Blops 2 News thread

[Hoos]

With Black Ops 2 Treyarch is embracing e-sports to a greater extent than any Call of Duty game. "We think there is a tremendous opportunity here to bring e-sports to the masses, and we think Call of Duty is the game to do it," Vonderhaar said.

Treyarch has introduced League Play, a skill-based matchmaking system that sorts players into divisions. It is hoped it will mean players of all skill levels can get something out of the game, traditionally inhospitable to newcomers. To rank up into a division, you'll need to win and win consistently, Vonderhaar said.

Complimenting this is Codcasting, a new system that lets shoutcasters "put a show together". Shoutcasters have a number of viewing options they can switch between, and more information is displayed in the UI, including the score panel and a large name plate on the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. Feeds include an overhead map view and a picture in picture view, which shows the action on the left and player information on the right. Shoutcasters can also tune in to the players themselves, listening to communication during a match.

But perhaps the most exciting new e-sports related feature is Live Streaming. This work-in progress system is designed to allow players to stream their games from within the game itself with the press of a single button. Vonderhaar showed a live game running on multiple iPads, suggesting we'll be able to watch matches from multiple devices.

There is little information on Live Streaming at present. There is room for players to use a USB camera to show themselves picture in picture. "You're going to need some decent upstream bandwidth," Vonderhaar added. "You do not need a high end PC. You do not need complex streaming software and hardware." More information will be revealed closer to launch.

[Hoos]

Treyarch is proposing seven seasonal brackets, in which players will be placed based on their performance as time goes on. Black Ops 2 will find an initial bracket for you somewhere after a few games, but players are expected to move up and down in their ranking as they win and lose in their division. They won't be competing against the entirety of the Call of Duty-playing masses, but a smaller pool of about 500 to 1000 players near their skill level, Vonderhaar says.

In addition to League Play, Treyarch is weaving multiplayer broadcasting tools into its game. Built-in shoutcasting features, teased in Black Ops 2's multiplayer reveal trailer, are designed to treat Call of Duty like a spectator sport, complete with simple-to-broadcast commentary tools.

Black Ops 2's broadcasting tools are simple to use. CODcasters simply join a multiplayer game as a spectator and are given the ability to see all the action in a multiplayer game from different views for play-by-play coverage. (To prevent cheating, live streams of multiplayer matches are delayed a few seconds.)

During CODcasting matches, viewers will see a score panel at the top of the screen. "Score panel is our way of linking this to sports," says Mike Rufail, Treyarch's in-house eSports advisor. "Essentially, when you flick the channel over to a sports broadcast, you immediately will find out what the score is, how much time is left in the game, who's in the lead. It's very necessary information."

Shoutcasters will even have the option of listening in to the mic feeds of players to hear how teammates are communicating (or trash talking).

[BFiVL]

Was a clip of thy at the tail end of the multiplayer vid. Curious about this feature.

[Hoos]

Cargo map...

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB3V1DLtSKQ[/youtubehd]

[Hoos]

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0780E8mBpQ[/youtubehd]

[Hoos]

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZQA_N6kiVQ[/youtubehd]

[Hoos]

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-ri5zjUTzs[/youtubehd]

[LetsGoPeay]

I'm liking what I see. So long as the spawns and hit detection are good and we have decent maps the rest is gravy.

[BFiVL]

What you are asking peay is the same as asking ea to make sure offense, defense, and online gameplay works the way it should.

[LetsGoPeay]

What you are asking peay is the same as asking ea to make sure offense, defense, and online gameplay works the way it should.

I know, I know. I try to be optimistic. It's how I've survived 37 years of life as an IU fan.

[Hoos]

I give extra weight to maps now. The MW3 maps are just colorless, boring, repeats of themselves that dull the game. Treyarch has always provided better variety.

[BFiVL]

You say that now hoos but you will be first to complain about hit detection, lag compensation, overpowered guns.

[Hoos]

Of course, those are pieces to the overall puzzle. Lag compensation is a fucking nightmare. However, the maps are still the most important feature.

[sixpackdan101]

Didn't like the look of it from the first video I saw but it's looking better and better. Looks much better than the first black ops.

[Hoos]

Launch trailer...

[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6vOWbJ46XU[/youtubehd]

[BFiVL]

Cod elite is a totally free service. No more premium. Maps will be out like days of old and not released in monthly blocks like MW3.

Preorder get nuke town mp map and first weekend double XP. Get the special edition game you get nuke town zombie map.

[Hoos]

Some early opinions..

Sprint duration relies on what weapon you hold, with combat knife letting you run the furthest
•The Crossbow shoots faster than in BO. 3 shot clip, it has an Acog, Red dot, thermal and TRIPLESHOT. Fire 3 shots at once.
•Scavenger replenishes all equipment and lethals. Scav packs only drop from non-explosive kills, though.
•High scorestreaks are VERY hard to get. If you play for KD, play the objective. You'll look ridiculous with half the score as the OBJ guy.
•Recoil. There is significant recoil in Black Ops 2. Gun WILL take skill.
•Sniping is fun, but challenging. The Unscoped Ballista takes A LOT of skill. Will be hard for most snipers to get used to.
•The knife lunge range in #BlackOps2 is HORREBDOUS. You have to be point blank.
•BlackOps2 has one of the best spawn systems I've seen. Not too quick to flip, never got spawned in front of somebody.
•Sensitivity: now 1-14. 14 is the same as 10 in previous games. More tiers in-between, allowing you to tune your sens even more.
•Some maps are interactive. Cargo has moving shipment crates. Express has a bullet train that runs you over/cuts off spawns. Pretty cool.
•SMG's suffer a LOT of damage drop off, but are lethal up close. They did a good job catering each gun class to its actual role.

[ajalves]

Some early opinions..

Sprint duration relies on what weapon you hold, with combat knife letting you run the furthest
•The Crossbow shoots faster than in BO. 3 shot clip, it has an Acog, Red dot, thermal and TRIPLESHOT. Fire 3 shots at once.
•Scavenger replenishes all equipment and lethals. Scav packs only drop from non-explosive kills, though.
•High scorestreaks are VERY hard to get. If you play for KD, play the objective. You'll look ridiculous with half the score as the OBJ guy.
•Recoil. There is significant recoil in Black Ops 2. Gun WILL take skill.
•Sniping is fun, but challenging. The Unscoped Ballista takes A LOT of skill. Will be hard for most snipers to get used to.
•The knife lunge range in #BlackOps2 is HORREBDOUS. You have to be point blank.
•BlackOps2 has one of the best spawn systems I've seen. Not too quick to flip, never got spawned in front of somebody.
•Sensitivity: now 1-14. 14 is the same as 10 in previous games. More tiers in-between, allowing you to tune your sens even more.
•Some maps are interactive. Cargo has moving shipment crates. Express has a bullet train that runs you over/cuts off spawns. Pretty cool.
•SMG's suffer a LOT of damage drop off, but are lethal up close. They did a good job catering each gun class to its actual role.

not one "negative" thing.....we'll see

[BIGmike]

Best be dusting off that mic Hoos.

[BFiVL]

ICUS!!!!!!!!!