[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

I never thought of it that way, but you're right for the non-objective based games.

Yeah, you need to sell your soul and conform to the TDM crowd. HC, S&D, now Barebones... we are not amused by your non-conformity.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Blasphemy.

BO map design does seem to have one goal of making any spot indefensible, but that's not a very laudable goal . What that does is make any semi-defensible position twice as important and since they're few and far inbetween, and then they become the focal point of the map. On the other hand, in MW2, most of the maps were designed with several spots that could be used strategically, meaning that on good maps, you could find somewhere near you and use it to push forward or stem the tide (Or better yet get into shoot-outs, one spot versus another).

Imagine how that would change if MW2 had the same haphazard spawning system as BO though. As you were attempting to push forward or stem the tide you'd be dealing with enemies spawning right the hell behind you. I think a lot, and I mean quite a bit, of our complaints about pacing and gameplay stem from the horrible spawning. I usually stay near spawn and have a claymore watching my back on maps I snipe. More often than not I will get a kill from my claymore before seeing anyone in my scope. That is completely the opposite of MW2 and directly caused by spawning. People start circling round, a few get killed and now our spawn is their spawn.

Last night on my terrible Array match I spawned in an area with four enemies directly next to me, after I died I spawned with you guys, who were all together at the other end of the map. What the hell? I can only assume you guys were still together mere seconds earlier so why the terrible spawn?

There were plenty of maps in MW2 I put on par with BO's worst maps. Derail, Highrise, Rust, and Wasteland come to mind as bad maps released with the game. Not sure I'd say any BO map is as dear to me as Afghan though, course it could be poppy field nostalgia.

On the whole I find a decent subset of maps in BO to be to small, despite having more interesting structures and pathways. I'd love to see Treyarch have a complex, yet large, urban environment map like Invasion on MW2. At first glance Radiation seems like a good fit, but they left a huge useless hole right in the middle of the map with no discernible purpose. I will say this, if the first map pack does not include some impressive stuff the it will be the last map pack I buy for BO. We've had a small resurgence lately, but if those new maps suck I can see the game taking a big crash for a lot of you guys, and I don't care enough to pay another 15 bucks to play by myself. As much as I professed my love of zombies before this games release, I have barely played either map. I can't see that even an inclusion of new zombie content would be enough to coax me to pay.

Now here's my question. With Infinity Ward dissolved, what are we looking at for the next installment of the series? I'd love to see the game regain the polish and finesse of MW2, but who would develop such a powerhouse?

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by sek929 

Imagine how that would change if MW2 had the same haphazard spawning system as BO though. As you were attempting to push forward or stem the tide you'd be dealing with enemies spawning right the hell behind you. I think a lot, and I mean quite a bit, of our complaints about pacing and gameplay stem from the horrible spawning. I usually stay near spawn and have a claymore watching my back on maps I snipe. More often than not I will get a kill from my claymore before seeing anyone in my scope. That is completely the opposite of MW2 and directly caused by spawning. People start circling round, a few get killed and now our spawn is their spawn.

If anything, the terrible spawning on highlights the lack of areas where you can dig in. Really, if spawning weren't a problem is there anywhere else in Jungle you'd want to hold down other than the village?

Look at Sub Base; Arguably the worst spawning on a medium-sized or bigger map in MW2. Still, I count it as one of the above average maps. There were several great strategic spots for use on just half of the map that was being utilized – the server room, the back container sniping area, the warehouse roof, the warehouse back spawn, the overhang between the warehouse back spawn and container sniping area. That's a lot of positions I count as defensible in a small space (Obviously some more advantageous than others).

Originally Posted by sek929 

There were plenty of maps in MW2 I put on par with BO's worst maps. Derail, Highrise, Rust, and Wasteland come to mind as bad maps released with the game. Not sure I'd say any BO map is as dear to me as Afghan though, course it could be poppy field nostalgia.

This is easy: Highrise and Rust were two of the smallest maps. Small continuously proves itself to be a bad idea on these games. (Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't mention Scrapard. I thought that was the poster child for horrible spawns. Highrise's problem was spawn-trapping).

Wasteland is probably the worst map I've ever seen, so not much argument here.

Derail suffers from a lack of good spots. Half the map is just open ground. So it's not a surprise that the only key strategic spot, the middle building, ends up being the focus of the entire damn match.

