominate the game.

2) you don't have access to perks until level 3 or 6, i cannot remember which. this means that you'll be playing against higher level players that have higher endurance to sprint farther, take more damage or have last stand which sucks for newbies that don't expect that. As a level one person you have nothing and are at a tremendous disadvantage.

3) the map layouts are not good. On all three maps, there are generally no distinguishing features to describe terrain to others or generally memerize on your own. On so many occasions On the map "overgrown" which is the farm map, I've had to refer to the house with the attic as the "anne frank" house... If you don't get the reference read a book. for the most part, the pieces of the map all look alike, and as we all know, knowing the map is the biggest hurdle in FPS games.

rothbart, it isnt you, its the game in the Case of Call of Duty 4, but I think that their design is cause for an even greater concern. I believe that this will limit interest in the multiplayer experience for the game, which sucks, because I think that this will be the NEXT great multiplayer experience, maybe even better than Halo 3.

But the core of my rant isn't limited to COD4, it's with Halo, Resistance, Gears of War, even Warhawk. As bad of a badass as I might feel at any given moment, I'm one bitflip from death from a 12-yr old that plays the game all the time instead of doing his homework or anything else he's expected to be doing.

I'd LOVE to see the algorithm in use by Microsoft's TrueSkill matchmaking service they blabber on about. The only "true" skill about it is making us feel it's worth a portion of our Xbox Live Gold subscription... I've seen no proof personally that I'm being matched with people of similar skills.

I know, I was just trying to rant a little about CoD4... I want the world to love it, but maybe it's not meant to be..... :-(

I know, I was just trying to rant a little about CoD4... I want the world to love it, but maybe it's not meant to be..... :-(


I still have faith in the campaign mode... plus I know the single player's going to look even sweeter!

I can't recall, will this have campaign co-op?

ExactlyI've disliked Halo 1 and 2 in multiplayer. I just never liked them. I was moderately impressed with (but never got hooked by) the first two Halo games' campaign modes.

I totally agree, I've never been able to get a handle on the Multi-player in Halo 1 or 2 and will most likely never bother with the MP in Halo 3 (especially after getting annihilated every match on the Halo 3 Beta). It actually turned me off to FPS games until Rainbow Six Vegas came around. I still suck, but I get my share of kills too. An aspect I suffer in FPS games in going Hot and Cold - One night I'm on fire the next night I can't hit a barn. Oh well...

Lono is right, COD4 is extremely hard and frustrating to start, but once you get to a certain level things start rockin' and it's a blast. It's just so fast paced your gonna bite it often, but so will the other team.

I'd LOVE to see the algorithm in use by Microsoft's TrueSkill matchmaking service they blabber on about. The only "true" skill about it is making us feel it's worth a portion of our Xbox Live Gold subscription... I've seen no proof personally that I'm being matched with people of similar skills.
I was thinking the same thing last week listening to Major Nelson's Podcast. It must really only come into play when you do a Quick Match. Other wise just anyone is wandering into your round in a public room.

Rothbart, I don't know how well you play MP. I find quite often that I feel like I suck, but in reality I do much better than some.

In my experiences I have two categories of games and now two subcategories of MP games. First of all there is computer games. It is quite easy to be really good in most PC MP games. All you have to do is be willing to fork out the money for updated hardware/software and be dedicated to tweaking your machine. If you follow that plan, you will almost always rank into the higher percentile with PC MP games.

My other category of games is the recent "Next-Gen Console" MPs that are cropping up everywhere. People seem to be really hooked on the idea of playing MP over their 360s or PS3s. This fascination has to stem from an innate desire to play someone else over a long distance and beat them without them being able to get back at you...(grins). However, what I have determined in my experiences that might shed some light on your dilema Rothbart is the categories that people fall into with Console MP'ers.

The first category is the obvious God-given talent that is true, unmolested raw talent to play MP games. Perhaps this is the percentage of the public with exceptional eye-hand coordination from birth. These people just naturally excel at most anything that requires coordination of the eyes and hands. Take for example, my brother (Gamertag-Sulor). He is by far the most talented person at Halo I have ever seen. He is simply amazing to watch. He gets kills when I can't even see the other person. He is in the "Naturally Talented" category. Then, of course, there is the rest of us...

