The COD Community: The Hardened Prestige Edition
by ibleedv20
Omnilinkit
When I think about the inattentiveness being shown towards PC gamers by IW as the release date of MW2 creeps closer I am compelled to imagine the COD series without PC gamers and what that would look like in the industry.

Very often in business companies hold on to less profitable subsidiaries and brand names because of the prestige associated with the history and growth surrounding that product.Products that built the business and established it as a premium product from which true quality was established. Even in these tough economic times you see Chrysler continuing to back the retro Dodge Challenger. GM reinventing the Camaro. Examples like these exist throughout business models today and many corporations keep product lines alive because of the prestige associated with the sprit of the original flagship products.

The COD Community is the prestige that IW is failing to recognize.This community,this market is what built the cod series. What is CallofDuty without the community that it built itself upon ? What it is is XBOX live. A drone and not a community. An interface for transactions that totally obliterates the craft of gaming that sprung from the roots of the COD community .And that community is you The Mappers, the Modders, the Config Tweakers and players that contributed to the rise of Callofduty.

The cod community is not unaware of what is happening.When images and videos are released by IW that show The Xbox 360 package branded to the exclusion of the PC and PS3 packages it can only be assumed that the drone is taking over. What prestige is there in that? None except the cold unadulterated economics of a giant monolithic corporation starting to call the shots for the game developers. It is a crushing blow to the craft of PC gaming and this community to be marginalized in such a shoddy way.

Activision has taken from this community.It has seen fit to borrow ideas from Mappers and Modders and the prestige of both has grown from that symbiotic relationship.

There is nothing prestigious about a pair of phoney nightvision goggles or a tin case or a booklet that will have no collectors value ever.

With the attention span of console gamers and the half life of console games it might be wise for the developers to think about what they wish for. Like a moth to a flame it seems they are commiting the pot to Microsoft while abandoning that which is truly prestigous.We the PC gamer.We the COD community.The craft.

Codtv brings sympathy for the devil.
Written by ibleedv20
omnilinkit


With the release of patch 1.5 came the jawdropping announcement that CODWAW will support garretjax's brainchild CODtv.What does this mean for the community and Treyarch's future in the pc community?

Firstly Codtv will bring the game's multimedia edge into the 21st century and will allow many gamers to be spectators of the competitive and non competitive community.I look at this as a positive from a different perspective than most.While competitive gaming is the elite summit from which we validate the game as being worthy I feel that an equally important part is whether the masses can witness and appreciate that mountain view.Like our old axiom was stating ; A tree was falling in the forest and there was no one to here it fall. Now that tree will really be falling because we will all be there to witness it through CODtv.Viewership is what it is all about.

Another missed angle is the fact that CODtv will now bridge a gap between PC and console players in a multimedia viewing arena. Console players will surely be interested in what their big brothers,the PC gamer,will be doing on codtv.I can think of no better way to further validate COD PC gaming.Seeing truly is believing.

And oh the ways they might see it. How about clan scrims,ladders,Public server streaming and any other way the creative minds in the community might come up with.Good lord hackers beware! Mappers and modders have got to love the idea also. Lets suppose you are one of the talented modders in the community and want to broadcast your server demoing it. How cool is that? And for mappers you may want to stream your custom maps server on a website.And hopefully for the Nazi Zombie crowd someone will figure out a way to stream coop.

And what about Treyarch's future among the PC community.We know they have a smash hit with the console crowd and have had a tough time generating respect in PC community. We all know the reasons why. I think history will be kind to Treyarch and the developements they have put into the COD series.Just zoom out for a minute and consider these facts.

Treyarch has introduced COOP play to the series.Irregardless of whether you approve of the Zombie genre COOP is the newest gaming advancement there is at this time.It broadens the appeal of PC gaming.

Treyarch has delivered DLC and I believe they will again when they feel the finacial timing is right. In fact they have done this so effectively that they have allowed themselves time to release DLC at least 2 more times before the half life of this game expires.

Treyarch has made patches though not as quickly or as thoroughly as the community would have liked. And despite the criticism that is equal to support.

And now with COdtv they have made a statement that will be heard all the way into the corridors of Infinity ward.They have raised the bar in regards to PC communtiy gaming and developer support. Are you listening IW? We want our codtv.

