Call Of Duty Game Designer Admits ‘I F*cked Up’

Treyarch's Game Design Director, David Vonderhaar, has tweeted about how he 'f*cked up' with the 'Second Chance' perk in Black Ops and how he and the team 'meant well'.

[princejb134]

nope you fail
second chance is one of the worst perks in call of duty history
its still sad they semi brought it back in mw3 as a death streak
got killed by someone on second chance yesterday after he was already dead smh

[Gazondaily]

What about how Ninja was redundant when the game launched because there were hardly any footstep sounds? And then a few weeks later they patched it to make it sound like a stampede?

The biggest fail imo is painkiller for MW2. Honestly, what were the devs thinking? Couple that with the horrid spawning and it was just game-breaking.

[radphil]

"What about how Ninja was redundant when the game launched because there were hardly any footstep sounds? And then a few weeks later they patched it to make it sound like a stampede? "

I dunno why I laughed at that image.

[Blackdeath_663]

cod is riddled with mistakes theres no point counting them. as much as i hate cod activision still win, fanboys will be fanboys and theres nothing that can be done. cod is heavily damaging ths fps genre in that every good fps is compared to cod.

[JBaby343]

COD definitely has its faults and I don't care for the MP especially after playing the Battlefield BC games and hopefully soon Battlefield 3 but I must say the Spec Ops portion is great fun. I had a chance to play MW3 with my brother-in-law over the weekend and went in expecting to dislike the experience but we actually had a blast with co-op. Can't speak for the rest of the game but the Spec Ops redeemed COD a little for me.

[TheBossMan]

Painkiller never added anything when I was playing against people with it. Usually I was able to bring down the idiot with Painkiller before they even found what direction I was shooting from. It's COD, it doesn't really take many shots from a powerful weapon to kill someone. I can name the occasions on one hand where someone with Painkiller killed me as a result of the extra health.

[HINDERIZATION]

I didn't mind other players having painkiller in MW2. SPAS-12 is a 1 hit kill if you're in front of them and i usually kill people that respond with painkiller. I think it's more of an anti spawn-fail just in case you keep dying from random explosions in some rounds...

[lMHl]

wooo MW3 is sweet!

[LastDance]

professionals hard at work.

[frostypants]

Meh. Black Ops is still a better game than MW3.

[hennessey86]

sorry im alergic to bullshit

[Ezio2048]

you kidding?

[brodychet]

Says who?

[frostypants]

Nah, no fooling. It's my honest opinion. Just so you know I'm not trolling, here are my 3 main reasons:

1) MW3 has the worst lagging issues in a series known for host-client lag. Black Ops also had it, but not nearly this bad. This game is showing 5 bars to people with over 500ms of lag (watch the stinkin' replays). That's absurd. Such connections should be displayed as 1 bar, but my guess is they know if they did that, EVERYONE would be showing 1-2 bar connections, and rightfully complain about the poor netcode. Again, the replays tell all...compare them to what you see in-match and you will agree...
2) Not only did they fail to fix the quickscoping/no-scoping exploit, but they had the nerve to pretend it's a feature, rather than just admit the simple truth that they were just too cheap to make any fixes to the core gameplay. Perhaps the guys who knew how to fix it were amongst the Infinity Ward devs who went out the door?
3) The maps are atrocious. The best MW3 map isn't up to par with the worst maps from MW1, WaW, MW2, or Black Ops. Matches have no flow to them whatsoever. People made the same complaint about Black Ops, so it's kind of funny to see people overlooking it here, where it's even more apparent.

I'm sorry, but I feel like if this game had "Treyarch" on the box, you people would be urinating all over it. There's more than a bit of fanboysim going on (yeah yeah, "welcome to N4G...").

NOTE: I *do* like MW3. I just think it's a weak entry to the series, and I think the devs failed to address any of MW2's weaknesses.

[cyborg6971]

Black ops is miles better than mw3. If you don't agree your a quick scoping turd.

The maps are terrible. The spawns are ridiculous. The sound doesn't work, even without a silencer my gun makes no noise and I can't hear any footsteps. Why put sniper rifles in this game unless you want qsing.

This game is a joke. The only people liking this game are the same ones who were blind in seeing no fault in mw2. Of course this is what to be expected when the majority of the fanbase have to use they're allowance to by it rather than PAYCHECK.

