Do consoles win in terms of accessible multiplayer?

When it comes to multiplayer games on the PC, the learning curve is usually determined by the type of people playing that particular game. Looking back at my experience with Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West and Monday Night Combat, it's hard to get into those games simply because you're spending most of your time getting curb-stomped instead of actually playing the game. However, TF2 seems to be easier to pick up and play due to free-to-play noobs and hat farmers.

Additionally, it doesn't help when I look back at me having a 1 month Xbox live gold at one point thanks to a GTA4 promotion. I spent it on Halo 3 and thanks to the TrueSkill system, i was able to play against people of similar skill as me. Now, don't get the wrong idea. I barely touched any console ever since the start of 2010, and i'm unsure if skill-based matchmaking is still powerful as it was when I last remembered it to be. But let's be honest, as a college student, it's really hard to catch up with all those "uber l33t pros" when you're also trying to maintain a social life and keep up with your education, leaving me to wonder if the only accessible multiplayer games are the co-op games and korean MMOs.

whether or not multiplayer games on the PC require giving up your social life, work, and education in order to play compitently.

flashn00b

whether or not multiplayer games on the PC require giving up your social life, work, and education in order to play compitently.

flashn00b

...What?

[QUOTE="flashn00b"] whether or not multiplayer games on the PC require giving up your social life, work, and education in order to play compitently.

IcyToasters

...What?

Well I don't really think so, it really depends on the game. Like I've played some PC and console games where everyone was on about equal skill and I didn't really have any problems jumping in as a newbie. But I have played others where it's the opposite.

Xbox Live has a true skill matchmaking thing I think, but I couldn't really see it's effects when I played on Live. I was always getting matched with players of higher levels and greater skills than I had, and I kept getting matched with people from "Pro" and "Underground" gamerzones when mine was set to Recreation...

PSN seems to be the same situation as Lives in terms of matchmaking skill.

Any argument over accessibility is met with accusations of "laziness."

Console multiplayer is essentially Heat.net or Mplayer from back in the day. Accessible, but restricted. Give me community run dedicated servers any day of the week.

As a college student, it's really hard to catch up with all those "uber l33t pros" when you're also trying to maintain a social life and keep up with your education.

flashn00b

[QUOTE="flashn00b"]

As a college student, it's really hard to catch up with all those "uber l33t pros" when you're also trying to maintain a social life and keep up with your education.

markop2003

Exactly...just because someone is good at a game doesn't mean they don't have friends or go on dates or anything. Making assumptions like that are wrong.

I know someone who is REALLY good at COD and that's because that is the only game they really play. This person is also a foot ball player at the college I go too and is a pretty big Star Wars freak. He is by no means anti social or anything, and we're best friends. So stop judging people, seriously.

I play games and I'm good at a few but I have plenty of friends lol, don't know where this idea comes from...

Lead n gold and Monday Night Combat both have small communities so they are poor examples since the people who play them are the ones who are pretty good at it. And definitely not a fair comparison to Halo 3

Wait, being good at a PC game requires No social life?.... but I have tons of freinds and a GF, does that mean.....

OH GAWD I'M UNATURAL!!!!!

Okay, perhaps my description of the uber-leet pro is a little harsh.

Point is, PC games tend to have learning curves moderated by the community. If you look at TF2, you might find the occasional n00b, but at the end of the day, you're gonna get your ass owned on the same server. I'm just wondering if PC game developers should look into accessability.

whether or not multiplayer games on the PC require giving up your social life, work, and education in order to play compitently.

flashn00b

Ding, ding! You summarised all competitive multiplayer games in general!

Okay, perhaps my description of the uber-leet pro is a little harsh.

Point is, PC games tend to have learning curves moderated by the community. If you look at TF2, you might find the occasional n00b, but at the end of the day, you're gonna get your ass owned on the same server. I'm just wondering if PC game developers should look into accessability.

flashn00b

Starcraft 2 matchmaking system trashes PSN and LIVE.

Well anyone remember Shattered Horizon?

That game had a steep learning curb since it was in space and you could get shot at from any angle. It pretty much killed off the player base since too many noobs wanted the easy way.