In some strange ways Treyarch has done more for the game and the community while working with less than Infinity ward did with COD4.Do you have any more tricks up your sleeve Treyarch? I certainly hope so because it will only push the series farther in the right direction. ibleedv20

MW2 The Movie
by ibleedv20
Omnilinkit.com


I just watched the latest Bond film which was a sequel to the last Bond film and I had an epiphany. I was watching a videogame that really didn't want me in it. The opening scene with the car chase was just fabulous on Blueray and It was the best piece of eye candy my widescreen has shown to date. As I replayed scene after scene to see how the editing was done I was calm and my PS3 controller never felt sweaty in my hands. Furthermore I doubt if there will be one sweaty moment in MW2 with the PS3 controller or the mouse or the 360 controller .

What has happened to gameplay with this series? Granted the series has always been about flow and death in single player was never likey but after watching the E3 trailers it became readily apparent why I never finished COD4 and CODWAW SP.This game while pretty and cinematic won't really want me in it.What it will want is to pull me along so I can see the movie and shoot a few badguys along the way. What has happened to the tricky levels where the crossfire and flanking maneuvers mattered ? Cod 1, UO and 2 had them. COD4 and CODWAW didn't. Actually any properly prepared monkey can finish the SP side of those games. Recent research has shown baby monkeys to be almost as intelligent as human infants. I didn't finish them and now I understand why. They can't make a monkey out of me. I dont expect IW to turn MW2 into Portal but I sure would like a bit more of a strategic challenge.

I really don't want to pay 60.00 for a beautiful cartoon.But I will. I will because Multiplayer is where the payoff is. Take away MP and nobody would buy the games today. Except maybe monkeys. So if this is where modern gameplay is headed why not dispense with the wasted time and effort and just put it all into MP. Why not have games that are truly crossplatform and competitive. Games where you have a choice of playing in Xbox 360 servers with the console crowd or staying with PC online gaming. Games where the COOP is as advanced as it can be. Futhermore if the developers need a long 6 hour commercial for themselves they could offer free sponsored private servers with there big logo tattooed all over them. I love the fact that gaming has grown up and it takes hordes of individuals to create them. I love the hype too. I just don't like being treated like the least common denominator in a simean equation. In the 80s there was an arcade game called Centipede and I would drop a quarter today to sweat my clammy hands off and feel the tension again. That simple arcade game is evidence that the magic is still in the gameplay. And the risk of extending it or losing it. I'll buy that for a dollar !

Written by ibleedv20
Omnilinkit.com

Games evolve quickly as compared to other forms of media and entertainment.Just go back three years to cod2 and a bit further to cod1.The differences really are astounding.From DX7 to DX9,The blended Ragdoll physics of COD4,The Rank,challenges and perks systems and of course the coop gameplay of Codwaw.Go back and play them and see if you agree.The only thing that hasn't changed much is the MP server experience.About the only related change is Treyarch relying on Microsoft to police the main server that enforces the ranks and challenges sytem. So what about where our game is headed?

The evolution of coop is in it's early stages as concerns COD and the MW franchises and IW takes no chances when it comes to introducing new elements of gameplay.We can thank Treyarch for taking all the risk in the coop arena.If treyarch is the shortstop to the cod series then IW is the right feilder surveying the lanscape and taking that long fly ball before attempting the perfect throw to home plate.Coop is the real deal or IW wouln't be including it in MW2.Did you know Gears of War for PC was bundled with a complete level editor and all the tools required to make co-op work in a mod.The truth is IW is way behind the curve as far as the industry is concerned.The coming offering of 2 player coop in Special Forces mode is a warm up and if it wern't for the excellence of the basic gameplay IW might be losing entrants to the game right now.If you ain't leading you ain't winning and a tie game catches up with someone in the end.

So far the community as a whole has treated the Treyarch coop introduction with a certain amount of disdain and some have ignored it completely while holding fast to the MP experience as the premeir element of gameplay.Actually coop bridges the gap between the casual and the hardcore gamer and is going to be a staple in the series from here on.I am of the mind that at this time and forever forward there needs to be a portioned focus on coop with healthy critical feedback to the developers as to the quality of the coop product.It is my guess that we will be seeing a transition to a heavier reliance on coop for increasing game sales.The influx of new young gamers attracted by the coop mode will put pressure on developers to put more emphasis on it.

