Has "Call of Duty" become the new "Hitler"?

[Steve the Pocket]

You've all seen it. Someone will start a thread about how they "didn't get all the hype about" such-and-such a game. And like clockwork, someone else will chime in "Go back to Call of Duty, you tasteless plebe!" Except usually it will be expressed less literately, like "lol gb2 cawadoody".

I won't go into the discussions of how this particular franchise became so heavily associated with everyone who has "bad" taste in games in a way you don't see in any other medium (you'd never hear someone say "Go back to Twilight" in a book discussion or "Go back to Bayformers" in a movie discussion), but the fact that it's become a cheap insult that gets hurled at pretty much everyone who disagrees with you about anything video game related is ... interesting to me. It reminds me of another argument that became so ubiquitous on the Internet that a fellow named Michael Godwin stepped up and basically said "Anyone who brings this up has officially lost the debate." Unfortunately, I have yet to see anyone called out that way for the Call of Duty thing.

So do you think the "go back to COD" line should be the new Godwin in video game threads? Where anyone who uses it is automatically looked down on by everyone else, even the people who hate COD with a passion, because of how it immediately drags down the level of discussion?

 

[chozo_hybrid]

No. The negative things people think about the games aside, comparing anything or saying it's the "new" Hitler is just wrong...

People don't tend to use "Go back to CoD" as the lynchpin in the discussion, but rather as a dismissive jab at the person they are talking about. The Hitler thing on the other hand is usually used to convey something IS wrong, like it's some sort of fact even though the very thing that could be the subject of the conversation is opinion based.

People who use such things in their discussions/arguments are obviously not doing well and have to resort to it, I'd just pay it no mind and move on.

[small]I can't believe this is something I'm even discussing ^^;[/small]

 

[Goofguy]

Not at all because then all you're doing is perpetuating the cycle of hate. It's bad enough that they use the stale "go back to CoD" line as their defense, there's no need to be assholes to them in turn.

Wheaton's Law states "don't be a dick". It's a pretty solid piece of advice to follow even if everyone around you is being one.

 

[shrekfan246]

Not at all because then all you're doing is perpetuating the cycle of hate. It's bad enough that they use the stale "go back to CoD" line as their defense, there's no need to be assholes to them in turn.

Wheaton's Law states "don't be a dick". It's a pretty solid piece of advice to follow even if everyone around you is being one.

I dunno, I'd say I somewhat do what the OP is proposing. I don't actively respond to people to ridicule their use of Call of Duty as some sort of insult, but much like the old "dumbed down" argument, whenever I read it I tend to roll my eyes and then skim over whatever else they have to say because it's often some variant of "[Thing] isn't exactly the way I like, so I'm going to rage about it!" and I've seen that so much that it's lost all meaning now.

Anyway, the hate for Call of Duty strikes me much the same way as the hate for World of Warcraft, and likely for most of the same reasons too. I generally disregard any ridiculous comments that set out to use a game or franchise as some sort of indication of a person's intelligence or status as a 'real' gamer.

 

[Goofguy]

Not at all because then all you're doing is perpetuating the cycle of hate. It's bad enough that they use the stale "go back to CoD" line as their defense, there's no need to be assholes to them in turn.

Wheaton's Law states "don't be a dick". It's a pretty solid piece of advice to follow even if everyone around you is being one.

I dunno, I'd say I somewhat do what the OP is proposing. I don't actively respond to people to ridicule their use of Call of Duty as some sort of insult, but much like the old "dumbed down" argument, whenever I read it I tend to roll my eyes and then skim over whatever else they have to say because it's often some variant of "[Thing] isn't exactly the way I like, so I'm going to rage about it!" and I've seen that so much that it's lost all meaning now.

Anyway, the hate for Call of Duty strikes me much the same way as the hate for World of Warcraft, and likely for most of the same reasons too. I generally disregard any ridiculous comments that set out to use a game or franchise as some sort of indication of a person's intelligence or status as a 'real' gamer.

I agree with your approach and I tend to act the exact same way. The OP was asking if the CoD line should be the new Godwin. Any thread that degenerates in to the eventual Nazi or Hitler reference never just stops there. The responses get more and more inflamed and people generally start becoming dicks towards each other, losing sight of the original topic.

I was merely suggesting that there's no need to get involved in the shitty responses that get piled on the poster using the "Hitler" or "go back to CoD" line. Just roll your eyes and carry on with the better things you have to do with your time.

 

[Brown_Coat117]

You know generally speaking gamers try to not associate our hobby with real events where real people have suffered and/or died.

Also generally the way to ensure that anything you say isn't taken seriously is to compare anything to Hitler.

DOUBLE FAIL

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

It's more like gaming's Bieber. Go on any music-related video on Youtube and, according to the comments, all the dislikes will be Bieber fans. Go on any gaming related video and they'll be CoD fans.

I like the idea of making "go back to CoD" gaming's Godwin's Law, though.

 

[Severian]

Possibly the worst analogy humanly possible. I don't like CoD but your analogy is just classless.

 

[VanQ]

No. Call of Duty is not evil in any way. It's just that the exact same game except a bit prettier has been released annually for the last ten years. We talked about the games to death and there's nothing to talk about anymore, Call of Duty has zero discussion value.

Like you said in the OP post, it brings down the quality of any discussion at hand so people tend to dislike it. I don't hate the games but it's pretty stupid to watch people buy the exact same game in the millions of units every year at $120(AUD) on launch day and not bat an eyelid. Don't pay that much money for a game you've already played!