Originally Posted by sek929 

On the whole I find a decent subset of maps in BO to be to small, despite having more interesting structures and pathways. I'd love to see Treyarch have a complex, yet large, urban environment map like Invasion on MW2. At first glance Radiation seems like a good fit, but they left a huge useless hole right in the middle of the map with no discernible purpose.

Both companies are guilty of this. It seems to be a weird thing that happens on a lot of the maps they make. Karachi, Skid Row, Favela, Salvage, Radiation, Cracked, Havana, Launch... they all have these mostly center open areas I avoid like the plague.

Originally Posted by sek929 

I will say this, if the first map pack does not include some impressive stuff the it will be the last map pack I buy for BO. We've had a small resurgence lately, but if those new maps suck I can see the game taking a big crash for a lot of you guys, and I don't care enough to pay another 15 bucks to play by myself. As much as I professed my love of zombies before this games release, I have barely played either map. I can't see that even an inclusion of new zombie content would be enough to coax me to pay.

I'm not even considering it until I see the maps in action. How many multi maps is it coming with, anyway, 3 or 4? And yeah, the zombie thing makes it an impressively even more awful value than before.

Originally Posted by sek929 

Now here's my question. With Infinity Ward dissolved, what are we looking at for the next installment of the series? I'd love to see the game regain the polish and finesse of MW2, but who would develop such a powerhouse?

Rumor is (Sledghammer?) is making a Sci-Fi version... that's action-adventure (instead of FPS?). I'm having a hard time understanding how this will work, unless they plan on supporting Black Ops for a long while, in which case, LOL, you backed the wrong horse.

[sek929]

Geez, you can call me boring for wanting another war online FPS, but without a proper CoD game what's to be had in that area? Maybe a new IP altogether is needed.

[The Final Dakar]

I call you boring???

Edit: I get what you're saying. That's why I'm looking at Homefront.

Double Edit: There's always the outside chance Medal of Honor's next version playable, assuming they're on a yearly cycle as well.

[sek929]

Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, but Homefront did not impress me with its graphics or design very much....not that it matters all that much anyways.

[The Final Dakar]

I have to post the multiplayer trailer I watched, but you are rightly unimpressed.

Here's the thing you need to consider... if there already was a stand-out game compared to CoD, we'd already be playing it. At some point in order for another game to challenge CoD, people will have to play it. That might mean deciding as a group to gamble on something else. This fall might provide this opportunity (Or force our hand, depending on your perspective).

[sek929]

As long as I'm not duped into another Halo Reach situation I'll be happy.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by sek929 

We've had a small resurgence lately, but if those new maps suck I can see the game taking a big crash for a lot of you guys, and I don't care enough to pay another 15 bucks to play by myself.

I think Subie and TtotheDoubleDee are guaranteed to be playing for a while. The way saint is playing lately, likely him too. It's basically Euthyphro and I that are the most on the fence. I'm down with having a 5 and 6 man crew, but I'll likely bail if that dwindles.

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by sek929 

Geez, you can call me boring for wanting another war online FPS, but without a proper CoD game what's to be had in that area? Maybe a new IP altogether is needed.

I got high hopes for Bulletstorm.

[The Final Dakar]

Yeah, but I haven't heard much about the multi, if anything.

[The Final Dakar]

Call of Duty: Black Ops
So, weird post to make. Some guy in the CoD forums started a thread about a youtube video which shows with a certain diagnostic console enabled, can track (and display) network activity during the game. He then goes on the explain everything that's going on and why.

I was going to post the video, but he's suddenly made it private. Why? Here's where it gets interesting.

ideo is now private until further notice. For anyone wanting to watch it. PM me and Ill give a private link at a later date.


While I obviously do not make videos that cater to anyone other than myself. I do enjoy that my youtube channel has 185,000+ views over virtually no subscribers. Activision owns all publishing rights to their games & has had a long standing policy of abusively flagging videos they do not like via DCMA.

Of the hundreds of thousands of videos posted on the internet of COD (or any other Activision game). Understand that you have ZERO RIGHT to do so.
Frankly. I don't have any more strikes left on my main Youtube channel after having been hit so my times by Activision in the past for both similar videos. And early gameplay footage.

