The Contracts Update

[HowToGod]

Hello! Today I want to talk to you about the newest update for COD: Black Ops 3. First of all, however, I want to say that I am excited for Infinite Warfare and it's futuristic setting, and that I have been an active member in the Call Of Duty community since Black Ops 2 was released, when my friend introduced me to the franchise. If you are familiar with the Supply Drop Issue in COD: BO3 and AW, you don't have to read the next section.

Now let's talk about the Supply Drop Issue. The Supply Drop Issue started in Advanced Warfare, where you could purchase supply drops that had a chance to give you a weapon variant that had a statistical advantage over the original weapon. This was overlooked by fans until around DLC 2. After DLC 2, Sledgehammer Games put in different weapons with different statistics . This caused a slight uproar in the COD community, but casual players like myself didn't care about it at the time. Now let's fast forward to Black Ops 3. Around the release of DLC 1, Treyarch added the MX Garand to supply drops. I should note I won't be talking about melee weapons, as they are just re-skins and do not effect the gameplay. Ok, so the MX Garand was put in the game, which is only accessible through supply drops. This caused a huge uproar in the community, and many people started to participate in the "Black Market Blackout", where players would not buy COD Points. This caused Treyarch to implement the Contracts system, where you can earn cryto-keys, and this is a good step in the right direction, but Treyarch is most likely going to keep on adding new weapons which may have advantages, such as the Marshal 16's, a very powerful secondary weapon.

Now that you know about the issue with supply drops, I want to give my input on the situation. So I purchased the season pass for BO3, and have spent $20 worth of COD Points for supply drops. I realize now how stupid I was to buy COD Points due to the rarity of getting a weapon in BO3. Anyways, when they released 10 free supply drops and a weapon bribe to all season pass owners, I was fortunate enough to actually get the MX Garand, as I didn't want any of the melee weapons. And Iv'e got to say, it can demolish teams when it is in the right hands. This is why I think it is unfair for weapons to be put in supply drops, as some of the weapons have statistical advantages. I am a casual player, and have not yet completed the Total Victory contract, so I do not know what I will get. When I do get it however, I may not get what I want. I should also say that I wave opened well over 200 regular supply drops, and at least 30 rare supply drops, and have not gotten any weapons. Now, I am a big fan of the shotguns in all of the Call Of Duty games that I have played. So when they released an energy shotgun to supply drops, you know that I was furious, which caused me to write this. The shotgun, called the Banshii, works almost exactly like the KSG shotgun from COD: BO2, and I will most likely not be able to get to experience it. This really upsets me. But what makes me even sadder is that Infinite Warfare will most likely make people gamble for new items as well, as it makes Activision a lot of money. I hope they realize that this is not helping Call Of Duty. This pushes a lot of your fans away from the game, as they are angry they can't access all the content in the game without spending hundreds of dollars. And many people are making the argumant that you can get these new weapons without spending money. As true as this is, it takes on average 50 Rare Supply Drops to get ONE weapon. This costs about $80 in cash, or days worth of playing in-game. People on YouTube are also supporting the system, such as TmarTn, by making supply drop videos. This is why I feel like the Supply Drop system in Call Of Duty needs to be changed FAST. I hope I've convinced you on at least that.

Thank you for reading this long post, and tell me what you think! See you later!

-HowToGod

 

[Carlos]

Now let's talk about the Supply Drop Issue. The Supply Drop Issue started in Advanced Warfare, where you could purchase supply drops that had a chance to give you a weapon variant that had a statistical advantage over the original weapon. This was overlooked by fans until around DLC 2. After DLC 2, Sledgehammer Games put in different weapons with different statistics . This caused a slight uproar in the COD community, but casual players like myself didn't care about it at the time. Now let's fast forward to Black Ops 3. Around the release of DLC 1, Treyarch added the MX Garand to supply drops. I should note I won't be talking about melee weapons, as they are just re-skins and do not effect the gameplay. Ok, so the MX Garand was put in the game, which is only accessible through supply drops. This caused a huge uproar in the community, and many people started to participate in the "Black Market Blackout", where players would not buy COD Points. This caused Treyarch to implement the Contracts system, where you can earn cryto-keys, and this is a good step in the right direction, but Treyarch is most likely going to keep on adding new weapons which may have advantages, such as the Marshal 16's, a very powerful secondary weapon.