[Corepred4]

you must have some walmart connection. i've only had lag in one or two games. black ops is a crappy game. treyarch shouldn't be allowed to make COD games. Talking about lag on mw3 when it takes a full 2 seconds for someone to fall down after you're emptied your clip on black ops. lmao i don't quickscope at all. I agree the maps aren't the best but still miles ahead of black ops.

[TheFallenAngel]

The only thing good about black ops was zombies. The online and campaign sucked.

[Horny]

i agree frostypants. I cant believe black ops is being bashed all the sudden when it was a way more complete game.
The maps in black ops were better and more balanced. No mw3 map beats firing range, radiation, havana, summit, villa, hell all the maps were good. Nuketown shits on Dome. The knife also didnt have as long a range as it does in mw3. There is also more lag and seems to me more auto aim. Include death streaks too and its way to noob friendly. Also no longer did people steal your kills when downing somebody who had last stand, they patched that.
And finally zombies is better than spec ops.
Im assuming people just sucked at black ops so they hate it, it was the best and most balanced cod since 4.

[blodulv]

Treyarch took World at War and improved on nearly everything for it's successor in Black Ops. Aside from some poor hit detection at times, it has the best interface, best COD game menus, best sound, stat tracking, harder to achieve Pro perks, bigger maps etc....

Infinity Ward took MW2, added a few new killstreaks, slapped a MW3 on the box and called it a day. Seriously, after the complete package that Black Ops was I cannot believe people are defending this mediocrity. I was one of the few that I knew who couldn't wait for MW3 either.

Am disappoint.

[kparks]

these are the worst maps i have ever seen on a cod game and me and frosty are not the only ones complaing about it... and why is everything GREY in every map everything is shaded grey building rubble streets cars evern ur damn camo is grey.. game is garbage on the ps3 it lags constantly kicks u out the lobby then kick u off PSN.. and has way to many flanking routes and ur constantly getting knifed or shooting at some one 10feet away but when more than 60% of people got pissed and left IW what could u have suspected all there leads bailed.. CAN U EVEN CALL THEM IW ANYMORE??

[kparks]

I also agree with Admiral... What make it such BS besides the fact they said it won't be in the game but they managed to put it in anyway.. is the fact that u never are looking for it then BAM some random guy is on the ground after playing 10 min its bs...atleast in black ops u know after 30 sec of playing ok a couple dudes are running second chance so I got to be on the look out and make sure I finish my kills.. not in mw3 some guy just falls into it out the blue its complete BS that and martydom ok all the death streaks HAVE TO GO!

[kparks]

Look i hated last stand just like everyone else well i guess the ppl that used it liked it. and several other things in the game.. every COD has tons of mistakes. but where this story gets me is david himself when the game launched and was all jacked up on the ps3 he was on twitter letting everyone know hey we are aware of this and we are working on that and answering alot of tweets and now even after mw3 came out he still putting the heat on himself now thats what i call a stand up guy.. now look at the crap fest that mw3 is rbowling is nowhere to be found..

[galgor]

I liked having to play capture the flag to get pro perks. Made it feel more rewarding & brought me to different gamemodes I'd have normally ignored.

Levelling up to pro's in MW3 seems all too easy now.

[tdrules]

wow that's totally not a loaded headline

[CanadianTurtle]

Well, at least he knows

[Genghis]

So he only regrets the 1 sec of invulnerability while the fall animation occurs?

...why did he post this stuff? Was he drunk?

[floetry101]

Devs make mistakes all the time, and few teams are under the pump in the same way Treyarch is. They play second fiddle to a team that makes the most successful and polished Call of Duty titles and need to consistently deliver the goods on arguably the biggest entertainment release ever. Every year.

Black Ops had its problems, without question, but you can't say that Treyarch didn't listen or make a concerted effort to balance and tweak the game in a way that would please most players. There in lies the problem. You can never please everyone. Vonderhaar was always honest "fall guy" on twitter and copped a heap of flak from the rage-induced morons who could barely type out a complete sentence.

Black Ops left me extremely disappointed in the end, but looking back on it, you can see what Treyarch was trying to achieve. Say what you will about the repetitive nature of CoD, they still had a decent campaign, a full-fledged zombie mode, some nice easter eggs, theatre mode and a multi-player component that, while fundamentally flawed, felt unique and intermittently fun.

