Remember that petition against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2?  The one where angry PC gamers decided to not buy the year’s biggest title because it wouldn’t support dedicated servers?  Remember how 200,000 people signed it, and Activision was supposed to be really worried?  Here’s how all that turned out.

Apparently, the 200,000 signers are only represented by 833 gamers, and apparently, DAMN NEAR ALL OF THEM ARE PLAYING MODERN WARFARE 2!  It’s funny, because I was under the impression that a boycott meant that you were NOT going to buy the game.  Apparently I was mistaken.  Jeez, people, you couldn't even click on "Appear Offline" just for appearances?  Lazy.

This, along with the fact that Modern Warfare 2 has already sold 200,000,000,000,000,000 copies, is pretty much proof positive that gamer boycotts mean nothing.  I’ve always said that it’s real easy to say you’ll boycott a major game like this on the internet, but much harder when you’re faced with the possibility of missing out on an excellent gaming experience.  Turns out that’s pretty much the case.

I’m not saying that gamers should stop with the boycotts.  If a publisher is taking advantage of gamers, it’s our right and responsibility to show our disapproval by not buying a game.  The problem is that when the boycott is ignored by the supposedly irate fans, it sends a clear message to publishers that we will, in fact, roll over and take whatever they give us.  You want that to change?  Don’t be the “Boys (and girls) who cried Boycott.”

[Source]