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Are Games Getting Easier?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the kids-these-days dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I can't help feeling that this generation of games for both consoles and PCs are getting increasingly dumbed down and easier to complete. There's no challenge in today's games, most of which can be completed on the day of purchase. Triple A titles such as Halo, Modern Warfare 2 are the worst of the lot. The whole reason for this article is Medal of Honor, this can be completed within hours of purchase. Where's the fun in that?"

10 of 854 comments (clear)

  1. Where is the fun? by weachiod · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In multiplayer.

    1. Re:Where is the fun? by jaymz666 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yep, there's nothing more fun than being teabagged by some jerk who has no life or job so they spend 24/7 practising so they can feel their life has meaning when some wage slave logs on to go find some fun for a few hours.

    2. Re:Where is the fun? by mark72005 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This.

      I hate how game companies today are shoving everyone toward online play - though I understand, because it frees them from having to... you know... create content for the game.

      Some of us want to be able to play single player in exchange for our $60... it's not too much to ask.

    3. Re:Where is the fun? by Nemyst · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I wish I had mod points now. I'd often rather not have MP at all, for I barely ever do multiplayer. There isn't a whole lot of fun to getting shot at by people you don't know who'll rub it in your face in the typical well-mannered way a 14-year old can.

    4. Re:Where is the fun? by AstrumPreliator · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't know. My all time favorite multiplayer FPS is Starsiege: Tribes. It was only multiplayer and it was hard as hell to play. I was never one of the greats, or even really good but I always found it fun. Thing is the game is absolutely full of content. The multiplayer was amazingly complex for its day. Even though it had no multiplayer it was still seeped in Starsiege lore. You don't need to know any of it to play the game, but they did put a lot of time into it. So it's not like content and multiplayer are mutually exclusive.

    5. Re:Where is the fun? by Darkness404 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Except for the fact there is a difference between simply losing and being told you suck repeatedly from people who have no life other than the game.

      The problem is, unless you are part of the "community" and can devote a lot of time to a game, you aren't going to have fun because the majority of people online are assholes.

      There is a line between simply being bad at a game and 14 year old kids cursing you out because you can't devote 8 hours a day to the game.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    6. Re:Where is the fun? by Moryath · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I'm really sorry to say this. But you are completely full of shit.

      Two things need to happen. First up, matchmaking desperately needs a better way to match players of similar skill.

      Second, whoever came up with the "play for X hours, get 'experience points' to unlock all the uber fucking gear" for Call of Duty, that every other goddamn FPS-multiplayer has been mimicking ever since, needs to fucking die. It's already bad enough that the lifeless basement-dwellers ruin the game for anyone else coming on to play for fun, now they get an extra advantage in more body armor and deadlier weapons too?

      No. Thank. You.

      I gave up on playing anything multiplayer on Xbox Live for one simple reason: I can't go on to anywhere, find a "new players" server, and get comfortable in the game. No, all that's available are the deathmatch and ctf-playing 14-year-old fatsos who live in their parents' basement, never see natural light, and scream "faggot" into their headset constantly if you don't do everything picture perfect and have a goddamn photographic memory for every little fucking nook and cranny and weapon respawn time so that you're standing right on the rocket launcher the moment it comes back up from their using the ammo up and dropping the last spawn.

    7. Re:Where is the fun? by demonlapin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I suck at FPS. So what? I don't have time to become good at the genre or memorize the maps. Just put me on a server with a bunch of other guys who don't know the maps and suck. We'll all have fun, while you guys who are good at it compete for the real glory.

    8. Re:Where is the fun? by Ephemeriis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm really sorry to say this. Most games are competitive.

      These days that's largely true. Which is part of my complaint. Cooperative and/or single-player games are getting harder to find. Which is a problem, if I don't feel like playing something competitive.

      If you're not having fun, you probably suck.

      I'm very willing to accept that I suck. I don't have hours to devote to practicing enough to become good. And I'm ok with that. You aren't going to insult me by telling me that I suck. I know this already.

      But simply losing at a game can still be enjoyable - if the people you're playing with are not jerks.

      There's a difference between playing a friendly match and losing to somebody who is a good sport, and playing with somebody who is screaming random obscenities and insulting you every time you die.

      --
      "Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
  2. Re:*yawn* by tool462 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's a cheat code:
    Unix Unix Dem Dem Linux Repub Linux Repub Broadcom Apple Sun Start

    Instant +5, Insightful and positive Karma.