Seeing the new generation talk about Dark Patterns in relations to battlepasses reminds me of when we’d talk about dark patterns in relation to Lootboxes back in 2014-2017 lol
pay for convenience was also a dark pattern. helldivers is guilty of it and it's turned me off the game. i'm baffled players praised that part of the game.
i still think that lootboxes can work, well they still can but not my point. my point is, lootboxes can work if they can easily be obtained for free as well, reap the same rewards and benefits as if someone who decided to buy 100 of them. the rewards and percentages are the same and a f2p player can still get the same rewards or even better rewards than someone who just had bad luck with opening 100 of them. companies dont go down that route anymore because it wont make them enough money to be seen as viable however lootboxes are able to still work as long as they arnt being misused in games. lootboxes now have laws to follow depending on the country with age requirements for games as they are seen as gambling as well as many other laws to be followed. personally i would love to see the return of memberships that browser games used to do all the time as a monthly membership to get better items while remaining balanced for f2p players who can still reap the rewards quite easily but with a bit of effort. the best example is a game i used to play which shut down in 2016. the browser game was called fight my monsters. a monthly membership would only give that person a small boost in progression and advantage however it didnt play against f2p players. one of the features was creating a monster card up to a orange or rarely a red tier card which is 2-3 tiers higher than the lowest tier card and still was a very low tier cards themselves. this was just giving membership players a slight headstart but nothing to give them players a massive unfair advantage to where a f2p player couldnt compete against. the other thing the membership gave players was that they could buy potions only they could buy which were stronger than the f2p potions. although these potions did give a big advantage, the counter for f2p players was that they could enter a fight/battle with their monster card and if they won on collect, theyd obtain the monster with the membership potion that had remaining uses in fights before it was gone. f2p players could also then temporarily reap the benefit of anything a membership player had if they were able to collect it from the other player and use it to their advantage to win. as cards worked in tiers, winning fights would sometimes put your card up to higher tiers.
same my man, i didn't start playing warzone since this year, but college starting out of nowhere is really relatable, feels like i wasted a ton of potential time and fun i could have. about battle passes? same thing too, they are really overused and oversaturated with stuff "ohh you could've possibly got" but didn't cause you didn't buy into it. seasonal stuff is kind of great if devs handle it properly, but as we saw with mw2 and mw3 (2022 and 2023 accordingly), they dont do that great, but people WILL buy into it, no matter what.
Had this realization during the bo6 beta, I grinded All the way to level 26 and was like ‘wait, I actually don’t have to grind out 4 levels before midnight to get this weapon blueprint”
i chose to cause i wanted a headstart on the grind for when it comes out and i also liked the weapon blueprint anyway so i chose to work toward it. what people forget is that its a choice. i wanted to for the reasons stated and it seems like u didnt want to because of the way the community has demonised such things like this. urs was less a choice and more the fear of being on the opposing side of the community and being brainwashed to think that u dont have a choice.
@@zjsz4954that's about the same as $70 USD. But I've never understood why big game companies price their games the same between different countries with different incomes. Surely that will impact sales if someone in the UK is paying the equivalent to $70 when incomes are so much lower than American incomes and it's realistic to assume that many people just can't spare that money.
tbf. that is dumb yeah. my mates bought the game at £100.00 which includes the vault edition for me to turn around and let them no they wasted money cause its free on xbox gamepass throughout its whole cycle. they still get the £30.00 vault edition bonus but lose on the £70.00 on a game we get for free.
@@unboxing_legend7708 but it's not free. Gamepass ultimate costs £180 a year. Sure, it can be good value but only if you actually enjoy all the other slop on there.
i disagree. lootboxes were just mishandled and as it usually goes with corrupt gaming companies, it got popularised because it made them tons of money and they misused a system which at the time, had no laws against it and wasnt seen as gambling. its not to say lootboxes cant be done right however and they can still be put in games. its like when browser games in the early 2000s like moshi monsters as a random example that had monthly memberships, started straying toward benefiting membership players only leaving out content for f2p players which was hardlocked and unavailable. membership players basically got everything the game had to offer and at the time, was used as a boasting point for players more than a monitised profit gain or taking money from people. even this in some places was done right in some browser games which managed to keep it completely fair for the non membership players and still balanced it out. tbf tho, back that far, most game companies made it as a passion project and were recieving very little pay from making games. just some info that most people today, wouldnt no about. the evolution of gaming, came from people like me. gen Z. those who grew up and still play games. cod is still massive because we grew it to be so massive all those years ago. roblox is massive because we popularised a once tiny web browser game, also one of very few web browser games left that managed to stay alive. minecraft only alive because we kept it alive. sry gen A but u missed peak minecraft when literally everyone knew what minecraft is including ur own parents. also around 2012 which seemed to be the happiest year in forever and the year where it felt like nothing happened.
@@Manimal1920 thats a weak response to make. thats two seperate arguements to make and doesnt even correlate properly to what was stated by the guy. its fine to hate or dislike or even despise some things a company does. it doesnt mean that ur gonna hate their games though or just hate everything about them. thats so illogical and close minded of u to even fathom. i love the left for dead franchise and played it as a kid myself. doesnt mean i agree with them doing many scams relating to cs go and cs2 and their manipulative methods and ways in which they scam money from people. i like some of their games, not what they decide to do 99% of the time as a company.
The premium battle pass was my last straw. Why is there a battle pass in the battle pass, that cost real money on top of the battle pass you bought with cod points that costs real money.
Gen Z dopamine fed generation that grew up need their shiny shiny clown skins. That shit that they pull off these days such a premium battlepass would have never worked back then. Nobody would spent money to destroy the game immersion by having clown skins that only a 14 year old could find funny. But that’s what you get for making a game free to play. It attracts tons of kids who shouldn’t be playing the game.
Yeah without PvP It’s is so boring and it doesn’t help that it’s not free. One of the big reasons is that DMZ was free meaning my friends were willing to play it. And those were some of the good memories that I had with this game
I remember back around the time Overwatch released, the debate around loot boxes had pretty much reached a boiling point. People were sick of them, they wanted them gone, then a year later Fortnite BR released and people praised Epic endlessly for the more "ethical" monetization model of the store page, and shortly later even more praise for the battlepass. After that, _every_ game had a battlepass. Are loot boxes worse than battlepasses? Maybe, yeah. But since quitting Destiny after playing for 5 years, I realized something. It wasn't really the loot boxes that were the problem, they were just a symptom. The problem is; AAA studios aren't interested in making games anymore, they're interested in making products. Even as little as a decade ago, the people who made your games, played them too. The people who made games were nerds and geeks who liked games. But games as an industry has gotten so huge, so profitable and so generalized, now the people who makes games aren't there to make an awesome game, they're there to get a paycheck. They aren't really passionate about the games they create. One argument is that it's not the developers, but the publishers that force this kind of monetization in games, but I think Bungie/Destiny proves that wrong. The monetization in Destiny has gotten exponentially worse since Bungo left Activision. Another argument is that it's not the average Joe developer, but the executives that cause the problem. This is more reasonable, but even so, I don't think it's whole of it. In the wake of Concord, we've seen what many game devs think of gamers; disdain. It's not all of them, sure, but even just a few vocal ones is indicative of an issue. How many feel the same way, but are simply non-vocal? People will often say "vote with your wallet", but the truth is that they already are. The reason CoD does this is that it sells, and sells _a lot._ Developers have spent 100s of millions on market research and consumer psychology. They know what the player will buy before the player does. In the end, all that can be done is wait. I think after the indescribably terrible disaster that was Concord, things will change.
The DMZ and Warzone game mode in MW2 2022 would try and match players who had skins with others who didn't to try and show off the skins to the ftp players
@lessthoughtof seems like more of a conspiracy theory than real. The game is FULL of people running skins from the battle passes and shop, and if you're any decent at the game it'll only end up matching you with higher skill players who most likely spend money on the game
Not sure if this counts as a dark pattern but I remember how inefficient getting weapon XP was during Warzone as a free player, even with 2XWXP. This got especially bad with BOCW during WZ1's lifespan, where most of the MW19 weapons that you probably worked your ass off to grind to a usable state were consigned to the dustbin of history while literal Cold War weapons would fry you from angles unknown and distances unheard of. It's an arms race. Either you beam or you are beamed. In the end I capitulated and bought CW, not for Zombies, not for its campaign, not even for multiplayer. But as what amounted to a Hyperbolic Time Chamber for WZ. A few matches of Nuketown '84 were far more lucrative than the double bill of Resurgence and Plunder. It left such a bad taste in my mouth that I ended up skipping season 4-6 of CW and the entirety of Vanguard. Maybe that's not a dark pattern but when you describe conversion kits and their seasonal importance and how much you had to grind even at peak efficiency, I can only weep for the people who only play Warzone and have to abide by the same challenges and suffer under the same fucked up sandbox.
i will only counter the poor state in recent cod titles due to them experimenting with wayy too many new things which most were either shelved or never worked. it was at the time where people got bored of the same old cod and wanted something new but when something like MW 2019 popped around, people were already beginning to talk about going back to the old style as the new style didnt work and didnt feel like what cod is meant to be.
