Do Skills Belong in a Classic arenaFPS Shooter?

Recently we got a peak at the reboot is it? of Quake 3 Arena... Quake Champions.

The footage showed us what is possibly, evidently, the use of skills in this classic shooter from 20 years ago. Needless to say people lost their shit over it.

As an old time gamer myself, here are my thoughts on all this which started to develop and unfold the more I looked into it, and so I chose to share them in hopes that people start looking from the brighter side of things rather than the cliche hating mentality that we have been (rightfully so as well most times) accustomed to hearing these last many years.

Right to it. The question is simple. Do skills belong in a classic FPS shooter?

The answer? Not so simple. It depends on what you mean.

And in there lies the key for people to learn how to calm themselves a little before exploding. Instead of hearing one thing and then feeding an entire avalanche of thoughts that might not even be slightly relevant to reality, it is much simpler and less tiring to just ask ourselves, "what do you mean?".

A simple approach to see the bright and dark side of all things considered before jumping to assumptions and conclusions.

Doom 2016 is a great example of this. Soon as people saw the first single player footage all we got was -

"Its not fast enough... glory kills will take away from the pace of the game... it doesn't have enough badass music in it, he and he should have made the soundtrack... not enough enemies..." and I can't even remember the rest of the complaints.

Surprise surprise, the Single Player campaign in Doom 2016 kicks balls, is fast paced as hell (no pun intended, well maybe intended), features one of the most badass soundtracks we have heard in a while, glory kills are awesome and fit right into the pace (good enough in pace to be even included in multi-player) and the enemies are more than enough and at times seem endless as you rush to your survival through them and around them (especially in higher difficulties) more than the original Doom titles ever accomplished through a simple task of just tossing in there ridiculous counts of enemies because they were too easy, just so they can finally overwhelm you.

So before we get ahead of ourselves and start with the pitch forks, lets analyse this.

Are skills accustomed to class and character choices? Or are they pickups? Or a combination of both?

The first answer is the one we all expect and hence why we lose our minds over it. So I'll dive into that one last.

Lets look at the last option.

A combination of both. This could be perhaps class based characters that all play the exact same way however have a different skill available to them in certain conditions. Either skills can be picked up, or powerups can be collected that activate certain skills on different characters (like the Quad Damage).

The other option of pick ups is that skills are irrelevant to characters chosen, and are pick-ups around the map (you all like those now right?)

If it is done in this way, one can still argue "but this ruins the balance of the game, and blaaaa".

Well then, we really should toss Quad Damage out of the game completely because if we are talking about pure balance that is one game breaking mechanic. Whenever I got my hands on that glowing blue beauty I would desemate the opposition no questions asked and throw my ass into the lead by at least 5 kills. At least. All kills I did not deserve in any sane competitive world.

At this point, we should also get rid of the other pickups in the original Quake 3 game, including the items we could activate (the personal teleporter for example, man did I annoy some people with that back in the day).

Are those not the equivalent of skills? Pickups is what makes them ok? The fact that they are not actually part of a character? Really? Well then lets all ponder on this. We are talking about a competitive game, all about balance, however, your re-spawning point is random.

Naturally how far or close you are to an item or weapon that you want/need is determined by the lamest thing ever, RNG, and not skill. Further adding to choke points as one could defend said locations with better weapons in order to dominate more, etc etc.

So we turn a blind eye on all these mechanics, heck, we even ASK for these to be included, but shun away items and skills which were already pretty much part of the game back in the day just in a different form? Sounds a little biased to me.

What mattered in the end was the fun factor we all had despite the fact that sometimes we simply were spawned on the other side of the map after being killed, seconds within the Quad Damage spawn, and had to curse our way to it whilst some lucky by-stander has it already and is raining hell bent rockets everywhere.

Now lets also look at the most hated option (for most) that they could go for -

Class choices and class based skills. Lets see. Is this a bad thing? Most will have you believe it is. The reason why? "Because arena FPS games are all about player skill vs player skill."

Apparently I didn't get the memo, but learning how to play around enemy skills and how to use your own skill is something other than player skill?

I can see the argument surely, that some classes will not be balanced right and some skills will be overpowered whilst the biggest risk in all of this is the game being completely broken with a cluster of mechanics that end up turning into a whole new experience and not an arena shooter.

This as a notion is not wrong, and people have a right to be angry at it... if however this is indeed the way it will be used in a game like Quake Champions or other.

Another reason people hate this so much is because its easy to blame it on "the character you chose", which is rather immature and I've seen it done time and time again even in balanced games and even (wait for it) fighting games!!! Seriously, no reason to whine and cry over someones character choice if you simply didn't put the time in to be a better player against them. That is after all, the essence to competitive gaming!

End of the day, skills are already part of the arenaFPS genre since Quake 3. No, actually since even before that.