As coop evolves it most surely is in the direction of total integration into the product.It is not unthinkable to imagine it being the primary focus.Cooperative gameplay is the natural progression from MP to a more intimate type of gameplay where teamwork is more thoroughly expressed.The optimum number of competitors per side is 4 to 6 much like CEVO it doesn't take much of a leap of imagination to envision a few of these elements of gameplay being accepted in the cod community

Weapons and ammo swapping

Medical assistance,healing and healthpack swapping

Physical assistance, boosting and the like.

The forward looking game LFD blurs the lines between COOP and standard MP gaming
LFD does for co-op gaming what COD does for MP combat,Anyone who has played LFD has experienced the heightened connectedness expressed through this title.And isn't this what we are all looking for in a MP experience.Cooperation pure and simple.Cooperation is the second most important factor in online play with the fist being Human Intelligence as opposed to AI.

The beauty of firing up Nazi Zombies with my son sitting next to me on a LAN could only be improved by us being able to challenge another lan or players in a different locale to a game of S&D.The point here is that all the possibilities that lie ahead seem to point to the greater integration of more sophisticated coop gameplay.When my son and I play LFD we have no problem connecting to the LFD servers while being on the same network.In addition My son can play as one of the infected while I stay in my comfort zone as a survivor all the while playing with others online.Imagine playing a COD or MW title while mixing up teams on remote LANs.Could it get better than that?I don't think it does at this stage of coop.All the elements are falling into place for quality competition to take place in coop in the future.


I expect that MW2 and it's 2 player coop will perform admirably.The term 2 player coop itself is a bit dated now and has been expressed in other games like Army Of Two and many others. Hopefully IW will include connecting on a LAN in it's Special Forces Mode.The saving grace of yearly releases is that IW is already concieving what it's next engine will do with coop.Maybe Treyarch will again run cover for IW on COD7 and lay the groundwork for the future of coop in this series once more.

Omnilinkit is a comprehensive link site where we are mapping the cod community

Cod,the gift that keeps on giving
Written by ibleedv20
Omnilinkit.com

The announcement by jd_2020 that there would be another offering of DLC in May and then later Twittered to be a June release must be the fastest followup to a DLC release in history. In an earlier editorial Titled " The role of COD PC gamers as critics" I mentioned the Half -life of a game and the need to maximize the profits before the release of the next title.There must be a farmer joke somewhere that alludes to milking the cash cow and it almost certainly must apply to the astoundingly quick ability of Treyarch to put out DLC. Actually a June release of DLC leaves room for Treyarch to milk the Xbox360 cow more. If I hear my son say Microsoft points one more time I'll need my own cow to milk.

This time around though there will be no bitching and moaning about patches to be included that might make the game better or more suitable for competitive play. That horse has left the barn and she ain't comin back. So what will we get? Maps,weapons,zombies and trophies.And that ain't half bad!

I think it's important to remember that gifts come in all kinds of packages with various ribbons. Treyarch never said it was selling us the finest competitive FPS ever made and since when does package art and trailers amount to a promise? It doesn't. Especially in today's world. Buyer beware.

Will The established COD community be wiser in the future for the CODWAW experience? The expectations of the community from the beginning were based on an ideal that the COD franchise would only get better and better. Even with Treyarch's Cod 3 hand to hand combat candy we ate that bitter fruit. That's on us.

Still we are getting a lot for our money. Many people are playing the game,making maps and mods and coop has been introduced to us. Also we see that the community still exists and it's sum total is greater than CEVO.There happens to be a lot of people that play for fun and don't need to reach Nirvana to do it. Actually the community is using the game at the clan level and is better for having it. Nobody really left COD4.We just absorbed CODWAW. The hybrid that emerged plays the game but isn't some dangerous bogeyman that eats our rigs.

So with our berets set right we can see CODMW2 on the horizon and have absolute confidence that we will receive the finest competitive FPS ever regurgitated. The trailer says so. Actually it says nothing. Just as it should. Just like politicians the developers keep their cards close to their vest . They do this not only to build hype but also to minimize their exposure. Preorder Today!

