Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

I'm a pretty decent at the single player modes in FPS games, probably about average or a little better. I've beaten several FPS games for 360 on typically the normal difficulty setting, never less but occasionally harder. For some reason, in every game I get my ass handed to me in multiplayer. Halo 3, Gears of War, Call of Duty 4, etc. I just get smoked. I get killed twice as much as I kill others, if not more.

Most recently I've been playing COD4. Loved the single player mode, tons of fun, although I beat it on normal in probably 6-7 hours and didn't really find any part very difficult. I'm going to eventually replay it on the harder difficulties, but meanwhile I've been playing multiplayer and getting owned. It feels like I get killed every ten seconds, almost always being blind sided by somebody. I've been playing mostly team deathmatch, and I like that the games seem pretty fair for the most part as far as matchmaking goes. Despite me sucking, my team has managed to win a fair amount more than I've lost. Still, it frustrates me so much to be killed so often and takes the fun out of the game. I'll have good rounds where I end up killing quite a few people, and it's a lot of fun when that happens but it's pretty rare. Usually I'm the one with the least points at the end of the match and way too many deaths.

Part of the problem lays in that usually I have no idea what's going on. When I play it careful I end up getting flanked by somebody who doesn't show up on my radar, or if that doesn't happen I just end up not being able to find anybody to kill and eventually somebody finds me and kills me. When this happens I try to be more aggressive and hunt people down, which almost always results in getting mowed down by somebody I can't see. Even when I do manage to find an opponent across from me I usually am on the short end of the stick, although I can hold my own I guess. It's mostly the people who manage to pick me off from a million different locations that usually kills me.

I really just suck at multiplayer in pretty much all FPS games, I don't really know why, but it's pissing me off. If somebody can teach me how to hold my own in multiplayer first person shooter games I'll teach you how to be good at poker. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

fast paced aggressiveness, constant radar monitoring, map awareness, gun choice/range management. ship the poker coaching.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

I went from a pretty mediocre to an decentish (level ~35) Halo 3 player. Biggest thing outside of the fundamentals (aim/predicting where a target is going to move to while aiming at them), was the maps. Learn them, memorize them. Watch videos of good players and follow the same paths they follow on the maps, and see why they follow them.

It sounds so simple but the biggest thing you really have to focus on is making sure your enemies are always in front of you, and your allies / 'safe' territory are behind you. Serious, once you get that down - you will be miles ahead of an average player. You'll be the one ambushing people left and right and rarely finding yourself suprised or confused about where you're being attacked from.

A good example might be the level Isolation on Halo 3. You'll always see bad players randomly scurrying about the top just trying to find somebody to shoot. The good players will always be up on the conrete slab looking down at everybody with their back protected, or coming up/around the sides unless they already have an isolated target and are going straight for him.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

Map awareness is pretty hawt.. I recall from my CS playing days that, you could always tell when someone was unfamiliar with a map. They'd walk right past you hiding in a little nook, just waiting to mow them down, listening to their foot steps. Mmm.. fun times.

Just remember, some of the people who are killing you may do nothing except play that particular game all day. Food for thought. Or just something positive to think after you've done something horrendously thick and you need to feel a bit better about yourself as a human being.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

I agree that learning the map is key. However, beating the game on a higher difficulty will also make you a better player in my opinion. I think you'll be a lot more quicker with the trigger. Accuracy and getting the first shot typically results in the win (kill).

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

OP,

You probably just don't play enough, which is a good thing.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

It sounds like you need practice first and foremost. Personally, what I find sets the great players apart from the good ones is how they see the game. It's a lot like poker. Think about what you're doing and why you're doing. See if there's a better option available. Look at what other people (particularly the better ones) are doing. Take note of the strategies that frustrated you the most and try to adapt them into your own game.