I hope Treyarch can put the worst behind them and look towards a more polished product on all platforms. Vonderhaar's constant presence on twitter should be a testament to his love for gaming and desire to please the most rabid and sometimes abhorrent fan-base in the gaming world.

[kparks]

Well stated it takes a lot to do what he has done and take that much heat but treyarch may be moved up to the starting team now after this mw3 game there is no IW anymore everyone important and that knew what they were doing left.

[news4geeks]

Pretty ridiculous how they made the second chance pistol more powerful than any weapon in the game, added to the fact you're invulnerable when you're shot down. Too annoying.

[artdafoo]

And who is the hack over there who designed the award winning spawn system or the industry leading hit detection ? Let me guess he actually works on the mail room and you guys let him take a crack at game making as a big joke right ? I want to see an apology letter from the that dope written in his own blood. Least they could do is just admit they where straight out the Devry game design program when they worked on Wack Ops.

[Der_Kommandant]

Fucked Up the whole game

[Snowii]

i remember this fag that always used it and a python i always killed him and than he no scoped me

and they can even be revived

[Avernus]

Certainly one of the most annoying perks ever made. It was one of the reasons I stopped playing BO. The hit detection, or the lack of was the main reason.

Combined with a 3 bar connection 90% of the time, meant I had a really good time getting to 15th prestige.

[dead_eye]

So you stopped playing it because of hit detection and the 3 bar connection. Lucky for you it took you till the 15th prestige to notice them then.

[FunkMcnasty]

What's so bad about the 2nd chance perk? Only thing that ever botherd me about it was that in past CoD's other players could easily steal your kill that way. Other than that, I never thought it was a big deal... it required skill to use, as you had to be quick and proficient with a pistol to be effective with it.

It seems as though all anyone wants to do when it comes to discussing competitive online FPS games is complain about "overpowered" weapons, camping, shotguns and anything else that doesn't fall into one individuals specific playstyle.

For every perk/specialization, weapon, and playstyle there are advantages and disadvantages to what equipment and techniques are employed. They call it... "balance." Not everyone wants to lie prone with a sniper rifle in a bush all match, and not everyone wants to sprint and jump around the entire map with a shotgun or SMG shooting and knifing people at point-blank.

[bobrea]

Twitter. Is. Not. News.

[Ch1d0r1]

Its worse.

[TheDarkness]

True sabrina..

[danielle007]

It's hard to know what will translate to fun. This perk doesn't sound bad in theory, but in practice it didn't end up being the greatest thing ever.

[UnagiMaster]

Finally, confessed for his Sin's

[Kings4L]

listen all you ppl can complain all you want, but at the end of the day you are all lying to yourself when you say you hate the game because if you truly hated it you would not play it anymore, kudos to you that keep it real, everyone else just stfu and play the game, mw3 is great it sold 6.5 million copies so far to prove it.

[Avernus]

I don't hate the game. I played all, and MW3 was disappointing to me. I gave my brother it. Tbh, I played BO, but I can't go through another CoD with the same problems.

[OMEGAXS1]

"it sold 6.5 million copies so far to prove it" LOL. Lady Gaga sells millions, does that mean everyone thinks shes great? Um, no. Trash.

[Cablephish]

lol, it's funny cause I got a hate message once that said "1v1 qs me you hardscoping f*g", cause if you don't quickscope, you're a cheater.

[SSKILLZ]

Second chance is 4 bitches it's probably something Justin biber would use

[OMEGAXS1]

LOL. Isnt he doing the music for the new MW3 commercial? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!
YEAH BUDDY IM TROLLIN!!!!!

[iMpuTeD]

it doesnt amatter anyone who used that perk was trash

[tenacious_b]

MW3 blows and i loved MW2, hated black ops. MW3 is MW2 with black ops shitty ps2 graphics but the maps are even worse

[PLAYWATCH]

you actually liked getting tubed at the beginning of each rounds in MW2? you're a strange guy.

[3GenGames]

Aside from that MW2 was vastly superior that Blops in every way. Although still, COD4 is vastly superior to MW2 in every way, so that's not saying much.

You know how many times I've been noob-tubed in Battlefield at the beginning of a match? That number is ZERO.

