if you start charging people to play online mulitplayer games people wont play them....kids wont be able to afford to play them....one of the whole reasons why COD4 multiplayer is so successfull is that its such good gameplay for FREE...i wouldnt play online if i was charged!

"if you start charging people to play online mulitplayer games people wont play them"

There's a whole sector of the industry that disagrees with you, they're called MMO's.
Seriously, it would be foolish to ignore the similarities between CoD4 and any MMO. You've got persistent characters/stats, level unlocks, grinding, all they are missing is character customization (visually) and a larger game world.

not making enough money from gamers eh ? i wont buy a game you have to pay to play online, couple this with the xbox live fee and it doesnt sound very appealing, even on the free ps3 network i wont play any new COD games if there is a fee to play,

I agree totally I play COD 4 online a fair amount at the moment but if they charge for online play (other than downloadable content obviously, like new maps etc) then I know for a fact I along with a lot of others we will probably not even purchase the game and will look for other titles to play.

I would suggest they think long and hard about this especially as the game itself is going to have to be something special to top COD4 anyway.

Why would you pay to play a game that constantly picks bad hosts, favours american hosts (Which gives every in the UK major lag), doesn't have dedicated servers and a game which the higher level you get the more abuse you take.

I play a LOT of COD4 but im not buying COD5 as treyarch have a very poor history of cod games online. I may rent cod5 but only for single player and if they introduce COD6 for a payable online game then I want the game itself for FREE and I want all the issues addressed that make COD4 unenjoyable.

Ill stick with Gears of War 2 I think - Acti-Blizzard are more interested in cash now instead of giving the end user the most enjoyable experiance as possible - Can anyone say EA?

Online is free? Tell that to Xbox Live users, and companies are forgetting that Broadband itself is NOT free, and Activision should remind themselves that COD4 has such popularity because of the multiplayer component being what it is. Start charging and the series will die. MMORPGs can charge because the content is constantly added to and changed, COD4 has had one PAID FOR map pack in nine months. No new weapons, skills, etc, just one lousy map pack.

Software developers need to realise the costs associated with thier software, first you need the platform (PC, XBOX360, PS3, etc) at a substantial cost, then you have you r internet provider (again a considerable cost in the uk for little service (thanks BTinternet)) and then the game itself. Does anyone else see all these costs adding up, add to this the MMO argument and it all looks good. What we have to remember about MMO players is that they traditional stay with one game until complete or they become bored. The COD series has remanined a favorite as its a play when you want without limitations. This in itself is what creates the profit for the company, all those people paying to play and then telling thier friends. Dont remove word of mouth sales it will drive people away. Also the choice of developers needs to improve as I and many other people I know owuld NEVER buy a product from treycrap ... i mean treyarch

The conversion rate from basic free content to paid for premiem content is tiny - the 1 million people playing CoD4 for free will drop to about 50,000 people playing it at cost (meaning the people who are paying for it will have a much tougher time finding a game and will be sat in lobbys for ages twiddling their thumbs).

And the game itself will sell less as people won't be able to afford to take it online. They seriously think people are gonna set up a direct debit just to play one of the many first-person-shooters out there? Talk about giving the throne back to Halo or Gears of War.

MMOs like WoW are completely different. People who play them live inside them. The five full days the average person has played CoD4 is nothing compared to all that wizards and warriors stuff.

This experiement will cause excruciating pain to the CoD4 franchise. Don't do it!

I get it that companies are losing out on huge sums of money due to second hand sales of their games, which is why I can understand that they would look to charge for online content, as this is not sold on with the hard copy of the game.
But there are many very good points above, nobody wants to pay a subscription for a game they only play online once or twice a month! Although people are willing to pay for extra content, I think that's a reasonable compromise personally.
Maybe the gaming industry needs to look into how the sales of second hand games are managed, for example the high street shops are the only people that see any of the profit of second hand sales (as far as I am aware anyway!), is this fair for developers?

Have only recently got into playing COD4 onine myself (PS3), I'm pretty sure that any additional charge to give it a go would have made me think twice. The beauty of the PS3 and Wii online systems is in the fact they're very easy to get into and start playing and (broadband costs aside) don't cost you anything extra.

For most casual online gamers, even the cost of an Xbox Live subscription might be a turn off, so asking for more money to play just one game isn't going to do the title any favours.

Besides, surely the biggest threat to COD5's online game is the fact that everyone will just carry on playing COD4...