I remember checking every weekend for the free multiplayer weeks and grinding the grau and the mp5. I was pissed when cold war guns became meta, but I was glad that you could still use your mw 2019 loadouts. I eventually bought mw 2019 on sale for multiplayer, and eventually bought cod cw on sale. I got some better guns and a couple weeks later they shifted to mw2 weapons... All the grinding was for nothing. Similar story now with mw3 weapons being in warzone/resurgence. Some friends and I literally cannot compete with the max lvl meta guns that these people run around with. I stopped having "real" fun with cod a few years ago, now I just play with my friends because it's what they play. None of us buy the game or anything and we're all at a massive disadvantage in warzone/resurgence because of it. I genuinely wish there weren't pay to win (more accurately pay to not spend 500 hours grinding a single weapon and have 3 days to play with it before the meta changes.) Strategies in the game.
@@krono5el i didnt actually play early cod mw games, i was a black ops player only. its likely why i loved WWII, advanced warfare, bo1, bo2, bo4 MWII 2022 and bo6.
Monetization based matchmaking algorithms is what bloated the size of the games along them removing the ability to play any other game by the majority all of your storage
na ive had it a few times. i had it in BO4, MWII 2022, it fell off in MWIII 2023 and came back in bo6. cod WWII, i got to very late however that was also one i enjoyed a ton.
Stopped playing cod after mw2 sorry to tell you if your playing that game 10-15 years later again and again while they let you down it's not wishful thinking hoping to get the feel of COD but that's extremely low IQ you have low impulse control , and are unable to see it ..
I quit after AW and gave MW3 ago just to spend time with friends. I actively refused to do dailys and weeklys. Just let me play the game with what i want and unlock stuff like the old days. Multiplayer is a sad sight nowadays.
This is why I'm currently playing Stalker Gamma. I've given up on modern COD, BF, and EFT. Everything is customizable, I can grind as little or as much as I want. I genuinely enjoy the gameplay loop and don't feel like I've wasted my time playing. Too much grind, too much FOMO I've just completely punched out of any game with a battlpass and a premium shop except for Helldivers 2.
I'd also recommend Deep Rock Galactic, no kind of paid shortcuts, no premium store, the Performance Passes are completely free and never expire and the few pieces of DLC are cosmetic bundles that, especially when compared to most of the industry, are pretty cheap. Yes, I am a shill.
Break the cycle people. Take a break and realize you don’t even enjoy playing you just feel compelled to complete tasks. ie battle pass, weekly challenges, camos. They’ve hijacked your reward pathways much like a slot machine.
I already stopped playing call of Duty over a year ago now and it's been very libertating not constantly having the most insane fomo guide my every action when I'm supposed to be relaxing. My most shameful moment of feeding into that fomo was when I ground through 40 battlepass tiers in four days on Shipment & Rust because the battlepass was ending in those four days. But after hearing your introduction, I realized that even though I have broken free of that gross fomo overstimulating slop. I still waste my time by playing a bad game when I could be optimizing my time better. Especially now that I work six days a week. I think I'll be breaking away from gaming as a whole and exclusively buying games that are universally praised. And only playing when I really do have nothing better to do. Thank you for your input and the eye opening comments on time management.
ur just weak. FOMO is caused from U being unable to control ur self and fall to temptation. dont blame and make things up based on a poor choice u made many times. sure ive been highly tempted. but ive basically never given into it myself. yes im different to u because im strong enough to resist it to the point that im not bothered by it now. but i never made excuses for stuff that i did because i was weak and one simple minded. do i like the gun skins yes, but ive always prefered the grind which is why now the lazy people are wasting their money. im the winner here. u lot waste thousands on temporary skins that last up to about 3 years at most. i collect them for free to use in that game knowing that they arnt gonna be around for long. i like the customisation and wish they just kept it game after game and just moved it onto the other guns unless they needed to make space in which they had to get rid of a lot of the gun skins, but they are in game cosmetics not nearly as important as IRL food and bills and anything remotely important in the real world. can i spend cod points to pay for my shopping? no. theres no system at the moment that translates online value to real world value.
@unboxing_legend7708 What are you even talking about? lmao you're just rambling on how you're better because you didn't feed into fomo. Okay cool, I don't either anymore what's your point?
@@unboxing_legend7708You're compensating so hard right it's actually crazy. Especially with that little bit where you declared yourself the win against someone you picked a fight with in your own head.
@@HimpttinyPrime ud never understand with such a weak mentallity that u have. stay bottom rung kid. u wont ever get anywhere that way. also, i use myself as an example and also use logic. if u cant keep up with basic common sense in a message like that, ur brain is fried my guy.
@@HimpttinyPrime ur delusional and need help. u try and come at me and instantly fail, embarrassing. emotions fueled ur responses. not common sense, not logic, not an unbiased view, just crying wolf over the truth and not making sense and complete crap as a response. typical of people like u. i was expecting it tho.
As a 46 year old the óne thing that pisses me off is realizing how much precious time I wasted playing videogames. It's such a waste of time, it gets you nothing, it's bad for your physique, it's bad for your sleep and makes you skip meals or eat poorly..
As someone half your age, I already feel like it's wearing down on me personally, and I'm so terrified to try new games because I don't want them to turn into a time vampire like Destiny 2 or Call of Duty.
@@lessthoughtof the problem is most games these days are not for playing 2hrs a week and call it a day, it requires near daily attention. I've been playing games for 20-25 years now on a daily basis, sometimes for hours straight. I thought I was happy, I had all I needed.. then I hit 40. Ever since I've been looking at the time I have left where I'm physically capable of doing awesome things like visit the Atacama desert in Chile, ever since then I've been looking backward at what I'll leave behind, what I've accomplished and it doesn't feel satisfying.. My neck, back and arms hurt when I wake up because of sitting in the same bad position for hours. Take my advice, put your time into something that adds value to you, to your life. Don't waste the best, most capable time of your life grinding for camos. Said with best intentions..
A bad thing that was introduced to games with seasonal passes is the ability to use more real life money to buy levels in the battlepass. The challenges are an incentive to actually play the game. But a lot of people just buy all the levels at the beginning of the season, and they're the ones that complain 'ohhhh theres no incentive to play the game. There's nothing to doooooo' Like MY BROTHER IN CHRIST THERE'S NOTHING TO DO BECAUSE YOU BOUGHT YOUR WAY THROUGH THE ENTIRE THING LIKE A FUCKING DISNEY FAST PASS
Thank you so much for shouting out those players who stopped playing for a little while and got so far behind I didn’t even recognize the game I was playing. I’m not joking. It legit felt like a different game that i hadn’t played before. I hadn’t played since season 2 and just started playing like 3 weeks ago. Just the shear amount of things like guns and attachments are so overwhelming that idek what to do or start with. I used to be that guy who would know the ttk of every single gun and know exactly what snipers would 1 shot to what area. But now whenever I get on the game and try and get into anything technical like that I just end up getting so overwhelmed that I just get off the game. And that would be fine if everything is either mostly competitive with maybe a few guns shinning above the rest and a few that are shit. But the fact that it’s all just newer=better just adds to me wanting to stop playing after just looking at all the guns and attachments especially, and the conversion kits (which I will admit are kinda cool)
Bro, this whole video reminded me how much fun i had with my friends through out my life. BO 1 zombies had me and my friends dragging TV's and xbox 360s to sleep overs just to get our 4 reliable players! I did my grinding for weapons in DMZ with some of my friends a while back, (like a month or two before the new game dropped.) We ended up quitting our attempts to get the red AK varient because that was around the time they shifted all focus to the mw3 beta. It sucked. I really wanted that camo. But waiting like 15 minutes to find a game ontop of MW3 pushing pre-order/Black Cell so hard drove us off. That and the menu bugs were basically multiplying on pc
Dude you absolutely deserve more spotlight, your channel is amazing and this is one of the best videos I've seen regarding the topic. Thanks for making something that's not the equivalent of a McDonalds meal, and actually something that gives insight while also bursting some laughs cheers, great video
Finally someone makes a video about this. I hated this pattern long ago since free fps games existed that were p2w. Why cant they make the battle pass to be endless and skins you like to be there to stay, instead they have to put pressure on us, it feels like you're working rather than playing a game. Yes i know some skins can have copyright issues and etc. but still it's terrible, sucks that games turned this way, back in the day everything used to be unlocked and didn't require such grind.
I've played Apex Legends since it first released on ps4 and Im close to 5000 hours on it and this video has only solidified that what i thought was just me enjoying a hovbby despite how much i suck at it, its just a hugely pathetic waste of time. Also i love that you're bringing modern video game industry business models and tactics to light and making gamers aware. Keep up your good work. 😢❤
Thank you for pointing out what weve all suffered under since the days of the DMR. A bundle comes out. That packaged wepon will be OP for 2 weeks. Then dirt napped.
Once you take a break from playing games like this then try to get back into them, you quickly realise how it was just a habit for you rather than actual enjoyment. I skipped CoD Ghosts when it came out then didn't buy another CoD in the PS4 generation apart from Black Ops 3. Since picking up Black Ops 3 I haven't bought another one since. It's no wonder why they use all of these player retention tricks; once the spell is broken people realise that they've wasted all their time and rarely return.
this is why I went back to CS:2. No grinding, no forced lobbies. Really wanted to give COD a chance but their manipulative approach just rubs the wrong way.