What I have found in that regard is that although eye-hand coordination is a necessary skill to play these games with great success, it is not readily available to everyone. What I have found though is that it is possible to improve that skill with some practice.

In short, if you suck, practice. Maybe the old cliche is worth saying again:

"Practice makes perfect."

...and look at the bright side, if you practice and you still suck, at least you know your limits. :)

I find myself on the middle range of gamers. It is like a dice is rolled before the game, a 10 sided dice. So It is really random as to when a game will be too easy for me or if the next will be too hard or ect.

What pissed me off the most was when I spent 1 week getting myself from level 20 to 25 in halo 2 on BTB and when I get there a modder decides to stalk me for 5 games in a row and know me back to level 20. On that note I stopped playing halo 2 because I was so ****ing pissed.

I have a wife, house, job, belong to the local Miata and Corvette clubs, do some software development projects on the side, and have a couple of other hobbies.

I don't have the time (or desire) to devote to video games that is required to get really good.

I'm also 45 and the hand/eye coordination ain't what it used to be.

As a result, I'm far more interested in campaign mode than on-line play (with most games). I enjoy playing 3D Ultra Minigolf and Carcassonne online, because those games aren't about who is quickest with the thumbsticks.

I will play online with friends, or members of one of the online communities to which I belong, because even though I still lose just as badly and frequently, I don't have to put up with the little kids yelling in my ear.

As for practice making you better, that only helps if someone can help you learn from your mistake or what you should be doing differently. Most good athletes had a coach to help them. Most good actors or musicians had a teacher. When you spawn-die-spawn-die-spawn-die... how does that make you a better player?

I don't have the time (or desire) to devote to video games that is required to get really good.


That's where I am too. I'm active outside of gaming. I volunteer as a Cub Scout Den Leader, I read to kids in the SMART program, I do things with my family, etc... gaming is one of many hobbies. Sadly, with the way my life is arranged, I'm pretty sure I talk about gaming at least as much as I actually get to play.


As a result, I'm far more interested in campaign mode than on-line play (with most games).


For the most part, that's where I am as well.

I will play online with friends, or members of one of the online communities to which I belong, because even though I still lose just as badly and frequently, I don't have to put up with the little kids yelling in my ear.


Kinda sucks the fun out to be mocked by "stranger-kids", doesn't it?

As for practice making you better, that only helps if someone can help you learn from your mistake or what you should be doing differently. Most good athletes had a coach to help them. Most good actors or musicians had a teacher. When you spawn-die-spawn-die-spawn-die... how does that make you a better player?


Nice point SpiralGray, nice point.

What really made games like Halo fun in multiplayer was playing with friends, people you know outside of a game lobby. It's unbelievable how much fun it can be when I invite a couple of friends over for a casual game of Halo... some of the things that happen are just priceless. Now, taking that game online with friends is fine, it means you can have those same experiences without having to travel away from your couch. But playing eith complete strangers COMPLETELY takes the fun out of it (at least for Halo). There are several reasons for this:

1. They're usually far better then I am at Halo.
2. I don't know them, and thus don't give a shit when they think something's funny.
3. They're usually playing to win, not to have fun.

I think that the third point there is far more important then the others, because they don't care if they see something unbelievably hilarious. All they want is to win, and that sort of takes the fun out of it for everyone else (except if you're a tool and you do the same thing). Halo sucks until you play with a friend and start playing, say, Hog Wars/Bumper Cars and lay back and play it just for fun. I don't give a shit at that point that I would easily get owned by half the Halo players in the world. All I care about is that what I'm doing is fun and that it sure as hell beats competitive matchmaking.

Same things goes for COD4 (though to a far lesser extent). Playing with a friend who also has the beta makes the game so much more enjoyable then just joining a random room and hoping the ranks are low. Knifing your friend in the back sure as hell beats knifing some 30-year-old couch potato ranked #1 in the world. Although the other factor that makes a game more fun, of course, is winning, and that also makes the COD4 beta fun (because I don't suck that bad). Winning still isn't as fun as having a good laugh after knifing your friend in the back, though.

so from what i gather... most harcore gamers on this site ummmm suck at gaming???

