Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - Gen. Discussion & Info

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Hey Everyone --

I wanted to give you the heads up on a lot of cool changes coming to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer for the Xbox 360 in the month of December. Before you ask, there is no ETA on these changes, most are included in the upcoming patch, with all the playlists stuff happening independently at some point in the near future.

All of these changes are thanks to YOUR direct feedback and suggestions through Xbox.com forums, emails, IMing me personally, and any other way you managed to get your feedback to us. So what can you expect?

Multiplayer Playlist Changes:

The multiplayer playlists in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare are always evolving based on community feedback and stats we track behind the scenes. We're focused on constantly keeping the game fresh and tweaking it based on your feedback, so expect the following Playlist changes to be hitting soon:

Team Deathmatch

* Map Added to Rotation: Showdown - now available in map rotation.

Mercenary Team Deathmatch

* Brand New Playlists: No Clans / Parties allowed.
* Players who don't want to be matchmade with clans (or people in parties) can team up with fellow lone wolves and play some TDM.

Free-for-All

* Map Added to Rotation: Showdown - now available in map rotation.
* Score Limit Change: 100 Points

Domination

* Map Added to Rotation: Ambush - now available in map rotation.
* Map Added to Rotation: Bloc- now available in map rotation.
* Map Added to Rotation: Pipeline - now availalbe in map rotation.

Ground War

* No changes.

Sabatoge

* Map Added to Rotation: Showdown - now available in map rotation.

Headquarters

* Map Added to Rotation: Ambush - now available in map rotation.
* Map Added to Rotation: Bloc- now available in map rotation.
* Map Added to Rotation: Pipeline - now availalbe in map rotation.

Search and Destroy

* Map Added to Rotation: Showdown - now available in map rotation.

Team Tactical

* Map Added to Rotation: Ambush - now available in map rotation.
* Map Added to Rotation: Bloc- now available in map rotation.
* Map Added to Rotation: Pipeline - now availalbe in map rotation.

Hardcore Team Deathmatch

* Brand New Playlist: 100% Hardcore Team Deathmatch Only
* No longer switched between Hardcore Search and Destroy and Hardcore Team Deathmatch
* Map Added to Rotation: Showdown - now available in map rotation.

Hardcore Search and Destroy

* Brand New Playlist: 100% Hardcore Search and Destroy Only
* No longer switched between Hardcore Search and Destroy and Hardcore Team Deathmatch
* Map Added to Rotation: Showdown - now available in map rotation.

Old School

* Rule Set Change: Free-for-All Only w/ Old School Rules
* Increased Health (slightly)
* No Health Re-gen
* Score Limit Change: 100 points
* Map Added to Rotation: Showdown - now available in map rotation.

Cage Match

* Rule Set Change: No Longer Old School Mode
* 1 v 1: Normal Rules
* Map Added to Rotation: Countdown - now availalbe in map rotation
* Map Added to Rotation: District - now available in map rotation

Oldcore

* Playlist Removed

Team Objective

* Playlist Removed
* All gametypes included now available individually.

Upcoming Patch Updates (Seperate from above Playlist changes):

Addition of Host Migration

* If Host of lobby leaves, all players will be deposited back to the lobby where next best host will be selected before new game restarts. Players will no longer be kicked out of game entirely.

Improved Network Performance For Larger Games

* 18 player games now require more bandwidth to host, resulting in smoother performance for players.

Optimized Server Selection for First Match

* Server selection is now optimized to select best bandwidth servers associated by LSP.

Updated Spectator "Chase Cam"

* Change Spectator Mode: Switch between First Person and Third Person.
* 360 Degree rotation around character you're spectating.

Fixed "Playlist Older Than Host" Error

* Player will no longer get error when entering games.

Optimized Corrupt Create-a-Class Handling

* Players will no longer be kicked from game when their create-a-class data is corrupted.

