Activision will 'never' charge for Call of Duty multiplayer, Hirshberg says

@tenacioustoaster Yeah! Releasing titles that people can freely choose to buy or not buy is greedy.

@(Unverified)

i agree! I was held up at gunpoint last night. The assailant told me to lay face down as he rummaged through my pockets in which he stole my wallet & chewing gum. Whats creepy is he stuffed a NEW copy of Black Ops into my coat pocket then ran. All i could make out on the perps jacket as i got a final glimpse of the his coat was the word ACTI, before he vanished into the dark alley.

@jynxycat I think he was referring to DLC.

@jynxycat
Those BASTARDS!

@tenacioustoaster

DOWN WITH CAPITALISM!!!!!!!!

@Negatron

Sorry about that, brah...a guy's gotta eat, and you've gotta play Black Ops!

No, I mean seriously, start playing now.

@AltairtheAssassinwhokillstuff

In wich way is he refering to DLC? if so he should be more specific

@tenacioustoaster As good as Black Ops is (it's really good) one MAJOR flaw with the multiplayer is that normal MP, Wager Matches, and Zombie mode are *completely* separate. You have to literately exit your party and go to the other modes. All of those should be contained inside the same multiplayer menu with the same party.. It's a major oversight for such a big budget game..

@tenacioustoaster

I think you mean Xbox Live is robbing people. They don't know any better anyways. I mean hell, they bought a 360 for christs sake.

@pButter "He said WHAT?! FIRE HIM!"

@Kirkpad
They don't even need a subscription model Just release a $15 map pack every month and it'll be pretty much the same.

@mandarin

Nope, Kotick confirmed it himself on the last quarterly financial call. Call Of Duty online multiplayer will always be free, and starting in 2011 online bullets will be available for only 5 cents each.

@copa

That sucks, because spraying from the hip is the only way i know how to play.

@DangerMouse001

"That sucks, because spraying from the hip is the only way i know how to play."

That's... umm, how do the kids put it... what he said? I think that's right.

@adrunkamputee

I knew something didn't sound right when i wrote that.

Exactly.

You get the game, and a 4-5 maps. The other 10 are DLC. The majority of the weapons are DLC, and the game modes are DLC.

@DBuckEye
Black Ops comes with 14 maps. That's sounds pretty complete to me. This whole "should have been in the game" bs really aggravates me. If the game is broken and they are charging you for the fix, then you can complain. Otherwise the game is done. Be happy that gaming has evolved that you can optionally extend the life of a your purchase through DLC. If it's too much money, don't buy it. Blame the PEOPLE for paying, not the company for charging.

@xreadmore

You used to extend the life of a game through playing it more and unlocking things. Now you just buy them. It hasn't evolved.

@Drakkenfyre

would you like some cheese?

@Drakkenfyre

would you like some cheese?

@Crimson Major

Kotick in his last interview with Joystiq confirmed that Activision will *not* be charging for used copies. Kotick thinks it's a stupid idea.

I know it's hard for many gamers to grasp but Bobby Kotick isn't the devil. The original "taking the fun out of development" comment was taken out of context.

Activision isn't going to charge for COD multiplayer. People who refuse to believe this are truly funny.

What Kotick indicated in his last interview is that Activision will continue to support COD through additional DLC. He believes that they only gain a reliable revenue stream if they give people additional content they will like and want to pay for. The EA Project $10 is stupid because all it does is make gamers mad and probably chase some of them away. Kotick's smart, he wants to get a COD game in to your home so he can make more than $10 through DLC. EA ought to realize this too but their leadership has been proven stupid a long time ago.

@Scuffles

I didn't know there was a silent k in nickel! Man, you say a word a few times, you think you know what it's all about, and then you see it on paper and BAM, it punches you right in the junk and rapes your uncle. I'm watching you, knickel. Don't try anything stupid.

@adrunkamputee

I come here for the comedy

@skyzbig

Came here to post this. It's a pretty solid argument. Hopefully Joystiq can ask Bobby about that next time they interview him.

@Clydeftones

I forgot to add, this would likely kill the annual CoD release and feature more patching & updates. The game would have to be deisgned to sustain a longer lifecycle and be open to sizable upgrades of in-game content.

@Clydeftones Have you played any subscription-based MMO, *ever*? Making a game subscription based solves none of those issues

Look up a list of cancelled sub-based MMOs -Hellgate: London for example - there's your "required post launch support."

Look at any forum for an MMO with PvP, and you'll come up with a list longer than your arm of severely overpowered bugs or skills that have been around for years. Death Knights in S5 of WoW - overpowered for 6 months? A sub doesn't guarantee any sort of immediate response whatsoever, or even that the subsequent fixes do anything.

How does a subscription base give the community a serious voice? I can think of precisely one game in recent memory where consumer outrage is actually making a difference, and that's FFXIV or whatever the newest one is.

As for killing an annual release, Everquest has been releasing paid expansions yearly if not more often for what, a decade? Paying for a sub doesn't guarantee you any new content for no additional charge.

As for designing a game to sustain a long lifecycle, look at Lego Universe. The entire game, sans grinding for building materials to do with what you want, can be completed in less than 2 weeks. It costs 15$ a month.

You're already paying for new content in the form of DLC, and paying through the nose if I may say so myself. Don't encourage these developers to siphon more money from you - XBox Live + DLC + a subscription? That's insane.

@CaptNink

So they'll change their mind all the way back around to the same thing?

(...see, 'cause 360 is a circle, coming all the way back to the starting point, whereas 180 defines an opposite direction)

@CaptNink i think you mean 180 there bro.