Activision's Actions Are An Attack On Gamers: COD Campers Ruined FPS

JI writes: "Activision has long been the source of controversy in the game industry and Call of Duty is known to many gamers as the first series to encourage camping on such an epic proportion. Camping and stat tracking are ruining First Person Shooters and Shooters in general as they cause players to rely on exploits and design flaws. Activision's latest business moves including the Call of Duty: Elite service have been an attack on gamers worldwide and the results of their actions in the long term for the industry will be widespread as they are the top dog being looked up to in the shooter genre financially."

[SpaceSquirrel]

I'm starting to think MW3 won't outsell black ops

[BeastlyRig]

it will! But if they mess MW3 up then I think this will be there peak.

lol infinity ward isn't making multiplayer? wow..
Raven Soft made Singularity..

sledgehammer games started in 2009 and MW3 is their first ever game I think..

hmmm

It seems they have three dev teams working on the game not because they want the best game possible but to make sure it's out the door on time meaning a lack of man power.

I could be wrong though.

[Trunkz]

Your not wrong BeastlyRig, Medal of Honor failed because of that. DICE even tho they had fun trying something new should of stayed out of that area and just kept working on BF3.

I got suckered into black ops and stopped playing after a week (too much like the others, I skipped MW2) so -1 sale from me, +1 sale for BF3.

[Commander_TK]

While the camping is unfuckingbelievable in MW2 and Black Ops, there is way more in BC2 and MAG.

[MaxXAttaxX]

COD player: "There's a camper behind that wall"
BF player: *boom* "What wall?"

Good times, good times :)

[duplissi]

commander, nathan put it so succinctly... camping isnt really an issue in bad company because you can easily get the drop on them and blow their cover away.

[SilentNegotiator]

...except when they hide behind indestructible crates and barely poke out to shoot your head off with an automatic sniper rifle.

[sikbeta]

It'll outsell black ops and that elite rip-off will get them more millions and maybe, by the next COD (next year) Activision will rise the price and people will keep paying, COD will be remembered as the Most milked out franchise ever, but nothing last forever...

[Saladfax]

Activision's pretty good at running things into the ground.

Guitar Hero?

Tony Hawk?

[lil Titan]

uhh i could have told anybody this during the FIRST COD, thats why i like Battlefield bad company. they CAN hide but you can make sure they wont hide in that same place again..Blow up there hiding spot

[Buff1044]

It probably will. COD is still huge.

[Hitman0769]

I'm starting to think (once again) that Call of Duty will some day be the next Guitar Hero...

[RIPSKATEDESTROY]

its closing in on it as we speak

[tigertron]

Heres hoping; Kottick will run the franchise into the ground.

[soundslike]

They are an "end-game" company so to speak. Milk it dry and find a new cow to drain.

From a business standpoint, its very effective and its hard to blame them for making enough money to buy and election, but...

from a gamer standpoint its discouraging. We need more David Jaffe's, Naughty Dogs, and Cliffy B's (yes even him), so that one day unless your company is run by gamers themselves, it will fail.

[BenEViolent]

Naaaah. Theres one CoD a year. And, there was multiple Rockbands and Guitar Heroes a year with nonstop DLC and new plastic instruments to buy.

Going downhill....? ... Maybe?
Going to disapear off the face of the Earth like RB and GH?.... Naaah.

[Mikeyy]

I agree, just look at madden. see you all in COD 3534534.

[Lulabarbie]

Yup, true that!

[retrofly]

I'm starting to think, people need to get out more and stop worrying about COD.

It's just a game guys.

I just listened to the poscast and got irritated within about 10 seconds, these guys have no clue what they are on about just spouting crap about everybody it seems.

Trash.

[The Meerkat]

Its not the campers that ruined Call of Duty.
Its the low heath bar.

In most FPS games if you get hit you can react and escape if you are good enough.
In COD even the worlds best player can be killed by a NOOB with 1 or 2 shots in 1/4 of a second.
That is a fertile breeding ground for campers.

Thats why NOOBs don't like Halo. Because its very hard to get kills compared to COD. But then that's what makes Halo more rewarding.

