Activision Prices Call of Duty Elite

[godofallu]

Look at all these people hating on the Elite service, and like 80% of them have no idea what the service even offers.

There are usually 4 15 dollar map packs a year, so you're already saving money people. Add in the early access to the maps and a few other small perks and you have a decently priced deal.

So you are getting a better deal... for a rip off?

I don't know i've got a little over four days on multiplayer gametime on BLOPS, I think in total I have about 105 hours of gametime. So at 40 dollars for the game (20 for the singleplayer) and 30 dollars for two mappacks you get a 70 dollar investment. Which makes it about 67 cents per hour of entertainment. Compare that to going out to the movies where I watched a great film (X-Men First class) for two hours for 8.50. Which makes it 4.50 an hour of entertainment.

Anyways i'm only trying to reason out why millions of people buy these things to you for fun, I don't expect you to actually understand that trade relies on mutual benefit. Or that some people in this world make 15 dollars in the time it takes them to download the silly mappacks. 50 dollars is like 2 hours of work and in return you get a year of smiles. That's the way a lot of people see this thing.

 

[brainslurper]

$60 for the game
$60 for the map packs
$50 for stat tracking.

That is 170$ a year. For a game who's campaign lasts 6 hours, and the multiplayer is outdated and unbalanced. Skyrim's campaign is 300 hours long, and that only costs 60$. Team Fortress 2's multiplayer is well balanced, and that is free. Activision really has built up a culture of "You have to keep buying these games, or you won't be with all your friends. Well here is a fucking idea, everyone go play World at War, that game is by far the most advanced and content heavy of the series, and yet nobody plays it, simply because there is 3 copy paste sequels coming after it.

 

[dmase]

I feel like this would be perfect for me!!! If I wanted to stop having any semblance of a life. I think i'll pass.

 

[brodie21]

why the fuck would i pay 50 dollars a year for call of duty elite? i can almost buy a brand new game for that much! it doesnt seem like it offers all that much anyway. sure you get map packs early, but do you still have to pay for them? i guess this is more attractive to people who play COD all the time.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

My only question, and I'm serious about this, who is going to get this? Like, actually pay for it, not a free trial or anything?

 

[Ninjat_126]

Do you hear that? That's the sound of raving fanboys shoving money in Activision's face. Sort of like the sound of raving fanboys shoving money in Bioware's face, but with less content and more douchebags.

 

[CrazyMedic]

god damn it this means I will probably have to pay for xbox ahoy's videos now.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

50 fucking dollars a year? COD already costs $100 for 2 years post-release. No thank you.

 

[Still Life]

-Snip-

Sadly, your well-reasoned and informed opinion is an endangered species here. Absolutely astounded by the ill-informed, knee jerk reactions on display here and around the internet. Incredible. It's so absurd to the point of amusement.

I have been on the fence about Elite. Ever since its first article, which appeared on the WSJ (poorly worded), I've had feelings of trepidation due to the lack of detail. Now, I think it's a pretty good deal for COD fans. Most of the functionality is free; for subscribers there's a substantial discount on all DLC, and extra content/exclusive tournaments for more hardcore fans.

MW3 isn't on my radar because I like Battlefield and I'm also saving space for Rage and ME3, but I may consider MW3 if its balance and online play are top notch. Still unlikely due to franchise fatigue, but things are looking quite good for COD fans.

The biggest complaint I have in regards to the community reaction is the fallacy surrounding 'customer options' or its percieved lack thereof. Truth be told, you don't have to subscribe and you still get all the prior functionality of COD.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

And @Rednog, "Seriously"? Opinions are open, but charging for a service that could be atrocious is the same day 1 DLC that crippled Portal 2. It's hardly a new call.

Wait... Portal 2 had day 1 DLC?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=portal+2+day+1+dlc

LOTS of hate.

 

[raklin]

I think I see Battlefield and Halo gaining a significantly larger portion of the FPS fanbase in the next year or so.

I myself have roughly two hundred hours logged on Black Ops (MW2 was much better, imo) and my brother has over twice that at four hundred and twenty nine. He's a bit more into CoD than I am obviously, but we both greatly enjoy the game and play it with our friends into the wee hours of the morning... And neither us nor any of our friends (mind you, our circle of friends is aged from 18-35) feel that more than a $10 annual price would be acceptable. When i found out its priced at $50... Well, Lets just says I'm in the beta, and I'd never pay money for such a low level service. Its akin to a slightly upgraded bungie account from Halo 3, and as many have no doubt pointed out, has a grievous flaw in it's biggest selling point. You pay extra to pay sooner.

Well, that's my two cents. Excuse me while I stick needles into my Bobby Kotick? Voodoo Doll's groin... over and over and over again.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

And @Rednog, "Seriously"? Opinions are open, but charging for a service that could be atrocious is the same day 1 DLC that crippled Portal 2. It's hardly a new call.

Here's the thing, in my honest opinion, I have yet to see an valid argument against the Elite service based on the existing CoD model.

Ok, the existing CoD model is naff for a start. You're starting from a very low baseline. A major company making a yearly re-make that promotes itself on realism, yet has no yearly ties, no actual realism and just tweaks the base engine based on last year's result is lazy in the extreme. The bells and whistles are quite nice, but the groundwork for them is already in place.

Same cake, different icing.

