Player Preferred Pattern: Difference between revisions

** Many online shooters will have practically everyone running around with the same weapon or loadout. Naturally, failing to conform and using something different instead is treated as a sign of either [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|being a noob]], or [[Scrub|cheating]] (depending on how well you do, of course).

*** And if the game otherwise requires your team have a certain mix of classes/weapons to ensure optimal teamwork, this trope is especially horrible to have to deal with.

** Other weapons are still useful, and some more so than the Plasma Cutter in certain situations. However, the Plasma Cutter really is a perfectly fine weapon throughout most of the game, and using only one gun allows you to focus your upgrades into that one gun, as well as your health and stasis unit. Even without the achievement, it's a pretty legitimate strategy to just focus on using the Plasma Cutter, and maybe carry a Force Gun to knock away groups of enemies that get too close.

* Expect to see a ''LOT'' of [[Ryu and Ken|Ken]] players in any ''[[Street Fighter]]'' game. Especially ''Ken Fighter IV: Sagat Strike''. So much so, in fact, that [[Complacent Gaming Syndrome]] was originally called [[That Damn Ken]].

** To be fair, this attitude stems from the BR's ancestor, the legendarily [[Game Breaker]]-riffic [[Sniper Pistol]] from ''Combat Evolved''.

** Halo Reach has the DMR, which, now that everyone is capable of headshots due to the game's large aim-assist, is worse than the BR in many situations. Then there's the sniper rifle, which can kill banshees, falcons, warthogs, ghosts, revenants, wraiths, and even the mother of all vehicles, the scorpion, in some situations. [[Fridge Logic|It kills vehicles more easily than the rocket launcher]]. Again, due to the aim-assist, the sniper rifle is incredibly easy to use at close range for a large, bulky .50. You don't even need to "[[Call of Duty|Quickscope]]." One can easily kill a charging shotgunner at point blank or a DMR marksman at mid-range using only the sniper rifle. The AR is also completely useless in this game, and of course, there's a commendation for using it.

** [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys]] tend to hate the update-introduced Razorback, Chargin' Targe, Cloak and Dagger, Sandman, and Natascha. The Syringe Gun used to be seen this way as well until the Blutsauger was nerfed and the Syringe Gun was buffed. Some players will yell at you if you use the Backburner (can't put out players' fire or reflect projectiles) or the Kritzkrieg (trades ten seconds of invincibility for ten seconds of triple damage against everything but buildings).

*** Of course, now that Backburner has been given airblast, people now complain it's too strong and there's no longer any reason to use other flamethrowers. [[Unpleasable Fanbase]] indeed.

*** Before the recent Enforcer nerf, many Spy players had the "Dr. Enforcicle" weapon selection. It consisted of the Dead Ringer (a watch that allowed you to fake your own death and gave you a special invisibility that blocked 90% of all incoming damage for 6 seconds), the Enforcer (a revolver that did 20% more damage at the cost of a longer time needed to activate your cloak), and the Spy-cicle (an icicle that made the Spy immune to fire for 2 seconds, at the cost of it melting and being unable to use it for 15 seconds). These three items synergized very well together: the Dead Ringer could not cloak at-will, but cloaked you instantly if you took any damage while it was out. This instant cloak nullified the only downside to using the Enforcer. The Spy-cicle made the Spy's worst enemy, the Pyro, almost completely useless during the two seconds of fire immunity, during which time the Spy could have a free shot or two with his 20% stronger revolver.

** Counter-Strike and its players are inextricably associated with the AWP sniper rifle and the [[Fan Nickname|deagle]] handgun.

** Counter-Strike has a total of 22 guns that can be chosen from (6 pistols, 2 shotguns, 5 SMGs, 4 assault rifles and 3 sniper rifles) but basically all are inferior to the 3 mainly used guns: The AWP sniper rifle (1 hit one kill), or the M4A1 or AK47 assault rifles, as these latter two are the most powerful and accurate by far of all the guns. Anyone using any of the other weapons, except possibly the pump shotgun, usually results in "noob".

** There are dedicated "scouts 'n knives" maps, which only allow you to carry the Scout sniper rifle (AWP's weaker brother) and the knife. These often involve reduced gravity to add a new dimension to the gameplay.

** Along with bikes, most people will only use certain characters due to them having slightly better bonus stat boosts compared to other characters. Expect to see no one but Daisy and Funky Kong online and in the records for Time Trials and tournaments.

