I am, sadly, totally addicted to this game. My obsessive compulsive side has made me a slave to my win/loss and K/D ratios, but I still manage to have fun somehow.
I agree with alot of whats being said in here, good and bad. First, a word about the spawn system: I designed a lot of homemade levels for COD4 MW1 with Radiant (crossroads, desert glory, & ruins, all still being played on some Mod servers) and have to say that a lot of the spawning issues are inherent in the way you have to design these levels. These maps were designed to not have very many "safe" zones to keep the flow playable between a very different variety of game-types, from simple deathmatch to King of the Hill style to CTF style. So there are not very many safe "spawn areas" like other FPS games used to have, (or still do, I don't play many other these days). Considering this, I think the spawning system is pretty good and it is more difficult to spawn camp in this game than in others, because spawn locations change.
Basically, each mode has different spawns, and within each mode there are different "game start" spawns and mid-game spawns. E.g. at the beginning of the game each team spawns in a predetermined place; but during the game the spawns change depending on where the enemies are or, in domination, what flags you hold.
Players will generally not spawn when an enemy is near them, and will instead begin spawning elsewhere where there are less enemies. BUT, you will occasionally be forced to spawn near an enemy since the game has to make a decision when the enemies are spread throughout the entire map, or your team holds all or none of the flags. When that occurs the spawning is more "random." But that is rare. (Which is also why it is a good strategy to generally NOT capture all the flags in domination; you can keep the other team cooped up in one flag area. If you hold all the flags the other team spawns randomly and will likely take another flag or two.)
So, the best the map designer can really do is place a whole bunch of generic spawns all over the place, in as "safe" a spot as the map designer can make. But the nature of the game is such that spawn locations often shift very quickly, and in some cases another team can still camp a spawn location if they stay away from the actual area itself and simply hang out at choke points. This is more noticeable on domination maps when one team only holds one flag.
With that said, I think the map designers in general did an excellent job with all of these maps, as they did with the last game. When you sit down and make one of these things you realize how hard it is to do well. For one, there are not very many places you can safely camp forever without anyone being able to get to you. Two, they generally adhere to the old FPS level design principle of having three routes to get from one end of the map to the other, with the ability to switch between these three routes as you take them. Three, all the maps function very well for a huge variety of game modes; they can be played on multiple different game modes ranging from CTF to sabotage and in each they play differently but still are very enjoyable.
End of that rant. Anyway, onto my complaints:
Totally agree with JohnRM that the majority (or at least the loudest portion) of the COD community online totally suck. Glitchers, complainers, nuke boosters, and people that don't go for the objectives in objective based games... they are all very annoying.
The care package glitch/tactical knife is really annoying, but by far the WORST thing now is the emergency air drop glitch; people have figured out a way to get unlimited EADs during a map. Ruins the game, and I will call out people on my own team for doing it too.
I know it's not a glitch, but the commando knifing is also throw-my-controller-against-the-wall annoying.
The lack of any user made maps or mods goes without saying. Awful, as I really enjoyed making maps for the last game. Also most of the new features were ripped from user mods, such as the tac nuke and tactical insertion.
And Activision sucks and would probably murder my children if they thought it could make them rich.
Favorite load outs
As far as my favorite load-outs, I change them all the time. Generally though I like Scavenger, Stopping Power/Cold Blooded, and Steady Aim. I have lately become addicted to silenced weapons. I have one runner class that uses a silenced SMG and lightweight and marathon for CTF and the first 30 seconds of Domination, when I like to run and grab B first thing. For CTF I can usually sneak around, surprise one or two people, and cap the flag and then run like hell.
Favorite guns in no particular order are FAMAS, M16, the ACR, AUG, TAR-21, SCAR-H, Barret, MP5K,& Uzi (it is a beast even without stopping power, which is why I like it). I pretty much always carry a Stinger as I cannot stand it when the enemy has a killstreak in the air. Nothing better than taking out the Chopper Gunner before they get one shot off! (Although the AC 130 requires teamwork, or dying and getting a third shot).
My favorite killstreak setup is either 3,4,5 for when I am doing poorly or use hardline, or 5,7,11 (chopper gunner) when I am doing better. UAV really helps out the team and I find I win more when I use it, as I will get it frequently throughout the match. I have yet to get a nuke and don't really care to waste a killstreak spot on it. I prefer chopper gunner right now as most people (other than me) don't really try and shoot it down and it's easier to get kills with it.
Now lets discuss MAP TACTICS!:
Domination: I always choose my runner class for the first death, as I will always try and run out and grab B first thing. I find on almost every map, holding B is crucial (except on Terminal; C is the crucial flag and B is usually not important or easy to hold). I will try and let the other team hold one flag while we hold B and either A or C, that way we know where they are spawning and can more easily defend our two. The exception is when we are losing and need to cap all three, or just totally dominating and it doesn't matter. On some maps it can be better to hold A or C plus B; for instance on Sub-base, I think it is easier to defend B from A's side. On Derail, I think it's easier to hold A and C as well as you can spawn camp C from the center building.
Demolition: Generally I find that the key to winning when you're planting is getting both bombs planted at the same time. I like to plant, stick around til there are 7 or 8 seconds or so, and go try and plant the other one if my teammates aren't really helping. If they are I will plant and then ditch it, running to the next bomb site, and hope they defend it. If you end up with one, the other team can hunker down and camp in one spot the whole time and it becomes very difficult unless you have a few very skilled players or your team really works together.
For defending, this really depends on the map and your teammates.
CTF: I usually am the runner here and just do my best to sneak behind enemy lines with a silenced SMG, grab it, and run like hell. I have found that its best to not even bother turning around when getting shot at as with lightweight and marathon I can outrun anyone. I love it when I get to overtime as I am always the first one to the flag.
HQ: I can't decide if its better to hold the "target" area and wait for it to become capturable, or hold the area immediately surrounding the target area, kill the enemy as they try to get to it, and then go in once it becomes capturable. This game mode seems really hit and miss as far as teammates.
Sabotage: I try and get the bomb first thing. You'd be surprised how many games you can win by just running out and grabbing it and beelining for their bomb site.
When that doesn't work I prefer being stealthy in this game mode. Anti-UAV actually is useful in this mode when you have the bomb, since it sucks to run around with a giant red KILL sign over your head!
I don't play the other game modes as much yet. I have tried S&D a few times and while fun I end up going back to one of the others. In this mode it's a huge advantage to be silenced, I think. I'm not a huge fan of Team Deathmatch.
Well that's my rant for this game.
