EA adds 'Shame Marker" to BLOPS4 for non-season pass owners

[gbullock32]

So in a scummy marketing move to push the season pass, Activision adds a "shame marker" to show people who do not own the season pass for BLOPS4. So Activision dips lower and lower; seems they are trying to go for a peer pressure move to get more people to buy their garbage.... embarrassing. What's next, personalized messages telling players they are leeches for only dropping $60 and not spending more?

https://youtu.be/yQSv70Sf-qw

This is horrible, and should not have happened, and definitely should be not only removed but it really shows how low Activision will sink.

[Aidy]

People have to remember that outrage=views and that's all youtubers care about. If they can rant and rave about something it gets them that sweet ad revenue and who cares if what they're saying is factually correct? Kudos to Jeremy for actually thinking about the issue the way any sane person would before making a video about it and not getting sucked onto the hype train.

[gbullock32]

Of course it wasn't a "shame marker" to try and get people to buy a season pass. All this hyper-sensitivity and faux-outrage is getting quite pathetic. You realise you lot are no different from the people on the "other side" with their willingness to fly into a rage at anything they perceive to be a sleight?

I can't argue with your point; but with how shady they have been I think the knee jerk reaction to assume the worst is warranted to an extent. If a company always does anything they can to wring a few more dollars from people, then the assumption becomes that this is just another example of that.

I am glad it turned out to be wrong, this time, but I still will assume pretty much anything Activision does is just a way to garner more from their customers.

[Aidy]

Of course it wasn't a "shame marker" to try and get people to buy a season pass. All this hyper-sensitivity and faux-outrage is getting quite pathetic. You realise you lot are no different from the people on the "other side" with their willingness to fly into a rage at anything they perceive to be a sleight?

[James27]

Apparently this was a bug and it was only meant to show up among friends. TheQuartering did a video on it. It’s all good, people! For once this wasn’t Activision being Activision.

https://youtu.be/qqELVXoAieI

[Merlin]

I feel like this has happened before in another game. Maybe an mmo? Where the developers intended to show off the people who spent the most money, but it backfired and those guys ended up getting bullied. Can't remember what it was now though.

That is actually hilarious. I can just imagine a person with a marker over their head showing their spent $10000 on MTX.

[OzzieArcane]

I don't play Call of Duty but as someone who played Transformers: War for Cybertron I understand the logic behind this. If you didn't have the DLC and were in a lobby where the DLC maps came up on rotation, if you didn't successfully get the players to veto the map you'd get kicked when the match started. A lot of people didn't buy the maps and this lead to situations where the DLC maps would come up, the people who don't have them would try to veto it, the people who do have the maps would refuse to veto it yelling "I never get to play these maps I paid for, F U", then because nearly half the lobby didn't have the maps but didn't have the votes to veto it no one gets to play and everyone just gets kicked to the main menu.

[fenrif]

Seems like it is backfiring though. With THAT many people who don't have the map packs, you would look like an idiot if you DID have them. I'd take pleasure in knowing that by not having it, I get the defiance badge of honor. Heck, even if the majority of players did have the map pack, I would still not buy it just to troll them.

I feel like this has happened before in another game. Maybe an mmo? Where the developers intended to show off the people who spent the most money, but it backfired and those guys ended up getting bullied. Can't remember what it was now though.

[Merlin]

Seems like it is backfiring though. With THAT many people who don't have the map packs, you would look like an idiot if you DID have them. I'd take pleasure in knowing that by not having it, I get the defiance badge of honor. Heck, even if the majority of players did have the map pack, I would still not buy it just to troll them.

[gbullock32]

Since when is it a "shame marker?" It tells me right away which maps they do or don't have. So if I'm in a group with them, I know what to expect, instead of wondering why I'm getting the same maps over and over again.

IIRC the old way they did it is when you went into a lobby it only put you on maps you had, and if you were in a private game it only let you select room maps everyone had (been a long time since I played CoD); putting a yellow error marker next to people's name seems very intrusive by comparison.

I see your point though, it allows for fast and easy indication of who you could access all content with, and who you cannot; but a more subtle method might have been better.

[APTminer]

Yeah, this is why I rarely buy Activision games. I own Cod WaW, BO1 and 2 and MWR with IW. Mediocre games all of them

[Clyde Frog]

No big deal to me. I'll do what I always do with the few COD titles I have. Wait. Eventually they will offer maps and modes a la carte. They always do as the last effort to milk for $$.

[Aidy]

https://youtu.be/yQSv70Sf-qw

I too think Activision are scum of the earth and I too want Activision to go under with the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs, and I want EA to go under as well. I want it so that indie game makers will make the games we buy instead. Sure, it means playing Shovel Knight and Star Dew Valley rather than AAA titles like GTA and Red Dead Redemption but that is a price worth paying. Activision are the lowest of the low, utter pieces of s***t, all because they...

*checks notes*

...put an indicator next to people who don't have access to the maps you do.

[Zoltor]

It's so stupid, most of the people who by COD to beginwith are already ashamed for supporting Activisian, this will just push them to not buy the game at all next time.

Also 50 dollars to what ammounts to just map packs(maybey a few new weapons as well if they're lucky) is insanely overpriced, and to expect people to buy into that shit before they even see the maps, is pure lunacy.

With this type of BS, cutting out content, and their scummy microtransaction practices, it amazes me Activision is confused as to why COD sells less with each iteration.

Hey Activision you morons, EA atleast understands this(It's so dumb that EA actually wants this though), pulling this BS doesn't encourage future sales, all it does is milk the very few people willing to put up with this BS, while giving most people a reason not to even buy the base game, let alone buy into your BS. Why don't you understand this?

[zeorhymer]

Since when is it a "shame marker?" It tells me right away which maps they do or don't have. So if I'm in a group with them, I know what to expect, instead of wondering why I'm getting the same maps over and over again.