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HellGate London To Be For-Pay Online Experience
The long-in-development HellGate: London, which finally has a release date, has been announced as a for-pay MMOG-style game. From the article: "Drawing similarities to ArenaNet's Guild Wars, Hellgate's online is heavily instanced. Group and solo PvE is the game's main focus; PvP will exist in a small scale form, but is not a major element of the initial launch. It will also feature a Hardcore mode similar to that found in Blizzard's Diablo II, a game on which many members of the Hellgate team worked. Hellgate's multiplayer will contain all of the missions and story from the single-player aspect of the game, as well as exclusive gameplay modes and content. Like the single-player game, it will be comprised of dynamically generated areas and items. Further content will be continually added over time by a dedicated Flagship team."
...And it was already fantastic then. I'm not even a Diablo fan, but I found the gameplay quite compelling - it felt considerably more action-oriented and immersive, while retaining the addicting collect-a-thon aspects of the earlier hellspawn-slaying games. It even looked polished - a full year before release.
I came away from the demo impressed enough to put the game on my "To Buy at Release" list (which is rare for me for PC games). However, if they're going to release it under a subscription model, I'm going to scrap those plans. I don't buy into the whole "$50 for the client + $X / month for game play" thing. Its not worth it to me. Either release the client for FREE + subscription (in which case, I'll still likely pass - I just don't have time to play a game whose commitment is measured in months). Or, even better, copy Guild Wars entirely (which is to say, the traditional retail model++) and just sell the client + account for $50.
D.