This video is NOT a video meant for any of the likes of yall. It is a video purely to explain certain aspects of the game for my friends.


FYI, the video was recorded in-game (NOT via game demo/theater mode) on xbox 360 around late November / Early December.

-Toysrme

I imagine DMCA isn't like copyright (i.e., IIRC with copyright if you don't "vigorously" defend infringement it can be thrown out on a later date), but it's obviously a nice load of shit that they selectively enforce their "copyright" on YouTube videos they don't like. It's also curious. Why do they give a shit? He didn't demonstrate how to do mods or hacks (God knows you'll probably find them on YouTube unflagged) so what's the deal?

How BO differs from MW2 lies mostly in how it decides matchmaking.
In COD4/W@W this was done by an unknown process. You connect to a server bank run by Activision. It kept a list of players & it connects them for you.
MW2 changed this by instituting bandwidth tests to see who the fastest hosts were. This was obtrusive simply because it happened *every* time a host needed to be picked, or swapped during gameplay.
Black Ops greatly improved this by running the test immediately upon connecting to the service & storing it. Once & done as it were. (Avalible for viewing in the multiplayer menu by hitting back/select)

I swear this is true, but I was thinking this morning (before I caught the thread) that in Black Ops, we've seen everyone in the party become host, which really didn't happen in MW2 (Bad host deciding?). On the flip side, that doesn't explain why I think sek's connection doesn't treat me the same in both games (unless that's lag comp).


Either way, another day, another WTF treyarch.

[Kevin Bogues]

Are we still playing this?

i have tried a few times this week to get myself to throw BO in the box for a few rounds but I can never get myself to do it. I'm not sure why i feel so burned out, maybe its just BO and its issues or possibly COD in general, either way i need a new game, honestly a new multiplayer game... fast.

Homefront and Bulletstorm are both on my radar, but aside from those, i have nothing else.

[KCrosbie]

I've been switching it up recently between Halo Reach and NFS Hot Pursuit. About to go buy Dead Space before the sequel comes out. Game looks fun.

[mattyb]

Originally Posted by Kevin Bogues 

Are we still playing this?

i have tried a few times this week to get myself to throw BO in the box for a few rounds but I can never get myself to do it. I'm not sure why i feel so burned out, maybe its just BO and its issues or possibly COD in general, either way i need a new game, honestly a new multiplayer game... fast.

Homefront and Bulletstorm are both on my radar, but aside from those, i have nothing else.

Heathen.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Kevin Bogues 

Are we still playing this?

As for as the forum is concerned, not really. Arguably Reach gets as much activity.

Originally Posted by Kevin Bogues 

i have tried a few times this week to get myself to throw BO in the box for a few rounds but I can never get myself to do it. I'm not sure why i feel so burned out, maybe its just BO and its issues or possibly COD in general, either way i need a new game, honestly a new multiplayer game... fast.

You missed your chance to do some AC:B multi when you were achievement whoring.

Originally Posted by Kevin Bogues 

Homefront and Bulletstorm are both on my radar, but aside from those, i have nothing else.

Honestly I think the best case scenario for Homefront is a "B" rating overall in reviews, and I continue to not hear anything on Bulletstorm's multi, implying to me it's nothing special.

[The Final Dakar]

So, I actually logged last night (without fatty!) and was running with the Motion Sensor. Jesus, that thing will do some real damage against the uninitiated. Against a crew of non-prestiges on Jungle I just raped the team any time they came from the Hut/Path side. Started off 19-0, finished 26-1. Just obliterated them.

It does have its weaknesses, though. Against rushers you will constantly die trying to find somewhere good to place it, and smarter Hacker users will destroy it from far away.

I also picked up Hacker Pro, which I don't believe I've put to good use yet, but after the other night, I've come to the conclusion is the new Cold-Blooded/Ninja. In MW2, Ninja made you invisible to the HBS, rendering you completely untrackable. In Black Ops, Hacker Pro renders you invisible to Motion Sensors, rendering me, yet again, untrackable. This could be good.


Other than that, we ran into a crew of four last night including a dude with a 6.5+ w/l. We lost by 200 pts to them the first time but later we got crushed when all the randoms quit out, leaving us 6 v 3. I didn't find them to be all that good, but they were smart in that they ran in pairs and had connections that cared not for your bullets.

