BO3 Frustration...

[DARK BAWGS]

First let me state that I love this game and I have played them all starting with BF 1942 and this is my favourite!

 

Having said that I want to express my frustration with one aspect of the game, and I welcome any comments (as long as they agree with me! ).

 

Match Balance: Is the number one most frustrating aspect of the game (IMO), Next are the Elite players who think the game was created so they could be like "school yard bullies" picking on the weaker kids so they feel like big shots!  Do I sound a little bitter, you bet.  I realize this is a major issue with all games and not easily satisfied.  However it seems this game is totally out of wack.

• Mid-game:  When I play solo, which is most of the time, I almost always get thrown into a game where the score is lopsided (20-70 TDM yesterday) and I am on the loosing team with only 3 players remaining (God Bless them).  This sucks because as a weaker player I become "cannon fodder" for the Elite players on the  other team.  This just isn't fun and I play for fun; I hate to rage quit and rarely do thus my k/d is an embarrassment.
• Jumping Right in: This point was edited in after original post - I forgot this one!  When you select "Find Match" you should review the Leaderboard to try to get the best match-up.  Sounds good but there are two problems with this:
  • No chance: you are taken directly into the game without seeing what map it is or who you are playing with (usually Combine, I swear); the result is you are on a losing team that players have "rage quit" from.  Slaughter again!
  • Leader-board: I think this is great and a very useful tool.  Unfortunately, you see the teams being set up and feel that they should b e reasonably balanced - then at the last second as you go to game the teams switch and you are on either an overpowered team of a very weak team - why is this necessary.  Let me say here I hate being on either side of this equation, but most often as a solo am on the negative side.
• Elitism: I often hear Elite players complain that they have the best score in the game but lose because they are matched up with weaker players (man that hurts my feelings).  My advice to them is "...get over it!"  Like Spinosa (Dutch Philosopher 1600) said "...no matter how thin you slice the ham there are always two sides"; for these players they should understand how frustrating it is not to be able to contribute and get slaughtered because the game is not balanced.  Have some empathy!
• You Tubers:  Most of the junk on You Tube is a waste of time made up of these pretty good players showing off their wonderful game skills by slaughtering us lesser fools.  Time and again I  have heard these "bullies" say how they don't like always being put in games with players of equal strength as they want to have more fun killing weaker "Noobs".  What is wrong with this picture.  If I hear one more of these "air heads" say it will help  the weaker ones improve I'll throw up.  After 20 years of successful coaching (never a loosing season} I put my teams up against teams out of their skill level (below or above) can't do much about your league that is the luck of the draw but usually pretty balanced; tournaments and exhibition are another matter.  You can't learn or improve if all you are doing is dying for the benefit of some jerks You Tube 100 kill Nuke.  Get real guys and girls!
• Parties: Time and again you go into a game where there is a party of 4 - 6 and they are all Master Prestige.  Yesterday I was in one such game and we had four of us that had not Prestiged two were clearly Xmas Noobs below "10".  I admit I should have Prestiged a while ago but haven't as it takes too long for me to level up - wait until next 2XP.  Needless to say the game was a complete root; all the Noobs learned was that they didn't like the game and as on said "...I'm not playing this anymore".
• Map Balance: Added after original post!  I just want to say they should implement the fix so that every game is on Combine!  At least it seems that way - stop already!  Also why is Exodus not in rotation?  I don't see a problem if it comes up now and again, after all it is part of the game.

OK, so now I have vented, what can be done about it.  I never like to criticize without offering a positive suggestion no matter how improbable.  I know that I am a voice in the wilderness but I think a system of balancing can be developed, there are enough players that with a bit of effort and creativity the developers could provide us with a more level playing field.  A formula that takes into account the following factors could be quite easily developed and used to balance the games, not perfectly but better - and yes the Elite players would not be matched against "Xmas Noobs"!

• Time Played:  use this as a measure of the player's skill over time.  One who levels up quickly is most likely a better player than one who seems to take forever to move up, only time played can show this. 
• Level: when balanced against time played gives some indication of where they would fall on the grid.
• SPM: obviously these three things taken together can be used to give a player rating. SPM is in some ways a better indicator than k/d since different game types can have different effect on k/d. This rating would be a pretty good gauge of the level the player should be matched with.

