Treyarch responds to ‘Black Ops 2’ weapon balance complaints; explains process

examiner.com: David Vonderhaar responded to numerous complaints on Friday regarding the new weapon balance adjustments that were made with the latest patch of the multiplatform title, “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.” The game design director explained to fans about how the balancing and tuning processes work. One of the examples he used involves the sub machine guns in the Nintendo Wii U, PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 video game.

[TopDudeMan]

Right now I really like the FAL with select fire on auto. I really hope that doesn't get nerfed.

[Anon1974]

I never played multiplayer in Black Ops, just the single player, but my shooter friends all warned me of terrible balance issues in the Black Ops multiplayer and within a week of Black Ops release they had all either gone back to MW2 or were playing something else.

Can anyone confirm if this is the same weapon balance issue we saw in Treyarch's last Black Ops game, or if it even suffered from them? I'm just curious. I'm still on the fence about picking this one up. For me, Black Op's single player was a disappointment, enough for me to think my shooter fix might be best met elsewhere. Thoughts?

[TopDudeMan]

Well, yeah. A select few SMGs are just dominating the game right now. But black ops 1 was not that bad. You could still get away with using just about any weapon.

[Tetsujin]

I was told they removed Free for All in hardcore mode without any reason; as far as balancing I haven't really been told too much outside there's still certain weapons that dominate even after the patch. If I was you I'd borrow/rent it first before putting $ down, so far the Nuketown 2025 removal (then put back under restrictive circumstances) and the F4A (Free for All) removal really put a bad taste in people's mouth. I don't personally own the game but I know people who do and every week they have something new to complain about.

[goflyakite]

Your friends went back to MW2 because of balance issues, my thoughts? LOL.

[Scenarist]

@TopDudeMan yea thats what im runnin..my fav shit right now

[Yo Mama]

That WAS one of the AR's that got nerfed. If you are using a FAL + Select fire, this latest patch increased the recoil a lot. It was awesome before that. Now, not so much.

[3-4-5]

Yea:

FAL + Select Fire + FMJ + Red Dot Sight = awesome

[InTheZoneAC]

how about treyarch remove aim assist and quit worrying about weapons.

[RowSand]

im-agreed.remove.the.aim.assis t

[Cam977]

I too support your statement.

[brich233]

aim assist is whats ruining the game, trying playing with it disabled and you will almost always go negative. Its really hard to play with it disabled because aim assist is so noob friendly that it works through walls. If it was off by default the retard would stand out and there would be less people playing Blops 2.

[Dark_Overlord]

I'd say the lag compensation needs sorting first :/

[MysticStrummer]

Agreed. If SMGs are overpowered, at least everyone could use an SMG to level the playing field. With lag compensation in it's current state there is no level playing field.

[brodychet]

Lag compensation makes the game unplayable. You never know what kind of game you're going to have.

[csreynolds]

Agreed. I don't like relying on luck every time I attempt to kill someone...

[Norrison]

Get the PC version, no aim assist.

[csreynolds]

This. This, this, this!

[RedSoakedSponge]

they should atleast make a playlist just for no aim assist. would be interesting to see how it is

[violents]

Isnt that the league play? No perks, full weapons lists. No one can bitch that your doing better because your a higher level and have better weapons/perks. League play is supposed to be based on pure skill, no assists.

[ChronoJoe]

No none of the playlists have no aim assist, not even league play.

It would be kinda cool I think. It's hard, I've tried it for a few games, but you can adapt to it pretty easily.

[RedSoakedSponge]

dont you know what aim assist is? draws your reticle towards the enemy to make it easier to aim

[ExCest]

First time I played, SMGs dominated. Then, I stopped.

[PSWarlord]

Aim assist is what makes COD games. Its the sort of game everyone can master quickly, Some are better than others but that comes down to better reactions (majorly assisted by aim assist) and countless hours and waste of life a small minority put into these games. I haven't bought a COD since the original BLK:OPS, I now play (when I have the time) is BF3, Sure I know it does have aim assist but nowhere near the same degree of COD and I can get my fix in one game, as Conquest or Rush usually last a good 30 minutes!