Now that you know about the issue with supply drops, I want to give my input on the situation. So I purchased the season pass for BO3, and have spent $20 worth of COD Points for supply drops. I realize now how stupid I was to buy COD Points due to the rarity of getting a weapon in BO3. Anyways, when they released 10 free supply drops and a weapon bribe to all season pass owners, I was fortunate enough to actually get the MX Garand, as I didn't want any of the melee weapons. And Iv'e got to say, it can demolish teams when it is in the right hands. This is why I think it is unfair for weapons to be put in supply drops, as some of the weapons have statistical advantages. I am a casual player, and have not yet completed the Total Victory contract, so I do not know what I will get. When I do get it however, I may not get what I want. I should also say that I wave opened well over 200 regular supply drops, and at least 30 rare supply drops, and have not gotten any weapons. Now, I am a big fan of the shotguns in all of the Call Of Duty games that I have played. So when they released an energy shotgun to supply drops, you know that I was furious, which caused me to write this. The shotgun, called the Banshii, works almost exactly like the KSG shotgun from COD: BO2, and I will most likely not be able to get to experience it. This really upsets me. But what makes me even sadder is that Infinite Warfare will most likely make people gamble for new items as well, as it makes Activision a lot of money. I hope they realize that this is not helping Call Of Duty. This pushes a lot of your fans away from the game, as they are angry they can't access all the content in the game without spending hundreds of dollars. And many people are making the argumant that you can get these new weapons without spending money. As true as this is, it takes on average 50 Rare Supply Drops to get ONE weapon. This costs about $80 in cash, or days worth of playing in-game. People on YouTube are also supporting the system, such as TmarTn, by making supply drop videos. This is why I feel like the Supply Drop system in Call Of Duty needs to be changed FAST. I hope I've convinced you on at least that.

Welcome to CODFourms. I'm pleased to have you on the forums!

I'm going to address the bolded parts of your post, and focus on both.

Next time, don't pay attention to these "uproars" in the industry. CODPoints were introduced because Free to Play (F2P), Pay to Win (P2W), and other microtransactions were introduced recently. For example, my cousin introduced me to Clash of Clans during a Super Bowl commercial. He and his wife both praised the game, so I checked it out to see how it is, and I was instantly hooked. I didn't like the microtransactions, and not give a shit about the fact that it's a mix between F2P and P2W - where you can play the game for free, but to upgrade your town hall, your characters, and your items, you need to earn gems. These gems can either be earned by random bushes, branch, or gem pot, and whatever else they drop into the game. Or they can be bought. There are two layers of purchases, you can use the gems to buy the upgrade, or you can buy an expedited process of upgrading the items. Or both. With the expedited process, you can either wait, or buy it. It's completely up to you.

Unfortunately, this is a market that is currently growing, and not stopping there. For example, GTA Online (in GTAV) EARNED Rockstar HALF a billion diollars. With 30 million players in there? Half a billion dollars just from these small microtransactions!

Now, in COD: Advanced Warfare, and Black Ops 3. You can either buy CODPoints to get "guaranteed" Supply Drops to return you legendaries, rares, and other extraordinary items. Or you can earn points towards these Supply Drops. I never bought COD Points, but I earned the Supply Drops by points. Because it's kind of like playing an RPG. In Black Ops 3, this is expanded, and you can earn cryptokeys faster this time around than ever before. I was able to get 20 cryptokeys for kicking ass and taking names.

I'd drop money on Season Passes than COD Points any day of the week.

 

[HowToGod]

Welcome to CODFourms. I'm pleased to have you on the forums!

I'm going to address the bolded parts of your post, and focus on both.

