Parker Mackay, popular commentator for the ESL Rainbow Six Siege Pro League, has explained why Ubisoft Montreal’s tactical first-person shooter desperately needs a ‘tutorial’ mode in its fifth year.
Rainbow Six Siege has done what many games cannot do; remain successful for an incredible period of time. While new Call of Duty games come and go annually, Ubisoft’s tactical FPS is into its fifth year and is going as strongly as ever.
However, despite its popularity and longevity, one of the game’s professional casters – Parker ‘INTERRO’ Mackay – has criticized the game for its lack of a tutorial mode, arguing that it ‘throws new players to the wolves’.
In a series of tweets on April 9, the ‘voice of Rainbow Six’ explained why he thinks the game desperately needs a tutorial mode for new players.
“Rainbow 6 would really benefit from a proper tutorial,” he said. “New players are thrown to the wolves, expected to learn an extraordinarily deep & complex game with very little assistance. A tutorial system would ease frustration while teaching newer players how to properly play the game.”
He explained that the tutorials should focus on the game’s basics like Operator roles, map layouts and how to drone properly.
With entirely destructible maps and over 50 operators, Rainbow Six takes an incredible amount of gameplay to understand how all the abilities interact, as well as how to attack and defend on its many maps.
Things that the tutorial could/should focus on:
1. Operator roles (hard breach, anchoring, entry, roaming, etc) 2. Map knowledge 3. Site setup (where to reinforce, the idea behind rotations) 4. Proper droning
Make those 4 into categories with a few missions each. Profit.
— Parker Mackay (@INTERRO) April 9, 2020
In response to Mackay’s suggestions, a number of fans suggested that new players seek out YouTube videos explaining the various basics.
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However, INTERRO cast his doubts upon the legitimacy of these ideas. “A few people have mentioned making YouTube videos to help new players. An overwhelming majority of players will *never* search out tutorial/how-to videos outside of the Rainbow 6 client.”
A few people have mentioned making Youtube videos to help new players. An overwhelming majority of players will *never* search out tutorial/how-to videos outside of the Rainbow 6 client. Putting shoulder content on Youtube is not a solution as no one will watch it.
— Parker Mackay (@INTERRO) April 9, 2020
He continued his argument by revealing that he faces Gold and Platinum ranked players daily, many of whom are still using operators incorrectly. He name-checked Thatcher, whose EMP grenades are crucial to hard-breaching on many maps.
Finally, INTERRO called out the game’s ‘Situations’ as insufficient. “They don’t adequately prepare new players for this game,” he concluded. “That’s my point. Rework them or replace them with a better tutorial system that is relevant for the game we play today.”
“That’s what the situations are for!”
The situations are outdated and extremely limited in scope. They don’t adequately prepare new players for this game. That’s my point. Rework them or replace them with a better tutorial system that is relevant for the game we play today.
— Parker Mackay (@INTERRO) April 9, 2020
Rainbow Six’s ‘Situations’ put players into the shoes of one operator to complete a specific mission. For example, when playing as IQ, players have to penetrate a building strewn with Nitro Cells.
However, there are far fewer situations than there are operators and, as many Twitter users pointed out, the situations have not been changed in years.
