9 Sep, 2011
Call of Duty promoting respect among gamers? Either Activision has finally gone off the deep end, or they’re on to something here. With the unveiling of the Elite premium subscription service for their Call of Duty games, Activision had an inkling that it could be a make-or-break moment.
In an interview with Gamasutra, Activision’s digital VP Jamie Berger said that the decision to announce Elite without a price quote was a conscious decision. “We can’t explain the entire value until we can show it with the game,” said Berger. “So we’re going to suck it up and deal with some of the confusion — but it’s better to get it out into consumer hands and have them hammering away with it, and that was the right decision.”
Going at $49.99 a year for the subscription, Activision remained mysteriously quiet about the perks of having the subscription. An open beta that included multiplayer stats management, social networking, and community features was announced just after E3 as well, which garnered 2 million users.
Berger said that taking the risk of not fully explaining the beta was one that was “well worth it.” “For every ounce of frustration we created by not being able to completely explain everything, we got a pound worth of value back on the beta,” he said.
The biggest pound came back in the form of social networking that went beyond becoming just “simple acquaintances.” By giving users the ability to search for (and play with) players by any sort of common interests, Berger believed that it fostered a deeper connection rather than just playing with another gamertag. “I think that’s where it gets pretty exciting — where a social network becomes a network that actually lets you go out and participate in something together,” said Berger.
It’s certainly an interesting way to approach an online environment that many presume is fraught with contempt and hostility. Especially in Xbox Live sessions, Call of Duty has one of the largest shares of trash-talking competitive players who enjoy griefing lesser experienced players. With the networking aspects of Elite’s subscription services, Berger believes it will help alleviate some of the issues that come up in online play. “One of the most interesting things to me is how positive people are in [the beta service],” he said. “I’m most excited that within it, people are being supportive; they’re actually talking to each other, and amongst each other.
“They’re so happy to actually have a place to be part of a community, not a message board…they’re actually behaving very much like people who just want to be social and have fun, not people who want to flame each other.”
Berger admitted that the hostility in online play isn’t confined to Call of Duty by any means. Blaming the anonymity of the internet and how easy it is to hide behind a screenname, Berger believed that the more personal social connections being made on Elite’s services is what’s giving players a chance to be more civil towards each other. “It creates a social contract,” said Berger. “How can we start behaving as if we live in a neighborhood? You treat your neighbors with respect. When you create a true community, that, to me, is the difference between ‘social gaming’ and a community.
“I’m really excited about that aspect. It starts breaking a lot of the bad assumptions about what a shooter is. It breaks down those anonymous walls and turns it into something where you start knowing each other.”
Read the full interview with Jamie Berger and Gamasutra here.
Via Eurogamer.
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