Call of Duty is one of those noob games that doesn't involve much skill and is dummied down so everyone can get a kill. That is why it is so popular because everyone thinks they are so good at it. I think people will pay to play if asked to because Call of Duty and Halo are the only games many of them are good at. If you don't think Call of Duty 4 was made for noobs, do a little research on the subject and see for yourself. The developers actually admit to making the game noob-friendly.

I am fine with MMOs charging, after all the companies behind them need to finance the servers, pay for all the commuity support, maintain all the web based support etc. Unless the team behind COD are thinking of doing something that requires the same level of support as an online MMO does i think charging is going to be a bit out of order.

They will never charge to play cos people won't pay up but they could easily charge for maps and gun skins. This all sounds like one big joke when i can't even have a decent game without lag because i live in Britain and it always searches for American hosts!!! Until they fix this they can s**k my b*lls!!!

Unfortuantely Big Dog thats never going to happen, they havent fixed it yet with months of europeans complaining about this absurd problem.
I'm qutie sure they programmed it this way on purpose just so they could keep there countrymen sweet while not giving a toss for the rest fo the world.

Thankfully treyarch have said they have fixed this for cod5, I really do hope so, though it would have been better if they used netcode like in cod3 where it was client based so it was the same for everyone and no one had an advantage.

This isn't supposed to happen. Why the hell would they charge for online FPS action? Sounds like an attempt at gouging the market.

James i thouhgt i was alone when i've been screaming out for netcode like cod3. It wasn't perfect but at least it made sure you could have a multinational multiplayer online game that was as fair as it can be for everyone.

I think your right about keeping it sweet for the americans, i can't stand playing cod4 now because of that ridiculous problem. Either use client based hit detection or give us an option for European only games. Cod4 could have been amazing if Infinity Ward had sorted it out, f**kin a**holes!

Let 'em do it. People will just hop over to another game that wont charge in such a way. Probably why alot of these games on Xbox live dont allow people to create and upload their own maps is because the content is then controlled by the user. The fact that you can host your games (albeit only 8 players, but this will rise with PS4 xbox 720 etc and slightly faster broadband). Their just taking a leaf out of EA's strategy with micro-payments. "Hey Jimmy, for just an extra 3 quid you can buy a new machine gun that doesnt recoil so much and has better accuracy. Go tell mummy to buy you some M$ points on Saturday when she's out shopping, otherwise all your mates are gonn have it and you won't be able to compete" This is the insidious way they are gonna make more money out of us.

This is not about paying to play online. This is about allowing users to pay for a "day one advantage" in terms of paying to accelerate their experience point earnings.

Yes paying for online I think would cause uproar worldwide so it would be suicidal, I could see something like battlefield where certain guns are locked unless you buy the ltd ed./pay extra online for it unless you fully rank up, but you have to make them usable quickly down the line for free say if you attain the highest rank or just have near similar guns.
As paying to use a better gun I think will just cut the fanbase in half almost, least I would hope as I wouldn't buy an extra gun just because it is better as I have to, just to keep up on principle.

Big dog, yeh its a real shame. I think part of the problem stems from the fact client side netcode isnt really used in online pc gaming as people can cheat it very easily and so they have to use server side and take that lesson over to the 360 even though a 360 cant really be hacked so they can take advantage online.
Hoepfully one day more developers will realise it can be used and do it.

If Activision want to make more money from online why don't they provide more content?
Surely, that would be the solution to keeping everybody happy... If consumers want to play online for free then give them the bare-bones. If others are happy to pay then keep coming out with new content - maps, weapons and other add-ons.
The 4 "new" maps of CoD4 are now dated and somewhat boring... We now haven't seen any new content or updates for months. I guess the people at Activision are now more concerned about making more money upfront with CoD5 & 6... Sad really.

@ 11, John E - so some people are noobs? You were a noob once. Then you lost your soul to online gaming. I bet you don't have a girlfriend...a real one at least.

you just lost another customer treyarch

I dont see why the 360 owners are complaining this is surely directed at the PS3 owners who game for free(except BB costs). Microsoft would not let EA charge so why are we going to have to pay to play COD4 or any other game. This is for PS3 owners like myself surely.

i play call of duty 4 alot with friends but..... i dont enjoy host issues USA laggy hosts and the fact there is no (VOTE TO KICK) in the lobby a tool that i hope is in CoD WAW plus i have been reading above about an online fee if you put a free on the new Call Of Duty i wont be buying the same full stop and i dont think many others will think about this in the UK before you even get online you need to pay this.... BTline Rent (15) Per Month Internet Costs 25 Per month xbox 360 200, xbox live 40 per year, --- it costs me 43pound a month to play my xbox after you work out internet costs phone line costs and brake the xbox live costs up AND THEN you want to be another cost on to sorry guys if you do that EA is going to eat you guys alive...

