[ad_1]
The highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War League Play launched last night and is already facing a number of player issues.
League Play is the ultra-competitive part of Black Ops Cold War multiplayer that ranks players in a skill-based division and challenges them to move up the rankings.
It cuts the game down to 4v4 (standard multiplayer is at least 6v6) and places restrictions on loadouts in an effort to recreate the rule set used by professional Call of Duty League players.
Eurogamer Next-Gen News Cast – Will PlayStation Studios Release More Games to Xbox?
Only three game modes are playable (Control, Search and Destroy and Hardpoint), on a limited number of maps. Restricted items include all LMGs, Tactical Rifles, Shotguns, and Launchers, with a host of banned accessories, scores, gear, and perks.
I spent four hours in League Play last night and found it to be as brutal as the experience you would expect from Black Ops Cold War’s most hardcore competition mode.
However, fans have criticized League Play’s version of Black Ops Cold War, which is very similar to developer Treyarch’s previous game, Black Ops 4, for not going far enough.
One of the main criticisms concerns the ranking system. To climb the ranks, you need to earn gems by placing yourself in the top 25 at least in your current division. This ranking system is viewed by some as a system that rewards playing time, as opposed to skill. You can, over a sufficiently long period of time, earn enough Gems to reach No. 1 simply by finishing in the top 25 out of 50 in each League Play event. This means that the top 25 players in a Bronze Skill Level, a 50-person division, can grow the exact same 30 ranks as players in the 2% higher Purple Division.
But there are a host of other criticisms. League Play supports custom classes, including weapon blueprints, meaning players can use scores, gear, and perks some hoped to ban.
Inclusion of Smoke Grenade Tactic, Jammer Field Upgrade, Gearhead Perk (which reduces field level upgrade cooldown and lets you store up to two upgrade charges Level Field) and the Wild Lawbreaker, which allows you to equip any weapon class in both slots and equip multiple perks from a perk category, has been criticized for creating smoke grenades and field upgrade spam in matches.
League play is also about Black Ops Cold War’s controversial streak system, which does not reset the score on death. Scores allowed in League Play include RC-XD, Armor, and War Machine.
Treyarch had said that League Play would include default classes made up of presets used by each team during the 2021 season, but these are not currently in play. Some are hoping that these presets will become the only way to play in League Play. .
When you start League Play, the game asks you to complete five matches before placing you in an appropriate division. Some players report unexpected placements, although it is interesting to note that 50% of the players are placed in the Competitors division. Treyarch said he uses a proficiency rating to determine which of the five proficiency divisions you’re placed in, but that didn’t reveal what determines your proficiency rating (k / d maybe?), And the game also does not reveal your skill rating. . All players currently required to continue are color coded skill divisions (bronze, green, white, and purple).
There is confusion over the League’s skill divisions. As mentioned, the Competitors division is supposed to house 50% of the players. The 50% of the best players by skill are divided into three divisions: Advanced (20% to 16% of the best); Expert (15% to 11% of the best); Elite (top 10 at 3%); and Master (two percent higher).
As you’ve probably noticed, there is a gap between the top 50% (bottom?) And the start of the advanced skills division, which houses the top 20% to 16%. Maybe Treyarch means of the 50 percent of the best players by skill. Either way, it’s confusing and poorly worded.
Going forward, League Play clearly has an issue with players leaving matches or matches starting with less than four players on each team. It’s not a big deal when players leave a standard multiplayer match, but it can be devastating in League Play, which has fewer players per team and scale points on the line.
Treyarch said he takes the integrity of the game seriously, “and bad sportsmanship is not tolerated”. To this end, players who leave a League Play match receive a ladder point penalty and match loss, with increased penalties applied to players who leave before any other member of their team. However, it seems that at first this penalty was not enough to deter players from giving up in League Play.
There is a horrible bug currently affecting League Play that causes a player to sometimes start a match with empty loadouts – and therefore no guns. Treyarch acknowledged this issue and said he was working on a fix.
Are we serious Treyarch? by r / CoDCompetitive
This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view.
And, of course, there are early reports that some players run into cheaters in League Play. It is not known how prevalent this issue is, but I have seen some console gamers turn off cross play in an attempt to avoid cheaters on PC.
State of Legue Play Can we share this around r / CoDCompetitive
This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view.
Treyarch’s David Vonderhaar responded to some of the negative comments on Twitter. In response to a Twitter user who asked why the developer used the same format for Black Ops Cold War League Play as it did for Black Ops 4 League Play, rather than the type of ELO system you see in other competitive shooters, Vonderhaar said:
“I don’t have enough characters to do justice. Keywords: Reach. Accessibility. Deadline. Franchise.
“We have work to do at IMO to evangelize its operation after cleaning up some of the nasty bugs.”
then: “I won’t lie. A tough year with COVID. For example, we lost our live streaming studio where we normally introduce something like that, recognize what people say, say what we think about it (etc.) , all). “
Looks like Treyarch would have loved to launch Black Ops Cold War League Play with a video explaining his design philosophy and goals. It would have helped manage expectations, I imagine.
In his introductory League Play blog post, Treyarch said that Black Ops 4 League Play “was by far our most played ranked competition mode in Black Ops series history, setting new records for the number of matches played and the time invested by the community “.
“Its accessible Ladder system has kept players coming back for more, and its basic design solved several fundamental issues with the Black Ops 2 model by introducing a progressive ranking system, holding more frequent events into longer sprints. short and ensuring faster and healthier matchmaking for participants.
“We’re building on that foundation this year, implementing a total of 30 new ranks to be achieved, reverting to the classic 4v4 format of Black Ops 2 days and giving players more flexibility in game rules, such as Scorestreak selection available, against official CDL 2021 rule set. “
Against this background, it might not be surprising to see him being used as a model for the Black Ops Cold War league game.
What can Treyarch change? Some players called for the introduction of “GAs”. These are “gentlemen’s agreements” between professional Call of Duty players, and would result in a more restricted set of rules. For example, Black Ops Cold War’s GAs ban AK-47s, sniper rifles, smoke grenades, and jammers – all of which are currently allowed in League Play.
On Twitter, Vonderhaar suggested that Black Ops Cold War’s League Play was more likely to focus on fixed classes than GAs.
“It will work out,” Vonderhaar said. “I hate GA. I want to do fixed classes so it’s not about restrictions / prohibitions but choosing a class that everyone can understand / learn and that doesn’t have all of the things that would be GAd. For League, a lot of others think I’m crazy. “
And will Treyarch reveal the numbers behind Black Ops Cold War League Play skill rating? This is another thing Vonderhaar was asked about on Twitter, and he replied that maybe it was.
“I will say that when we expose mathematics, it creates tensions in the other direction”, Vonderhaar said.
“People are going ‘crazy’, the number has not increased as much as they wanted or has fallen more than expected.”
then: “I think it’s worth exploring if we can expose some of the math. Clearly people are asking questions about this. I need to think about it and talk to some people about it.”
Regardless of Treyarch’s reaction, it’s clear the developer has some work to do to get them involved in Black Ops Cold War League Play.
[ad_2]
Source link