@@fabiopauli420 you don’t need to grind none of that to enjoy 5v5 matches. But if you don’t unlock your guns in warzone then you’re at big disadvantage. And their matchmaking system is a lot better. If you’re an Elo 6k player you will never ever play against elo 30k. But in COD heeey why not :D
@@fabiopauli420CS2 isn't manipulative enough to make people play when they don't want to past a lose streak or competitive match. Some modern cods have been my first time ever trying to find the fun in a game fruitlessly just to give up on it.
I sat through the whole experience of MW3 from launch to S6. I had fun. Keeping up with the changes every week. EOMM/SBMM sucked the entire way but being aware of it let me work around it. I didn’t grind amp’s and I bought 2 black cells which I both 100%. I got my value back. This game kept me entertained while I studied for med school, and once I get in, I’m leaving my PS5 at home
ive never been affected by this and thats why i dont believe it entirely exists. well i do but not to the point that the community have demonised it as. people are just ass at games, they suck so unbelievably hard its actually questionable and embarrassing. its why im not surprised that a ton of people resorted to cronus and stuff to hack games now. i mean gen A brains were cooked from the start being IPAD kids watching skibidi toilet anyway and cant tell their left from their right or follow basic level of understanding that even in schools they are being taught what was 3 grades lower than we learnt. gen Z are not much better now anyway. being drugs and weed destroying our brains, PTSD and natural trauma enduced growing up, the whole world abandoning us and us just tryna find our way in the world and a lot us gave up cause the world gave up on us. times are changed and theres very few people with a functioning brain.
Quick reminder that these are video games and what some people think are lame and waste of time some people think are fun at the end of the day there are tons of different games that you can play and it’s better to just play what you enjoy instead of listening to online echo chambers just my 2 cents
It’s not really about the video itself,but i really like how a video about cod,a game that wants to appeal to everyone at everytime and thus has been suffering identity issues since that decision uses music from splatoon,a series that has a stronger identity than it’s server’s stability
I see seasonal updates and live service in general as a net positive that the gaming industry just took the fattest shit on. Why actually utilize the features of live service to support a game for 3+ years, putting out impactful content or at least new or unique stuff every couple months when you can do neither and instead do the absolute bare minimum while focusing entirely on paid skins
Considering the fact Black Ops 6: -Is already adding goofy skins to Multiplayer day 1 -Has Blackcell on the roadmap -Has an awful zombies map -Caters to the spastic, twitchy gameplay streamers/esports wannabes LOVE -Is tied to the fucking COD HQ launcher I have zero reason to believe it'll be good...
@@Scroogey_boy That argument doesn't work when everything regarding the game's development centers around the cosmetics. Warzone, COD HQ, the matchmaking algorithm, the rushed/half-assed development. All of it centers around the need to reach unreasonable profit quotas through skin bundles and BPs. Instead of telling me to buy skins, how about you and everyone else stop buying these damned skins and maybe, just MAYBE, we can actually have a good COD for once.
@@Noxis07 what has warzone got to do with cosmetics. you still dont have to buy them and if people were dissatisfied with the game then they would not buy skins and they would change buiseness model
This video is so great keep up the good work, I thought this was a video made by a big creator but you’re underated and make better content than most UA-camrs
ever since the disaster that happened with MW2019 I thought "why am I even grinding this out, it's not the old prestige, and they can ruin it at a moment's notice for warzone's sake" and while I do miss cod's gameplay, the gameplay of cod is not catered to me anymore
its not catered to me really either anymore but i can still find fun in playing those games. u cant trust what the community says 99% of the time because they make it out to be worse than it is and that 1% is when they are right. theres has always been a simple workaround to majority of these things and people just still cry about it because its effort. i mean fgs, even minecraft is not catered to me either anymore. the peak was back in 2012 or 2013. everyone including parents and grand parents knew what minecraft is and even played it as a family. minecraft parodies were booming back then and the community was outright saying thankyou for being part of our lives and making us happy the game was THAT impactful to us. now i cant find anything in modern minecraft, being able to keep my attention and half the things in the game now arnt something i like and cater to the redstone community or the building community while survival is thrown to the side. although i have got back into the game within the last few days, its nothing like the good old days of minecraft.
Its mainly children who play cod. Young minds do not have the level of critical thinking of an adult due to lower cognitive developement, thus they fall more easily for the manipulation tactics of activision.
With having a kid, fiance, and multiple hobbies, I feel like cod is perfect because it doesn't take up too much time. I enjoy the extra quick stress relief.
This was an excellent video. If this video is wildly successful, it's not because of the "negative" or "clicky" title or thumbnail, but because of the coherent, thoughtful script. Even if we all already know these companies are leeching off of our time and attention, I think it's important to be reminded that this shit is everywhere, and we need to be mindful of the cycles we participate in, and help create
Once again, Splatoon music is just…hooray. Yeah, games have become a lot more about grabbing the wallets of every player and shaking every little bit out of it. In the good old days of games, you’d earn rewards just for playing the game you paid for. Now you’d be lucky to play a game without a battle pass with time exclusive rewards that convince you to buy their product that you then have to play the game to finish, or a digital deluxe edition that lets you play the game with a few extra bonuses that would normally be locked behind that paywall. Some games still have free stuff (Splatoon, obvious pick) which everyone likes. Anyone would pick free things over paid. Oh no I wrote a big essay just for a UA-cam comment 😅
I think what most people in CoD fail to realize is this: people will only see 2 of your skins along with 1 weapon. Once you unlock your favorite weapon and your favorite operator for both factions, there's no point in grinding shipment 24/7 if you're not truly having fun and feeling empty the moment you turn off the game.
This is why I like hardcore mode in cod. Doesn't matter what gun you bring, it'll always be a 1 or 2 shot. More about skill and strategy than weapon build
i would play it more if i didnt have such an issue with target aquisition. Literally shooting 4 of my teammates to death every single HC game cause i thought they are the enemy.
@@fabiopauli420 that’s true the visibility could be better tbh, I hate getting stunned on spawn and headshotting my nearest teammates head off because I couldn’t determine if he was a friend or foe.
@@fabiopauli420 would be nice if there was an option to make everyone default or at least base-game on your side. ...i know, i know, this idea has been talked about to death, but HC is where it would ACTUALLY improve gameplay.
It’s so rare I agree with 100% of the opinions in a video. This is one. So many of the things you talked about I just went yup yup yup. Great vid you’re gonna blow up
God I miss DMZ. once they added it I almost exclusively played it and my friend group expanded. We had fun, made plans/routes and made some good memories.
Are you having fun? Yes I definitely agree with this video more than the cosmetics one, especially on the battle pass part, I completed all of the MW3 BPs till now, and I think I only use 3 or 4 items from each of them (not counting the season's weapons). I don't really mind the Blackcell pass, it's mostly just cosmetics, but they are DEFINITELY waay too aggressive by always shoving it in your face. Also agree on the camo grinding, I got Interstellar for almost all weapons, and it's the only camo I use, but still grind for the event camos even though I will most likely never use them. The aftermarket parts were a great addition, it keeps the game fresh every week (mostly the conversion kits, not the attachments) and A LOT of them are not overpowered, so they don't break the game but are still fun to play with Edit: great video btw
For seasonal content, i full-heartedly believe that MW2019 was a much needed shift from BO4-AW's Gamblin- i mean-totally-legal-for-minors supply drops It was way better for the consumer, and the bundle system was not only more fair (because you weren't rolling dice) but also more profitable to Activision That being said, the way that a new, friendlier system has turned into this is awful. Blackcell was the worst thing to come into the game, why do we need a triple price pass? and that's not to mention the bundles rewarding you for buying multiple $20 items, just to get some dumb reward because you were hornswoggled into spending A WHOLE GAMES WORTH Adding on to this, some of the bundles are really cool! you can tell the designers put so much love and care into the neat visual remakes of weapons, characters, and so on! but they're shoved into a system bittered by greed, leading people to not appreciate the designs of the bundles at all
Keep em Cod videos coming! This is gold content! I'm studying this stuff so I can find ways to do things more fair on my own video game. Definitely no battle pass, will have to come up with some less manipulative, innovative solutions.
As a former Battlefield fan who left the franchise after the disappointment that was 2042 I was well aware of how scummy COD was since infinite warfare came out and stuck to my Battlefield titles until now. Well I have gamepass so MW3 was free for me and I decided to boot it up and try it out. As someone who is well aware the game is trying to manipulate me and the skill based matchmaking is rigged as well as the game stats themselves (and even artificial bad ping and packet bursts if you’re doing better than the game wants you to) I had a great time! It was like the video game equivalent of a fast paced entertaining B film that had waaaay too many ad breaks crammed in tbf So it’s kind of ironic, I seemed to enjoy this game’s multiplayer more than pretty much everyone I’ve talked to about it and it’s because I knew the game was rigged and how, if Sledgehammer was just honest about it yeah they’d lose some gamers off of principle, but the rest would have more fun than they actually did. I also enjoyed BO6 beta and the movement system feels like Titanfall 2’s which is my favorite FPS ever, it too had the rigged SBMM and dark patterns which is ultimately going to make it get a worse review from people than it otherwise could have got with it’s fun mechanics and allegedly actually good campaign this time. Again it’s free for me since I have gamepass otherwise I never would’ve played these games, Activision ain’t getting a penny out of me lol
Damn, MW 2019 really got my hopes up for future cods, and none of them captured me like 2019's. That game brought tons of good times for me and my friends.