I'm one of the uppper echelon halo 3 players, but every now and then, I'll face some guy who will mop the floor with me. Yes, his accuracy is better, and that accounts for a bit, but at the end of it, I look back and am amazed at how thoroughly I was leveled over and over again.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

I'm in the same boat as you. CoD4 is my first FPS, so I still suck at it pretty bad. However, every time I play, I notice different things and seem to be getting better. Learning the maps has helped, so does finding a gun you like and being comfortable with it. I also try to watch the killcam, which shows me a little about where they were and how they killed me.

One time I pushed some button at the beginning of the match and started observing them (seeing what they were doing through their eyes). I have no idea how to get back to that option, but it seems like it would be good to do that to the player that seems to come in first the most.

Send me your name if you want and I'll play with you, I'm sure you'll feel better about your skills [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

Keep playing. Most FPS online players probably have some other kind of experience playing these scenarios and most are probably more hardcore than you. Experience will make you better. You'll take note of the maps and the good players' strategies etc.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

You either have it or you dont [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. I havent played many FPS's online in awhile and It was pretty easy to beat people up in COD4 for me. I wonder if you're someone Ive beaten up [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. But anyways, just keep at it. You should get better eventually.

And I dont think playing the campaign will actually make you better. The games AI versus human competition is way different. You just need more experience versus real people.

Oh and please dont be one of those people who always camp in corners even after they kill someone. I see sooooo many players in COD4 do that, and they are always the losers.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

Unless you play a ton you'll continually get owned by the online guys. They play all the time and know all the maps very well and also the spots to camp and launch attacks from. Online is much different than COD4(or any other FPS) on normal difficulty, the AI is not much of a challenge in any campaigns.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

[ QUOTE ]
fast paced aggressiveness, constant radar monitoring, map awareness, gun choice/range management. ship the poker coaching.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

Thanks for the responses, I even got a few PMs as well, thanks again.

I seem to be getting a little better, I was a level 8 or so on COD4 when I wrote this post and was using the MP5 and red dot scope, which worked alright but the recoil was a bit much for me and I missed easy kills too often. Unfortunately I really had no alternatives at that point, not enough guns to choose from. Today I was researching the best guns in the game, and of course a million people had different opinions, but quite a few mentioned the M4 as a good gun to use because of it's little recoil, which is exactly what I was looking for. I started getting more kills but it was tough aiming without a scope. I just unlocked the red dot scope and the first match I was neck and neck with some guy on Free For All for most points. Unfortunately he edged me out. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I happened to face a lot of people who had lower ranks that time though so I supposed I lucked out there.

I still get killed way too much though, but it's almost always people who I have no idea are there until it's too late. I like COD4, but I think these maps are way too small for this amount of players. I just feel like the only way I can avoid dying is to have eyes in the back (and for that matter, the sides as well) of my head.

I suppose knowing the maps more would help. I have a bad memory though, but I'll try that in the future.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

[ QUOTE ]
OP,

You probably just don't play enough, which is a good thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, the typical profile for many of these hardcore online fPS clowns consist of out-of-shape, pimple-faced nerds sitting in their underwear all day while drinking Mountain Dew and munching on Doritos..
They usually have a forearm that is slightly bigger than the other for reasons that are quite obvious.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

[ QUOTE ]
They usually have a forearm that is slightly bigger than the other for reasons that are quite obvious.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is it from vigorously fisting your mom?

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

The only FPS I ever got into playing multiplayer online was Half-Life free for alls. I think that on a lot of maps they fit my style very well. I tended to be very good at movement and evasion - thank you long jump module - and mediocre at accuracy in an actual firefight. Keeping moving usually meant you could find people otherwise engaged and pick them off with the grenade launcher, though, or get right up behind them and shotgun their ass.

Anyway, in playing Halo with friends of mine a few years ago, I found that I suffered in a game where the movement of the players wasn't quite as fast, because my relative lack of accuracy became amplified.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

Being good at campaigns and being good at online games have nothing in common. They require 2 different styles of play.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

[ QUOTE ]
Being good at campaigns and being good at online games have nothing in common. They require 2 different styles of play.

