An e-mail letter to Sythbane Squadron, from our friend Fartknockker:
Sythbane,
I will be taking a break from Modern Warfare 2 for a while. Not because of problems with the Javelin glitch, but terrible respawns and lag have elevated my frustration level with the game to a point of walking away.
Above, Fortiscule serves as an example of a frustrated gamer, like Fartknockker has become lately. My theory: Respawns have been programmed to increase the chances of payback kills. As a result you tend to spawn closer to enemies more often than in previous COD games. The other day I was playing Team Deathmatch on Wasteland. I respawned, turned around and there were three enemies 10 feet away. I am not saying this has never happened but it seems considerably more prevelent in this game.
Lag -- seeing an enemy pop in a window for a second and then getting shot by that enemy in that same second and then watching the killcam and that enemy having a full 3 seconds to draw sights, aim and shoot. I have a 6M down and 1M up net speed. This should be sufficient. In my book, that's not fair.
The misuse of tactical inserts to acquire a nuke is another deterent from my play. A player on team A will get a friend to be on team B. The player on team B will equip a tact insert and keep spawning in front of the player on team A at a predetermined spot on a given map that is not traveled very often and out of the way, so as not to be noticed. (I believe these spots were intented to be safe areas for players to operate killstreak rewards and call in airdrops but are now being exploited) The player on team A can get a 25-kill streak very quickly by killing the player on team B over and over because on the tac insert, not to mention the killstreak reward player A acquires for the tac insert kills. I have no patience for cheaters.
I will be working on Left for Dead 2, Borderlands and Call of Duty Classic until I have stored enough patience to return to MW2.
Editor's note: Our friend and contributor Mr. Fartknockker offers this rejoinder to my recent post about the shortcomings of hardcore mode in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. "I did not in any way take offense to anything in your piece. I actually agreed with most of it," he said. "I just felt like elaborating on the subject." By Fartknockker Sythbane Squadron contributor
There has always been a decision to make when playing online multiplayer in a Call of Duty title. Core or hardcore? There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Depending on your strengths and skill, one might work better than the other.
Some advantages in core mode include crosshairs on the screen. They help aiming quite a bit. The HUD displays match information, score, and ammo and equipment count, which is very handy considering the new scavenger perk.
If you’re good, core mode offers the best playlist for ranking up weapons and equipment, and completing challenges for bonus experience points -- the key for ranking quickly. Constantly changing weapons, equipment and perks will net you bigger XP on average at the end of every other match. Points you earn from completing challenges far outweigh those from kills or bomb plants.
If you are going to play core though, you have to be accurate with your shots because every one counts. That is really my only major gripe with core mode and the main reason I prefer hardcore.
Hardcore features decreased health and increased bullet damage, which means not only do you have to be accurate, but very quick. I want to know if I shoot you first, you will die, as opposed to me dumping half a clip and you turning and killing me. If I want to use an entire clip to kill somebody, I will go play Halo.
In core mode you can be a little more liberal in running around the map because you have more of a chance to escape damaged but not dead. Hardcore has to be played more conservatively because you can end up pushin’ daises very quickly. If you are a run-and-gunner at heart, like me, respawn times in hardcore might be a little annoying at best.
Camping is one of those things most people complain about but most of those same people will do themselves, at least from time to time. You will find more of it in hardcore because it tends to be a lot more tactical mode because of quick deaths. But, is a player that finds a high point on the map and snipes camping? No. He’s sniping. Is a player that hides in a bush near a bomb plant in search and destroy camping? No. He’s protecting the plant. I would consider a camper somebody who picks a certain spot on the map and stays the entire match. There is no skill in that and that’s why people find it annoying.
No HUD on the screen in hardcore means no clutter and as much visibility as possible. Some people might consider having no crosshairs a disadvantage, but people who play hardcore just know where the center of their screen is in relation to where they want to aim. It becomes instinctive.
It all comes down to personal preference. Personally I like both modes but I prefer hardcore. Luckily, most of my friends such as Big Daddy Ogre, TeeBoan, notatreehugger and BigTODA78 prefer it, too. I can speak for those guys when I say the main reason we prefer hardcore is increased bullet damage. You will find me, however, scoring dome shots and dominating with Sythbane in Core Team Deathmatch. Sythbane hates it when he empties an entire magazine into Mr. Fartknockker, and then Fartknockker turns around and kills him.
My Xbox Live friends might have noticed that I've spent a lot of time playing Dragon Age: Origins lately. My review is up now on Techcetera! Take a look and pile on the comments.
