Thats not innovation thats doing something they have been doing with SC, SC2, CS 1.6, CS:S CS:GO, Battlefield for years. The innovation they seek is SOMETHING NEW in the game, not new guns, bad guys, x-ray vision (it has all been done before).
Honestly, if innovation is as you've classified it then we have not seen an onnovative game in years.
I don't think innovation is just seeing something new in a game, that's just a new feature. Innovation is taking the steps to creating a game that is more immersive in all departments. Uncharted brought nothing new to the gaming scene at all, but it's emphasis on the "active cinematic experience" was a HUGE step for gaming, that is something I consider innovative.
To bring it back to CoD, we've always had clans since the addition of TDM in competitive MP but what Activision have done with ELITE is bring us a service that has been built for and centres around clans. Something that is definitely innovative.
Now while we've always had e-sports and commentary for games, it's always been done outside of the game and by a few people. What Treyarch have done is allow any random Joe to record a game, save it to their cinema and provide commentary, tactics etc... whether you're playing on PC or console. How is this not innovative?
As Graal has said, there's not much CoD can do in terms of "innovation" but neither can BF3/Killzone/Halo etc... And that has always been the centre of any argument regarding CoD vs "some game". CoD is definitely ahead of the pack when it comes trying to give us more to do online, and that is why CoD is king.
Please don't use insults in substitute of a discussion.
Your comment about an old engine providing stability is also incorrect, you just have to look at the launch of Black Ops and how broken the multi-player was for that game at launch, to the point were it was just unplayable on console. I don't really recall having that many issues with BF3 past for few week or so with the whole busted battlelog thing. That's besides the point really, people will use any excuse to throw BF and CoD together.
Back to the topic at hand...
I will agree, Black Ops has it's fair share of problems at launch, but it was not broken. Even then, it wasn't across all platforms, the controvesy was based around the copious amount of lag on the PS3. Xbox had no such issues, and any CoD installment released by IW, that is why everyone was up in arms.
I'm not sure about the performance of BF3 on PC, but on console the game had a very rocky first few months. Voice chat was broken for about two, mixed squads was an issue and there were some graphical issues.
In the end of the day, I don't try and justify CoD's superiority over BF, I play and enjoy both games although my preference in CoD by far. I just hate it when the whole "innovation" thing get's brought in when all that's innovative about BF is the new engine with each installent.