Activision using Black Ops PS3, PC players 'like game testers' - Pressure group

Pro gamer consumer lobby group Gamers' Voice has slammed Activision for treating PS3 and PC Call of Duty: Black Ops players like game testers.

Confirming plans to submit a formal complaint "to the relevant government agencies" this week over problems with the "unfinished" PC and PS3 versions of the massively popular shooter, the organisation said:

"The view of Gamers' Voice is that it doesn't matter how big a game is, it should not be released 'unfinished' or with bugs that make the game unplayable, which are words we have seen in a lot of emails to us recently.

[Chug]

I'm done testing...I sold my copy weeks ago and will never fall for it again.

[MAJ0R]

I learned from MW2, that was my first COD game after MW1 and I said a year ago I would never buy into it again, and I wasn't even moderately hyped for black ops

[gamingdroid]

I have never really encountered most of these issues surrounding CoD issues over the last 3-4 iterations of the game. Granted, I'm on the Xbox 360... it seems like a lot of it is overblown. I'm sure it is problematic for those that do experience it though.

Is it really that bad? Why am I only hearing about this in the last 2 weeks?

[NYC_Gamer]

the same people complaining will buy the next version

[hatchimatchi]

agree.

I've never bought a COD game and never will. COD is overrated trash imo.

[edgeofblade]

Are we talking about all the back to the first Call of Duty in WWII, or the recent evergreen CODs?

[Active Reload]

Then how do you know its trash?

[hatchimatchi]

Just because I haven't bought them doesn't mean I haven't played them. Black Ops sold like 12 million copies. It's not hard to have a friend who owns the game.

[nycredude]

Not true nyc
Black ops is not being purchased and i have urge to even play it. I borrowed MOH from my bro and haven't even finished it. Was shooters are way oversaturated.

[rezzah]

COD 1,2, and 4 are the best, the rest are overrated.

[Solidus187-SCMilk]

These people are stupid. Black ops may not be great but Im SURE there have been games that were just as glitchy and crappy and they never got sued for it.

I havent bought and COD since 4, so i guess its easy for me to be critical of these people who keep buying COD EVERY YEAR and then complain about it, every year.

If all these people who keep complaining never bought COD over and over again then maybe Activision would do a better job.

CoD has been going down hill FAST since CoD4, but it seems people would still rather buy it and complain then simply not buy a CoD game.

[spunnups]

Not the worst game ever but definitely far from being deserved of its sales and hype. The online portion of the game is as broken as it was Day 1, if not worse.

[plb]

I'm trading it in towards KZ3.

[skywalkeruk]

It's a shame that a good franchise has been completly let down by the online gameplay which at times is just unplayable. The connection isssue needs to be sorted without question. You can just see from the release of First Strike which console they're putting before the rest, need I say more....

[Jdoki]

I'm not defending CoD. But I've put in a fair few hours, and unless I'm missing something, I don't see all the massive problems people are complaining about.

Yes the game disconnects now and again, and the host migration rarely works, but I play far more successful games than experience disconnection problems.

Also, I've never experienced really bad lag. A couple of times I've thought a knifing missed that definitely hit, but it doesn't happen enough to make me think lag is a crippling problem or make me rage.

Like I said, I'm not defending CoD, purely saying that among the people I know (all UK based) none of us have experienced the problems being detailed to a degree that hampers enjoyment of the game.

Of course bugs should be fixed asap, and Activision is a pretty scummy company when it comes to treating it's paying customers, but I find CoD a fun game, and don't feel like a beta tester at all.

I would say that Fallout New Vegas on PS3 is a hundred times worse, and Bethesda / Obsidian deserve to be strung up for releasing such a terribly buggy / glitchy / broken game.

[lilmetal]

Didn't they announce some sort of agreement/contract with Microsoft at a previous E3 to deliver the best CoD experience first for 360?

[Joni-Ice]

Yes they did, however I didnt know they meant it literally.

[skywalkeruk]

Well xbox certainly has first dibs on the new maps and xbox as far as I'm aware has a more close relationship with call of duty so their servers are going to be taken care of much better. The connection issue is a problem when you start a contract say to get 50 kills with assualt riffle within say 40 mins and you get disconnected half way though and your kills don't get carried over to the next game but the time to complete the contract is taken away, that's a major flaw for me which they have not fixed.

[LunaticBrandon]

If you bought CoD again you deserve everything you get. Have fun complaining then buying the next one again.

[RedRedSuitSDF]

that's what happens when the game is free to play online on the PSN and on PC. since you're paying for Live, they know it has to be playable.

[XerockX]

I always buy the new COD games. I always enjoy them and when Im done with them I stop playing them. I thought Black ops was fantastic, I love the way they told the story in campaign and I still play online 3-4 time a week. I got on sale at target for 40$-which is less than an average bar tab.

If you dont like it,dont fuc*ing buy it.go PLay it at play'n'trade before u buy it. or rent it. or play it at a friends house.

I think treyarch did a great job with the game.

[Solidus187-SCMilk]

If you dont like something DONT BUY IT. I think people who cry and moan about something after they made the decision to buy it is retarded. Especially something so trivial as a VIDEO GAME. Its not like they bought a car that suddenly steered them into a wall. They bought a yearly release of a video game and experienced some problems.

Now I do think Activision/tryarch should continue and support it and improve the experience for everyone. However, I have NO sympathy for people who blindly buy something and then complain about it.

[Joni-Ice]

Guys, I feel so good not buying Black Ops. I said I wasnt buying another COD and I meant it. When Black Ops came out the hype train was full speed ahead and I really thought I was missing out on something big. I held my grounds and kept to my word. Activision needs to know not to do these type of things and the way they will learn is in their pockets. Stop buying bullshit!

[Jacobite]

After MW2 I said that I would never get a COD game again ,lol dam it I bought black ops for PC hoping thing had changed never never never again this time honest. BF3 this time : )

[hassi94]

I personally enjoyed Black Ops quite a lot, not as much as CoD4 but I thought it was pretty great, that's after disliking both WaW and MW2.

I probably won't end up buying it this year, as infinity ward are not even leading it (and neither are treyarch obviously).

[Gamer_Z]

The thing is that They should warn the consumer that the product is unfinished, defective or has issues with that particular platform by putting a disclaimer on the box's of the PS3 and PC versions of the game, them saying that the game is fine and works just as good as other versions is a lie so wouldn’t it be construed as false advertisement? Or what about the Federal Lemon Law which states consumers of defective automobiles and trucks and other vehicles and products including motorcycles, RV’s, boats, computers and other consumer appliances and products. To qualify under federal Lemon Law, you must generally have a product that suffered multiple repair attempts (patches) under the manufacturer’s factory warranty. Lemon Law compensation can include a refund, replacement or cash compensation.

I think everybody can agree that BO for PS3/PC is a Lemon.

[gcolley]

Tell that to big Gabe over at Valve. he wants to release all his games buggy as hell and then patch them 100 times