I had to stop reading the responses to this thread because they are filled with such idiocy I can't stomach it anymore.
As to the OPs question about COD hate, who the fuck knows? People like to hate on things. If you don't like something that is popular, that automatically puts you on the outside of a group. People don't like being on the outside. They resent those who have the shared experience. Maybe they secretly wonder if there is something wrong with them because they don't like something that so many other people have liked? I'm no psychologist, but I'm sure there are theories aplenty as to why people will hate something popular so vehemently.
As to some of the arguments I've read in the first ten or so responses, I feel compelled to address them:
CoD is just the same game over and over again
I don't know. I've played three of them now, and I would say the story lines are fairly unique and interesting. MW is part of a trilogy, so obviously those stories are building on each other. In the modern gaming world, it seems to me most sequels are pretty much the same game with a new story. Some people really like that. When you have solid gameplay, there really isn't much reason to mess with it. I'm not pissed because my books don't know have letters that dance on the page and sing me songs while I read. If it's about a new setting and story, I can't see the problem here. Innovation for innovation's sake is one of the more annoying things the gaming industry does imo.
It's not CoD, it's the douchey fans.
I know quite a few CoD fans who aren't assholes. I myself am one. I'm not an idiot, I'm not twelve, and I'm not "giving gamers a bad name" as one poster put it. I enjoy all types of games. I can certainly see the merit of something like CoD. After playing it, other shooter games do seem clunky by comparison. CoD has a very smooth and fluid system for an FPS. In fact, I've heard this generalization so much, I was reluctant to play CoD. I'm glad that a number of my friends suggested otherwise.
Is it for everybody? No, but neither is Mario, and that has a decidedly more favorable opinion of it in communities like these, even though they haven't really done anything different in the last few years either. Mario Sunshine was really the last interesting innovation they did with that series, and it was unpopular, so they went back to the old Mario 64 type game.
I'm just saying before you start labeling an entire community of gamers, you should probably talk to a few CoD players here on these forums. Many of them are quite willing to recognize the flaws in their favorite series. They just find your arguments for why the series sucks to be not particularly persuasive.
The company that makes it is greedy!
To me, this is one of the most baffling arguments. I personally know of no single game company that isn't profit motivated. They all want to make more money. Yes, they hire artists who really just enjoy making great games. But without the corporations like Activision, these artists wouldn't have a place to work. Let's just set aside the fact that they just announced a CoD con where all the proceeds go to charity. All gaming companies are greedy. They are all run by people and shareholders who want more money for less risk. These are not non-profit organizations. If you hate CoD for this, you really should be more consistent and hate all gaming companies.
I'm not going to argue that the working conditions of one place are better than another. In huge organizations like that, those kinds of things can change on a yearly basis. Your favorite company can easily be bought up by assholes and the whole structure can change. But let's not fool ourselves into thinking any of these companies are altruistic. I've yet to see a non-profit oriented gaming company. It's what they do.
I'm just sick and tired of seeing it! I want it gone!
A rational argument if I ever heard one. If the very existence of CoD bothers you this much, you may need some therapy. I'm serious. It sounds like an anxiety disorder.
It annoys me to no end that Stephanie Meyer sells as many books as she does while authors I love to read flounder in obscurity. However, I would never wish Twilight away. Millions of people love it. My pleasure is not more equal than theirs. Neither is yours. I know, you are the most important person to you. That doesn't make this particular sentiment any less selfish.