[/ QUOTE ]


Agreed.

I've always been pretty darn good at any FPS I pick up. Started with Delta Force 2 on the computer (Novalogic) and out of the thousands of people that played that, I was in the top 10 - FPS' have always come very natural to me. I wonder why that is? Maybe it's just a case of growing up with these things, versus older players who are more used to mario type games.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

I've sucked at pretty much any next gen shooter I've played online (GoW, FEAR, Resistance) but CoD4 somehow works for me. Everybody has said it before but knowing the map really is key. You have to know where the territorial battles are fought. Very often there is some spot in a map everybody either instinctively goes to or wants to occupy. All the action is there so go there! Use grenades in these situations and always try to come from wherever they are not expecting you to come from.

Aim for the head!

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
They usually have a forearm that is slightly bigger than the other for reasons that are quite obvious.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is it from vigorously fisting your mom?

[/ QUOTE ]

hey lighten up you scumbag.. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
OP,

You probably just don't play enough, which is a good thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, the typical profile for many of these hardcore online fPS clowns consist of out-of-shape, pimple-faced nerds sitting in their underwear all day while drinking Mountain Dew and munching on Doritos..
They usually have a forearm that is slightly bigger than the other for reasons that are quite obvious.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wish I could live that way. I can't understand how people always act like that would be a bad thing. LoL . . .

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

Mountain Dew and Doritos would give me cancer in about 10 minutes flat, so I'll pass. However, the underwear thing is really cozy.

I think this image of an FPS addicted person isn't quite accurate. Anyone heard of Fata1ity (Jonathan Wendel)? He's one of the world's best FPSers, and he's by no means out of shape, pimple faced, or constantly in a state of undress. (Although, judging by one picture, one of his forearms IS slightly bigger than the other... >.>)

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

And I thought all 2+2 mancrushes were reserved for Antonius.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

You may have some bad habits from playing on normal. Definitely know the spots people like to camp in a given map and keep your head on a swivel. Make sure you round corners so that you're ready to shoot anyone if they're there as well as work on reaction time for knifing. For COD4, you may want to try using a silencer to keep from being seen on everyones radar. I often end up running down people that pop up on my radar. Think about how you're going to attack a position and how to approach without being seen. And don't immediately run over someone you just killed. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

Imo, there are 2 (maybe 3) things that you need to do to become better at FPS multiplayer games: Communication and Situational Awareness. The third one is skill, but that is a maybe.

Communication:

For the most part, you will only be as good as your team. Sure, some guy might be killing everything is his path, but if he is on a horrible team, he will also be dying a lot. This will get you to the top of your leaderboard, but you will never win games. Talk with your teammates, call out contact, where you died, how many there were. If you had a heads up on what the other team was doing, you would be able to counter that much easier. [censored], sometimes the counter is to run!

This doesn’t happen as much in random on-line games, but if you really seek this kind of stuff, join a clan.

Situational Awareness:

I think that this topic is the most important. There are so many things that you can do to live a bit longer, or kill one extra person, or maybe even stop you team from sucking.

Fulfill a role. If you see 5 people sniping, don’t be a sniper. On the flip side, if nobody is sniping, snipe, ONLY IF YOU THINK IT WILL HELP. If everybody is charging forward, it might help if you hand back and cover the rear, or get an accurate single shot rifle to stay back from grenade range and pick people off. If everybody is being timid, grab that assault rifle and aggressively move at the opposing team.

Don’t find yourself alone. It is much easier to stay alive when the enemy has 2 or 3 targets, and not just one. It is also much easier to kill someone when 3 people are shooting it.

Plan ahead. If you are going to run across a huge open space, have a good idea what you are going to do in different situations. If 3 guys pop out as you are running, maybe you should just keep running and try to make it to cover. If two guys pop out, strafe and try and take one down on the way to cover. If one pops out, shoot him in the head.

