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Activision To "Monetize" Call of Duty Online Play
With Call of Duty: World at War set to hit store shelves this November, Activision has been making plans to monetize the online component of the game. "Infinity Ward-developed CoD4 has paid downloadable maps available on digital storefronts, but with CoD5, developed by Activision studio Treyarch, downloadable content will be a considerably bigger priority. Griffith added that Activision 'plans to increase online monetization' with CoD5, offering '3x the amount of content available for download and premium content called Day One Advantage.'" Activision also announced that for Call of Duty 6 they will be going back to Infinity Ward for development, the company who developed the first, second, and fourth offerings in the series. Treyarch made the third and fifth installments.
If they want me to pay monthly for a game, its not out of my budget.
Nor is it out of the budget of MOST dedicated gamers.
However, they have to earn it. I don't consider 'Gun +1' to be worthy of buying. So count that out. If they REALLY want my money, what they can do is give my characters a chance to build up. Not just unlock items. Even farther, I demand moderation and active cheat protection..not just a program that loads into the background if any, but a fast and timely response to banning cheaters. Lets go another step, since I like money..I want free content. New maps semi-regularly, maybe new talents, new customization options, etc, for free. I'll pay for an expansion in the future, if it offers a LOT of content.
But I expect that a LOT of content also be released, over time, for free, if I'm paying monthly for the game.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
I loathe that damn word, "monetize". The software industry is without a doubt the greediest industry in the world. I mean the movie industry have tried, with DIVX, to make you pay every time you watch a movie, but that failed miserably.
The software industry, though, has a customer base largely filled with suckers who pay for an account on an online service, and who then pay for content that should have been in the game in the first place in many cases. Almost the entire industry is fueled by greed, treats their customers like thieves with increasingly intrusive and restrictive DRM, and comes up with more and more ways to fleece the consumer.
Valve have the right idea. Treat the customers decently. The content updates for TF2, they've already said they're being forced to charge for them on the Xbox even though they don't want too. The PC versions will remain free, as Valve believe in not fleecing their customers. Same goes for Stardock. Galactic Civilizations 2 has received two expansions, but they've added SO much stuff for free. The upcoming 2.0 patch includes some fairly major additions. Far beyond what you could ever expect for free from the likes of Activision.
It's nice to know there are a few holdouts who seem to believe in putting the experience and the games above the financial avarice of the likes of Activision and EA.