[Richard]

Classic.

The Real Life Call of Duty Q&A

Could your stories be turned into game sequences?

Yes, many could. In fact, I have many more unique and fascinating experiences that have never been seen in Game World. Ideally, the Gamer would be able to select his or her strategies or develop their own.

Perhaps the most interesting and important element of my stories is that the readers get to ‘meet’ some of the people I worked with who are now dead.

Most of my former Teammates lost their lives in service to this great nation.

What's inaccurate about the Call of Duty:Black Ops Cover Graphic?

Both of the Model 1911 pistols held by the operative on the cover and posters cannot not function as depicted! Let’s take it from the top:

The 1911 Model pistol on viewer-right is painted with the thumb safety up and the hammer down, something that can’t physically be done with this style pistol. The thumb safety can only be engaged (pushed up) when the hammer is cocked. The only reason for a hammer to be cocked is when a round is in the chamber. Thus the phrase, “Cocked and locked,” was developed.

Both of the operator’s fingers are on the triggers of both pistols in violation of Firearms Safety Rule #2. Does anyone think pros don’t follow Firearms Safety Rules? Let’s put it this way: I never wanted to explain to what’s left of my Team why I allowed some idiot to put his finger on the trigger before his sights were on a target.

The pistol on viewer-left has the hammer down with the operative’s finger on the trigger. If he pulls the trigger with all his might with the pistol in this condition, it will not fire which is a good thing. If the pistols did fire he would shoot his own feet, which is why the second firearms safety rule is important.

Technically, the pistol on viewer’s left is in one of two states:

1.A condition where a round is in the chamber and the hammer has been lowered (not a safe practice because it can’t be fired without first cocking the hammer and the hammer can fire the round if something snags the hammer, partially cocking and releasing it before the sear engages the hammer’s safety notch), or

2.There is no round in the chamber and the trigger was pulled to let the hammer fall on an empty chamber. With both pistols as depicted, they cannot be fired by pulling either trigger. One person asked me if the pistol on viewer left could have just been fired until empty. When a 1911-Style pistol in proper operating condition with a magazine inserted (the base of the magazine can be seen in the painting) is fired until empty, the slide stays in the reward position, ready to load a fresh magazine. So the answer is no, it wasn’t fired dry – which is a very bad practice in reality.

Finally, the operators I’ve worked with think the kill tally scratched on the slide of the pistol on viewer’s right is ridiculous. No pro I worked with would do this because (1) it scratches one’s fighting instrument, disrespecting it, and (2), simply put, even with smaller spacing between the marks, there isn’t enough room on the whole gun!

This artwork is a massively-promoted mistake by a company that prides itself on presenting Game World in the most realistic way possible. These are brilliant people, so this must be somewhat embarrassing for them for a few minutes, or at least until they got to the bank.

What could you tell Gamers about real combat, that would surprise them?

There are several places in the world where we can go right now to experience real combat in just a few hours. Most people in the US are not aware that life-and-death combat is that close by.

We all realize that there are many differences between Game World and Real World combat, but perhaps the most surprising and seldom mentioned is the effect of raw uncertainty that’s always present in real combat.

Standing in the midst of combat in Game World we all absolutely know, so well that we don’t’ think about it, that we’re going to stop playing the game and get a sandwich, go skateboarding, or do the next thing.

This knowledge is part of our stability. We draw comfort from it. Most of us take our home for granted in such a foundational way that we rely upon the permanence of it without realizing it. We get quite upset when our homes are threatened or destroyed.

Normally, we pay little attention to what surrounds most of us at home. It doesn’t cross our minds as we play at combat.

But in Real World combat zones the reverse is true. You are away from home or maybe fighting for your home. You can no longer count on anything around you to be permanent, not people, not places, not things, and you don’t know if you’re going to be lying on the ground screaming as you die, have a hand blown off, or be instantly dead – and this is the kicker – from one second to the next!

Living with this constant uncertainty, not being able to take a break from it, is the underlying stressor that causes people to fall apart in active combat zones more often than actual fighting does.

But even being in the action, fighting in a combat zone, ending other people’s lives, makes that nagging uncertainty worse because doing it to others increases the realization that others can do it to you.

And this is the unsettling thing one sees in the eyes of many veterans who were in combat in all wars. They look at you but you can’t keep their attention; you clearly see them but their perception is that nothing around them, not even you, is permanent. They rediscover you after just a few seconds, over and over again.

Be kind to these injured people, these brave veterans, when you come across them. They mean no disrespect. Thank them, for they have given far more than their physical wounds. They have sacrificed their peace of mind for your way of life.

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/intervi...ll-of-Duty-Q-A

I wonder what these 'realistic' gamers would think if they knew the truth about ol' Wulfie.

And so it goes...

Richard