I'm usually one of the better players in FPS games, but that's because it's really the only genre that I play for any length of time. Even if I completely dominate everyone in a game though, I never trash talk or brag unless someone else trash talks first.

I hate getting beaten by people that just rub it in your face immediately afterwards. Even worse is getting killed once by a guy that you just killed five times in a row in Halo, only to get it rubbed in your face anyway.

I semi-own at Rainbow Six and own at NHL 08, but otherwise I do alright in most games and just plain suck in others. I'm generally decent at least in FPS games, and it's also my preferred genre of games. I usually manage to stay positive in COD4, as an example.

so from what i gather... most harcore gamers on this site ummmm suck at gaming???

Don't mistake "sucking at the latest FPS" as "sucking" in general. ;)

Couple things I forgot to mention earlier.
I chose the Recreation Zone on Live because I like to win, but I'm not going to go nuts if I lose a match. I won't berate you for leading in deaths or not defusing the bomb or something. I'm playing for fun not blood.
Second - as far as playing my friends in person I usually slaughter them. Previously making me think I should try for the Madden Challenge. Until I played random people in Madden online and realized I was not that good, my friends were that bad. :D

Dude I realized already I'm pathetic. Well not in video games at least......

I can jump into pretty much any PC FPS and do better than most, but I prefer to keep to only a couple of multiplayer games at a time. This way I can hand out the domination even more :D

Great article Rothbart!

First off, i suck at multiplayer games,... i get killed all the time, except i seem to be kicking butt in Warhawk (sorry couldn't make it on Warhawk night, I had planned on joining in on the fun till I had to go into work, but I got called into work early... had to go see the commander and first shirt.. not bad though,..they congratulated me on the promotion.) I'm also awesome on Shadowrun, but when it comes to other games i'm a complete n00b.

Secondly,.. i feel the older i get the more "suckier" at games I get. I remember playing the first Sonic, and going through the whole game without getting killed once. I come back to it many years later, and i can't even get passed the Casino stage. Oh what i wouldn't give to be a 8 year old talking smack on Live! :D

Great rant, rothbart. Brings out exactly the feeling I got with the Halo 3 Beta and COD4 Beta.

The only actually fun I had with Online MP Games where with the none twitch ones. Uno, Catan, Bomberman.

Though I don't necessarily win in those games either, I don't get the "I-Suck" feeling. It's more a "Well played, lets have a revenge"-Feeling.

So whats the difference? I would say its the people that play those games, or rather the reason why those people play these games.

While the better FPS MP gamer may be getting their kick out of humiliating some strangers, the typical Catan or Uno player just wants to have a good time playing with some nice people.
It's not so much of a wanger waving challenge FPS Games seem to be.

And the first thing I do when starting a MP FPS is to turn of the voice. The amount of pubescent voices yelling f*ck you's and "b*tch" at me is unnerving.


Another thing to point out, is that there are FPS MP games wich can be fun for even the non-twich gamer. The most recent example would be ET:quake wars. Just like in ET and RTCW they have put supporter classes into the game. You canbe a valid part of the teamwith a high ranking, by handling out ammo, or revieving fallen teammates. A task even a less skilled player can enjoy without the feeling to just slow the team down.



so long,

nine out

Maybe Rothbart should change the name of this post to "Cry Me a Frickin River" Edition. Blah, Blah, Blah, I suck at gaming, blah blah blah, I hate 8 yr olds, blah blah blah. Good Grief.:(

Rothbart should be giving out cheese with the whine in this thread.... :(

BTW I'm just messing with you guys... Save the hate mail for the podcast.:cool:

Kinda sucks the fun out to be mocked by "stranger-kids", doesn't it?

I've been thinking about this for a couple of days and for the life of me I still can't figure out why it annoys me so much.

I think part of it is the intent. When I play with friends and they say "Boy, do you suck" it's far less annoying than when a stranger does it.

The other part is that I'm becoming a curmudgeon. I'm 45 and was raised to respect my elders. I'm a little tired of the lip that kids today think is perfectly acceptable to give to adults. Told you, I'm becoming a curmudgeon. :(

Nice point SpiralGray, nice point.