** Or people on Wi-Fi usually just play as their [[Author Avatar|Miis.]]

** Probably because most of the heroes that don't have a lightsaber (save for Boba Fett) tend to get cut down ''really'' fast by those who do.

** It gets worse: that map and game mode are literally the only ones any populated server will run.

** Rockets. So god-awful popular apparently they got their own game mode.

** Most weapon mod full conversions like Arkon tend to fall into this trap. Heck, in Arkon specifically, the recharging thermal blasters you start with are obscene. Only the long recharge time keeps them from being out all the time. Similarly, the sniper version, which replaces the lightning gun...insane instant damage as long as the reticle is on the opposing player/vehicle. Makes mincemeat of flying vehicles and anything that's not a tank. Now imagine how this plays out in normal vehicle-less deathmatch.

*** More so, the Technical Machine (TM) for Stealth Rock can't be imported from older games.

*** Unfortunately this does nothing to help those who play online simulated Pokemon, since Pokemon from older games CAN still be imported, and Stealth Rock remains on the vast majority of their preferred movesets.

** When Version 3 came out, that changed thanks to the Home Course Advantage: if you drove a car on its in-game home course (e.g. driving the AE85 Levin on Myogi, the AE86 Trueno on Akina, or the MR2 on Irohazaka), your car would be slightly faster and quicker to recover than cars that weren't from that course. Of course, a skilled opponent could overcome this, but . . .

* ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' players gravitate towards Sol Badguy or Ky Kiske.

* Online ''[[Reset Generation]]'' opponents typically consist of Plumber and Cyborg - especially the latter, for which there are two steps to easy victory: 1. Grab energy drink to charge Rocket Jump. 2. Grab enemy princess and Rocket Jump to the nearest teleporter or self-colored tile.

* In ''[[Sim City]] 4 Deluxe'', expect most cities to be crammed packed full of skyscrapers due to only Dense zone use, as well as to never see one railroad or elevated rail system as opposed to avenues, roads, subway and bus stations. That is of course, if somebody's trying to [[Serious Business|rebuild a real-world city]]. Oh yeah, almost nobody plays the game without a [[Game Mod]].

*** This can pretty much happen in any ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' game where anyone can learn anything.

**** Bitch Please. Doublecast Bahamutt, [[Game Breaker|Quick]], then [[Completely Missing the Point|quadruplecast Bahamutt.]] There you freaking go.

* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' suffers somewhat from this, as it's fairly easy to surround your entrance with a ridiculous number of traps and reduce invading enemies to [[Ludicrous Gibs]] before they ever get near the front doors, and it's rare to find a player who'll start a fortress anywhere that doesn't have magma. On the other hand, these are just basic tactics, and beyond that, it's expected that any player will try random things that <s> might</s> ''will'' get their fortress killed [[For Science!]]!

** Played with a bit in the new major version - ''all'' maps have magma, you just have to dig until you hit the mantle. Unfortunately, the lag caused by the sheer amount of magma will cripple your computer.

** Indeed, players who aren't doing something that could get their entire fortress killed are considered to be doing it wrong. Exceptions may be made for sufficiently epic 'Megaprojects', however even most of these have a good chance of killing everyone if they go bad. For example, if you want the eyes of your colossus to be magma behind obsidian, then you're going to have to pump magma up some dozens of stories in order to get it there.

* Because for some reason Neversoft thought that making every mode into party mode with extra menus, playing ''[[Guitar Hero]] 5'' online will generally result in the vast majority of online games to consist entirely of four guitarists. Occasionally, you will get a drummer and even more occasionally a vocalist, but you will almost never get a bassist, even on songs where the bass is just as hard, if not harder, than the guitar.

** To clarify, there is an NPC who can raise one of your three stats but will lower another stat in exchange. Some people chose to lower Mario's HP down to 5 and the game considers Mario to be in the Danger status since he is at 5 HP. Several badges powers up Mario's attack and defense when he is in such a state or if he is in the Peril status, where his HP is at 1. Since badges stack, it's possible to have a crippled Mario be a walking powerhouse where he can do over 10 damage per hit and take very little due to the said badges. This is known as the Danger Mario strategy.

** This is only made worse by the existence of badges that increase your HP or FP by the amount you'd get from a level up, which cost the exact amount of BP you'd get from a level up.

