Champions Online Launching Free-to-Play Option
Non-subscribing "Silver Players" won't be able to fully customise their heroes with super-powers of their choosing, instead being granted a pre-defined powerset from a chosen "archetype." They'll also have restrictions on inventory, bank and marketplace space as well as in-game messaging.
"Gold" subscribers, on the other hand, will have access to all content and adventure packs, as well as more costumes, powers and content Silver players might not get.
Cryptic explains that should a Gold member wish to downgrade to Silver, their characters will remain intact but they "will not be able to play them until either they re-upgrade to Gold or convert them into Silver characters." The developer has yet to work out how exactly characters will be converted to Silver versions.
To help support the free-to-play version, Cryptic is expanding its microtransaction-based in-game item store. The C-Store will sell standard F2P fare including "healing devices, energy refills, damage buffs, reward multipliers and things like that" as well as fancier items such as a 'Party Bomb' to make everyone dance or the ability to briefly turn into a werewolf.
Champions Online's free-to-play option is scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2011, with a closed beta kicking off on November 9, 2010.
-
vertdang
replyI hope this becomes a trend. LOTRO, D&D, Champions. What's next?
-
Star Trek is next in line, I imagine.
Though I'm still hoping for Warhammer. :P-
Warhammer Online (WAR) does have a Free-to-Play option for the first 12 or so levels.
-
-
It already is a trend. It is the safer sustainable path. Only when you are clearly the best or most popular and have obtained critical mass can you wield pricing control and charge a subscription. Modern warfare 2 is the equivalent in the shooter market. They can get away with $15 map packs because they were THE must have shooter to get last year
-
No. When you have a Free-to-Play model, you're more exposed to the casual gamer or budget crunch gamer who may not have been able to buy it at first, but would be willing to try out a Free-to-Play version. There's enough that don't have $15/mo that they're willing to commit on a regular basis, but may have a few spare dollars here and there. Also, because they're not "bound" to a recurring fee, they may splurge here and there and spend more in a given month than their ala-carte subscription would cost. Yeah, it doesn't make sense from one standpoint. From another though, they're not bound to having to spend X dollars on it. There's also a sense of personal satisfaction when you "buy" upgrades for your character.
More exposure to more potential dollars.
-
-
I sure as shit don't want this to become a trend. These games went to free-to-play because they just weren't good enough to sustain a fan base capable of creating substantial revenue. Each of the games you mentioned was released with one or more flaws that prevented them from retaining customers. Champions was a fail right out of the gate. You can't release a game full of bugs, imbalances, and little to no end game content and expect people to continue paying month after month. LotRO did a better job, but I think their lack of any really meaningful PvP killled them in the end. D&D is a decent game but just doesn't compare to many other MMO's.
So when you say "I hope this becomes a trend." What your really saying is that you hope companies will continue to poor millions into developing games that are so poorly done, that they have no choice but to go to the free-to-play model.-
That's not true at all. If there's a way to make }g more ]_ money in this business, you do it.
-
Gah.. Shacktag FAIL!
-
-