Next time, don't pay attention to these "uproars" in the industry. CODPoints were introduced because Free to Play (F2P), Play to Win (F2W), and other microtransactions were introduced recently. For example, my cousin introduced me to Clash of Clans during a Super Bowl commercial. He and his wife both praised the game, so I checked it out to see how it is, and I was instantly hooked. I didn't like the microtransactions, and not give a shit about the fact that it's a mix between F2P and P2W - where you can play the game for free, but to upgrade your town hall, your characters, and your items, you need to earn gems. These gems can either be earned by random bushes, branch, or gem pot, and whatever else they drop into the game. Or they can be bought. There are two layers of purchases, you can use the gems to buy the upgrade, or you can buy an expedited process of upgrading the items. Or both. With the expedited process, you can either wait, or buy it. It's completely up to you.

Unfortunately, this is a market that is currently growing, and not stopping there. For example, GTA Online (in GTAV) EARNED Rockstar HALF a billion diollars. With 30 million players in there? Half a billion dollars just from these small microtransactions!

Now, in COD: Advanced Warfare, and Black Ops 3. You can either buy CODPoints to get "guaranteed" Supply Drops to return you legendaries, rares, and other extraordinary items. Or you can earn points towards these Supply Drops. I never bought COD Points, but I earned the Supply Drops by points. Because it's kind of like playing an RPG. In Black Ops 3, this is expanded, and you can earn cryptokeys faster this time around than ever before. I was able to get 20 cryptokeys for kicking ass and taking names.

I'd drop money on Season Passes than COD Points any day of the week.

I do agree with your justification, but I don't like the use of the word "guaranteed in your reply. Many things are not "guaranteed". Like in my point of view of Supply Drops, I have spent a LONG time in this game. 8 and 1/2 days to be specific, yet I have only gotten one weapon, the MX Garand, because Treyarch is trying to win the community over by giving us free stuff. That's bribing! And it doesn't make it better that CHILDREN are playing this game.In my eyes, Treyarch is scamming everyone by adding weapons into the game, and this is a big problem!

Now I can understand you justifying Supply Drops by comparing it to buying in-game money with IRL money in GTA 5, but there is a problem. People buy money so they can purchase in-game items that are GUARANTEED to the player. When you buy Supply Drops in Call Of Duty, you are purchasing a CHANCE to earn these new weapons, and you have to pay a LOT of money to even earn one weapon! Again, this is why I think it was stupid of me to even buy COD Points in the first place, and I deeply regret it.

These two reasons are why I feel like Call Of Duty is going down the drain. Not because of the settings, graphics, or lazy campaign, but for the micro-transaction. The Call Of Duty community is mad about the Supply Drop system, and its giving Activision a lot of bad publicity. But bad publicity is still publicity, and more and more people are learning about this, and its encouraging people to buy COD Points. Supply Drops sales are at an all-time high right now, and Activision is NOT going to stop making supply drops.

Thank you for reading this argument, and I hope I explained things well.

 

[Carlos]

I do agree with your justification, but I don't like the use of the word "guaranteed in your reply. Many things are not "guaranteed". Like in my point of view of Supply Drops, I have spent a LONG time in this game. 8 and 1/2 days to be specific, yet I have only gotten one weapon, the MX Garand, because Treyarch is trying to win the community over by giving us free stuff. That's bribing! And it doesn't make it better that CHILDREN are playing this game.In my eyes, Treyarch is scamming everyone by adding weapons into the game, and this is a big problem!

I've been playing Call of Duty since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007), and have been playing, buying each and every single new Call of Duty title since then. I respectfully disagree with your viewpoint simply because I believe that Treyarch is just trying to appease everyone by giving them options on how to play the game. If you want to buy CODPoints to get new weapons, that's your choice. But Treyarch isn't forcing you to buy them. They're simply telling you that you can buy COD Points to get guaranteed drops - as in, when you buy the COD Points, and you play the roulette screen - you get VIP access to weapons, Legendaries, Epics, or Rares. It's not scam if you trade COD Points for guarenteed access to these items. Normally, when you collect cryptokeys, there is only a chance of getting commons, Legendaries, Epics, or Rares. But only by chance. Not guarentees if you use COD Points. It's just common sense.