** Colibri parties dominate the game from level 37 (East Ronfare [S]) to L75 (Bhaflau Thickets), and have completely bent the endgame to match -- melee characters are encouraged to find accuracy gear and piercing weapons to overcome the Colibri evasion bonuses and weakness to piercing damage, and can expect to sit around bored and shunned if they don't. It's not uncommon to see a level 70+ player sync down to level 37 in order to fight Colibri birds in East Ronfaure (S).

*** With the introduction of Abyssea, however, there's finally a new, widely-accepted way to hunt a variety of targets for acceptable-to-end-game-players exp per hour. It's still only a tiny fraction of the actual number of monsters in Abyssea, but it's better than nothing.

** If they're using an SMG, it is the UMP45, usually silenced. If they're using a sniper rifle, it's the Intervention. If they're using a light machine gun (rare), it's the RPD. The Assault Rifles are the only primary weapon class that isn't dominated by a single gun, but the SCAR-H, TAR-21, and ACR are fairly common. As for secondary weapons, expect nothing but [[Guns Akimbo|dual]] Model 1887's.

* ''[[Modern Warfare]]'' 3 has its own overused builds. The super-accurate ACR is the assault rifle of choice. The PP90M1 submachine gun also gets a lot of use from combining a high fire rate with high damage. Akimbo FMG-9s are heavily used, to the point of being repeatedly nerfed by Infinity Ward. The Type-95 was also common prior to a nerf.

** Assault players often use the 40mm Grenade attachment exclusively, often with explosives-buffing specializations. Known as 'noob-tubing' due to the perceived lack of skill required by short-range may-as-well-be-[[Hit Scan|hitscan]] [[One-Hit Kill|one-hit kills]] with splash damage. Oh, and they also supply their own ammo.

*** The AN-94 is very popular, due to the fact that it does the highest damage out of all the assault rifles and fires an accurate 2-shot burst. Made even deadlier when paired with the 4x scope and magnum ammo.

** Pretty much just take your class's weapon with the highest damage rating and add a sight and Magnum ammo to it to make it do even more damage and be more accurate.

** This game can be a rather blatant example of people running around with the same loadout despite how the game demands a more reasonable mix, mentioned near the top of the page. If a squad (or squads) on your team is filled with one class, it will likely be filled with Recon. That rarely ends well, especially if your team on the offensive in Rush.

** Assault: Pre-patch assault players used the F2000, AEK-971, or the FAMAS due to their high rates of fire. Post-patch the FAMAS's handling and ammo capacity changes nerfed it into oblivion and the F2000 is useless beyond 20 meters. The M16A3 with Heavy Barrel reigns supreme.

** Engineers gravitate to the A-91 or the M4A1, again, due to the high rate of fire, while some go for the SCAR-H + ACOG + Heavy Barrel for long range damage. Post-patch, players that prefer a good medium-range weapon with minimal recoil will likely use the SG553 with the AKS-74U being configurable as a very good short-ranged hip fire weapon.

** Post-patch pistol changes mean the best players will use one of three sidearms: The G18 Suppressed fully-automatic pistol with a high rate of fire that is equivalent to the MP7 at very close range and is used for players who want a true 'backup' weapon, the 93R burst fire pistol which received a major buff in the patch for those who feel they need a more controllable gun than the G18, and finally the .44 Magnum which is a two shot kill due to a buff giving it a 1.25 damage multiplier to the chest, used by players who are extremely accurate and will pick and choose either their primary weapon or the Magnum based on the situation.

** MP7 with Laser + Extended Mags is ''the'' hip fire weapon. Its hip fire is often ''more'' accurate than many guns when aimed down sight and it is quicker to get bullets on target because of its hip fire. Its only drawback is that the extended mags mean you only have less than a handful of reloads, so playing a support kit or having the Ammo perk is mandatory.

** Camouflage-wise, Spec Ops Black as it hides your heat signature from infra-red optics. It's also useful for hiding in buildings since the interior is usually dark.

* In the ''Quake 2'' mod ''Weapons Factory'', Marines were the most common character class due to being heavily armed, and equally suited for defense and offense. Clan matches sometimes included one side fielding all Marines. As the various classes were nerfed and upgraded, other classes became more popular, but Marines remained the most popular choice.

* JRPGs in general fall victim to this. There is one party that everyone uses, no matter how many characters they have available to use.

** Any other composition tried usually falls under a [[Self-Imposed Challenge]].

 

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