Is an artist a pro artist? That is something that should come to mind when you start thinking about being a pro gamer. Did you start playing video games to make money or have a good time enjoying a hobby. That hobby might have eventually turned into an obsession (even and unhealthy one). The bottom line is that most people will eventually come to terms with one thing when it comes down to facing reality.
It is a funny conversation to have with a gamer, ‘going pro’. In reality it is the top of list for many people that think their skills in a game will pay like they are some sort of NBA Draft Pick.
Are you a member of the crowd paying for a ticket or are you one of the 8-10 people on stage? The moment you are honest with yourself is the moment you might start enjoying your games (especially online) without throwing a fit about lag or even your KDR.
If you consider the perks to winning every tournament every year, you might be in line for between $30,000-80,000. Depending on the tax breakdown for your respective state of residence you might get more or less. This is of course assuming you are winning every match and the best in the world.
Keep in mind that you have a lot of work to do to be the best at any game. This entry isn’t meant to kill your dreams; this entry is meant to help you see that being a pro gamer is really a matter of debate and in some cases – delusion.
Earlier we talked about facing reality…
Reality is that when you decide that gaming is about going pro and making money rather than enjoying what you love simply to enjoy it – you will begin hating what you once loved because it will turn into a job.
Ask any NFL fan about their favorite team’s draft and you will get some sort of response.
As a Browns fanI will give you all you need to hear and more. First, we needed to fix our offense with better receivers and someone to take over after Hillis’ departure.
The Trent Richardson pick was a good one at the time and still is; however, to give up the picks we did in order to get him I would have thought that we would be super smart about the ones we had left.
Then we took a 28 year old QB, Brandon Weeden at #22. In a league where you are looked at as old when you are 30 it is strange to see that as a pick with any sort of gainful longevity. Yet, even that pick wasn’t too terrible in the scheme of things. It was followed up with Mitchell Schwartz from Cal, a big and mean O-Lineman.
Then we took John Hughes! Yeah, you read right… 16 Candles, Pretty In Pink and St. Elmo’s Fire on the Cuyahoga JOHN HUGHES!… Actually, it is some sort of D-Lineman that is going to be a back-up for our talented middle D-Lineman Rubin and Taylor. I was confused by this pick to say the least… then my confusion turned to anger when I saw the other players taken after we traded down and move around in the draft to get a guy that wasn’t even projected to get picked in the draft on many experts’ boards.
That said…
Ever since Madden came out on the 360/PS3 generation of consoles it has had growing pains that have led many football gamers to get banned from forums for venting their anger (which will never happen on our boards, assuming you support your opinion without major profanity— which with Madden can be hard at times). The worst part about Madden for years had been Franchise Mode and bugs in Franchise Mode. That said, there are three major events for NFL fans:
The NFL Draft
Kickoff Week
The Super Bowl
Improving The Draft (What’s Missing?)
There is a reason why the NFL Draft is #1 on that list. It gives people faith that for a moment, their team is going to get better. They might find their ‘Tom Brady’ or ‘Peyton Manning’. There are some players that coming out of college are looked at as ‘sure things’ like Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin III and then you have big risks on guys like Vontaze Burfict (went to the halfway-house, AKA the Cincinnati Bengals after going undrafted) who have major character issues.
People go nuts for the draft and it is something that is often talked about more than the Super Bowl. Simply because it is something that every team has a chance to do and do well.
Madden has no personality or atmosphere for the Draft. It is difficult to see what other teams are doing in your Franchise Mode. One example is when a team trades up or down in the draft there is usually some sort of reaction by commentators (which also don’t exist in Madden’s Franchise Mode for the Draft) – in Madden you are greeted with a notice that a trade took place and which picks were involved… and then nothing… No highlight of who was so important that the team moved up to get them. You are also not going to see which players teams select during the draft because the Drafted Player Ticker resets after every pick, rendering it impossible to see how the draft is going or who is coming off the board in any sort of fluid manner.
If the Cowboys were to take a punter with the first pick in the draft you would probably see riots and hear commentators berate the management (Jerry Jones) of the Cowboys…. Not in Madden, take whoever you want because no one cares. Perhaps that is the real personality of Madden’s Franchise Mode – No one cares… and frankly, why should they?
Not to mention it is hard to really have any sense of immersion in a league that seems to exist without any sort of news feed that is easily accessible to let you know that certain players are under-performing. Then again, that is the hideous beauty of Madden’s Franchise Mode.
Minus the lacking atmosphere, here is a list of just some of the things that are missing from creating a true Franchise Mode experience worth paying $60 for every. single. year…:
Player Morale and Personality – Players have no personality. Some teams are simply not desirable to play for, yet… that never comes into play with Madden, just sign the players without any real attention to what type of coach, owner or city they want to play in. Are they just about money are they loyal to loyal fans?… That doesn’t matter in Madden.
Player Performance – This doesn’t matter from multiple levels in Franchise Mode. As far as the much vaunted online roster updates go, apparently a player is better on a week by week basis. However, when it comes to any sort of adjustment to a player after he throws for 500 yards and 6 TDs twice in three weeks, there is no such update to his throwing abilities or his much over-hyped OVR (Overall) Rating.