MW2019 was great, it was the first different CoD in years and then it stopped. I do still enjoy CoD, but 2019 was peak. Let's hope BO6 brings back some of that magic.
@sethamphetaminess Cod was well into its downfall before mw 2019. Unlike all the other recent cods, it actually had soul and passion behind it. If you mean this game began a downfall because of its formula, that still doesn't discount that it was good. Couldn't care less about the red dots on the minimap being gone also. Cold War was just BO4 with new paint, cool campaign, decent zombies, but multi-player was just meh. Vanguard was a game. I liked MW22, not as much as 2019, but it could have been much more with a 2 year cycle, and devs not abandoning DMZ. MW23 is soulless. BO6 beta felt soulless. Hey, it is just my opinion, though. I like AW after all and want a second one.
@TechNein to me the removing of 3 lane maps and taking red dots off the map completely changed the flow of what cod is. I like aw as well though so at least we can agree there. Also I wanna make clear that I very marginally prefer cold war to mw2019, it felt way too modern warfare to me though, and SO SLOW. That's the main thing, they tried to make it more tactical but call of duty has always been fast and arcadey. But you're right. Really bo4 kinda started it because I played blackout way more than multiplayer and that kinda started the fortnite trend in cod. I can't give an opinion on vanguard to mw3 but I've not heard great things at all, up until the end, I've actually heard it's pretty fun right now. Bo4 was the first one in a long time where I was just like "yeah it's alright I guess." But I actively disliked mw2019 and cold war.
@TechNein also other than the jackal sweats I had a ton of fun on the bo6 beta, and for the first time in a long time I can't wait for cod to come out. They're returning to form and I'm so grateful. Now the only thing left to do is get rid of all the bundles and battle pass but it makes them way too much money so we're probably stuck with it forever
i think the reason people still play is because there's nothing like call of duty sure yeah its first person shooter number 300 but its call of duty few games have been able to match the feel of cod and i think that's why people still play including myself when i got the zombies mastery camo borealis my very first mastery camo i had ever gotten i was so happy because the grind was finally over but i realized i was having the most fun when i was grinding and after a couple days i just stopped playing and i stopped playing for i want to say a little over 2 months but after playing games like gta and gran turismo for that time i got an itch for a first person shooter and i know the one i wanted was call of duty and when i started playing again it was really refreshing it just felt right it felt so good to finally be playing it again and know i play with friends every so often is the game fun to an extent yeah can i stomach the game for more then 5 hours at a time very rarely but yeah no matter what this game is in its current state which is not great i will still return to it will i get b06 probably not but maybe but my hopes are still up and this one will be good but i also realize the current shit storm that is call of duty so i keep my hopes down but once again there just isn't a game like call of duty well sure there are about a million but its just not call of duty and that's why i still play
Saturated their own market, and made awful choices. Doesnt take a genius to listen to their own community. It took a whole game mw2, for them to realise that. Its just crazy
I came back after a while and theres like 20 "8 daily challenge unlocks" and realised all you gotta do is play infected and it'll count as a win every time
I love the aggressively predatory nature of the gaming landscape these days. It's allowed me to save so much money! Oh look, the latest Diablo has seasonal updates and a battle pass? Cool, Ill go back to Diablo 3 or 2. Or Path of Exile. Ooh, that new game everyone is raving about has "time saver" bonuses for sale? They're only for eight hours? Looks like I can work on my backlog or play Borderlands some more. Huh, a new battle royale. I guess Ill go play more Factorio instead. By assuming every new release is going to suck and waiting for it to go on sale, Ive saved thousands of dollars by not buting crap.
i dunno, i’m still having fun most of the time. new content every week is pretty exciting and keeps it fresh, though i do agree they definitely release new weapons in a overpowered state for engagement and blackcell battlepass purchases which 100% suks.
I think the constant swarm of live service is what contributed to making me give up on gaming in general, it’s exhausting to have every game constantly change, I get fomo over worthless crap
Honestly man I’d recommend picking up the borderlands series or maybe RPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3, Dragons Dogma 2, etc. While yes most FPS and LS games on the market are worn out and boring FOMO-fests, on the RPG side it’s going STRONG
Thanks for reminding me, I’ve lost so much time in this shidd, and my friends become so obsessed with this game they became toxic, starting dentistry college and stopping play This and playing only cod mobile was the best thing, i don’t want to grind and be a movement demon all the time
I’m in a friend group that plays almost exclusively COD. I have enough free time in my life, and I enjoy it enough, to grind a whole crap ton. Because of this, I’ve found a balance that I’m okay with. I spend $100 every October for the new game with all the bonus shit. Usually it’s the premium version of the first battle pass, with some extra cod points and some cosmetics I’ll probably never use. I use the cod points from the battle pass to get the next one and just recycle them. Throughout the year I’ll spend another $20-40 max and buy a couple bundles. Usually near the beginning of the new game for an operator skin I really like, that I will use the whole rest of the year. Do I know that Activison is using these dark patterns? Yes. Do they still work on me, getting me to grind way more than I probably should? Yes. Am I also making a conscious decision to be okay with it because I get enough enjoyment out of it? Also yes.
This was my first cod ever and i love it, cant wait for bo6. Maby cause i just started playing cod with 23years and not since i was a kid i am still havin fun. I dont think the games are the problem, people just grow up an realise videogames are just not there hobby but more a childlike interest
I've been playing COD since waw, as I've gotten older I've come to this same realization. Haven't purchased the last 4/5 games and only purchased one skin for trolling. (Nicki Minaj lmao) Great Video!!!
I like that you actually know what you’re talking about with mw3, cuz you’ve been playing it and not just playing it for a little for a video, being ignorant to most of the mechanics and how things work. W video btw (:
Seeing the new generation talk about Dark Patterns in relations to battlepasses reminds me of when we’d talk about dark patterns in relation to Lootboxes back in 2014-2017 lol
black ops 3 was definitely a lid lifter for sure
The more things change the more they stay the same.
pay for convenience was also a dark pattern. helldivers is guilty of it and it's turned me off the game. i'm baffled players praised that part of the game.
i still think that lootboxes can work, well they still can but not my point. my point is, lootboxes can work if they can easily be obtained for free as well, reap the same rewards and benefits as if someone who decided to buy 100 of them. the rewards and percentages are the same and a f2p player can still get the same rewards or even better rewards than someone who just had bad luck with opening 100 of them. companies dont go down that route anymore because it wont make them enough money to be seen as viable however lootboxes are able to still work as long as they arnt being misused in games. lootboxes now have laws to follow depending on the country with age requirements for games as they are seen as gambling as well as many other laws to be followed.
personally i would love to see the return of memberships that browser games used to do all the time as a monthly membership to get better items while remaining balanced for f2p players who can still reap the rewards quite easily but with a bit of effort. the best example is a game i used to play which shut down in 2016. the browser game was called fight my monsters. a monthly membership would only give that person a small boost in progression and advantage however it didnt play against f2p players. one of the features was creating a monster card up to a orange or rarely a red tier card which is 2-3 tiers higher than the lowest tier card and still was a very low tier cards themselves. this was just giving membership players a slight headstart but nothing to give them players a massive unfair advantage to where a f2p player couldnt compete against. the other thing the membership gave players was that they could buy potions only they could buy which were stronger than the f2p potions. although these potions did give a big advantage, the counter for f2p players was that they could enter a fight/battle with their monster card and if they won on collect, theyd obtain the monster with the membership potion that had remaining uses in fights before it was gone. f2p players could also then temporarily reap the benefit of anything a membership player had if they were able to collect it from the other player and use it to their advantage to win. as cards worked in tiers, winning fights would sometimes put your card up to higher tiers.
"the new generation" played those games back then too...
Man Im tired of battle passes and starting college makes me realize how much time ive wasted
same man
Did you have fun?
Did you have fun with your friends?
Did you make new friends?
Then it WAS worth it 👍
same my man, i didn't start playing warzone since this year, but college starting out of nowhere is really relatable, feels like i wasted a ton of potential time and fun i could have.
about battle passes? same thing too, they are really overused and oversaturated with stuff "ohh you could've possibly got" but didn't cause you didn't buy into it. seasonal stuff is kind of great if devs handle it properly, but as we saw with mw2 and mw3 (2022 and 2023 accordingly), they dont do that great, but people WILL buy into it, no matter what.
aye good luck wasting another 4
@@iFlow420no, no and no lmao. Just a time suck
Had this realization during the bo6 beta, I grinded All the way to level 26 and was like ‘wait, I actually don’t have to grind out 4 levels before midnight to get this weapon blueprint”
Grinding in a full priced £70/£100 game!? Are you mad!
@scrittle buddy thinks everyone that grind is gonna get the real game, yknow they could've grinded for fun or can get it for free on xbox gamepass
@@scrittleyeah, fortunately got it through gamepass
i chose to cause i wanted a headstart on the grind for when it comes out and i also liked the weapon blueprint anyway so i chose to work toward it. what people forget is that its a choice. i wanted to for the reasons stated and it seems like u didnt want to because of the way the community has demonised such things like this. urs was less a choice and more the fear of being on the opposing side of the community and being brainwashed to think that u dont have a choice.
