Black Ops connection problems: my chat with Activision

This is a follow-on post from Call of Duty: Black Ops connection problems.  Whilst my previous post was more of a way to vent my frustration, as amusing as it may have been, I wasn’t been constructive.  I don’t want to sue anyone or go marching in the streets about this issue, I just want the game fixed.

And so, after threatening to ring Activision in the aforementioned post, I actually did.  My ‘incident’ got logged as ‘Black Ops is freezing when I play multiplayer online on my Playstation 3’.  There’s more to it than that, but freezing is my main concern.  It’s one thing to be kicked out of a match due to erroneous connection problems, but it’s another thing entirely to have your PS3 completely frozen, and having to reset it.

Other pieces of information that were required were: game version number, NAT settings, external IP address, bandwidth, and letters A through to J should be visible, whatever that is!  All these details are accessible from the multiplayer menu if you press the select button.  It goes without saying, that the more open your NAT settings are, the better.  Your NAT settings can be open, restricted, or closed.

Finally, after my PSN ID was taken, I had to exit the game and delete Black Ops data from the ‘Game Data’ folder under ‘Games’ on the XMB.  Make sure you delete from the ‘Game Data’ folder, and not the ‘Saved Game Data’ as this contains your player profile and other settings.

The support staff were very pleasant and I do appreciate that Treyarch are working hard to solve these problems both with patches and live fixes.  Fingers crossed that these issues will get worked out.  My hope now, is that my PSN ID and IP address can be monitored for data collection purposes to try and nail down these game-wrecking bugs.

If this is happening to you, or if you’re just being disconnected a lot from online matches, then ring Activision!  The more people who call them, the more data they can collect and the quicker the game can be patched.  You want the local phone number for support in your country.  Start here, and select your country:
http://activision.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/activision.cfg/php/enduser/atvi_contact.php

For my UK compatriots, the number is 0 845 5280269 and the opening hours are Monday through Friday from 9.00 – 17.00 GMT except for national holidays.  On the automated menu, you’ll want option 3 for technical help.

I’ll post updates as and when the situation changes.  In the meantime, if you’ve got anything you want to contribute on this matter, then please drop me a line.

5 thoughts on “Black Ops connection problems: my chat with Activision”

  1. Hello,

    This is getting a little serious now, it seems that a majortiy of users are not happy…me included.

    I did not spend the money I did to get a faulty game, what protection does the consumer have in light of the faults on Black Opd…Basically, can we get our money back??

  2. Yes, if you’ve bought anything within the last six months (so, like Black Ops for example) one of the criteria under the Sale of Goods Act is that goods should be ‘fit for purpose’ – i.e. it should perform the function you bought it to do.

    So in this case, you want to play online multiplayer on Black Ops, but the game is buggy and won’t let you, then you need. In theory the legal status of software under the Sale of Goods Act is a bit murky, but this should not stop you asking for a full refund from the shop you bought it from.

    It’s important to note that under the Sale of Goods Act, you have to return the product to whoever sold it to you, not the manufacturer. However in this case it might be worth talking to Activision and explaining to them what you intend to do. It’d be interesting to note their response.

    I hope this info helps! In the meantime, I’ll continue to look into this matter with Black Ops, and video games/software in general.

  3. We are having the same problem as stated above, but since downloading the latest patch cannot even get a game, it just states trying to find a match. Playstation left in this mode for 3 hours never did get into a game. Not a happy customer have all the call of duty games think this will be the last one we purchase. very unhappy customer.

    1. I don’t know if this is related, but it sounds similar to the “infinite loading screen” issue that some players have been reporting (which isn’t fixed yet). In your case, the game is stuck ‘trying to find a match’, something that it’ll never be able to do in its current state.

      In these recent patches I’ve noticed that one problem has been fixed, only for another one to turn up. I mean, fingers crossed the game has been working fine for me now, but the game could break again for me in the next update!

      Out of interest Craig, have you spoken to Activision about this at all?

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