Call of Duty Elite:Questions answered

Recently, myself and a few others were asked to submit a list of questions from the community in regards to COD Elite. Below are the list of questions with the answers about Elite.

Console Specific
Will ELITE be integrated with the Steam service in any way?

ATVI: We are still finalizing all of our PC plans for Elite.

Are any planned ELITE features incompatible with a privately rented dedicated server model for the PC platform?

ATVI: Since the PC is an open platform, our goal is to optimize the experience for PC fans while also protecting the need for secure data and statistics. We are committed to supporting the PC community and look forward to sharing more information soon.

Will any consoles e.g. PS3, Xbox, PC get anything exclusive from it. For instance the Xbox getting something through Elite that others don't apart from getting the maps a month early?

ATVI: While we’ve announced that players will receive all DLC as part of our premium service, we haven’t yet announced anything related to exclusive content or features. We don’t have any platform exclusive features planned, but if any unique capabilities come up in the future that makes sense for our community then we are open to looking into them

Will PS3 get all the same features and benefits as Xbox?

ATVI: Our goal is to have the same features on Xbox and PS3.

Will xbox players be able to join groups with ps3 players?

ATVI: With Call of Duty Elite, we view each platform as separate for the most part. Each group and Clan will be platform specific since we want to encourage people to play together.


Can I setup a class for my ps3 and xbox 360 simultaneously?

ATVI: No.


Do people who own multiple systems have to sign up multiple times?

ATVI: We are still working with first party providers to clarify how the premium membership will work.


Will xbox users be able to track Ps3 users?

ATVI: As we mentioned before, we look at each platform as separate entities with very little crossover. If this is something that community clamors for and that first parties allow us to do, then we will see what we can make happen.


What about wii players? Is Elite available for us?

ATVI: The Wii community is definitely one that we love because of their dedication. With the technical challenges that come with the online component of the Wii, we will not be able to include them at launch, but we are always looking for a good way to provide a great ELITE experience for Call of Duty players on every platform.



DLC
Will ELITE paid subscribers gain access to DLC on all platforms or just on the one registered with the service?

ATVI: Right now, you will get the DLC on the platform that you purchased your premium membership with.


Will the maps you get for "free" expire or will you still be able to play them when your Elite subscription runs out?

ATVI: Details about the full pricing plan will be at Call of Duty XP on September 2.

How long does someone have to be subscribed to elite to get the maps for free?

ATVI: While we haven’t yet announced specifics about how to people will receive DLC, you can expect that as a subscriber, no matter when you signed up, you will receive DLC content the moment it is made available.

Do users who have multiple accounts (Xbox 360 Gamertag and a PSN ID), will they have to pay for the maps more than once or will their Elite subscription cover maps for both PSN and 360 accounts?

ATVI: You can expect more details related to our DLC plans to come out of Call of Duty XP.


How will COD Elite Subscribers get their DLC ? – Codes for PSN store or another way ?

ATVI: More details on our DLC plans are forthcoming.


Services
I would like to know exactly what kinds of new stats (if any) will be provided by the Elite service. For instance, I'd like to know my weapon and performance stats on specific maps. Perhaps KD and WL with specific perk combinations. Will similar stats be available?

ATVI: We’ve provided some initial demonstrations of our stat services in some of our early press coverage including the ability to review detailed information on all of your recent matches and recently played maps. Hopefully, you have seen the level of depth we are providing in the beta with Black Ops. We are an ever evolving system and are always looking to the community to find out what our players want to know about. When Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launches on November 8, we will have a whole new area of stats and leaderboards. A lot of that information will be revealed at Call of Duty XP on September 2.

Will the Call of Duty games (Black Ops, MW3, etc.) have any Elite-related functionality built-in such that players will be able to view & interact with Elite directly from the game? From what I've seen so far, it looks like Elite integrates & aggregates data from multiple sources (from Call of Duty matches, from users entering & uploading data, etc.). For example, when I fire up a CoD game in my Xbox 360 console, will there be something like an Elite "tab/blade/dashboard/etc." in the game's menus/interface that provides some kind of view & interaction with Elite? Or will players need to keep some separate web-enabled device running side-by-side to view & interact with Elite while gaming?

