Call of Duty: Black Ops Fans Can’t Agree on Which Map to Play

Call of Duty: Black Ops fans are growing frustrated by players who refuse to vote for different maps.

The recent ports of Call of Duty: Black Ops have been a strong source of nostalgia for many, but some are irritated by how it has created stubbornness among players when it comes to voting for maps. In the original Black Ops games, players can choose which map they want to play on in the next match. There are always two options, and then a third option lets you pick a random map. Players have noticed that, despite the fact there are over two dozen maps in each game, they end up playing on the same small handful of maps every time.

Black Ops 1 and 2 have iconic maps like Nuketown, Firing Range, Hijacked, and Raid, and because they’re so iconic, it’s what a lot of people want to play. Over on Reddit, players have pointed out that some fans aren’t voting for less popular maps and are even outright leaving matches in droves if they aren’t satisfied with the result.

“I don’t mind playing Nuketown once in a while, but it seems like 70% of the lobbies will vote random, and if it’s not Nuketown, 1/3rd if the lobby backs out,” said one fan. “If Nuketown is an option, then there [are] 8 votes for it instantly.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Hijacked, Nuketown, and Raid are goated maps, but so are Uplink, Grind, Takeoff, Mirage, Turbine, Downhill, Slums, Meltdown, Carrier, and Studio, etc. Honestly, Black Ops 2 doesn’t have a bad map; even Magma, Frost, and Pod are better than so many of the new maps out today,” said another. “Sometimes I’m just down to play on a map I don’t like that much just for variety’s sake, so I’m hella annoyed by this too despite loving all the maps everyone always picks, but not when it’s the only maps I’ve been playing on for the last 5 hours straight.”

Some even noted that Black Ops 2 specifically has a playlist for just Hijacked and Nuketown if that’s all people want to play, even suggesting that Nuketown should be removed from standard map rotations.

“Map voting is a curse in this game. On BO7, you’ll RARELY play anything other than Nuketown, Hijacked, Raid, because everyone needs to spawn trap and get 100 kills, or the map is garbage,” stated an annoyed player. “I honestly miss MW2019 when there was no map voting; I actually got to play ALL the maps. Every year a bunch of people are on here complaining that there’s only 10 – 12 maps at launch, and then they still refuse to play on any of them except for 3. It’s mindboggling.”

“Takeoff and Uplink are the most skipped maps I’ve seen, and I believe it’s because people simply don’t know what they are,” said a frustrated player. “And even more unfortunate due to rage bait culture asking people to vote for either becomes a massive vote for classified and ends up being Drone or Aftermath which in turn kills the lobby.”

One fan made a respectable case for playing nothing but the hits, however.

“I totally get it, but as someone who only plays for a bit after work every now and then, it’s fun just hopping in a few Nuketown games and playing super engaging games for a bit with the little time I have,” argued a fan. “Also helps leveling up when you can get like 100 kills within a game or two, as opposed to maybe 3-4 of playing bigger maps.”

Ultimately, Call of Duty players are creautres of habit. They know what they like, and it’s very hard for some of them to accept change or adapt to new things. As a result, it means the franchise and the players themselves can get stuck in repetitive cycles, as seen in cases like this one. Many of the maps people are complaining about here have been brought back in other Call of Duty games multiple times over the years and continue to be very popular with fans, for better or worse.

In somewhat related news, Black Ops fans recently uncovered a cut Zombies mode from the original game. The mode is a tower defense version of the undead horde mode and would’ve been a very unique spin on the classic co-op offering.

Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.