I think the trend has been clear with modern competitive FPS in general, it's why I started disliking them more and more, where before this gen, they were frequently amongst my favorite types of games. They've been ruined by challenges, perks and constant increase of features that specifically target the coddling of skilless players, turning me off. Modern gaming is about trying to make games as inoffensive as possible, so that everyone gets a pat on the head.
Titanfall from my play so far has been this turned up to eleven. Every element possible that can be funneled toward making shit players get their little celebratory dings here and there is implemented. Shit A.I. players so they can get satisfactory little kills and quicker Titanfalls so they can bombard for a few easy kills; cloaking and auto aim weapons that kill instantly with proper lock on, no recoil and insane mobility.
Used to be we play a competitive FPS and it was pure skill vs. pure skill. You had your weapon, but none of this superfluous nonsense. You had to fucking aim true, and you had to do it consistently. You had to compensate. There were no perks you had to worry about that turned shotguns into snipers or gave the enemy combatant just that much extra health so that all else being equal they're the ones who walk away. These days with all the add-on nonsense, balance just begins to go right out the window, until it's a complete crapshoot. It's not like half a thought is even paid to really making these systems smooth out, they just expect everyone to play long enough so everyone has access to the same perks as if that solves the issue.
Great players will always inevitably win - usually even in the least balanced of games - but in unbalanced games the problem is always you have to walk around with the sinking feeling that that last encounter you just didn't win because some shit player had some 3 second invincibility perk on or some shit.