O wad some power the giftie gie us to see oursel's as ithers see us. RobertBurns

Nazi Zombie Coop/Good for the community?

Postby ibleedv20 on Sat Apr 11, 2009 11:06 am
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Zombies have been a genre of choice in society for a long time now and have reached a level of ripeness in the public conciousness that put's them right up there with Aliens,Vampires and Mcdonald's.As a matter of fact you might find a Zombie or two lurching around behind the counter of that American institution we call Mickyd's.That's not to say that Jack in the box guy isnt pretty scary too but that's another discussion entirely.

I have a special affinity for the genre because I come from Pittsburgh Pa. I think it's fair to say Pittsburgh is the closest thing to the birthplace of the Zombie that you will find. As a teen I cruised the backroads on dates where "Night of the living dead" was shot and frequented the "Monroeville Mall" where "Dawn of the dead" was made also. So I am a bit of a sucker for the genre to begin with. LFD,the other zombie coop game,as an homage to George Romero,has included has included Pittsburgh locales and landmarks in their maps.

So why is 'Nazi zombies good for the Cod community your asking.It isn't necessarily the zombie genre that's good though it's popularity helps . It's the fact that the coop map , it's size, and elements of gameplay make it manageable for mappers and modders. And again, you might ask; Isn't that a step backwards for PC Mappers and modders? Not in my opinion because it is bringing to birth a whole new generation of map and mod's tools users.And that's a powerful addition to the community as a whole.


As I visit the different sites and read the forums you don't have to know all the names and you don't have to read between the lines.They are there.New mappers and modders cutting their teeth on Nazi Zombies for the Cod community.That's new blood.And it's all because of CODWAW and Nazi Zombies.It's somewhat Ironic that a flawed game release could have such a positive and long lasting affect on the community as a whole.Some of those new maps and mods creators will stick with it.
One visit to Customcod.com and you can get a sense of the energy. These kids are excited to be there.

So what could be better for the community? Since coop can stand alone as a game within a game it's addition to CODMW2 would only add to the growth of the community.CODMW2, albeit done IW style, would have to be a hit.Imagine a very strong multiplayer complemented by a serious coop effort.The traditional Cod community could hardly grumble about coop as long as the mainstream multiplayer experience quenches their thirst for perfection or enthusiasm.Add the vision of coop as a feather in Treyarchs cap.Games are an evolution and Treyarch's total contribution will be judged at a later time by a much broader audience than the present one.

How is coop and it's popularity changing the COD community further? Well for the good or bad it is allowing new pc players who may have been intimidated by MP to play in a server like setting.Very much like console players but with the added advantage of the keyboard and mouse.I make it a rule to enable voice when I play and as I poll the players I can judge that many of the coop players are brought to the pc game because of it.Many are very young but many a bit older and just breaking into PC gaming from Xbox360.That is an area where a real poll might show some interesting data.Even 10,000 new Cod series Pc enthusiasts would be impactful.I think Treyarch made an error by not immediately fixing the coop browser.Instead they allowed the portforwarding illusion to substitute for action.Curious.

And for the future,If there is to be crossplatform gaming , I wonder if it might evolve through the coop side of the game.A Games for windows release does allow for the use of a controller and with further development could allow pc players to join in with the Xbox live crowd.This would satisfy the business side [More $$$] while allowing the traditional PC players to stay in their comfort zone with traditional PC Multiplayer.

Either way I think we are seeing a bit of an evolution in the community and coop seems to me to be the driving force until some new ground is broken elsewhere.Should the present Cod community embrace coop and welcome it into the family of the series? Thats an article to be written later as we find out whether IW will include it or whether Treyarch will ever make another Cod game.

Written by ibleedv20
I am currently working on a project to develop a comprehensive roadmap to the COD community.To contribute visit http://www.omnilinkit.com

The role of COD PC Gamers as critics.
The tumult raised by groups and individuals of the Cod community and pointed at Treyarch seems to be quieting down as we enter the second quarter of 2009 and in hindsight could have been predicted.

What do I mean by tumult and why could it have been predicted.It was tumultuous because It was a riot never fully responded to by Treyarch in spite of the employment of a community manager with the ungodly task of communicating with a somewhat petulent PC Community (I am being nice here).As concerns the Community manager I am reminded of the famous line used in the movie The Godfather 2 where Willie Cicci say's;

"Oh yeah, a buffer. The family had a lot of buffers!