[mattyb]

I don't often come across montion sensor users in std tdm (and recently domination games). It used to be used alot in search. Some of the serious clans have guys with moton sensors and others with claymores so that targets are well protected.

I like it, but like the camera, it can be distracting.

I haven't used Hacker Pro much (I just hate being seen by aircraft) I shall have to try it more.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by mattyb 

I like it, but like the camera, it can be distracting.

No more distracting than typical UAV.

Originally Posted by mattyb 

I haven't used Hacker Pro much (I just hate being seen by aircraft)

wat

[The Final Dakar]

Alright, news on the next update.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Since last week, we've made a few more gameplay changes. If they clear QA will appear in the next update.

Second Chance gets a scoring overhaul.

If you shoot the guy and he falls into Second Chance you will get the +100 (in TDM) and kill credit. You don't get this if the guy is revived. You get it if: (1) you finish him off (2) he takes Coward's Way Out (3) he "times out" and dies anyhow or (4) a teammate finishes him off.
If a player is already in Second Chance and you finish him off, you get an Assist and the appropriate credit.

Many community members expressed that they felt "cheated" out of a kill if they dropped someone into Second Chance and a teammate got the kill. In my opinion (which does not necessarily represent the views of Treyarch or every Treyarch developer), if you feel this way you might be taking the game just a little too seriously.

This might have unintended consequences. Perhaps more people will leave guys hanging around in Second Chance. Maybe this will be a problem. Maybe it will benefit Second Chance users. We will see. In the end, we were willing to do this because it doesn't impact how Second Chance works in any significant way.

Additionally, Second Chance users are going to get blown to bits if they die by a shotgun blast. You will not fall into Second Chance. It works the same way it does if you die by a headshot. This might be going too far, but it's something we talked over at length and are willing to try.

The RC-XD has had its top speed and maximum damage reduced. Not much, mind you. Flak Jacket users will survive an RC-XD attack way better than someone without Flak Jacket. However, it won't make you completely immune.

The AK74u also gets some minor tweaks.

Some members of the community expressed that it is the combination of attachments such as grip + rapid fire that present the real problem.

To take Warlord you have to give up Steady Aim or Sleight of Hand (among others). That's two very popular and powerful Perks, if you are an AK74u user. Trade-offs are part of the game design.

The game stats allow us to evaluate the reality of how weapons are used and cut through the perception or emotions. We've started to use those stats to help us analyze the reality. It's early days. We have to think carefully about how it informs our decisions.

As frustrating as the AK74u conversation was for many people, I learned some important things from it. It was a really good reminder how I take for granted how the game works and what is technically feasible. Let me give you an example:

Some gamers said to me, "Why don't you dial back the fire rate on the Rapid Fire version?"

This seems like a completely reasonable suggestion, unless you know how the engine (and Rapid Fire) technically works.

The community provided many suggestions that seem completely reasonable, unless you know how the engine works. Responding to dozens, if not hundreds, of suggestions with an explanation of why they are not practical isn't something I could realistically do.

I don't want this to dissuade us from having a dialog, but I need to think carefully about what topics can realistically be asked about.

Gameplay tuning is a fickle beast. One man's perfect is another man's nightmare. I don't think it's perfect, but it is far from a nightmare. It's the most popular online shooter. If it was horribly unbalanced, unfair, or completely unfun - it wouldn't be.

Finally, I am fully aware that these are not the only game play issues on the minds of the Black Ops community at large. Many are being considered; some will not. When and if it becomes appropriate to discuss them with you, we will.

We remain committed to making small game play tweaks to the game. We've tweaked Snipers as a whole. We've tweaked Knifes. We will tweak Second Chance, the RC-XD, and even some guns.

After all that is done, and we feel comfortable that we haven't made things worse in anyway, we will figure out where to go next.

Fans should remain optimistic, but realistic. Over a million people play the game every day. 99% of them we will never get the opportunity to hear from directly the way we do from forum, Twitter, or Facebook users.

David 'Vahn' Vonderhaar

Breakdown

Second Chance – Gets the treatment I talked about back in MW2 days. Arguably, the player should still get a +20 for killing off the guy for the second time, but whatever. Sadly, if you dwell on this you realize this has almost nothing to do with Second Chance and is just about scoring. The only real change is that shotguns will now be exempt from SC. This, of course, leaves Snipers glaringly left out in the cold.

