Slashdot Mirror
City of Heroes Moving To Hybrid Payment Model
KingSkippus writes "The superhero-themed MMORPG City of Heroes announced this morning that it is rebranding the game as City of Heroes Freedom ('freedom to pay and play as you choose'), and moving to a hybrid payment model including a free-to-play option. 'VIP' players who still pay a monthly subscription will have most features of the game unlocked and will be given credit towards purchase of others. City of Heroes Freedom is due to land later this year with the next major game update."
The trend toward free-to-play continues. Meanwhile, a recent update that brought microtransactions to EVE Online has (at least temporarily) resulted in digital clothing items becoming more expensive than real-world counterparts.
Knew it was coming. I still play this game, but only a few of the servers are populated. Many of them are near empty.
Glancing at the headline, I read it at "City of herpes", which I'm hoping doesn't say anything in particular about me.
A lot of the games are not pay to win though. For example in DDO you buy content packs but theoretically you could also earn every one of them eventually if you tried. Champions Online you also don't pay to win, you can buy new costumes, powers and content.
There is a huge difference among free to play games. The western free to play games are very very rarely pay to win games.
Computer modeling for biotech drug manufacturing is HARD!
For those that don't know, City of Heroes is the number 1 superhero MMO on the market. The game has been cruising along for seven years now right along side WoW and EVE and has had a strong, consistent player-base. I see this move as a means to expand the base a bit by giving folks a taste of being "super", without having to invest your social life like some other games. We have been getting free updates on a regular basis for years now under the old pay system and I see this more as a way to get even more.
All the excitement and action of manipulating a large spreadsheet.
At least the Crimson Permanent Assurance got to carry swords.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Sure you can get two characters to level cap, but there are over ten classes and you can't participate in the actual end game, and the majority of players discover that rolling new characters is a huge part of the draw. Unless a player is laser-focused on one aspect of the game, it's probably going to be cheaper and more convenient to keep a sub running.
While it's true that you purchase adventure packs in DDO, those adventure packs are the only way to craft the most powerful weapons and armor. I have the same problem that the anon does: in most games of this type, the more money you spend, the better your character becomes. I think that DDO does it in a way that's more tolerable than most other games of its ilk (especially since it's possible to grind Turbine Points and get those adventure packs for free), but it's still something that bothers me somewhat.
In Hellgate: London, subscribers got very little in the way of benefits for their money. That was probably one of the biggest reasons that it died (among numerous reasons), but it was also kind of nice knowing that all the characters were generally equal to each other, without vastly overpowered items or classes being available only to subscribers. In the end, the way that Turbine does it is clearly the better way, from a financial standpoint (what incentive did people have to subscribe to HGL?), but I wish that free-to-play didn't also mean pay-to-win. I'm pretty sure there's a middle ground, and, admittedly, DDO is actually a lot closer to that middle ground than most free-to-play games that I've seen, but once you buy a few adventure packs, the game effectively turns into a boring grindfest, where you slowly plow through the content, wielding overpowered weapons and wearing overpowered armor. I'd prefer that the adventure packs merely opened up more quests, rather than giving out such overpowered items. It makes the game a bit too easy and causes non-subscribers to effectively become useless gimps, since they can't keep up with your uber-character. A subscriber decked out with at-level gear is probably worth three or four non-subscribers, especially once you reach level 12 (with access to greensteel weapons).
That non-subscriber can grind Turbine Points to get access to Vale of Twilight, where greensteel weapons are made, which mitigates some of the issues, but the problem (if you see it as a problem) still exists. One could obviously argue that it's merely an entitlement complex, and the non-subscribers are just jealous of the equipment that subscribers have access to, but I -- like the anon -- see it as more of a game balance issue than anything else. On one hand, the inner loot-whore in me loves the fact that the loot is so crazy overpowered in those adventure packs, but I'm also kind of annoyed at how much of a Monty Haul experience it is, too. The game becomes a joke once you acquire sufficiently powerful equipment, like the aforementioned bruiser who wields greensteel weapons at level 12, alongside his gimpy friends, who are still using +1 longswords and such.
