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DCUO announces free to play
ethion
Member UncommonPosts: 2,888
A rather interesting article on DCUO... Looks like they are planning to make the game free to play kinda following the guild wars model. I'm guessing they will no doubt also have a item shop.
www.onelastcontinue.com/10953/gamescom-2009-dc-universe-online-impressions/
Anyone think that maybe CO might change to free to play model? They got an item shop in game now and cryptic is pretty good about doing updates. Might be a better model for them especially while the game is still really rough...
Maybe lifetime members get all the expansions free??
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Ethion
Comments
WoW Epic Fail then. F2P dont work in the US this means the content is severly lacking. Good news for CO! No real competition now.
If its a real guild wars model then I would definitely be in. I can deal with an item shop if theres no monthly sub and theres quite a bit of content up front. Very interested to see where this game is going.
Maybe....
Personally I think that Sony had a good experience with free realms and decided to go with a similar model. Maybe this does mean they are going to go light on content out the door? But then I kinda think that CO went out the door pretty light on content while charging a full price and sub.
It will be interesting to see how Agency and DCU actually shape up. I've got a hunch that they will be games building on a lot of the elements in free realms. Ie single servers, open world, lots of involved scripted instances with more then normal interactions, role changing like Free Realms outfits, etc.
I guess time will tell. It does seem to me like DCU and Agency have both been in development longer then normal so i'm hoping that means good polish. However on the downside it looks like they are heavily invested in console play so these games might be shallow action oriented games full of solo play. Afterall console people can't type... However on the other hand SOE does have the best voice chat systems integrated in game for any game today. Maybe they will have console and pc players both interoperating on voice chat!?
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Ethion
A Major IP starting off F2P? It seems like a bad sign to me. GW is an exception. F2P does not imply quality to me.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
In terms of the super hero genre, I think making them action oriented is really the only way to go. As we see more and more MMOs vying for the console crowd, I think we'll begin to see some interesting design choices as far as UI and combat goes. How well invested this MMO will be in items such as crafting.. thats another story.
I think the expansion model sounds about right for a PC/Console release. As far as content is concerned, I wouldn't mind an expansion release ever 3 - 6 months... in terms of subscriptions paying for an expansion around that time for about 50 bucks a month would be about the same as what most people would pay for subscriptions. It would even turn out somewhat less if you consider most games charge for expansions and subscriptions. I'm actually very happy with this model over CO's model of pay for the game, pay the monthly subscription, then pay for some microtransactions just for good measure.
A superhero game really does have the setup for F2P. What is the most desired thing in a superhero game? The ability to make your superhero look different from everyone else and stand out from the crowd. So you make a store where you sell all different clothing items (which don't affect stats in any way) that all cost a buck or so. People build multiple heroes and keep buying all different outfits and then buy new clothes as it is released. Extreme customization through micro transactions would probably work just fine.
Then to top it off you do content sales of villan arcs. So you sell a whole arc with one central bad guy that you sell for 10-20 bucks.
But all that being said, the problem with most F2P have been their lack of content and quality on launch. So as long as a game goes all out and makes it a fun, modern, AAA game on release then it would work out.
If they use the GW payment model that would be fantastic we already have two superhero games it would make sense to go for a different payment model to attract different users.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
I'd think having the official DC IP would be different enough. You're not going to hang out with Green Lantern or Wonder Woman in CoX or CO.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
I do not like F2P. In a capitalistic world the best incentive to guarantee future improvements is profit. If you pay for a lifetime sub, there's no monthly fee or in some other way doesn't earn money then development will eventually stop or crawl to a minimum. It's just how the world is put together and let me say there's nothing wrong with pursuing profit!
I do not think F2P can generate enough money for the development process to satisfy my high demands of what a game should include today. It might be enough to satisfy many other peoples needs, but that doesn't help me very much. I have X amount of time available to play games every day and I won't settle for second best just to save myself a few bucks each month. I want an A grade game to fill my precious spare gaming-time.
Because of this I never buy lifetime subs, I encourage developers to have a monthly fee and I'm not afraid to cancel a subscription if they fail to meet my high demands. This is the best way to ensure the devs are on their toes to satisfy my hunger for top entertainment. You can sum it up with one line: Would you work for free?
I think Champions would be much more succesfull and proftable if it was free 2 play like GW. The number 1 feature in CO is character cretion. then earn money by having people buy more character slots instead and drop the monthly sub!
Maybe I will get DCUO on PS3 when it release.
