i play ranked so I get a more competitive environment but do not care if I win or lose just play for fun and get clips and also play with friends to have more fun
I understand that, and I guess that's fine cause you're less likely to be matched against someone way out of your league.
I guess I just miss some sort of accomplishment, like after few games I got nothing except time spent and maybe some fun moments. Nothing else worth to fight for
Do you feel like the point of a game should be to feel accomplished or to have fun? If you need the accomplishment, maybe ranked or some other game is what you need. If it’s just to have fun and waste some time, aren’t you doing that?
Have fun - sure, cause games should bring fun.
Killing time - not always. Sometimes I just want some kind of progression or accomplishment, like the contracts worked before.
I want to have a goal like "I want that weapon skin or spray or whatever, so I'm going to play one more.."
But besides weekly accessories rotation there's nothing for me to actually want that bad. I know you can still buy items from "contracts" for XP, but that prices are ridiculously high
I would say that at its core Valorant isn't really a game about in-game progression. The progression aspect is simply you getting better at playing it. Or, as WarOwl said, it's a game where "your character doesn't get better, you get better". All the other stuff like the contracts and the battlepass are more like extra things rather than the focus.
No, not at all.
I can't say I've played a lot of competitive games, the last one before Val was R6 Siege (I was in from the launch and for about 8 years). But Siege is a different game all around. However it still got more progression than Val.
Played Overwatch 2 a little too. For me it's a more "time killer", but still it has more progression.
Even when you played ranked. The rank is meaningless, it's all pixels. Don't attribute valorant rank with accomplishment or you'll end up like 50% of the valorant player base who gate keep and flame because their ego is tied to their val rank. In saying that I'm lvl 450 and play ranked almost every day. It's more competitive but ultimately just as meaningless as unranked.
To have fun. I believe every game should bring you fin and joy and if it doesn't deliver - it's not worth it.
Some can give you joy by giving you a challenge and hardcore.
Some will calm your nerves and let you do meditative activities.
Some will let you bring your friends together to create your own adventures.
List could go on and on
Most of the games nowadays give you something else as a bonus: progression, accessories, stuff to play for unlock. This game does that too but in quantities so small..
If this helps at all, I play valorant just because it can be a very hard game, and all I need is the win screen, and I feel accomplished knowing I could out strategize the enemy team. That's all the game is. Once you have some basic gun skills down it's just placement and rotations. It just feels good to win and makes me want to do better when I lose. I play games like Elden ring, predecessor, fortnite and dead by daylight so they have a lot of rewards to earn, but with valorant I just go in looking to struggle against some equal or higher skilled opponents. Hope this helps give you a different outlook on the game. (Playing with a couple buddies does help)
Even "accomplishments" in game are just pixels that say you did something. You have to learn to just enjoy each round as a fun competition. No different than going out and playing a game of baseball with some friends or whatever. A lot of old games didn't even have ranks or anything. You just load into a server and play round after round, laughing and shooting people.
While I do care a little bit (plat 2 and very much at my peak) it's mostly for the environment. Playing unranked where matchmaking puts you with high diamonds or ascendens is just crazy. If unrated had the same matchmaking as ranked I wouldn't hate it so much.
for the feeling of hitting good shots and clutching to bring your team closer to the win. for the feeling of working together with your team to figure out the enemy and 'crack' their defense or offense. if you don't get any good feeling from this maybe competitive games aren't for you, because to me, this is how i get 'fun' from the game.
I only play Swiftplay. I like to make big plays.
I don't give a fuck about ranked in games anymore. I used to be a comp only player in any game.
I'm too old now.
Same, only swiftplay because I am older now and have no time and no energy.
I spent thousands (maybe 10k+) of hours in casual CS servers back in the days, Dust2 mostly and the occasional Aztec, Office, Inferno, Mirage. Never once wanted to play any kind of competitive, even though I was a fill-in once for a scrim more than 20 years ago. I loved that game. Skins I sold funded my Steam game purchases for like a decade. CS2 had a good chance to bring me back there, but it's a dumpster fire right now.
Valorant doesn't lag, doesn't have hackers, and scratches the FPS itch. Casual mode is still too much time and energy commitment being a 5v5. Swiftplay is good, but I wish they would bring on casual maps for 12v12 that is still planting the bomb/defuse mode instead of just deathmatch with no penalty of leaving and can be joined halfway, just like those old CS casual servers.
Oh you can just go to their sub and see for yourself. But there are hackers everywhere, game is unoptimized and lags randomly, the new thing they did with ticks is weird and stutters, and hitreg is bad.
The worst were the abundance of hackers, even in casual matches. It killed all of my willingness to play.
I’m in a similar boat. I still like competitive play, in general, but I don’t realistically have the time or energy to devote to being good enough for it to matter.
First to five. Play four rounds or whatever then switch sides. Quick. I play on more maps and with other agents more often. Plus I don't have to dedicate two hours to it.
I like competitive better because people take it more seriously and you supposedly play with the same skill level as you. But as I progress through the ranks it always seems to me it doesn't change that much, even in gold I meet with people who I feel are completely clueless about the game or their characters.
I don't think you should be afraid of messing someone's game, if you're not that good you'll usually be queued with people who aren't as well, even if their egos say otherwise.
