That's not true. I refuse to tube in HC because it's a cheap, gimp tactic that requires zero skill. That said, I don't think they should remove the launchers entirely. They have their uses. Some people prefer that playstyle and can't keep their gun on target for the life of them. They want to play like noobs - that's their deal.
The problem, as it has been since the release of the game, is that there is no effective counter to the tubing. You have three options as it stands and the most important one doesn't work. The Blast Shield perk should be the de facto counter to all the explosives. In Black Ops, Flak Jacket reduced 91% of explosive damage in Hardcore game modes. This was enough to survive two tubes, nades, C4, a claymore, or multiple shots from air support. In my opinion, it should have been even stronger but that is another story. In MW3, the percentage is much lower. Originally, the perk had the same value as Core, which was about 35%. They supposedly buffed it closer to 60-70%, but unfortunately that is still not enough explosive damage reduction to survive the splash damage from any of the explosives in this game. The perk is totally broken and worthless, when it should be the strongest counter.
That leaves using a Trophy System. It works ok for capping a flag in domination, but the problem with this equipment is that it takes a bit to set up, it only stops two of the possible 11 explosives a player can spawn with, it can kill you or another player if they don't lay down behind it, and it protects a static area, so it actively encourages camping. This equipment was a great addition for objective games, but it isn't a counter to explosives. They could improve this by giving it 6 or 7 projectile deflections instead of only two. I'm also of the opinion that if you pick it up before it gets destroyed, the "ammo" should replenish. This would make it a more viable piece of equipment and a counter that you could use while staying mobile. This shouldn't work forever, but you should be able to pick it up and refill it multiple times before the equipment expires.
The other option is the support streak Ballistic Vests. The irony of all this is that vests will absorb more explosive damage than the Blast Shield perk. Vests are really the only option for surviving explosives in Hardcore as it stands, and they only work against certain explosives like frags and a poorly-placed GL attachment. Rockets, RPG's and C4 still destroy them with ease. Vests are already borderline OP in HC and shouldn't receive any tweaks. This is just an ironic thing to fall back on because nothing else does what it should.
The explosives are fine in Hardcore if you have working counters. Black Ops was pretty close. MW3 took a huge leap in the opposite direction.
