I hate Mann Up Mode

One day, a robot-building mechanic was invited over to Mann Up mode by his friends. He found the mode very enjoyable, with new bots to think of and newer lineups to consider. It was like paradise for him, where he could experiment around for the good of all humanity.

Then suddenly, he decided to play Mann Up by himself. There, he was met with discrimination of all kinds, mostly regarding his tour count. He tried to negotiate against their request of his leave, which fell on deaf ears, thus going into protest. A kick vote was made, and he was forced out of the server instead.

That excerpt effectively describes what I have disliked quite a bit regarding Mann Up. Its structure, players, etc. has rendered the game despicable to me, such as:

1. Monotony

This is practically the underlying problem in all of Mann Up Mode. As rewards are given based on tour completion, effective “grinding” of these botkillers has been widespread. Said in this article, this is greatly inefficient, as the lack of chance will induce into a lack of profit. But people still do it, simply for the hope of a shining golden botkiller or an australium weapon. With this issue comes numerous other problems, especially issues that stemmed regarding unusual hats. And this monotony comes with even worse results, such as:

2. Advanced perception

This is what I sometimes feel is a plague that follows anything and everything. Anytime a section of a game says it is “advanced,” people there tend to become rather elitist, giving its general perception as an excuse to sift out unwanted others from the premises. The monotony of Mann up itself only augments the issue at hand, as people find themselves wanting to just get it over with, therefore sifting out newer players who will only slow them down. This causes a “break line,” where a specific demographic will find the mode unfavorable.

3. Meta

Now I know what many of you will say. “Odoroki is blaming the meta like everyone else!” But this is something inevitable when money comes into play and how fast people can go for it. Spies are often the first ones kicked on the list, but they can do surprisingly effective things, like completely denying half the Giant Rapid Fire Soldiers on wave 7 of Desperation, by blocking and glitch-killing them through the hallway. Snipers can do amazing stuff as well, but they’re often kicked. However, this is not always bad. Classes are set up for specific roles, and the meta encourages these roles, such as scouts collecting money. But what is unfavorable is how some classes’ meta roles are “switch to another class,” as all classes can play some part, especially after Two cities.

These issues are what effectively made me hate Mann Up Mode after the four or so years it has been active, and still makes me wince regarding it.

And so, the mechanic, now ousted by society and all he loved, hid on an uncharted island, where his experience slowly deteriorated him. Stewed in his own hate and vengeance against humanity, he began to build a factory. He would emerge again to exact his revenge. He would rename himself into the great schemer, the evil doctor, Dr. Odoroki.