Lamest Criminal in San Paro

That's me. I claim to be the lamest.

Now, I've only got 35 hours of street experience, and have gotten to R85, but my threat(?) is only 4 on the 1-15 scale. I don't think you can drop below 4 once you pass it. I once got to 6, but only because I teamed up with a nice husband-wife pair who carried me along and gave me a couple nice buffs (one for my N-Tec, one for me).

My problem is probably related to:
(a) Last FPS game was Planetside, five years ago, and I mosly flew aircraft in that (I'm normally an MMORPGer)
(b) I'm over 50, so despite being a very good classical pianist, overall my reactions are undoubtedly slow
(c) I play between 11pm and 1am Pacific, so my grouping opportunities are few

First I hoped that my new PC would help. It's a 3.0 GHz i7 with 12 GB RAM and Geforce 480 GTX that flies through Win7. Game does run better. I can now win a solo match against newbies on rare occasions. But overall the differences were very minor. Disadvantage of the new machine is that the mic input in really messed up in some horrible way. Sound level is way, way soft - impossible to hear me talking.

I had kinda hoped that continual effort would at least cure some of the problems in (a), but last night an enforcer with the same amount of in-game hours consistently outmaneuvered and outshot me (we talked afterward). Higher level players take me down with ease, even if the fight starts off with me shooting them in the back at close range! Now these are R200+ people with three grade 2 or 3 buffs on themselves and their weapon, but still... are the battles THAT unbalanced? I'm kinda thinking that I'm just that bad.

I come back every night thinking maybe I'll do better. After all, I practice some Rachmaninoff or Liszt one night, and it's better the next. But in APB, nope, I get creamed and handcuffed (what an embaraassing pose!) just as frequently every night. The rare victories seem to be statistical anomalies.

Is there any hope?

~ Lamette

There is hope!

Firstly, I'll introduce myself since I've not met you online, yet. I've been an avid gamer for some 20+ years, and I am especially fond of FPS games, RPG games, and MMO games - all of which makes me very enthusiastic about APB. I see a lot of potential in your post, Lamette. Lemme see if I can break it down.

Things I like:

1) Classical Pianist, which makes me think you've got some strong manual dexterity. Lots of us lose a fight because he hit the wrong key or get confused under pressure, all of which you have tons of experience dealing with.
2) You've got a solid rig. I've heard that the APB client runs better on Win 7 64-bit over 32-bit, but I've only seen a marginal increase in performance since I upgraded. The major technological hurdle right now seems to be on RTW's end, and we'll just have to wait for them to upgrade their hardware and software to improve game performance.
3) You keep coming back. Persistence is a good quality. Nobody likes a quitter.

Things that might hold you back:

1) A lack of experience. Since APB is all PvP, you don't get any practice. They just throw you into the deep end. I would suggest grabbing up some cheap, good one-player FPS classics. I personally recommend Bioshock and Bioshock 2, but you might like the RPG elements of the Mass Effect series, as well.
2) A narrow window of playtime. Surely, you'll get more opportunity to group up if your hours are more flexible.
3) Also, sorting out your headset will help. APB is so fast-paced, it's impossible to communicate through text chat when you're in the thick of it. I recommend a Logitech headset with a USB plug - and not one with a USB adapter. You really shouldn't spend more than $40 USD.

Things that are important to remember:

Threat means nothing, the match-making system really is that screwed up, and there's lots you can do in-game, even when no one is around. If there's no one on during your APB time, swipe cars and turn 'em in. It's a bit monotonous, but it's good practice driving and learning the layout in action districts, the money is good, and it's easy to manage your Notoriety. So long as you don't plow through crowds of NPCs, your Notoriety shouldn't rise too far over 3, and what few APBs you get should be somewhat fairly matched.

See you on the streets, Dog!

The biggest hurdle you have to jump is the transfer from MMO's to FPS's. Because APB is entirely PVP with a heavy hand of FPS thrown in, a different style of gameplay must be developed. Since I see a lack of FPS's on your resume I'm thinking that point and shoot is a relatively new thing to you. Thankfully APB is rather toned down compared to other FPS's in terms of pure skill (I.e Head shots count for nothing and the hotboxes are rather large)so really your best trait is whats going to pay you off the biggest. That trait being your persistence. Every time you die, every time you lose, examine what happened what they did, and what you did. Always do this no matter how frustrated you are. Eventually things like seeking cover, knowing your exit as well as theres, Grenade angling distance and timing all become habit instead of a focused process, this leavings your focus on your foes.

The biggest difference and whats causing all this hurt on you is the difference in gameplay MMO's are for the most part very slow calculated and precise, whereas FPS's are fast twitchy and based entirely of reaction speed. But luckily both styles you can pick up, its gonna take some time, but persist you will see a difference.

