One of the difficulties with creating a FPS game like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, is trying to persuade players not to spend all their time camping on the maps. Map design plays a role in this, as does game mechanics. Recently Black Ops 2 Game Director David Vonderhaar explained how more aggressive players (players who do not camp out in a corner the whole game) will be rewarded for their game play as part of the game mechanics.

“There are definitely events, particular in objective-based game modes, where you are going to get more score for being on the aggressive side,” Vonderhaar explained. “For example, capturing a flag required you to get a flag in the first place. Those things are harder to do than, say, sitting at the back of your base, defending your flag. So those aggressive-style actions usually award more score, in general, because guys who are out trying to do those things die a lot more than the guys at the back of the field.”

This may not make people who enjoy playing in support roles happy—many of these players don’t really perceive of themselves as campers (and shouldn’t in all cases; after all, defending your flag is a legitimately important team role, and arguably a rather tedious one at times). Treyarch does seem to have made an effort to reward supportive players in other ways, however; for example, if you have a UAV in the air supporting your team, you receive fractional point increases for the kills other members of your team score. So it’s easy to see how this would even out to everyone’s advantage. Managing to achieve an ideal balance which supports many play styles is the key to creating a great FPS game, and Black Ops 2 seems to be on the right track!