The Reasons People Hate Black Ops Part 1

Warning: Some Language in this blog isn't appropriate for children.

Love it or hate it, Call of Duty: Black Ops is one of the biggest selling video games of all time. With over 20 million players worldwide, Activison and Treyarch have created something massive, unrivaled and envied by many in the industry. However, they could have made it bigger. While the ignorant, younger generation of gamers (and when I say young, I mean 5-16, those of which who aren't even old enough to play the game) continue to be engrossed by the hugely successful multiplayer experience, many of the older game 'connoisseurs' if you will, refuse to play the game. But why? How could a game of such magnitude and popularity have such a negative impact on many other gamers? Over the next few days, I'll be sharing my opinions as to why I think some people and Black Ops Online really don't mix.

Young, mouthy kids...
There are many reasons as to why Black Ops will never be seen as legendary by people who actually appreciate games for their core mechanics but there is one thing that seems to crop up and be the source of almost all the trouble that goes on in the game, annoying little children.

Point it out to me if I'm wrong, but it seems that the majority of all online players are young, gobby children that find it absolutely hilarious to make your game a living hell, especially over the microphone. Playing music down the microphone, team-killing, not completing the objectives (something I'll bring up again later) and nonsense swearing are all matters that equate to the perfect d*ckhead player on Black Ops. It's like Treyarch have invented an obnoxious, idiotic nectar of a game that draws in all the horror children from all over the world, the UK especially. No other game does this better and that's why so many people are pushed away from playing it. Who wants to play with a bunch of 11-year-olds that have nothing better to do than repetitively flashbang you, right at the beginning of the game, and run around tea-bagging the entire server population? Simple answer, the alike or people who have not got the mental capacity to play a game that requires true skill and attention.

Let's play Search and Destroy, so we can get verbally abused
It's not just the younger ones that find it impossible not to hurl abuse at you throughout your playing experience, it's many older ones too. It's frustrating for many reasons, one of them being that it gives us gamers as a whole, a bad name. If a parent of a spoilt 12-year-old whom screamed and shouted until he got the game he wanted, walked into a room whilst they were playing BLOPS and heard some twenty-something using every curse word under the sun to describe what an incredible arse he was, then they’d understandably be appalled. They would then tell their friend, who tells their friend and by the end of the week the Daily Mail has a front page story stating how “Older men are verbally abusing minors on Xbox” Of course, that's the extreme case, but you can see where I'm coming from.

It's generally in Search and Destroy where this sort of thing occurs because most people playing that mode are using microphones. Jump into any game yourself, say hello to someone and enjoy getting “faaaaaaaag, gaaaaaay, you f*cking douchebag” or something to that affect, sent back in your audible direction from either an immature 23 year-old basement lover, or the whitest sounding child who thinks saying the word 'n*gger' is the best thing since nineties rap music.

This is just a couple of the many reasons Black Ops is at times so unplayable. Tune in over the next couple days to read more on my thoughts showcasing what makes Black Ops terrible, only on GameGrin.