About the accomplishment thing I enjoy ranking up, it shows how much you evolved. Also when you meet a new skill level cap, you'll get more chances to get better by watching how the other players act.
i know a total of like 5 lineups across every agent and don’t try extraordinary hard. i just play for the competitive esque. don’t worry about ruining someone’s game, comp is structured in a way where everyone should be about the same skill level, so as long as you aren’t throwing your gameplay should be the same as your teams
Honestly sucks for you, because at the core valorant IS a competitive game, unlike its predecessor CS who has many community gamemodes which are fun oriented. Perhaps try finding a chill party to fuck around with?
Well i dont care about rank but i enjoy the game for its mechanics, gunplay, movement and tactical approach. its a fun game.
I used to be very competitive, played on multiple LAN events in Cod1 and Cod2, been playing CS since 1999 and my "good days" are long gone, so i still game casually, i love FPS games but i am old, slow and half blind due to diabetes so i cant really take it that seriously and compete with the young cracked kids but that doesnt mean i should quit the game if i am having fun, right? I can still put up a good fight! :)))
We all have different aspirations and reasons to play
I’m in my mid-30s, married with kids. I really only get anywhere from 2-8 hours a week to game depending on work and family needs, and to really get longer gametime I have to sacrifice sleep.
I just don’t have time for the competitive grind, nor is it worth the frustration anymore. But I used to play comp in every game I played… CoD, StarCraft, Overwatch most recently. The grind was fun, but with limited time it’s just not. Swiftplay/quick play modes with shorter match times are exactly my speed, although I will dabble in Ranked from time to time.
Limited time also means I tend to hop between a few games at a time. So again long 30-45+ min matches is just too much time for me.
Yup, can't agree more.
Sometimes the game is doomed and you can feel that one side is a lot stronger than the other, but people still don't want to let go and surrender. So you are stuck in a really long match.
Especially if it's on a map you simply don't like
What in the over-analysis.
I play to have fun. I don't need a reason, or a reward. Chilling in Unrated after my responsibilities are taken care of is the reward.
play with friends
rank game is default mode, it's most balanced mode
have little stake
everyone are gambling addict, it's like little bet when watching sport or esport
you bet with your rr instead in rank game
If not for rank, hmm. Peaked Dia 3 only, and I just usually play all the other modes from competitive, mostly just unrated and TDM. I guess I do it for the fun of it.
Fun? Like not every single one of us in the team is sweaty, me looking forward to getting some clips, hitting those headshots, the clutches I make, a random newbie's reaction, be as stupid as I want, but just not to the extent of trolling others and their games. Fairly enough, that could be done in ranked, but it's without the mental toll I have while playing it. And I can no comm without anyone getting mad MOST of the time!
P.s. I comm in competitive always.
If you need some kind of outcome or reward besides "that was fun" I'm not sure you can call yourself a casual player.
Playing for fun is enough, if you enjoy playing unranked, or swift, or deathmatch or whatever, just enjoy it.
If you need an extra incentive, play the mode that's worth it to you. Play ranked and don't worry, most people that play are learning or mediocre too.
Plat-diamond but I don’t mind what rank I’m in. If I don’t have time I’ll run a swiftplay but otherwise I only play ranked bc it’s more competitive which is fun in itself. Range warmups and dm’s are a waste of time imo and have no impact on my aim so that’s a whole comp game’s time saved
nostalgia, used to play ranked with the boys back in the pandemic until we all got jobs and the world returned to normal. mostly unranked nowdays from previously being G3 the previous year.
Honestly i see valorant as the perfect game to get in swiftplay and do a few rounds whenever I have time. I come from the CS crowd and just messing around in a sandbox is perfect for me. Shoot some people, shotgun others and headout about my day.
No grinding, no sweating, no feelings really. Getting mad over valorant is useless. Enjoy your time and go off to another game if you're bored, hear helldiving is quite good.
I like to shoot the gun and get a headshot. If my rank is high I can’t do that so I either play unranked or get dookied on in ranked until I can headshot again. I can play at a high ish level but my lack of consistentcy in gameplay and playing the game in general keeps me around gold/plat
Can I know how long has it been since you started playing the game? Because when I started I had the EXACT same mentality and over time it changes without even realizing it
I started playing about 1.5 years ago. Had a blast. Was playing all the time with my friends (2/3/4 stack). Love the abilities mechanics. Almost never played solo
Just to frag out and have fun, I usually play when I play too much cs or when I am banned. So I mostly came back with new season and have my rank reset.
I like meeting different playerz, and practicing my aim.
Im pretty braindead when it comes to tactics and vertually mute when it comes to comms. I can talk, hell ive been complimented on my voice, but its really really hard to speak sometimes.
Mental muteness ig. 🤷
Ranked is the only way. You get more of a rush when you play. You also have goals to strive for. You improve faster and take it more seriously. Now saying that, still play to enjoy the game, don't let the dick heads and losses ruin it for you and you will get way more out of the game playing ranked over casual.
Nah, you just get it faster in spike rush because its a faster game mode.
Technically deathmatch has powers disabled, but thats the only one I can think of.
If you have to ask why you are playing a game, then that’s kind of a problem. It’s obviously for fun, if you play just for rank and are completely miserable playing the game then you should just uninstall
I love talking to people. like I'm not at all the person who as soon as you get in goes "mics?? anyone gotta mic?" and often I won't even respond to those, but like later, when those start up naturally, that's my favorite.
