If TWL is using hardcore mode, find another ladder. TWL is/was a huge joke to the UT community, and I'm sure nothing's changed.
Hardcore mode means 30 health. No bullet from any gun at any distance does less than 20 damage, so you're talking two rounds per kill at max unless there's some extra circumstances. Shooting a Jugger with 20-damage shots means you'll need three (he's got 42 health). Shooting players through walls can require a lot given the weapon and if you're not using Deep Impact. Finally, Last Stand is bugged, so between the time you should have killed him and his player model falls to the ground, he's invincible. Lovely, ain't it? Northing you can do but keep plugging him until he's dead for real.
I'm putting my response to your PM in here because it might be useful for others as well. D:
(GR)Killer said:
Just wondering, so how longs a good time to scrim/pug until i know i am better? a few weeks? a month? a few months? i hope not a few years or i'll be pissed.
CoD4's really easy to get decent at compared to something like UT. And I mean really. If you don't see results in a week or two then you're doing it wrong. But you don't even need to scrim/pug to improve; like I said, I've done nothing but pub. No clan matches, no scrimming, no pugging. Not one. I used to suck too... hence the name "Ungood" I gave myself. Now "Ungood" sits at the top of most pub scoreboards.
However, given that the skill level is higher in scrims and pugs, theoretically you can improve quicker. By the time you've learned how to deal with decent players in pugs you've probably surpassed most pubbers. If you do pub, though, you need to find a proper environment. Those 32 player servers are fun for insane spam, but they won't really teach you anything. Keep the player counts at 24 or lower, but not too low because then it's too slow. 10-16 is probably ideal given the small map sizes.
There's something I've always said about gaming (though it applies to a lot of things). It's not
how much you play but
what you put into that time. The phrase "practice makes perfect" applies, but you have to finish the thought to get any real meaning out of it.
Practice does make perfect... but you actually have to practice. Most people don't practice, they just play, and that's why most people suck. Play does not make perfect. If you hop on a server and do the same old crap you've always done, you're just playing, and you shouldn't expect to improve -- ever -- if that's all you do.
Practicing involves actively working on improving
something. The goal of each practice session shouldn't be some useless generalization like "get better at CoD4." There should instead be some tangible part to actively work on. Doesn't matter if it's overall aim, aim with a specific weapon, flanking, predicting likely enemy movements, learning the good hiding spots, listening for opponents, predicting spawns, general awareness, etc. Each match you play -- on pubs too -- should teach you something.
One thing's for sure, though -- you will never learn to aim in hardcore mode. It's simply too lenient. Given the spraytacular nature of the game, even people with no aim will get plenty of kills in hardcore mode. This, for the most part, isn't true of normal mode. More bullets required for a kill means you have to either set up the kill better via your positioning or simply aim better so multiple shots can land. Often it's both. Hardcore is simple instant gratification -- it might seem cool now but in the end you're not getting anything from it.
People often complain that "it's too hard to kill people in normal mode," but they fail to understand that many times, given the proper weapon and Stopping Power, it's a lot of two-shot kills mixed in with some three-shotters. It's not "too hard," but it does help enforce the idea that random spray will
not help you. Learn to aim in normal mode, then apply what you learn in hardcore mode. If you want to continue playing it, that is. Normal mode's way, way more fun in addition to being less dumb.
There are, of course, instances where it takes a crapload of bullets to take someone out, but if that's the case then you ought to do something about it, because right now you're doing it wrong. Imagine trying to shoot a P90 without Stopping Power a decent distance down a map. That's 20 damage per shot, so a five-shot kill. If he's got Jugger on then you've gotta plant six rounds in him. And if you're shooting at him behind a wall it might take 10 or 15. Why? A P90 wasn't meant to be used that way. This ain't a problem in hardcore mode, of course, because hardcore mode is for pussies.
Complaining about normal-mode situations like the above is nothing more than proof that most people suck (and are also idiots).