Unfortunately NOOBs have money too and Activision know how to get that money.

[blaziliuz12]

well said man,completely agree with you.

[antz1104]

Don't get me wrong, I agree.

But you have to realize that Modern Warfare, MoH, ect are trying to be more realistic shooters. So it would make sense that a double tap to the chest would drop someone.

[killerhog]

Modern warfare (cod) is the least realistic fps game. Seriously tired of you guys who never held a gun or been in combat thinking COD is realistic. Please don't get me started on why that game is the fakest amongst fps games.. Even though you obviously cannot mimic real life in a video game others do it better than cod.

By the way, you do know that in combat soldiers wear bullet proof vest or at times full body armor right? So 1-2 shots won't drop you unless a head shot or a critical spot not protected.

And last time I checked in cod you can run with an lmg, rocket launcher, full body armor (yeah that pushing for realism)

Barely to no recoil
No gun waving
1 shot sniper kill regardless if not a headshot
Crazy acrobatic movement with gear/weapons that should slow you down
Guns doing kills in distances only a sniper rifle should

The list goes on

[duplissi]

... realistic!? the game is as arcade like as it gets in shooters.... sure it may look realistic but thats it.

edit: well said killerhog, as someone who serves (army national guard) i know how cumbersome that gear can make you and cod is nowhere near realistic.

[Mikeyy]

@killerhog

Yes the Kevlar vest will stop a Standard 7.62, you will still be on the ground with broken ribs, and be in the hospital for a month.

In the video game world, you might as well be dead.

[Killzone3___]

i hate halo because of the gameplay , it's boring and nothing hard in it , it doesn't have alots of things , you can't even run .... halo is not hard , it's easy for me , the gameplay is soo easy , anyone who play it will play it just like best players in it... cod have alots of things but it's gettting old that's why -({some})- hate it ...

halo sucks and overrated , i dunno why people still like to play it , it feels the oldest game ever , even mario doesn't feel older then halo , but gears is a hard game and for hardcore players , i love it , gears 3 looks amazing ...

At the subject , campers isn't a problem if you are a good player , you may have some problems with them at first but if you are a good player you will know a way to trick them ... if you hate campers then you are sucks , by the way , i never camp , i always attack , attack will make you kill alot more then camp , when i attack i always kill 30-40-50 and even 60 in team deathmatch .. yea , im a good player and i understand how the gameplay is in cod ... :)

if you say cod always have the same gameplay then look at all the sequels , they always have the same gameplay with only few things added to it but the rest of the game have alots of new things like maps ..etc

[Mikeyy]

@The Meerkat

Everything you say makes 100% sense in writing, and is completely Logical.

But Then I'd Just introduce you to my friend. He simply does not die in COD. It's sickening.

I'm a believer, an insane amount of skill makes you bulletproof to noobs.

[Fishy Fingers]

Never had an issue with campers, especially in COD where killcams and small snaking maps make them very easy to deal with. Infect in a combined 1000 hours or something since MW I have very few issues with what, according to the Internet the game is plagued with, campers, hackers, glitches etc.

Elite, well if your not keen on it, like me, then, like me, don't buy it. COD is the number 1 franchise at the minute so I understand to a point, but the consistent moaning about everything COD related isn't going to change squat.

[radphil]

"but the consistent moaning about everything COD related isn't going to change squat."

Then we might as well consider gaming goodbye if consumer complaints aren't worth it. Just let companies walk over consumers.

[Fishy Fingers]

Eh? Every year it's more complaining yet every year COD is the biggest/most successful game, that shows consumers are voicing their opinions with their wallets, no matter how much you may dislike it, it's up to people to enjoy what they want, the complaining changes no opinions. Buy something else and enjoy it, there are other options.

[radphil]

" it's up to people to enjoy what they want, the complaining changes no opinions"

This is the thing. If there are no complaints on said product, then there's no reason for them to improve, and at that point, that just means people are paying for little to no change. You would be repaying for the same thing, with little to no change, at the same price.

You may not think that it doesn't affect you, but past situations shown that it does. The rise of DLC abuse, the rise of "Passes".