@@unboxing_legend7708 If you want to play ur FIFA game you can play your FIFA game. I'm at the crossroads of expressing contempt and pity.
"If you're not having fun, why are you still playing?"
-The switched pan to Destiny 2
Man oh man, if there is ever a shining example huh...
Because Bungie knows how to keep us players coming back for more... it's the gaming version of 50 Shades
That game is the gaming equivalent of 50 Shades.
Ah yes. The 60 dollar buy in to what is essentially a f2p game
*$70 tee hee
$90 plus 12% tax in Canada
@@zjsz4954that's about the same as $70 USD. But I've never understood why big game companies price their games the same between different countries with different incomes. Surely that will impact sales if someone in the UK is paying the equivalent to $70 when incomes are so much lower than American incomes and it's realistic to assume that many people just can't spare that money.
tbf. that is dumb yeah. my mates bought the game at £100.00 which includes the vault edition for me to turn around and let them no they wasted money cause its free on xbox gamepass throughout its whole cycle. they still get the £30.00 vault edition bonus but lose on the £70.00 on a game we get for free.
@@unboxing_legend7708 but it's not free. Gamepass ultimate costs £180 a year. Sure, it can be good value but only if you actually enjoy all the other slop on there.
Valve violated the gaming scene with loot boxes, and Epic finished the job with battle passes.
i disagree. lootboxes were just mishandled and as it usually goes with corrupt gaming companies, it got popularised because it made them tons of money and they misused a system which at the time, had no laws against it and wasnt seen as gambling. its not to say lootboxes cant be done right however and they can still be put in games.
its like when browser games in the early 2000s like moshi monsters as a random example that had monthly memberships, started straying toward benefiting membership players only leaving out content for f2p players which was hardlocked and unavailable. membership players basically got everything the game had to offer and at the time, was used as a boasting point for players more than a monitised profit gain or taking money from people. even this in some places was done right in some browser games which managed to keep it completely fair for the non membership players and still balanced it out. tbf tho, back that far, most game companies made it as a passion project and were recieving very little pay from making games.
just some info that most people today, wouldnt no about. the evolution of gaming, came from people like me. gen Z. those who grew up and still play games. cod is still massive because we grew it to be so massive all those years ago. roblox is massive because we popularised a once tiny web browser game, also one of very few web browser games left that managed to stay alive. minecraft only alive because we kept it alive. sry gen A but u missed peak minecraft when literally everyone knew what minecraft is including ur own parents. also around 2012 which seemed to be the happiest year in forever and the year where it felt like nothing happened.
b b b but valve made that game I liked that one time you CANNOT talk badly about them!!
@@Manimal1920 thats a weak response to make. thats two seperate arguements to make and doesnt even correlate properly to what was stated by the guy. its fine to hate or dislike or even despise some things a company does. it doesnt mean that ur gonna hate their games though or just hate everything about them. thats so illogical and close minded of u to even fathom.
i love the left for dead franchise and played it as a kid myself. doesnt mean i agree with them doing many scams relating to cs go and cs2 and their manipulative methods and ways in which they scam money from people. i like some of their games, not what they decide to do 99% of the time as a company.
@@unboxing_legend7708 dawg I was being sarcastic 😭
@@unboxing_legend7708 in which way does valve scam money from players with cs2? Lmao, youre a cod player
The premium battle pass was my last straw. Why is there a battle pass in the battle pass, that cost real money on top of the battle pass you bought with cod points that costs real money.
what do you mean you don't want a super battle pass? it's the reason to keep playing!!!!!
Buying premium pass for skins I didn't even like was actually a wake up call. Now I buy nothing.
There isn't?
There's a premium Mo betta battle pass
A not premium battle pass
Not buying the battle pass at all
the ultimate scam
Gen Z dopamine fed generation that grew up need their shiny shiny clown skins. That shit that they pull off these days such a premium battlepass would have never worked back then. Nobody would spent money to destroy the game immersion by having clown skins that only a 14 year old could find funny. But that’s what you get for making a game free to play. It attracts tons of kids who shouldn’t be playing the game.
Playing zombies in mw3 had me think to myself "wow I actually miss DMZ"
Yeah without PvP
It’s is so boring and it doesn’t help that it’s not free. One of the big reasons is that DMZ was free meaning my friends were willing to play it. And those were some of the good memories that I had with this game
Free or not nobody played DMZ
@@jeremybrown9611 According to you?
@@jeremybrown9611I'm here but okay
@@rymd1875 According to CoD
I remember back around the time Overwatch released, the debate around loot boxes had pretty much reached a boiling point. People were sick of them, they wanted them gone, then a year later Fortnite BR released and people praised Epic endlessly for the more "ethical" monetization model of the store page, and shortly later even more praise for the battlepass. After that, _every_ game had a battlepass.
Are loot boxes worse than battlepasses? Maybe, yeah. But since quitting Destiny after playing for 5 years, I realized something. It wasn't really the loot boxes that were the problem, they were just a symptom.
The problem is; AAA studios aren't interested in making games anymore, they're interested in making products.
Even as little as a decade ago, the people who made your games, played them too. The people who made games were nerds and geeks who liked games. But games as an industry has gotten so huge, so profitable and so generalized, now the people who makes games aren't there to make an awesome game, they're there to get a paycheck. They aren't really passionate about the games they create.
One argument is that it's not the developers, but the publishers that force this kind of monetization in games, but I think Bungie/Destiny proves that wrong. The monetization in Destiny has gotten exponentially worse since Bungo left Activision.
Another argument is that it's not the average Joe developer, but the executives that cause the problem. This is more reasonable, but even so, I don't think it's whole of it. In the wake of Concord, we've seen what many game devs think of gamers; disdain.
It's not all of them, sure, but even just a few vocal ones is indicative of an issue. How many feel the same way, but are simply non-vocal?
People will often say "vote with your wallet", but the truth is that they already are. The reason CoD does this is that it sells, and sells _a lot._ Developers have spent 100s of millions on market research and consumer psychology. They know what the player will buy before the player does. In the end, all that can be done is wait. I think after the indescribably terrible disaster that was Concord, things will change.
The DMZ and Warzone game mode in MW2 2022 would try and match players who had skins with others who didn't to try and show off the skins to the ftp players
That's real??
@lessthoughtof seems like more of a conspiracy theory than real. The game is FULL of people running skins from the battle passes and shop, and if you're any decent at the game it'll only end up matching you with higher skill players who most likely spend money on the game
@@lessthoughtof the patent for it is real but there's been no conclusive proof it's in game or works like that currently
Not sure if this counts as a dark pattern but I remember how inefficient getting weapon XP was during Warzone as a free player, even with 2XWXP. This got especially bad with BOCW during WZ1's lifespan, where most of the MW19 weapons that you probably worked your ass off to grind to a usable state were consigned to the dustbin of history while literal Cold War weapons would fry you from angles unknown and distances unheard of. It's an arms race. Either you beam or you are beamed.
In the end I capitulated and bought CW, not for Zombies, not for its campaign, not even for multiplayer. But as what amounted to a Hyperbolic Time Chamber for WZ. A few matches of Nuketown '84 were far more lucrative than the double bill of Resurgence and Plunder. It left such a bad taste in my mouth that I ended up skipping season 4-6 of CW and the entirety of Vanguard. Maybe that's not a dark pattern but when you describe conversion kits and their seasonal importance and how much you had to grind even at peak efficiency, I can only weep for the people who only play Warzone and have to abide by the same challenges and suffer under the same fucked up sandbox.
i will only counter the poor state in recent cod titles due to them experimenting with wayy too many new things which most were either shelved or never worked. it was at the time where people got bored of the same old cod and wanted something new but when something like MW 2019 popped around, people were already beginning to talk about going back to the old style as the new style didnt work and didnt feel like what cod is meant to be.
I remember checking every weekend for the free multiplayer weeks and grinding the grau and the mp5. I was pissed when cold war guns became meta, but I was glad that you could still use your mw 2019 loadouts. I eventually bought mw 2019 on sale for multiplayer, and eventually bought cod cw on sale. I got some better guns and a couple weeks later they shifted to mw2 weapons... All the grinding was for nothing. Similar story now with mw3 weapons being in warzone/resurgence. Some friends and I literally cannot compete with the max lvl meta guns that these people run around with. I stopped having "real" fun with cod a few years ago, now I just play with my friends because it's what they play. None of us buy the game or anything and we're all at a massive disadvantage in warzone/resurgence because of it. I genuinely wish there weren't pay to win (more accurately pay to not spend 500 hours grinding a single weapon and have 3 days to play with it before the meta changes.) Strategies in the game.
thats the problem these ding dongs kept playing cod after mw2019, or even mw2 in 2009 : P
@@krono5el i didnt actually play early cod mw games, i was a black ops player only. its likely why i loved WWII, advanced warfare, bo1, bo2, bo4 MWII 2022 and bo6.
Monetization based matchmaking algorithms is what bloated the size of the games along them removing the ability to play any other game by the majority all of your storage
We are all chasing the high of booting up cod in our youth, but it never comes thsts why we still play
Real
na ive had it a few times. i had it in BO4, MWII 2022, it fell off in MWIII 2023 and came back in bo6. cod WWII, i got to very late however that was also one i enjoyed a ton.
