I’ll never be great at first-person shooters like Call of Duty, and I can sum my deficiencies up in one simple fact: I love to chuck grenades that have no chance of hitting an enemy. It’s my toxic gaming trait. My KDR never stays above water for long, and it makes me a liability to myself in solo modes and to others in team-based modes. I know this is a character flaw, but I’ll never stop.
RNGesus Take The Wheel
This is how I’ve been playing multiplayer shooters since the PS3 days, when I was significantly worse at these games than I am now. If the match came down to skill, I was out of luck. So I found a way to make my own fun, by creating my own lottery system where I might win one time in a hundred.
Decent odds compared to the actual lottery.
Though I notice the improvement whenever I put time into a competitive game, I’ve always favored single-player, and that has prevented me from getting the multiplayer gains. Barring a major change in my habits, I’ll probably never be as competitive in FPS titles as my friends. If you keep dying when you try to go head-to-head with other players, why not take the skill out of the equation and leave it to random chance? If I throw a grenade across the map as soon as I respawn, there’s a very good chance it detonates safely in a corner. But, there’s also a chance that it lands at an enemy’s feet and explodes. That chance might be slim, but if you’re playing on a small course, those odds go up exponentially.
This is not, generally, a wise use of a grenade. In most games, you only get one, maybe two, per life, and it makes more sense to save it for when you actually need it. When you’re facing off against an enemy and you hear that dangerous click indicating that your mag is empty, that’s a moment when you really want a last-ditch grenade. You’ll probably still die, but you give yourself a chance of taking them out from beyond the grave. But I’m not thinking strategically. I’m not thinking much at all.
Again, I’m not very good at this.
Everyone Can Pitch In
Over time, multiplayer shooters have gotten better at making people like me — people who suck at shooting but still want to participate — feel like they have something to contribute. On a basic level, you can play the objective. You don’t have to be a sharpshooter to secure a zone or escort a package in Call of Duty. The arrival of the battle royale subgenre allowed players to make it to the end of the match without even firing a shot as long as they were good at running and hiding. Games like Overwatch give each player a unique role on the team. Play as Mercy and you can heal your teammates instead of fighting. Play as Mei and build icy barriers to block the other team’s advance. You’re useful even if you aren’t running up killstreaks.
I’ve gotten better at shooters over the years, in part, because these games give me something else to do; something that takes my mind off how I’m playing. When I’m doing badly, I can just focus on capturing a zone. I listen to podcasts while I play for the same reason. I can let my mind get just distracted enough that I get out of my own way, but not so distracted that I completely lose focus on what I should be doing. A conversation in my ear can help prevent me from getting tilted.
Chucking a grenade fulfills a similar purpose. It might not be helpful, it might not help us win the match, it might hurt me down the line. But leaving the fate of my opponents up to chance instead of my skill has helped me learn to stop worrying and love the bomb.
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Wake Me Up When Call Of Duty Goes Medieval
Call of Duty needs to go further back in history – not further forward.