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Black Ops Cold War’s League Play launch was nothing less than a disappointment among the fanbase it was created for.
It’s no industry secret that the release of Black Ops Cold War has been precarious for developer Treyarch, who had to step in to complete development of Sledgehammer Games’ Call of Duty title.
With a year less under their belt for the development of their next title (two compared to the usual three), Black Ops Cold War was on a precarious start. Unfortunately for Treyarch, responsibilities would continue to escalate with the success of Infinity Ward’s Warzone, which was to be passed on to them and Raven Software during the year of Black Ops Cold War.
As a result, the multiplayer in its premium title feels anything but a secondary element overall. Black Ops Cold War has all of the customization and shooter of a standard Call of Duty title, but doesn’t do anything particularly different from previous titles, nor does it offer a lot of variety in launch content.
Over time, Treyarch adds more free DLC to Black Ops Cold War, which includes remastered multiplayer maps, small shootout maps, and maps for the bizarre “fireteam” mode. Rumor has it that Fireteam is using a similar strategy in delivering content to Infinity Ward’s ‘Ground War’ mode, using pieces from the much larger Battle Royale map – due to drop in the coming months.
As you can clearly see, Treyarch has a lot of work to do – that doesn’t include the various bug fixes and optimization for a total of five gaming platforms. (PS4, PS4 Pro, PS5, Xbox Series X | S)
Unfortunately, this became clear as the day in the newly added “League Play” mode to Black Ops Cold War, which disappointed many esports fans at launch.
Failed to launch the league
Fast forward to the first day of the official launch of League Play, disaster is perhaps the best word. “Playing like the pros” has never been worse, and the fundamental issues with rules and mode rankings were quickly brought to light by the community.
Unfortunately, due to the unrestricted and outdated nature of the CDL league rules, professional players have chosen to play on a “Gentlemen’s Agreement” or “GA” system to restrict access to equipment and streaks in the league. game that are considered to have low competitive integrity. .
This list includes the Jammer Field Upgrade, Deadly Molotov, Gearhead & Gung-Ho Perks, and the Wildcard Perk Greed. The full GA list is quite tedious and long, but many players will agree that much of the list is acceptable to be banned in competitive play.
At launch, all of those elements mentioned above were usable in the game, which evolved into a mess of an experience, to say the least.
Worse yet, the scores have lingered between the deaths – meaning all players can get powerful scores at least once with ease, in every game.
A horrible ranking system
The cornerstone of any effective ranking system is a fair and exciting skill scoring system that rewards players for improving the game. In Black Ops Cold War, the League Play system seems to work against the same. principles.
Instead of opting for skill rankings that increase based on overall performance, players are firmly stuck in their placement ranks for a set number of days. These are called “events” and last for four days each. Players are placed in a division against 49 other players and compete in League Play to fight for the top of their division in order to take a certain number of gems to advance their rank.
If players are in first place in six separate events, they will be permanently placed in the first “Diamond” rank of the season. Sounds confusing? It’s because it is. The whole system is all about winning more wins than your competition rather than judging your individual skills. As players progress, the real competition at the highest level is in the time played and not in the skill of the players.
Worse yet, placement games appear to be either buggy or just random in nature, with some pro-level players placed in the Competitor League – the poorest 50% of players.
This system prioritizes quantity over quality and apparently does not take into account any player metrics other than wins and losses. For a video game with a $ 25 million esports franchise buy-in, that system collapses compared to ELO-based systems in games like Blizzard’s Overwatch and Valve’s Counter-Strike.
Simply put: you shouldn’t need a Call of Duty PhD to understand your League Play rank, and as an individual player you should feel like you’re being judged by your individual in-game skills. compared to your time played. It shouldn’t take several weeks (events) for you to reach a suitable rank.
Worse yet, the Black Ops Cold War League Play ranking system is a complete copy and paste of the unpopular Black Ops 4 system, which is even more of a slap in the face for the competitive community.
The future of league play
With all the negative reception from players, Treyarch moved quickly to restore some competitive integrity to the playlist. While reshuffling the ranks in days, if not weeks, was an unrealistic expectation – they did what they could, changing the rules.
Just a day after the mode launched, Treyarch banned many GA items from League Play – including scores, weapon accessories, perks, and gear.
This update is far from making things perfect, but at least it worked as a quick fix for the mode. While debates over rankings hung, the games were once again playable and not as complicated as on their first day.
Sadly, Persistent Death Scores haven’t been removed (and haven’t been removed yet), so expect the games to be filled with RC-XD and midrange series like Napalm Strikes. .
This update is most definitely a gesture from Treyarch indicating that they are determined to fix this mode and is supported by Treyarch Studio Design Director David Vonderhaar, who took to Twitter for comments and commentary on League Play.
In response to a tweet regarding the overall ranking system, Vonderhaar replies, “Tags: reach. Accessibility. Deadlines. The franchise. “Perhaps hinting that time was in part to blame for the transfer of the Black Ops 4 League Play system. Further, he states,” We have work to do for IMO to evangelize its operation afterwards. having cleaned up some of the obnoxious bugs ”.
Vonderhaar also contacted the CDL player for Dallas Empire, Crimsix for feedback on League Play’s ranking system as well. It’s unclear if that means he’s set to overhaul the League Play system, but it could be good news for the future. If anything – it shows the dedication to the hardcore community of a top developer at Treyarch.
While Black Ops Cold War is still in the early stages of its one-year Call of Duty cycle, there is still time for League Play to receive some well-deserved love. Unfortunately, with all the responsibilities stacked on Treyarch’s plate, we could wait several months for any significant changes to the base ranking system.
For now, if you’re looking for a “competitive” experience, League Play at least achieves it. There are still a few more rule tweaks he needs, but once those changes are in place, the ranking system will be the biggest issue for Treyarch going forward.
Image credits: Treyarch / Activision
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