Know the maps. If you see on your radar that a bunch of guys are coming around from the left, think about how they are going to approach your position, and think about how the terrain behind you will help counter this push. If they are coming down a hall or corridor, can you plant a claymore, find cover, and lob grenades? If you take a stand, can they come from two different directions? If so, run.

Understand people’s tendencies. Do not get killed in the same spot twice by the same person. In smaller maps in CoD4, sniping isn’t very effective because if you kill someone, they know where you are. If they have half a brain, they will figure a way to counter this. Grenades, counter-sniping, or the most under used counter: not going down the same damn street!

Skill:

Practice. You will get better. Also realize though, that you will never be the best. There are some freakish folks out there that will probably own you no matter what, but if you pay attention and pick up on what they are doing, you might not die as much.

Random thoughts:

-Have fun.
-Game selection ([censored], poker reference) For real though, if you find that you are playing on a scrub team against 8 people from a clan, leave, that game will not be fun.
-Find something you are good with, and stick with it for a while. I mean, branch out, but get good with a gun, so it feels comfortable. If you are getting kills tossing grenades at a spawn, keep doing it. If you [censored] own with a shotgun running around like a madman, keep it up.
-Weapons are different, so use them correctly. Don’t try and head shot a guy with a MP5 from across the map, this is retarded, wastes your ammo, gives your position away, and makes you look stupid. Plus you will be shot in the face by a sniper, and you will be dead.

Words for the OP:

Keep it up, you will get better as you learn the maps and get a bit more skill. Make sure you stay at the center of your pack of teammates, and keep yourself out of the open spaces. Don’t run alone. The main thing you should focus on is your Kill to Death ratio. Honestly try some rounds where you just practice not dying. If the leaders go off with 50 kills and 40 deaths, and you only have 5 kills and 1 death, I would call that a success. Stick with that M4 for a bit. A high percentage of competitive gamers are using that right now for all the reasons you stated above. Don’t spray and pray, you should never empty a whole clip in one burst unless there are 10 people vs you in a hallway.

Also, like some have said before me, never play a game on an easy setting right when you get it. If you are not great at these games, play it one level away from the hardest, and as you get better, play each game you get on its hardest level. Sure, it can get frustrating, but when you can beat it, you will be GOOD at the game. At least in regards to the mechanics of the weapons and game play.


Wow I am bored at work, and after the holiday I really don’t feel like doing [censored]. Hope this helps.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

Nice post.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

Thanks for all the advice again, that last post was very helpful especially. Anybody who has put in time to make a post or sent me a PM with helpful multiplayer strategy feel free to shoot me a question about something poker related like hands, general strategy, etc and I'll help you out.

Right now in COD4 I'm playing mostly Free For All, as they are the best for achieving kills for various weapon challenges, and for me they are the funnest. With TDM there is a lot of camping and stuff which I'm pretty weak at defending against and it just ends up frustrating me. I'm typically getting killed a ton and not killing many people which ends up pissing me off. When I play FFA I'm now frequently among the top points leaders (although I've yet to get first place, although I tied once but lost technically due to more deaths) and although I still die often, I get quite a bit of kills.

I was using the M4 for a while but I'm trying to rank up and get some of the better weapons / perks so I've been trying different weapons and trying to beat the various challenges with them which give a lot of XP, not to mention makes the game a bit more fun imo using different weapons and finding out what is a good weapon to use in different situations.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

Another tip I'm culling from an old story on Planet Fargo and a Scrubs episode: Moderate the temp where you play. You don't want it so cold that your hands start freezing up. Consider 'flogging the dolphin' before you play. It'll really loosen you up. If not for your score, do it for the team!

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

one thing that seemed to help me is watching my ping rate and making sure I am not lagging.

Re: Why do I suck at multiplayer arghh
 

using a silencer helps a lot. Newbs tend to be less accurate fire a lot more ammo and not move around enough so not popping up on radar when firing help a lot.