[quote]I assumed it was the most basic and easy to use multiplayer type, as well as the only one where my performance or lack-there-of would not annoy anyone else, that is why I picked deathmatch. I will probably do so again for the second game I pick and will then try team stuff on my third go.
You are correct that objective wise deathmatch is the easiest to pick up and play, I mean its basically if you see something move, shoot it.
The problem is that its also one of the most competitive game modes, the skill level in something like team death match or capture the flag is much lower in general.
I disagree. In deathmatch (DM), people are constantly moving. If you stay still, you'll quickly end up shot in the back. The action is so quick, you'll often not even have time to pull and throw a grenade before dying. To survive at all, you ALREADY have to know your controls very well. In Team Deathmatch (TDM), the teams slowly roll around the map, with the more aggressive team constantly trying to outflank or get behind the defensive team. You can't stay still forever, but you've got time to react to what's going on around you, instead of just twitching your gun towards everything you see. So long as friendly fire is turned OFF, and it's off on most servers, TDM is an easy place to learn multiplayer. In Capture the Flag (CTF), all you have to do is find your flag, find a good place to camp out, and shoot any enemies that get near your flag. CTF is the easiest for a purely defensive player. In CTF, they NEED some patient players who hang out around the flag. Only a few servers will ever hastle you for just setting up a tent and defending. Only a few CTF teams are stupid enough to ask the rookie to join in on an attack on the enemy's flag. TDM is the easiest for someone who gets bored waiting for the enemy to show up. Deathmatch is just...really hard to get used to, unless there are only a few players present, and then, what's the point...you're there for MULTIplayer, and trying to kill only a few opponents only teaches you how to deal with one or two opponents....which you probably won't need to know unless you're one of the few, highly skilled players left alive at the end of a search and destroy map.
Again, I'd also disagree that the DM servers have the best players. People trying to earn points for perks, get kills as fast as possible on DM servers, and so there are lots of not-so-good players on DM servers. I'm not a top player - maybe a top 15% player - and I tend to get the same ranking on TDM, DM, and CTF servers. Search and Destroy though - most of those players are very serious folks...very good.