Dropping this announcement on the very day of DCUO's launch was well played. Even more interesting is that CO will have its F2P system up and running before the first 30 days of free game time is over at DCUO.
I may give this game a whirl since it will be F2P in just a coupel of weeks.
Yeah, marketing is all about stepping on your opponent's dong when you can and this is pretty shrewd move.
Cryptic had already announced it was going F2P early last month or so, but to RE-announce it on DCUO's launch was a PR masterstroke. It remains to be seen just how many people will hear that message but it was the best card they could play.
The interesting part about what you said which ties in with Bill Murphy's review of DCUO is this part he posted:
Originally posted by B. Murphy (MMORPG) in DCUO review:
But at launch, it will take most players probably between 40 and 70 hours to hit the level cap (longer perhaps on PvP servers), and once there it’s likely there’s plenty to do for several weeks if you’re of the mind to finish feats, grind enough tokens for T1 and T2 gear, and compete in PvP to get those sets too. Basically, it’s the standard end-game, with a shorter leveling curve to overcome.
This will be all find and good if DCUO makes due on its promise for monthly content. I don’t expect them not to, but I felt it worth mentioning because there may be a lot riding on the idea of continual updates.
Thats one two weeks maximum. So let's say someone plays the game and thinks it's okay, but they've capped. Even though people HEAR 'content is coming', they don't like to wait around for it. So they may figure "I'll go play CO for F2P instead of paying for a monthly sub while I wait."
Or, they may think "since I'm subbed to one, I'll play CO for free at the same time".
Actually I think it would have been far smarter to have announced this towards at the end of January/beginning February, where the DC players would have to start making a decision whether they were going to pay for a sub or not. If suddenly a rival offers a f2p option it may sway a few, at the moment I'd guess people are still playing and not paying much attention to DC's rivals but thats just my opinion.
As for Champs the best thing about it is the customisation options, if thats limited in the f2p side and there hoping the, 'gameplay' will attract subs Cryptic are still clueless. Oh and I agree with Darkholme, they'll be some other catch later on. Cryptic are known for trying to squeeze more and more out of the playerbase and you can bet if it's even a minor success on the f2p side more and more things will start getting charged.
I'm not seeing what's so "innovative" about the c-store. A bunch of costume options that are far uglier than what City of Franchise gets with the subscription? That's what innovation means now?
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Actually I think it would have been far smarter to have announced this towards at the end of January/beginning February, where the DC players would have to start making a decision whether they were going to pay for a sub or not. If suddenly a rival offers a f2p option it may sway a few, at the moment I'd guess people are still playing and not paying much attention to DC's rivals but thats just my opinion.
As for Champs the best thing about it is the customisation options, if thats limited in the f2p side and there hoping the, 'gameplay' will attract subs Cryptic are still clueless. Oh and I agree with Darkholme, they'll be some other catch later on. Cryptic are known for trying to squeeze more and more out of the playerbase and you can bet if it's even a minor success on the f2p side more and more things will start getting charged.
I'm not seeing what's so "innovative" about the c-store. A bunch of costume options that are far uglier than what City of Franchise gets with the subscription? That's what innovation means now?