The latest addition to the monolithic first person shooter franchise isn't a game at all. Instead, Call of Duty Elite is Activision's attempt at wrangling the disparate tribes of Call of Duty fans into a social network--and I couldn't be more pleased with the glimpse I was offered.

I can already hear the murmurs from the audience, so we'll start with the important parts: Yes, it's a subscription-based service, and no, Activision offered no clues as to how much it will ultimately cost.

But rest easy--the preview I received offered a look at some of the free features the Elite service has to offer, and it's shaping up to be a groundbreaking approach to building and maintaining communities around the Call of Duty franchise.

Mere minutes into Activision's presentation on the Call of Duty Elite service, and my inner stats nerd is already giddy with excitement. Graphs. Beautiful, information-laden graphs, detailing every shot fired, every kill, every death--that last one is especially important for perennial "noobs" like me.

When the Elite service goes live in November, the fundamental Call of Duty experience won't change. You'll still have your single player campaign, and can dive into multiplayer matches and frag ad naseum.