I was thinking a lot about the map design of this game and MW3 in comparison to CoD4. I think we're really seeing human psychology fighting against the wishes of the developers. Bear with me.
Specifically I was thinking about the "sniper buildings" with two windows each on the map Meltdown. And I was thinking about them in comparison to a building from Crash in CoD4.
The building I'm thinking of in Crash has two entry points. Stairs and a ladder. You get two claymores, and they can be destroyed by frags, RPGs, or tubes to flush you out. If one goes, you have to watch an extra flank or leave your perch.
Now back to Meltdown. A "sniper building" has 2 entries into the lobby. Those two entries converge to the staircase. Up the staircase, there is another vent that someone can crawl in through the outside. Enemies can also climb boxes outside and come in through the window. So four entry points to a perch that is smaller (with less room to dodge fire and grenades) than the one on Crash.
You can have two claymores or betties (if you use an extra class point), and they can be destroyed by frags, RPGs, SMAWs, tubes, EMP grenades, false tripped by Engineer (which also gives away your position), nullified by flak jacket, stunned by tacticals, hacked by Black Hat, and also destroyed by a number of killstreaks.
Clearly what Treyarch wants and what Infinity Ward wanted was for the player to maybe take a shot, but never actually stay in that building. If you do, you get stabbed or shot in the back. If not after one kill, then after a few.
But what they've done with these maps is instill fear into the player. Fear that the player will get stabbed or shot in the back at any time because of the labyrinth locations.
I think it's pretty clear that after two games, when you instill a player with fear, they don't run out reckless, guns blazing. Instead, players double down on safe play. They find even safer spots to put their back against a wall, so nobody can come rushing through.
This means players camp in corners. They put a claymore at the door and stare at it, waiting for someone to pass by, ADSing just incase the claymore fails.
It may seem counterintuitive to the devs, but the play is showing this to be true. Some players will just become all out rushers with no other options. But other players will create even more defenses, playing with as few risks as possible.
After all, if a player gives away their location in that sniping building on Meltdown and tries to leave, they're all but certain to get dead when players come rushing in. There's just too many entrances to be sure that they're all covered. So why not just hole up where they're at least safe for the moment?
Anticipating the metagame in an online shooter is hard work, sure. But Treyarch and Infinity Ward failed when they tried to shape human psychology when all they did was trigger it.