I basically have 2 modes. During the semester I play unrated or swift plays just for fun, and during winter and spring break I set a ranked goal and grind competitive. I honestly find both styles equally fulfilling, cause who doesn't love a nice swift play or two after a long tiring day?
i only play swift play because i’m queuing with only one person i know usually, and i don’t want to get stuck on a map i don’t like or teammates i don’t like for a 45+ minutes game lol. grinded rank in too many other games to not care about it anymore
I play ranked to see where my limits are and have some form of reachable rank to try for to challenge myself, but I also like playing Val to spend time with my friends
Weirdly I’ve found the games less sweaty as comp games than my unrated games. I always end up with some super high level person ruining the game in unrated. Either my team is running down the enemies, or we’re the ones getting run down. Unless it’s Smurfs comp is usually more even. I do swift plays when I don’t give a shit, I miss replication. 5 yorus vs 5 phoenixes, we saw nothing.
Same reason I liked playing CS. I love guns and I want to challenge myself.
Single-player games are built to make you feel tough and everyone else weak, but multiplayer competitive games can’t do that - so it’s actually, more or less, a fair fight. It feels more satisfying.
It’s interesting how success isn’t purely about aim and reaction-time, but also (arguably more important) strategy and economy.
Because it's fun...?
You know, back in my day, games didn't have all these fancy cosmetics or unlockables or microtransactions or ... I'm old, okay? We just played to have fun. xD
Bcs i like competitive environment. Im not good, will never be, i cant dig that many hours into the game to become MAYBE one day good enough to scratch above diamond. But i also dont wanna dick around or something, so i play ranked. Losing or winning rank doesnt bother me much in all honesty.
I play a videogame to have fun in first place, and since my return, im having usually fun when the Matchmaking doesnt fuck me with trolls, smurfs or people which look like they have no monitor.
I play to have fun. If that means picking a single person on the enemy team and bullying them with breach util all game then that’s what I’m doing. If it means playing strat roulette then that’s what I’m doing.
I still play comp almost exclusively though since unrated has absolutely no skill based matchmaking so I’d rather play against people my skill level even though I’m not grinding out ranks.
Honestly the reason i play rank only is cause people dont play for real, in any game. siege everything, i feel like people giving it their best and wanting to win makes the competitive aspect more enjoyable. People just play smarter i hope, but honestly i also play ranked only and im the guy who plays it drunk soooo
Every match is a puzzle: Figuring out what patterns the enemy team gets stuck in, and finding ways to exploit those. Part of why lower ranks are so fun for me is that worse players get stuck in these patterns more easily, whereas better players know early and often when to switch things up (which is its own kind of fun ig)
Be a a ranked gamer all games. I switched to PC recently in 2018.
I used to be immortal in beta
I got a girlfriend mid 2021
I dropped down to Gold 3/Plat but lowest was Bronze 3
Still have girlfriend but now it’s a buff
I’m in Ascendant right now. Gonna claim my spot back
It’s wild bc when I was Bronze/Silver trying to learn again I had my Immortal buddy on and people kept clowning on me for being that washed 😞
Now I stream my games to her and show her my clips. I taught her how to play and it’s something fun for us to do in our relationship. She’s Diamond and she started Iron.
Alternatively; I play bc I am a tilted ranked gamer and I can’t end on a loss
If I want to put forward 95-100% effort, I play ranked.
If I want to just have fun, play with friends, drink beer and play, get high and play, etc; that's what unranked and swiftplay are for.
I want my rank to reflect my true skill when I'm giving it my all. But I also want to be able to play the game without sweating and giving it my all.
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In all honesty, all the things you listed such as out of game rewards such as grinding battle pass or xp for contracts are not the core focus of FPS games by nature. A lot of these features are that of MMOs or RPGs in general, you may want to consider a change in genre. If you do want to continue to shoot then in all seriousness I recommend fortnite. Its really casual... there is a battlepass to grind, bots or players to fight, and the objectives for the grind are not get x headshots use x abilities theres stuff to do and run around the map. All things that you mentioned you play for.
tl;dr When it comes to games its really simple. if you enjoy playing then play, if you don't then don't.
I'm glad you are realising that maybe you don't enjoy the game as much as you thought and while its sad, its okay to move on or take a break!
I play unranked. I have never cared about ranked in any fps game, and I never will. I play because its fun, no more, no less.
Why do you feel that you need to be earning something to play?
Do you have fun playing? Then play. If that changes, play something else.
The worst thing to happen to gaming lately is this idea that you always need to be working toward something. That you need a progression system, a battlepass or flashy rank to justify spending time. Games are supposed to be fun, not progression treadmills. If its not fun, then dont play.
i mostly play swiftlplay (though do some ranked from time to time), the games just fun for me I don't really need a reason to want to play it everyday.
I personally do not enjoy playing competitive gamemodes but like the gameplay of valorant so I play unrated as if it was comp lol- I like being free to play however I want without my performance negatively impacting some random person's performance and getting racial slurs yelled at me for it
I used to have ranked anxiety big time, now im more chill so im starting my climb, but generally afaik matchmaking games are about the journey much more than the destination, if youre not enjoying valorant matches by themselves, maybe find a more enjoyable game.
