Black Ops PS3 multiplayer patched again

Are you a Black Ops player on PS3? Have you been experiencing unreliable parties? How about loud mouths in the lobby -- or worse: in your unreliable party? Well, this probably isn't the game for you.

Nevertheless, Treyarch continues to make amends for those who are less thick-skinned. At approximately o-five-hundred hours ET this morning, the developer deployed another Black Ops multiplayer patch -- 1.05, for those keeping count -- through PlayStation Network. The update implements several fixes, including "improved party reliability" (when leaving with party), mute functionality in pre-game lobbies and kick functionality in party and private match lobbies. (The full patch notes are posted after the break.)

Additionally, Treyarch is continuing its work to further improve party reliability, but in the interim we suggest you try making new friends. Future patches may also address the reported "infinite loading screen" issue (which definitely sounds like some shady MK-ULTRA side effect) and a rare game-freezing scenario that can be triggered by "explosions occurring simultaneously in a concentrated area" -- see? Didn't everyone say the authentic Cold War-era ice bombs would break the game?

In other Black Ops news, mod tools are in development for the PC community. So, for real, someone make that ice bomb!

[Thanks, Jason]

Treyarch Patch Notes:

Dec. 22 Fixes (full patch 1.05)

• Improved party reliability when leaving with party -- an additional step in an ongoing series of party improvements continued in the next patch

• Improved UPnP functionality -- further expands the game's capability to open NATs on routers with universal plug and play enabled

• Enabled mute functionality in Playercards in the pre-game lobby

• Enabled kick functionality in party and private match lobbies

• Addressed an issue where the pre-game lobby would not always display properly when multiple players leave the lobby after a team split

• Addressed an issue where the pre-game lobby would appear stuck on the countdown timer while waiting to balance teams

In Progress

• Addressing a freeze that would occur in rare situations involving a combination of high player counts and many killstreaks / explosions occurring simultaneously in a concentrated area

• Further improvements to party reliability to address an issue where mixed NAT types connecting and disconnecting can cause players to drop in some situations

• Investigating "infinite loading screen" issue reported by some users