Idk, using the name while it's still very current news in a game that takes place in a fictional campaign almost seems like trying to cash in on a trend. I think it was unnecessary, obvious publicity stunting, but not in bad taste.
 
...But what I really love are some of the ridiculously ignorant comments in this thread. Way to go, GB.

They might as well have called them "The Bad Guys"

Bitch Out

Just call them "Cunts that must die"..............

" @Donos said:

" Just occured to me, why exactly does everyone think this is a bad thing? Is there an actual reason for the name to have been kept as Taliban, or is this just the usual internet haterading on change? "

Because they;

• caved to political correctness from people who don't play videogames
• claimed the name change was to respect the "friends and families of fallen soldiers" and to maintain "the reverence for American and Allied soldiers"  yet it is blatantly superficial and changes nothing. You still kill American and Allied soldiers dressed as Afghan insurgents in Afghanistan.

"

"What a fucking cop out "

Boo.

There is also the fact that it is incredibly insulting to a man who risked his goddamn life to defend his country that people are afraid to even represent the conflict in a respectful way, without beating around the bush. This is just people making trouble where no trouble needs to be. It was a bold move, and as a result it got a lot of respect for the devs, but this is just them giving that advantage away. It's sickening how insistent we are in the universe to treat soldiers like heaven's strongest angels come to save us all, and yet we cannot even have a Taliban soldier in a video game. We cannot pretend they don't exist forever. They are out there, and even more shocking to the average citizen, they are just as human as the rest of us. "

OPFOR is usually used in training scenarios, used to refer to friendly military units playing the enemy. I've never, ever heard it used as a term for actual enemies. Whatever, we all still know who the bad guys are in this game, it doesn't matter to me one bit what they're called.

Think of the children(tm)!

Look everybody! It's a caricature, not a real threat anymore!

It makes zero difference to me - I couldn't care less if I was playing against a team called Opposing Force or one called Taliban. 

I understand why they did it, myself.  We're still at war in Afghanistan.  We're still fighting the Taliban.  It is happening right now.  It's not like WW2 games where you play as Nazi's, which I even find a little bit weird and would always be kind of pissed when I was put on the Nazi team in games like COD or Wolfenstein because I don't want to be part of a team of genocidal maniacs, even if it is just a game.  But no one complains because that shit was a long time ago, dude.  Same with even Vietnam.  But I can see how it might weird people out to be playing as the group that killed/maimed your husband/wife/brother/son/daughter/cousin/friend/etc. overseas.

I think people just need to get over themselves and realize that these are videogames and we can just make every thing seem all nice and pretty.

I dunno if I was a Taliban, I'd rather be called Taliban and not "Opposing Force"

i'm a fan of logical decisions, so here goes my suggestion: 
 
if you are offended, don't play the game. play something else. not that the majority of the complaints come from people who play video games or intended to play this particular one, anyway.

 "It doesn't matter what you call it," wrote one commenter at videogame site GiantBomb.com. "At the end of the day, you're still going to play as terrorists."

" @example1013 said:

Name one positive effect the Taliban had on Afghanistan. One. And if you can make a case, I'll mail you a $5. "

Extraordinarily simple: They brought order to chaos. Thanks to those lovely superpowers the USA and the USSR Afghanistan was turned into a lawless mess of heavily armed warlords who did whatever they pleased to whomever they pleased. A full body veil is an extremely functional piece of dress when you have a pretty daughter and you live in a country where a gang of 15yrs olds with AKs can do what they want. The Taliban ended that. They brought draconian rules but rules, however harsh, are far preferable to chaos. Many Iraqis, even Shia Iraqis, have openly said they preferred to live under Saddam. At least with him they knew what they had to do to survive. A carbomb, on the otherhand, is indiscriminate. "

This is the best way to avoid controversy! Good job, EA.

I want my Talibans back!!!

Sad when a game company is afraid of a bunch of sheep humpers.

This is ridiculous. How does changing the name of the enemy make any difference? You are still getting points for killing american soldiers in mass numbers. The more you kill in a row, the better you do. That is disrespectful. Calling the enemies what they are isn't.

It would've been a nice change to have a modern-day FPS have a real terrorist faction in it. Oh well, I guess the worrisome mommies and Fox News have won again.

EA has big balls for bringing a current event with actual militant forces to the table in a war game. I don't know if it has ever been done before. As far as the name change goes... a rose by any other name... enough said. For the people who can't handle mid-eastern terrorists in a video game- get over it! Reality won't change because you wish the world was rainbows and unicorns. I hear a lot of fear-talk from the media and it enrages me. A smart man once said," Fear is the last step down to the door of destruction." So why don't  they stop all the controversy (that they created) and try to take this game for what it is- a game. 
 
PS- Has anyone considered the hours of fun tea-bagging those dirty OPFOR could bring? Oh, the joy! XD