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Boards Archive] |
Welcome to the Vault Network
forum archive.
This is not a complete archive, time didn't allot us the
opportunity to properly backup the majority of the boards
deemed "expendable". Most boards on this list have at least
20-40 pages archived (non-logged in pages, 15 topics per
page).
Popular boards may have as many as 250 pages archived at 50
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We may not agree with how the board shutdown was managed, but
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Topic: Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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Auenwing
Title: straightface
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/722-activision-finds-new-way-to-monetize-call-of-duty
"Call of Duty" might be the best selling franchise in the video game industry, but Activision-Blizzard is looking to double down on its earnings potential.
The company has unveiled a subscription-based online service called "Call of Duty: Elite" that will provide extra content for players, including map packs and social network functionality for players.
Due to launch this fall alongside "Modern Warfare 3," the next installment in the series, "Elite" will not only give players access to downloadable content for the game, but will offer in-depth tracking of player statistics and an advanced matchmaking service, letting people play multiplayer games with friends or opponents with similar skills.
People who do not subscribe to the service will still be able to play the games online for free.
Analysts have been expecting the move for some time and say Activision-Blizzard seems to have modest initial aspirations for the service, but the company expects to grow "Elite" substantially in the years to come.
"I think Activision hopes to get up to 1 million subscribers this year," says Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities, who predicted the company would begin offering a subscription service for "Call of Duty" last year. "From there, they hope to get it up to 3 million next year, then up to 5 million. Over time, they'd like to migrate everyone over to it."
Activision has not yet announced what Elite's monthly subscription fee will be, though analysts expect the charge to be between $5 and $8 per month.
That would be on top of the $60 players pay for the original game - and, if their preferred platform is Microsoft's Xbox 360, they're likely also paying $60 per year for Xbox Live (which allows them to play online).
That starts to become a high price to pay a video game, but "Call of Duty" has long since transcended the "just a game" category. The franchise has sold over 100 million copies - and when new versions come out each November, they cement a spot at the top of the sales charts for months. Over 7 million people play "Call of Duty" games every day, spending hundreds of hours playing multiplayer matches.
It's a regular habit, too. Activision says the average customer spends 58 minutes per day playing the game - more time than most people spend on Facebook.
While "Elite" is an ambitious effort, it's one that could have a long-term impact on the stock, says Pachter.
"I think they're in this for the long run," he says. "For their next [fiscal] year, 1 million subscribers [to Elite] is about an added 3 cents per share. It's meaningful, but who knows ultimately if they'll end up with 1 million or 10 million."
At its heart, "Elite" appears to be a slightly more robust community than the one that is currently offered for free to players of games like Bungie Software's "Halo" and Blizzard's "Starcraft". That might cause some grumbling from players who are reluctant to pay more for the game, but the success of "Elite" could have an impact on free services like that.
Blizzard, after all, is already a part of Activision. And Bungie has signed a long-term deal with the publisher that will see the two working together for the next 10 years.
"The reason the Bungie guys went to Activision is they're psyched to start charging for their stuff," says Pachter. "Blizzard's kind of going that way, too, with all of the customizable stuff on 'Starcraft'."
Activision is launching Elite - and its added services - at a critical time in "Call of Duty's" evolution. The game is expected to see its most serious competition to date this year, when Electronic Arts launches "Battlefield 3" against "Modern Warfare 3".
"This November we're launching Battlefield 3," said EA CEO John Riccitiello at the Ad Age Digital Conference in April. "It's going up against the next Call of Duty, which is presently the number one game in the game industry. ... [Battlefield 3] is designed to take that game down. If you're looking for a battle of the titans, a Red Sox versus Yankees, if you're trying to understand if it's Microsoft versus Google and what the tip-off point is for this holiday season - this is it."
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kyrv
Title: Lord Logicus
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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How the heck did anyone manage to game before social networking?
You know, I don't think they really did.
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CO, LOTRO, RoM, PWI, CoH
Dragon Age
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GutterSludge
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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What do you mean?
What is this "social networking" you speak of?
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Guttersludge
People just can't handle the truth.
NeMeFieD said:"Yea I Ucmed for 12 days straight.."
njwCSUS posted:I'm homosexual, so really, its ongoing sexual attraction to my father, not my mother.
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Voqar
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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People will pay, people will subscribe, and the blood sucking will continue.
-----signature-----
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that
- George Carlin
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Isoke
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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Why on earth would I want to create a "social network" with strangers I am blowing up in a video game?
I'm clearly missing something since this is such a big trend for Activision. Or maybe it's just Kotick and his usual obsessive need to shove facebook functionality (and $$) down everyone's throats regardless of their preferred gaming environment.
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Blisteringballs
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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Isoke posted:
Why on earth would I want to create a "social network" with strangers I am blowing up in a video game?
Most people wouldn't want to. But companies want to either drive you into doing so or trick you into doing it in a round-about way. It comes down to money and advertising. Companies learned several years ago that nothing moves units or builds brand loyalty like word of mouth between friends, or at least "Internet friends". So now everything is being driven by that.
