I was in a CAL-O team back in my CS days. Not saying this to brag (clearly, as CAL-O was definitely not top tier), just to credential my own opinion as I’m no stranger to competitive FPS play, myself.
It does not matter what you do. If there is anything altering the players inputs whatsoever those players need to be playing against only other people with those same assists and controls.
I don’t necessarily agree that the two are incompatible, even for comp/ranked play. Even if you segregate controller and M/K players, the players in the controller pool aren’t necessarily all playing with the same controller (third-party or Pro/Elite controllers are fairly common), and the players in the M/K pool are definitely not all playing with the same peripherals.
Some controller players will have extra buttons, paddles, or gyro aiming that other players won’t; and it’s probably rare to find two players in any M/K lobby using the same mouse. Even in a PC-only lobby, the player with the $400 RGB HyperTactical GX Mountain Dew & Knuckles mouse is going to have an intrinsic advantage over the player using the 2-button mouse that came with the Dell Optiplex he bought at a yard sale. So either way, neither matchmaking pool has players on a truly even playing field to begin with, and somebody’s choice in their input method is likely to give them some sort of advantage over others in their lobby.
If we want to game in a truly fair, competitive environment, then we should do it like sports leagues do and ensure all players are using standard-issued equipment so that the only variable is the individual skill of the players. But there’s a million reasons why that can’t happen though, so we have to accept some amount of compromise to fairness in order to make games playable.
Ultimately, if the concern is “aim assist is too strong on controller”, then I think that’s a quality control issue on the developers’ part, and something that can be remedied. I don’t think the right solution is “split the player base into sequestered factions”, even though it’s an easy solution. Because you also need to consider that the input method isn’t the only factor deciding any encounter between players. If it were, then you could give the top M/K players a controller and they’d skyrocket through the leaderboards. And vise-versa, the top controller players should start landing all their flick shots once they switch to M/K. But they don’t, because just like in traditional sports, familiarity with the equipment is just as important as one’s ability and game knowledge.
Another often-overlooked issue, which nobody wants to hear, is that there 100% exists an attitude among many M/K players of “he’s on controller, so there’s no way he can be better at the game than me”. A lot of times, the balance between controller and M/K is just fine, and players are just finding themselves on the uncomfortable end of the Dunning-Kruger curve. And I’m not saying this as some sort of Holy Paladin of Gamepads or anything; I actually prefer M/K. But quite often I see PC players dismiss the skill of console players, because they equate their skill to their platform selection. I’m not accusing you of this, by the way, just mentioning that this is an attitude I see a lot in competitive circles, but never see anybody actually talk about it.
I’m multitasking and dangerously decaffeinated as I write this, so I’m sorry if I’m rambling and not making any sense lol.
I was in a CAL-O team back in my CS days. Not saying this to brag (clearly, as CAL-O was definitely not top tier), just to credential my own opinion as I’m no stranger to competitive FPS play, myself.
I don’t necessarily agree that the two are incompatible, even for comp/ranked play. Even if you segregate controller and M/K players, the players in the controller pool aren’t necessarily all playing with the same controller (third-party or Pro/Elite controllers are fairly common), and the players in the M/K pool are definitely not all playing with the same peripherals.
Some controller players will have extra buttons, paddles, or gyro aiming that other players won’t; and it’s probably rare to find two players in any M/K lobby using the same mouse. Even in a PC-only lobby, the player with the $400 RGB HyperTactical GX Mountain Dew & Knuckles mouse is going to have an intrinsic advantage over the player using the 2-button mouse that came with the Dell Optiplex he bought at a yard sale. So either way, neither matchmaking pool has players on a truly even playing field to begin with, and somebody’s choice in their input method is likely to give them some sort of advantage over others in their lobby.
If we want to game in a truly fair, competitive environment, then we should do it like sports leagues do and ensure all players are using standard-issued equipment so that the only variable is the individual skill of the players. But there’s a million reasons why that can’t happen though, so we have to accept some amount of compromise to fairness in order to make games playable.
Ultimately, if the concern is “aim assist is too strong on controller”, then I think that’s a quality control issue on the developers’ part, and something that can be remedied. I don’t think the right solution is “split the player base into sequestered factions”, even though it’s an easy solution. Because you also need to consider that the input method isn’t the only factor deciding any encounter between players. If it were, then you could give the top M/K players a controller and they’d skyrocket through the leaderboards. And vise-versa, the top controller players should start landing all their flick shots once they switch to M/K. But they don’t, because just like in traditional sports, familiarity with the equipment is just as important as one’s ability and game knowledge.
Another often-overlooked issue, which nobody wants to hear, is that there 100% exists an attitude among many M/K players of “he’s on controller, so there’s no way he can be better at the game than me”. A lot of times, the balance between controller and M/K is just fine, and players are just finding themselves on the uncomfortable end of the Dunning-Kruger curve. And I’m not saying this as some sort of Holy Paladin of Gamepads or anything; I actually prefer M/K. But quite often I see PC players dismiss the skill of console players, because they equate their skill to their platform selection. I’m not accusing you of this, by the way, just mentioning that this is an attitude I see a lot in competitive circles, but never see anybody actually talk about it.
I’m multitasking and dangerously decaffeinated as I write this, so I’m sorry if I’m rambling and not making any sense lol.