I never played cod in my youth
Real shit. The feel of booting up Modern Warfare 2007 first thing when you wake up on the weekend was unmatched.
Stopped playing cod after mw2 sorry to tell you if your playing that game 10-15 years later again and again while they let you down it's not wishful thinking hoping to get the feel of COD but that's extremely low IQ you have low impulse control , and are unable to see it ..
I quit after AW and gave MW3 ago just to spend time with friends. I actively refused to do dailys and weeklys. Just let me play the game with what i want and unlock stuff like the old days.
Multiplayer is a sad sight nowadays.
I remember being an ID student, graduated this last summer....Now I'm a working professional....I get to play all of the videogames all I want.
This is why I'm currently playing Stalker Gamma. I've given up on modern COD, BF, and EFT. Everything is customizable, I can grind as little or as much as I want. I genuinely enjoy the gameplay loop and don't feel like I've wasted my time playing. Too much grind, too much FOMO I've just completely punched out of any game with a battlpass and a premium shop except for Helldivers 2.
hmm i’ll give it a look
I'd also recommend Deep Rock Galactic, no kind of paid shortcuts, no premium store, the Performance Passes are completely free and never expire and the few pieces of DLC are cosmetic bundles that, especially when compared to most of the industry, are pretty cheap. Yes, I am a shill.
Bro stalker gamma is all about grinding but still better than those modern online games😂😂😂❤
I went back to gran turismo 4 because the spec 2 mod came out and it’s more rewarding than modern games
the gamma setup for stalker anomaly is 100% worth the time. a great hardcore survival game with lots to do.
Break the cycle people. Take a break and realize you don’t even enjoy playing you just feel compelled to complete tasks. ie battle pass, weekly challenges, camos. They’ve hijacked your reward pathways much like a slot machine.
if it didn't work as well as it does they wouldn't try these tactics
I already stopped playing call of Duty over a year ago now and it's been very libertating not constantly having the most insane fomo guide my every action when I'm supposed to be relaxing.
My most shameful moment of feeding into that fomo was when I ground through 40 battlepass tiers in four days on Shipment & Rust because the battlepass was ending in those four days.
But after hearing your introduction, I realized that even though I have broken free of that gross fomo overstimulating slop. I still waste my time by playing a bad game when I could be optimizing my time better. Especially now that I work six days a week.
I think I'll be breaking away from gaming as a whole and exclusively buying games that are universally praised. And only playing when I really do have nothing better to do.
Thank you for your input and the eye opening comments on time management.
ur just weak. FOMO is caused from U being unable to control ur self and fall to temptation. dont blame and make things up based on a poor choice u made many times. sure ive been highly tempted. but ive basically never given into it myself. yes im different to u because im strong enough to resist it to the point that im not bothered by it now. but i never made excuses for stuff that i did because i was weak and one simple minded.
do i like the gun skins yes, but ive always prefered the grind which is why now the lazy people are wasting their money. im the winner here. u lot waste thousands on temporary skins that last up to about 3 years at most. i collect them for free to use in that game knowing that they arnt gonna be around for long. i like the customisation and wish they just kept it game after game and just moved it onto the other guns unless they needed to make space in which they had to get rid of a lot of the gun skins, but they are in game cosmetics not nearly as important as IRL food and bills and anything remotely important in the real world. can i spend cod points to pay for my shopping? no. theres no system at the moment that translates online value to real world value.
@unboxing_legend7708 What are you even talking about? lmao you're just rambling on how you're better because you didn't feed into fomo. Okay cool, I don't either anymore what's your point?
@@unboxing_legend7708You're compensating so hard right it's actually crazy. Especially with that little bit where you declared yourself the win against someone you picked a fight with in your own head.
@@HimpttinyPrime ud never understand with such a weak mentallity that u have. stay bottom rung kid. u wont ever get anywhere that way.
also, i use myself as an example and also use logic. if u cant keep up with basic common sense in a message like that, ur brain is fried my guy.
@@HimpttinyPrime ur delusional and need help. u try and come at me and instantly fail, embarrassing. emotions fueled ur responses. not common sense, not logic, not an unbiased view, just crying wolf over the truth and not making sense and complete crap as a response. typical of people like u. i was expecting it tho.
As a 46 year old the óne thing that pisses me off is realizing how much precious time I wasted playing videogames.
It's such a waste of time, it gets you nothing, it's bad for your physique, it's bad for your sleep and makes you skip meals or eat poorly..
As someone half your age, I already feel like it's wearing down on me personally, and I'm so terrified to try new games because I don't want them to turn into a time vampire like Destiny 2 or Call of Duty.
@@lessthoughtof the problem is most games these days are not for playing 2hrs a week and call it a day, it requires near daily attention.
I've been playing games for 20-25 years now on a daily basis, sometimes for hours straight.
I thought I was happy, I had all I needed.. then I hit 40.
Ever since I've been looking at the time I have left where I'm physically capable of doing awesome things like visit the Atacama desert in Chile, ever since then I've been looking backward at what I'll leave behind, what I've accomplished and it doesn't feel satisfying..
My neck, back and arms hurt when I wake up because of sitting in the same bad position for hours.
Take my advice, put your time into something that adds value to you, to your life.
Don't waste the best, most capable time of your life grinding for camos.
Said with best intentions..
As a wise Reggie once said, "if it's not fun, why bother?"
Nintendo Reggie or amoral slime Reggie?
A bad thing that was introduced to games with seasonal passes is the ability to use more real life money to buy levels in the battlepass. The challenges are an incentive to actually play the game. But a lot of people just buy all the levels at the beginning of the season, and they're the ones that complain 'ohhhh theres no incentive to play the game. There's nothing to doooooo' Like MY BROTHER IN CHRIST THERE'S NOTHING TO DO BECAUSE YOU BOUGHT YOUR WAY THROUGH THE ENTIRE THING LIKE A FUCKING DISNEY FAST PASS
Glad im not the only one that called the bal conversion kit a fusion rifle💀
Thank you so much for shouting out those players who stopped playing for a little while and got so far behind I didn’t even recognize the game I was playing. I’m not joking. It legit felt like a different game that i hadn’t played before. I hadn’t played since season 2 and just started playing like 3 weeks ago. Just the shear amount of things like guns and attachments are so overwhelming that idek what to do or start with. I used to be that guy who would know the ttk of every single gun and know exactly what snipers would 1 shot to what area. But now whenever I get on the game and try and get into anything technical like that I just end up getting so overwhelmed that I just get off the game. And that would be fine if everything is either mostly competitive with maybe a few guns shinning above the rest and a few that are shit. But the fact that it’s all just newer=better just adds to me wanting to stop playing after just looking at all the guns and attachments especially, and the conversion kits (which I will admit are kinda cool)
Bro, this whole video reminded me how much fun i had with my friends through out my life. BO 1 zombies had me and my friends dragging TV's and xbox 360s to sleep overs just to get our 4 reliable players!
I did my grinding for weapons in DMZ with some of my friends a while back, (like a month or two before the new game dropped.) We ended up quitting our attempts to get the red AK varient because that was around the time they shifted all focus to the mw3 beta.
It sucked. I really wanted that camo. But waiting like 15 minutes to find a game ontop of MW3 pushing pre-order/Black Cell so hard drove us off. That and the menu bugs were basically multiplying on pc
Dude you absolutely deserve more spotlight, your channel is amazing and this is one of the best videos I've seen regarding the topic. Thanks for making something that's not the equivalent of a McDonalds meal, and actually something that gives insight while also bursting some laughs
cheers, great video
Crazy how video games literally arent even played for fun anymore, they're played for the grind.
Finally someone makes a video about this. I hated this pattern long ago since free fps games existed that were p2w. Why cant they make the battle pass to be endless and skins you like to be there to stay, instead they have to put pressure on us, it feels like you're working rather than playing a game. Yes i know some skins can have copyright issues and etc. but still it's terrible, sucks that games turned this way, back in the day everything used to be unlocked and didn't require such grind.
I've played Apex Legends since it first released on ps4 and Im close to 5000 hours on it and this video has only solidified that what i thought was just me enjoying a hovbby despite how much i suck at it, its just a hugely pathetic waste of time.
Also i love that you're bringing modern video game industry business models and tactics to light and making gamers aware. Keep up your good work. 😢❤
thought i was fuckin tweaking when i heard splatoon music/sfx in a video about codslop, but here we are
Was looking for this comment
This video is very underrated. Super high quality editing and writing well done 👏
Thank you for pointing out what weve all suffered under since the days of the DMR.
A bundle comes out. That packaged wepon will be OP for 2 weeks. Then dirt napped.
Once you take a break from playing games like this then try to get back into them, you quickly realise how it was just a habit for you rather than actual enjoyment. I skipped CoD Ghosts when it came out then didn't buy another CoD in the PS4 generation apart from Black Ops 3. Since picking up Black Ops 3 I haven't bought another one since. It's no wonder why they use all of these player retention tricks; once the spell is broken people realise that they've wasted all their time and rarely return.
this is why I went back to CS:2. No grinding, no forced lobbies. Really wanted to give COD a chance but their manipulative approach just rubs the wrong way.
debateable: weekly exp bonuses and drop system, prestige medal system and lootboxes are similar type of pattern just not as severe.