ATVI: We are working on a console application for Elite and we are looking forward to showing it to everyone soon. Call of Duty Elite is dedicated to being where ever you are, on the web, on mobile, in the game and with your console.

Can I make a cross platform leaderboard on elite for all of my CoD friends from both consoles?

ATVI: As far as Elite is concerned, each platform is separate. This includes leaderboards. We want to make sure everyone is measured by the same standards and that includes the equipment they play on.


I'm a casual gamer, so stats and heat maps don't really mean much to me. How will CoD Elite help me to become a better player and/or become more involved in the game? What can CoD Elite do to help a casual 'weekend warrior' become a better gamer?

ATVI: Call of Duty Elite’s goal is to provide something for everyone in the Call of Duty community. If you are a hardcore competitive gamer and want to analyze where on heat maps you can improve that is just as important as the players that want to get better and watch the videos about the different weapons or people that are looking to connect with other players who share the same interests. Call of Duty Elite is dedicated to bringing something to all of our Call of Duty players.

Can you create private groups?

ATVI: Groups is a key function of Call of Duty and the ability to share things in a public domain. At Call of Duty XP we will talk more about what Clans will be and what they will offer to people looking for a key group of friends to play with.

Will there be some sort of integrated clan feature, so that clan tags in-game can actually be associated to something that exists online, in a much more direct manner? Me and my mate want to set up a clan with just the two of us called Quadruple Barrelled Shotgun, but the clantag 'QBS' doesn't really mean much without context. Could any player in a game lobby scroll over our username and see, in-game, what the full name of our 'clan' or group is? And maybe from there see a few other details about the group? Or is the 'connect' thing more 'online' and less 'in-game'?

ATVI: Clans will be a huge part of Call of Duty Elite and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. We will be talking about that at Call of Duty XP.

I really want to know more about the tournaments. How frequent are they? How many groups/clans are in each one? What kind of prizes are rewarded?

ATVI: There will be Events and Operations running around the clock, 365 days a year. And yes, there will be both digital as well as tangible prizes. Everything from a digital badge for your online showcase to a Jeep.

Will there be competitions (either the beta or the full service in Nov) that cater to the gamer that has limited ability to play on certain days/times? For example, I usually only play from apx 10:00pm – 1:00am on any given night. Have you guys taken this into consideration and will there be events for guys like me?

ATVI: Yes, as a matter of fact we will soon be launching shorter Operations and competitions in the beta based on community input. It’s important that we appeal to a wide range of gamers, including players with just evenings or weekends to play Call of Duty. Additionally, for those people who are really pressed for time, Events are also available. You can enter a screenshot or video contest event where you only need to upload an in game screenshot or video clip. We will also have Operations for best Kill/Death Ration and for highest Score Per Minute. There will be something for everyone in our Compete section.

Will results from tournaments and competitions be obtained directly from the xbox live servers (similar to virgin gaming) which prevents many problems, or in a similar style to gamebattles where they have to be submitted with proof etc (hopefully not) Or will the tournaments and competitions you enter then appear in the games interface if you know what I mean?

ATVI: Our customer support team is working with the first parties and game studios to make sure that all of our Operations are fair. We have a team supporting our events and operations and verifying winners. You will be able to track your progress on Elite for your competitions. But all results are not considered final until they have been verified.

Is it simply online stat tracking and larger community tournaments? Sell me, because I don't see the value.

ATVI: First off it’s important to note that accessing Elite is free, so there is plenty of opportunity for a player to explore more and enjoy those features without ever having to be “sold” on the value of the premium. For many players, deep stats tracking and a broader community are terrific features and we’re happy to provide them for all Call of Duty gamers out of the box. However, Elite is much more than that. Our goal is to give something to the wide variety of players. There is deep level of stat tracking, but there is also a social network that will breed a living community. Groups, Clans and Theater will provide an every growing and changing base of players that you can interface with. The Compete section is very important to us as well since we are giving players the chance to get real world prizes for the stuff you already do in game. Elite will offer players a chance to investigate different strategies and change their class in Elite and have it reflected in game. We will be where our fans our thanks to our console and mobile applications. You can see your Call of Duty life anywhere you want. In addition to all of the cool stuff above, if you subscribe to Elite, you will get all the downloadable content for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 automatically as part of that subscription. Fans have put in a ton of hours playing the Call of Duty games. Now you have a chance to have that time spent enjoying yourself in game deliver something tangible.

