For a while now I have been debating on getting the Premium Subscription to the COD Elite service. I went out last night and picked up a membership at Gamestop and came home to set it up. This morning the new maps dropped and I immediately installed them to try them out. I played a few rounds on them and then handed the controller over to the kid so he could play. About 5 minutes later he was calling me out to the living room as he could not figure out how to get the new maps to play.

I took the controller and tried to put him into a private match with the new maps but the new maps were not there. When we tried to access them we were told to go buy them from the store. I was getting frustrated so I tried to reach out to Activisions chat support. The first conversation did not go too well because the support representative was not listening or reading what the problem was.

[04:26:06 AM] Tech Specialist William M. Reporting!
[04:26:30 AM] Joseph Crawford: Hello, I purchased the Elite premium membership last night at Gamestop and got it all setup on my xbox 
[04:27:00 AM] Joseph Crawford: however my son is signed in to his account and it will not let him use the new maps, is Elite Content only for the activating user or for all users on the XBox? 
[04:27:11 AM] William M.: Hi, what gaming console are you playing?
[04:27:17 AM] Joseph Crawford: XBox 360 
[04:28:33 AM] William M.: Gamer tag?
[04:28:41 AM] Joseph Crawford: jcrawford31 
[04:29:09 AM] William M.: How can i help you?
[04:29:42 AM] Joseph Crawford: did you read the above question? 
[04:31:01 AM] William M.: I just want you to send it again.
[04:31:38 AM] Joseph Crawford: I downloaded the Elite application, purchased the premium subscription and downloaded the new maps this morning 
[04:32:17 AM] Joseph Crawford: I am able to play the maps just fine under my XBox Live account however my son cannot play the new maps under his xbox live account. Why is the content not accessible to players on the same xbox? 
[04:32:29 AM] Joseph Crawford: we have a family xbox live account 
[04:33:07 AM] William M.: What is it saying when he's trying to use the map?
[04:33:22 AM] Joseph Crawford: when he goes to Bonus maps it tells him he has to purchase them from the store 
[04:33:30 AM] Joseph Crawford: when I go into the store the new maps are not listed there at all 
[04:33:42 AM] Joseph Crawford: just a bunch of other items which cost XBL points 
[04:34:08 AM] Joseph Crawford: Went into private match to see if he could choose the new maps and could not 
[04:34:19 AM] William M.: For some reason PS3's aren't getting it.
[04:34:37 AM] Joseph Crawford: wait.. at what point did I say anything about the PS3? 
[04:34:43 AM] Joseph Crawford: we are on the XBOX 360 
[04:35:18 AM] Joseph Crawford: is there a phone number I can call for support? I would rather discuss vocally than textually   
[04:35:52 AM] William M.: 1-800-225-6588
[04:36:10 AM] Joseph Crawford: Thank You 
[04:36:26 AM] 'Joseph Crawford' disconnected ('Concluded by End-user').

I tried to call the support number and when presented with the options for Elite I choose other issues. This concluded the call as I was directed to the FAQ and support site.

I tried the chat support again and this time I got some clarity to the issue.

[04:40:35 AM] Tech Specialist Cody W. Reporting!
[04:40:39 AM] Cody W.: Hello, thank you for contacting Activision Support.
[04:40:39 AM] Cody W.: Before we get started I'd like to collect some information from you, what Call of Duty game are you playing, what platform are you playing on, what is your gamertag, are you registered to Elite, and do you have a free or premium account?
[04:41:27 AM] Joseph Crawford: Hello Cody, I have the XBox 360 and have bought the premium membership for Elite. I set it up this morning for my gamertag and I am able to play the new maps under my XBL account. However my son cannot play the new maps, why?
[04:41:47 AM] Joseph Crawford: my gamertag is jcrawford31 and my sons is DebatableCat48
[04:42:09 AM] Cody W.: Does your son have a premium account as well?
[04:42:18 AM] Joseph Crawford: no, we have a family XBL account
[04:42:36 AM] Joseph Crawford: is the Elite only for my gamertag and he cannot use the new maps unless we pay again for him??
[04:43:10 AM] Cody W.: Yes, any DLC will be saved directly to your gamertag. I don't believe you can share that DLC with anotherr account.
[04:43:18 AM] Joseph Crawford: your kidding?
[04:43:29 AM] Joseph Crawford: if I buy the map packs they are for the system not the user, that's crazy
[04:43:48 AM] Joseph Crawford: I will be looking at my options to get a refund on this membership, could you provide me information on who to contact for this?
[04:44:10 AM] Joseph Crawford: I am not paying $50 for both me and my son to play the new maps, that's just INSANE
[04:44:46 AM] Cody W.: Where did you purchase your Elite membership?
[04:44:50 AM] Joseph Crawford: Gamestop
[04:44:58 AM] Joseph Crawford: and entered the code through the Marketplace
[04:45:42 AM] Cody W.: You would need to contact Gamestop about obtaining a refund.
[04:46:15 AM] Joseph Crawford: I will do that today. Thank you very much for your information. Is there a place where I can leave suggestions for the Elite app so that they know why I am cancelling?
[04:47:25 AM] Cody W.: No problem. I'm sorry about that. You can leave any suggestions here, or you can post on the forums from Elite.
[04:48:24 AM] Joseph Crawford: thanks
[04:48:31 AM] 'Joseph Crawford' disconnected ('Concluded by End-user').

After all of that it appears that when you buy a Premium Membership to Elite all of the Downloadable Content is locked to your gamertag. No other users on the system will be able to play the maps
or use any of the other content such as guns. I find this a horrible tactic on Activision’s part because if I buy a game from the marketplace or any other content it should not be locked
down to my gamertag alone.

I also understand Activision wishing to monetize on every user so I would suggest a family pack if this is the route they are going to go with this. I personally will be requesting a refund from Gamestop
and will not buy into Elite or any of the Map Packs as they are released due to this issue.

I do not feel I should have to pay $50 for myself and $50 for my son to take advantage of the maps that are released. I could see if I wanted to take part in all features of Elite but I bought into it
solely for the Downloadable Content that will be released about every month.

I just cannot believe they are asking $50 per player on a shared system to use map packs and other Downloadable Content.

I am honestly not sure how “Map Packs” work on the XBox when you buy them from the marketplace but I could only assume they would be for the system and not the individual gamer.
We recently got the XBox and have been playing on the PS3 for years and never had any issues with map packs or other purchased content.

What are your thoughts on this? Will you be buying an Elite Premium Membership?