Call of Duty Elite AKA The plot to get tons of money out of gamers

[Jagos]

In an odd attempt at bucking the current trend of F2P games, Activision has decided that they can't get enough money out of their fans. With this in mind they have turned Call of Duty into a for pay social service (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/05/call-of-duty-elite-is-a-for-pay-social-content-service.ars). Oh sure, you have quite a few features that are free. But in order to remain competitive, you'll be shelling out some cashola.

Features that come with the game

The features do look pretty sweet in giving you a very interactive strategy guide. You can see which guns are good on a map, check where you're dying a lot and even upload content for Elite to share. You can form clans on leagues for pretty much anything whether you live in a camper van, have the Commando glitch worked out to perfection, or use the noob tube exclusively. The features given to you are not bad...

BUT THEY ARE EXPENSIVE AS HELL! (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/09/call-of-duty-elite-activisions-tests-your-desire-to-pay-to-play.ars)

You probably paid $60 for the game at retail. But for $40 more (http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/games/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3-hardened-edition/93178#productDetails) you get:

One year of membership in Call of Duty Elite
Founder Status
SteelBook Case
Special Ops Juggernaut Xbox Live Outfit
Limited Edition Field Journal

Activision is giving the hardcore first access to all 20 pieces of downloadable content in this game. This is before the newbs and casuals can get a chance to play the game and see if they like it.

Do you see what's going to happen here? This doesn't BEGIN to describe how Acti will split the community into haves and have nots. If you're not paying for Elite, you're on the bottom of the food chain. Period. You have less features, less access to maps, and more time to become food for the wolves. You have less access to the prizes that Acti is giving away, so why would you even want to start playing the game?

[Melfice]

That 40 bucks extra pays for a collector's edition. They are ALWAYS incredibly more expensive. It just so happens you get a year free CoD:Elite. Which may cost 40 bucks as well; who knows for sure, but Activision? Or those who have researched more about Elite.

Also, I think the guys at arstechnica are skewing the facts a bit... where does it state those who pay for Elite get the DLC earlier than the rest? The link they put up leads to a 404, and I can't find it anywhere else on that website.
As far as I can tell, the paying "Elite" get the DLC for free. Not significantly earlier than the rest.

Incidently: Re:Less features: In the Elite app/website/whatever the hell this is. Not in the game proper, as far as I can tell.

[Amake]

Reminds me of Planetside's Reserves campaign, where you could play with limited versatility (6 levels out of 20) at a reduced cost, and become cannon fodder for the committed players. The difference I guess is Planetside always rerquired a subscription to play, and the Reserves played for free. These guys seem to be asking for sixty bucks to turn you into a meat shield. Not that I've ever had any interest in Call of Duty, but I certainly won't answer the call now.

[Jagos]

It's $50 a year for CoD Elite.

[Aerozord]

I like this in theory, its the application that sucks. It should be like Mass Effect 2 where the only condition is you buy a copy that they receive a royalty check for. Then free updates forever. Or TF2 where you have to waste enough time. Paying more to get perks, not cool

Of course CoD is quickly falling into a Madden-esque money train in which people buy essentially the same game over and over every year. So their plan will probably work, and I will feel a great shame

[Ramary]

Of course CoD is quickly falling into a Madden-esque money train in which people buy essentially the same game over and over every year.

Quickly falling? COD surpassed the Madden money-train around the time of MW2. They made a big deal on how they made a billion dollars in sales on MW2 alone.

[Toastburner B]

BUT THEY ARE EXPENSIVE AS HELL! (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/09/call-of-duty-elite-activisions-tests-your-desire-to-pay-to-play.ars)

Actually, considering Elite includes all DLC packs, it isn't really that much. I'm mean, it seems like they are cranking out a $10-$15 map pack for Black Ops every-other-month or so, so really there just needs to be 3-4 DLC packs released that year to make it comparable to just buying map packs. Considering that Black Ops has gotten 4 DLC packs this year, that doesn't seem to far fetched.

You probably paid $60 for the game at retail. But for $40 more (http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/games/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3-hardened-edition/93178#productDetails) you get:

Melfice already fielded this one, but that's for the "Hardcore" edition of MW3, which is essitenally a collector's edition, which they always charge more for. It comes with a year of the Elite service, but isn't the only way to get it (though it might be cheaper to get it this way than to subscribe regularly for Elite).


Activision is giving the hardcore first access to all 20 pieces of downloadable content in this game. This is before the newbs and casuals can get a chance to play the game and see if they like it.

Do you see what's going to happen here? This doesn't BEGIN to describe how Acti will split the community into haves and have nots. If you're not paying for Elite, you're on the bottom of the food chain. Period. You have less features, less access to maps, and more time to become food for the wolves. You have less access to the prizes that Acti is giving away, so why would you even want to start playing the game?

Well, to be fair, chances are if you are out to be a "competitive" gamer, you are likely going to download the map packs for the games anyway, which looks to amount to the same cost as Elite, so I don't think cost is as big of factor as it appears to be.

