Having a lot of online multiplayer modes in videogames is not necessarily good.

Bored and disappointed with Nintendo Switch's library, I recently went back to PC-gaming. In Q4 of last year, I built a new PC, but I hadn't gamed too much on it. I did copy a few games from my older PC to it: Titanfall, Titanfall 2, and Battlefield 4, while purchasing two new games: Recore, and Rise of the Tomb Raider. However, Daemon Tools messed my computer up. I had to use Windows 10's "Reset this PC" feature because System Restore wouldn't work. This meant I had my files, like my pictures and videos, but all my applications and games were lost.

I've been slowly copying my games back from my old computer that has a decent-sized library on it, and the second game I copied to this newest PC was Titanfall.

I don't know how it is on Xbone or X360, but it's a sad state of affairs for Titanfall on PC. Attrition, the most boring mode, is the most popular mode, followed by Frontier Defense and Campaign. My favorite lobby - Variety Pack, is a wasteland.

There are so many modes in Titanfall, but it's a shame because I can't play them unless I organized a tournament and made private matches or something.

Having a lot of online multiplayer modes in videogames is not necessarily good. This is one area in which Nintendo was really smart. In Splatoon 1, there were only two modes for random, online play: Regular Battle and Ranked Battle. With Ranked Battle, they were even more clever: they rotated three modes within it so that you could play all three modes while only having to worry about queuing up for one lobby.

I like a lot of the modes in Titanfall; they are very fun. Capture the Flag is a competitive favorite, and also a favorite of mine as I just plant Arc Mines near the flag and hide. Marked for Death forced me to stop turtling and move around the map; it was frightening but exhilarating. I liked Pilot Hunter more than Attrition because you couldn't expedite matches by farming grunts; this meant the matches lasted longer and were more strategic. Last Titan Standing was very tactical and taught me a lot about flanking, positioning on the map relative to my teammates, and generally fighting with my Titan. Hardpoint Domination is a classic, but also another favorite; I loved getting easy kills with Arc Mines in it as well.

The problem with the modes wasn't that they weren't fun, nor that there were even too many, but that people could queue for one and only one of them at a time. Variety Pack sought to remedy this by including most of them in a single lobby and randomizing which mode would be played next; but when there are other lobbies to queue for, people are less likely to pick Variety Pack.

They tried to remedy this again in Titanfall 2. You can queue for any number of lobbies at one time. The problem here is that most people will just select Attrition, the most brainless mode, and deselect the others.

If I was a developer, I would have one lobby - Variety Pack. Some people might be upset that they can't only play the most boring, brainless mode, but exposing players to all the different modes will benefit them. By playing a variety of modes, they will be forced to develop multiple skills with multiple weapons, using multiple strategies and mindsets. This will lift the skill-floor as well as the skill-ceiling of the entire playerbase.

Choice is sometimes good, but sometimes it is best to limit it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Retrotek SCART to Component Converter" Review (SCBV1P3)

Image
I do not like spreading negativity out there, but I needed to warn people about this device. I bought this for 80 dollars on ebay; I'm not gonna link from whom, because he or she does not deserve more sales of this awful device. When it works, it works, albeit with flaws. The image produced is sharp, as a component-video signal should be, and the colors are accurate, except that there is a green tint to the entire picture. I've read that one has to open these things up and adjust the 'pots' inside (an electrical term) with a screwdriver. I never really tried doing that or minded the green tint too much, because it's very subtle. What I did mind a lot, was the fact that sometimes, it won't work, and I'll only get audio. This is a big problem. I wouldn't mind the colors being a little off, or there being some 'noise' in the video-signal, but when the success-rate of the thing actually working is 50%, it's a deal-breaker. I paid 80 dolla...
Read more

White Japanese Sega Saturn 3D Control Pad (Controller) Review HSS-0137

Image
As a recently new Sega Saturn owner, I knew I had to get the Sega Saturn 3D Control Pad because it was the definitive controller for playing Nights Into Dreams. I decided to purchase the more aesthetically-pleasing Japanese version. Upon first inspection, it is noticeably big - bigger than it should be. Sega was probably going for form over function here, because the round shape does look like a mini-spaceship or UFO, which goes with their theme of space with the Saturn itself, but it is not the most ergonomically comfortable controller out there. For example, when playing six-button fighting-games, it is difficult to hold the controller in the left hand and 'piano' the buttons with the right. The d-pad is a little different from the American Model 1 and Japanese Model 2 controllers'. It feels a little stiffer. Of the three controllers I have tried, it has my least favorite d-pad. On the plus-side, however, it features the best start-button of the three. ...
Read more

Japanese Model 2 Sega Saturn Controller Review HSS-0101

Image
Recently, I bought a Model 2 American Sega Saturn, but it came with a Model 1 controller. It was pretty good, but I liked the look of the Model 2 Japanese controller, and the d-pad seemed more comfortable. After ordering one on ebay, and opening the package I later received, I was taken aback at how 'creamy' the controller looked. It didn't look like it had changed color, like old NESes, but it didn't look as white as I had imagined. Even the photo above looks whiter than it actually is. The d-pad is better than the Model 1's, but not by too much. The face-buttons feel the same, but the Start-button is a big improvement. The biggest improvement comes in the form of the shoulder-buttons. I don't think the actual internal switches have changed, but now you don't have to press the buttons on the rear of its plastic-shell to get them to actuate. In general, they feel and sound like mouse-buttons. You won't want to use them in action-games, but f...
Read more