Here, you even understand it:

Now I can understand you justifying Supply Drops by comparing it to buying in-game money with IRL money in GTA 5, but there is a problem. People buy money so they can purchase in-game items that are GUARANTEED to the player. When you buy Supply Drops in Call Of Duty, you are purchasing a CHANCE to earn these new weapons, and you have to pay a LOT of money to even earn one weapon! Again, this is why I think it was stupid of me to even buy COD Points in the first place, and I deeply regret it.

Even if you buy COD Points for one weapon, understand that the monetary value of creating weapons in the first place costs more. To the developer, it costs money and time to create them. To the publisher's C.E.O. - it's extra money. Meaning they can continue to deliver you more Call of Duty games in the future. The reason why I brought up GTAV/Online is because with THAT extra money in their pocket, they can develop a game of their choice without having to ask investors for more money. Do you understand? You should be thankful for this addition, it gives room for the developer/publisher to breathe to deliver you weapons, items, and maybe even a new video game.

Now, you started out this thread with "The Contracts Update," this update actually helps you more than what you're saying here. Treyarch must have been inspired by Hitman's contracts system, and decided to launch it with BO3 to test things out. You will be given goals to win that contract - so look at the contracts screen and meet those requirements to win more cryptokeys in large quantities. Keep playing, and start earning cryptokeys, save them, then when you reach 30 cryptokeys. Once you're done: Go to the option with the blue supply drop. That will earn you more Legendaries, Epics, or Rares.

Keep doing that, and you'll get used to the idea. Maybe one day you'll earn a weapon. Don't spend any money to buy COD Points. Just get good at COD, achieve objectives, earn cryptokeys, then open the Blue Supply Drop.

 

[HowToGod]

Alright,
first I wan't to thank you. I feel like in some way, you gave me luck and it allowed me to get the two weapons I wanted. I got the Buzz-cut and RSA Interdiction today, two very good weapons by completing the Total Victory contract. Now let's get to my reply.

In this section, you pointed out why the developers of games put these items into the game, and I totally agree:

eapons in the first place costs more. To the developer, it costs money and time to create them. To the publisher's C.E.O. - it's extra money. Meaning they can continue to deliver you more Call of Duty games in the future. The reason why I brought up GTAV/Online is because with THAT extra money in their pocket, they can develop a game of their choice without having to ask investors for more money. Do you understand? You should be thankful for this addition, it gives room for the developer/publisher to breathe to deliver you weapons, items, and maybe even a new video game.

Now in this next section, you explain how purchasing COD Points is an option to a player, and that you don't HAVE to buy them, and that you ARE guaranteed these weapons:

I've been playing Call of Duty since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007), and have been playing, buying each and every single new Call of Duty title since then. I respectfully disagree with your viewpoint simply because I believe that Treyarch is just trying to appease everyone by giving them options on how to play the game. If you want to buy CODPoints to get new weapons, that's your choice. But Treyarch isn't forcing you to buy them. They're simply telling you that you can buy COD Points to get guaranteed drops - as in, when you buy the COD Points, and you play the roulette screen - you get VIP access to weapons, Legendaries, Epics, or Rares. It's not scam if you trade COD Points for guarenteed access to these items. Normally, when you collect cryptokeys, there is only a chance of getting commons, Legendaries, Epics, or Rares. But only by chance. Not guarentees if you use COD Points. It's just common sense.

This I do not agree with you. One reason is that I see you saying that you get guaranteed weapons. This is not true, as there is only a slight chance that you will be able to get ANY of the weapons, you don't have a choice. There is a 2.4% chance of getting a weapon out of a rare supply drop, and it is not guaranteed you will get the weapon you want. I also did some research and found someone who is prestige master. He saved up 500 crypto-keys, which took him WEEKS, and didn't get any new weapons. This is why I think it is a scam.

