Someone please tell me what has happened to COD?
A lot. I don't know when the last time you played Call of Duty, so I'll just stick to where all this started. Call of Duty has been in a downward spiral since Black Ops 2. Activision hasn't been able to recapture Call of Duty since BO2. Call of Duty: Ghosts was the next CoD title after BO2. It was marketed as a "technological leap" over the last Call of Duty game, which was Black Ops 2, instead it shipped buggy. It was supposed to be a Next Gen game. But the game was actually held back by current gen hardware at the time. So, they couldn't get off off PS3/Xbox 360 at the time, so they had to do PS3/Xbox 360
and PS4/Xbox One. Which made "cross-gen" games confusing at the time, and therefore no matter which version you got - it was buggy. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare repeated this same issue, and the Xbox One version was the "lead" platform for the game. Activision and Microsoft marketed the game as an "Xbox Exclusive" despite the multiplatform strategy. It sold pretty well for a new style of game. Not enough to make a dent. But enough to make the money back. What Activision wanted was a larger install base, so they can sell more units. Next game was Black Ops 3, which sold better, but the fatigue was setting in by the end of this lifecycle. It was Infinity Ward's turn: Infinite Warfare was the next Call of Duty title, and was very controversial from the get go. Likewise, it didn't sell too well. 3 Futuristic games in a row. Next game was Call of Duty: WWII. It sold eh... ok. Next up is Black Ops 4. "This again?" is probably the collective's remark. It sold pretty well despite the premium... multiplayer only game. The whole disc of Black Ops 4 is multiplayer. Nothing else. This is the beginning of Activision's foray into what we know today as "DRM check" video games.
Every game you buy from here on out will have to be checked by the Call of Duty servers.
Activision released a reboot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in 2019. I'm not kidding, that's
actually the name of the reboot "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare." This time, COD 2019 has all the modes that usually comes with a Call of Duty title; Single Player, Multiplayer, Spec Ops. Infinity Ward implemented a server mitigation system that is now percolated by today's Call of Duty games. Here's an explanation by me, if you're interested...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-7C4-mDqOI
Next up, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was released, still the traditional Call of Duty title, but this time, it didn't catch fire despite a refreshing take on the Call of Duty franchise. It didn't have an identifiable "theatre." It takes place during Desert Storm, around the Cold War period. It sold kinda well, but was definitely panned at launch. Following this, Call of Duty: Vanguard was released - this time, it was a World War style game, this time, it was panned even before it was released. It was "samey" for a lot of people, rushed at launch, buggy, whatever. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II was released, and many players were anticipating the game because it follows the same engine as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019). COD2019 was cool, but it has some criticisms that was glaring in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. For example; the game played a little slower, killstreaks was weaker, and overall, it didn't feel like a Call of Duty game. This is when we figured out Skill Based Matchmaking. This is when we learned about SBMM/EOMM. The Call of Duty community started trashing MWII, and it's still going strong today. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III was released, and Sledgehammer Games did its best with what they've got. But the issue is that Infinity Ward started to sabotage Sledgehammer Games. And it was
obvious. And it's at this point, we started to learn about chat bans. So, that's why...
It seems that long gone are the days of when clans used to play ladder matches against each other. Today it seems to be just communities, holding hands and masturbating on discord... so many communities and no real clans or teams that have any community spirit like in days gone by.
This is the case. PlayStation and Xbox both implemented their own chat systems (*cough* Discord *cough*) despite having chat implementations in PS4/PS5. (Xbox One/Xbox Series consoles, too)
The original COD/COD2 and COD4 were greats games, so may old teams/clans would battle on various ladders, so many friends and relationships would have been made. Today not a chance. Then, in them days we had proper hosted servers, with gamers that knew each other by clan association or through the servers they played on, a proper community through clan competition etc, today all gone!
The teams that made COD/COD2/COD4 left. The biggest departure was in 2009/2010 when the majority of Infinity Ward staff left, got sued, and formed Respawn Entertainment, the makers of TitanFall, and Apex Legends.
Activision seem to lack any creativity, rehashing the same old maps with every new COD, happy to make money by offering pointless skins, camo and even charms for you mugs to buy for your guns. People will pay for Battle Pass, wake up people, you mugs are paying towards the next pile of shite that Activision will release, with no doubt a rehash of maps we've all seen before. Now, its lets all hunt the easter bunny, collect skulls at halloween or hump santa at Christmas or some other woke shite. Feck me, its turned into a proper 5 year olds game these days!!
For the most part, we wanted "rehashes" but with a little twist here and there. The issue is that starting with 2019, the games started to feel different. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is a soulless game. Anything that is left of Call of Duty has already left the building. The skins/camos/charms are not the problem, the problem is that Activision got greedier by the day. They literally sold $100 weapons/skins. Like, I have no problem buying TMNT skins for maybe $5. But they charged each Ninja Turtle at $20. So if you bought all 4 Turtles, that's $90 including Splinter. I'd buy Frontman but that's locked behind a VIP tier in the Battle Pass... and you have to pay $20 for it. Don't get me started on all these easter bunny skins. You can blame Fortnite for that shit.
I miss the days when gaming was for proper gamers, none of this community crap that don't do feck all, never won feck all and never will.
Gaming used to be for proper gamers, now it's for just toy gamers!
You and me, we miss the old days.
Greetings, Devil Dog! Welcome to the Call of Duty Forums. It looks like you're looking forward to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, but haven't created an account yet. Why not take a minute to 