But we were all cool with it right? Surely duel matches do not allow for these kind of things usually. But wait, that is a certain game type right? So who is to say that such a game type will not exist in Quake Champions as well?

Long story short. My verdict and opinion on classes and character skills is, well, mixed. But I do realise one thing from all this which I hope to pass on. Skills in classic based arenaFPS shooters are NOT a bad thing, perhaps even classes if they are all balanced to the same health pools and speeds. As long as they are handled in a delicate manner.

As far as competitive fronts go.

There is absolutely nothing less or more competitive about skills being included in a game. The only problem from such an addition is balancing. If skills are all mobility based for example, then already we have narrowed down the possibilities of error. If all skills from there on are also not game changing and thus NOT dominant factors in ones' victory, again it is ok. In other words, make the skills up the play, help the fight, not control it, and all is well. (Something which cannot be said for already existing Quad Damage).

I for starters would be up for Quake Champions going into this direction, although I do truly counsel for a lot of caution in how they handle it. It takes a lot of balls to pull it off, and chances are they will end up making something that perhaps yes, will be broken thanks to skills and class choices. On the other hand, there is also the chance of it being one of the funnest games we ever came by.

I would much rather gamble for a new approach even if it might miss rather than sit safe on the old. Why? Because I've already seen what the old has to offer. I love it, I have access to it, and now I want more. I will never get that "something more" if we keep going around in circles in our past.

Times change, games change, and the elitist mindset of "its not hardcore" is pretty lame and tiring at this point.

We had said whiners back in the day when Quake 1 came out because it introduced mouse-look and it wasn't "hardcore enough" for the Doom lovers. Seriously? A mechanic that pretty much shaped the face of proper immersion in FPS shooters? o.O

Lastly, for all those stringing onto the notion that a professional arena FPS game is all about bright models and the rest of it... just, shush. The only people that put the tag "pro" on it was yourselves.

I mean sure, all competitive gamers ended up using this mentality. Why? Because they were forced to. If I know my enemy is using no bloody textures at all and I am a bright green spot to them, well obviously they have an advantage and I will look to take me some of that advantage against them as well.

Player skill and pro arena gaming has nothing to do with any of that. Its all about reflexes, being able to see your opponent in a balanced and equally visible environment to both players, and using your arsenal at your best during your confrontations. Making non-bright models for example is not less pro than bright models, as long as all players are seeing the same thing. Adding skills to characters is also not as game breaking as being spawned next to a rocket launcher when the other guy is running around with a machine gun. I mean seriously, why else do you all think Quake Live added the ability of choosing 2 starter weapons? Because Quake 3 was not perfect, and guess what neither is Quake Live.

Do we love it? Well, we might. I know I do. But it still doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement, so long as it is done right.

Lets just wait and see were they take this.

Hopefully we will be able to get our opinions heard in beta tests and what not, and if they do fumble, hopfeully they have the decency to fix what might be broken based on our feedback.

I mean, I too am not all for this idea, especially when in the trailer we see Visor pretty much use a wall hack skill....... WHAT?! No thank you. But I am still curious, as to how it will come together because hell if I wanted to play just a rehash of Quake 3 and Quake Live then I wouldn't bother waiting at all. I have those already and guess what, I can play them any time I please.

To answer the initial question in a simple mans logic, do skills belong in a classic arenaFPS. The answer is, "skills were already a part of the classic arenaFPS along with other elements from the pick-up mechanics that really did not create for true competitive gaming."

And lets not forget, game modes people. Game modes. I hope, that even if they fumble things up, that more competitive modes will be available for the "pro" front. Like, for example, the hosting option in Quake 3 of everyone spawning with all the weapons ON THEM. That is proper balance. And even in the classic game, its proper form was never truly as competitive as it could be and it was fixed with such options (which by the way were considered "non-competitive" ironically enough for a while).

ID Software seems to have taken a good step with Doom 2016, and here is to hoping they have all these things in mind (which I am sure they do). Including game modes that will fix perhaps even what might be broken?

Sure the Doom 2016 MP is not a good example to go by, but they nailed the SP which was their main concern and for this I am keeping my reserves for bashing on Quake Champions until the moment they actually do something wrong and I see it.

As far as "casual" gamers and "console" gamers and all these other elitist crap. People, get with the times. The competitive front is evolving. And no, I personally do not want Quake 3 with better graphics. I want the next level. I want something better. I want the evolution of that game. God knows I have waited for it 20 years already! And in the same way I embraced the evolution of the genre from no mouse-look to mouse-look being invented, I will embrace this choice as well so long as it is done right and true competitive gaming can be indeed achieved from it.

Player skill comes down to a lot more than just point and aim guys, we shouldn't be afraid to use a little more of our brain to compute some extra things during a fight with such added elements. On the contrary, this will up the pace.

We will know when that first test lands on our desks in the end, so until then, Peace Out.