Is CoD a casual players game?

[Lyri]

Sorry peeps, unless you're playing actual tournies and ladders (or clan scrims) then you're in casual city as there is no other reason to play it than for fun.
Just because people are shouting obscenities down your X-box headset doesn't mean you're suddenly playing with the pro's now.

I agree with you about the foul mouths not being pros(Read post 13). About using the word casual gaming to express my theory was the best I could think of to explain my meaning. If you have a better way to elaborate please do so.

Casual gaming is just something you can pick up and play, no strings attached fun. That's what it boils down to in a nut shell.
There is no reason to play a game of CoD other than because you want to. The Xbox kiddes are all part and parcel of the game (If you play on the Xbox and don't have access to VOIP programmes PC gamers do).

None casual games are those that are made for a reason, such as clan scrimages, tournament games, ranked ladder matches. Whatever the reason, there's something other than the fun factor behind it, winning.
I'm not talking about the regular "Ooh I want to win this match just because" sort of winning, but the "This will give us the prize/ prize money if we win this tourney" sort of winning.
You've been training for days, learning maps, camping spots, how and where to bounce nades, prone shots, bunny hops, the list goes on.
You're driven in none casual matches.

Your unorganized cluster fucks with the arrogant thirteen your olds who have just learnt to say ****** are quite the opposite to more organized, none-casual matches.

 

[ForensicYOYO]

Testing to see if thread had been locked.


EDIT: I gues not. Why is no one posting? O well Im still glad I made this thread =)

I'm glad for you.

casual is a stupid word I think, you could apply it to any game, I played halo reach casually, I never fancied myself a pro, I just played for fun, I think if you're just playing a game for fun, you're a casual.

True. It is hard where to draw the line to what is causal or not. What word or words do you think is best used to describe what Im explaining?

i don't think there really is a word for it, i think it's just a way of playing a game.
i'm not saying that casual is the ONLY way to have fun while playing a game, that's just the way most people play, that's why call of duty is actually a pretty good starter shooter, it's semi fast paced, it gives you the grenade launcher right off the bat (n00btube, whatever) which gives you a chance to get some kills against more experienced players.

Well my personal idea of a casual gamer is someone who treats it like a deck of cards. You can play alot of games with it but only bother to learn a few games that are easy to learn and share with friends.

 

[Vohn_exel]

Testing to see if thread had been locked.


EDIT: I gues not. Why is no one posting? O well Im still glad I made this thread =)

You know, thats how I feel about everything I submit to Flipnote Hatena

But anyway, I don't think it's a casual's game. It is a game that they can play, but thats really the sweet spot that every game aspires to, and thats why it's so popular, IMO.

 

[ForensicYOYO]

Sorry peeps, unless you're playing actual tournies and ladders (or clan scrims) then you're in casual city as there is no other reason to play it than for fun.
Just because people are shouting obscenities down your X-box headset doesn't mean you're suddenly playing with the pro's now.

I agree with you about the foul mouths not being pros(Read post 13). About using the word casual gaming to express my theory was the best I could think of to explain my meaning. If you have a better way to elaborate please do so.

Casual gaming is just something you can pick up and play, no strings attached fun. That's what it boils down to in a nut shell.
There is no reason to play a game of CoD other than because you want to. The Xbox kiddes are all part and parcel of the game (If you play on the Xbox and don't have access to VOIP programmes PC gamers do).

None casual games are those that are made for a reason, such as clan scrimages, tournament games, ranked ladder matches. Whatever the reason, there's something other than the fun factor behind it, winning.
I'm not talking about the regular "Ooh I want to win this match just because" sort of winning, but the "This will give us the prize/ prize money if we win this tourney" sort of winning.
You've been training for days, learning maps, camping spots, how and where to bounce nades, prone shots, bunny hops, the list goes on.
You're driven in none casual matches.

Your unorganized cluster fucks with the arrogant thirteen your olds who have just learnt to say ****** are quite the opposite to more organized, none-casual matches.

But what about the people not in tournaments and such that take it serious and learn all they can for thier own personal game? Are they not entitled to be something above those who who just play off and on without a care of the leaderboards? I might have miss read what you said but it seems your saying your only above being causal if video games is your job and you get something out of it more then personal gain.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

The only people I know who play CoD or Modern Warfare are fratboy jocks, but that may be because I'm at university.

