Hey guys.
First of all, this post is to help you become a better gamer, both strategically and competitively. These tips may or may not help you, but how much it helps you depends on how much you have taken these tips to thought.
With that explained, let's start.
Becoming a "better gamer" does not mean a higher K/D ratio, a better score per minute ratio, higher stats, etc., but determining how much you "become better" actually depends on whether you have made more strategic choices, how well you co-operate with teammates, your temper limits, and your ability to know your opponent.
-Becoming a more strategic gamer-
First off, ask yourself this:
-Do you like rushing head-first into combat, only retreating when things go bad?
-Do you like to position yourself in cover when attacking enemies?
-When multiple enemies pass by you, do you:
a)Jump into the middle of the group and attack them all in a group
b)Wait until the perfect moment to pick them off safely
-Do you change loadouts/tactics when things aren't exactly going your way?
-Do you use weapons/tactics depending on your situation?
If you are a more strategic person, your answers should be:
No, Yes, b), Yes, Yes.
When you are about to face a number of enemies, you must think before you act. Simply assaulting groups of five enemies without thinking could lead to you being riddled with bullets. Rushing is not always the best tactic, however it has the potential to be a great tactic in disrupting the enemy's plans.
Taking cover is a great way to deal with multiple enemies relatively safely, as you can hide behind a wall when you have low health, and even lure your enemies in for the kill.
When dealing with multiple enemies, order is always a factor to consider. When up against a group of three people, one looking in your direction, one looking at the other direction, and one currently fighting one of your teammates, which should you kill first? The one looking directly at you. In games like Call of Duty, where it's almost always fast-paced, you must be able to make quick decisions and choose who to kill first. The person looking in your direction is the most dangerous enemy to deal with, so you must always dispose of him first. The one looking in the other direction comes second, as he might notice the bullets flying past him and look at you. The person fighting your teammate comes last, as he is not that much of a threat, as he may already be dead by the time you kill the two enemies, or he may be heavily injured and attempt to run away.
You must always be ready to change tactics or loadouts when needed. You should never, and I mean
NEVER STICK TO ONLY ONE TACTIC WHEN IT"S GOING BAD. When it goes bad, it's probably because your enemy has found out what your plan is, and what your weakness is. (more about this in Metagame.) When things go bad, go to plan B, and change your tactics, mix it up a bit., go this way instead of that way, use this gun instead of this gun, etc. You must always change tactics when needed, and you must always know when to change your tactics, and when to keep them. For instance, you may be falling behind a bit, but what you are doing is actually giving a hard time on the other team. Know when to change your tactics, and know when to keep them.
You should also always have a specific route/tactic/weapon/everything for every situation, be it a map, enemy, etc. Know what to use in what place, and you can improve your gameplay.
Now that you have these tips on becoming a better strategic player, let's look at becoming a more friendly teammate.
-Working with allies-
I know it's probably hard to work with a few allies, and sometimes they will just be dicks. But you must use their skills for an advantage, and sometimes even abuse them. Yes, that will sound cruel, but just bear with me.
Teamwork is important, and without a very good team, you won't have a victory. However, it is almost impossible to work with your teammates if you don't have any way to communicate with them. Even though that may happen, you can still have a good team anyways.
You must always work together, and take objectives in a team. In almost every game, there is one or two people who just don't care about the objective and just go away to kill other players, or just do something else. You may think that they're dumb and they're supposed to arm the bomb, or capture the flag, blah blah blah. The truth is, when they are just killing players,
they are actually luring the enemy team away from the objectives and distracting them, even when they don't think they're doing it. How are they exactly distracting them? The enemy team may not be able to score, because that one guy is always killing them before they reach the objective. This can actually help you further, because they may even get mad and do stupid things. Taking and defending objectives can be done even with just one of you, as long as your teammates are playing the game. If all of them don't care about the objective and are just killing everybody, good. You can take objectives without much trouble.
But what happens when you are playing with very bad teammates? The answer is simple, but is also difficult to achieve. You must carry your team. Defend your team by taking most of the kills, and lock down objectives as you need to. Use the most overpowered weapons and tactics you can find and discourage the opposition, forcing them to change their tactics and weapons, and all in all, giving your team an edge. The enemy team will be unsure of what to do, and might not have a backup plan.
Know what your teammates specialize in, know what they are using, and know what they are doing. When a teammate is using a riot shield, use him as cover. When a teammate is sniping, and looking out in a field for an enemy, consider him as a lookout, and keep an ear open for his gunshots. When they are firing their guns in a hallway, assume that path is unsafe, and flank around to assist.
Dealing with a troll is a somewhat difficult thing, but to deal with this, I've put in some good ways to troll harder.
Corner Trapper: The troll who traps you in a corner. If you cannot escape, make as much noise as possible, send spam to the troll, fire your gun everywhere, etc. This actually might not keep you from being trapped in the corner, but it can definitely annoy the troll.
Kill Stealer: The troll that steals all of your kills: The one that will follow you everywhere and steal all your kills: To potentially stop him from stealing your kills, pick a class that is very strong agility-wise, and let the troll follow you as you rush through the map, ignoring each and every kill. You can also block his view by going in front of him every time he is killing an enemy.
