We've mentioned something multiple times... so so so so so sooooooooooooooooo many times, and it's coming up yet again. Toxic gamers just ruin the fun for everyone and... they're the reason more and more restrictions get put on our gaming experience.
April 13, 2020... Infinity Ward posted the following on Twitter:
We've now issued over 70,000 bans worldwide to protect Warzone from cheaters. We're continuing to deploy dedicated security updates and work continues on improving in-game reporting. We'll share more details soon. We are watching. We have zero tolerance for cheaters.
It received more than 30,000 likes and over 3,000 retweets. Can I say I blame them? Heck no, I agree entirely... because toxic gamers ruin the experience, but I'm certain that most of them do not realize the negative effects of their toxicity.
There are multiple anti-cheating Softwares put to use by a slew of games for a reason, not because everyone's playing the game the way they're meant to be played, but because toxic gamers... want a leg up on the competition and decide to use third-party software to rain on our parade.
I've spoken to some of you in person... so you're familiar with my ship analogy. For those of you who aren't familiar, just think of gaming as this big mighty ship... it consists of gamers + game developers.
We all love this ship and want it to remain afloat, but just like publishers and developers who refuse to do the right thing, toxic gamers also represent the people on this ship who aim our cannons inward. Instead of using the cannons to protect the ship from attackers, they're assisting the attackers by shooting holes in the ship that they want to remain afloat.
That's a complete oxymoron, but when they're only thinking of themselves... they aren't going to consider how their actions affect the ship and everyone else on it.
That sucks and a prime example of this is the player base of online games like... Call of Duty Warzone. If hackers were allowed to run rampant on the game, how many gamers would throw their hands up and walk away?
I walked away from a game years ago (probably over a decade ago now) known as Combat Arms. I really enjoyed the free-to-play game... when everyone played the right way, but when the hackers showed up the matches became worthless. There were a number of hacks, but the one I hated the most was the one where they could just shoot through walls, oh yeah... and also the autokill. It's like... why even play the game to auto-win?
I gave up on it because there was no use, even the freaking company made a short to promote the game... based on "Damn Hackers". Check it out, you can't make this stuff up.
Now go back to the ship analogy, I'm wary about buying in-game... anything for a multiplayer game because I don't want that money to go to waste if hackers are ruining the experience. What good is a skin or a gun if you're just going to lose to a hacker using third party software to get the... W? If I walk away from the game... that money invested goes poof, and what happens to the player base if it continues to dwindle because of something a toxic gamer is doing?
There are gamers making the decision to opt-out of crossplay in Call of Duty Warzone because of the hackers... and that affects the number of people we're able to play with. If they remove crossplay in the future... who's to blame?
Sadly some won't get it, they will destroy one game and move on to another to unconsciously destroy. If permanent bans happen and something is put in place where a publisher bans a gamer across off of its online playable IPs, then what? There can be no complaints from toxic gamers who hack games and push the industry to extreme measures to protect their IPs. If this is you, stop while you're ahead.
I won't lie... when I got the notification about Call of Duty: Warzone, I was like "Oh heck yeah" (happy dance)... until I saw the storage requirement and was like "Oh hell no". WHY???!!!!
If you have COD:Modern Warfare... the space won't be as high (mine was around 86GB... which is still freaking high), but the standard is 175GB. W...T...Frisbee? Luckily memory upgrades are coming soon.
Anyway, my first impression is that Warzone... looks good. You will be playing Warzone in 1st person, dive in solo... as a duo or a trio as you take on everyone else in pursuit of that top rank.
One thing I noticed immediately is that you start off with a gun in hand. It's a handgun... but it's better than no gun. That's different than the Battle Royale mode in COD: Mobile. Another difference I've seen between the two is that... when you're taken down in Warzone, you're captured and taken to a gulag where you have to fight 1 on 1 in order to be released back onto the field before game is done.
COD: Warzone is available for Windows 7 + 10 + PS4 + Xbox One (sorry Nintendo Switch owners).
The game is free, and it's crossplay... so if you wish to give it a whirl, game on!