CoD Vanguard player proves that Combat Pacing options are broken
Sledgehammer GamesCall of Duty: Vanguard offered fans the chance to tailor their games to suit their playstyles with the new Combat Pacing filter. But one dedicated player has collected some damning data that appears to prove that the option simply doesn’t work.
CoD Vanguard was released with plenty of fresh ideas for the iconic shooter series, from the new Champion Hill mode to allowing 10 attachments to be added to weapons.
One of the most exciting of all the innovations was the introduction of the Combat Pacing system. The idea is that players can choose if they want their matches to be tactical 4 v 4 affairs or chaotic big team battles.
This seemed like a welcome inclusion when Vanguard launched on November, 5, but one player appears to have proven that feature isn’t working as intended.
Sledgehammer GamesReddit user ArduousAttempt collected data from 100 separate Vanguard matches, documenting the map and Pacing they were placed on. The user said that they had switched to Assault Pacing (20-28 players) after growing tired of Blitz (28-48 players) when the filter was turned off.
Despite them specially requesting Assault matches, across the century of games they played the Pacing was evenly spread. They found themselves in 35 Assault games, 33 Tactical games, and 32 Blitz games.
As you can see, this spread is more like what you would expect if the filter is on “All,” rather than if you had chosen to play Assault. “You’re not guaranteed to always get your selected pacing [but] you can not really say this feature is working at all right now,” concluded the player.
It is worth keeping in mind that the Pacing filter is mainly a preference rather than a specific search criterion, most likely as a way to make matchmaking quick and easy. Even so, the fact that there was no difference in the type of match they played hints there is a problem.
Others players responded to the post, reiterating that they want the Pacing options to have more impact. “If I search for Assault Domination, DON’T load me into Tactical or Blitz matches,” pleaded one fan.
They also called for Sledgehammer Games to up the variety of Pacings on each map. Players have noticed that certain maps, like Bocage, are only playable with a certain number of players.
We’ll have to wait and see if the devs address these issues in a future patch. For now, at least, fans will have to grin and bear matches on different Pacings.