I don't know why but I have never really seen the appeal of online multiplayer. There's no one aspect about it that I can pinpoint and say that is the reason why I have never made a real concerted effort to play games online. I don't count my forays in Massively Multiplayer games due to me always being a ardent Player versus Environment player that avoided raiding and interacting with other players like they were a plague. As far as shooters go I think I played two or three Halo 3 matches online and I player one match online for Modern Warfare 2. So I guess it's a suprise that I'm using Call of Duty: Black Ops to wean me into online multiplayer. 
 
I guess this is where I make my confession...I like shooters especially first person shooters...but I'm terrible at first person shooters. I have had friends that are great at this game watch me and coach me and give me advice, and so far none of it has worked. So I've kind of come to terms that I'm probably never going to be calling the dogs anytime soon.
 
I don't want to convey the sense that because I am bad at Call of Duty that I don't enjoy the online multiplayer. It's quite the opposite. It's this weird dynamic where I actually enjoy the game more. I am continually amazed at how terrible I am at this game and it has officially reached a level of hilarity that adds to the experience. It's gotten to the point where I'm hardwired to expect that my kill/death ratio be around .333 (1/3). Why would I be proud for such a feat? When you go 4-13 each individual kill that you do get is far more enjoyable than if you have a positive kill death ratio. Maybe it's just me trying to rationalize my terribleness, but I can honestly say that I don't want to get good at this game. I remember my terrible sessions a lot better than my great sessions. I can't tell you what my best session is (I think 22-8), but I can honestly look you in the eye and say I went 3-27 and it was great and it was a wonderful time for me at least. 
 
Now as a user who is almost always at the bottom of my team and sometimes the reason why my team loses Team Deathmatch I guess it's time for me to address the community side of Black Ops. I honestly have say that yes people do insult you when you are terrible, but they are so uncreative with their insults that I'm disappointed. Maybe being a mod has unforseen benefits but I'm never insulted when I play matches online. People who go online should come prepared with tough skin.
 
Now why would users get angry at me on the first place? Because I'm THAT USER on Black Ops. I still use an M-16 with an ACOG sight even though I'm now level 15. I use the RC-XD because yo homie I needs me some kills. I use Second Chance, because...come on...I need KILLS! I use hardline...because I'm the reason why there is the Hardline perk in the first place. I have my killstreaks numbered at 2-3-4 (using Hardline) because I think I have called a mortar strike legitimately once. When I get flashbanged I charge like a maniac with my finger holding the trigger screaming "ARRRGGGHHHH" on my microphone. I'm the guy who stands still on open fields doing nothing and is a sniper's delight. I'm exclusively playing Headquarters to boost my XP and almost always never actually contribute to my team and am just on for the ride. Also, and it probably is why I don't do that good in this game in the first place, I always hesitate to pull the trigger when I see an enemy player.
 
I'm slowly but surely starting to understand why people put so much time and effort into this game. It's oddly hypnotic making emblems and buying new guns and stuff to put on those guns. Whether or not I continue to play this game months after the fact I guess is the big question but for now I'm enjoying...maybe for the the wrong reasons but for my own reasons at the very least.

I don't know why but I have never really seen the appeal of online multiplayer. There's no one aspect about it that I can pinpoint and say that is the reason why I have never made a real concerted effort to play games online. I don't count my forays in Massively Multiplayer games due to me always being a ardent Player versus Environment player that avoided raiding and interacting with other players like they were a plague. As far as shooters go I think I played two or three Halo 3 matches online and I player one match online for Modern Warfare 2. So I guess it's a suprise that I'm using Call of Duty: Black Ops to wean me into online multiplayer. 
 
I guess this is where I make my confession...I like shooters especially first person shooters...but I'm terrible at first person shooters. I have had friends that are great at this game watch me and coach me and give me advice, and so far none of it has worked. So I've kind of come to terms that I'm probably never going to be calling the dogs anytime soon.
 
I don't want to convey the sense that because I am bad at Call of Duty that I don't enjoy the online multiplayer. It's quite the opposite. It's this weird dynamic where I actually enjoy the game more. I am continually amazed at how terrible I am at this game and it has officially reached a level of hilarity that adds to the experience. It's gotten to the point where I'm hardwired to expect that my kill/death ratio be around .333 (1/3). Why would I be proud for such a feat? When you go 4-13 each individual kill that you do get is far more enjoyable than if you have a positive kill death ratio. Maybe it's just me trying to rationalize my terribleness, but I can honestly say that I don't want to get good at this game. I remember my terrible sessions a lot better than my great sessions. I can't tell you what my best session is (I think 22-8), but I can honestly look you in the eye and say I went 3-27 and it was great and it was a wonderful time for me at least. 
 
Now as a user who is almost always at the bottom of my team and sometimes the reason why my team loses Team Deathmatch I guess it's time for me to address the community side of Black Ops. I honestly have say that yes people do insult you when you are terrible, but they are so uncreative with their insults that I'm disappointed. Maybe being a mod has unforseen benefits but I'm never insulted when I play matches online. People who go online should come prepared with tough skin.
 
Now why would users get angry at me on the first place? Because I'm THAT USER on Black Ops. I still use an M-16 with an ACOG sight even though I'm now level 15. I use the RC-XD because yo homie I needs me some kills. I use Second Chance, because...come on...I need KILLS! I use hardline...because I'm the reason why there is the Hardline perk in the first place. I have my killstreaks numbered at 2-3-4 (using Hardline) because I think I have called a mortar strike legitimately once. When I get flashbanged I charge like a maniac with my finger holding the trigger screaming "ARRRGGGHHHH" on my microphone. I'm the guy who stands still on open fields doing nothing and is a sniper's delight. I'm exclusively playing Headquarters to boost my XP and almost always never actually contribute to my team and am just on for the ride. Also, and it probably is why I don't do that good in this game in the first place, I always hesitate to pull the trigger when I see an enemy player.
 
