With the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 now nearly two weeks ago, I decided to put together the facets which determine the quality of a first-person shooter (FPS). Please note there is no direct order to importance here. I am sure I have missed some key aspects, but this is a good starting list.
Lag
If it exists in great quantities, the game will fail. There are no if’s, and’s, or but’s about this. No other feature matters if the game lags. If there are not going to be dedicated servers hosting the games, then there needs to be a quality host selection process. There also needs to be a process to transfer hosts when dedicated servers do not exist so hosts can not kill games because they are getting dominated and want to go cry to their mothers. In other words, when Papasmurf786′s “mother resets his router.” I still say that was exceptionally convenient timing.
In conjunction with my writing frustrations, my Panthers decided to lose the next game to Southern Illinois by a score of 20-27. I have a few problems with this game almost every year. First off, scheduling this game for the University of Northern Iowa’s homecoming was a terrible idea. This is the second time it was been done. The reason is that three years ago we beat the living crap out of a winless Illinois State team. We dominated them so quickly, the majority of the second half consisted of both teams running the ball on every down and eventually punting it to the other team. Given the option, I am pretty sure both coaches would have gladly called the game early. The result was the crowd leaving in mass exodus before the end of the third quarter. I understand the importance of a quality game during homecoming. However, I also understand the importance of scheduling a team in which there is a very reasonable chance of beating. While UNI had a good shot at beating Southern Illinois, picking the hardest team on the schedule and the biggest rival is a bad idea. It just so happens that the homecoming crowd is rather mediocre compared to big game crowds. This is due to all the alumni returning and spending the majority of the game talking to the people around them than getting into the game. Now, if the toughest opponent is put a couple weeks after homecoming, an equal crowd will show, but it will be much more intense. In an atmosphere like the UNI-Dome, the difference in impact on the game is huge. We easily could have scheduled a Youngstown State or Western Illinois and expected a decent game. So not only are the chances of losing homecoming reduced, but the probability of winning the most difficult game is increased. Without a doubt, Southern Illinois is the toughest game on the Panther schedule. It has been every year since I began attending the university.
For those that were reading my posts about every UNI football game, it has become obvious I stopped. Ultimately, I was struggling with what I had to say. I am not a journalist. I cannot nor will I make a story out of every game. I analyze them for the quality of football to improve for the next week in the progression towards a championship. I look at a football game and team from the perspective of a coach in many ways. The result was I really was not happy with what I had to say about each game. It was too difficult for me to remember the critical plays and situations necessary to write a proper analytical piece. This resulted in me not writing immediately on the North Dakota State game when I was almost caught up with the latest game played. Anyways, I have decided to undertake the task once again.
UNI managed to squeak out a win over a newly developing rival in North Dakota State. The score was 42-27 thanks to some late points to make it look like a slightly safer win. The game was strange due to the number of penalties, most notably coming from personal fouls from rising emotions. The Bison have not been in the Missouri Valley Conference long, but it is clear they already do not get along with the Panthers. Adding to this, the game took on a physical nature thanks to NDSU having the best running game in the nation as I recall. UNI was the top rushing defense in the conference, but I attribute that partially to playing poor competition or having a lead the entire game when we did play decent teams. The result was teams did not have a lot of time to attempt to rush against. North Dakota State was the first team capable of pounding the ball for an extended period of time against the Panthers. The Bison were able to make a dent in the formidable UNI defense. However, they were slowed down enough to prove that while stopping the rush may not be UNI’s greatest strength, they are still can hold their own.
In the end, the Panther offense came alive late to seal the game. However, for the first time, UNI seemed mortal while playing an FCS football team. At this point in time, they had won every game by 28 points or more excluding the FBS Iowa Hawkeyes who were undefeated and ranked #11 in the AP Top 25 poll following this week. In all, it was shown that the UNI defense was potentially vulnerable to the run and the offense still was not fully clicking. However, it would take a team with more athletic talent and properly built to truly attack the weaknesses of the stout defense to pull off a victory against the Panthers.