The one that sits somewhere and snipes each of your kills: block his view by going in front of him.
View blocker: The troll that constantly shoves you out of the way, and blocks your sight: Do exactly what he is doing to you.
Now that you know how to deal with your teammates, let's look at how to control your anger.
-Controlling your temper-
Rage Quitting is never the way to victory. You must be able to keep your anger in check, or you may just as well lose 15 games in a row.
When your plans are not exactly going your way, change your tactic! I've already said this before, and I will say it again! You must be able to respond to the winds of change, and you must know when to change your tactics! The reason why that guy is pwning you so bad is because you are too stubborn to realize that your plan isn't going too well!
The biggest reason why players rage is because they think the game is "broken", and they complain about it. They always complain and bitch about shit, but that's another reason why they are doing so bad in games! They are bitching about their fucking spawns being crap and that there's a spawn camper just outside the door, and they keep bitching about it and all that bitching is making them forget that THERE WAS ANOTHER EXIT OUT OF THAT ROOM. Bitching about shit isn't helping you at all, in fact it's even distracting you.
I have a friend who is always complaining about every little thing that goes wrong in his games, and most of his complaining was about the spawns. He always complained about them, and he never once thought about the window beside him, or the pathway behind him. He complained that he died three times in a row, but he never thought about going the other direction(Again, change your tactics when you need to!). He complains about graphics being so derpy, when he never realizes that graphics are already pushed to their limits! He complains about weapons being overpowered, but sometimes he never thinks about the stats which are in fact, extremely underpowered!
My point is, try to avoid complaining about shit. If you always complain about stuff, almost all of the time your complaint will backfire right in your face because you forgot a crucial fact.
And when people are giving you a hard time, try not to insult them, because if you do, you're probably going to get insulted more.
Do you know the true definitions of the insult "Tryhard"? Here's some of the definitions.
1. A person who tries too hard in achieving something, and fails entirely.
Seems pretty normal right? However, this insult is so over-used that the next definitions are:
2. A face-saving insult used by someone who is feeling inadequate. Basically accuses anyone who is better than them by putting in an effort. Doubles as an excuse for sucking by implying lack of effort on the speaker's part.
3. An insult blatantly used by 13-year old kiddies in online gaming who, ironically, try very hard to achieve something and fail entirely.
Using insults isn't going to help you either. In fact, retaliating with an insult is only going to backfire with a pretty damn good comeback. And if you aren't experienced with insults and comebacks, you are in trouble.
But if you do know a lot of good comebacks, and are pretty good at making one up impromptu, then you can easily discourage someone who insults you, and even get you a victory in your game.
This goes to say: insulting someone can easily turn into a disaster, so avoid insulting people. Not just because of Cyberbullying and all that shit, but also because you are probably not going to win against a comeback war. (Especially with my history teacher, like seriously.)
My last reason why you should never get angry in a video game is this quote:
"Anger makes you stupid." -I don't know who said this
When you are angry, your I.Q. levels drop a fair bit, and your ability to make good choices in real life and in video games are impaired. You won't be able to concentrate, and you will fail harder and harder as you get angrier and angrier. The tips above will help you to play games more effectively, and being able to respond to changes will help you to respond with a different tactic rather than anger.
And finally, the last part I have to offer:
-The Metagame-
The Metagame to define it, is basically the object of knowing your opponent, what tactics they use, the routes they take, the way they play, their temper limits, their strengths, their weaknesses, etc.
It is important that you understand you opponents to become a better player. You may know how to deal with stuff in games, but how would you decide what to do if you don't even know what you're up against?
I have a few simple tips to finding the enemy's weaknesses, and their strengths.
Being killed by the enemy once should give you enough info on:
-what they are using
-where they have killed you
-how they have killed you
-when they decided to attack.
Being killed by the enemy twice gives you more info, enough to:
-either confirm or inform you on what they were using
-confirm their lookout point or inform that they like to be mobile
-inform you on how they like to kill; either stealthily, tactically, sniper, rush, or recklessly.
Being killed by the enemy three times should confirm:
-that they keep the same gun or they like picking up other guns
-if they are a sniper or camper in one spot or that they like to move around the map
-if they are a strategic-based player, a rusher, a sniper, a camper, or a noob.
But that was just one enemy, what about a full team?
You must know where the enemies like to snipe, and you must have a basic idea of what the enemy players are using. At the start of the game, you may pick a loadout that is suitable for the map, and that alone is probably enough for the match, unless the enemy team uses weapons that are strong against yours. In this case you must be able to know what guns they are using against you, and you must pick a weapon that is strong against theirs.
If one enemy player seems to be more experienced than the others, and he seems to be beating your team by himself, consider playing the Metagame using the above tips.
The Metagame is a strong tool in helping you to become a better player, and (protip)it actually helps you find out how the majority of players like to play, and can help you expect what to face in future matches.
And that wraps up my tips on becoming a better gamer. Make strategic choices, work with your team, keep your temper in check, and always know your opponent.
I guarantee that if you truly take these tips to thought, and use them, you can even end up improving yourself as a gamer.
Thanks for reading, and have a nice day.