I'm slowly but surely starting to understand why people put so much time and effort into this game. It's oddly hypnotic making emblems and buying new guns and stuff to put on those guns. Whether or not I continue to play this game months after the fact I guess is the big question but for now I'm enjoying...maybe for the the wrong reasons but for my own reasons at the very least.

Sounds like combat training is for you.

I know what you mean, man. I'm pretty good at BC2, but I'm absolute crap at any COD game online.
 
It's reached the point where I think it's just hilarious to join a game and see how horribly I get mutilated. It just proves that things other than "winning" can be pretty damn fun.

Ya i don't like playing multiplayer all that much either. I am also surprised at how fun I find black ops to be although I don't think I'm as bad as you, i wont say I'm great. I'm not.
 
I played alot of CSS back in the day cus i had friends that played, and I got into MMOs the same way. Now-a-days I don't have that many friends that play, so generally multiplayer does not appeal to me as I don't want to listen to 12 year olds whine or some other absurd thing. I have everyone that's not on my friends list muted though so that hasn't been a problem.
 
Anyway, again I don't know why but I enjoy BL OPs multiplayer as well. It's kinda weird how that works, a lot of the fans of MW2 said its boring and me, a non fan, actually likes it. Go figure haha

To be fair, Call of Duty is around 75% twitch, 25% strategy for each individual situation you encounter. The major road to success is to simply have good reflexes, and occasionally remember to throw a flashbang. Certainly, you need a bit more strategizing on objective modes, but really not much. If you run against the wall long enough, you'll get better. It took months for me to be competent at Call of Duty 4.

Get off my Call of Duties. 

*Boy, bring me my rifle Louise. We have ourselves here a trespassing noob.*

Play TF2.

Play stealthily, you're sure to get a few kills that way.

After three prestiges, I am totally done with Black Ops. With the other COD games, I would say that I was done but a few weeks later I would get a burning desire to play again. But with Black Ops, I just have no desire whatsoever to even look at the case. That ship has sailed.

Hell, I used the M16 w/ Red Dot until I was about Level 45, but that was only because I wanted to complete the challenges and I was still above 1.00 K/D (even though that doesn't really matter as much since I play strictly Headquarters).

" I just have no desire whatsoever to even look at the case."

Interesting tale, it's probably true though, when you've got 20 deaths you don't care about 21 deaths, when I'm at 10 and 0 that one death is a knife to the face and neck. Uh :( 
 
While I don't want to ruin your fun by any means and am probably going to sound like an asshole regardless I really suggest you play combat training and stay out of proper matches, there's no worse feeling for a serious layer than to be the best scoring player in an entire round of TDM and still lose because of dudes going 3 - 27. I know I sound like an ass but...

Also if you don't have the reflexes try BC2, way more strategy involved imo. 

I have to admit, reading this makes you sound like a really fun broski to shoot infidels/russians/other evil foreigners with.

Black Ops has nothing to do with skill and everything to do with experience, so it's a good thing you're enjoying it without having to put in the effort. I've been playing console shooters for probably over 10 years now, and that's really the only reason I'm good at the game, from what I can see, since I rarely play. 
 
And 5-42 really is pretty amazing. I'd love to see you in action, just to watch. It's rare that you actually see someone do that unless they're actively trying to die.

Man... Battlefield is pretty sweet...

PVE for the win! I always prefer that way but...FPS are different. And more if the multiplayer is from a Call of Duty videogame :D

Well, online FPS are much about, being better at predicting what the other one will do next than the enemy. Sure there are face off situations, but mostly you get shot in the back. I am usually around a K/D of 1. It would be abit better if I would try to unlock stuff all the time. I do not really get the idea of using one weapon the entire game.

I think you should decide for your self if you want to make your FPS experience about teamplay and winning the game, or just about kills and being the "enfant terrible". If the first is true you probably should not play team deathmatch.

While I played a good share of several CoD games online, I would like to join in with the recommendation of Bad Company 2. These games are about objectives, winning the game and teamplay. (There is also TD, but no one rally plays that.) Most of the time this is also respeced by the players. While staying alive is somewhat important, since it ties to the victory condition ( unlike CoD's Domination mode), it is not absolutely paramount to your feeling of achievement (in CoD killstreaks). In fact you will get a metagame going in your head. Something like "i will destroy this tank, so we can take that base. I eo not care if I die a few times.

Playing bad while trying to be a teamplayer and trying to win, is much more satisfying, in part due to the fact that the ranking is based more on scores than kills, and that teamplay will be greatly rewarded. As a Medic you can even dominate the scoreboard even with a 0.3 K/D AND help your team a great deal. (Even without pointlessly reviving. Although, I never got what the deal is with that. I have no problem getting shot down after a revive. The net ticket counter for the team is the same, and often you can distract the enemy team until your objective charge blows up.)

Also it is a great time to jump in. You can get the main game pretty cheap, and the Vietnam expansion is pretty good.

I see where you're coming from, I'm bloody terrible at online multi player, more of a co-op/single player guy so when I play any game online I suggest screwing around and having fun because believe, at the end of the day you will have a much more enjoyable experience. 
 
For example, I went into a match only going prone around the map, ended up finishing 6-12 but I was pissing myself laughing the entire time, and that just makes me happy (The laughing part....not the pissing myself :P). 
 
Anyway, that's just the way I deal with being a noob. Oh yeah, and I only play objective games so I don't ruin the fun for my teammates in TDM :D. 

I like you, Id play games with you