Call of Duty may have become the most successful and mainstream shooter franchise to date, but that doesn’t mean the developers are catering to the masses as opposed to the most dedicated. With Black Ops 2, several new systems and features have been implemented that the average player will never see. But for those who make a career of online multiplayer, the motivation for reaching Prestige just got more interesting.
Treyarch has now confirmed that reaching Prestige – essentially the apex of experience, after which point the player starts back at the beginning – will no longer remove the earned benefits upon completion. Not all of them , at least. Weapon levels and unlock will now persist, allowing players to “pick up right where they left off.”
The change may seem like a no-brainer to those who have much experience with ‘Game Plus’ modes seen in other recent video games, but in the world of online multiplayer, the trick is harder to pull off. Where making one’s way to Prestige had previously given players the option of cashing in accrued experience for tokens or badges (to show just how seasoned a veteran they were) reaching the highest level of multiplayer with Black Ops 2 will now be doing away with the punishment of having to largely start back at square one.
The explanation comes from Design Director David Vonderhaar, who mentioned via Twitter one particular ‘bug’ returned to him from Black Ops 2‘s testing:
“Just got this bug from QA. ‘Weapon levels are given after unlocking a gun that was leveled up on a past level progression.’ That’s what we call NAB. Not a bug. If you Prestige and unlock the gun, you’ll pick up right where you left off. If something has been a certain way a long time, the assumption when it doesn’t work the way it has in the past is that it is a bug.”
While not exactly confirming any extra rewards for reaching the upper echelons of experience levels, the admission does give a bit of a nod to the most dedicated of CoD fans. That isn’t to say that the fan base needs to be catered to or convinced that Black Ops 2 will be moving the series farther into eSports territory, since Treyarch has gone out of their way to prove that fact already. With integrated Livestreaming and commentary functionality and a desire to encourage more cooperative team gameplay instead of simply Deathmatch, Black Ops 2 will likely be gaining attention from the most devoted players on both the PC and console.
Of course, even if Call of Duty didn’t have the mammoth fan following they currently enjoy, the eSports crowd only includes a minority of the online community. For players who are merely looking forward to spending an hour or two a day embroiled in combat in any of the new Black Ops 2 multiplayer maps, this news is undoubtedly a pleasant surprise. If nothing else, this announcement (along with the incredibly promising ‘Pick 10′ system) indicates that Black Ops 2 stands a much better chance of being widely adopted by the online competitors than some past, divisive releases.
Whether reaching Prestige will bring any new bonuses aside from a lack of penalty hasn’t been fully explained, but expect to hear more before too long.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 releases November 13, 2012 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. A Wii U launch is also planned.
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Follow me on Twitter @andrew_dyce.
Source: David Vonderhaar (via MP1st)
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Interesting…but I thought the whole point of “Prestiging” was to go through all the unlocks again? I’m not complaining, it’s just something new, which is definitely something this multiplayer needs.
^Im with you on this one but hopefully they come up with something to add to the game because ik cor a fact theres ginna be those 3 over powered guns that everyone uses 24/7 and now that you never lose them, they will be used 365
Yeah, that’s a major downside to this, and they’re going to have to do some serious balancing to make things fair, but I doubt that they will. Luckily, I’m not getting the game for its multiplayer, but rather its campaign and zombies.
What I got from this is that only your weapon level of any given gun retained, not the gun unlock yourself. Once you Prestige and unlock a gun, you will have the same weapon level witht that gun that you had with it last Prestige, but you still have to unlock the gun. I like this, as this makes it easier on people going through the grind of Prestiging.
*given gun is retained
**gun unlock itself
After reading it again, I think you’re probably right.
I never prestiged in any COD just because you loose the guns. My busy life doesn’t allow multi hours a day of playing, but I do make time to play COD with friends once or twice a week. Prestige was pointless to me if all you get is some icon as ur rank which we never cared about. We just wanted to have fun with the variety or weapons and not loose them just for some status symbol that means nothing to us.
Amen .That’s what I’ve been telling people.
Remember you can give an old car a new paint job but in the end it’s still an old car….
Where’s the new engine? lol
COD has not been good since COD4, COD5…..