[dcortz2027]

The maps in MW3 are terrible beyond belief. It's a shame because COD4 and MW2 both had some really good maps. MW3's competitive multiplayer is a downgrade from the previous MW games.

[RedDead]

MW2 was an embarrassment, it was made for camping and ridiculous kill streaks, Blops toned them down a lot while they were still shi*, remember the Chopper gunner in MW2, it shot a fu**ing mini gun rocket launcher.

[tenacious_b]

I'll go play Uncharted, BF3, Dark Souls and Skyrim... you guys have fun

[Gordo789]

whole game is a fuck-up, who cares!?

[gypsygib]

He should apologize for completely f**k*ng up the PS3 version of BLOPS. That COD actually turned me off the series for the foreseeable future, still don't get how it could look worse than MW2.

[erivera1994]

And he's just realizing one year later that they F'd up by adding 2nd chance... smh

[Winkle92]

At least they're beginning to learn from their mistakes, right?

[Soldierone]

At least they fixed it to where the person that shot the enemy into the down position will get the kill, and not the noob that runs in to steal the kill. Then MW3 goes and takes a step back and gives the kill right back to the noob. Why do these two teams not communicate at all? I was so happy when they fixed it, and now I'm getting screwed by it yet again.

Black Ops was a MUCH better game than MW3, and it wasn't better than MW2 and wasn't even that amazing, but it is better than MW3 at least for online. The SP and Spec Ops are the only saving grace of MW3 for me.

[PSX99]

Mw 3 is way better than black ops.that game had bad hit detection,perks and knife that you can fly to kill someone.

[LoLZoRz]

cool story bro.

[SignifiedSix]

I think we all know this by now. Lmao!

[TopDudeMan]

Second chance is an abomination and they put it in year after year after year. Why???

[RioKing]

Same with the heartbeat sensor. I was SHOCKED when I saw it again in mw3, utter disappointment.

[banner]

I should have bought bf3 and continued to play black ops instead. The maps in blops was so much better nothing on mw3 competes with firing range, nuketown, jungle I think all the maps are better in blops.

If you check my coment history I was so looking forward to mw3, now that I have it I regret not renting it first.

[WitWolfy]

Regret always comes too late bud, I'd suggest trade MW3 in when your done and get BF3 ASAP! It dances circles around MW3 IMO

[IHateYouFanboys]

its amazing that people on here still reference infinity ward as if they are the same people that made MW and MW2 lol.

theyre the same company in name only - pretty much EVERYONE important left and went to Respawn. I wouldnt be surprised if Activision filled the spots in Infinity Ward with Treyarch employees.

the Infinity Ward that made MW3 is NOT the same Infinity Ward that made MW1 and MW2. It may as well have been Treyarch that made MW3.

is MW3 a good game? I have no idea, I didn't buy it. Battlefield 3 + Gears of War 3 + Forza 4 covers pretty much all my online gaming from now until the foreseeable future.

[ME1989]

Lol, what a sensationalist headline. Easiest way to grab hits I suppose.

[SephirothX21]

I don't care how many chances there are, CoD sucks anyway.

[flyinrhyno]

I hate jungle with a passion its camper heaven. black op maps were good but there was a definite lack of weather in them. forgot the name of waw map that you could play day and night on the beach. i loved that map. mw3 maps are good they definitely tried to address the camping issue, mw3 is a solid installment in this series.

[Mikeyy]

Second chance wouldnt be so bad if they user didnt have "GOD MODE" when falling to the ground, seriously, you keep firing on them as they fall to the ground and none of the bullets will register until a certain point and by then they might kill you instead.

[PhunnyJesta]

that would make second chance useless. You would die before even going into second chance cuz of the (basically) hit scan weapons COD have. It would happen all so fast you wouldnt even notice it. Realistic? No. Gaming breaking? No. If you want to be good at a game you have to acknowledge these types of things (good and bad) that with every single kill there's a chance for second chance to happen. I've never had a problem with second chance in blops or felt that I was cheated by it

[flyinrhyno]

second chance in waw was good because u could snipe someone down then get multiple kills by people tryin to heal them. and if your disappointed in mw3 youd be pissed of at yourself for buying bf3.

[Dantheman1]

another rubbish cod game when will they end