So,with the the half life of a COD game appearing to be considerably shortened by yearly releases the community could have predicted the general outcome of all the hubbub in regard to the delayed response of Treyarch concerning patches.Treyarch must put it's attention first and foremost to it's financial position that is driven by the half life of the game.DLC must take some presidence over solving all of the games shortcomings in an area where 100% of the people will never be fully satisfied.

"half-life" - the time required for something to fall to half its initial value

I think it is unrealistic to expect,and therefore fight for,the level of focus and attention, regarding game support that may have occured in the past.This is a battle that cannot be won.

We have to accept that console gaming is and will be the primary focus of gaming developers for the forseeable future. Let me state here that "acceptance need not be surrender to an inferior product".The very fact that the games we love are ported over from console at all should give us some solace.Though our buying power is diluted we are still seen as a market force and hopefully "a valuable soundingboard for the finer development of games"

So how do we as gamers,consumers and invariably critics consolidate our position and adapt to the changing face of the cod series?We the PC community just dont have the finacial clout to be making demands that exceed our market position.In addition,being a thorn in the side will never replace a serious conversation in respect to garnering respect and being allowed to contribute some of the fine input that the community can offer.Yes I said ALLOWED.We dont own the game that we think we bought .We have only purchased the permission to run it on our machines.Somewhere deep in some dusty legal tome I am sure that there is presidence for "Class action lawsuits" and if the moon sat on the earth it would be an 8.There are a few things you can do to be a proper critic and help the community become more accepted if not respected.

1.Choose your community voices with the same passion with which you play the game
2.Know the community and have a roadmap to it.

3.Frequent the best of what the community has to offer.You will generally know by the tone of the site which ones are good for the community.

4.Make the developers websites better by using them often and with your known community name.

5.Share the great sites you know with others and encourage site webmasters to develope resposible link directories that have a central hub as it's starting point.

6.Go to Omnilinkit/Codwired and help create a community roadmap where new blood can find the best of what the community has to offer.Yes this is my site but there's nothing stopping anyone from doing it better.To help contact webmaster@omnilinit.com and ask to be an admin or moderator.Or just steal it and do it better.

7.Lastly if you have a voice that hasn't been heard use it.Move around the best sites. Be reasonable.Be fair and write articles where they can be posted.The pen is still mighty and debate is not a four letter word.If you are flamed by the principals of the site never return.

I had a slow Easter Sunday so I thought I would try to map the way the Game information flows through the COD community.It's not perfect but take a look anyway. there's a couple chuckles in there too. Please register over at Omnilinkit/Codwired and help build a roadmap to the COD PC Community

My general Gaming name is Ibleedv20 and I have been playing the COD series from the beginning. Actually COD1 was the fist PC game that I really fell in love with. I have been playing games since the early days and actually owned Pong for television when the word console or platform was yet to be used. In the 80s I dropped a lot of quarters at the arcades and wish that money was in my 401k . Lol. Anyway I love the COD community and am a sort of a professional eyewitness.My gaming skills are fair to good depending on which title I'm playing.

I have always said that PC gaming is more of a craft than a hobby.When you consider the depth of the games and the level of passion that can take place it is really amazing to me.I really respect the leaders in the community who put in so many hours to create the mods,maps,configs and other good things that turn a gaming release into a living breathing experience. So I have created a site to try and give back to the COD community a bit of what I have taken out. I think it is a valuable site so that existing and new players can navigate around the community and experience how great it is.

But there's more to it than that.I have the opinion that the COD community suffers from schisms that tear itself apart as quickly as it gels.With the changing face of PC gaming involving lost market share to consoles I and some number of others have questioned whether PC gaming is in danger of extinction or irrelevance.My thought is that if there is a roadmap to the finest of the COD community then just maybe someone has done some little part of what could be done to unite it in some fashion.

So enjoy the blog and if you want to shut my piehole post in the forums over at Omnilinkit/Codwired . All it will cost you is one link in the roadmap to the COD community. Omnilinkit is a not for profit community experiment.If you would like to be on the front page just email me at webmaster@omnilinkit.com