I am sure that this is naive of me but just had to make this post as things are out of control in this aspect of the game, however things don't change when people remain silent and apathetic.  I don't expect most people will agree with  me but please respect my right to express my opinion as I do yours.

 

Thank you for providing this platform for my vexations...

[Zennon]

Use the lobby leader board to get games closer to your skill is the only advice I can give that will give you easier games.

[DARK BAWGS]

I hear you and I do; most of the time you don't even get a chance to see it as you are dropped right into a game without even knowing who you are pitted against; going to edit the post for this point.

[Pro Innocence]

Nice post, I agree on the most part but I have to say when I started back in mw2 I got wrecked all the time and it did make me a better player in the long run.

[Zennon]

 when I started back in mw2 I got wrecked all the time and it did make me a better player in the long run.

This, I started on Cod 4 and got smashed until i sped my mind up to what was going on and found the adrenaline rush.

[Pro Innocence]

I wish I started back in cod4, Iv since gone back to it and could imagine how great of a game it was! Plus it was the change of multiplayer back then! Damn I missed it .

[BENORMOUS]

I too started on cod 4 and got my ass handed to me,I slowly but surely became a better player,I understand what you are saying though DB I play with friends and more than likely we wreck lobbies so as a solo player like yourself I can the frustration you are having,what I've started doing when im online alone is play FFA til friends come on,incredibly frustrating game to play solo

[AlsaibaiH]

This is a funny post - loved it. Make sure to check my youtube channel, with love .

[ltr7]

I agree to a point, from the slayer perspective I have to say trying your hardest and loosing a game by one point because the guy at the bottom is 0-20 sucks as well. I totally agree the team balance needs a LOT of work, it's by far the most frustrating aspect of the game. Also note this is the first COD that I feel I've mastered, all other titles I was negative for the first few months. I strongly recommend some sort of custom controller or remapping so you can make the best of the movement system, this is what really helped me in the last two titles. I also urge you to "rage quit" more often, I will back out of  twenty bad games in a single session just to find ten good ones. Life is to short to play frustrated, also it will prematurely burn you out on the game. Starting a fresh game is crucial for half decent matchmaking for obvious reasons. One other thing to mention is play more HC for two reasons, first you will learn to stay out of the main paths second you will learn to snap on target much faster. Not to mention it is MUCH more difficult to get score streaks so there wont be sh@t flying all over killing you constantly giving you a chance to focus on gun fights. As for Exodus I've turned over every stone looking for an answer to "what happened to that map", it was only pulled from PS4 due to crash issues and nobody even Activision will give an ETA when it will be back. I bet the DLC will launch on time though        

[fuzzy clam]

Well your a better man than I DB as I can honestly say I don't like the game,new I wouldn't but gave it every chance and it to me is just BO 2.5.And I hated that game,so I kind of expected the game to be what it is.

 

I'll still play it but not very much really as it's just not a favorite of mine for several reasons but glad others are enjoying it.I'll just have to wait for Ghosts 2 or MW4 or whatever the hell there gonna call it.

[daz]

well im sick of getting my arse handed to me by 0.50 kd players cause of the lag

theres a ton of bad player in this game that not only play bad but play dumb cause i swear some matches i get my killstreaks just by shooting down uav's and cuav's that the rest of the team cant be bothered to shoot down, i play tdm which is still and objective game and the objective being kill more than the other team and one way to do that is to take away the advantage they have with their uav's etc. a wraith can be taken down quite quickly by one person but in seconds by 2 or more but some either run around like mad letting the thing kill them or they will hide and wait it out while their team gets slaughtered but i dont care if it takes me 3 lives to take it down cause i will make sure thats the only 3 lives it will take

play smart, always watch your uav to see where your team is that way you can anticipate spawns, move cover to cover, play around with sensetivity till you get the one for you, dont bunch up with your team mates its an easy target for the enemy and you cant straife in a fight

[DARK BAWGS]

All excellent points, most of which I currently follow.  Any of you that are familiar with me know that I am older (by a long-shot) than most if not all of you.  For me the days of improving or getting back to my former level are long gone.  Now I try to be more strategic, less kills and deaths but at least fewer games with outlandish k/d's.  My k/d and SPM have been improving all be it very slowly but I got off to a very bad start and now have to rebuild.