It's a bit different, since in cs2 you have the same stuff ur opponent have, while in cod you don't
@@fabiopauli420 you don’t need to grind none of that to enjoy 5v5 matches. But if you don’t unlock your guns in warzone then you’re at big disadvantage. And their matchmaking system is a lot better. If you’re an Elo 6k player you will never ever play against elo 30k. But in COD heeey why not :D
@@fabiopauli420CS2 isn't manipulative enough to make people play when they don't want to past a lose streak or competitive match. Some modern cods have been my first time ever trying to find the fun in a game fruitlessly just to give up on it.
@@georgerockwell6124 i felt like i was forced to play before just so i can get my weekly drops but ok
amazing video hits some hard truth on how mwz is a shadow of dmz and how special dmz was
Back when cod 4 came out we played because it was fun
Glory days
I sat through the whole experience of MW3 from launch to S6. I had fun. Keeping up with the changes every week. EOMM/SBMM sucked the entire way but being aware of it let me work around it. I didn’t grind amp’s and I bought 2 black cells which I both 100%. I got my value back.
This game kept me entertained while I studied for med school, and once I get in, I’m leaving my PS5 at home
ive never been affected by this and thats why i dont believe it entirely exists. well i do but not to the point that the community have demonised it as. people are just ass at games, they suck so unbelievably hard its actually questionable and embarrassing. its why im not surprised that a ton of people resorted to cronus and stuff to hack games now. i mean gen A brains were cooked from the start being IPAD kids watching skibidi toilet anyway and cant tell their left from their right or follow basic level of understanding that even in schools they are being taught what was 3 grades lower than we learnt. gen Z are not much better now anyway. being drugs and weed destroying our brains, PTSD and natural trauma enduced growing up, the whole world abandoning us and us just tryna find our way in the world and a lot us gave up cause the world gave up on us.
times are changed and theres very few people with a functioning brain.
Quick reminder that these are video games and what some people think are lame and waste of time some people think are fun at the end of the day there are tons of different games that you can play and it’s better to just play what you enjoy instead of listening to online echo chambers just my 2 cents
someone else with a working brain, is this the human races intelligence race to a redemption ark of knowledge and common sense?
It’s not really about the video itself,but i really like how a video about cod,a game that wants to appeal to everyone at everytime and thus has been suffering identity issues since that decision uses music from splatoon,a series that has a stronger identity than it’s server’s stability
Really wishing u luck that the algorythm catches you again, ur content is great
I just need to finish school, man 😔 I've got so many videos I want to make
I see seasonal updates and live service in general as a net positive that the gaming industry just took the fattest shit on. Why actually utilize the features of live service to support a game for 3+ years, putting out impactful content or at least new or unique stuff every couple months when you can do neither and instead do the absolute bare minimum while focusing entirely on paid skins
cracking up at how many hours I wasted on MWZ grinding camos for no reason, glad im not alone 😂
Considering the fact Black Ops 6:
-Is already adding goofy skins to Multiplayer day 1
-Has Blackcell on the roadmap
-Has an awful zombies map
-Caters to the spastic, twitchy gameplay streamers/esports wannabes LOVE
-Is tied to the fucking COD HQ launcher
I have zero reason to believe it'll be good...
dont buy cosmetics then
@@Scroogey_boy That argument doesn't work when everything regarding the game's development centers around the cosmetics. Warzone, COD HQ, the matchmaking algorithm, the rushed/half-assed development. All of it centers around the need to reach unreasonable profit quotas through skin bundles and BPs. Instead of telling me to buy skins, how about you and everyone else stop buying these damned skins and maybe, just MAYBE, we can actually have a good COD for once.
@@Noxis07 what has warzone got to do with cosmetics. you still dont have to buy them and if people were dissatisfied with the game then they would not buy skins and they would change buiseness model
@@Scroogey_boypeople like you are why cod will never be good again
@@Noxis07 They'll just find another way to exploit the playerbase for money
The octo expansion music so fye
once you learn to play the game and only buy the battle pass when you complet it things get 10x more enjoyable
This video is so great keep up the good work, I thought this was a video made by a big creator but you’re underated and make better content than most UA-camrs
Bro I remember DMZ 😭 It was so fun
Wow bro that was like a whole year ago how do you even remember that ! ?
ever since the disaster that happened with MW2019 I thought "why am I even grinding this out, it's not the old prestige, and they can ruin it at a moment's notice for warzone's sake" and while I do miss cod's gameplay, the gameplay of cod is not catered to me anymore
its not catered to me really either anymore but i can still find fun in playing those games. u cant trust what the community says 99% of the time because they make it out to be worse than it is and that 1% is when they are right. theres has always been a simple workaround to majority of these things and people just still cry about it because its effort.
i mean fgs, even minecraft is not catered to me either anymore. the peak was back in 2012 or 2013. everyone including parents and grand parents knew what minecraft is and even played it as a family. minecraft parodies were booming back then and the community was outright saying thankyou for being part of our lives and making us happy the game was THAT impactful to us. now i cant find anything in modern minecraft, being able to keep my attention and half the things in the game now arnt something i like and cater to the redstone community or the building community while survival is thrown to the side. although i have got back into the game within the last few days, its nothing like the good old days of minecraft.
I just started the COD journey and it's fun af to me. I'm sure I gotta strong couple of yrs before I'm over it lol
I will never understand how people blindly fall for FOMO when it's clearly designed to keep you playing
Think of it like an addictive drug.... that's why
Its mainly children who play cod. Young minds do not have the level of critical thinking of an adult due to lower cognitive developement, thus they fall more easily for the manipulation tactics of activision.
Great video, rock solid editing, and you have an amazing personality that translates well.
With having a kid, fiance, and multiple hobbies, I feel like cod is perfect because it doesn't take up too much time. I enjoy the extra quick stress relief.
Splatoon salmon run music on par with the cod zombies
I think they should have kept most of the goofy shit in CoD Mobile/Online and I'm saying that as a fan of CoD Mobile
This was an excellent video. If this video is wildly successful, it's not because of the "negative" or "clicky" title or thumbnail, but because of the coherent, thoughtful script. Even if we all already know these companies are leeching off of our time and attention, I think it's important to be reminded that this shit is everywhere, and we need to be mindful of the cycles we participate in, and help create
The bo6 beta was the most fun i had in a while It feels good being diddy for a few seconds
Once again, Splatoon music is just…hooray.
Yeah, games have become a lot more about grabbing the wallets of every player and shaking every little bit out of it. In the good old days of games, you’d earn rewards just for playing the game you paid for.
Now you’d be lucky to play a game without a battle pass with time exclusive rewards that convince you to buy their product that you then have to play the game to finish, or a digital deluxe edition that lets you play the game with a few extra bonuses that would normally be locked behind that paywall.
Some games still have free stuff (Splatoon, obvious pick) which everyone likes. Anyone would pick free things over paid.
Oh no I wrote a big essay just for a UA-cam comment 😅
Don't worry, I read it 😎
I think what most people in CoD fail to realize is this: people will only see 2 of your skins along with 1 weapon. Once you unlock your favorite weapon and your favorite operator for both factions, there's no point in grinding shipment 24/7 if you're not truly having fun and feeling empty the moment you turn off the game.
They don't force you to do anything. You are always the Captain of your ship
DSC MENTIONED!!!! I
Damn, this video is way higher quality than i expected
When you mentioned DMZ, I was in actual pain. It NEEDS to come back.
I love dmz...
This is why I like hardcore mode in cod. Doesn't matter what gun you bring, it'll always be a 1 or 2 shot. More about skill and strategy than weapon build
So true
i would play it more if i didnt have such an issue with target aquisition. Literally shooting 4 of my teammates to death every single HC game cause i thought they are the enemy.
@@fabiopauli420 that’s true the visibility could be better tbh, I hate getting stunned on spawn and headshotting my nearest teammates head off because I couldn’t determine if he was a friend or foe.
@@fabiopauli420 would be nice if there was an option to make everyone default or at least base-game on your side.
...i know, i know, this idea has been talked about to death, but HC is where it would ACTUALLY improve gameplay.
grenade/streak spam go brrr. very strategy.
It’s so rare I agree with 100% of the opinions in a video. This is one. So many of the things you talked about I just went yup yup yup. Great vid you’re gonna blow up
" I check in regularly with some games more than my friends" hits hard unfortunately
God I miss DMZ. once they added it I almost exclusively played it and my friend group expanded. We had fun, made plans/routes and made some good memories.
Dude graduated with a masters in Codonomics.
👨🎓
very well said bro, i wish people truly listened to the facts you just talked about. enough is enough
you're so well articulated. good video.
Are you having fun? Yes
I definitely agree with this video more than the cosmetics one, especially on the battle pass part, I completed all of the MW3 BPs till now, and I think I only use 3 or 4 items from each of them (not counting the season's weapons). I don't really mind the Blackcell pass, it's mostly just cosmetics, but they are DEFINITELY waay too aggressive by always shoving it in your face. Also agree on the camo grinding, I got Interstellar for almost all weapons, and it's the only camo I use, but still grind for the event camos even though I will most likely never use them.
