The lights are on
Paying to play, it's something mostly PC players do. Now it's making it's way to the consoles.Most notably, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, via the Elite premium membership.
You don't need the membership to play competitively on-line.
I'm not a member, but I've read and heard about all the perks. They seem nice, but honestly..I'm not interested. I just want the maps and the price doesn't seem worth it to me.I can wait and buy them separately.
When I first heard about the pay to play service, back when it was a rumor I got excited. I had envisioned massive matches, a lot of players fighting it out on big maps. Reality was a bit of a disappointment.
The Elite premium membership has a lot of subscribers. Over 1.5 million. It'll be interesting to see how many re-up after their first year.
My opinion is that I don't mind paying to play. IF it's worth it. And I don't believe as it stands now, that it is worth it.
What I'd like to see is a membership that includes battles that matter. Not just for XP, but rather for control. You pick a faction, (this has been done in many games), it could be, say red army, blue army, or whatever and the results of your match determine how many points your faction gets for this particular map. At the end of the day whichever faction has the most points has control of that map. Control of the map can determine if your faction is given advantages.
Or maybe you go even deeper than that and have a world map divided into territories. Each territory is represented by the game's given maps. Each map is a strategic part of the territory. You have your big maps, small maps, and they all play a part in gaining control of that territory. Clans and solo players could all take part.
I don't mind further investing in a game if it's going to give me something special. I'm not interested in pro tips, or a TV show about the game I'm playing. I want interaction. I want competition.
Kneel before Zod!
First, I want to say that the Call of Duty: Elite service is also a place where you can create clans and enter competitions for real and virtual prizes. So if you want competition as the last line of your thread reads, there is competition with claimable prizes if you or your clan are good enough.
Secondly, this is really not a pay-to-play service per se because you are not required to pay for actual online multiplayer. It is an upgrade to your existing multiplayer component. Pay-to-play would be more along the lines of the EA online pass.
If you buy Battlefield 3 for instance and want to play online multiplayer, you must enter the online pass code included with each copy in order to get online. If you have bought the game used and the online pass is not included or has already been used, you are required to buy another one through the Xbox Live Marketplace. EA has done similar things with all their games including Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Dead Space 2, and coming soon, Mass Effect 3. Just wanted to clarify.
All that being said, I would buy the CoD: Elite Service, just for the maps and competition. As of right now, we don't know when the maps will be released to the general public. Also, the Elite Service has been announced as being cheaper than what the price of the maps separately will be, so if you plan to buy ALL the maps, Elite would be a wise choice. Finally, resubscribing to Elite will probably be irrelevant with the almost certain release of Black Ops 2 in November...that is if you plan on buying and moving over to Black Ops 2.
Safety is a lie.
Hmm...Just read it