After studio design director David Vonderhaar received death threats from fans following balance changes made to weapons for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Activision community manager Dan Amrich recently posted against fans who treat developers this way.
“[Vonderhaar] often gets told he should die in a fire or kill himself or is a horrible person. If anybody thinks for a second that this is okay, it is not. But if the loudest voices in the Call of Duty ‘community’ act like an angry mob instead, guess how the entire world views Call of Duty?
“Now consider that these Internet Tough Guy rants and demands are not unique to COD, but exist everywhere, in many gaming communities. This is why the world often does not take gaming seriously; this is why gamers are assumed to be immature, whiny a**holes. Because the immature, whiny a**holes are louder.”
What were the changes that set so many people off? The fire time for the DSR 50 was increased from 0.2 seconds to 0.4 seconds with the AN-94’s damage being reduced. Seriously.
“The fact that [Vonderhaar] focuses on the useful feedback, puts that intel to good use fixing the problem, and doesn’t irrationally lash out at the immature, whiny a**holes is amazing.
“Role-play this for a second. When you make a mistake–because you do, we all do–or someone finds something wrong with something that you created, whether it be a meal or driving instructions or even a blog post, how would you prefer to find out that there is an issue?
“Would you like someone to just say, ‘Hey, I noticed this and I think it’s not quite right; are you seeing what I see?’ Or would you react better to having someone scream in your face that since your mother didn’t have an abortion, you should commit suicide instead? This is not the way to show a developer that what they do matters to you. Not at all.
“If you enjoy your games, have a little respect for the people who make them–and stop threatening them with bodily harm every time they do their job.”
Thoughts on Amrich’s rant?