With Combat Pacing, Call of Duty: Vanguard introduced a mechanic that allows you to take control of the number of players in a match. However, the system tends to lead you to matches you may not want to play at all after the release.
The new Call of Duty: Vanguard offers a decent amount of innovations compared to its predecessor Black Ops Cold War:
- Levelable Operators for many cosmetics
- Destroyable objects on the map
- Return of killstreaks
One of the most important changes is “Combat Pacing.” This allows you to set how many players you want to face in a match for each standard game mode. But after the release, this mechanic becomes very … compromiseable and sometimes sends you into matches that you don’t want to play.
Number of players varies despite Combat Pacing
What’s wrong with the mechanic? With Combat Pacing, you have the choice between 3 different game speeds:
- Tactical
- Assault
- Blitz
With “Tactical” pacing, you are looking for a CoD experience like the one you know from previous titles. Here you want to start the regular 6vs6 matches that have formed the basis of multiplayer for years. If you are looking for more action, you choose “Assault” or “Blitz,” which brings more teammates and opponents into the match.
You can set whether you want to search for matches with all pacings or prefer a specific pacing. However, Vanguard treats this setting more as a “recommendation” and does not strictly search only for matches with the desired pacing. So if you only want to play tactical matches, the player search still throws you into larger matches.
Why is this a problem? The number of players has a significant impact on the game. More players mean more combat, different tactics, and greater action. But not everyone wants that. If Vanguard assigns you the wrong pacing, you have 2 options:
- Play a match you actually don’t want to
- Leave the game and hope for the next matchmaking
Both options negatively affect the player experience for everyone involved. The Blitz match starts with too few players and therefore loses quality. If you are the player who leaves the match, your matchmaking takes longer because it needs to find a new match.
“Is this a bug?”
What do players say about this? Combat Pacing itself is actually quite well-received. Under a tweet from Call of Duty asking which map with which pacing players prefer, many positive comments appear. However, the issue with random team sizes often leads to frustration.
- For instance, @Pure_Kuntry_707 tweeted: “Combat Pacing is trash. […] You should take it out of the game. Why do I select Tactical and then end up in Blitz?”.
- Also, @mkelly5698 is upset (via Twitter): “Combat Pacing is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. Why can’t I just play 6vs6 like in the last 15 years?”.
- For mkelly, it’s also a problem that he still plays matches with 10vs10 even with tactical pacing, like on the large map Red Star.
Others are somewhat irritated that they don’t get the Combat Pacing they chose and are asking whether it might be a bug.
- @JoshuaUlloa10 tweeted: “I chose Assault or Blitz and keep getting Tactical. Any hints on why this isn’t working or is this a bug?”.
- Some users even joke about it, like @Jose36896109 tweeted: “My favorite pacing is the one I choose and then matchmaking says: ‘I don’t care what you want’ and makes me play what matchmaking wants.”
Will this stay the same? Even in the beta phase of Vanguard, Combat Pacing was very compromiseable, and currently, it is unclear whether it is a bug or intended. A statement from the developers regarding this cannot currently be found.
However, since the effects can significantly impact the player experience, a statement could be expected in the near future if the problem escalates.
What do you think about Combat Pacing? A strong innovation or a disruption in matchmaking? Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts. If you’re looking for some tips for getting started in the game, check this out: CoD Vanguard: 5 tips to make you better than your opponents right from the start
