The Price of Progression...

All companies seek to grow their brand, to bring in new blood, while offering their existing base something new, a reason to come back. Video games are no different -- especially Call of Duty.

But at what price progression?

Sherman set the wayback machine to 2006 (sadly, some will not get this reference, so, click here and learn) where I found myself just getting on XBOX live for the first time. I had COD 2 but the title I most looked forward to playing was Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. I dug it. It had a nice mix of tactics and cool guns. Although I tried to get the hang of COD 2 MP... I kept getting owned (I really hate the word pwned... writer's prerogative). Later that November came Rainbow Six Vegas. Wow. I loved it and reached the max level. I was hooked playing MP shooters but I didn't bother with COD 3.

Little did I know, the love would grow.

For a second time, we return to the wayback machine (I know you get this now) where Sherman has it set for August 2007. A few of my friends were in a beta for a new shooter they thought was really good... better than GRAW good. That shooter was COD 4. I got into the beta and was blown away. The pace... the guns... the killstreaks... ranking up. It was awesome.

I snapped up the game once it was released and played it for more than 40 days. There was a learning curve... especially in hardcore modes. You were punished for errors... choppers were not easy to take out... the guns all behaved differently and made you adapt to them. If you were new... it showed. You earned XP by kills and assists. That's it.

I was now a COD addict.

This addiction followed into World At War, Modern Warfare 2, and the current Black Ops where my game time now stands upwards of 100 days (damn). Each of those games to varying degrees was not n00b friendly (another word I hate but I'll go with it here) and gave vets what they craved yet still managed to grow the player base to staggering levels. Additions were made to let the casual or new player have a chance at higher killstreaks in Care Packages (I'm going to assume you are familiar with it, if not Google it) or Death Streaks for dying too much.

That brings us to the pending Modern Warfare 3 (no more need for the wayback machine). Like it's predecessors, MW3 looks to grow the player base even further but I ask again...

... at what price progression?

You now get XP for seemingly logging in... there is also a way to get "killstreaks" without getting a killstreak. You just have to get kills. I can't forget to mention the myriad new ways for you to show up as a little red dot for all the Pac-man starved greenies (that don't even get the Pac-man reference... silly kids) because, heaven forbid, they can't function without knowing exactly where to sprint 100% of the time. Four years ago there were 3 killstreaks... now there are more than 20 options... so much for "gun on gun gameplay".

I'm looking forward to MW3... more for having a new COD to play versus the game itself. It should still be fun.... and I'll still be better at it than the greenie (I would hope 100 days played gives me some insight into how to play) but MW3 is trying it's damnedest to level the playing field.

That's the price of progression.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas - A Black Ops Tale

Christmas is alomost here... and for vet gamers. that means one thing...

Loads and loads of free kills.

So, I thought I would write my own verison of the Night Before Christmas with a Black Ops twist...

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the net
Black Ops vets were smiling from the kills they would get
Controllers were set by the console with care
Knowing new players soon would be there

The kiddies were thinking of kills in their heads
Not knowing how quickly they soon would be dead
MW2 was easy, they could always tube
So of course Black Ops will be friendly to noobs

Morning had come and so anxious to see
That copy of Black Ops under the tree
As the wrapping is torn, he can barely sit still
Anxious to post that first clip of his skill

The disc it gleamed when set in the tray
Controllers charged and ready to play
While he plopped on the couch to join the fight
And the tv it hummed, coursing with light

The game finished loading, it wouldn’t be long
Because combat training would make him strong
He couldn’t decide the first weapon he’d try
Or what attachments he wanted to buy

Now Uzi! Now AK! Now Famas, Galil!
On noob tube! On red dot! On Weapons of steel!
With so many options from which to choose
There was no way in hell he was going to loose

He moves about quickly, all through the map
Mowing down friend-bots, Ratta-tap-tap-tap
“This game is easy!” he says out loud
So smug and so sure and surprisingly proud

Two minutes later, he’s in a lobby
Surrounded by prestigers and some dude named Robby
Their emblems are slick, their scores are high
But he knows he’ll get them, they’re waiting to die

Once into Deathmatch, he started to run
With lightweight, grenade and MP5 gun
He rounded a corner, anxious to kill
But fell over dead by a shot from a hill

I died too quickly, that isn’t fair
The game just started, he couldn’t be there
Yet two steps in on his second life
He’s stabbed in the back with a ballistic knife

Run and gun is not working, unsure what to do
Because there’s no default weapon with a tube
He smiles to himself and changes his class
He’ll find a dark corner and camp off his ass

Sitting all snug, his aim at the door
Thinking of corpses littering the floor
When through the window and what should appear
Grenades and semtex full of holiday cheer

When the game was over, he sat there all stunned
Going 20-0, that would have been fun
Instead his score was so pitifully low
All he did was die, everywhere he’d go

While the vet sat smiling, his score through the roof
So happy the kiddies ignored the truth
Modern Warfare was easy. Black Ops is tight.
“Merry Christmas to all, and to vets a good night!”

 
Merry Christmas!
 
 
Cheers,
RAN

And to all, a good night...

I remember vividly the anticipation of Christmas morning as kid. Sneaking down the stairs to see what Santa had left... looking at how full the stocking was. Trying to will myself to go back to sleep so that my when my mom woke me up, it would be time.

I feel like that this November. Right now.

My stocking is full of frags. The tree ringed with claymores. And Santa... he left me 15 levels of prestige to last for months. The anticipation is all but over... now, the fun really begins. I hope to remember how I feel now when the first twinge of frustration takes over. It's a great feeling.

Merry Christmas, Call of Duty fans.

It's Black Ops night.

Try and Have a Little Judgement

I love the customization in Black Ops... or at least I think I will when I get the game at the midnight launch.

I'm not going to love all the garbage people will be putting up.

Like this piece of crap:

I know Treyarch has a ban system in place.

I think it's time to give that baby a run, too.

Generation Now...

Myself, I'm of the generation the media labeled "X". Somewhere between graduating college and my first child, Generation"Y" came along. To be honest, I have no idea what the current generation's been labled (in more truth, I don't care) but I know what I think of it:

Generation Now.

Looking for music... hit up iTunes. Need a new book... now, where did I put my Kindle? Let's not forget the 2,000 things you can do with your phone on demand. This is you... and me. Everything on demand or there's something wrong.

What happened to patience? Case in point... Black Ops.

Black Ops is not the first game to played early, bought from stores that don't honor their commitments by players who don't have the patience to simply wait for it be released. Is there anything wrong with this? A little. All it would have taken is for the store owners to simply say, "Sorry but it's for sale on the 9th." But in this economy, they feel the pressure to make a sale. If they don't, the guy down the street will.

Because Generation Now demands it.

In the end, the person holding that copy of Black Ops is most responsible. They knew what the release date is. Gotta be the first to stream "ma skilz" or post my clip on YouTube. Hopefully the servers will be reset (never should have been turned on anyway) and the playing field will be a little more level day one. It's just a shame no one could show a little restraint, a little patience.

But that's not Generation Now.

Funny "Time" on the Black Ops Forums

Took this snapshot... matches my sense of humor.

This is so wrong...

Sorry to ruin your day...