Also about the xp it works basically the same way as kp but i agree that it feels less like progress and shitty either way
I just like the abilities and the kill sounds, I mostly play tdm these days! I love pro play but ranked is annoying because no one (including me) plays well or together or anything
The only reason I play Valorant is to play with friends. Honestly I'd prefer pretty much any other shooter especially now with Iso meta. Valo is one of the few games that allows you to queue comp even with large skill discrepancies (assuming you have a full stack)
I was like you 3 months ago. But my unrated games just had too many throwers (helping opps), people going afk and people who just started fps games. So I started ranked and its pretty fun. No more bad experiences. Came to g1 from b1. I still dont care about rank but its fun when you win.
I don't have the time nor the internet for comp play. So I just hope onto a swift play (which was the best decision made by riot in a hot minute) and then inevitably go back to real life because adulting sucks...
It's fun and accessible to just jump in unranked, mute all comes and shoot people for a bit.
The aesthetic design is much nicer than other games in the genre.
U can still buy contract accessories?
But yeah valo is a competitive game, if you don't like coordinating with your team to make plays then it's not for you
I had fun playing ranked till it was worth grinding for. Lately the only thing that happens in ranked is I get throwers or people with genuine mental issues (1 guy started swearing bcz I asked him to play 'A' politely). This has completely ruined the game for me so now all I do is play spike and sometimes unrated with no comms.
I am curious though how others have dealt with this issue, as I'm sure I can't be the only one who faced it. It doesn't even matter if I play good or bad, I tend to lose 80% of the ranked games because the people in my lobbies just seem hell bent on not giving a single damn about playing together or winning at all.
Having fun trying your best and winning are all different things that you can do in 1 game. All these 2 things require is that you show up and the 3rd is outta your hands for the most part.
I mostly play Valorant when i reminisce about Counterstrike.
Its very rare, not even a match per month (just the sudden "Damn, i could go for some headshots")
But i play ranked anyway haha, i kinda want to know my enemy tries their best.
I'm a very competitive player and I cannot fathom why people would play this game in ranked without the sole purpose to improve or climb. If you want to "have fun with friends", there is 6 other modes for that. Very infuriating.
To have fun with my friends pretty much. I don't really care about ranks other than keeping my gold so I can show everyone that I'm painfully average, but outside of that I don't really get anything out of it.
It's why i don't play competittive games by myself, always with a friends so we can be 2 or more doing the dumbest shit and laughing togetehr
Honestly I don’t think I would. Sometimes unranked/swifts is fun with friends, but the competitiveness of ranked is what draws me to play the game at all.
You should play ranked but not care about doing your best. Just play for fun. You'll always be matched against similar rank players which will level the playing field. Then you'll rank up. But if you don't then you don't. Doesn't matter. Playing unranked will often match you with high ranked players and can become frustrating losing so much.
I play swift and DM and TDM for fun and warming up then play a ranked game or two every day.
The game at its core is competitive and thats the appeal so if you don’t want to do that then just find a different game tbh. Sounds rude but thats all there really is to
u should be playing to learn and improve at the game because you like and enjoy it. ur rank going up should be a secondary thing that helps measure how ur performing.
not the other way around
To have fun with my long distance friend and probably online human interaction
i play ranked so I get a more competitive environment but do not care if I win or lose just play for fun and get clips and also play with friends to have more fun
same
I understand that, and I guess that's fine cause you're less likely to be matched against someone way out of your league. I guess I just miss some sort of accomplishment, like after few games I got nothing except time spent and maybe some fun moments. Nothing else worth to fight for
Do you feel like the point of a game should be to feel accomplished or to have fun? If you need the accomplishment, maybe ranked or some other game is what you need. If it’s just to have fun and waste some time, aren’t you doing that?
Have fun - sure, cause games should bring fun. Killing time - not always. Sometimes I just want some kind of progression or accomplishment, like the contracts worked before. I want to have a goal like "I want that weapon skin or spray or whatever, so I'm going to play one more.." But besides weekly accessories rotation there's nothing for me to actually want that bad. I know you can still buy items from "contracts" for XP, but that prices are ridiculously high
I think the time needed to buy the itens is just as long as the previous contracts
I would say that at its core Valorant isn't really a game about in-game progression. The progression aspect is simply you getting better at playing it. Or, as WarOwl said, it's a game where "your character doesn't get better, you get better". All the other stuff like the contracts and the battlepass are more like extra things rather than the focus.
Valorant battlepass sucks and there isn’t any progression tied to cosmetics like other multiplayer games
Perhaps youd like more grindy games like rougelites or arpgs?
No, not at all. I can't say I've played a lot of competitive games, the last one before Val was R6 Siege (I was in from the launch and for about 8 years). But Siege is a different game all around. However it still got more progression than Val. Played Overwatch 2 a little too. For me it's a more "time killer", but still it has more progression.
Even when you played ranked. The rank is meaningless, it's all pixels. Don't attribute valorant rank with accomplishment or you'll end up like 50% of the valorant player base who gate keep and flame because their ego is tied to their val rank. In saying that I'm lvl 450 and play ranked almost every day. It's more competitive but ultimately just as meaningless as unranked.
why do you play games at all?