Besides, "newbs and casuals" are always going to be bloody murdered by "competitive" gamers no matter when they get access to new maps or not, because they don't spend hours a day playing it. So while it is true that given the more hardcore crowd early access to maps will get them an edge over casual gamers, it's not going to be that obvious because "competitive" gamers already have an edge over "causals and newbs". True, if you are competitive player who doesn't have the Elite early access, you will be at a disadvantage when the maps first go public, but how long will that disadvantage last before you learn the new maps as well? A week? Maybe two?


Disclaimer: This is coming from a more casual gamer. I usually don't play online except with people I know because of "competitive" gamers. However, if that is how they have fun, more power to them. And if they want to another $50 to get early access to stuff they are going to buy for roughly the same amount of money anyways, as well as get extra stat-tracking for it, who I am to say that's unfair?

[Aerozord]

Actually, considering Elite includes all DLC packs, it isn't really that much. I'm mean, it seems like they are cranking out a $10-$15 map pack for Black Ops every-other-month or so, so really there just needs to be 3-4 DLC packs released that year to make it comparable to just buying map packs. Considering that Black Ops has gotten 4 DLC packs this year, that doesn't seem to far fetched.

just saying this leads to the old fear of DLC, that developers will start releasing incomplete games for full price, then sell the rest of it as DLC.
Quickly falling? COD surpassed the Madden money-train around the time of MW2. They made a big deal on how they made a billion dollars in sales on MW2 alone.

I wasn't talking about sales figures, I was talking about the token attempt at new content then just selling the same game to fans that dont realize they are being ripped off

[Ramary]

I wasn't talking about sales figures, I was talking about the token attempt at new content then just selling the same game to fans that dont realize they are being ripped off



Again, that happened around MW2 when the 15 dollar map pack system came into effect, so I was still right.

ALSO,
2007 MW1
2008 world at war
2009 MW2
2010 Blackops
2011 MW3

So yeah, still right. A game a year with little changes is pretty much Madden on the dot, although granted this is a LITTLE LESS shameless.

[Marc v4.0]

I wasn't talking about sales figures, I was talking about the token attempt at new content then just selling the same game to fans that dont realize they are being ripped off

Clearly, sales figures make a game a repeat of a repeat of a repeat money train.

Instead of, you know, the fact that it is just a repeat of a repeat of a repeat. Like it is.

Yup, it's all in the sales figures.

[Melfice]

Again, that happened around MW2 when the 15 dollar map pack system came into effect, so I was still right.

ALSO,
2007 MW1
2008 world at war
2009 MW2
2010 Blackops
2011 MW3

So yeah, still right. A game a year with little changes is pretty much Madden on the dot, although granted this is a LITTLE LESS shameless.

The Modern Warfare series is made by a different developer with different ideas. Well... probably.
I mean, it's still a Call of Duty, and the gameplay remains much the same, but take it from somebody who played Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops, they DO feel different.

Still, your point stands. Somewhat. Kinda.

[Jagos]

Melfice, the reason that MW plays the way it does is because of how most of the people that used to work on it are basically gone. Infinity Ward is a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision, where before at least the heads of it wanted to take the game in new directions. Remember, the reason that we now have MW2 instead of CoD WWII clone #31 is because of the very well known fact that the developer wanted to try something new.

Now Activision is milking their success for all it's worth.

Besides, "newbs and casuals" are always going to be bloody murdered by "competitive" gamers no matter when they get access to new maps or not, because they don't spend hours a day playing it. So while it is true that given the more hardcore crowd early access to maps will get them an edge over casual gamers, it's not going to be that obvious because "competitive" gamers already have an edge over "causals and newbs". True, if you are competitive player who doesn't have the Elite early access, you will be at a disadvantage when the maps first go public, but how long will that disadvantage last before you learn the new maps as well? A week? Maybe two?

I think that's too optimistic. Think about when you've played any game where you have an unfair disadvantage like this. Look at all of the games that are coming out that won't be discriminating against the poorer people like CoD does. You have Battlefield, TF2, and a number of other FPSs that probably won't like how Activision is micromanging the daylights out of this service...

[Toastburner B]

I think that's too optimistic. Think about when you've played any game where you have an unfair disadvantage like this.

But competitive gamers are going to have the advantage of map knowledge over casual players no matter what. Competitive gamers will always learn the ins and outs and secrets of maps before casual players do due to playtime. It is an advantage, true, but it is an advantage they will have anyways.

And while it might matter for competitive gamers, it is not a long lasting advantage. Competitive gamers who are not subsribed to the Elite program will catch up to the gamers who do subscribe to Elite soon after the maps are made public.

Look at all of the games that are coming out that won't be discriminating against the poorer people like CoD does. You have Battlefield, TF2, and a number of other FPSs that probably won't like how Activision is micromanging the daylights out of this service...

TF2 may be the outlier here since it is F2P, but most popular FPS games (such as BF) do charge for additional map packs. In this case, it doesn't matter if you get the map packs by doing the Elite subscription, or if you buy them piecemeal, you still have to pay for the new maps. As such, saying that "poorer" gamers are missing out because of Elite is a bit misleading, as they would have to pay to get new maps even without Elite. In fact, if Elite is $50 a year, and Activision keeps the same release schedules on map packs as they did for Black Ops (four in a year for $15), Elite is actually the cheaper option for getting all the map packs if you were going to buy them all anyways ($50 vs. $60).