sOver the Easter weekend, I played quite a bit of Call of Duty. I also read an article about Black Ops 6 that started turning the old brain cogs.
I refer to this post from Dexerto, highlighting player frustration with the continued influx of weed-themed skins. We don’t have to buy them, after all, they’re premium items not on the battle pass, but I get it.
But going beyond that, it’s one side of a seesaw that is drastically imbalanced. Much has been said about chat bans since Black Ops 6 launched, with the AI systems taking a while to get up to speed.
But you also can’t swear in the text chat, or write anything that Activision deems offensive, even if it isn’t a curse word. But weed paraphernalia is ok?
Playing to the audience, but not everyone has to like it
The reason these skins keep getting made is simple; they’re being bought. Does it mean everyone has to like it, though? Not at all. This Reddit thread, for example, poses a good question.
And, you know, not everyone who plays Call of Duty is a stoner. I do like Jay and Silent Bob, though.
My own criticism is that on one hand, skins dedicated to a substance which is illegal in many parts of the world, such as the UK, where I live, are fine. But putting the word “balls” into in-game text chat is not.
For example, if you called out a cheater and put a player is “cheating their balls off” then it gets censored. But if you pay Activision some money, you can have all the weed effects you like.
I’ve had a temporary chat ban for getting a bit sweary, and I’m certainly not encouraging aggressive, offensive behavior in voice or text chat. But it does feel a little hypocritical.
An adult game for adults
Call of Duty is an 18 rated game. It is for adults. Period. As such, weed skins in itself aren’t a necessarily bad thing, since kids shouldn’t be playing, right?
In the same way that chat is moderated and censored, is it that important it completely filters any possible swearing since it should only be adults playing?
Here’s the thing. Kids play Call of Duty. You know it, I know it, Activision knows it. We’ve all been in game chat with a kid mouthing off.
But apparently they’re ok seeing a bunch of stoner material because it makes Activision money, where swearing in chat is a strict no no. Won’t somebody think of the children?!
I’m being deliberately ridiculous, but to show my point. I don’t care about the stoner skins, I won’t buy them, and I only have to be annoyed when they show up in a killcam looking absurd.
But it’s peak Call of Duty right now that there are two glaring opposites concerning ‘adult behavior.’ It seems fine as long as you’re giving them money. Can’t we just have the Call of Duty we all fell in love with back?
