Like competitive games, but I don't like overly competitive people. At the end of the day, win or lose, it's still a video game and it should be fun. Competitive games with friends who understand that and don't get tilted can be great fun, even when you're on a losing streak.
Like competitive games, but I don't like overly competitive people.
I wish competitive games did a better job not only matching people of similar skill, but similar personalities. I know it's just a bunch of pixels and numbers in a screen, why do you keep pairing me with these chuds that have no emotional maturity?
Some games have an option to search for a like-minded party type and it really should be a standard option.
I find that to be the main issue with SBMM. The lobby system, in my experience, creates a better sense of progression against your enemies. If you don't like who you're playing with, you join a new session. If you do like them, you can stay as long as you want.
I don't mind competitive games, just not the crazy competitive ones. TF2 is a great example - fun, casual, PvP. Tarkov is probably my least favorite - hyper competitive, huge losses if you die, big incentive to cheat.
It's a shame that Tarkov is what it is, because I love shooters and it's probably the best of them, mechanics wise.
Just dropping in, in case you haven't heard about it: Single player Tarkov exists, and is very fun! It obviously won't have the same reactions and interactions as humans, but they're emulated pretty damn well with some additional mods.
It's a hardcore extraction shooter. Whatever you bring in to a raid will be lost when you die. If you manage to extract, you can keep whatever loot you found - whether it spawned in the world or you took it from a dead player.
The gear you bring in can be "insured" by vendors. Usually it's a 24 hour real-world timer if you die with that gear. Even then, the gear that you insure has another filter before it gets returned: Other players and scavengers can take it.
The "lore" of the game explains the insurance return as a deal between the vendors and the scavengers in the area.
The best games of Counter-Strike (the old one, before CSGO) I ever played were with friends in pub matches. Competitive is fun, but 32 player poolday? That's the best experience you can have.
Now I'm all about co-op games or single player. I've been top scorer in FPS', I know it's a thrill, but it's not as fun as losing with your friends.
I remember playing Overwatch and getting super angry about every single match, and then that Reggie quote "If it's not fun, why bother?" popped up in my head and I just stopped playing. Probably one of the last times I ever touched "competitive" games.