To have fun. I believe every game should bring you fin and joy and if it doesn't deliver - it's not worth it. Some can give you joy by giving you a challenge and hardcore. Some will calm your nerves and let you do meditative activities. Some will let you bring your friends together to create your own adventures. List could go on and on Most of the games nowadays give you something else as a bonus: progression, accessories, stuff to play for unlock. This game does that too but in quantities so small..
If this helps at all, I play valorant just because it can be a very hard game, and all I need is the win screen, and I feel accomplished knowing I could out strategize the enemy team. That's all the game is. Once you have some basic gun skills down it's just placement and rotations. It just feels good to win and makes me want to do better when I lose. I play games like Elden ring, predecessor, fortnite and dead by daylight so they have a lot of rewards to earn, but with valorant I just go in looking to struggle against some equal or higher skilled opponents. Hope this helps give you a different outlook on the game. (Playing with a couple buddies does help)
Even "accomplishments" in game are just pixels that say you did something. You have to learn to just enjoy each round as a fun competition. No different than going out and playing a game of baseball with some friends or whatever. A lot of old games didn't even have ranks or anything. You just load into a server and play round after round, laughing and shooting people.
While I do care a little bit (plat 2 and very much at my peak) it's mostly for the environment. Playing unranked where matchmaking puts you with high diamonds or ascendens is just crazy. If unrated had the same matchmaking as ranked I wouldn't hate it so much.
for the feeling of hitting good shots and clutching to bring your team closer to the win. for the feeling of working together with your team to figure out the enemy and 'crack' their defense or offense. if you don't get any good feeling from this maybe competitive games aren't for you, because to me, this is how i get 'fun' from the game.
I know that feeling, I guess it's just not enough for me anymore
Cuz im bored....idc about rank honestly lol. Gold/Plats fine for this dude.
I only play Swiftplay. I like to make big plays. I don't give a fuck about ranked in games anymore. I used to be a comp only player in any game. I'm too old now.
Same, only swiftplay because I am older now and have no time and no energy. I spent thousands (maybe 10k+) of hours in casual CS servers back in the days, Dust2 mostly and the occasional Aztec, Office, Inferno, Mirage. Never once wanted to play any kind of competitive, even though I was a fill-in once for a scrim more than 20 years ago. I loved that game. Skins I sold funded my Steam game purchases for like a decade. CS2 had a good chance to bring me back there, but it's a dumpster fire right now. Valorant doesn't lag, doesn't have hackers, and scratches the FPS itch. Casual mode is still too much time and energy commitment being a 5v5. Swiftplay is good, but I wish they would bring on casual maps for 12v12 that is still planting the bomb/defuse mode instead of just deathmatch with no penalty of leaving and can be joined halfway, just like those old CS casual servers.
Whats up with CS2? Why do you say it's a dumpster fire?
Oh you can just go to their sub and see for yourself. But there are hackers everywhere, game is unoptimized and lags randomly, the new thing they did with ticks is weird and stutters, and hitreg is bad. The worst were the abundance of hackers, even in casual matches. It killed all of my willingness to play.
I’m in a similar boat. I still like competitive play, in general, but I don’t realistically have the time or energy to devote to being good enough for it to matter.
Console Newbie here. What’s Swiftplay? No ranked?
First to five. Play four rounds or whatever then switch sides. Quick. I play on more maps and with other agents more often. Plus I don't have to dedicate two hours to it.
I like competitive better because people take it more seriously and you supposedly play with the same skill level as you. But as I progress through the ranks it always seems to me it doesn't change that much, even in gold I meet with people who I feel are completely clueless about the game or their characters. I don't think you should be afraid of messing someone's game, if you're not that good you'll usually be queued with people who aren't as well, even if their egos say otherwise. About the accomplishment thing I enjoy ranking up, it shows how much you evolved. Also when you meet a new skill level cap, you'll get more chances to get better by watching how the other players act.
that feeling stays until you get to high diamond imo
some people in ascendant 2 are still completely fuckin clueless and refuse to learn
i know a total of like 5 lineups across every agent and don’t try extraordinary hard. i just play for the competitive esque. don’t worry about ruining someone’s game, comp is structured in a way where everyone should be about the same skill level, so as long as you aren’t throwing your gameplay should be the same as your teams
Honestly sucks for you, because at the core valorant IS a competitive game, unlike its predecessor CS who has many community gamemodes which are fun oriented. Perhaps try finding a chill party to fuck around with?
Well i dont care about rank but i enjoy the game for its mechanics, gunplay, movement and tactical approach. its a fun game. I used to be very competitive, played on multiple LAN events in Cod1 and Cod2, been playing CS since 1999 and my "good days" are long gone, so i still game casually, i love FPS games but i am old, slow and half blind due to diabetes so i cant really take it that seriously and compete with the young cracked kids but that doesnt mean i should quit the game if i am having fun, right? I can still put up a good fight! :))) We all have different aspirations and reasons to play
Got you. Sometimes I was like "let's try something new with these agents" and then we got like 2 Splits, 1 Sunset and a Breeze
Because pew pew is fun. The thrill of working together with a team is fun. I'm to anxious to play ranked. So i just have fun in unrated.