The reason why I complain about the game, is that I want to see it improve as a series for the better, not ride on the name and fame of CoD4. I don't want to see them oversaturate the series each year and turn it into what Guitar Hero has turned towards.

The problem being, is for the past 30 years I've seen how companies acted from the start of the gaming industry, to now, and quite frankly there's so many shots as far as what companies are taking, that it's actually not good for the consumer on the overall picture.

[theonlylolking]

Most people do not camp in COD. The people who do have a issue with campers should be checking there corners instead of running through the battlefield like they have star power on.

[antz1104]

dadada da dadadadada
dadada da dadadadada
dadada da dadadadada.....

[Anon1974]

It's about time someone said it. I'm not a camper, but I am a cautious player. You know what's ruining FPS's for me? Players who all charge towards the choke points, die in 3 seconds, get 1 kill and then do it again like mindless drones. That killed Gears of War for me. Playing Gears, damn near every match I tried, everyone ran to the center, had it out with shotguns and the match was over in 60 seconds. It was like fragging for kids with ADD. I couldn't stand it. Unfortunantenly, I've seen that type of behavior time and time again on team deathmatch in COD, and if you hang back or remain cautious, kids start yelling "camper!" at you.

To me, a game of cat and mouse where you have to use caution, stay hidden as you move about and remain alert is 100 times preferable to the frantic "Everyone rush the center" matches COD often devolves into. Of course, simply trying to remain hidden while moving around will still get you a camper label by the kids out there.

That's why I quit playing COD, other than matches with my buddies.

[evrfighter]

You know why they tried to be rambo?

Because their are players that can rush the middle and decimate 3-4 ppl before they die. It's a huge momentum shift and can change a losing round into a winning round.

These console kids I'm sure have seen it somewhere and are trying to copy.

Me I'm a big fan of 1v1 moments. Shooting someone in the back doesn't challenge my skills in the slightest. I sometimes run around shooting off my pistol to make sure people know I'm around to test my reaction time against players who get a jump on me.

[maxmill]

its the fact that the game embraces campers with no recoil and small health

[PoulCast]

It makes the game fast paced. In games like Halo, you have time to react and get hit a gazillion times. The aspects in CoD aren't limited to your aiming, it's limited to your awareness and most definately also your team coordination.

[radphil]

"The aspects in CoD aren't limited to your aiming, it's limited to your awareness and most definately also your team coordination."

Twitch shooting doesn't necessarily mean skill.

[awesomeperson]

"most definately also your team coordination"

in most games this is the case, in COD not so much. Sure it helps if everyone has mic's but a lot of the time a good team of twitch shooters can win out aslong as they go for the objective aswell.

[antz1104]

Team coordination definately doesn't rank up high on the CoD priority list.

I've seen whole teams mic'd up get shredded by a team full of lone wolves running around the map with grenade launchers and constant helicopter killstreaks.

[frostypants]

There is no "team coordination" in CoD. It's all about run-n-gun and flanking the opponent as quickly as possible. You can never setup an actual thoughtful squad-oriented approach to the enemy, because the damn spawn points are always swapping around.

[F4sterTh4nFTL]

.

[Fishy Fingers]

And what better way to ignore it than click on the threads.

[F4sterTh4nFTL]

.

[Fishy Fingers]

And choose to comment solely on COD and not the podcast. Ok.

[MRMagoo123]

Fishy easily won this debate right here yet he got more disagrees lol so basically if you like cod you get disagreed and if you hate it no matter what bs you say and how much comment contradicts itself you get agrees.

[Scrupuless]

Camping is a problem in most fps, regardless of whether in cod it is a little easier to accomplish, its a part of the fps genre. The real issue here in my mind is that activision is taking a formula for a great game and shoving down our throats every year more or less unchanged. To comment on the authors thoughts that this practice of elite services ( i use that word lightly in cod elites case) being adopted my other companies it all depends. This could actually really hurt mw3 pr in the sense that we always thought activision was cooking some scheme up to make more money of this franchise and now we have the proof. Gamers may migrate to other fps franchises that supply these services or like services free of cost. Lets hope that is the case, BF3 anybody!!!!!!