Now for the Elite Service:

1) Compound Interest: You're actually paying Activision $140 over the year.
2) A Pricing Model based on IP: When you're paying more for a named brand, then you're going into the realms of fan-sponsorship. That's an economic model that makes it's fans even more rabid than they originally were.
3) Paying up Front: You've no idea how good this service will be, but you're prepared to spend the same amount of money just in case. That's basically the same as pre-ordering MW4 and being allowed into the beta. And then you can pre-order MW4 on top of that.
4) Grass is Greener: Let's say you also want to buy BF3 or some other FPS. You've already put down your money on Elite, so you'll either be wasting that money or wasting your Elite purchase. Safer not to buy any more FPS.
5) Throw That One In: I'll be willing to put money on it that one of these map-packs is a "retro pack, re-enabling some of your favourite maps from past MWs". You've NO guarantee that these packs are going to contain anything as good as what the original game came with - and the only people you're going to be able to play them with is the Elite echolon.
6) Pay To Win: People with the Elite service have an advantage over others regardless of skill. That's a bad thing.
7) They Lie:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.215925-No-Subscriptions-for-Call-of-Duty-Multiplayer-Says-Activision
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105602-Activision-Adamant-it-Will-Never-Charge-for-Call-of-Duty-Multiplayer
8) They Know You'll Pay, Regardless:

In order to achieve this potential, we need to focus: on making games that constantly raise the quality bar; on staying ahead of the innovation curve; on surrounding the brand with a suite of services and an online community that makes our fans never want to leave.
Entertainment franchises with staying power are rare. But Call of Duty shows all of the signs of being able to be one of them. It's up to us.

Maybe you can knock 4 of those out due to personal opinion. But there's enough there to paint a decidedly Black operation, regardless of personal feelings towards Activision (of which there is already a lot of deserved hatred)

But you did make a good point about Epic. Point is I'd never buy any of the GoW series anyway.

 

[SonicKoala]

$60 for the game
$60 for the map packs
$50 for stat tracking.

That is 170$ a year. For a game who's campaign lasts 6 hours, and the multiplayer is outdated and unbalanced. Skyrim's campaign is 300 hours long, and that only costs 60$. Team Fortress 2's multiplayer is well balanced, and that is free. Activision really has built up a culture of "You have to keep buying these games, or you won't be with all your friends. Well here is a fucking idea, everyone go play World at War, that game is by far the most advanced and content heavy of the series, and yet nobody plays it, simply because there is 3 copy paste sequels coming after it.

Stat tracking would be free, whether or not you choose to purchase the Elite service. Furthermore, if you choose to purchase the Elite service, the cost of the map packs will be included in your yearly $50 dollar fee. Just thought I'd point that out. I'm certainly not going to be paying for that, but for those who only play CoD, it probably wouldn't be such a bad investment.

 

[SonicKoala]

Maybe you can knock 4 of those out due to personal opinion. But there's enough there to paint a decidedly Black operation, regardless of personal feelings towards Activision (of which there is already a lot of deserved hatred)

But you did make a good point about Epic. Point is I'd never buy any of the GoW series anyway.

You're right - it would seem as though Activision are heavily invested in some pretty serious Black ops....

Spoiler

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

You're right - it would seem as though Activision are heavily invested in some pretty serious Black ops....

It's so gratifying when someone returns a good service

 

[Korten12]

Also what the fuck does quality even matter in this arguemet?

You've just made my entire point.

Quality is everything. That's what you're paying premium for.

If you're just paying a shitload up front without knowing what's in it, then you're just like the lady who bought the wooden iPad. Take a damn look inside the box first.

Go back and actually check how many people on this "fucking forum" actually called people idiots for buying this. It's way less than half. They just said they didn't want to buy it, and they knew a lot of people that would.

I'm afraid the person most upset by this is you. And you're willing to pay the money.

Quality of maps is purely subjective.

Um... Yeah, it is actually A LOT who said they were idiots. Half of them even said you needed to buy the dlc on top of Elite. Yeah, they know there stuff.

Also when the fuck did I say I was willing to pay. Wait let me re-read my post. Nope, never once I said I would pay for it.

 

[Von Strimmer]

50 dollars and you dont even get the maps free??? thats horeshit! Does that also mean it will cost $100 in Australia? yeah fuck you activision. Enough said.

 

[Korten12]

50 dollars and you dont even get the maps free??? thats horeshit! Does that also mean it will cost $100 in Australia? yeah fuck you activision. Enough said.

You get the DLC free... Seriously people, research... It's as easy as going to google and typing it in. In fact, let me do that for you.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Do+you+get+free+DLC+with+Call+of+Duty+Elite%3F

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Are they going to go down the other path next where you get access to weapons that make the game unplayable unless you pay extra for it? Like burnout paradise?

Hey, if they can't innovate the game anymore...why not innovate the revenue stream?

Why not give us some crappy gamer pics and shit-encrusted boxer shorts for our avatars too? Only $50 a year...

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Um... Yeah, it is actually A LOT who said they were idiots.
Half of them even said you needed to buy the dlc on top of Elite. Yeah, they know there stuff.

Re-read page 1. I can only see Rawne/Sean criticizing. No-one says you need to buy the dlc. In fact, all of the people who are being aggressive are those defending Activision. And, like Nintendo, I don't think they need defending or even notice it.

Also when the fuck did I say I was willing to pay. Wait let me re-read my post. Nope, never once I said I would pay for it.

So you're defending a service that you wouldn't even buy? O....K....

Quality of maps is purely subjective.

That's an even bigger cop-out than "I like this but I won't buy it".

And doesn't answer any of the valid criticisms raised.

Don't you think you're taking this a little personally?