Morning Vent, 22 February 2010

I still don't see a holster...

    I got a tweet yesterday from fausto412 mentioning that Modern Warfare 2 has become stale due to cheaters, glitches and repetitive gameplay. And he's absolutely right. The exact thing happened in Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty: World at War. Once the multi-player maps were well known, repetitive patterns of offense and defense developed out of their layouts. And the cheating douchebags, pals of the enemy team slouching their way through matches and team-killing, are as big a drag as ever. So why am I still playing?
    It comes down to three things, basically: team-work, the joy of winning, and personal achievement. I really love the give and take of good teamwork. I love it when I can give a call out to a team member, and he or she gets a kill from it. I like being able to cover for my sector buddy and having him or her cover for me in turn. I get a charge out of tossing my team-mates a care package canister. It's an unusual thing, perhaps, but I value harmony in the team, what the Japanese refer to as chouwa, more than winning outright or any individual achievement.
    I really like winning, like most people do. (Is it politically correct any more to admit that? It sucks to lose.) If you have a good, solid team, you can win most games you go into against random players. A side-effect of good co-operative team-work is a zen-like thing that happens when you hit a nice groove. I like that feeling when I game, when I'm focused without being conscious of it. That's when I have my best games. It only takes one random douchebag, tho, to have your game blow up right in your face. Poor losers who whine in the lobby about camping, ungracious winners who gloat in the lobby about camping, my own team-mates when they shit-talk (which I can't stand), and the fore-said cheating douchebags all ruin that little flash of satori for me.
    Finally, I get a charge out of personal achievements in the game, having good stats for someone as old and slow as me. I enjoy unlocking different weapon attachments, and it's cool to discover the strengths and weaknesses of the in-game weapons, making them work for my own strengths and compensate for my weaknesses as a gamer. I like developing a respectable win/loss ratio for that number reflects the success of the team I play with as well as my efforts to support that team.
   If any of those things falls short, gaming becomes a chore, rather than recreation, for me.The feeling of teamwork is the most important for me, tho. If I don't have at least that, it's not worth playing any more, at all.
    Can I get that from another game? I'm not sure. I'm going to give Bad Company 2 a shot to see what happens.