Added Kill Cam To Everything

* Kill Cam view Added: Air Strike Bombs (Follows bomb from plane to target)
* Kill Cam view Added: Grenades (Follows frag from hand to ground, then rotates to view target)
* Kill Cam view Added: RPGs (Follows RPG from launch to target)
* Kill Cam view Added: M203 Rounds (Follows round from launcher to target)
* Kill Cam view Added: Claymores (Views from behind claymore until explosion)
* Kill Cam view Added: C4 Packs (View from pack rotating to watch target)
* Kill Cam view Added: Martrdom (View from grenade rotating to watch target)

Optimized Old School Experience

* Added Unlimited Sprint
* Doubled Magazine Size
* Added Ragdoll Cam

Additional Start Spawn Locations in All Maps

* Added a minimum of 9 extra start spawns on each side of all maps.

Optimized Sniper Rifle / ACOG Scope Accuracy

* Sniper Rifles and ACOG scope accuracy improved due to fix.

Fixed Weapon Sprint Bug

* Bug which gave players more sprint when using particular weapons.

Thanks again for your constant feedback and support of the game, keep in mind that playlists are constantly evolving, so everything is subject to change based on feedback and results. If we feel something isn't fun or based on your feedback we'll continue to change it up and I'll continue to keep you in the loop.

Thanks everyone.
_________________
Infinity Ward: Community Relations Manager

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Friday Sept. 28th, (first thing aka 10 am PST) we're going to be maxing out the level cap for the beta at Rank 25. This is going to allow you to rank up and unlock everything that's not marked Classified including new weapons, perks, and challenges such as:


Assault Rifles:
> G3

Light Machine Guns:
> M60E4

Sniper Rifles:
> Dragunov

Perk 1:
> Claymore X2

Perk 2:
> Slight of Hand

Perk 3:
> Martyrdom

Next weekend (Friday 28th / Sunday 30th) is going to be a mad rush to level 25 as it's official, come 11:59pm on Sunday the 30th the beta will be coming to a close. I know, I know... but don't worry. It'll only be a little over a month from that point that you'll be able to get your hands on the full version of the game on November 5th.

Two posts ago, I talked a bit about all the changes we've implemented to the game thanks to the beta, and now that the beta is closing on it's end and we're closed in on 'Going Gold' I wanted to clarify and go a bit more in depth on how effective this beta has been. Thanks to the tens of thousands of feedback emails we've received and the stat tracking behind the scenes here at IW, we've been able really optimize multiplayer before launch. Some of which includes:

Sensitivity Slider:
A lot of you have requested customized sensitivity, opposed to just Low, Medium, and High settings, as well as suggesting a Sensitivity Slider which would allow you to set your sensitivity to exactly what you're most comfortable with. We've taken that feedback and made sure it made it into the game. You'll now be able to go to Options > Sensitivity and use a slider to select exactly how fast you want to aim.

Host Selection optimized:
We've done some extensive optimizing of host selection / restrictions in the final version of the game thanks to all your feedback in the beta. Earlier in the beta we made sure to have no restrictions on who you could matchmake with, considering we only had a few thousands playing. As the beta grew and we let more people in, including from all over the world, some of you may have started to experience lag in servers where the host was in a separate country from yourself due to high pings. In the final game this won't be an issue, as we've included optimized host selection and restrictions when you search for games so that you will not be put in a lobby with a host that has a bad connection or ping. So you won't have to worry about logging into a laggy server and being at the mercy of the host simply because you live on the opposite side of the globe than them. The removal of laggy servers will inadvertently address lag related issues some of you have been reporting such as 'wonky' hit detection and others caused by it.

Map Exploits / Jumps:
Lots of reports have come in about being able to get on certain ledges or areas of the map not intended for players to get to. All of these have been addressed and kill switched in the final game. Therefore, any player attempting to exploit these spots in the final version of the game will instantly be killed. These include any place the player is given an unfair advantage over another player.

The N0M4D Control Scheme:
There was confusion in my last post when I spoke of the addition of the N0M4D control scheme, I want to clarify that this is an 'addition' not a replacement. The default controls will remain the same, and you will still have the various other control scheme options, this is just a new special control scheme that can be chose under options if you so choose. It will essentially be the Tactical control scheme with Toggle for the left trigger. Again, default controls are the same, this is just another choice.