What is the max number of members for a clan and a group?

ATVI: We will have more information about Clans at Call of Duty XP and leading up to November 8. Groups are more dependent on the community. If all 3 million people in Los Angeles play Call of Duty and want to join the LA group in Elite, we will gladly go that high.


What is the difference between the paid/free Elite? ( I know this one probably won’t be answered in its entirety)

ATVI: We haven’t announced the full details of our Premium membership. However, you can expect to receive all DLC for MW3 as part of your membership. Additionally, almost everything we’ve demonstrated to date has been part of our Free Service. So basically, you now get a whole lot more right out of the box than you ever have before. And if you already buy DLC, then this will be a no brainer. We will have a ton more information about the premium membership at Call of Duty XP.

Will COD Elite stats for Black Ops be integrated with MW3 stats or be totally separate?

ATVI: In Elite you will have access to your stats on all Call of Duty console games from Black Ops forward. You will have access to a Black Ops player card and a MW3 player card. Since the games are separate we want the player information to be separate.

Will you be able to stream full games from your “gameshare” from the Elite website?


ATVI: Stay tuned. We haven’t announced the full details of our Elite Theater. Expect to hear more on this in the next couple of months.


Can you track the amount of time you haven' moved? I.e camping time.

ATVI: This is an interesting question. This is not currently one of the stats we are tracking for Elite. Elite is an ever growing and changing service, so if the community is looking for stats like this, we can work with the game developers and make sure this is something that we measure in the future.

For prizes, what type of virtual prizes will be available?

ATVI: Currently, you can expect to see digital badges/ trophies for your Career Showcase. That are special limited edition badges that you can show off, like the recent Call of Duty XP qualifiers. These are special edition and help tell the story of your Call of Duty competition history.

Will there be a separate place for zombie tracking?

ATVI: Great question. The Zombies community is really dedicated. While we were working closely with Treyarch to capture a deep level of mp stats, we didn’t do the same for Zombies. We know how important co-op play was to people, so we have some of great things we are doing with Spec Ops for Modern Warfare 3. You should hear more about that at Call of Duty XP.

Will there be an area on the site to compare achievements earned?

ATVI: We’ve been investigating a number of different features related to people’s accomplishments. We will let you know what gets settled on in the coming months.

Can you create your emblem online for in game use later?

ATVI: More information will be release at Call of Duty XP about how people can customize their online presence in game.

Will you be adding more stat tracking through updates to the page?

ATVI: Elite will continue to grow between the current beta and launch on November 8. We will always be changing and adding more to Elite. It is something we look forward to adding new information constantly.

Will there be a stat to track the amount of time you use certain perks? I.E. Marathon: 4 hours 21min 5 sec


ATVI: We will always look to track as much as we can. While we won’t have some things at launch, we will look to the community to see what they want and do our best to make sure it gets represented in Elite. We are also striving to stay ahead of what the community will want.


Can you display badges earned from challenges on your MW3 playercard?

ATVI: You will have the ability to earn Elite badges by entering any number of events and operations in our compete section. These will be displayed in the career section of Elite under your Elite Summary Showcase.

Challenges for badges will change every week? Or every day?

ATVI: Badges will be earned by participating in any number of different Events and Operations. We will be running these competitions 24/7, 365 days a year. That is a whole lot of opportunities to earn different badges. It just depends how many competitions you enter.

Will the clan feature also allow you to set up custom games on the Elite Webpage?


ATVI: Stay tuned for more info on clans at Call of Duty XP.

Can you set up private games online for in game use later?

ATVI: We want to make sure that Elite provides ways to get into the game and have things taken care of for you, not just changing your class. More information about what you can do with things like this will be available at Call of Duty XP.

