MW3 will charge you COD kiddies a fee

[Merc1138]

personally I wont own any game that req. any fee to play on top of buying the game , meaning I don't own a Xbox or ps3, but do play online free with my PC and Wii .... its a buyers market don't support these cash cows ....

Huh? Only MS charges for online play, not sure why you think you need to pay to play online using the ps3.

CoD is the madden of FPS games. It's been dumbed down to be playable by the lowest common denominator, and the fact that dedicated servers are an afterthought in the development process shows this. Minimal updates to the game engine happen simply to justify the cost of a new annual version. The fact that they spend most of their development time on the console systems also shows, especially when it comes to the graphics. Basically you've got games that need to run at 30fps on 7 year old hardware. That's not acceptable in the world of PC gaming. People want 60fps at 1080p or higher on today's hardware. As it is the ps3 and 360 are showing their age when it comes to visual fidelity(don't even get me started on the Wii... damn overclocked gamecube) and developers simply port this stuff straight to the PC where it ends up looking like trash. Pretty much the only thing PC players can do is crank up the AF and AA.

CoD isn't the only game/series guilty of this garbage either. Bulletstorm pulled the same BS on PC gamers with outdated graphics due to their console optimization and crappy porting to the PC, and god awful multiplayer support basically using a crappy PC version of xbox live(specifically games for windows live).

What's really shocking, is that it's taken so long for people to finally figure this out about CoD.

[schneiderguy]

Activision Blizzard Inc. plans to launch an online service called Call of Duty Elite this fall that will work with the next major edition of the game, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," and future installments of the hyper-realistic combat-simulation game.

[Jeepers]

Huh? Only MS charges for online play, not sure why you think you need to pay to play online using the ps3.

CoD is the madden of FPS games. It's been dumbed down to be playable by the lowest common denominator, and the fact that dedicated servers are an afterthought in the development process shows this. Minimal updates to the game engine happen simply to justify the cost of a new annual version. The fact that they spend most of their development time on the console systems also shows, especially when it comes to the graphics. Basically you've got games that need to run at 30fps on 7 year old hardware. That's not acceptable in the world of PC gaming. People want 60fps at 1080p or higher on today's hardware. As it is the ps3 and 360 are showing their age when it comes to visual fidelity(don't even get me started on the Wii... damn overclocked gamecube) and developers simply port this stuff straight to the PC where it ends up looking like trash. Pretty much the only thing PC players can do is crank up the AF and AA.

CoD isn't the only game/series guilty of this garbage either. Bulletstorm pulled the same BS on PC gamers with outdated graphics due to their console optimization and crappy porting to the PC, and god awful multiplayer support basically using a crappy PC version of xbox live(specifically games for windows live).

What's really shocking, is that it's taken so long for people to finally figure this out about CoD.

I don't game my life away , but do enjoy it once in a while , my COD on PC runs @ 150 fps @1080p and at points tops out @ 250 fps, I also still enjoy playing the orig Halflife from time to time along with its mods , and have played on consoles and guess I am just old school the gamepads are junk IMO its a keyboard/mouse for me, but to each his own, I think paying for a game and hardware(over priced single use not upgradeable console) and then having to pay again to play is just stupid... but this is America where ppl know how to waste there $$$ ...

[Merc1138]

I don't game my life away , but do enjoy it once in a while , my COD on PC runs @ 150 fps @1080p and at points tops out @ 250 fps, I also still enjoy playing the orig Halflife from time to time along with its mods , and have played on consoles and guess I am just old school the gamepads are junk IMO its a keyboard/mouse for me, but to each his own, I think paying for a game and hardware(over priced single use not upgradeable console) and then having to pay again to play is just stupid... but this is America where ppl know how to waste there $$$ ...

Yeah, because you're playing a game designed to run at 30fps on 7 year old hardware, I already said that.

As far as today's consoles being "single use" umm... I dunno about you but my ps3 is also my blu-ray player, and if I didn't have a PC sitting next to my TV it'd also handle my media playback, netflix, etc. Definitely not "single use". Also, consoles cost less than what could be considered a decent videocard for a PC. PC and console gaming are two different markets and always have been, the developers just look at the console market and start seeing dollar signs because there's no need to do anything that's actually new until the next generation console is out 5-10 years later and things like dedicated servers and development utilities aren't even anything to be concerned about. Mod community on consoles? LOL.

Seriously, people gripe about map packs that cost $10-$15 as DLC, what do you expect the devs to do? It's not like they have any free competition from community map makers(and that seems to have gone out the window after quake 3/UT) so of course they're going to charge for content to keep your interest with no one willing(hell, more like able) to do it for free.

[schneiderguy]

Seriously, people gripe about map packs that cost $10-$15 as DLC, what do you expect the devs to do? It's not like they have any free competition from community map makers(and that seems to have gone out the window after quake 3/UT) so of course they're going to charge for content to keep your interest with no one willing(hell, more like able) to do it for free.

Valve and Tripwire (Red Orchestra/Killing Floor) release new content for free.

[Merc1138]

Valve and Tripwire (Red Orchestra/Killing Floor) release new content for free.

