New microtransactions won’t ruin Call of Duty: Black Ops II

The inevitable has happened. Call of Duty: Black Ops II microtransactions are coming. Activision is dropping them into the game starting March 13, 2013. Hold back your outrage and frustration, however, as these microtransactions are mostly harmless and won’t break your game. In the case of these add-ons, you probably won’t even notice if people are using them, or if they’re there.

The fear with microtransactions are that they’ll upset the balance of the game. People could pay to immediately upgrade a character or get access to legendary weapons, which would push away people who don’t want to spend real cash to compete. Even in cases where the microtransactions are paying for items people could also eventually earn, it’s unfair as it still gives a select group early access just because they’re willing to pay to cheat. The Call of Duty: Black Ops II microtransactions don’t do either. All these add-ons are doing is making the characters prettier.

Okay, perhaps prettier isn’t the best word for it. The majority of the Call of Duty: Black Ops II microtransactions are cosmetic. They’re just designed to make players’ characters more unique and they’re completely optional. Let’s say you want your weapon, reticle and calling card to look different. For $2/160 Microsoft Points, you can get a Personalization Pack and do just that. It doesn’t improve your stealth skills or aim, it just changes the way the character looks. The same can be said for the Flags of the World Calling Card Pack. For $1/80 MSP, you get a different calling card that has a flag on it.

Sure, I guess you could be upset about those updates, but why bother. When I’m playing a multiplayer shooter, I don’t care what my character’s armor or weapon look like. I’m paying more attention to my teammates and opponents. I’d wager most Call of Duty players feel the same. Would I like DayGlo pink armor and a reticule shaped like a heart? Sure, but I’m not going to throw a fit if I have to go with the standard camo and reticule.

In fact, the only one of the Call of Duty: Black Ops II microtransactions that could cause some hurt feelings is the Extra Slots pack. In addition for extra room for 20 more emblems, 32 extra films and 40 screenshots, it gives more Create-a-Class loadout slots. That’s kind of a big deal, since it allows for more customization options for characters. If someone has this pack, they’ll be better prepared for any situation. Still, I doubt it would give that many people a better advantage. If someone is a fantastic player, facing someone else who does have the $2/160MSP Extra Slots Pack isn’t going to make much of a difference.

If anything, we should be happy that Activision decided to take this route with Call of Duty: Black Ops II microtransactions. The company could have patched the game to add in godlike weapons. It could have let people pay to adjust or remove Lethal or Tactical grenade restrictions. All it’s doing is giving people the option to a pay a few dollars to personalize their game or increase storage. Call of Duty: Black Ops II‘s honor is unharmed and while this is setting a precident for future games by easing in the idea of microtransactions, for the moment their introduction isn’t hurting anyone.

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