Is Elite going to have more features for groups rather than clans?

ATVI: Expect to see a ton of announcements related to Clans in the next couple of weeks. We believe you’ll be pleased to hear about all the differentiators between Groups and Clans.

Privacy

Will there be an option to turn off the stat tracking abilities of elite if I decide I would not like my information tracked and I don't want it interacting with my matches?

ATVI: We haven’t made any announcements yet regarding the privacy of your stats and gameplay. That said, we’ve had a number of similar inquiries. We are working with first parties to see what is feasible.

As Elite could potentially hold a lot of detailed information about us via crossovers with facebook, twitter etc. What kind of privacy options and security will there be? For example; it seems apparent that there will be crossover leader boards between platforms so (forgive me if i'm being naive here) if PSN was hacked again could xbox users details be compromised as a result of this through Elite?

ATVI: All excellent questions. Platform stats will not be intermingled with one another for a variety of reasons at this time. However, we have a lot of hopes and plans for the future. In terms of hacking and security, we recognize that this is an industry wide issue and one which is of the highest importance to us.

Beta

Will the Elite beta have the entire premium membership bells and whistles enabled (competitions, clans groups, etc)? Minus the functionality relating to MW3 of course

ATVI: We will be previewing a number of premium features at CoD XP that will not be available in the beta since they are coming online with or deep integration of Modern Warfare 3. Competitions and groups are enabled right now using Black Ops for the Beta. You can look forward to more details about our premium membership as well as Clans in the coming months.

When will the Beta for PS3 COD Elite be available?

ATVI: The goal is to have our PS3 Beta up and running close to Call of Duty XP.

Will the beta have bits and pieces? Or will it be the full functioning system of elite?
ATVI: The beta is only a sub-set of the fully featured Elite service that will launch this November.

MISC

As elite directly ties into the game, and its obvious you can access game features whilst playing on elite (using phone to change classes for example) can we have absolute proof this wont impact on normal game traffic and cause undue stress on peoples connections?

ATVI: Great question. You can expect all features of Elite that integrate directly into MW3 to be thoroughly tested. Our goal is to provide the best service possible. Doing anything to impact the gameplay runs 100% counter to our goal.

Will information in the beta build be wiped out when final version is released?

ATVI: The stats you have gained on Black Ops will not get wiped. From Black Ops forward, we are excited that you will have access to this rich statistical data on Elite.

How will elite allow us to enhance an existing community, such as the Call of Duty fansites?

ATVI: There will always be a place for the Call of Duty fansites and we’re incredibly thankful for the enormous Call of Duty community that has been out there gathering on their own for years. For those people loyal to their existing fansites, we hope that the services we provide on Elite, will help to enhance their current experience. For example, a fansite can create a Group within Elite, and people who love that site can now congregate within Elite, compare stats, message each other, and set up games to play.

Will all aspects of COD Elite be available through a browser and in game or are certain elements of elite only available through the cod elite website or only available through in game interface?

ATVI: Elite will be available on the web, smartphones, iphone, ipad, tablets and console (via a title app) this fall day-in-date with Modern Warfare 3. Each one of these is customized to the capabilities of the platform, so we will endeavor to provide the features that make the most sense with each.

Will there be any sort of workaround to the 100 member friend's list for the benefit of clans?

ATVI: More info on Clans to be announced at Call of Duty XP.

How much of the features will be integrated into the mobile apps?

ATVI: More information on our mobile apps coming in the next couple of weeks.

People who have multiple accounts or both Xbox & PlayStation do they have to sign up to elite with multiple accounts & have to pay for each?

ATVI: You can sign up for the Beta with any platform you choose and will have the ability to link and de-link your preferred gamertag. Details on our premium membership are still to come.

Will there be an API for COD Elite?

ATVI: We will not have an API for Call of Duty Elite at launch. We want to service the community directly and want to be in constant communication with those using the service and playing the games.

Will there be any way in game to tell if a teammate or opponent is an Elite subscriber? Special title or Emblem?

ATVI: The full details of our in game integration are forthcoming. Stay tuned!

