This is the second time I have seen this happen and I only expect it to grow. It is a "feature" that is going to become more popular and probably turn me off more and more. What is this feature?

"Leveling Up in Multiplayer"

Say wha? How is that a bad thing? I know tons of you are probably stoked about this in the latest release Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare but I am not. I am just about COMPLETELY turned off of this game.

For those of you who don't know, the multiplayer of this title starts you off by letting you pick a character class with different weapons and the like. Some perks can be added as well. Sweet stuff, class systems can actually be cool. So can customization be as well. The more you play and more kills you get, the higher your rank goes. The higher the rank you have, the more abilities you can tack on, not just new guns. Now I am sure you can't end up being ub3r warrior but you can get pretty darn close it seems. This deters me.

What if someone joins into CoD4 months down the line? Everyone is leveled up and they are stuck in the past with a dinky soldier. There is no match making so you just play with friends or random people. There goes trying to find people that aren't "uber" to level yourself up with. Doesn't help if you have 10 people on your friend's list asking you to play the game that they have been playing since day one. I would expect that I will die all too quickly from bullets through walls or a long range weapon and/or cause my gun isn't strong enough to return enough fire to take a man down. Remember, no lower ranks to get experience from and build my character up. I imagine you can try finding a random game that isn't full of super strong gamers though. I don't know about you but there has only been ONE game that I enjoyed playing with strangers and that was Team Fortress 2. That was probably cause the game is all about cooperation and it pays to be friendly with teammates. From my dealings with people gaming online, most of them are idiots or foul-mouth little kids *cough*halo kids*cough* and I don't want to play with them.

This is also annoying because it means you have to keep up with your character and leveling. If you want to throw in the thought of a level cap, well all it takes is an update to change that just like they did with World of Warcraft. But if you don't keep up, in one way or another you fall behind and all your friends and/or enemies will either get better than you or find out the most deadly combos. Granted you will want to keep on playing to level up but if you stop playing for a couple weeks, it could be a pain to catch up. All this seems so taxing. When did it start becoming like a chore? I want to be able to sit down play and enjoy a game with some friends, not go through hours of play just to come close to being able to play a decent match with them.


Now I mentioned two games earlier, what is the other? Halo 3. Yeah, I don't know if this is true but I heard it from a few sources and playing the multiplayer actually made me believe it was true. There are skulls you can find in the single player and there is one skull that gives you a boost in shield. Say wha? Yeah, a little extra shield to protect you. So by now most of the players (especially the ones at my skill level) have this skull. That means if I want to play a fair/even match, I have to trudge thru the awful single player all over again, just to find a stupid skull so we can be even again. LAYM. Like I said, when did gaming become a chore? I am sorry but I shouldn't have to play through your game and search every nook and cranny for a grenade sized object just to play and enjoy the part of the game that is suppose to be the ponies and the "real" reason you get the game in the first place. No thanks ... I don't really care for the game or this stupid "skull hunt."





I fear that more games will use this "leveling-up feature" since CoD4 is almost guaranteed a big hit which upsets me. What's going to happen to regular multiplayer games where everyone is pretty much even except for the players skill? I know you will argue, "well someone with good skill will be leveled up." Not if they enter the game late. I could start playing the game next week and have better gaming skill than someone that has been playing since yesterday but he kills me everytime cause he is more leveled up. Is that fair? That isn't skill, that is who has the better weapon/health and who has been playing longer.

Video games, I love them and don't want them to be a chore. I want to be able to sit down and play a game with friends and have fun. I don't want to sit down and worry if my level is high enough to compete with others, who wants to play a game where they do nothing but die nonstop? This screams of massive DO NOT WANT.

This my opinion, don't like it? That's cool, cause it isn't yours. Multiplayer leveling-up is not cool.



PS: If you are wondering what "NG" is, look here. kthxbai!