Activision blasts 'whiny A-holes' threatening COD developers

Activision community manager Dan Amrich has appealed to members of the Call of Duty community who verbally abuse and threaten its developers via social media.

According to Gamespot, Amrich took to his blog over comments on forums and community pages following the release of the game’s latest balance patch.

The patch reduced the rate of fire on the DSR 50 and Ballista and nerfed the damage on the AN-94.

Following these changes, Treyarch design director David Vonderhaar stated the changes resulting from the balance patch were not worth the threats he had been receiving.

“The DSR fire time was 0.2 seconds. It is now 0.4 seconds….The rechamber time was 1.0 seconds. It is now 1.1 seconds," he tweeted.

Later adding: “Not sure these fractions of seconds are worth the threats of violence.”

In his blog Amrich said Vonderhaar “often gets told he should die in a fire or kill himself or is a horrible person. If anybody thinks for a second that this is okay, it is not.

"But if the loudest voices in the Call of Duty 'community' act like an angry mob instead, guess how the entire world views Call of Duty? Now consider that these Internet Tough Guy rants and demands are not unique to COD, but exist everywhere, in many gaming communities.

"This is why the world often does not take gaming seriously; this is why gamers are assumed to be immature, whiny a**holes. Because the immature, whiny a**holes are louder.

"The fact that [Vonderhaar] focuses on the useful feedback, puts that intel to good use fixing the problem, and doesn’t irrationally lash out at the immature, whiny assholes is amazing.

"Role-play this for a second. When you make a mistake--because you do, we all do--or someone finds something wrong with something that you created, whether it be a meal or driving instructions or even a blog post, how would you prefer to find out that there is an issue?

"Would you like someone to just say 'hey, I noticed this and I think it’s not quite right; are you seeing what I see?'

"Or would you react better to having someone scream in your face that since your mother didn't have an abortion, you should commit suicide instead?

"This is not the way to show a developer that what they do matters to you. Not at all.

"If you enjoy your games, have a little respect for the people who make them--and stop threatening them with bodily harm every time they do their job."

Pretty strong stuff, is Activision right to blast the internet bullies or should they take criticism better? Tell us your thoughts below