This article is part of our Call of Duty series.
While the official Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare eSports reveal didn't start out smoothly as sound and microphone issues forced a 15-minute delay to the broadcast, there was still plenty of exciting information announced, including new features to CoD Casting, the removal of traditional competitive ban and protects, as well as a handful of changes to the way in which players/teams qualify for CoD Champs,. Let's break it all down!
To See or Not to See – That's Not a Question Anymore
The CoD Caster has seen plenty of tweaks and updates throughout the years, and this iteration of Call of Duty appears poised to present the best viewing experience to date thanks to a handful of new features added to the viewing experience. Warning "boots on the ground" stalwarts, this year's features only seem to further promote the fast pace that recent iterations of the game have developed, as the focus has clearly been helping the audience pick up important moments in each match, even if the caster may miss it.
Take for example the "major" and "minor" alerts that now appear below the score of a given contest. Major moments in each match, such as a bomb plant in Search and Destroy or a rotation of a Hardpoint, are now prominently displayed in the middle of the viewing screen, acting as essentially a drop-down box from the scoreboard. While I would be hard-pressed to find a caster worth his salt who misses multiple "major" moments during a match, it is certainly handy to know when each moment has transpired, particularly in instances where a team may rush a certain objective before the audience has a chance to recognize what has happened.
Then there's the circle that appears around a player's name, signifying they can activate a rig (or a specialist for readers still stuck in Call of Duty: Black Ops III). While it's an incredibly helpful feature to help build up the momentum of a moment, both for the caster and the audience, it could be potentially game-breaking if the players could also see the light-up circle that signifies the availability of a rig. My guess is that Infinity Ward would realize the feature should be disabled for in-game players, much like a regular pub match, but without confirmation I'm just left to speculate.
Add on the fact that player's now have visible (albeit small) health bars located in the bottom left corner of the viewing screen and you have what is clearly one of the best versions of CoD Caster to date. To me, these changes scream of improving the "quality of life" rather than creating something "earth-shattering", but I'm never opposed to providing more information for the casual audience to understand, visualize and recognize.
It's Competitive Not Repetitive
If the changes to the viewing experience were to improve the quality of life, the changes to the competitive ruleset were meant to breathe life into it, as the ban and protect portion of a given Call of Duty: Black Ops III match felt like an exercise in repetition.
In likely the most surprising announcement of the broadcast, Infinity Ward announced they would be developing a "Version 1" ruleset which will be implemented prior to the first competitive event of the season, in which there would be a given set of predetermined bans and restrictions. No more playing by a moral code or a gentleman's agreement, this iteration of competitive Call of Duty will take all of that out of the equation. Or at least some of it, as the minds over at Infinity Ward did built in a bit of a grace period, announcing a "Version 2" ruleset would be implemented in December after the development team looks at how the competitive aspect has taken shape in the first month.
I'm cautiously optimistic that the new rulesets will be effective. Activision has historically catered towards the casual player, leaving in game-breaking abilities and scorestreaks that would be catastrophic to the competitive landscape (here's looking at you UAV). That doesn't appear to be as much of a focus this year given the introduction of rulesets, but what does remain to be seen is what will be left in the Version 1 and 2 rulesets. While the ban and protect system has been reworked (more on that in a moment) it remains to be seen whether certain things will be left in that warrant an automatic ban. In Call of Duty: Black Ops III in particular, it was far too easy to predict what would be banned before the players even launched into the game, and that was with gentleman's agreements in place. More diversity should equal more ways to scheme and develop a gameplan, or at least that's the intention.
That's even more important after the overhaul to the ban and protect system, which will now see teams focus on banning and protecting a given weapon. Each player will have the opportunity to draft two weapons, meaning a team will have eight weapons to use throughout a given match. Thus, no two members of the team may have the same weapon at a given time.
The change appears to present a major question that doesn't have an obvious answer. While a player can select two weapons in the Weapon Draft, it's unclear if those guns can then rotate through the team, or if they are restricted to the individual player. That question should be answered over time, but it was disappointing to see such an ambiguous announcement given the enormity of the change.
It's clear the move to incorporate the Weapon Draft into competitive play will further empathize a player's given role on the team and places even more impact on the strategic elements of the game while still adhering to what might be seen in a public match, both positives for a game so focused on appealing to a casual consumer.
But what the announcement provides in strategy, it handicaps versatility. Take for instance, the MVP of the 2016 Call of Duty World Championship, John "John" Perez. John made waves last season with his ability to effectively master the assault rifle, sub machine gun and most importantly, the sniper rifle, using his unique style to effectively act as a Swiss Army knife for Team EnVyUs. John wasn't the only one to run rampant in the "hybrid" role, as many of the top teams in Call of Duty: Black Ops III benefitted from one or more teammates being able to play a variety of different positions. That now appears to be gone.
The Call of Duty World League is Back!
We'll see how the new Weapon Draft system plays out in the newest iteration of the Call of Duty World League (CWL for short). While the Director of Brand Development at Treyarch, Jay Puryear, made the announcement that the CWL and the Call of Duty World Championship would return in 2017, it was never a question as to whether the CWL would be back, given its overwhelming success last season.
Still, it was encouraging to hear that the Australia/New Zealand region would get a boost, as teams from Asia will also be able to participate in the now expansive region known as the APAC.
The focus on regions didn't stop there, as it was also announced there would be specific regional tournaments, as well as the typical international events. MLG Las Vegas acts as the first North American regional event, with the expectation that other regions will be able to earn the all-important Call of Duty Pro Points through regional and international events.
Gamebattles will also team with Activision to provide respective players and teams an opportunity to earn Pro Points in a less competitive setting, as online tournaments will take place throughout the CWL season to ensure a handful of less heralded teams will have the opportunity to earn their place at the Call of Duty World Championship in 2017.
It's exciting to hear there will be more opportunities to watch players compete at events, but it's disheartening to see an emphasis on regional events, particularly after such an exhilarating CoD XP last year, which saw European teams rise to prominence. Maybe it's just me, but I would have loved to see competition between the regions promoted and encouraged, if for nothing else than to build upon the storylines from last year. From both an event organizer and player stand point, I understand why we can't have multiple international LAN matches each month. But that doesn't mean I couldn't hope for it nevertheless.