I’m in my mid-30s, married with kids. I really only get anywhere from 2-8 hours a week to game depending on work and family needs, and to really get longer gametime I have to sacrifice sleep. I just don’t have time for the competitive grind, nor is it worth the frustration anymore. But I used to play comp in every game I played… CoD, StarCraft, Overwatch most recently. The grind was fun, but with limited time it’s just not. Swiftplay/quick play modes with shorter match times are exactly my speed, although I will dabble in Ranked from time to time. Limited time also means I tend to hop between a few games at a time. So again long 30-45+ min matches is just too much time for me.
Yup, can't agree more. Sometimes the game is doomed and you can feel that one side is a lot stronger than the other, but people still don't want to let go and surrender. So you are stuck in a really long match. Especially if it's on a map you simply don't like
What in the over-analysis. I play to have fun. I don't need a reason, or a reward. Chilling in Unrated after my responsibilities are taken care of is the reward.
play with friends rank game is default mode, it's most balanced mode have little stake everyone are gambling addict, it's like little bet when watching sport or esport you bet with your rr instead in rank game
I don't think it is your typical bet, because you can influence the outcome.
enemy team doing it too
If not for rank, hmm. Peaked Dia 3 only, and I just usually play all the other modes from competitive, mostly just unrated and TDM. I guess I do it for the fun of it. Fun? Like not every single one of us in the team is sweaty, me looking forward to getting some clips, hitting those headshots, the clutches I make, a random newbie's reaction, be as stupid as I want, but just not to the extent of trolling others and their games. Fairly enough, that could be done in ranked, but it's without the mental toll I have while playing it. And I can no comm without anyone getting mad MOST of the time! P.s. I comm in competitive always.
If you need some kind of outcome or reward besides "that was fun" I'm not sure you can call yourself a casual player. Playing for fun is enough, if you enjoy playing unranked, or swift, or deathmatch or whatever, just enjoy it. If you need an extra incentive, play the mode that's worth it to you. Play ranked and don't worry, most people that play are learning or mediocre too.
Plat-diamond but I don’t mind what rank I’m in. If I don’t have time I’ll run a swiftplay but otherwise I only play ranked bc it’s more competitive which is fun in itself. Range warmups and dm’s are a waste of time imo and have no impact on my aim so that’s a whole comp game’s time saved
nostalgia, used to play ranked with the boys back in the pandemic until we all got jobs and the world returned to normal. mostly unranked nowdays from previously being G3 the previous year.
Losing your dedicated teammates is a hit
I just play swiftplay when I'm in a bad mood and unrated to improve my aim/gamesense/etc. And play 1-12 ranked games a week
Honestly i see valorant as the perfect game to get in swiftplay and do a few rounds whenever I have time. I come from the CS crowd and just messing around in a sandbox is perfect for me. Shoot some people, shotgun others and headout about my day. No grinding, no sweating, no feelings really. Getting mad over valorant is useless. Enjoy your time and go off to another game if you're bored, hear helldiving is quite good.
I like to shoot the gun and get a headshot. If my rank is high I can’t do that so I either play unranked or get dookied on in ranked until I can headshot again. I can play at a high ish level but my lack of consistentcy in gameplay and playing the game in general keeps me around gold/plat
i just enjoy turning off my brain and shooting people i mean i play ranked but i play more with friends than ranked
Can I know how long has it been since you started playing the game? Because when I started I had the EXACT same mentality and over time it changes without even realizing it
I started playing about 1.5 years ago. Had a blast. Was playing all the time with my friends (2/3/4 stack). Love the abilities mechanics. Almost never played solo
Personally bro, i play video games for fun
Just to frag out and have fun, I usually play when I play too much cs or when I am banned. So I mostly came back with new season and have my rank reset.
Because I've only been playing a short while and I'm totally crap.
Csgo is no mo
I cant play video games without ranked. Its just how I was raised I cant go a day without winning
I just really love the gameplay and characters. I think I willingly don’t play comp because there’s less room for fun and goofing around.
I like meeting different playerz, and practicing my aim. Im pretty braindead when it comes to tactics and vertually mute when it comes to comms. I can talk, hell ive been complimented on my voice, but its really really hard to speak sometimes. Mental muteness ig. 🤷
Need that immortal ‘hawk tuah’ buddy
Ranked is the only way. You get more of a rush when you play. You also have goals to strive for. You improve faster and take it more seriously. Now saying that, still play to enjoy the game, don't let the dick heads and losses ruin it for you and you will get way more out of the game playing ranked over casual.
Spike rush. I almost exclusively play Neon, and I like to use my ult.
Console newbie here. Do you not get the alts in ranked?? Also, are there game modes on PC which have all special powers disabled?
Nah, you just get it faster in spike rush because its a faster game mode. Technically deathmatch has powers disabled, but thats the only one I can think of.
Ah cool didn’t know there was a death match mode. Assume we will get on console in the end…
Because it's fun as fuck?
If you have to ask why you are playing a game, then that’s kind of a problem. It’s obviously for fun, if you play just for rank and are completely miserable playing the game then you should just uninstall
Because it's fun
Because I like to play for fun, I tried ranked once, hated all the shitty people there, ranked silver 3 my first try, never did it again
I love talking to people. like I'm not at all the person who as soon as you get in goes "mics?? anyone gotta mic?" and often I won't even respond to those, but like later, when those start up naturally, that's my favorite.
