The anonymity provided by the internet has been a foundation for many people to say things they normally—and hopefully—wouldn’t in real life. Call of Duty has been the target of some of the internet’s most unfiltered, and has prompted a response from a developer of the series.
After a slew of attacks, including death threats, from die-hard Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 fans, community manager Dan Amirich has said enough is enough. He took to his blog to defend design director David Vonderhaar, the target of many of the attacks. Amrich posted a lengthy write-up on his blog defending Vonderhaar, including the following:
Vahn often gets told he should die in a fire or kill himself or is a horrible person. If anybody thinks for a second that this is okay, it is not. But if the loudest voices in the Call of Duty “community” act like an angry mob instead, guess how the entire world views Call of Duty? Now consider that these Internet Tough Guy rants and demands are not unique to COD, but exist everywhere, in many gaming communities. This is why the world often does not take gaming seriously; this is why gamers are assumed to be immature, whiny assholes. Because the immature, whiny assholes are louder.
Recent backlash has resulted from Treyarch nerfing the fire rate of the AN-94, an assault rifle previously popular with players of Black Ops 2. It was a minor adjustment that summoned major concern from thousands of players. Many of them stated their opinion on the official game forum, some of which took it too far.
Unfortunately, this isn’t uncommon in the online gaming world. Competitive games such as League of Legends, Dota 2, and StarCraft 2 regularly cause outcries following balance patches. As such, video games are serious business.
[Via]