The aftermarket parts were a great addition, it keeps the game fresh every week (mostly the conversion kits, not the attachments) and A LOT of them are not overpowered, so they don't break the game but are still fun to play with
Edit: great video btw
Can't believe you have only 5k subscribers bro, amazing video
This man is so underrated keep it up bro
So nice to see a video like this,👍 that space marine 2 is 😎
For seasonal content, i full-heartedly believe that MW2019 was a much needed shift from BO4-AW's Gamblin- i mean-totally-legal-for-minors supply drops
It was way better for the consumer, and the bundle system was not only more fair (because you weren't rolling dice) but also more profitable to Activision
That being said, the way that a new, friendlier system has turned into this is awful. Blackcell was the worst thing to come into the game, why do we need a triple price pass? and that's not to mention the bundles rewarding you for buying multiple $20 items, just to get some dumb reward because you were hornswoggled into spending A WHOLE GAMES WORTH
Adding on to this, some of the bundles are really cool! you can tell the designers put so much love and care into the neat visual remakes of weapons, characters, and so on! but they're shoved into a system bittered by greed, leading people to not appreciate the designs of the bundles at all
Keep em Cod videos coming! This is gold content! I'm studying this stuff so I can find ways to do things more fair on my own video game. Definitely no battle pass, will have to come up with some less manipulative, innovative solutions.
As a former Battlefield fan who left the franchise after the disappointment that was 2042 I was well aware of how scummy COD was since infinite warfare came out and stuck to my Battlefield titles until now.
Well I have gamepass so MW3 was free for me and I decided to boot it up and try it out. As someone who is well aware the game is trying to manipulate me and the skill based matchmaking is rigged as well as the game stats themselves (and even artificial bad ping and packet bursts if you’re doing better than the game wants you to) I had a great time! It was like the video game equivalent of a fast paced entertaining B film that had waaaay too many ad breaks crammed in tbf
So it’s kind of ironic, I seemed to enjoy this game’s multiplayer more than pretty much everyone I’ve talked to about it and it’s because I knew the game was rigged and how, if Sledgehammer was just honest about it yeah they’d lose some gamers off of principle, but the rest would have more fun than they actually did. I also enjoyed BO6 beta and the movement system feels like Titanfall 2’s which is my favorite FPS ever, it too had the rigged SBMM and dark patterns which is ultimately going to make it get a worse review from people than it otherwise could have got with it’s fun mechanics and allegedly actually good campaign this time. Again it’s free for me since I have gamepass otherwise I never would’ve played these games, Activision ain’t getting a penny out of me lol
Damn, MW 2019 really got my hopes up for future cods, and none of them captured me like 2019's. That game brought tons of good times for me and my friends.
That game removed red dots from the map and started the downfall. Cold war was the last one I bought, up until Black Ops 6.
MW2019 was great, it was the first different CoD in years and then it stopped. I do still enjoy CoD, but 2019 was peak. Let's hope BO6 brings back some of that magic.
@sethamphetaminess Cod was well into its downfall before mw 2019. Unlike all the other recent cods, it actually had soul and passion behind it. If you mean this game began a downfall because of its formula, that still doesn't discount that it was good. Couldn't care less about the red dots on the minimap being gone also. Cold War was just BO4 with new paint, cool campaign, decent zombies, but multi-player was just meh. Vanguard was a game. I liked MW22, not as much as 2019, but it could have been much more with a 2 year cycle, and devs not abandoning DMZ. MW23 is soulless. BO6 beta felt soulless. Hey, it is just my opinion, though. I like AW after all and want a second one.
@TechNein to me the removing of 3 lane maps and taking red dots off the map completely changed the flow of what cod is. I like aw as well though so at least we can agree there. Also I wanna make clear that I very marginally prefer cold war to mw2019, it felt way too modern warfare to me though, and SO SLOW. That's the main thing, they tried to make it more tactical but call of duty has always been fast and arcadey. But you're right. Really bo4 kinda started it because I played blackout way more than multiplayer and that kinda started the fortnite trend in cod. I can't give an opinion on vanguard to mw3 but I've not heard great things at all, up until the end, I've actually heard it's pretty fun right now. Bo4 was the first one in a long time where I was just like "yeah it's alright I guess." But I actively disliked mw2019 and cold war.
@TechNein also other than the jackal sweats I had a ton of fun on the bo6 beta, and for the first time in a long time I can't wait for cod to come out. They're returning to form and I'm so grateful. Now the only thing left to do is get rid of all the bundles and battle pass but it makes them way too much money so we're probably stuck with it forever
i think the reason people still play is because there's nothing like call of duty sure yeah its first person shooter number 300 but its call of duty few games have been able to match the feel of cod and i think that's why people still play including myself when i got the zombies mastery camo borealis my very first mastery camo i had ever gotten i was so happy because the grind was finally over but i realized i was having the most fun when i was grinding and after a couple days i just stopped playing and i stopped playing for i want to say a little over 2 months but after playing games like gta and gran turismo for that time i got an itch for a first person shooter and i know the one i wanted was call of duty and when i started playing again it was really refreshing it just felt right it felt so good to finally be playing it again and know i play with friends every so often is the game fun to an extent yeah can i stomach the game for more then 5 hours at a time very rarely but yeah no matter what this game is in its current state which is not great i will still return to it will i get b06 probably not but maybe but my hopes are still up and this one will be good but i also realize the current shit storm that is call of duty so i keep my hopes down but once again there just isn't a game like call of duty well sure there are about a million but its just not call of duty and that's why i still play
This is the realest I’ve seen wth
Saturated their own market, and made awful choices. Doesnt take a genius to listen to their own community. It took a whole game mw2, for them to realise that. Its just crazy
I came back after a while and theres like 20 "8 daily challenge unlocks" and realised all you gotta do is play infected and it'll count as a win every time
I am still having fun thank you very much much 😊😊
Rhulk waiting for some fireteam to fight him
Thank you for making this video
I love the aggressively predatory nature of the gaming landscape these days. It's allowed me to save so much money!
Oh look, the latest Diablo has seasonal updates and a battle pass? Cool, Ill go back to Diablo 3 or 2. Or Path of Exile.
Ooh, that new game everyone is raving about has "time saver" bonuses for sale? They're only for eight hours? Looks like I can work on my backlog or play Borderlands some more.
Huh, a new battle royale. I guess Ill go play more Factorio instead.
By assuming every new release is going to suck and waiting for it to go on sale, Ive saved thousands of dollars by not buting crap.
That Swapnote ost at the start hit me hard with nostalgia, excellent choice lol
Honestly the best part of the video for me was the letterkenny reference 😂😂😂
i dunno, i’m still having fun most of the time. new content every week is pretty exciting and keeps it fresh, though i do agree they definitely release new weapons in a overpowered state for engagement and blackcell battlepass purchases which 100% suks.
Honestly even though I’ve only played it once, the new cod is great.
I think we all just need to accept that gaming will never be as good as it was during Covid.
I've been trying to faze out the seasonal games lately, it's good to see that I'm not the only one seeing that they're sucking my life away.
Top tier video loving it!
0:45 As someone who still plays and pretty much ONLY Plays the original Call Of Duty’s from before 2013 I have to say: Yes I am.
No your not!
I think the constant swarm of live service is what contributed to making me give up on gaming in general, it’s exhausting to have every game constantly change, I get fomo over worthless crap
Honestly man I’d recommend picking up the borderlands series or maybe RPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3, Dragons Dogma 2, etc.
While yes most FPS and LS games on the market are worn out and boring FOMO-fests, on the RPG side it’s going STRONG
don’t stop gaming, just stop playing games that are FOMO machines.
Play this game called Control, super fun.
Thanks for reminding me, I’ve lost so much time in this shidd, and my friends become so obsessed with this game they became toxic, starting dentistry college and stopping play This and playing only cod mobile was the best thing, i don’t want to grind and be a movement demon all the time
I’m in a friend group that plays almost exclusively COD. I have enough free time in my life, and I enjoy it enough, to grind a whole crap ton.
Because of this, I’ve found a balance that I’m okay with. I spend $100 every October for the new game with all the bonus shit. Usually it’s the premium version of the first battle pass, with some extra cod points and some cosmetics I’ll probably never use. I use the cod points from the battle pass to get the next one and just recycle them. Throughout the year I’ll spend another $20-40 max and buy a couple bundles. Usually near the beginning of the new game for an operator skin I really like, that I will use the whole rest of the year.
Do I know that Activison is using these dark patterns? Yes. Do they still work on me, getting me to grind way more than I probably should? Yes. Am I also making a conscious decision to be okay with it because I get enough enjoyment out of it? Also yes.
14:33 man i miss DMZ. Unlocking the serpentine ester egg camo was so much fun.
This was my first cod ever and i love it, cant wait for bo6.
Maby cause i just started playing cod with 23years and not since i was a kid i am still havin fun.
I dont think the games are the problem, people just grow up an realise videogames are just not there hobby but more a childlike interest
I've been playing COD since waw, as I've gotten older I've come to this same realization. Haven't purchased the last 4/5 games and only purchased one skin for trolling. (Nicki Minaj lmao) Great Video!!!
I like that you actually know what you’re talking about with mw3, cuz you’ve been playing it and not just playing it for a little for a video, being ignorant to most of the mechanics and how things work. W video btw (:
Amazing video bro I loved it all the way through 😂