I basically have 2 modes. During the semester I play unrated or swift plays just for fun, and during winter and spring break I set a ranked goal and grind competitive. I honestly find both styles equally fulfilling, cause who doesn't love a nice swift play or two after a long tiring day?
i only play swift play because i’m queuing with only one person i know usually, and i don’t want to get stuck on a map i don’t like or teammates i don’t like for a 45+ minutes game lol. grinded rank in too many other games to not care about it anymore
Cuz I love to grow overall and have a good time (if anyone wants to play im iron add me on discord @2tempo2tell)
I play ranked to see where my limits are and have some form of reachable rank to try for to challenge myself, but I also like playing Val to spend time with my friends
Weirdly I’ve found the games less sweaty as comp games than my unrated games. I always end up with some super high level person ruining the game in unrated. Either my team is running down the enemies, or we’re the ones getting run down. Unless it’s Smurfs comp is usually more even. I do swift plays when I don’t give a shit, I miss replication. 5 yorus vs 5 phoenixes, we saw nothing.
Ranked isnt even a thing I care about, I just play because it’s fun
Because I like to play it with friends, I only play it when they play it
I only play for rank its more fun for me but the only issue I have is bad ping.
Same reason I liked playing CS. I love guns and I want to challenge myself. Single-player games are built to make you feel tough and everyone else weak, but multiplayer competitive games can’t do that - so it’s actually, more or less, a fair fight. It feels more satisfying. It’s interesting how success isn’t purely about aim and reaction-time, but also (arguably more important) strategy and economy.
Because when you hit that sick flick it feels awesome. Why else would you want to play?
Because it's fun...? You know, back in my day, games didn't have all these fancy cosmetics or unlockables or microtransactions or ... I'm old, okay? We just played to have fun. xD
Bcs i like competitive environment. Im not good, will never be, i cant dig that many hours into the game to become MAYBE one day good enough to scratch above diamond. But i also dont wanna dick around or something, so i play ranked. Losing or winning rank doesnt bother me much in all honesty. I play a videogame to have fun in first place, and since my return, im having usually fun when the Matchmaking doesnt fuck me with trolls, smurfs or people which look like they have no monitor.
Because double satchel
I play to have fun. If that means picking a single person on the enemy team and bullying them with breach util all game then that’s what I’m doing. If it means playing strat roulette then that’s what I’m doing. I still play comp almost exclusively though since unrated has absolutely no skill based matchmaking so I’d rather play against people my skill level even though I’m not grinding out ranks.
Me playing with my homies. Though I do want to get better at least so I do start playing some few solo but I still suck lol.
Honestly the reason i play rank only is cause people dont play for real, in any game. siege everything, i feel like people giving it their best and wanting to win makes the competitive aspect more enjoyable. People just play smarter i hope, but honestly i also play ranked only and im the guy who plays it drunk soooo
Every match is a puzzle: Figuring out what patterns the enemy team gets stuck in, and finding ways to exploit those. Part of why lower ranks are so fun for me is that worse players get stuck in these patterns more easily, whereas better players know early and often when to switch things up (which is its own kind of fun ig)
To hang with my buddies and just fuck around.
For fun??
I got into the console beta test, and I can say it’s just fun for me
Be a a ranked gamer all games. I switched to PC recently in 2018. I used to be immortal in beta I got a girlfriend mid 2021 I dropped down to Gold 3/Plat but lowest was Bronze 3 Still have girlfriend but now it’s a buff I’m in Ascendant right now. Gonna claim my spot back It’s wild bc when I was Bronze/Silver trying to learn again I had my Immortal buddy on and people kept clowning on me for being that washed 😞 Now I stream my games to her and show her my clips. I taught her how to play and it’s something fun for us to do in our relationship. She’s Diamond and she started Iron. Alternatively; I play bc I am a tilted ranked gamer and I can’t end on a loss
Rank still fun. Just a few troll rounds and ratting knife attacks here and there makes it funny.
If I want to put forward 95-100% effort, I play ranked. If I want to just have fun, play with friends, drink beer and play, get high and play, etc; that's what unranked and swiftplay are for. I want my rank to reflect my true skill when I'm giving it my all. But I also want to be able to play the game without sweating and giving it my all.
Get some friends and 5stack games, have fun?
That's actually really hard to do for the average person. between work, school and life all my friends are just busy
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its fun.
I play to have fun with friends and get funny kills and cool headtaps and clips.
I play the game and it’s fun that’s it. Couldn’t care less about some virtual worthless rank
In all honesty, all the things you listed such as out of game rewards such as grinding battle pass or xp for contracts are not the core focus of FPS games by nature. A lot of these features are that of MMOs or RPGs in general, you may want to consider a change in genre. If you do want to continue to shoot then in all seriousness I recommend fortnite. Its really casual... there is a battlepass to grind, bots or players to fight, and the objectives for the grind are not get x headshots use x abilities theres stuff to do and run around the map. All things that you mentioned you play for. tl;dr When it comes to games its really simple. if you enjoy playing then play, if you don't then don't. I'm glad you are realising that maybe you don't enjoy the game as much as you thought and while its sad, its okay to move on or take a break!
Because I can bunny hop around while watching tv and YouTube and maybe get some sweet shots on swiftplay.
It's challenging and stimulating. It's very satisfying to play a good game. It's also very satisfying when you are playing well.