[csreynolds]

I have gone back to Battlefield 3 having played the travesty that is Black Ops 2. It's more satisfying, less laggy, and teamwork MATTERS. Call of Duty will forever cater to lone runners, no matter what the developers try to do to counter it; a 'team' in CoD is a group of individuals competing for the highest K/D ratio...

[violents]

I did the same thing with the last COD and everytime I play BF everyone is running around just like its a COD game. Teamwork is pratically non existant unless you have a bunch of freinds on with you. It was so frustrating that I quit playing.

[csreynolds]

Too an extent, that is true. There are some headless chicken types on Battlefield, but they're nowhere near as common.

Granted, there are times where you need to take the fore and do some heavy lifting before your squad realises it's their job to support you, but when you fall into a squad that backs you from the start it's seamless enjoyment. My friends don't play Battlefield as much anymore (CoD sheep) so I'm often on my own, but I've been lucky enough to join some epic teams in the last few weeks...

You will have tough games, but the good ones really make up for them.

[GammaSix]

The aim assist is the real issue, the people bitching about guns just suck really.

[willie32]

How about nerfing the sniper rifles? I am tired of the one shot kills to the leg and body. At least make it challenging, I would rather see a headshot needed for a one hit kill.

[insomniacgamer]

I love watching someone dive through the air like Superman with a 50 cal sniper and quick scope some as they do. All the while not having the weapon waiver as they are jumping and in the air. Must be part of that elite sniper training they teach....

...

[violents]

real sniper rifles would probably blow a limb off if you were hit in the leg or arm, and a shot to the body would rip apart your vitals, incapacitating you at the very least so just making it a one shot kill is pretty realistic. Missing a limb on a battlefield is pretty much a death sentence in itself.

[ChronoJoe]

As would a single assault rifle bullet though, incapacitate or kill in one shot, I mean.

Why do the sniper rifles get to be 'realistic' but other weapons don't? if you can't apply your logic universally it doesn't make a sound argument.

[Kenshin_BATT0USAI]

Think about it logically. How would that be fair? As a sniper you pretty much get only one shot to get the guy. After that you gotta either run, or die.

[violents]

@CHRONOJOE

Yes the right type of assault rifle bullet would but you have a much higher chance of a typical sniper round to have far worse damage. Go look at a Barret 50cal bullet compared to an AK47 bullet and tell me that they would do the same damage.

[taijutsu363]

Can we fix the knifing??! Im trying to knife someone in clear view that is not even shooting me.... Im just knifing air!!!

[knocknock]

Yeah knifing needed nerfing but not like this you can miss people stood still as your pushed up against them, just let me whack them with my gun so they are stunned or something.

[ChronoJoe]

It's just lag. It's still got quite a bit of range it's just the lag makes hit detection iffy.

[Relientk77]

The knifing in the game is terrible, I have very few knife kills, because everytime I try to knife it doesnt work or somehow I magically miss, then they shoot me or knife me and I die like every single time. In Black Ops 1 the knifing actually worked and was good.

[solid_warlord]

They havent even FIX the most important part of online multiplayer...THE FUCKING LAG COMPENSATION. Take it out the fucking game.

MW2 had the best online connection. Treyarch have the worst network coders in history of video games. I have 100mb virgin braodband. I get penalised for having a superier conection.

[violents]

I have the ps3 version and I hardly ever have any lag. I have comcast my connection is always full bars on their servers and I would have to say that prob like 90% of the time I don't have any noticable lag. Out of the last few COD games I would have to say this one is performing the best so far.

I do have to add that I bought in after the latest patch and have not experienced any of the problems that people were reporting at launch time.

[WetN00dle69]

Ahh well....

[CaptainCamper]

I love how an article with nothing but a copy and pasted quote and affiliate sales links makes the front page..lol