Never will pay to play NEVER!!!!
I'd rather LAN with buddies!
Sorry but I refuse to pay. I am still a student and can't afford it to pay any more than I'm paying for the internet line

and don't forget that some people pay a hell of alot just so that we can run the bloody thing!
I'm just lucky mom and dad bought a good one for us~!

Mike Griffith: This will be a huge mistake!!!! If expect online PC gamers to pay for the game and then to pay to play the thing...then you misunderstand your customers completely. If this is profit driven then you can say bye bye to most of your gamers...where's the profit then! Once again an accountant has spoken up and the powers that be listen. I have played FPS for years but as much as I enjoy my gaming time I would refuse to pay for it. I pay for the game and I pay towards the running costs of the servers I use.....no more money from me!!!!

Great timing btw....global credit crunch going on and you release this news.....this was to gauge reaction to this idea, so take note.....DON'T DO IT OR THE MAJORITY WILL AGREE WITH ALL THE ABOVE!

Am I the only one here who didn't even like CoD4?
I didn't enjoy the single player. And the multplayer is so unbalanced against noobs that it's crazy.
The few times I played, I was a level 1 (just starting of course) and I was up against like level 30's. They knew the maps, had unlocked vastly superior weapons... I was basically raped on my own sofa. Plus the stupid lag issues, because I'm from Europe.
-If they expect us to pay for this type of experience with future CoD games - then they can forget it.

Man I hope this backfires for Activision-Blizzard, and people (like everyone here is suggesting) just go over to another (free) FPS to get their online joy.

They have got it all wrong AGAIN! What they should be capitalising on is in-game advertising like adverts in between cornationation st. They should put images up while the game loads etc this would be easy to do once playing online it also benefits by the programmers being able to change the adverts daily or weekly etc hey even an advert on a bilboard while playing would be easy they could make a fortune by doing this from the companies that have endless cash not from the general public we pay to much already...

Well, you can see the trend being set now can't you. Initially you see a great game become really amazing online (cod 4). Then they just pretty much exploit the gamer then, they know that people will want to play it. So they will just want to make as much money out of it as possible.
On paper, when you see the amount of users logging onto COD4, even a year after release, the guys punching the figures are just looking at how much can be made from those people who still play cod4 online.
An advantage of a game doing well online, with subscription fee or not, is that for stores that trade in games - this means the demand of the game is higher, and trade price will be higher.

You can't deny that a good online experience just keeps the value of games high, the new WoW expansion will sell extremely well because the pay-online gaming trend has already been set. And with xbox live being so good and popular, people just pay to use it.
If they set the trend of a cod game becoming an online subscription - you can bet that it will then really grow into a fantastic online community game, really pushing the boundaries of online combat with mates and strangers alike.

But then you will have that divide of a casual gamer who just wants one or two rounds of a new game online.
Balancing out the subscription would be the best thing, because you don't want to neglect how the online game could grow through having a subscription. And you don't want to neglect the casual gamer who would never pay to play a game they already paid for!

If they manage to have a free online mode, and then an extended or enhanced subscription mode (sort of like how silver and gold xbox live subscriptions offer you different content) then that would be great. Because in one area you have the casual COD gamers, and then if you want to play with the serious guys - then just pay the subscription.

In a way this could work, but its going to be hard to shake the impression that people are being charged for the sake of a game being popular.
If the game can get BETTER through subscription, then im all for that. After all its proven that xbox live is great because you have to pay for it, so perhaps its a good way forward..

Hmm i agree with some of the pionts made but i had trouble connecting to games in netcode on cod 3 so its a difficult life for us all but this is NOT economic climate to be charging people to play online Old people have died from hypothermia because they cant afford the gas bill or have starved because they've spent more on gas instead ITS A P*SS take i didnt buy a 360 because i only go online like twice a month and it would be a waste of money so i bought a ps3 instead yeah it cost more but there is more value for money the people who are making the call of duty franchise treyarch activision should work together instead of a game of passy the parcel

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