Call of Duty has been around for over 10 years. It is pretty much a household name in first world countries, being the best-selling first person shooter of all time. A new game comes out every year and the copies fly off the shelves.
There are multiple reasons for why people buy a Call of Duty game. That’s why it’s so popular: it really does cater to different audiences. Some players are just into playing the story mode and then they move on to the next game. Call of Duty is popular for it’s multiplayer, which features a large number of game modes, and people generally find which they like best and stick with it. Starting with World at War, Call of Duty came out with a zombie wave mode, which can also be a lot of fun!
Clearly, there are many reasons to play a game like Call of Duty. You, the reader, are probably here because you are interested in competitive Call of Duty, no? Competitive gaming is a spin off of multiplayer, and I think it is safe to say that no competitive player started out anywhere other than public lobbies, maybe playing Team Deathmatch or Search and Destroy. At some point, competitive players realized their skill potential and their desire to win and moved on to the next level. But let me repeat, we all started in the public lobbies.
At some point in my competitive career, I began to realize how silly public lobbies are (those besides ranked play, and even then…). Crazy kill streaks, abilities, guns, game modes. Some things are made for fun and that’s it. Thinking back to it though, I used to play those public lobbies, dominating match after match, thinking I was hot shit. The thing is, I used to play some Gamebattles back on Call of Duty 2. My team stuck to Team Deathmatch as our sole game type, and I honestly don’t know what the competitive scene was like back then. I did the same on Call of Duty 4.
Watching and following the top competitive players was not as simple in the past. We have streams and Twitter available to us now, but back then you really had to go out of your way to be involved. I think that’s why I feel there is no excuse these days for “pubstompers” these days to not know any better. There are so many opportunities to learn about the competitive scene, but when Call of Duty posts something on Facebook or Twitter, the pubstomper crowd thinks they know all about it simply because they know how to play Call of Duty. They post misinformed comments and yet, they don’t seem to take the time to learn more about the content of the post they are reading.
Let me explain: “pubstompers” are people that just destroy kids in public matches. They probably have a team of 6 that go into random lobbies and just win game after game. As I said before, I was once one of them. The pubstompers are probably pretty decent players in terms of gunskill, and obviously they have a little bit of teamwork going if they are playing with a full team of 6. However, in no way are they as good as the top competitive players, or many competitive players at all.
The reason I am so determined to let this fact be known is that I have been reading Facebook posts by Call of Duty all weekend and creeping on the comments. I can’t hold it in any longer: the comments infuriate me!
1. “Nerds… nerds…nerds”
2. “It’s sad, I could beat half of them.”
3. “Now we will all recognize who is the best camper in the world :)”
4. “I don’t understand why I’m not there, I am better than half the chumps there.”
Did you laugh a little? I did. I also felt a bit of anger build up inside. I can only do so much, but I have actually been replying to some of these comments to spread some knowledge and set the record straight. My motto is, “These kids gonna learn.” To finish this article, I will respond to each of the comments listed above.
1. What is the definition of a nerd? Do you not know that eSports have been growing at a rapid rate, faster than any other traditional sport in the world? Calling someone a nerd is really not insulting when you think about it, but I know you meant it as an insult. I’ve seen comments trying to stereotype gamers in general as fat, lazy, and not social. Those stereotypes are old, throw them in the trash already! Anyway, Call of Duty is basically the “bro” of eSports. Why are you commenting on a post by Call of Duty anyway if you think so lowly of it?
2. What is sad? That the players at this event have worked their ass off to get there? They had a goal, a dream, and they decided to follow through at the highest level. You, sir, are commenting on a post but have nothing to back up the claim that you could “beat half of them”. At least you didn’t say you could beat all of them.
3. This is a comment coming from a public match player. You must only play Team Deathmatch by the looks of it. I fully understand what you mean by camping, but the tactic is only beneficial in a few game modes. Public match Search and Destroy has much longer rounds than competitive, and therefore players often camp. I know that this comment was not made with malice, so I will take it easy on you and let you know that the world of competitive Call of Duty is easily accessible and you are welcome to join. For the future though, I would suggest understanding the content of the post you are replying to before making such a misinformed comment.
4. Before you go calling players you have probably never heard of “chumps”, think about this: these guys aren’t chumps. It’s pretty simple, they can beat you online and they can definitely beat you on LAN. If you knew about competitive Call of Duty, you wouldn’t be asking why you are not at the Call of Duty Championship. Check out MLG.tv sometime to watch the top teams play, or jump into a ranked play lobby. Those are the best ways to start learning more about the competitive scene.
– Written by Josh Billy (@Orbit_CH3MISTRY), owner of eSports Blogger.
