Haha, I love reading old posts like this. I doubt Valve is regretting ‘messing with the formula’ anymore…
It’s interesting to me that my pre-launch prediction about pricing is still untrue. It’s still not F2P and it may never be if the hardcore players hold sway over the decision. It’s obvious that Valve could’ve flipped the switch long ago, but the hacking concerns and the fact that people still buy the game has held the price above $0.00.
It’s a hugely improved game overall from where it started, but of course there are still the random bone headed decisions occasionally that Valve shits out.
So mostly great, with occasional stretches of wtf.
It’s a bit surreal, isn’t it?
I finally returned to CS last month after abandoning it in 2005, so literally a decade break.
In my area, I could find only one or two active servers in 1.6 or CZ, which I actually played back then, and only a small handful more in Source, which I never really played.
My biggest shock with CS GO, especially after how shoddy & not-quite-right Source was, is just how amazingly right it feels. It’s not just as good as 1.6 now—it’s actually better.
And sure, that R8 update was dumb, but they also shortened the M4 & AK recoil times, returning optimal gameplay to the quick 2-shot bursts I remember. In that regard, the update was fantastic.
But the most shocking thing of all to me is that I finally understand micro payments. Damn if I don’t want new guns all the time. I feel guilty even admitting it. (Second most shocking thing is that I still have most of my muscle memory. I only play competitive pinball & Tetris these days, otherwise.)
They basically increased the recoil recovery times all around. So in theory they wanted to supposedly nerf long range sprays and promote tap shooting, when they actually made both suck more and be more random unfortunately.
Subjectively, it feels like a quick burst of 2 shots is resetting faster than it was last week.
Welp they just completely reverted the changes. I didn’t have an issue with the idea behind the change, they just cocked up the execution.
So, I have had this game for a long time. And I haven’t played it much at all.
But, my weekend disappeared into CS:GO.
I forgot how good CS was. My thousands of hours in 1.6 have paid off, as I was able to jump back on the horse without much trouble. Wowzers this game is fun though. I played casual all weekend, and picked up the wildfire challenge stuff. Really awesome way to force players into new modes/styles of play.
I think Arms Race might be my favorite new mode. The TDM(esque) deathmatch mode is really fun too, as you don’t wait to respawn anymore, and you can try out all of the different weapons and learn the maps.
This is like my new favorite game ever now.
I know how you feel. My 2014 Summer disappeared into CS:GO. I basically played that game and no other. The mechanics are just soooo tight and well tuned. Since then I have uninstalled it because my gaming time is limited now and I know that if I have an active GO installation on my hard drive I would be too tempted. :-)
-Todd
The gameplay is just as good as I remembered it being. The community is strong (put voices on mute for casual) and there are tons of new gametypes and loot treadmills to keep you going.
I spent about 10 bucks on virtual guns this weekend. Why did I do that?
Some of the new maps are good too. Nuke re-do is very nice and Santorini is very solid.
I absolutely love the verticality and stairs in the center of Cruise. Coast was pretty fun too. The community made maps are a lot of fun. I can’t express how much I love deathmatch and Arms race, they really are excellent modes for learning maps/chokepoints and how to use new weapons effectively. It makes CS more accessible for someone getting back in, allowing you to learn maps and weapons. And then playing the maps on casual isn’t so daunting.
$61,000 weapon skin… Yep people are dumb!
http://pakgn.com/guy-spend-61000-counter-strikego-skin-regrets-nothing/
CS GO has a little BR-style mode now! 16 players in solo, 18 in duos/trios.
I’ll just leave it here and not in P&R because the FPS in question is COUNTER-STRIKE (Finnish offensive?).
I never played GO but tried CS2 yesterday (after about 15 years of not playing CS, I quit with 1.6) and found it enjoyable. But yeah, its inherent MP nature just makes me feel like I am wasting my time when playing so I will only fire it up very rarely.