Originally posted by: vash
CS, in all honesty, shouldn't have what it takes to make a very addictive game. Here are some reasons:
1. The game, in itself, isn't balanced.
-- The teams start even (money wise, not weapon wise), but quickly change in favor of the winning team. Taking a losing team to winning is a very tough thing, especially when you are down on cash.
2. Firing through walls.
-- I totally enjoy firing through walls in this game, but, it does help the cheating involved with ghosting and wallhacks (yes, I know about latest VAC, but there are wallhacks still out).
3. Weapons are not equal.
-- Sure, the AK47 is one fine killing machine, but there aren't as many skilled AK47 players as there are M4 players. The terrorist, by and large, have inaccurate, yet cheap weapons. While the better funded CTs, have more accurate weapons.
Gameplay is KING. CS doesn't look as good as other games out there (however, the skeletal animation is still above Quake3 based games), but the gameplay is the saving grace of this game and its numbers show why its still #1. Valve has kept this title well funded by adding anticheats that do get > 90% of the public hacks out there. If someone "left" CS because of hacks, show them a server, with HLGUARD 1.20+ and see if they can spot a hacker.
vash
Well I'm not sure what your stance is exactly, but I started playing CS just under a year ago and I've been addicted ever since. I was mostly a Rocket Arena player before that, but since CS, I just can't get enough. Anyways, allow me to retort:
1.) The game, in itself, isn't balanced.
Yes it is. Like you said, everyone starts out with even money. How good your team is will affect how much money you get. This is one of the factors of what makes CS great. Not only must you win, but you get incentive for winning. Yes, sometimes you will get on a team where the opposing team has all the great players stacked together, but you win some, you lose some. I'm sure for everytime you were on a losing team there was anothere where you had awesome kill/death ratio in a game where you were on the excelling team. It's what makes the game fun. I think they are balanced, you just get a luck of the draw.
2.) Firing through walls.
Have to agree with you on this point, but at the same time, I'm glad it's in there. Cheating is the scourge of online playing, and I'm glad that Valve has taken a hand in trying to discourage this, but with as many players as there are just for this one mod, it's not surprising that this happens. But that's another issue. As far as shooting through walls goes, it's what separates the l33t from the n00bs. Honestly, I still don't think to shoot through walls sometimes when I'm AWPing, but it happens to me all the time. One of the best draws about CS is how "realistic" it is. Granted it has it's unrealistic factors also, but they're only in there to make it fun. Being able to shoot through walls only backs this factor up.
3.) Weapons are not equal
I VERY MUCH disagree with you on this point. Although I must say it varies by map, but the AK47 is one kicka$$ weapon. Yes, it does take more skill, but it teaches you one of the most important facets of CS. You have to burst instead of praying and spraying. With the M4A1, or the SMG even, you can just pray and spray and usually do ok, but with the AK, you'll be lucky if you even hit them. Getting good with the AK is like getting good with the AWP. Both take precision. When I first started, I would always drop the AK for the M4A1, or even the SMG, but now, if I'm on Dust for example, I take an AK and I go through the lower tunnel. I've been able to take out AWPers across the way and also plenty of headshots of AWPers in the the CT sniper nest. A very powerful weapon, and yes, it does take more skill to use it, but I think the makers of CS balanced this by making the Krieg a more accurate 'zoom' weapon. See, the M4A1 is more accurate(especially with the silencer) but the Bullpup is the more powerful, less accurate of the two. The same could be said for the M4A1/AK47. One is more accurate/less powerful and the other is less accurate/more powerful. After that, most weapons are available to both teams(except fo the auto-sniper, but who really uses that anyway?) The only weapon I can say is unbalanced is the T's starting pistol. Worst pistol in the game.
I love this game. I am a CS addict and I have no shame in admitting it. I've been a gamer for most of my life and as far as I'm concerned, this is the best game ever. I consider replayability the number one factor of how good a game is, and this game has kept me coming back over and over and over and over and ove............
Been playing the past 3 hours straight, and I dont see an end in sight for tonite, I'll have to pry myself away at some point. Just saying, yay for this game 
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