Yeah, those are PC developers who do compete with an active PC modding community. All you've done is further prove my point. The current big FPS games are getting designed for consoles with PC as an afterthought because required support is minimal, hardware doesn't change for 5-10 years at a time, and they get to do a halfassed job.

Crysis is another example of a game that was originally developed for the PC and had a fairly active community(was also a ridiculous stress test for hardware pushing the limits by quite a bit), but the latest iteration was developed for consoles first with PC gaming as an afterthought. The result is that the UI is a disaster, the multiplayer support is crap, and the graphics are a joke compared to it's predecessor being known as a demanding cutting-edge game.

[Peter.Steele]

Yeah, those are PC developers who do compete with an active PC modding community. All you've done is further prove my point. The current big FPS games are getting designed for consoles with PC as an afterthought because required support is minimal, hardware doesn't change for 5-10 years at a time, and they get to do a halfassed job.

Crysis is another example of a game that was originally developed for the PC and had a fairly active community(was also a ridiculous stress test for hardware pushing the limits by quite a bit), but the latest iteration was developed for consoles first with PC gaming as an afterthought. The result is that the UI is a disaster, the multiplayer support is crap, and the graphics are a joke compared to it's predecessor being known as a demanding cutting-edge game.

Okay, you lost me here.

Tripwire and Valve don't compete with the modding community ... they enable the modding community.

And methinks you might need to do a little more research re: Red Orchestra 2.

[Merc1138]

Okay, you lost me here.

Tripwire and Valve don't compete with the modding community ... they enable the modding community.

And methinks you might need to do a little more research re: Red Orchestra 2.

Yes, they do compete with the modding community, for keeping interest in the game. I don't mean competition in the sense that they're somehow competing for customer cash.

Look at it this way. If you release a new CoD game that sells 5 million copies, and absolutely no development tools, who are your customers going to get content from? Only you, and you can charge for it.

If you release actual dev tools and have an active modding community, people aren't going to be as willing to pony up $10-$15 for a handful of new maps. Why? because you're stuck paying for new levels since no one is making any for free. There's no competition.

I suppose encouragement from the modding community instead of competiton might be a better choice of wording? The end result is still the same every time though.

I don't need to do any research on Red Orchestra 2 at all, again you guys are proving my point. Community designed levels for the current big FPS games where the major focus of development was on the consoles even after their PC launch(which by the way sometimes doesn't even happen for months/years), is almost non-existant. I'm talking about Halo, CoD, GoW(even though it's third person and not first, my point still stands), MoH, etc. Red Orchestra 2 is not a game developed for a console, nor is it something that anyone could consider to be the same "AAA industry game with a multi-million dollar budget getting to be on par with the cash blown by Hollywood". Frankly, most of Valve's stuff barely falls into that category.

Also, two different posters and still only 2 developers have been mentioned that even fall into the older PC game developer archetype who would release a game and as well as dev tools with it. Valve and Tripwire are not special or doing anything innovative/new, they're simply doing what had already been done for the past 15+ years.

[Javi]

I'm going to resist any Activision games. The greed is making my stomach upset.

[Cuerno_de_Chivo]

uhmm thats pretty gay, although i sort of thinking of buying it but not anymore. Bf3 has always had my money so im sticking with that. I hope its as good as Battlefield bad company 2.

[POLICESTATE]

It's going to be funny to see this whole thing blow up in their face when the subscriber numbers are lackluster to begin with and then fall off rapidly after the first month.

I'll have to get some popcorn for that.

[iareConfusE]

uhmm thats pretty gay, although i sort of thinking of buying it but not anymore. Bf3 has always had my money so im sticking with that. I hope its as good as Battlefield bad company 2.

I'm sure it will be better.

[iareConfusE]

It's going to be funny to see this whole thing blow up in their face when the subscriber numbers are lackluster to begin with and then fall off rapidly after the first month.

I'll have to get some popcorn for that.

Unfortunately I think that there will still be a lot (millions) of teenagers and kids asking their parents to buy the DLC for them, unknowing of the bad politics that goes into making video games. The kids don't care that Kotick is milking the cash cow. As long as the name is slightly different from the last, they'll think that it's a totally new game and be none the wiser.

[hybridatsun350]

I had already decided I probably wouldn't be buying MW3, but that pretty much seals the deal!

[Merc1138]

It's going to be funny to see this whole thing blow up in their face when the subscriber numbers are lackluster to begin with and then fall off rapidly after the first month.

I'll have to get some popcorn for that.

Nahh, it's kids begging their parents for cash not putting any thought into what is actually being paid for. If sales numbers do drop, they'll just add some extra clan tag emblems or colored skins for the guns that cost next to nothing to make.

"Hey kids, we know you're tired of paying $10 a month(or whatever they end up charging) but now we're including our facepaint of the month club in addition to your $10/mo. premium account for free!"

"OMG I HAVE TO PAY $10 EVERY MONTH TO GET THE NEW FREE FACEPAINT AND GUN CAMO! AWESOME!"

Think I'm exaggerating? This is a company who changed the model of replay value for an FPS game, into an e-penis measuring contest by forcing players to start from scratch and earn their guns again once a week just so they can make their guns gold and add an extra unicorn to their clan tag(this is assuming their clan tag and gun emblem isn't just a bunch of poorly drawn penises(penii?) anyway.