While the most prominent standard bearer of this feature request is a specific Reddit thread on r/ModernWarfareII, it isn’t the only place where players suggested the addition of a feature allowing those in a given lobby to vote on maps being switched out. Yes, this is ostensibly all because of Santa Seña Border Crossing. Did you guess?
Complaints about this specific map have mounted since launch, and many players recount anecdotes about instantly leaving lobbies whenever they see Border Crossing was rolled, only to be sorted right back in due to the matchmaking process. Players are trading tips on how to avoid being sorted back into the same lobby. This produces an uncomfortable situation for all involved, where lobbies go unfilled, a map goes unplayed, players need to keep quitting to avoid content they do not enjoy, and then have to deal with being funneled back into those lobbies precisely because they go unfilled. It all loops back around, and ends up negatively affecting the experience for players. The suggested solution is the aforementioned voting feature - the proposal from the players would allow everyone in a given lobby to either vote to keep or re-roll the map that has been selected for the next match, or to vote for preferred maps directly. This would enable smoother matchmaking, as you wouldn’t get an abnormal amount of quitters due to a specific, widely disliked map. From the developers’ standpoint, if they would also collect data from these lobby votes, they could also see what maps are most often skipped, giving them some useful statistics to base future map design decisions on. In any case, it would let players skip out on playing Border Crossing at the very least! At this point, the concept is very much just a fan suggestion. While the r/ModernWarfareII is an officially recognized community space where the developers also interact, this particular suggestion and discussion hasn’t seen any official comment - nor do we suspect it would, even if the developers are taking it to heart. That being said, one disliked map clearly hasn’t soured the player base - according to Activision’s statements and statistics, the rebooted Modern Warfare 2 was the most successful launch in Call of Duty history, and continues to perform well. Perhaps we’ll see a map voting function added, but in the meantime, millions still play the game - even if they don’t play Border Crossing.