The other problem I see with this is that in a way, you DON'T have a choice. The reason being that some of the new supply drop weapons, which take months of grinding or hundreds of dollars to get, are better than others. As I have said, the Marshal 16 pistol is the BEST secondary weapon in BO3 right now. And the Banshii, which was put into the game yesterday, has the range of a sniper and cannot get hit-markers. So if you want to have the best weapons in the game, you either have to play for multiple MONTHS to get a CHANCE to get a weapon, which might not even be the one you want, or you can pay Activision $100. This is comparable to Clash of Clans, where you can buy gems to upgrade your base and be better than everyone else. Again, this is why I think Treyarch is scamming people. And these people could be CHILDREN, who don't know any better, and will waste money. I admit that I did buy those COD Points, hoping that I would get a weapon, but that was before I knew about the chances of getting a weapon.

Again, thanks for reading this argument.

-HowToGod

 

[Carlos]

Alright, first I want to thank you. I feel like in some way, you gave me luck and it allowed me to get the two weapons I wanted. I got the Buzz-cut and RSA Interdiction today, two very good weapons by completing the Total Victory contract.

See? There ya go. You just bribed Blackjack (the Black Market vendor), by completing the contract. You made a deal with the devil.

This I do not agree with you. One reason is that I see you saying that you get guaranteed weapons. This is not true, as there is only a slight chance that you will be able to get ANY of the weapons, you don't have a choice. There is a 2.4% chance of getting a weapon out of a rare supply drop, and it is not guaranteed you will get the weapon you want. I also did some research and found someone who is prestige master. He saved up 500 crypto-keys, which took him WEEKS, and didn't get any new weapons. This is why I think it is a scam.

Here's what I said...

I've been playing Call of Duty since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007), and have been playing, buying each and every single new Call of Duty title since then. I respectfully disagree with your viewpoint simply because I believe that Treyarch is just trying to appease everyone by giving them options on how to play the game. If you want to buy CODPoints to get new weapons, that's your choice. But Treyarch isn't forcing you to buy them. They're simply telling you that you can buy COD Points to get guaranteed drops - as in, when you buy the COD Points, and you play the roulette screen - you get VIP access to weapons, Legendaries, Epics, or Rares. It's not scam if you trade COD Points for guarenteed access to these items. Normally, when you collect cryptokeys, there is only a chance of getting commons, Legendaries, Epics, or Rares. But only by chance. Not guarentees if you use COD Points. It's just common sense.

What I said and inferred here, is that when you trade your COD Points for Blue Supply Drops, you are now on a second tier of roulette. Thus, you have VIP access to Legendaries, Epics, and/or Rares, with a 20% chance of getting a weapon. Any weapon. Remember, you're putting chips at a roulette at a casino.

The other problem I see with this is that in a way, you DON'T have a choice. The reason being that some of the new supply drop weapons, which take months of grinding or hundreds of dollars to get, are better than others. As I have said, the Marshal 16 pistol is the BEST secondary weapon in BO3 right now. And the Banshii, which was put into the game yesterday, has the range of a sniper and cannot get hit-markers. So if you want to have the best weapons in the game, you either have to play for multiple MONTHS to get a CHANCE to get a weapon, which might not even be the one you want, or you can pay Activision $100. This is comparable to Clash of Clans, where you can buy gems to upgrade your base and be better than everyone else. Again, this is why I think Treyarch is scamming people. And these people could be CHILDREN, who don't know any better, and will waste money. I admit that I did buy those COD Points, hoping that I would get a weapon, but that was before I knew about the chances of getting a weapon.

I'm stressing that you do have a choice. You're not forced to buy COD Points, but rather it's an option for you to use to get a 50% chance of getting at least 2 Legendaries, Epics, or Rares for each 200 COD Points. I tested this theory myself recently. You even prove my point in Bolded. This is what I've been saying.

Ever since Black Ops 3 came out, I've been hoarding cryptokeys and spending them when I get 30 cryptokeys. At one point I had like... 300 cryptokeys and bought Blue Supply Drops repeatively until I depleted it, and I was getting more and more Legendaries, Epics, and Rares. At one point I even got a weapon.