COD multiplayer - should I try it?
Discussion
I have played some of the CoD games but only the single player campaigns. I have never played multiplayer online, is it worth giving it a go, or is it filled with everyone that has been playing it since the games began meaning I haven't got a chance? Also does everyone just play the latest version of CoD or do people play some of the older ones too?
To give my thoughts on your questions in reverse order:
Also does everyone just play the latest version of CoD or do people play some of the older ones too?
Yes people do play the older games but as you would expect, fewer people do. It makes matchmaking slower and you might find that the only mode you can play is Team Deathmatch, as there's simply not enough people trying to play the other modes. How much of an issue it is depends on which old game your playing (some are more popular than others) and which platform your playing on.
is it filled with everyone that has been playing it since the games began meaning I haven't got a chance?
You're in luck here on a couple of fronts. Firstly a common complaint with the more recent CoDs is skill based matchmaking (SBMM), in otherwords an algorithum that puts you in matches with players of similar skill. It used to be minimal but is much stronger these days, which good players complain about because their lobbies are full of great players trying hard, whereas what they want is a mix of some good players and some easy kills. The flipside is if you're new, you should find that the SBMM system means your playing against people that seem like falliable humans, rather than auto-aim bots.
The other perk is that the current game, MW2, has a quick time to kill. Again, this makes it easier for less good players to spray and pray with some success.
is it worth giving it a go
Setting money aside for a minute, absolutely. As it would happen MW2 had the best campaign in years, but until then the campaigns were very much an after thought in the other recent games. Once people start playing online, the campaign takes a back seat, if people still play it at all. Once you get a feel for it, it's pretty addictive hence the massive success (CoD is the 4th biggest selling franchise of all time behind Mario, Tetris and Pokemon according to Wikipedia).
Throwing money into the mix makes it a bit more complicated as a common opinion these days is that online multiplayer CoD has taken a back seat in terms of development priorty to the Warzone online battle royale. Warzone is free to play, whereas you have to buy the game to play multiplayer. So for that reason alone, surely the game developers should put far more time and effort into the multiplayer seeing as it's paid for content? Many argue they don't.
The only other thing to consider is if you're considering buying the latest game, when to buy it. It's recently been leaked that MW3 will be released around October / Nov this year, so the current game is half way through its lifecycle before the bulk of players move on. So you could say you're only getting half of the value, but then the game is in a much better state now than when it launched, so you could argue now is the best time to start playing.
Also does everyone just play the latest version of CoD or do people play some of the older ones too?
Yes people do play the older games but as you would expect, fewer people do. It makes matchmaking slower and you might find that the only mode you can play is Team Deathmatch, as there's simply not enough people trying to play the other modes. How much of an issue it is depends on which old game your playing (some are more popular than others) and which platform your playing on.
is it filled with everyone that has been playing it since the games began meaning I haven't got a chance?
You're in luck here on a couple of fronts. Firstly a common complaint with the more recent CoDs is skill based matchmaking (SBMM), in otherwords an algorithum that puts you in matches with players of similar skill. It used to be minimal but is much stronger these days, which good players complain about because their lobbies are full of great players trying hard, whereas what they want is a mix of some good players and some easy kills. The flipside is if you're new, you should find that the SBMM system means your playing against people that seem like falliable humans, rather than auto-aim bots.
The other perk is that the current game, MW2, has a quick time to kill. Again, this makes it easier for less good players to spray and pray with some success.
is it worth giving it a go
Setting money aside for a minute, absolutely. As it would happen MW2 had the best campaign in years, but until then the campaigns were very much an after thought in the other recent games. Once people start playing online, the campaign takes a back seat, if people still play it at all. Once you get a feel for it, it's pretty addictive hence the massive success (CoD is the 4th biggest selling franchise of all time behind Mario, Tetris and Pokemon according to Wikipedia).
Throwing money into the mix makes it a bit more complicated as a common opinion these days is that online multiplayer CoD has taken a back seat in terms of development priorty to the Warzone online battle royale. Warzone is free to play, whereas you have to buy the game to play multiplayer. So for that reason alone, surely the game developers should put far more time and effort into the multiplayer seeing as it's paid for content? Many argue they don't.
The only other thing to consider is if you're considering buying the latest game, when to buy it. It's recently been leaked that MW3 will be released around October / Nov this year, so the current game is half way through its lifecycle before the bulk of players move on. So you could say you're only getting half of the value, but then the game is in a much better state now than when it launched, so you could argue now is the best time to start playing.
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