Call of Duty Infinite Pay to Win?

[VideoGameCritic]

Whenever I review a first-person shooter like Call of Duty I try to spend some time online to evaluate the multiplayer mode. However, have you ever noticed that some of the other players seem to have a lot better gear? I mean, you'll shoot them five times in the chest and they'll survive. You get shot once and you're dead.

I used to assume these players had painstakingly earned their gear, but apparently now it's just as likely people paid money. Check out this article.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/ ... 616b057a58

This garbage has to stop. It's going to kill online gaming. Your thoughts?

[Robotrek]

A TF2 or CS:GO model works, because it's just reskins and nonsense like that. Sure, the community in CS:GO is filled with morons who spend thousands of hours on it for bragging rights, but the model ITSELF works. Because everyone has an equal opportunity to WIN.

[matmico399]

I agree it's beyond ridiculous. But if enough peeps are willing to pay for all these online garbage upgrades it will be a mainstay. Sadly. Or it could go the other way and peeps get so fed up they go to retro gaming. I hope it does not go the other way where people just quit gaming they are so fed up. To much greed in the industry as usual. This may only be an option for the well off which could kill off a lot of the gaming community.

[Breaker]

I have played online, in total, about 10 hours in my life. So I have no idea how bad DLC and micro-transactions have gotten, or even what games/genres it does or didn't exist in.

I have never been great at FPS games, so online shootouts on COD or the like were never going to be my cup of tea. Especially as I've aged and life has more going on than just video games; playing against people who spend 6 or 8 or 10 hours a day honing their skills compared to my hour or two a week. Dying every three seconds isn't much fun.

I was never GREAT at Goldeneye, but playing that against people I knew and shared a couch with, made getting beat more enjoyable, because my occasional win was that much more fun when I could talk trash right to them, and we could laugh about it later.

I remember back in the day when you could buy either new or old team rosters in PC sports games, as a separate disk, that would then be loaded. I thought that was pretty cool, as you could expand the experience to include historical or updated players.

The online necessity and my comparatively declining skills make retro gaming that much more enjoyable. Time to go stock up on 3rd through 6th generation games.

[snakeboy]

Pay to win? I like it! It really adds to the realism. In real life those who have the most money wield the most power, and it's true in this game, too!

[BlasteroidAli]

there is an energy drink over here in Blighty called Monster.
Buy a can then get double xp for two hours with a ring pull.. that is how you get better armour and the like. I never bother with games on line as everyone with money can cheat these days..

[Tron]

Pay to win? I like it! It really adds to the realism. In real life those who have the most money wield the most power, and it's true in this game, too!

Try dat yo. Rich people can bond out after heinous crimes, while poor people on petty charges can't pay up.

Anyway I think if this becomes an issue a new game will come out where "pay to win" is taken out.

[Rookie1]

I dont even bother playing online anymore, havent in years.

This stuff doesnt surprise me though. I mean, why not? If you can introduce it, and people will through $$$ at you, then its a success. Online gaming, ESPECIALLY for FPS games is garbage IMO. Between being called the "N word" by an 8 year old, or dealing with all the cheaters, its just not fun.

[scotland]

I dont even bother playing online anymore, havent in years.

This stuff doesnt surprise me though. I mean, why not? If you can introduce it, and people will through $$$ at you, then its a success. Online gaming, ESPECIALLY for FPS games is garbage IMO. Between being called the "N word" by an 8 year old, or dealing with all the cheaters, its just not fun.

This comment is interesting. Video gaming, the business, has changed a lot in the transition from a product and an activity often played out in the common living spaces, focused on single player activity or engaging family and friends, to more of a service accesses from a dedicated part of the house, online, focused on a multiplayer activity, engaging with strangers.

While the companies certainly can realize greater profit by this transition, there should be a sizeable demographic interested in the other style of video gaming. Right now, that demographic (not just older folk, but younger) are being tapped into by mobile gaming when they are out and about, but I am not sure what they do when they are home. Some become retro gamers, others probably just gravitate toward other hobbies like music or low tech tabletop gaming (which has been rising in popularity just as video gaming has been moving online.