Thenk yew, thenk yew very much. :cool:

I think part of it is the intent. When I play with friends and they say "Boy, do you suck" it's far less annoying than when a stranger does it.


There is that "first impression" bit. You know that 12 year old only thinks of you as the guy that just died on his team, or the opponent he just smoked without really trying... your worth as a player is minimized and he has no problem telling you. Yeah, I know what you mean. I have far less trouble being told by someone closer to my own age that they smoked me than someone 1/3 my age.

The other part is that I'm becoming a curmudgeon. I'm 45 and was raised to respect my elders. I'm a little tired of the lip that kids today think is perfectly acceptable to give to adults. Told you, I'm becoming a curmudgeon. :(


I'm with you there too... While you've got me by 8 years, I see the same thing. There is no respect on the internet (and to be honest, we didn't have the same thing when we were young so who knows if our generation would've degraded similarly). Bottom line is I'm only rude and talk trash to my buddies when I'm online and we have an established rapport from the "real world"... I always pay a certain level of respect to strangers regardless of age. I don't cuss at or to strangers (unless they've constantly cussed and me and I'm basically telling them to STFU).

I think there should be a required Online Etiquette class at the high school level (freshman level to be exact). I also think it'd be pretty sweet if our systems buffer the last x hours/days of voice chat and if someone received a complaint, the contents would be available for review by the system owner (in some cases this would be a parent... I realize it wouldn't be an end to foul mouthed trash talking little kids, but if it stopped one it'd be worth it in my book).

Either that or I want the ability to punch someone in the throat over a TCP/IP connection.

Thenk yew, thenk yew very much. :cool:


Watch The Closer much? :D

There is no respect on the internet (and to be honest, we didn't have the same thing when we were young so who knows if our generation would've degraded similarly).

A fair point. I was in my late teens when Fido and computer BBSes became popular. Kids got pretty lippy then too. It's the security that anonymity brings. I blame the parents for not instilling respect in the kids these days. I still call my parents' friends Mr. and Mrs. Our neighbor's five-year-old calls all the adults in the neighborhood by their first names.

if our systems buffer the last x hours/days of voice chat and if someone received a complaint, the contents would be available for review by the system owner (in some cases this would be a parent...

Yeah, there's no accountability that the anonymity brings. You say, "bet you wouldn't say that if I were standing in front of you" and, knowing it will never happen, they get lippier.

Watch The Closer much?

That was my Elvis impression. :(

To summarize:
I suck at pretty much any game that requires quick reflexes
I'm okay with that
I don't need to hear it from some kid who is living off mommy and daddy, has no responsibilities so is free to play video games all day, and thinks he has the world by the cajones as a result
When I was that age, I probably wouldn't have listened to me either

When I was that age, I probably wouldn't have listened to me either


I do take some guilty pleasure in watching some of the mouthy highschool kids graduate and enter "the real world" (either college or the work force) after having "known" them on BBSs or forums... they usually change quite drastically over a very short period of time.

Very occasionally you'll get to see the "full circle" of "you'll understand one day". Could be karma, I'm not sure.

But yeah, I mentally picture each immature ass on XBLive having their own spawn to deal with one day... and it helps me sleep a little better at night knowing what they're likely to create for themselves, but then I sometimes can't get to sleep knowing what that's doing to society.

I used to be really good at PC FPS games. I played CS seriously in clan games back in the day. And was totally addicted to BF 1942 and BF2. However since leaving university and getting into the "real world" I hardly play any more.

If I jump into a PC fps online I still do ok. I guess around middle of the pack. But my skills are nowhere near what they used to be.

Its just one of those practice makes perfect things I guess. You can't expect to be as good as people who play a game all the time. And as long as you have fun doing it, it doesn't really matter.

I am pretty tempted to get into TF2 in a big way. But I spend far too much time on the computer at work everyday. Maybe when I finally get my 360 it will be different.

I agree with you 100%. I went through a period of Halo 3 in which I felt like EVERYONE was better me(I didn't play Halo 2 that much). Thank god its not like that now, but I know how you feel.