 

As to players lagging I couldn't agree more it sucks!  I spent the bucks to have a good, no great setup.  My internet is 100m and ping is normally in the 18 - 22 range, I have a Cinch controller, Astro A 40 w/mix amp a 27" Benqo gaming monitor and finish all off with a DRacer chair...  I have been at this a very long time and now I am retired I like to play as much as I can - almost daily.

 

 

I think what got me on this rant was listening to a couple of kids deciding to quit playing COD because they felt like they stood no chance; I seldom speak up in Public matches but felt compelled to do so I told them to hang in there and take time to practice in custom matches.  I also recommended Xclusive Ace's drill vids to help them, they were really appreciative and said they would try it.  I hate to think how many kids and others quit because they were just tired of "rage quiting".

 

So there we are, I will keep plodding along enjoying the game and getting what I can from it.  It is definitely much better with a party and the clan I joined is the "Over 30 Clan" (o30c) made up of mature players and we don't get all bent out of shape if we loose (for the most part).  Trouble is that we don't get together as often as I would like during the week as most are working but I make the most of it when I can.  I find with the party games seem more balanced and we certainly don't dominate any lobbies.  I was with another clan and they were very competitive, if they didn't dominate they got upset, so I left.

 

Enjoy your day, I will!

[daz]

some of my lag problems but not all are my own cause of shite internet but come feb 8th i will have 80 down 20 up

alot of the kids that play are obviously on their parents internet most likely connected via wifi in an over populated house internet device wise so they are asking for trouble right away and are probably the main cause of alot of the problems in the game cause no matter how good a set up at home we still connect tp them

[JConnor]

I sympathize, DB, but what you want is basically SBMM in a nutshell.

 

Most don't want this because while it may seem fair on paper to play those at, or slightly below and above your skill level... This gets old, real fast because there is no challenge on either end. Thus, why it was so hated in AW. SBMM other big flaw is it works well for real world sports that require actual skill and training whereas a video game can be mastered fairly quickly if you are not a Johnny-No-Thumbs... Especially CoD which is still a very casual arcade shooter with a short learning curve. This is why a lot of people are good at the game; They've played previous CoDs and are simply adjusting their style for the most recent one versus trying to learn the game from scratch like brand new players. However, that's just a part of learning anything, virtual or otherwise, and it's getting our asses kicked that we learn to get better. It sounds callus, but in a game like CoD there is no other way to learn how to get better without being bad at first.

 

I agree team balancing in terms of the actual number of players per side needs serious work. I don't believe a game should even start with less than an even number of players, but often times you will be put into games in progress on the side with three players who are losing DOM by 75 points because the other team has a full roster of six players. Those games I just quit because that's not remotely fair, but it will still count as a win for the victors... Which is why stats mean absolutely NOTHING since the context of those stats tells the real story, IMO.

 

This leads me to the "bully" comment you made. I have never experienced this on either console. Maybe because I mute all the kids, but when I play solo, I just play the game and do fairly well. Average, but not at the bottom of the leader board IF the players aren't yellow, or red barring giving them a huge advantage. This also ties directly in with the context of how some of these people's stats are so high. If all they do is camp and patrol a small part of the map... Like most YT stars do... Then, of course, they are going to have high K/D. If they actually try and see other parts of the map... Like capping flags, taking the drone to the enemy uplink, etc... Many times their SPM drops dramatically because it's foreign territory to them, both literally and metaphorically.