[floetry101]

The community is the reason the Call of Duty series is so largely frowned upon. It's natural to assume however, that when upwards of 500,000 people log in everyday that there are going to be a lot of bad eggs. This is the sacrifice that has to be made for a game this large. With popularity comes exploitation, whether it's in the form of a hacker, a camper or a child screaming into a mic, it's become synonymous with the series.

Personally, I play the game a lot and I've never understood the complaints about low recoil + low health = easy game. That's certainly not the case. The reason for the series' ongoing popularity is the accessible nature of the game, the controls, the framerate etc. It's easy to become accustomed to it and challenging to master.

I'm prepared for the disagrees and the comments suggesting that I'm an Activision sheep. I play Call of Duty as much as I play Battlefield. I love both games, I have problems with both games. One appeals to feelings of instant gratification, the other rewards patience and teamwork. One game gets the absolute scum of the console community, the other has an extremely faithful and helpful PC group.

I will buy Modern Warfare 3 and I will buy Battlefield 3.

[TABSF]

Battlefield 3 and PC

That is all your need for FPS games after November, until Counter Strike 2 comes out of course.

[frostypants]

My FPS buddies are all 360 guys. So I'm gonna have to buy both the PC and 360 versions. And maybe the PS3 version on top of that.

But yeah...BF3 will be all I need. I still play BFBC2 religiously, even as MW2 and BlOps gather dust.

[Joshua59]

It Will never be the same call of duty but i think it will sell out

[Excalibur]

The only way any of this will change is when they stop seeing our $$$$.

We ca all sit around bitching till the cows come home as long as idiots keep lining up to bend over Activision is going to keep pushing it.

I don't support any of their DLC and MW3 will be the first COD game I pass on, this crap has to stop.

[BX81]

I was playing a game of black ops yesterday. Hardcore TDM and I noticed this guy on the other team was 13-0 with 2min left in the game. I went back to watch the clip and this guy was in the prone at the back of the spawn with a silenced M14. He layed there till someone on my team got killed by hime 3 times in a row and fragged his ass. He was there for a total of 7min. 50sec. As devs how do you combat this?

[Dart89]

That's COD for you:D.

[MRMagoo123]

Devs dont have to combat the sniper they need to teach ppl on your team of bads how not to get killed by a sniper, imo if you keep dying over and over to the same person in the same spot your bad not them. Anyone that gets beaten by someone else alot always makes excuses about things like calling ppl campers, rambos are worse they run off like retards with red cordial and get themselves killed every 5 seconds what does that prove ........ nothing except they have the attention span of a 4 year old at a history museum.

[BX81]

I don't mind snipers but I do mind someone sitting in the back corner of the spawn. At that point it doesn't matter if he's using a pistol, sniper etc. If you start the game and back up 2feet just to go prone then you should just punch your self in the face. On average I die about 4 to 7 times a game. I like to run around with caution. It's gamers like these that ruin the fun for everyone else. If you're going to use that type of game play then get off of hardcore!

[PAYBACK-IRONMAN]

The end is nigh.

[Boody-Bandit]

^What he said.
That's funny

[Godmars290]

Thought they were just exploiting the hardcore of the hardcore.

Pure and simple fact: the day game companies think they can charge for a game after the general consumer has bought it, is the day the general consumer stops buying games. Fans of a game series such as COD likely will, so of course a company like Activision is going to try it.

[soundslike]

Don't hate the player hate the game.

[blackhammer]

I had a few bad run-ins with campers in Bad Company 2, but it never came close to the number of campers I ran into on Call of Duty. The ratio was something like 32 CoD for every 1 BC2.

It's just... awful.

[Prototype]

I'll stick to Socom; where camping involves a sniper riffle and moving every 20 seconds to prevent getting shot

CoD should change its status to "FPS for dummies"

[jaredhart]

Fing Kotick!

[MRMagoo123]

If you get killed by campers L2P that is all.

[Boody-Bandit]

That is silly. I don't care your level of ability or awareness, everyone that has ever played a shooter has been killed by campers repeatedly.