Carrying on the theme from things in Ghosts I don't particularly like, we arrive at Clan Wars.
From the outset it looked good. Black Ops 2 Clans was pretty much pointless. Every now and then, you play in certain playlists to improve your clans level but overall you were not playing for anything other then trying to get to the number 1 rank. Now we see a different side from the introduction of Clan Wars on Ghosts. The idea being that is more orientated around having a good clan and an all round good skill level in most playlists. (Nice to see that Hardcore once a again is something that's an after thought but hey who else enjoys people who quite often sponge bullets whilst playing core?) For this post in particular, I've looked around on forums to see what, if any, points that I'm going to raise in this are something of a regular occurrence. I've handily put things into sections to make things easier to read. For any reference "CW" means "Clan Wars" and "IW" is mainly referencing "Infinity Ward, Beachead, Activision and others involved with Ghosts in general"
Outset
The idea of CW to me sorted seemed a very nice idea. You take nodes depending on the playlist and 7 other clans within your starting league try to take them off you. Makes for a competitive time (the duration to which CW is on) you build your skill up on playlists that you didn't play as much ( SnD, TDM ) as well as getting to grips with some new game modes. At the end of it you play for unlocks which pretty much any ways that you look at it is an improvement on BO2 CW. Looking over what IW set out for CW to be it seemed legit and most importantly fun. Here's a quote from their page describing CW.
"Call
of Duty Clan Wars was built in this way to ensure no one Clan can
dominate every node and the associated XP boost for an extended period
of time."
http://community.callofduty.com/community/call_of_duty/english/ghosts/blog/2013/11/27/call-of-duty-clan-wars-capturing-defending-and-losing-nodes#.UqS1OuLiF8G
Sounds good? Every clan with an even chance to win and make things exciting towards the end? Nope. Here's some things that have been grinding my gears.
Clan Size
The first issue I come to is clan sizes. This is referring to the amount of members that are in the clan. The "challenge" here is that even after a CW has started, clans can still recruit members to join in the battle. The problem from this is getting a clan that increases its members numbers who then move onto to play any gametype they don't have and by laws of averages gives them a huge advantage over another clan that may not have as many members. As I don't have the app, because apparently making something to view on windows or mac computers was too difficult, I'm sort of limited to information regarding specifics. It seems as though clans are placed into leagues (gold, platinum etc) along side squad size. If one clan starts with 20 members and gets put into a league with another set of clans with roughly the same sorta size and then bolsters their numbers to over 60 as an example the idea of a fair war goes out the window. Might seem trivial but It's something that is practiced and unless those types of clans are put against each other, its a one horse race.
In Game Issues
Part 1 - Clan Size
This one is a biggie. It also relates to the size of the clan and is the only reason to consider throughout this entire post that needs to be fixed asap. If anything its the only thing that makes CW pointless. This is where a team of 6 from one clan goes into a lobby and has 6 empty spaces. They then invite 6 people from their clan into the game, start it up, and then one side quits leaving the other 6 people in the game. Easy 6 points and in comparison to playing the game normally, a hell of a lot quicker. Now couple that with a clan that has upwards of 100+ members. CW is over before its even started.
Part 2 - Points per Node
The second part of the in game issues is the point system. You get more points for capturing a node, let another team neutralize it and then re-capturing the node again. Makes for clans to cap a node then let someone take and re cap it. Again coupled with the Part 1..... can you see where this is going?
Part 3 - CW App
The app. I don't know the reasons at to why this is not something that can either be implemented into the game or even on a website (time restrictions, cost or the fact it was buggy may have been some reasons) but its annoying. Not being someone who has access to some device that shows me what to take, how many wins we need, what we need to attack next after capturing a node, is not helpful at all towards the progression of the clan.
**Part 4 ** - Ranking System
Now I know other clans have had this concern
but it's my turn to give my point of view. The ranking for these
divisions are not always 'fair' especially for the working adults who
love to play this game. I will use my clan as an example. Our first clan
wars we were placed in Gold, and relatively felt that the match up was
even. We looked up stats for the other 7 clans and they were pretty much
the same. Plus, it looked like the activity for the most part was the
same as well. In the second session of Clan Wars (Round 2) we were then
placed in Platinum. We looked at some of these other clans and let's
just say the match up was very uneven. Not only were we matched up with
clans that had ridiculous k/d ratios (I'm talking about 5.0+) but
looking at their top 15 players with k/d's above 2.0 and ours ranging
1.0-1.1 for our top 15 it was severely unevenly matched. Not to mention,
it seemed like these clans played 24/7 - a luxury that unfortunately my
clan does not have. I personally felt that to even have a chance, all
of us had to play every day all the time etc.. It was IMPOSSIBLE for us
to even reach the top 3 due to these other clans being on all the time. I
think I read somewhere that the ranking is based on wins? Why not base
it on activity?