There's also the fact that every company sells your information in some way or another, and social networks are basically spiders that branch out and grab tons of personal info for the companies with little or no effort on their behalf. Friend of a friend, a follower, etc.
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Spookysheep
Title: Lieker of Cheese
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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Back in my day, people actually got together face to face in person to socialize.
Strange I know, huh.
-----signature-----
I liek cheese
Pirates > Ninjas
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Quazimortal
Title: The One and Only
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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Spookysheep posted:
Back in my day, people actually got together face to face in person to socialize.
Strange I know, huh.
You take your voodoo witchcraft away from here!
-----signature-----
“A painter paints his pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.
We provide the music, and you provide the silence.†~Leopold Stokowski
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JaredKorry
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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Spookysheep posted:
Back in my day, people actually got together face to face in person to socialize.
Strange I know, huh.
Careful, Gutter. You are showing your age. :P
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PallyDog
Title: WoW Vault Staff
Teh Pyckles!
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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What's a friend's list? Social network. Albiet a small watered down one. As far as wanting ot fight again your favorite hated player? Duh...don't you have a KoS list?
Frankly Facebook sucks, I hate it. As far as using "social netowrking" in an MMO, well it's been in place a long time. He's just making it bigger.
I'm sad Twin Skies fell through, they had some awesome ideas for that game...
-----signature-----
"Pallys are simply self healing rocks." - IndridCole
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GutterSludge
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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JaredKorry posted:
Spookysheep posted:
Back in my day, people actually got together face to face in person to socialize.
Strange I know, huh.
Careful, Gutter. You are showing your age. :P
If I truly wanted to show MY age, I'd start talking about remembering when computer modems were $1.00 a 'baud'....
-----signature-----
Guttersludge
People just can't handle the truth.
NeMeFieD said:"Yea I Ucmed for 12 days straight.."
njwCSUS posted:I'm homosexual, so really, its ongoing sexual attraction to my father, not my mother.
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Auenwing
Title: straightface
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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GutterSludge posted:
JaredKorry posted:
Spookysheep posted:
Back in my day, people actually got together face to face in person to socialize.
Strange I know, huh.
Careful, Gutter. You are showing your age. :P
If I truly wanted to show MY age, I'd start talking about remembering when computer modems were $1.00 a 'baud'....
Rotary phone, dial computer, wait for squeal, shove receiver into rubber couplers... and... dayam, in '78 I had one that was top of the line at 9600 baud!!!!!
-----signature-----
There are those who play tank classes, and those that tank.
The weapon is only as good as the person wielding it.
Free advice is often worth what you pay for it: nothing.
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Ferrydust
Title: Iron Chef Jennifer
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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Auenwing posted:
GutterSludge posted:
JaredKorry posted:
[quote=Spookysheep]Back in my day, people actually got together face to face in person to socialize.
Strange I know, huh.
Careful, Gutter. You are showing your age. :P
If I truly wanted to show MY age, I'd start talking about remembering when computer modems were $1.00 a 'baud'....
Rotary phone, dial computer, wait for squeal, shove receiver into rubber couplers... and... dayam, in '78 I had one that was top of the line at 9600 baud!!!!![/quote]
My first modem was 300 baud on my commodore 64. There was no internet. We went to billboards.
-----signature-----
I, on the other hand, prefer a command-line system 'cause i'm so hardcore
/north /north *You encounter an [Avatar of the god Set]!*
/cast sheild *sheild spell unavailable*
/csat shield *csat: unknown command*
*[Avatar of Set] beheads [Peasant]*
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chaddlock
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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kyrv posted:
How the heck did anyone manage to game before social networking?
You know, I don't think they really did.
If I can't talk to another live person in the game then I ask you this, is it really a game?!
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"Shhhhh... do you smell that?" So... Agent skully... funny running into you here 
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kyrv
Title: Lord Logicus
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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Isoke posted:
Why on earth would I want to create a "social network" with strangers I am blowing up in a video game?
I'm clearly missing something since this is such a big trend for Activision. Or maybe it's just Kotick and his usual obsessive need to shove facebook functionality (and $$) down everyone's throats regardless of their preferred gaming environment.
This appears to be the case.
Someone please, make it stop!
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CO, LOTRO, RoM, PWI, CoH
Dragon Age
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kyrv
Title: Lord Logicus
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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Spookysheep posted:
Back in my day, people actually got together face to face in person to socialize.
Strange I know, huh.
Screen shots or it never happened.
And how the @#$#&# would someone have known what their self esteem and sense of self worth should be if they don't have a count of likes/friends/followers??? THEY WOULDN'T.
Random mage in WoW: "Hang on, I need to like on facebook that guy that just ninja'd the loot and hearthed".
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CO, LOTRO, RoM, PWI, CoH
Dragon Age
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Kordirn
Title: Pirate Prince
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Subject:
Activision finds new way to monetize.....
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Sweet I get to pay for ground breaking features like stat tracking, and a ladder ranking?
Oh wait.... games have been doing that for years for free.
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ooOooo oOoOO OOo
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