If you ever want and help or tips in game give me a shout, id be happy to let you put some holes in Cr1m50n for the sake of learning.

Another thing to keep in mind, is due to your lack of FPS experience you quite possibly lack the high twitch response that comes from playing FPS, Granted some MMOs have had a bit of Twitch response (IE: WoW Arena 2k+ bracket on a decent battlegroup.) but not very much. Being the shooter it is, its about getting the jump on your target first and being able to react fast enough in firefights.

Woah, I forgot to recommend Battlefield: Bad Company 2! It's an FPS that you can practice on with the single-player campaign, then transition to online multiplayer to train up. There's a handful of Rain Dogs who are Bad Company enthusiasts.

Eron wrote:

Woah, I forgot to recommend Battlefield: Bad Company 2! It's an FPS that you can practice on with the single-player campaign, then transition to online multiplayer to train up. There's a handful of Rain Dogs who are Bad Company enthusiasts.

BAD COMPANY?!!! WHERE?!...er ahem. I'm Dice and I approve this message.

DevilDolly wrote:OK, who's this newbie vying for my title of Wurst Criminal Evar?

Don't you mean "Pro"???

This is a good place to mention that: You can obtain rewards for being bad actually. There are some monthly rewards that go to help out someone who is having trouble.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. I have received one of those awards for being a loser, but it was a shotgun with no buffs - hardly useful against enforcer one-shot stuns or R200+ criminals with N-Tec 5 Adeens.

There comes a point in some missions where I know its hopeless. For example, tonight, a pair with a grenade launcher and heavily buffed STAR rifle. A few times I even got one of them, but the other invariably got me. My teammate and team leader was immobile 200-300m away, doing nothing. Can he leech off my failures? About half way through, I got so discouraged I'd just walk into the middle of the street and let them gun me down, while chatting with them. I mean, letting them kill me as fast as possible wasn't hurting me, and it was helping them... I think?

At the end of the last stage, I went over to the leader and assassinated him. He respawned and went off to hide somewhere else, so in the last seconds I tracked him down and shot him one last time. I got a team killer award... first award I've seen in a great many days.

I learned about being able to kill teammates a few days ago when one of my teammates shot ME in the last few seconds of the mission, and I'd been trying hard! Next mission we shoot each other for a while, like kids doing tit-for-tat, until I gave up and just let him blast away at me until the mission was over and I could escape the group.

So I guess you could say I'm learning about the seamy underside of the game and its players. And not becoming a better person for it.

On the criminal side, you'll run into AFKbotters and car jackers. AFK people just have a bot program which automatically spams 'y' to accept any mission that's tossed it's way so that it can get the minor rewards from losing repeatedly and quickly. What I do if I find one is invite them to my group (they automatically accept because the program accepts any invite) and then move as a group to a social district, then kick them there. Gets rid of them for a while, until whomever's running the program comes back and realizes what's happened.

The carjackers just keep stealing cars throughout the entire mission, and usually call for backup so that they have a shot at winning without even playing. If you're petty (like me) you can teamkill them. If not, just ignore them and be hesitant about accepting calls for backup.

Morden, you're my hero for doing what you do to bots. 'crdy' is a known bot, and I think I may do just that from now on.

If you need tech upgrades just let us know. I have tons of fancy reward weapons I never use (and have not sold) like the Shaw Lion. I can also purchase a couple more Adeens if you need one of those. I have stuck with much the same equipment for a long time so everything else just collects dust.

Ah!!! That explains the missions where I get messaged about enforcers coming, and they never show up. Sad really... if they played, I'd be an easy kill.

Some clan mates will distract you with looks.

*Glares at Dolly*

I just run them over.

Accidentally, of course.

Well, hopefully someday I'll get a clan invite. If not, well, I'm developing non-clan friends to run with, one of whom is just about my speed.

But I'm never going to get an "enormous wang." Friends tell me I'm kinda butch, or tease me about bull-dykishness, but even at my most outrageous moments I've never been interested in obtaining a wang, or spending intimate moments with someone who does possess one. Now unmentionable toys are another matter, but that's a topic for Digiromp rather than the Rain Dogs.

Wow, finally got into the Rain Dogs.

Nice bunch, but no Friday-nite-nightowls

Some nice 4-person runs. I think we even won some... although they were unopposed.

Ran duo with Mota... morale failed... went off on my own to sulk, got killed a lot, didn't win anything with opposition (except for blind luck). Great people, typical night of failure. Glad my jinx is holding, otherwise, have nothing to whine about.

I was Friday Night Night-Owling. Feel free to send me a message if you want to team. And if the enormous wang route doesn't jive with your style, feel free to select the sexual omnipotence metaphor of your choice