Are they seeing a drop in subscriptions since CO went for a similar system?
comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
Anarchy Online did this recently too. And while they maintained that same ol' song that they aren't going to make it a pay to win game, they effectively created a loophole for someone to buy credits (currency in the game) with real life money.
I think evenitably they just cant hold back the bean counters who are asking why the new outfits aren't bringing in enough money. It's like feature creep but with power/value to purchased items.
I think their subscriber numbers took a huge nosedive as the players saw through it all. But that's just biased speculation on my part. I think it's sad to see the industry innovating more ways to extract money with in game purchases and DLCs rather than creating good products. But I guess that's a sure sign the Gaming industry has really become mature and lucrative.
PocketPermissions Android Permission Guide
It's hard to define how you "win" in a MMOG anyway, but if you mean reaching maximum level or getting the best loot, in the vast majority of games skill has always counted for far, far less than time invested (and sheer dumb luck, in some cases). Fighting other players in PvP then skill (and teamwork) is more of an issue, but if it's a DIKU-style level-and-gear-based game then time invested is still a significant factor.
For an achievement-centric player then the ability to buy the Sword of a Thousand Truths for cash rather than having to kill hundreds of Orcs and hope one happens to drop it might devalue the entire game, but if you're playing because you enjoy exploring the world, or getting together with friends to go on an adventure it's much less of a problem, and "pay to win" is as much of a nonsense as the idea of "winning" in the first place.
City of Heroes is particularly notable as it's much less about the "phat lewt" in the first place, in keeping with the superhero setting. For years there was barely anything resembling an economy, and though later patches have developed that side of things I don't think it's the defining factor of the game. PvP was always something of a sideshow (again, not present at all at launch), it's been a while since I played but the players seemed to prefer Heroes and Villains grouping up together to face common foes rather than fighting each other.
"Free to play" isn't inherently good, it's quite possible to end up with something resembling an arcade game where you have to keep shoving in 10p coins to continue (probably £1 coins these days, been a while since I was in an arcade), but it offers a flexibility that's missing from the subscription model if you'd like to play a couple of games once or twice a week.
I don't think so.
Most of us on COH had tried CO anyway. Heck, everyone was awaiting a second superhero MMO like the second cumming of Christ. It just wasn't all that good.
I suspect that someone could move to a game they like less, for the sake of 15 dollars a month. But it can't be that huge a segment of the population IMHO.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Much as I love leaping to conclusions as much as anyone else, I'd say let's wait and see what they want to do there.
For a start, from what I hear so far, it's less like free to play and selling l33t items for cash, as just having an indefinite trial account if you don't want to pay. If you're on a free account, you can't join a supergroup (think: guild/clan/whatever), you have only 2 character slots you can play, you can't use any endgame stuff, can't use the AE, can't have epic archetype characters, can't have mastermind or controller characters, have restricted access to the auction house, etc. They still expect to make their money from subscriptions, not from selling items or anything, but basically are giving everyone else an extended trial account that never expires and lets them play some basic version of the game. If you want more than that, you need to buy a subscription.
Second, COH already had micro-transactions, except they were more like buying extra costume pieces and character slots. And by "costume pieces" i mean literally just a mesh and texture. You're not getting some armour of invulnerability +10, because the game doesn't work that way, you're getting simply a funky robe or wedding tux or spandex outfit or funky cape that does nothing else than look cool. It has no stats whatsoever, because nothing else does. All superhero powers are inherent in your character, not in your armour or weapon.
Just abut the most tangible thing you could buy for real money was a jetpack that lets one fly for a month without learning a travel power. But then the same can be bought in game for 10,000 influence (think about the same purchasing power as 10,000 copper pieces in WoW) at any level and as often as you like, or obtained via some quests, or even crafted, flies exactly as fast (and both are slower than getting the normal flight power) and typically lasts you longer. Just about the only real advantage to the bought one is that it looks better than the in-game one, but that's about it.
So even for PvP, frankly, you get no advantage out of those. If I'm to worry about someone defeating me with real money, I'd worry more about the guy who bought a few billion inf from Chinese gold farmers and bought the purple sets from the auction house. The guy who bought a jetpack or a flashy cape from NCSoft, heh, that one's no threat.
