In news that probably won't come as a surprise to anyone, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare players once again find themselves unhappy over a number of unannounced changes that have been introduced to the popular shooter. These divisive tweaks arrived as part of the 1.13 update, which added a new crossbow weapon, in-game challenges, and some other bits.
While nobody has a problem with any of the announced changes (as far as I can see), the problem lies with the fact that Infinity Ward made alterations that players weren't expecting.
It's important to note that the developer has done this a few times now, making changes to weapons, maps, and the like without actually letting the community know. This, predictably, leads to confusion. That confusion leads to fear. That fear then leads anger. At some point we all end up on the Dark Side. It's not a good look for anyone, is what I'm trying to say.
With update 1.13, a number of key changes that weren't revealed in patch notes once again found their way into the game. One such change involved certain areas of the Crash map being tweaked so that players have less cover, making camping there less viable as a result. Changes have also been made to the objective capture bar so that it fades out when you ADS (aim down sights).
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While these particular changes are likely to be welcomed by fans (everybody really hates camping in Modern Warfare), it's the lack of communication that seems to be the sore point. With inconsistent patch notes come frustrated players who are unsure which changes are intentional and which are bugs.
Not too long ago, for example, fans were convinced that Infinity Ward had added player collision to the multiplayer mode on purpose without mentioning it in the patch notes. It was later revealed to be a bug that the studio was working on a fix.
There have been similar issues in the latest update. Scoring objective points don't count towards Field Upgrade recharge time anymore - only kills do. Players are also a little confused about what's going on with Stopping Power Rounds, which were supposed to have been buffed, but seem to have been nerfed. In these instances, the inconsistent patch notes are once again causing further misinformation.
"You know its bad when we have to go YouTube to get all the correct info instead of the developers' patch notes themselves," wrote one fan in the comments of a video that compiled the latest unannounced changes.
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"Obviously they can't anticipate bugs," reasoned another user. "But they have to let us know what the intended changes are so that the community can provide proper feedback. How else is the game supposed to improve?"
Infinity Ward had previously promised to be more upfront and transparent with its updates going forward. We'll have to hope that the studio manages to foster better communication with the community as Modern Warfare heads into its second season of content on February 11th.
Featured Image Credit: ActivisionTopics: Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward, Call of Duty, Activision