Why does Microsoft not see the frustration of their customer base on this popular game. ...

It's a shame to see you go but I do not understand why you would try to discourage people from using Microsoft based products (office,windows,etc.) When a "Tech expert" such as yourself should know that Microsoft offers very nice and easy to use (and learn)
programs and just because you are throwing a little fit does not mean you should recommend other products to your customers based on a small issue such as this, while I understand where you are coming from your frustration is causing you to make poor choices.

It is somewhat frustrating that so many shops here in Belgrade sell the Xbox and yet Microsoft do not support it's customers here.

I noticed just today that Microsoft appear to have huge new office premises here in the city and yet still they refuse to support the local customer base.

I wonder why that is?

But Microsoft *does* gouge its customer base.

Why is it ironic? If people do not like post 2002 games, why do they play them? The problem is, it's just as cool and trendy to hate and bash on COD as it is to like the game. When people bash it, their arguments hold very little water. Modern Warfare on
the other hand is an entirely different story. It's a bad series and the ones bashing it based on their Modern Warfare experiences, should really give Black Ops a try. COD offers more load out customizations and different styles of play than almost any shooter
on a console. The customizations in the shooters everybody praises are only cosmetic. The biggest problem with Call of Duty is, it is very popular. People hate that just as bad as an Emo kid hating popular Rock & Roll.

You say that they'll never change this, but it isn't impossible to detect a user's timezone and update things based on that. I can see why it's been done - it's nice and quick to setup - but it does give a negative experience to their customers not in
the company's home timezone.