 

We just have to remember CoD is meant for people in their teens and early 20s who have lightening fast reflexes combined with nervous energy (insecurity) from just being a teenager in this day and age. This is why so many of them spend hours upon hours playing the game; Not only is it an escape, but it allows them to feel good about themselves since most things are out of their control. This is what I meant about context playing a huge role in how (and why) different people play CoD, and MP games in general. Then there is the E-Sports angle that has become the new American Novel where everybody thinks they can make it, but not many can, yet they "try hard" in public lobbies in the hopes of not just getting better, but also impressing whomever may (or may not) be watching e.g. Competitive Clans, Professional players, etc. So, you just have to keep things in YOUR perspective and if it becomes too much, take a break from it, or quit altogether because like the saying goes, if you're not having fun, don't play

[daz]

sure i read somewhere the average age for gamers is 35 and the biggest demographic is 18-35 year old

[DARK BAWGS]

I sympathize, DB, but what you want is basically SBMM in a nutshell.

 

Most don't want this because while it may seem fair on paper to play those at, or slightly below and above your skill level... This gets old, real fast because there is no challenge on either end. Thus, why it was so hated in AW. SBMM other big flaw is it works well for real world sports that require actual skill and training whereas a video game can be mastered fairly quickly if you are not a Johnny-No-Thumbs... Especially CoD which is still a very casual arcade shooter with a short learning curve. This is why a lot of people are good at the game; They've played previous CoDs and are simply adjusting their style for the most recent one versus trying to learn the game from scratch like brand new players. However, that's just a part of learning anything, virtual or otherwise, and it's getting our asses kicked that we learn to get better. It sounds callus, but in a game like CoD there is no other way to learn how to get better without being bad at first.

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond so succinctly; we obviously we have some differences but in principle we do agree.  I guess I am more sensitive as I spent so much of my life working with kids, trying to help them build their self esteem. and it bothered me to hear these young ones getting so discouraged.  This is, as I said, what prompted me to bring the issue forward.

 

On one point I take exception to - I don't care what your age is; you still pay essentially the same for the game and to get on line so developers should make every effort to keep it balanced.  Note I thought I was quit clear it is not easy (or they would have done it), I just wanted to put my views out there... 

[FQs19]

You wouldn't struggle so much if the games' engine wasn't a lag-fest.

Also having different upload and download packet transmissions is just utterly stupid.

 

If those two issues weren't so big, you would have a much greater chance of winning gun battles.

So don't blame your skills as much.

Blame the game itself.  

[DARK BAWGS]

You wouldn't struggle so much if the games' engine wasn't a lag-fest.

Also having different upload and download packet transmissions is just utterly stupid.

 

If those two issues weren't so big, you would have a much greater chance of winning gun battles.

So don't blame your skills as much.

Blame the game itself.

 

Thanks FQ.

[Zennon]

some of my lag problems but not all are my own cause of shite internet but come feb 8th i will have 80 down 20 up

 

So your part of the problem hey Daz

 

Great to hear your getting it sorted out

[DerPolacke]

Add me on Steam, i can help you with that losing team.. i win 90% of all games even if my team gets rekt.

[JConnor]

I also wanted to add now that we know how BO3 is setup from a networking perspective (server / client) thanks to the video made by BattleNonsense, the deck is really stacked against anybody who wants even a remotely fair online gaming experience.

 

If you (people in general) want to continue playing such a "rigged" game that favors BAD connections, then you also have to accept what goes along with it.

 

This is why I am done with CoD from here on out.

 

There are much better games, publishers and devs that provide 10x the online experience in terms of fairness and just overall gaming experience.

[Lee]

I understand your frustrations and absolutely would not like to come across as an "elitest" or "bully" but I would absolutely stop playing if SBMM was implemented and I personally feel very different about the points you have made here and I'd like to explain why.

First of all, I like others here have said did in fact improve by playing against better players. You can learn a lot, if someone gets the better of you then the theater mode is a really good tool to study how they play and improve yourself.

I like the team balance idea, but I feel this could make things worse for a team who have a player leave for whatever reason. You might feel that even if you're playing relatively well you could get snowballed as you are outnumbered and it would take longer for someone to join your game. Also on a side note, I love a good comeback.

