Black Ops Cold War Criticised For Using Bots In Beta
It sounds like there are some robots in disguise lurking in the bowels of Call of Duty: Black Ops War. Treyarch is back doing what it does best with the next chapter in the acclaimed Black Ops franchise and the long-awaited sequel to 2010's Call of Duty: Black Ops.
While the developer was accused of dropping the ball when Black Ops 4 ditched single-player in favour of a wholly multiplayer experience in 2018, Treyarch is offering the best of both worlds with Cold War.
Alongside an ambitious main campaign with the return of fan-favourites like Frank Woods, multiplayer is a huge part of the title, and arguably the only thing some players are here for. With this in mind, the launch of the multiplayer Alpha and more recent Beta have been big news ahead of the game's November 13 release.
The problem is, some think Treyarch has been a little sneaky and secretly populated low-tier matches with bots.
Are there bots in Black Ops Cold War?
Seems like public match bots are possibly being used in the full release. Saw this pop up last night after leaving a match. from r/blackopscoldwar
Despite a few hiccups with the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Beta, most can agree it's run pretty smoothly. So much so, Activision extended its run by a full 24 hours to give fans what they wanted. However, according to redditor u/A_Reddit_ID, there's something fishy going on behind the Iron Curtain. Posting on Reddit, they shared a screengrab of a message that popped up as they left a match.
The alert simply said "Disabled Bot Autofill", but safe to say, those three words have sparked a lot of rage among the community. So, what's the beef? Bots in games are nothing new, however, most gamers want to play against actual humans that can think and adapt, rather than mindless drones that can glitch themselves into oblivion. When newbies enter the fray, it can be hard to populate lower-tier lobbies, meaning bots can sometimes be used to fill in the gaps. There are accusations that this is what's being going on in Cold War.
Responses came down hard on developers if the post is to be believed. Let's remember, neither Treyarch nor Activision have officially commented on it yet. One disgruntled player wrote, "No wonder why my team is brain dead", while another fumed, "I thought there were some pretty awkward behaviours for people who supposedly play COD".
Would you prefer SBMM or bots?
It wasn't all negativity though. Another explained how the mechanic of bots is better than skill-based matchmaking (SBMM) and should keep newbies away from more skilled players that want a challenge. Redditor u/DayoOfRevenge mused, "This is basically the boot camp mechanic of BO2. Rather have something like this implemented in regular MP, than VERY strict SBMM.
Let the lower skilled player get a feel for the game, test it on bots and let them progress. And if they are ready to go for "real" pubs, they should play with everyone else, but bots. While I really dislike the implementation of MW19 SBMM system, I still want lower skilled players to have fun with the game".
The conversation then turned to the use of bots in Fortnite. For as long as we can remember, both bots and SBMM have been points of contention in Epic Games' battle royale title. Speaking about bots in the Cold War multiplayer, one Redditor wrote, "It's just gonna be like Fortnite, those at the bottom skill bracket will play against bots and destroy them so they'll buy more skins. $$$". Agreeing, another added, "Fortnite has bots at all brackets and it's one of the dumbest things I've ever seen implemented into a "competitive" game".
SBMM is a hot topic, and only recently, Jack "CouRage" Dunlop said it was one of the big reasons he stopped playing Fortnite. With bots also being so controversial, it seems like a foolish move for Treyarch to make without at least alerting players first. If bots are running free in the Cold War Beta, it looks like most of you aren't very impressed. Will there still be bots when Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War goes live on all servers? We'll have to keep our peepers peeled.
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