Basically, Bowling claims that the use of glitches like the “care package glitch” does little damage at all, and that there has been no drop-off of players as a result of these glitches’ presence. I haven’t been playing the game myself, but from everything I’ve ever the use of this and the “javelin glitch” really have had a negative effect on multiplayer.

Be sure to check out CVG for the full story!

The old reactionary model of addressing bugs incrementally via patches and title updates no longer suffices for this large a community. When a game is under constant duress like Modern Warfare 2, maybe it’s time to hire a full-time staff trained in policing hackers, stomping out bugs, scrubbing leaderboards to eliminate the cheaters, and refining gameplay balance.

You can find this edition of GI on newstands now, and make sure to read this article on page 46 of the magazine.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2gWSwV_7uA

The basic conceit that players have to consider whether or not to perform exploitative glitches in a multiplayer environment where cheaters gain the upper hand is nothing new, but seeing it expressed in psychological terms is certainly interesting. I could complain about his interchangeable use of “cheater” and “glitcher” in some instances, but I think it’s OK to let this one slide.

Here’s a sample from the article that refers to the infamous “javelin glitch” in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

But in the meantime, the javelin glitch presented players with an interesting dilemma assuming they weren’t outright bent on griefing: they could either abuse the glitch to boost their own rankings and unlock new perks, or they could abstain and preserve the game’s fair play. Of course, the problem is that if they abstain, someone else may abuse the glitch and dominate the match. The middle ground is when everyone glitches, but the resulting pandemonium isn’t as much fun as fair play.