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
Hmm, I don't really see how that applies with this model though. guild wars was highly successful and a really great game. They didn't have monthly fees... they made their money through expansions.... if you had purchased each expansion, it would be the same as buying a lifetime subscription pretty much. It doesn't affect the quality of the game.... One of the best things about guild wars was that not only would they have an expansion, but some of them were even standalone games. How that will differ from DCUO we have yet to see. But the reason I say that is simply that you can create a fantastic standalone game and still release enough in an expansion that could stand on its own merits.
{mod edit}
DC is now not a real MMO (at least to me). It is now just like Guild Wars which is a wantabe MMO. Sure its got its good points but its now off my list. Something to me that is not taken seriously. Along with being a shooter game pretty much kills the game for me.
No, CO will change. The game is better then most MMO's. Its far from pretty rought.
Indeed. Keep them hungry, or they get lazy and careless.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
The era of subscription fees is coming to an end in MMOs. F2P and item malls are the way the industry is going.
I hate to say it, but the majority of MMO players now days are casual (thanks WoW), and F2P and item malls are much more casual player friendly.
{mod edit}
DC is now not a real MMO (at least to me). It is now just like Guild Wars which is a wantabe MMO. Sure its got its good points but its now off my list. Something to me that is not taken seriously. Along with being a shooter game pretty much kills the game for me.
No, CO will change. The game is better then most MMO's. Its far from pretty rought.
I don't find this post as a troll post.. although I do wonder why its in the CO category instead of DCUO.... regardless... CO is obviously still pretty rough around the edges.. although I will agree that it is better then most MMOs (as the majority of MMOs are korean grinders, or MT junk.) I don't think DCUO is just like guild wars..... its really only the payment model right now that they've mentioned being like guild wars... so thats jumping the gun quite a bit.
Why do people say "free 2 play like Guild Wars" or "Guildwars is an MMO"?
Guild Wars are the first to claim they are NOT an MMO and they are NOT free to play. They have a box cost. You cannot play the game without paying something.
F2P are PWI or Runescape.
F2P and microtransactions also fall in line with console user purchasing habits. In this case Sony owns the game and online service (Home) but look at the issues with getting CO onto Xbox Live...
This does not bode well for DCUO. SoE could have had something with this IP, but apparently they are at a loss for what to do with it. F2P games are notorious for releasing with a lot less content than P2P games. Some F2P games even charge you for storylines (Mabinogi). I guess we'll have to wait to see how this all pans out, though.
{mod edit}
DC is now not a real MMO (at least to me). It is now just like Guild Wars which is a wantabe MMO. Sure its got its good points but its now off my list. Something to me that is not taken seriously. Along with being a shooter game pretty much kills the game for me.
No, CO will change. The game is better then most MMO's. Its far from pretty rought.
I thought it was interesting that DCUO was going to go F2P and given that CO launch hasn't been going that well and they do have an item shop build into the game, it seems to me that making CO F2P would also be a viable response? Anything they can do to boost the game up more and keep it going to support future content development would be a huge boon. A superhero game with lots of costume pieces seems to me to be a good opportunity for Item shop addons. So they could make good money selling unique looking powers, costume pieces, glowy effects, etc stuff like that. Cryptic has done frequent updates with COH and will presumably do the same thing here. Maybe they charge $25 for updates and make the game free. Boost up the item shop with a variety of things. Selling respecs would be a big hit too. I think there are lots of things they could sell in the item store that wouldn't distort the game but would be desirable for people to buy.
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Ethion
If you are basing a good or bad launch on any forum activity, then you might as well consult a magic 8 ball. I can't say how successful they have been, or not. Other than the world is full at all hours and I see a lot of people in the lower zones. Could be alts, could be new players.
However, I don't think anyone here has any real idea how they are doing.
Truth.
GW model is not free to play -- it only lacks a sub fee
players must purchase the game to play
EQ2 fan sites
Truth.
The sad sad truth indeed...
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
They are going on the Free realms model. They have over 2 million subs for that game. Which is about 1,900,000 more subs than Champions.
They are going on the Free realms model. They have over 2 million subs for that game. Which is about 1,900,000 more subs than Champions.
And that's what people are forgetting. All of that "content, quality, etc" crap only matters to us, the players. Developers and publishers care about two things above all else: subscribers and money.
If they can make an MMO with little to no content and pull 5 million people, they couldn't care less how "good" people think the game is. Say what you want about Free Realms, but it's wildly popular, and at the end of the day, that's the *only* thing that matters.