You can find all my recent reviews collected on my al.com profile page.
Below, you see sexy mage Morrigan, voiced by Claudia Black from Farscape. You better believe Morrigan is always in my party of adventurers in Dragon Age. Because, my name is Sythbane, and I party! (... just like Hot Rod.)
Coming soon:Mr. Farttknocker takes a long-range shot at me as he responds to my recent post about hardcore vs. core in Modern Warfare 2. I'd better duck.
My review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is up on Techcetera. Take a look and see if you concur. TeeBoan and I discussed the game's virtues during a hardcore team deathmatch last night.
TeeBoan is one of the folks who shares my slight annoyance at the party-chat ban during matches, but we also agree that the game is amazing.
The only problem I'm having is that most of my Xbox Live shooting buddies prefer hardcore mode to regular "core" mode. My skill is somewhat deficient in hardcore mode, and my scores are far better in core mode.
My joy in playing the game is far greater when I've scored 20 or 30 kills in a core free-for-all than when I've scored 3 kills and 16 deaths in a hardcore match.
Farttknocker is so far ahead of me in multiplayer rank that I hear only rumor -- spoken in hushed tones of awe -- of his relentless ascent. I cannot fathom how he scores so highly playing hardcore, because the kill counts in hardcore are so low compared to core mode.
My problem with hardcore, as I've said before, is that it rewards players who sit and wait for others to come to them, a passive way of playing also known as "camping." I have little patience for doing this.
The fun of the game, it seems to me, depends on the initiative of players who move around and mix it up. Otherwise, everybody sits still, camping and waiting to snipe, like the stalemate in the trenches of World War I. The hallmark of modern warfare is the speed of maneuver, the suddenness of action and violence. Erwin Rommel figured that out and put it to work in the Blitzkrieg, and George Patton read the beautiful bastard's book.
The speed of maneuvering was accelerated again when the First Air Cavalry was formed in Vietnam, as infantry was lofted around the battle zone in Huey slicks, escorted by Cobra gunships.
In the recent HBO series Generation Kill, the First Recon commander, Lt. Col. Stephen "Godfather" Ferrando, talked about how the Marines were outnumbered in Iraq and their entire strategy depended on "tempo, tempo, tempo" and "the violence of action."
Note the discussion about 1:40 into this video:
Suddenness of action probably was used long ago, too. I'm also reminded of the scene in Excalibur when Arthur, his knights outnumbered as he rides into his final battle against the forces of Mordred, says, "We'll use the old ways. Speed of horse!"
Now, I understand that a hunter's patience, waiting to ambush his prey, is a warrior's virtue that is reflected in MW2's hardcore mode. I do not mean to disparage the skills of my friends who prefer hardcore mode. Farttknocker probably is so good at it because he's a turkey hunter, and he possesses the necessary patience. It's just that I personally don't think it's as much fun to play. I prefer to keep moving!
Ghost in the Joe
Moving on, I call your attention back to my recent post showcasing the G.I. Joes I customized to resemble characters in Modern Warfare 2.
(Here you go, TeeBoan!)
There are no Modern Warfare 2 toys as yet, so I make my own.
I'll be adding to this collection soon, so stay tuned ...
I lined up with about 30 other folks at midnight at my hometown Walmart for the 11-10-09 release of Activision's Modern Warfare 2.
As soon as I got home with the game, I played about three missions of the campaign, and then dived into the multiplayer.
I was slaughtered in the first match by a bunch of guys who had apparently had the game longer than the hour-and-a-half since the game was officially launched. They already seemed to know the maps, and had unlocked high-level perks.
Then I found my Sythbane Squadron mates Bama Breeze and Smokin Buddy, and we teamed up for some multiplayer and started scoring some kills. It was a good start!
I made a few notes on Techcetera about the midnight madness, too, so check it out. Did you play the campaign first, or multiplayer? First impressions?
I look forward to playing with all my SB-S friends in days and weeks to come. See y'all online!
The new trailer for Halo Reach that was shown on Spike TV's VGAs gave me goosebumps.
My Xbox Live friends might have noticed that I've spent a lot of time playing Dragon Age: Origins lately. My review is up now on Techcetera! Take a look and pile on the comments.
TeeBoan is one of the folks who shares my slight annoyance at the party-chat ban during matches, but we also agree that the game is amazing.
As soon as I got home with the game, I played about three missions of the campaign, and then dived into the multiplayer.
My review of 2K's excellent new shooter/RPG Borderlands is up on Techcetera. Check it out and let me know what you think!