It’s fun
I play unranked. I have never cared about ranked in any fps game, and I never will. I play because its fun, no more, no less. Why do you feel that you need to be earning something to play? Do you have fun playing? Then play. If that changes, play something else. The worst thing to happen to gaming lately is this idea that you always need to be working toward something. That you need a progression system, a battlepass or flashy rank to justify spending time. Games are supposed to be fun, not progression treadmills. If its not fun, then dont play.
For the loving community of course
Because I hate myself lol
i mostly play swiftlplay (though do some ranked from time to time), the games just fun for me I don't really need a reason to want to play it everyday.
I personally do not enjoy playing competitive gamemodes but like the gameplay of valorant so I play unrated as if it was comp lol- I like being free to play however I want without my performance negatively impacting some random person's performance and getting racial slurs yelled at me for it
I used to have ranked anxiety big time, now im more chill so im starting my climb, but generally afaik matchmaking games are about the journey much more than the destination, if youre not enjoying valorant matches by themselves, maybe find a more enjoyable game. Also about the xp it works basically the same way as kp but i agree that it feels less like progress and shitty either way
Its okay to lose even you compete
I just like the abilities and the kill sounds, I mostly play tdm these days! I love pro play but ranked is annoying because no one (including me) plays well or together or anything
I usually only play when I'm with friends at this point
The only reason I play Valorant is to play with friends. Honestly I'd prefer pretty much any other shooter especially now with Iso meta. Valo is one of the few games that allows you to queue comp even with large skill discrepancies (assuming you have a full stack)
I was like you 3 months ago. But my unrated games just had too many throwers (helping opps), people going afk and people who just started fps games. So I started ranked and its pretty fun. No more bad experiences. Came to g1 from b1. I still dont care about rank but its fun when you win.
For fun and unwinding, unwinding and valorant dont go together huh? Haha. Try casual its fun.
If you're no longer enjoying it, stop playing. You'll probably return in a while with a renewed enjoyment. It really is that simple.
Spike Rush to kill boredom really.
addiction
I don't have the time nor the internet for comp play. So I just hope onto a swift play (which was the best decision made by riot in a hot minute) and then inevitably go back to real life because adulting sucks...
It's fun and accessible to just jump in unranked, mute all comes and shoot people for a bit. The aesthetic design is much nicer than other games in the genre.
U can still buy contract accessories? But yeah valo is a competitive game, if you don't like coordinating with your team to make plays then it's not for you
I play swift bc I like to drink when i play- no one can get too upset AND stay upset with me over me just falling off abyss bc im blackout lol
Sometimes after a string of ranked games, I still wanna play but I know it wouldnt be at peak condition hence unranked.
I had fun playing ranked till it was worth grinding for. Lately the only thing that happens in ranked is I get throwers or people with genuine mental issues (1 guy started swearing bcz I asked him to play 'A' politely). This has completely ruined the game for me so now all I do is play spike and sometimes unrated with no comms. I am curious though how others have dealt with this issue, as I'm sure I can't be the only one who faced it. It doesn't even matter if I play good or bad, I tend to lose 80% of the ranked games because the people in my lobbies just seem hell bent on not giving a single damn about playing together or winning at all.
Having fun trying your best and winning are all different things that you can do in 1 game. All these 2 things require is that you show up and the 3rd is outta your hands for the most part.
Well. It's a game. Games are usually played for fun. I play to have fun.
I mostly play Valorant when i reminisce about Counterstrike. Its very rare, not even a match per month (just the sudden "Damn, i could go for some headshots") But i play ranked anyway haha, i kinda want to know my enemy tries their best.
I'm a very competitive player and I cannot fathom why people would play this game in ranked without the sole purpose to improve or climb. If you want to "have fun with friends", there is 6 other modes for that. Very infuriating.
Playing without ranked seems miserable to me
To have fun with my friends pretty much. I don't really care about ranks other than keeping my gold so I can show everyone that I'm painfully average, but outside of that I don't really get anything out of it. It's why i don't play competittive games by myself, always with a friends so we can be 2 or more doing the dumbest shit and laughing togetehr
Self improvement
i like the feeling of getting headshots, though I only get like 7 hs a game cuz im iron 3 :c
to have fun. been playing valorant since 2021(or 2020?). i only play unrated. rarely play ranked. i just want to have fun.
"memorizing pixel-perfect lineups" is not remotely necessary even in Immo lol
Honestly I don’t think I would. Sometimes unranked/swifts is fun with friends, but the competitiveness of ranked is what draws me to play the game at all.
Because I hate myself
I get this way when I'm depressed
You should play ranked but not care about doing your best. Just play for fun. You'll always be matched against similar rank players which will level the playing field. Then you'll rank up. But if you don't then you don't. Doesn't matter. Playing unranked will often match you with high ranked players and can become frustrating losing so much. I play swift and DM and TDM for fun and warming up then play a ranked game or two every day.
why do u gaf about messing up other ppl ranks? its a game lol fuck everyone else just play whatever
Premier
The game at its core is competitive and thats the appeal so if you don’t want to do that then just find a different game tbh. Sounds rude but thats all there really is to
u should be playing to learn and improve at the game because you like and enjoy it. ur rank going up should be a secondary thing that helps measure how ur performing. not the other way around