How will people pay for COD Elite – PSN Points – Xbox Live points ?

ATVI: Details regarding our Elite membership are forthcoming. You will hear more about this at Call of Duty XP

Assuming COD Elite is a monthly subscription – will you offer a discount if a user signs up for a year in advance ?

ATVI: Details regarding our Elite membership are forthcoming. Stay tuned!

Will there be a COD Elite store where users can buy merchandise – T-Shirts etc. ?

ATVI: That is a greater Activision question. We are focusing more on the Elite service and how we can make it the best social service for the Call of Duty community. You will be able to win great Elite swag through our daily competitions and events.

Will this lead to less hacking?

ATVI: We are working closely with Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games and Treyarch to protect your data and statistics. Security is one of our top priorities.

Will you be able to see those who hacked for their prestige... I.E 16th prestigers.

ATVI: We believe that Elite will help developers and the community moderate people who try to game the system.


Will we be able to use the video feature on Elite to expose the hackers/ lag switchers better?
ATVI: As mentioned above, we believe that Elite will help developers and the community moderate people who try to game the system.

Will all this be available for international players at launch as well?

ATVI: Everything in our Beta is internationally available in English only. Please note that competitions are subject to the rules and regulations of the individual territories. So, if you live in an area that doesn’t allow prized competitions, then you will be unable to participate or qualify for prizing. Once the system launches on November 8, it will be available in multiple territories and will be language specific.


Will Elite be on every Call of Duty from now on?

ATVI: Our goal if for Elite to be available for every Call of Duty console title from Black Ops forward.

Questions Answered, Call of Duty: Elite

I have an opportunity to reach out to my followers of my blog (which isn't very many currently) and on my twitter account @luckkyd and gather a list of questions to send to the developers of Call of Duty: Elite to answer. I will compose the list and send them in early next week.

If you don't see your question answered, there is a reason such as announcements coming later in the year. The guys at Call of Duty: Elite want to hear from us the community. They want to answer our questions, so lets ask them.

Please post questions in the comments section or hit me up on twitter @luckkyd

Call of Duty: Elite

What is it? What will it do? How much will it cost? Will it really be worth it? All of these questions raced through my mind from the moment I first heard of Call of Duty Elite, which at the time was called “Project Beachhead”. These questions were all answered after spending most of the day at the Treyarch studios.

The simple answer to the first question is, Elite is a service that will allow COD fans an easier way to connect to other players based on similar interests. Elite allows people to create or join groups based on their own particular interests or search for a group that has already been created We were asked that day to give something we were interested in and one of the guys answered "Volkswagen". The word Volkswagen was typed into the box and the group was created. So now people can be a member of the Volkswagen group and people can connect based on their interest to connect with other Volkswagen enthusiast.

Another cool feature of Elite is the gamer having an overload of information and stats at their fingertips in real time. Elite updates the stats as soon as your match ends. It will allow you to see a heat map showing you where you got into gun fights with other players including kills and deaths. Elite will give you the tools to study your game and the game of others so you can improve your FPS skills.

Other things Elite will have include theater mode and online tournaments. Theater mode will allow users to share their game play video with others even if they are not on your xbox or PSN friends list. The online tournaments are something that you can "enlist" in. The tournaments have "real prizes" that a person could win such as T-shirts, iPads, and I even saw one where you could win a vehicle. A gamer can check the leader boards for each tournament they are enlisted in to check their progress in the tournament.

While we were being shown the basics of Elite, the question of cost came up. We were told by someone at Treyarch, if we were going to buy the map packs anyways we would be stupid not to get the Elite paid for subscription. The map packs will come as a part of the paid subscription to Elite. We were not told what exactly would be in the paid portion of Elite but we were told that the map packs would be available at no additional cost.

Elite will be an extensive service with a lot of capabilities, quite a few which will be free and integrated into MW3. Elite will not affect the multiplayer for Black Ops or MW3.

The best thing is there will be a beta this summer. So to answer the question "is it really worth it?" sign up for for the Call of Duty Elite beta here! The one thing people should know is that you need to have Call of Duty:Black Ops to properly test Elite.