But basically yeah I haven't played it because frankly it doesn't interest me, but all I ever hear from the people I know who do play it is unironic comments about how 'headshotting noobs is for the win,' etc.

Which is another contributing factor to why I haven't bought or played one.

 

[Lyri]

But what about the people not in tournaments and such that take it serious and learn all they can for thier own personal game? Are they not entitled to be something above those who who just play off and on without a care of the leaderboards? I might have miss read what you said but it seems your saying your only above being causal if video games is your job and you get something out of it more then personal gain.

Everyone who plays and enjoys the game will want to get better, you're bound to learn tricks and skills by default.
However, if you do put some serious effort into but you don't play leagues and tournaments you're still a casual player at the end of the day.
None ranked/tournament matches don't go anywhere, they offer you nothing except statistics. The choice of dedicating yourself to the game is your own liberty to take but you will be a casual I suppose.

You will only ever be as good as those people you play against, if you get better by your own volition then you'll be playing to beat the casual crowd. Comp players and casual players are all but in rare circumstances very different.
Before I played comps I was pretty average, once I honed my game and went pub stomping my scores where dominating the end game boards.
Wet work used to make me chuckle.

 

[Smooth Operator]

For my taste it is very casual, the entry level point is extremely low, and the only mastery/advantage comes from knowing the maps/spawn points.
Other then that everyone gets an automatic riffle and it takes about 3 bullets to kill anyone, no matter how good they are, you simply need to bring the crosshair close enough to for the aim-bots to do their thing.

It is problematic on the top end tho, like I said no matter how good you are everyone can spray you down easily, and as things are so chaotic there is a huge degree of chance involved(does he spot you first or you him, usually decides the encounter).

 

[Bat Vader]

I play the Call of Duty games very casually. I don't really care about getting good at the games and I don't play them that often. The rare times I do play the multiplayer is when some of my friends want to play or I get an urge to play online. When I do play online I make sure to mute everyone in the lobby before the game starts.

 

[Wintermoot]

I think I,ll give you this one. Although in my personal experience its MP is hard since allot of other players are given bigger guns then new players

 

[ChipSandwich]

If CoD 4 had a small fanbase of people who played it constantly for 5 years and knew every single nuance of the maps and every single gun stat in the game, would it be casual then?

 

[ForensicYOYO]

If CoD 4 had a small fanbase of people who played it constantly for 5 years and knew every single nuance of the maps and every single gun stat in the game, would it be casual then?

Yes. it just wasn't a successful one since very few decided to play it. Super smash could have flopped but it doesn't change what the game is. I dont think its who plays it but how it is played.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

Now hear me out on this if you will, but is CoD a causal players game?

I don't think it's casual exactly; but I can totally see where you're coming from.

Call of Duty is a very straightforward shooter thus it's very accessible. The gameplay is fun and simple; the controls are easy to grasp and its key selling point is online. The accessibility is there and anyone can pick it up and play.

I see Call of Duty morping into sports games. People play sports games presumably because they like sports right? And on this presumption I'm going to assume that the people who play sports games are competative. Call of Duty offers the same thing. Competiton and fantasy. You might not be able to take on the epic missions seen in Call of Duty just as you might not ever be a professional Basketball or American Football player.

Couple how easy it is to get into with what it offers and you have a very appealing game. Appealing enough for millions of players obviously. Some of these people play for the fantasy, others for the competition and some just to have fun. The game can be played casually or hardcore by any of those players. Just like any other game.

If anything Call of Duty is a very versatile game and a majority of the players are hardcore... but only specific to Call of Duty. I know people that own an XBox solely for playing Call of Duty. They take is very seriously and have dubbed themselves 'Hardcore Gamers' for playing Call of Duty for hours straight, but would never touch any other game for fear of being seen as geeky.

When you look at it, are Call of Duty players any different than World of Warcraft players? Or EVE Online players? They're invested in a game that takes a lot of devotion. Whether they like it or not aiming for the perfect kill/death ratio or the next prestige (this is where my lack of CoD knowledge shows -_-) they're no different than hardcore Guildies with their Raids and hunts for Legendaries?