Third, there is almost no PvP in the game anyway, and certainly none you need to take part in. If you're worried that someone will use an unfair advantage against you in PvP, shoot, don't go into the arena or the (largely deserted) PvP areas.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
The thing I've always liked about a monthly/quarterly/yearly subscription model, is that at least the costs are known, and fixed, up front. I always figure "Free To Play" is an attempt to try to nickle-and-dime me for far more money than I'd pay in the subs model. With "micro-transactions", they can try to milk you for more money. Of course you don't *have* to pay it; hopefully most people have good impulse control, and additionally have some sense of whether they're being scammed.
I think Penny Arcade recently ran a pretty good strip exploring this issue:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/6/10/
I think the studio is doing a good job with this payment model of avoiding that. If you choose to maintain your subscription, you become a VIP and have access to most stuff without buying anything additional. You also get 400 Paragon Points (the currency used to purchase the extra stuff that's not baked in) every month, so if you maintain a subscription, you can just acquire the new stuff without spending anything extra. In my opinion, this is better even than how it is now, with periodic "booster packs" of costume items, emotes, and so on. Right now, you must pay an extra $10 to obtain those things in addition to your subscription fee. When CoH Freedom launches, you can get them a la carte with the Paragon Points you get alotted for being a VIP.
In short, one of the principles behind the "Freedom" branding is that you can choose how you want to pay and play, even if that choice is, "I like how it is now" (but with lots of new shinies you weren't getting before). I will concede that if you're a completionist, you will probably end up spending more to buy literally everything; however, there will be a LOT more to obtain. Although the absolute dollar figure will go up, you'll be getting disproportionately more for what you're spending, which will in theory be a better value. If you're not a completionist, though, you will likely actually end up saving money by being able to pick and choose what you value and acquiring it, instead of being forced to get everything in bundles.
I won't lie, the nickel-and-diming aspect of f2p is what concerns me most about this change, but like I said, I think they realize that and are working hard to think of ways to avoid that, to design a hybrid model that can avoid that if you choose. It really sounds like they are looking to make more money off of the microtransactions of new players who can't or don't want to shell out $15 every month, not trying to milk existing ones.
Broad sword and Katana powersets, or if hacking is more your style over slashing, Battle Axe or War Mace. Wait, what's that? You want a longsword? A scimitar? Or one of the 31 other types of swords? Or could we even interest you in two swords?
Don't forget your shield.
Puzzle Pirates uses a free to play and pay service. The puzzle MMO gives a few puzzles that non-subscribers can play, and allows others to be played on certain days of the week. In order to do a pirate mission you need x number of players doing some kinds of puzzles, the free paying ones will have something to do with other players.
There are 3 kinds of servers, the first is a subscription server where if you choose to pay the monthly payment you get access to everything. The other you can buy special currency that is used to buy a license to play certain games for a period of time (the license decays slower when you aren't playing). These licenses and money can be traded or given to other players. This gives the players a choice between selecting a server where all the paying players are on a level playing field, and one that lets you pick and choose what you want. The final server is a hybrid were each paying player gets a monthly allowance of money to spend (the amount paid is fixed). This server is designed for kids and has a strict language/conduct policy.
Disclaimer: Never played this game.
That one thing is NCSoft. NCSoft has a penchant of taking a good idea and turning it into a train wreck. Remember Tablua Rasa? Also, they have not created a F2P model that works well. Exteel and Dungeon Runner anybody?
I really hope that they get their act together with this F2P of CoH because it is a good game. However, I don't think they will have much luck if they pretty much force gamers to pay for the normal operations of the game. I would rather they avoid the F2P model altogether if that is the way they want to play.
Completely free MMOs exist. They're called MUDs.
I look at it this way, for pay as you go, DDO offers a lot of content. I like the idea of pay as you go content because I don't play enough to justify a monthly subscription fee. They are a business, not a charity. They have to make money somehow and anyone who faults them for this is just ignorant. They make new adventure packs and you're free to buy them or not while still having access to all of your previously purchased content.
A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.