 

[Racecarlock]

I just want to play it without countless people blaming me for the destruction of the industry.

 

[Anathrax]

I just want to play it without countless people blaming me for the destruction of the industry.

The corridor gods brown corridor in CoD and blue hallway in Battlefield are pleased with your faith.

Just... Just the title gave me a bad feeling about this thread. But I kept reading on.

No. CoD is not like Hitler.

 

[omegaweopon]

Yeah, your thread title should have been something more along the lines of "Has "Go back to CoD" become gaming's Godwin's law?"

Because, sadly, the way you have it written, I almost immediately said "Oh great. Someone has invoked Godwin's law on CoD" and almost didn't read the thread.

OT: It sort of has become something of the sort. As soon as someone tells someone to go back to CoD, or get out of my fandom, I do tend to immediately roll my eyes, and move on.

 

[tilmoph]

I see the Op's point; Twilight, for a while, was the automatic shorthand for "literary taste I don't like and don't think counts", Hitler/ the Nazis (along with their buddies communist, Stalin, socialist, terrorist, and fascist) is the go to response to "evil political idea i don't like". Call of Duty has started filling that role. So, yeah, we could consider it gamers' Godwin if you'd like.

Edit: Yeah, bad call on the title. I see what you did with the quotes, but it seems like a number of folks are just reading the title and responding from there.

 

[rob_simple]

Is it just my cynical nature, or are we pretty much all agreed OP name-dropped Hitler to increase page views on a topic that's already been discussed ad nauseam?

OT: I have never heard anyone say 'go back to CoD' in a debate. The CoD games are good, anyway, it's not their fault they're popular; the developers who deserve to get shit are the ones who try to copy CoD and skim some of it's cash instead of coming up with their own million-unit-selling idea.

While it's true that, if someone tried to herald CoD as the pinnacle of gaming, I would think they were an idiot, if all they're doing is enjoying playing a video game then it's none of my business to tell them they should be playing the stuff I like, instead.

 

[theultimateend]

I see the Op's point; Twilight, for a while, was the automatic shorthand for "literary taste I don't like and don't think counts", Hitler/ the Nazis (along with their buddies communist, Stalin, socialist, terrorist, and fascist) is the go to response to "evil political idea i don't like". Call of Duty has started filling that role. So, yeah, we could consider it gamers' Godwin if you'd like.

Edit: Yeah, bad call on the title. I see what you did with the quotes, but it seems like a number of folks are just reading the title and responding from there.

Twilight is more like Chuck Norris Jokes to me.

Chuck Norris jokes were originally supposed to be ironic because he was a joke. Then a bunch of people who didn't know better thought they were serious and ran with it.

The original backlash to twilight was that it was getting hugely popular by pandering to women while simultaneously having a hideous message for them.

Sure she's not Mark Twain or something but her writing is passable, but just like Norris over time it just became a matter of bashing that she was a bad writer. Which I think is a shame because the message of where a woman's place is in the world and its take on sexuality are dark as fuck. That should have always been the discussion point and not if she used a semi colon where she should have just put a period or how she doesn't describe people so that you superimpose yourself in their place.

 

[Callate]

...You compare something to it in a discussion, you've already lost...?

I don't have anything against COD itself, really, though I've only played one of them. I'm more annoyed (and I think this is the association many people have with them, even if they don't spell it out) by the atmosphere that surrounds them:

-Reliance on a single franchise as breadwinner rather than branching out into new ideas
-Short development cycle, cyclical releases
-Brown and gray environments, health regeneration, blood-spatter/sound dampening damage effects
-uber-macho themes, disposable/interchangable characters
-Michael Bay-style fascination with the military and military hardware

etc.

COD has popularized some of these things, and to a degree it just seems like they've polished their franchise to a mirror shine. But in the process, they've written the book on how to make a successful game in the current era- a book many other studios imitate and which Activision themselves seems somewhat loathe to stray very far from.

If there was just Call of Duty, that would probably be okay- it's the gamers who never try anything other than COD and its imitators and the developers/publishers who are content to hunker down and produce endless imitations- to diminishing returns- that causes frustration.

 

[WanderingFool]

It's more like gaming's Bieber. Go on any music-related video on Youtube and, according to the comments, all the dislikes will be Bieber fans. Go on any gaming related video and they'll be CoD fans.

I like the idea of making "go back to CoD" gaming's Godwin's Law, though.

Now, this works. And for the most part, its fucking true. Go to almost any music video/AMV/what-have-you on youtube and ye'll probably end up seeing tons of these comments. Regardless of whether they are true or not.

If there was just Call of Duty, that would probably be okay- it's the gamers who never try anything other than COD and its imitators and the developers/publishers who are content to hunker down and produce endless imitations- to diminishing returns- that causes frustration.

Really, if we are to play the blame game, I would say it rests on the heads of the developers that try to copy COD, over Activision or gamers.

 

[MPerce]

That's a pretty misleading thread title you've got there. On the plus side, it shows how many people actually read what OP says after the title (by the looks of it, not that many).

Yes, CoD has sorta become gaming's Godwin's Law. It's always used as the example of the boring, soul-sucking, creativity-destroying video game that only 10-year-olds actually like. Which is unfair, since CoD games are usually pretty damn great at what they're trying to do.

The problem is other major publishers (hi, EA) trying to create "the next CoD" and spending all their money on pointless and/or shitty clones of CoD. Or, even worse, taking aspects of CoD and shoving them into completely different genres in the hopes of drawing some of the FPS crowd.