All this aside, there are some excellent ideas in fixes for some of the issues I've brought up here.
http://community.callofduty.com/community/call_of_duty/english/ghosts/forums/clans/clans-discussions#.UqS21eLiF8E
The clan discussion page on the Ghosts forum is little short of amusing to watch to see how many people have had a bad experience with CW and in some cases fixes towards it. Its a good possibility that IW already know about theses issues and yes it's still early days but how could this have been something overlooked? It's bad enough that it seems the idea of a beta has gone out of the window ( I'm sure that a lot of early teething problems that people are coming across now would have either been resolved or be in the process of being resolved) and that the idea of saving money to make more money seems the more likely reason.
Before I sign off I have to link you to this page also on the Ghosts forum as something of ( At first glance is a dead easy fix (should it have been a problem at the start?) but I'm not a programmer so I don't know first hand the effort required to fix this) first hand proof and the way its explained makes it easy to understand the underlying issue with CW.
http://community.callofduty.com/thread/200811494#.UqS23-LiF8E
I may be back to amend but I'll star it to show.
PHOBIA bAe2005k
tampreture347
Sunday 8 December 2013
Saturday 30 November 2013
A gamer's review
So here goes.
Yesterday I got a copy of Ghosts for the 360 and since then ive maybe clocked up about 5 hours of gameplay (Not on the xbox ATM so using that as a rough estimate) and if im going to be frank about what I think about the game, its shit.
For a little background information on my habits when it comes to video games, in particular FPS games, im quite the avid player and being someone who is fairly competitive I like to get better at a game. Going back as far as Halo 2, FPS games have been my game of choice. I do on occasion play other games but my love falls firmly into the FPS category.
Now, I'm the type of person that believes that Halo takes more skill then CoD to play. This stems from the ability for one person to go into a match and more or less win the game by themselves. This is something I find with ease to do on pretty much any CoD title game, Halo on the other hand is more team orientated which leads me on to make my judgement that Halo takes more skill then CoD. I'm not what you call amazing at the game but I'm more than capable of going into a game (for arguments sake BO2) of Hardcore TDM and winning the game on my own or coming from behind (as is the case with CoD titles, being placed into a game in which you're losing is better than being placed into a pre game lobby...) but when it comes to playing Ghosts this isn't the case. I'm not getting annoyed at my own skill, I know that I'm good enough to be able to go into a public match and do well but this is not something that I can do on Ghosts. Yes I know that I've had the game roughly one day and that it may take time to get better but this is not something that people who are of a similar skill to me on previous cod titles had the issue of.
These are the things that I've got an idea of as to why I personally am not fond of Ghosts from the get go and as to why the game, at least at a multiplayer level, is not as fun as previous titles but also broken.
Spawns
For whatever reason it appears that spawning is more akin to playing the national lottery. There have been countless times I've been killed, spawned onto the other side of the map, killed by someone on the other team hiding in a corner and then spawned back onto the side I was at before (This is more so on larger maps) When it comes to maps that are smaller the spawn system seems to be worse. Close your eyes, point somewhere on the map and then spawn. Again being shot by someone either in a corner or who is walking around only to find you looking the other way as you start to run from spawn who then proceeds to shoot you in your back is not fun. Oh alas though this just doesn't include me getting spawned into people this also happens that I come across people that spawn in front of me and give me the pleasure of shooting them in the back. The spawn system seems to have been made to stop spawn trapping but has only created a bigger issue. With other CoD titles such as BO2 (the constant ref to BO2 is only because it will be fresh in peoples minds) spawning with your team did at least give you an advantage in both knowing where your team is and where the other team is, allowing you to not always, and in more than 1 game every night, being spawned killed. As an addition to the spawn saga, being spawned into enemy equipment such as IED's isn't fun.
