FORUMS_

The idea behind Call of Duty Elite is brilliant. It is a groundbreaking concept that never has come close to living up to its potential. There are several reasons for this from the gamers' side, and I'm sure there are even more reasons from the developers' side. However, those things are unimportant. What IS important is that Elite is NOT something you should trivialize and handle so negligently (because from our-- the gamers'-- perspective, it looks like you are close to closing its doors altogether). It can be saved, and in fact, can be a HUGE profitable venture... If you do it correctly this time.

First things first, you MUST fix what's wrong with Elite as is. mwfan55 has kept a fantastic list of issues & problems here... http://community.callofduty.com/thread/200556389

Those things may not be easy, but trust me, if you invest the manpower and time to fix these issues, the money will make up for your losses. Once Elite is running properly through the rest of the Black Ops 2 run, then your customers will begin to have faith in your product again. People will PAY for a working Elite. The one thing that has been a constant since MW3 came out has been a lack of a true community presence. Yes, for a while, Beachhead would post things on the Forums, or on their twitter feed. But they NEVER had an actual active presence. Someone needs to be on this full time. Someone who knows (and truly cares) about gamers and the issues they're having with the service-- not just a "customer service rep" that plays in their spare time. A true gamer. And here's the tough part: Tell us the truth! If there are issues fixing something, tell us. Be up front and honest. We're fans, for God's sake. We WANT you to succeed with this. Show us the REAL leaderboards for each and every op from top to bottom. Give us REAL clan leaderboards that rank clans by badges, not some mystical overall numbers. BE TRANSPARENT. We need that, and you'll accept it when you think about the other numbers that make sense... the $$.

Once this overall "fix" occurs, then ELITE becomes MORE than worth a gamer's money for just the service itself. Keeping accurate stats can be done in several games' websites, but Elite will stand alone in that their competitions extend beyond the console. I, myself, would pay $30 per CoD game (in addition to the game AND DLC) to have a functional, responsive and active Elite. I know for a fact that I do not stand alone in that opinion. MANY people would pay $30 for just Elite... if it worked as was originally promised. $30 a pop. Per person. For each CoD. How many thousands, if not millions, would join me in paying for what Elite should have been since day one? I am an Elite Founder. I didn't pay the $50 for the DLC. I paid that money for Elite. Or at least what Elite could have been or should have been. You can rectify that breach and clean up huge amounts of cash in the process. Elite can become a model for how to sell a companion service for a GAME if you do it right. You just have to care as much about your customers and their community as you do about making money. My dad taught me that if I'm going to do something, then I should do it right. Time will tell to see if you were raised the same way I was.