As for your point on elitism, whilst I understand that as long as you are part of a team you can always lose there is definitely something wonky with the matchmaking. Whilst I honestly don't really care if I win/lose/whatever it has gotten to the point where I'm screen shotting several final scoreboards a day because I just find them funny, I mean look at this from only yesterday



41 kills and we lost! Hahahaha. Two of the guys on my team left. Regardless of what you might feel I've never experienced anything like this happen so regularly. It's silly.

As to parties, I agree to an extent. I like playing solo, but that's just the degree of challenge that I enjoy. When I'm in a party of three more decent players the game becomes a bit of a joke and I honestly get bored. Many people however, have differing degrees of challenge that they enjoy playing. Take the game Dark Souls for example (stick with me haha). Some people LOVE that level of challenge. Some people don't and will play something else. There's no right or wrong, as long as you pay your money you should be able to play the game however you please. So if they want to party stomp a team then they should be able to, I don't see the fun in it myself but people have more than a fair chance to leave without any effect to Win/Loss so I don't see a problem with it. I'd love to see a Mercenary TDM playlist but the only Mercenary playlist is the moshpit one which is hidden in the "bonus" playlist so nobody plays it.

Now whilst some people I play against may portray me as a mountain dew swigging, adderall addicted sweatband wearing greasemonkey in reality I'm just playing solo, in party chat talking with friends who are playing a different game about the weekend's football or whatever. I'm not playing strategically or as if there's some kind of cash prize involved at all and that's how I'd like it to stay. If SBMM was added to public matches I would actually be a terrible guy to be on the same team with because of instead of locking down spawns, cutting out lanes and providing callouts I would be messing up spawns, running about like a headless chicken and talking about how hot Margot Robbie looks in the Suicide Squad trailers. This is how I like to play. If I wanted to play with SBMM I would play arena mode.

There's also the issue of connection. As others have pointed out the netcode for this game isn't exactly great and despite Vahn stating that "connection is king" my geo-filter will say otherwise. Before I was using the duma I was constantly connecting to players and hosts from entirely different continents. SBMM will not make this any better.

As for the map rotation, I agree! Haha. I played Combine 5 times in a row yesterday after voting against it every time. After it being voted the sixth time I left and re-joined to a match in progress. On Combine. Whilst obviously the map is very popular, I personally don't enjoy playing it at all and would love for the rotation to be fixed. Or even better, a map filter. I've been crying for a map filter since playing nuketown over and over in Black Ops 1. Let me tick the maps I want to play please Treyarch.

Oh and age doesn't hinder you no no no! You get better with age. Whilst the kids you play may have just inhaled a bag of skittles you have experience on your side. Even the pros will tell you Call of Duty is 99% map awareness and out-thinking people. So I don't want to hear any that age nonsense haha.

Really interesting read, great post   

 

[daz]

So your part of the problem hey Daz

 

Great to hear your getting it sorted out

haha ye, i been checking the website every day and put in an order the day it was available lol

[Evangelisuk]

Im guessing you have a very nice connection speed Curtains - faster than 90% of the Uk kind if you were to go on speed test?

"41 kills and we lost! Hahahaha. Two of the guys on my team left. Regardless of what you might feel I've never experienced anything like this happen so regularly. It's silly."

 

Ever consider the host was bad?( for whatever reason - through no fault of his own)  Host = guy with no lag = guy who performs best in the match.

[DARK BAWGS]

Oh and age doesn't hinder you no no no! You get better with age. Whilst the kids you play may have just inhaled a bag of skittles you have experience on your side. Even the pros will tell you Call of Duty is 99% map awareness and out-thinking people. So I don't want to hear any that age nonsense haha.

 

Really interesting read, great post 

 

Excellent post and I have no argument with much of it, however there is one point upon which you grievously error-ed, age does make a difference.  Albeit not just being 40 but get a bit older like me (71) and no matter what you do your reflexes, eyesight  and hearing just aren't the same.  I am not complaining as I had many good years as an pretty accomplished gamer.  It is interesting how I can have several good games with respectable results and then the rest of the day is just hash!  I don't want Skill Based either, I just think that within teams there should be better balancing - not easy and probably impossible to satisfy everyone!