RC-XD - A likely illusionary nerf that fails to address that the problem isn't it's power but it's availability. I suppose this will reduce multi-kills in the long run, which no one will really notice.

AK74u – Vahn doesn't directly address what will happen, though on a second reading I suppose he may be indicating that Grip + Rapid Fire might be nerfed/disabled. Coincidentally, I gave up being silenced to run that combo.


On a more personal note, while I understand being the liaison is a bit of a thankless job, I find his somewhat exasperated tone at times irritating.

[The Final Dakar]

Another priceless quote from the CoD forums:

It's for people who have no skill at all. Shooting in the back, camping and being afraid of being seen by killstreaks, radar and everyone in the game doesn't make you a good player. It makes you a coward.

Ghost – It's for cowards.
(Reminds me of similar comments about snipers in MW2)

[Stogieman]

(Reminds me of people bitching about Armor Lock in Reach.)

[The Final Dakar]

My issue with Armor Lock was lag could screw you hard on it.

Really though, it's him bitching about being shot in the back that's so priceless. Isn't that everyone's goal?

[sek929]

I either use Ghost (which makes me a coward) or Scavenger in conjunction with Warlord Pro (which I assume makes me an asshole).

Add it to the pile of ridiculous complaints about someone's individual style of play.

Edit: I just started a bathroom renovation job that has me pretty dead-tired. I don't expect to be on late during weeknights anymore, but I'll still play till around 11 (like back in the MW2 days that could mean 12 under the right circumstances).

[The Final Dakar]

Sleep is for cowards.

[Stogieman]

And logging off at 11 is for assholes.

[The Final Dakar]

Oh ****. I just found a Black Ops meme generator.

[The Final Dakar]

I believe these will only last a day.

[The Final Dakar]

[The Final Dakar]

[Stogieman]

Hahaha.... I wonder if there is Halo Reach meme generator?

[The Final Dakar]

I think I recall one with a red spartan.

[The Final Dakar]

[The Final Dakar]

Some one stop me.

Edit: Damn you curse filter

[The Final Dakar]

[The Final Dakar]

[The Final Dakar]

I'll pick this back up later.

[sek929]

I'm dying from these right now!

[The Final Dakar]

Be sure to point out the really good ones.

[Stogieman]

The camper getting killed by a noob tube was my favorite.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Maybe since it was the last in the series, but this one in particular.

[The Final Dakar]

Hmmm… ok.

Also, I'll be signing on at 9 if you're around.

[boy8cookie]

I was more entertained by your posters than I ever was by Black Ops. Can't believe you guys are still playing it.

[mattyb]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Quality.

[The Final Dakar]

My motion sensor placement on jungle is utterly broken. Though I am sometimes surprised how far up the right path people make it before they register on it.



Oh yeah, we had another banner game on Grid(!) last night. Started out 5 v 5 and once we opened up 1000-0 two people quit out on the other team leaving two green patches and some low grade officer. We then proceeded to open up 2500-0 and close out the game 7500-400 going 5 v 3 the rest of the way. Obviously we didn't camp these kids as we'd have hit the time limit, so that's four deaths while openly seeking these kids out to destroy. At one point I kept picking up discarded weapons for fun. Got back to back sticks with the crossbow (I'd be surprised if I ever even got a kill with it before this), then followed that up with a crisping with some guys flamethrower (which I almost died attempting).
This doesn't supplant the old 7500-700 Jungle record, but sure as hell does supplement it.

Hilariously as soon as we got back to the lobby matchmaking finally added people. Poor noobs.

[The Final Dakar]

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

By far my favorite of the lot. Of course, it's really funny if you catch the reference and hear it in Zoidberg's voice.

In retrospect I wonder if "You still have Zoidberg" would have worked better.

[The Final Dakar]

Round 3:

[mattyb]

You have too much time on your hands Dakar.

I did chuckle though.

In other news, persuade me not to prestige so that I don't spend the next few weeks bitching about how stupid I was to prestige.

[The Final Dakar]

Which Prestige are you?

I have another series yet, based on shit I'll say in game, but I think sek is the only one who will find that one funny. After that I'll probably do some randoms time to time.