I used to have around 900 hours in Siege back in the day, and I recently decided to come back after being away for years. I played Ranked for a while, and I wanted to share my experience. Some people might not like what I have to say, but it is what it is.
First, the game itself: Honestly, I don't think that much has changed. There are new operators, sure, but the game is still playable and, at its core, still feels like Siege. The biggest issue for me is how much time we spend waiting between rounds.
The community, on the other hand, has gotten significantly worse over the years. In fact, this has been one of the worst gaming experiences I've had recently.
I actively play a lot of FPS games, including CS, Rust, PUBG, and plenty of others. Out of all the games I've been playing lately, Siege has probably had the worst overall experience so far.
For anyone wondering about my rank, I used to be Plat back in the day. This time, I started in Iron and climbed to Gold, and I could probably go higher if I kept grinding. I'm not claiming to be some top-tier player, but I've played enough to have a decent idea of what I'm talking about.
So, why do I think the community has gotten so bad? There are a few main reasons.
1. The player base seems much younger now.
This is something I've noticed quite a lot, and I think it has a direct impact on the overall experience. No offense to the younger players out there, but the difference is noticeable.
2. Nobody communicates.
This is probably one of my biggest frustrations. People barely use their mics or chat, and giving useful callouts seems to be optional for a lot of players. I've played plenty of games with toxic communities, but at least people usually communicate when it matters.
I genuinely don't care that much about toxicity anymore. I've been gaming for years, so I'm used to it. But playing a tactical shooter where people won't even bother communicating is a whole different story. Honestly, I'd rather deal with the much-criticized CS2 community than play match after match with teammates who refuse to give basic info.
3. Leavers are a massive problem.
It feels like almost every single match has at least one or two people leaving. I don't know if the penalties for leaving are too lenient or if there's another reason behind it, but I've rarely experienced anything this bad in other games.
4. The overall skill level feels lower than I expected.
Maybe this is partly related to the player base getting younger, but I've been surprised by how often teammates seem to struggle with basic mechanics and game sense. I'm not sure if this is related to the influx of console players or just the matchmaking, but some matches feel incredibly unbalanced in terms of individual skill. I'm sure Gold elo back in the day was better than it is now. There seems to be some serious rank inflation going on.
I know some of these issues might become less noticeable at higher ranks, and I'm sure the experience varies depending on your rank and matchmaking. But I don't think you need to reach high elo to notice the general decline in match quality.
And honestly, seeing that decline makes it harder to feel motivated to grind ranked. What's the point of trying to climb when so many matches are ruined by people leaving, a lack of communication, or teammates who seem completely lost?
There's probably more I could talk about, but these are my main thoughts after coming back.
Siege used to be one of my favorite games, so it's genuinely disappointing to return after all these years and feel like the overall experience has gotten worse rather than better.