Leaving Games
This should be a short topic (which will turn into a long topic maybe) addressing the issue that has always been in other CoD games and is not directly related to Ghosts but should be sorted. Leaving games is something that people do. Anyone who quits a game does so for a reason whether that reason be legit or not. Lag, being put into a game that your team is losing by a lot, being put into a game that's nearly over, rage quit (Rage quit actually covers a lot of things such as campers, dying a lot, other team is better than you etc) dislike of a map. Now it's important to know that people quit games for a reason, as I said earlier, and no matter what reason that is, they do not want to be spawned back into the same game that they have just quit. I never liked Nuketown. Lost count on how many times I left that map but it got to the point I had to team kill in order to stop being put back in. I wasn't fond of any DLC maps that was out for BO2 and so were deleted from my xbox but I was not allowed to delete Nuketown. (this is to please all the people that sit and say you shouldn't quit games and ruin it for the rest of us but don't worry I'll come to that bit later) If someone leaves a game then don't spawn them into the same game. They will quit again.
Maps
As far as this game goes, there are a lot of things that are amazing and attribute greatly to my experience. The maps do look good but there issues with just that feature. This game, to me, has seen a massive increase in being shot in the back, being killed by someone hiding in a bush or just being killed by someone refusing to move from a single spot. This is not the problem of the players. Believe it or not but people camping is down to the amount of cover and detail in the maps. There is too much. The promotion of sitting in one spot, shooting from a far is high and that is surely down to the amount of cover in the map. Playing Siege is beyond a joke. It perfectly typifies my point.
Playlists
A quick brief look at the playlists reveals 4 for HC and a lot more for standard. I'm more of a HC person myself as the idea of luck and connection is reduced greatly and levels out the playing field yet because of this I'm limited to 4 playlists. Playing standard, coupled with all the other annoying things this game throws up, isn't fun. I love to use the word fun both in a sarcastic way and serious so try to tell the difference. If we enter into the HC playlists we find a re-spawn timer on TDM again. Not amazing since I know my spawn isn't going to be good and I have to wait sometimes 5 seconds per spawn to then get killed again by someone hiding in a corner. You can more or less copy and paste that last part and replace TDM with KC, DOM etc.
Misc
For this section is just about CoD in general and we shall jump right in. I play this game to be entertained. I play this game differently to others and expect as such. Some people play CoD and sit in corners, some run and gun. If I'm not enjoying a game, I'll quit. Again using the reasons above. Just as someone who doesn't play this game for more than an hour a week wouldn't enjoy being killed over and over again. For people that use the reason "don't buy the game if you're going to quit all the time" are more or less saying they have never quit a game in their life. Rubbish. Saying that I'm ruining the game for others is one of the most amusing things to read on forums and comments. I'm sorry but playing a game in which I have no challenge because the other team is not good or I'm playing a game to which the other team has complete map control is no fun. This then translates to leaving the game and then being spawned back into the same game you just quit. Lot's of fun.
Some may see that I've jumped ahead of the gun to judge and that maybe I'm being biased but I am a fan of IW. A lot more than Treyarch. This game though is something I can't see living up to the same standards of others. Not just down to my skill level (even though I mentioned that people moving from one CoD title to another on release dont have such a massive problem in playing) for the fact I haven't played it long but other peoples opinions. I hope I'm proven wrong and that it gets better but it can only get better when things such as spawn system is sorted.
PHOBIA bAe2OO5k
tampreture347
Comments appreciated from all who have opinions.
Yesterday I got a copy of Ghosts for the 360 and since then ive maybe clocked up about 5 hours of gameplay (Not on the xbox ATM so using that as a rough estimate) and if im going to be frank about what I think about the game, its shit.
For a little background information on my habits when it comes to video games, in particular FPS games, im quite the avid player and being someone who is fairly competitive I like to get better at a game. Going back as far as Halo 2, FPS games have been my game of choice. I do on occasion play other games but my love falls firmly into the FPS category.
Now, I'm the type of person that believes that Halo takes more skill then CoD to play. This stems from the ability for one person to go into a match and more or less win the game by themselves. This is something I find with ease to do on pretty much any CoD title game, Halo on the other hand is more team orientated which leads me on to make my judgement that Halo takes more skill then CoD. I'm not what you call amazing at the game but I'm more than capable of going into a game (for arguments sake BO2) of Hardcore TDM and winning the game on my own or coming from behind (as is the case with CoD titles, being placed into a game in which you're losing is better than being placed into a pre game lobby...) but when it comes to playing Ghosts this isn't the case. I'm not getting annoyed at my own skill, I know that I'm good enough to be able to go into a public match and do well but this is not something that I can do on Ghosts. Yes I know that I've had the game roughly one day and that it may take time to get better but this is not something that people who are of a similar skill to me on previous cod titles had the issue of.
These are the things that I've got an idea of as to why I personally am not fond of Ghosts from the get go and as to why the game, at least at a multiplayer level, is not as fun as previous titles but also broken.
