Call of Duty's Reason for Success

[Ak5]

No, I am not trying to turn this into a Battlefield vs. Call of Duty type of discussion!

I am just trying to figure out why Call of Duty is such a success. One theory of mine is that it is all purely psychological. Because friends have it, a player is encouraged to buy it in order to stay "in" with their friends. I've read about players saying that they get every CoD game just because their friends play it.

Now, I am biased, I don't like Call of Duty but if tomorrow you tell me the people I'll be friends with play Call of Duty, I'll definitely get it even though I don't enjoy it just to stay in with the group.

What do you guys think? Plausible?

 

[LoneKiller]

Kind of depends on who you ask. Some will say graphics, some will say ease of controls. I think it has a lot to do with the violence. People love violence in video games. I believe that the "Mortal Kombat" series was liked a great deal because of the gore.

 

[kamya]

It is because when Call of Duty 4 came out, it was one of the only graphically upgraded 5v5 fps games available on pc and console. At the same time, it was the first big fps game to include such an in depth rpg leveling and customization element to an fps. Other games had done I before, but CoD4 took it to a whole new level. Add in some special perks and rewards for kill streaks and you've added a fun casual element to the already competitive game. Then basically every fps copied tons of elements from CoD4 and every CoD after 4 is basically CoD4 with different maps, weapons, perks.

Another thing not mentioned a lot is that the actual single player campaigns are really good.

I still remember how CoD4 blew away anything that had been done before when it first came out. Everyone loved it. I even played CoD4 for about a week on PC before going back to Counter-Strike. It's not that I didn't like CoD. I loved it. It's just that no online fps will ever beat Counter-Strike in my mind.

One thing I don't like about the series is how fast they just pump out new games. They don't give the communities enough time to set up a competitive scene before releasing a new game. And that's ultimately why the Call of Duty series is rarely if ever seen in any of the more well known leagues, and fails as a competitive game.

 

[Tear of the Goddess]

Hyped, easy2play, graphics? keeping all the unbalanced ''cool'' stuff in the game. and once something blows up it stays a succes for a while.

 

[Ak5]

I enjoyed MW1 but disliked MW2, from there on out I stopped getting the CoD games.

So why are people out buying CoD: BO and MW3 like crazy? Again, the initial point of this thread is to see if you guys agree or disagree that the continuing success of CoD is because of social psychology and people conforming. If I had friends, then most surely I would have CoD: Black Ops and MW3, because I would want to conform with them.

 

[kamya]

I honestly have no idea why people keep buying the games. I don't play consoles but are there any real alternatives for online fps games?

 

[Mikey193]

It is because everyone plays it. And it's just so easy to pick up. Even when you lose a game. You still gain xp and unlock new weapons. So it's more for the casual player

 

[VanillaCreme]

I have no idea. My guess is that the kiddies find it to be easier. Personally, I do like Blops, but I don't really like either CoD franchise or the BF franchise. They both need to do better. But, unless I make the game myself, I'll never get all I want.

 

[Mikey193]

Battlefield modern combat for Xbox was amazing

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

I need to get an XBox. Seriously.

 

[edgecrusher]

i agree about call of duty 4 being a big part of it. it was such a big success that people wanted more. so every one that came out after it people bought. i enjoy it but i play online games less and less these days. the gameplay is good. nothing new or amazing, but good. and with the modern warfare games i did like the story enough to want to see what happened next. overall though i am getting tired of looking down the sights because thats what more games seem to be doing. it seems like games are starting to go the route of many movies and are becoming more of a product rather than something that could be considered art.

 

[Amnesiac]

Because shooting people in video games is fun. Just don't do it in real life because it apparently isn't polite or something. I dunno, you hear stuff.

As for Call of duty specifically...marketing and lots of it. Especially with Modern Warfare. Not to say it isn't a good game, but Activision sank a ton of money into advertising. If you do enough of that, even people that have never had an interest in Call of Duty are going to buy the thing and play it.

I feel kind of bad for the small development studios. Often a great game will go unnoticed and unsold simply because they don't have the ability to bombard everyone with ads and effectively compete with larger companies.

 

[dannyr22]

I was talked into it my mates at the time, enjoyed them for a few years/games

now they bore me, even with black ops 2 coming it's like: Meh! not bothered

 

[VanillaCreme]

I want Blops 2. Not because Blops was so awesome, but because I hate MW3 so much, I can't wait until it's pushed away.

 

[Fitz]

Well they're rubbish now, because every game is the same. Simple. People are buying the same game 3, 4, 5 times over.

But COD4 was an absolutey incredible game. It trumps every sequel thus far. The online for that game was so **** good. With the sequels, they just got lazy and made carbon copies of that game, and if anything actually took away some of the best things about it, then added things that just made it worse.

 

[Tinderleaf]

^ I agree. After CoD4, the series has brought nothing new to the table over the yearly instalments.

 

[VanillaCreme]

I have to agree with that as well. I do like the campaigns to the games though.

 

[Fvantom]

a number of things, CoD4 was one of the first games to hit the online multiplayer systems, at the time the only other option was Halo 3. One big factor, at least to me, is just smooth responsive controls, if youve played some of the 3rd party fps games, the controls can get AWFUL, and playing online is just a pain in the ass. Then theres the leveling system with unlocks which keeps people playing.