Player Value – This rating doesn’t exist in Madden at all. This means that when you have a player that runs for 2000 yards two years in a row and then wants to be traded elsewhere you might not be able to get what you should for him because his OVR is 80 due to a low AWR (Awareness) Rating, even if he has 98 SPD, 97 JKE, 95 SPN, etc. The system of value for performance is a constant battle between gamers that state performance means little when potential is all that matters. My response is that performance is MEASUREABLE and potential will NEVER be.
This list will be expanded over the course of the next few months and years as Madden is sure to continue to grow and regress in quality and features. The first step for any game mode like Franchise Mode is ATMOSPHERE and IMMERSION and that should start with the most important day (weekend) of the NFL Year – The NFL Draft.
While playing most first person shooter games online there is usually one strategy that can almost guarantee better results in Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch – working the perimeter.
As you will see in the corresponding video, there are a few different matches that will exhibit the best aspects of working the perimeter in Modern Warfare 3.
The first thing you must do is make the conscious decision to actually work the perimeter. Cast away all desire to run out into the middle of the battleground and take out everyone. You are now ready to move on with step two.
Silenced weapons are the second necessity you must focus on. The idea of this is simple – you don’t want to give away your position on the map for enemies. Also, make sure it is your weapon of choice because it is vital for you to find comfort in your weapons as well as the strategy. My weapon of choice is the silenced MP7 with kick reduction for more effective middle and long-range attacks as well as its fast rate of fire.
The third step is using cover effectively. You must plan out your movements in order to stay alive for the longest possible time while still being an effective player. This means determining whether the cover you use can be shot through (certain metals, woods, etc.) or penetrated from above (predator missile or other kill streaks that come from the air). While having cover is a necessity, you must also stay mobile in case you must backtrack if outnumbered or outmaneuvered.
By the time you figure out how to best navigate the perimeter of each map you will become a much more effective player in this regard. While there are always going to be exceptions to this strategy it remains highly effective.
So, Valentine’s Day is this coming Tuesday. It is in that spirit that I give you all an early gift of digital carnage.
Happy Hunting!
PS – Don’t forget to support your local florist and chocolate shop. Unless you are a Noob without a sig other… In which case you are welcome to show us some love and donate. 🙂
I noticed during my 5th season in Franchise Mode with the Browns that I could move down in the draft one spot and gain a first round pick in the next draft. While I don’t really enjoy making videos or posting blogs about Madden and some of the flaws therein, I must admit that the more I play this game and pay close attention to the trades and what I can do from a front office perspective in Franchise Mode – the more I notice exploits and flaws like this.
If you play games online chances are good that you have run into a hater… or maybe you are the hater. In either case, it should be known that there is a way in which you can respond without making yourself seem like the immature person that initiated this contact.
This video is for all of the gamers out there that play a legit game and get showered with haterade by the kids that get upset.
After skipping out on Call of Duty Elite I was feeling upset that I didn’t have the new maps that Infinity Ward released to the Elite Community. After thinking about how dumb I would feel to pay $50 for two maps that are being kept from the rest of the lowly gamers out there that don’t want to continue to bend to the will of Activision’s new subscription service – I started thinking about some of the better maps I have played (DLC or not).
Modern Warfare has a habit of releasing older maps that people enjoyed (or at least they assume people enjoyed). Some of my favorite maps from old Modern Warfare games haven’t made it into MW2 or MW3 yet. The beauty of these maps are that they are on games that you can buy used for much less money than MW3. Even if you have to buy map packs in order to play some of these, it will still be cheaper (and more enjoyable) than some of the maps in the newer game(s).
My favorite map from any Modern Warfare game has to be Broadcast –
No matter the game mode, this was the best of inside/outside maps on COD4
While some maps give you the ability to do one type of strategy over another, Broadcast really allowed people to post up and snipe from either the TV station or the buildings outside. You could also run around and gun people down as you flank from the many doors and corridors inside and outside.
Another map from COD4 is Backlot
Run and Gun with all sorts of places to double back!
In Backlot, you need to master the art of grenades and stabbing to accompany your aiming skills for which-ever gun you prefer. I loved this map because it allowed me to approach every match with a new tweak to my style of play. New players find new ways to play maps and it was always a breath of fresh air to play this map because of that.
Modern Warfare 2 had its fair share of decent maps as well. One of my favorites was one of the biggest maps in any COD game – Derail.
Snipers and sprinters reign supreme! Get a AC-130 and it is game over.
It is one of the most fun and frustrating maps you will ever play. If you get into a bad run, it is really difficult to rebound… however, if you get a strong killstreak and find your ‘groove’ you will probably end up with 25+ kills. This can be said for any map really, but I really found this map to allow me to run the huge landscape and sprint-stab my way to victory by simply out-flanking the opponents.
The last map I miss is Storm
Another DLC Map that was well worth the money.
I truly enjoyed this map when I downloaded it from the Stimulus Package DLC on MW2. It is a big map with rain (it is titled ‘Storm‘ for a reason) and that is one of those things that really adds to the mood of a map. Fighting in tropical or arid places is nice, but it isn’t a true depressing/scary warzone without some rain and lightning. Not to mention the sniper/assault friendly layout gives a bit of leeway to people that prefer one over the other.
This post will be updated with gameplay from these maps to accompany the pictures.
If you are annoyed with having to wait until March to play the new maps on MW3, just go back and play the older games and enjoy some ‘new’ old maps!
Happy Hunting!
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