Spawns
For whatever reason it appears that spawning is more akin to playing the national lottery. There have been countless times I've been killed, spawned onto the other side of the map, killed by someone on the other team hiding in a corner and then spawned back onto the side I was at before (This is more so on larger maps) When it comes to maps that are smaller the spawn system seems to be worse. Close your eyes, point somewhere on the map and then spawn. Again being shot by someone either in a corner or who is walking around only to find you looking the other way as you start to run from spawn who then proceeds to shoot you in your back is not fun. Oh alas though this just doesn't include me getting spawned into people this also happens that I come across people that spawn in front of me and give me the pleasure of shooting them in the back. The spawn system seems to have been made to stop spawn trapping but has only created a bigger issue. With other CoD titles such as BO2 (the constant ref to BO2 is only because it will be fresh in peoples minds) spawning with your team did at least give you an advantage in both knowing where your team is and where the other team is, allowing you to not always, and in more than 1 game every night, being spawned killed. As an addition to the spawn saga, being spawned into enemy equipment such as IED's isn't fun.
Leaving Games
This should be a short topic (which will turn into a long topic maybe) addressing the issue that has always been in other CoD games and is not directly related to Ghosts but should be sorted. Leaving games is something that people do. Anyone who quits a game does so for a reason whether that reason be legit or not. Lag, being put into a game that your team is losing by a lot, being put into a game that's nearly over, rage quit (Rage quit actually covers a lot of things such as campers, dying a lot, other team is better than you etc) dislike of a map. Now it's important to know that people quit games for a reason, as I said earlier, and no matter what reason that is, they do not want to be spawned back into the same game that they have just quit. I never liked Nuketown. Lost count on how many times I left that map but it got to the point I had to team kill in order to stop being put back in. I wasn't fond of any DLC maps that was out for BO2 and so were deleted from my xbox but I was not allowed to delete Nuketown. (this is to please all the people that sit and say you shouldn't quit games and ruin it for the rest of us but don't worry I'll come to that bit later) If someone leaves a game then don't spawn them into the same game. They will quit again.
Maps
As far as this game goes, there are a lot of things that are amazing and attribute greatly to my experience. The maps do look good but there issues with just that feature. This game, to me, has seen a massive increase in being shot in the back, being killed by someone hiding in a bush or just being killed by someone refusing to move from a single spot. This is not the problem of the players. Believe it or not but people camping is down to the amount of cover and detail in the maps. There is too much. The promotion of sitting in one spot, shooting from a far is high and that is surely down to the amount of cover in the map. Playing Siege is beyond a joke. It perfectly typifies my point.
Playlists
A quick brief look at the playlists reveals 4 for HC and a lot more for standard. I'm more of a HC person myself as the idea of luck and connection is reduced greatly and levels out the playing field yet because of this I'm limited to 4 playlists. Playing standard, coupled with all the other annoying things this game throws up, isn't fun. I love to use the word fun both in a sarcastic way and serious so try to tell the difference. If we enter into the HC playlists we find a re-spawn timer on TDM again. Not amazing since I know my spawn isn't going to be good and I have to wait sometimes 5 seconds per spawn to then get killed again by someone hiding in a corner. You can more or less copy and paste that last part and replace TDM with KC, DOM etc.
Misc
For this section is just about CoD in general and we shall jump right in. I play this game to be entertained. I play this game differently to others and expect as such. Some people play CoD and sit in corners, some run and gun. If I'm not enjoying a game, I'll quit. Again using the reasons above. Just as someone who doesn't play this game for more than an hour a week wouldn't enjoy being killed over and over again. For people that use the reason "don't buy the game if you're going to quit all the time" are more or less saying they have never quit a game in their life. Rubbish. Saying that I'm ruining the game for others is one of the most amusing things to read on forums and comments. I'm sorry but playing a game in which I have no challenge because the other team is not good or I'm playing a game to which the other team has complete map control is no fun. This then translates to leaving the game and then being spawned back into the same game you just quit. Lot's of fun.
Some may see that I've jumped ahead of the gun to judge and that maybe I'm being biased but I am a fan of IW. A lot more than Treyarch. This game though is something I can't see living up to the same standards of others. Not just down to my skill level (even though I mentioned that people moving from one CoD title to another on release dont have such a massive problem in playing) for the fact I haven't played it long but other peoples opinions. I hope I'm proven wrong and that it gets better but it can only get better when things such as spawn system is sorted.
PHOBIA bAe2OO5k
tampreture347
Comments appreciated from all who have opinions.
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