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

While it trends towards a core audience, the franchise has become big enough that, like various sports franchises, it is often the only title a person plays in a year (or one of very few). I leave it to the thread to decide if the fact that many of these casual players will pursue a game of CoD in much the same way as a core player means the game is definitively hardcore or not.

And, just food for though, for those who might assert that the style of play is what makes a game hardcore, keep in mind there is nothing that stops someone from playing any of the definitive casual games (Bejeweled for example) in a hardcore fashion.

 

[Mace Tulio]

I wouldn't call it a casual game under the generally accepted label. However, I do think you're able to play it casually.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

That is definitely a very interesting way to look at CoD.

Personally I've always liked the single player of CoD because of the fact that it was chaotic and usually very intense. That's exactly the feeling I like in a game that tries to emulate a war or battle environment.

However, I will never touch multiplayer for exactly the reason you stated. I play a game to have fun, not to have someone cuss me out and insult my mother or tell me I suck at a game/hit on me because of my gender.

The last truly competitive game I played on multiplayer was probably Delta Force 2 for the PC back in the late 90's or early to mid 2000's. I'm not sure if that community was different or if the times have changed but no one I ran into back then cussed you out or spouted trash talk for killing them and snipers weren't accused of camping (though obviously sitting at spawn points was a big no-no).

Wow, someone else who played DF2. I thought that whole series had pretty much been forgotten by now. I didn't play it during its heyday, and when I finally did take it online, it was pretty much a wasteland filled with hackers. The people who weren't hacking seemed to be pretty friendly, though. I still have fond memories of how recoil and bullet drop were touted as major features, but were never actually implemented, making it possible to snipe people with a heavy machine gun, and from so far away that their entire body took up one or two pixels. It was a game that was so broken, the brokenness itself became the fun.

OT: I kind of see where the OP is coming from. Frankly, I consider any online FPS to be more casual than a single-player only game, simply because even on games that have very long matches, you're not going to need more than an hour to have a good session, and most of them can be played whenever you have ten uninterrupted minutes, whereas most singleplayer games really need to be played in large chunks to be enjoyed. This doesn't mean that multiplayer games can't be played in a hard core manner -- as any competitive player can attest -- but it does mean that it's much easier to play them casually than say, an open world RPG. CoD is no exception to this rule.

 

[AnAngryMoose]

I've never really thought of it like this. I guess you could say I play casually because I just stick to combat training with a few friends and dick around. About it being easy to get into? i'll have to test that out sometime today.

 

[gibboss28]

I for one am looking forward to the day this casual/hardcore crap goes out the window, and the people spouting it all realise how stupid they've been for trying to turn marketing terms in to genres of games.

 

[kasperbbs]

I think there is no such thing as a casual game, there are people who are going to play something for 6 or more hours per day and master every single map and gameplay mechanic and there are people who are going to play just a few matches once in a while to kill some time.

 

[THE_oldy]

I used to think "casual" and "competitive" were the two classes you could place a player's attitude towards a game into, or at least thought that the two were the poles on a scale.

Recently however I've noticed an attitude in others towards particular games i would call "casual competitive." Someone who plays to win and takes enjoyment out of mastering new skills to beat other players, but they only play the game on a casual basis. (ie lack the dedication of time and discipline or true competitive play)

I think the casual competitive player tends to either be someone who has played or still does play other games hyper competitively, but pick up a new game and don't develop the same attitude. Or they are someone who has a competitively minded attitude, but has little to no experience with disciplined true competitive play.

With my limited experience of CoD, it doesn't seem to be well suited to hyper competitive play. Its too simplistic for that. Despite this it is still a reasonably well made game, and therefore it does lend its self to casual play. This goes against the norm of the online FPSs genre, of which games conventionally either have good competitive play, or die pretty quickly.

CoD is strange in this way, and i think it makes uniquely a playground for the casual competitive player.

So in TLR, i think that CoD is a good competitive game in the "jump online and pwn that other random guy over the internet" sense, but not not a competitive game in the "disciplined training to win tournaments and be considered among the best of the best" sense.

 

[Chorionicstu]

COD is not for casual gamers not because of the game itself, but because the online community all seem to be on steroids always yelling and getting angry if they don't get a 20 kill streak.