In a fairly recent podcast, the GFW crew spent some time talking about the high barrier of entry that comes with jumping into multiplayer games, specifically ones that have been out for a while already. Listening to them talk about it, I started thinking about my own multiplayer experiences, which pretty much coincide with everything they said, and it's a strong reason why I mostly stick to single player, with only the occasional dabble in multiplayer. Now before you think I have an outright dislike for it, I have played quite a few games online with CoD 4. In fact, I bought it as soon as it came out, and immediately after finishing the main campaign, I jumped online and spent a large chunk of my time competing against other players. And I gotta say, I faired pretty well--I often claimed a spot in the top 3 and after a while frequently found myself in the number one spot, which definitely gave me a good feeling.

But then I stopped playing for a while, mostly because there were other games to play, but also because I was simply growing bored of it and I needed a break. Turns out now that taking that break was a pretty bad idea, as I am seriously lagging behind other players in terms of skill. Where first I was more than capable of offering some serious resitance, this time I found myself with almost as little chance as a blind man in a mine field. And as much as I tried to stick with it, hoping it was simply a matter of being 'rusty' I eventually came to the conclusion that I was quite simply outclassed. The people that I was playing against now knew tricks that I hadn't even thought of when I first started playing. The knew every nook and cranny of every map, and they always seemed to know exactly where people would be coming from. With every match played it became more painfully clear that my relatively short break from the game had given those who stuck with it more than enough time to hone their skills to the point of being able to utterly humiliate me. And I'm not going to lie about it: it sucked big time, and frustrated me to no end.

Now to keep this entry from being so lengthy that no one really wants to read it, I'll just say that I've had a similar experience with the original UT--a game where I even had my own clan and competed on a relative serious level. As soon as I took a break from it, I was pretty much screwing myself over. Of course it's even worse when I try getting into games that have been around for a while, without ever having played it before. But in such cases it never really bothers me as much because I already expect beforehand to be ending up at the bottom of the match lists for quite some time. But when you have played something for a while, then take a break, only to find yourself getting owned in every way possible when you get back, it really can be a frustrating and infuriating experience.

So I'm really wondering: why aren't there more skill-based matches like you see in Halo 3, except better? Halo's idea to matching up people with the same skill is nice, but as far as I remember, it only adds to your skill level as you progress. Should you ever call it quits for a while, your level will still be the exact same as it was before, while in reality you're nowhere near as competent anymore as you were before your break. And due to people learning new tricks and whatnot, even those with a lower skill level are often able to give you a good whoopin. Which, again, results in a situation similar to CoD 4.

So why even bother to get into the multiplayer side of a game unless you know you are going to stick with it? Or rather, once you've taken a break, why bother coming back to it again later? Seems to me that it is sheer foolishness to do so. And I'm really hoping that someone out there will realize--sooner rather than later--that people do take breaks from playing a game online, and that they will need a proper way of having their skill measured so they'll be able to compete in a fun way when they get back to it later. Until someone comes up with a viable system, if I ever do take a break from a particular game, I'll probably just stay on that break because I enjoy a good challenge, but continously getting my ass handed to me no matter how hard I try because of that break, that just ain't my idea of fun.

My advice to everyone then is: if you're planning on seriously competing against other players in a game, stick with it. If you feel that you need a break from it all, don't toss the game into a corner altogether. Play at least a couple of matches a week, preferably one or two a day to keep from falling too far behind on the competition. Because I can pretty much guarantee you, if you don't do that, and get back into it at a later time, you'll be in for alot of aggrevation. At least, that's my experience.