With a consistent population ranging into the millions the Call of Duty community is one of the largest to date. With high numbers comes a lot of opinions as well as a lot of “suggestions” as to how the games we play must be. Although the numbers are so high, there are many things in which the majority of the community agree upon and often these opinions are ones of extreme anger and intense arguments. Let us step into a world turned upside down, a world where the Call of Duty community is made up of gamers who accept everything as is and are just there to have some fun.
“Skill based matchmaking is an essential feature”
![SBMM.jpg]()
source: CHARLIEINTEL.COM
When the word came out that Skill Based Matchmaking (SBMM) was a thing in the Call of Duty franchise the community was up in arms. SBMM matches players of equal skill with one another in lobbies, providing a challenge as well as preventing below average players being matched with some of the best players and having a bad experience. SBMM was often given flak for making it harder to get in full lobbies but it was mostly hated because of making matches fair and harder for the pubstompers. SBMM opened the door to reverse boosting, causing more problems in the community, and because of the scar it left behind every new COD release is accused of relying on some sort of SBMM even after developers assure the community SBMM isn’t a factor.
“The ASM1 was a fair and balanced weapon”
![ASM1_AW.png]()
source: callofduty.wikia.com
Throughout the history of the franchise, there has been at least one weapon that was labeled OP. None, however, was as controversial as Advanced Warfare’s golden boy, the ASM1. Since its release the ASM1 was criticized as the most overpowered gun in Call of Duty history and players would often complain that they would find a lobby filled with only this gun. This became an even bigger problem when Sledgehammer buffed the ASM1 increasing the already long range of this hated SMG, so hated in fact that even popular Call of Duty Youtubers made their displeasure public.
“The latest COD is the best COD”
A general consensus among the Call of Duty Community is that any new release is not as good as the previous one, and definitely good as one in the past. A perfect Example is Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Upon its release, Black Ops II was met with a flood of hate criticizing nearly every aspect of the game. Today with three further titles being released Black Ops II is one of the most popular COD titles to date and the current Black Ops III is quickly becoming the hated one. Settling on a community favorite is a much more complicated matter.
“We need more microtransaction customisation”
To be fair, microtransactions isn’t the favorite feature of any gaming community but none receives as much hate as provided by the COD community. Since Advanced Warfare started making the nasty concoction of microtransactions with a just a touch of randomness as well as empty promises by developers, the community has been showing their displeasure to the idea in the form of aggravated tweets and even death threats to the developers.
“I will buy the next Call of Duty release”
With all the hate pointed at every new release the community often claims that they will not purchase the next release of the franchise due to the claimed decreasing quality of the games. However, when looking at the sales numbers of the franchise it is clear that these are statements made without much thought and purely out of anger.
“I can’t wait for Ghosts 2”
![hqdefault.jpg]()
source: youtube.com
While most Call of Duty titles regain their popularity once the next title is released one game has failed to do so. Call of Duty: Ghosts was easily one of the most hated releases of the franchise and hasn’t aged very well. It is a common worry in the community that the next release by Ghosts’ developer, Infinity Ward, will make the same mistakes with their next release.
“I don’t care about my KDR”
While in public most COD Players will claim their Kill Death Ratio isn’t important to them, this is clearly shown as false if you look at the number of ways COD players have found to raise their KDR. Ranging from “self-help” videos on Youtube to finding unintended mechanics to prevent their KDR being affected by a bad round, Dashboarding for example.
“Well Played / Good Game”
The simple GG is quite absent in the Call of Duty community. All it takes is a quick lag spike of a small glitch in some game mechanic to cause someone to change from a fellow gamer to an arch enemy. It is no secret that the COD community is one of the most hostile when it comes to gaming communities, most likely due to the hostile nature of the game. While not all players fall under this net don’t be surprised to find out that apparently the entire internet has had intercourse with your mother when you hop into a match.
“I just play to have fun”
The COD community has a definite competitive feel to it, undoubtedly due to the popularity of Call of Duty in the Esports environment, couple that with PvP as well as a few hot-headed gamers and you get to feel the competitive aggression and trash talking of pro gamers even when playing a simple core game mode. The fact of caring about SPM and KDR as well as the utter hatred focused towards anyone using a weapon labeled OP by the community as well as campers clearly show that there is more to it than just playing to have fun.
No community is without fault but it is clear that the Call of Duty community rises above the rest in many aspects aggression and hostility. That does not mean it is all bad however, there are two sides to any story.