Obviously there are a massive amount of other additions and changes we've made to the game based off the beta feedback, but I can't list them all here individually. Throughout the entire beta we've been making backend tweaks and changes to the matchmaking, network code, spawn logic and other essential aspects of multiplayer, so don't worry all of that is being optimized constantly and will continue to be optimized after launch if / as needed.

You beta testers have been instrumental in the perfecting of the multiplayer aspect of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and the help you've provided is really going to show come November 5th.

So the final question, Are We Gold Yet? I'll leave the final official word to any press releases Activision would like to send out, but lets just say, I've received a few congratulatory emails from both Sony of America for PS3 and Microsoft certification for the Xbox 360. What those emails say, as I said, I'll leave to the nicely worded press releases. All I'll say is thank you to everyone who played the beta, provided feedback, participated in the forums to let us know what you thought and suggestions and anyone else who helped us fine tune the game.

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A hundred thousand may seem like a lot of keys. But we expect them to go fast. After all, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of the most highly anticipated games of the year.

So if you’re a registered GameSpot user who is also a Xbox Live Gold Member in North America over the age of 17, then come back on Monday, Sept 10th at 9:00 am PT to enter the beta test.

How it works is quite simple: Our big stockpile of tokens will be broken up into five stashes. Each day we will release one of those stashes. If you get a beta token, great. If you don’t, try again the next day. Once you sign up, you’ll get a token code and a confirmation email. You’ll use your Token Code to download the Beta from Xbox Live Marketplace.

Good luck!

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Hey Everyone –

Straight to the Point: The Level Cap Is Rising!

Friday morning at 10 am PDT (1 pm EST) we’re going to be increasing the Rank level cap to Level 16. This is going to allow you to rank up and unlock more weapons, more perks, and more features; including Clan Tags (lv. 12). This is the first of several level increases we’re going to do throughout the beta, so keep playing, and we’ll keep you informed of incoming updates. Thanks to everyone currently playing for the tremendous amount of feedback we’ve been receiving; Keep sending it, and we’ll see you online!

- Infinity Ward

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Beta Registration Has Ended... More Opportunities to Come!

24-Hour Beta Sign-up has officially ended. I've pulled the final list, and the first batch of tokens are going to start sending out immediately.

Before I let you in on the best part, I want to make it clear that tokens are going to be going out in waves, we're probably going to let in a little over 10,000 people a day to slowly ramp up to the full amount. So even if you are selected tonight, you may not get your token just yet. Be patient. Enough of the logistics, now on to the good part.

I told you that we'd take care of the community, and I'm happy to say we were able to live up to that promise. Everyone who signed up for a chance at the beta via the 24-hour Beta Sign-up, WILL be getting a token!

We're going to send out congrats emails to all of you eventually, but keep in mind (again) the tokens themselves will be in waves. So you might get it today, you might get it tomorrow, you might get it later than that. So be patient, I know everyone would love to be in the first wave, but keep in mind this is a beta TEST, and this is one way were testing our servers performance is by ramping up slowly and tracking how it effects the game, playlist downloads, matchmaking, etc. We're hoping to try and get them all out as quickly as possible, but just wanted to give you a heads up if you don't see a token immediately in your inbox.

As I said, everyone who completed the sign-up over the past 24 hour's will be getting a token, if for some reason you missed the 24 hour sign-up keep in mind we're going to have more chances to get tokens in the future (possibly another Charlie.com sign-up) as well as through Gamespot.com, and GameStop, not to mention International users have their very own exclusive tokens / sign-ups coming up.

Thanks again for all the support everyone, once you've all received your token, downloaded the beta, and are online stabbing me in the back on Vacant.... I'm sure it would have all been worth it.

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And for anyone saying they've run out of ways to portray WWII, you are complete idiots. You could bring top-down strategy, which hasn't arrived on consoles, you could do a shooter from the Nazi perspective (which I'm ing LIVID they haven't done yet)

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you could do the ing PACIFIC campaign, for crying out loud (very underdone, and done poorly when attempted). You could do more in the Russian front, or more in the African front. You could also go story-heavy, which has only been done by BIA.

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Err...you do know that most of the CoDs are interconnected loosely and are story based?

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