Cryptic Studios has announced that in 2011, Champions Online will free to play. This is nothing new, over the last couple of years many MMORPG games have opted to drop the subscription model and adopt the pay-per-service – if you want a special weapon, or enhancement, you pay for that.
In the Free-to-Play model, players have the option to purchase services, items and content to customize their gameplay options. These purchases expand upon an already complete experience and allow you to further customize your hero and enjoy the game in new ways. You can access this new material in the C-Store and use Cryptic Points to make your purchases.
The free to play beta arrives November 9, and if you want to participate, you simply have to download the game and get your game on.
With this news, I’m curious if Major Spoilerites are more inclined to play the game or not?
10 Comments
I’ll at least download it and check it out. Bad reviews have kept me from putting money toward the game and subscription up till now, but I’ll give it a chance.
I got this game right when it came out, and I really enjoyed it. It is far from a perfect game, but it is still a lot of fun. I had to drop my subscription because I couldn’t afford the monthly expense, but if it become free to play, I think I will definitely get back onboard.
This is brilliant! Since DC moved it’s release date to next year, Champions going free fills the gap that many super-hero gamers may have felt in early November.
Champions was one of the few pen and paper RPG’s I ever played, so I’d give this a shot for free. I’ve never been able to justify the cost of an MMO for the amount of time I’d be able to give it.
Tried it out recently and had fun with it. Just not enough fun to pay monthly. FTP certainly makes it a lot more likely to be something I keep installed to play ona random rainy day here and there.
I played it for a while and while the system itself isn’t up to par with city of heroes the graphics are quite gorgeous for a superhero mmo and the character generator in the game is astounding. It’s so good that while I went back to city of heroes I couldn’t stomache creating another character, I just played the ones I already made.
My main problem with Champions is that there is a severe drop off when it comes to powers between the regular game and the PVP game where one build rules them all. (Teleport regen).
I will note however that Champions offered for $250+ bucks a lifetime subscription to the Champions game and they would howl bloody murder everytime they gave out a free month of play to thier subscibers, imagine how noisey those fools are going to be over this announcement.
I remember urging my friends to get that lifetime subscription. It was at a time where the company we work at handed out some bonus checks and we all had a little disposable scratch.
Glad we didn’t go for it now.
I probably was the only one I know who legitimately enjoyed CO, and only stopped because I have a terrible computer not suited for gaming. This gives me more of an incentive to upgrade finally. Can’t wait to get my hands back on my heroes.
I don’t get why people think the life subbers are going to be so upset. The free model limits your selections, and there is still a paid option to play with more options and choices. Lifetime subscribers just automatically get the paid service options, so it’s no change for them (unless they decide to add more options for Lifetimers that regular paying players won’t get).
Might I say that I am pleased to see so many positive comments here. Been paying for the game since just after launch and have been enjoying it ever since. I’m looking forward to seeing some more Spoilerites online!
-Holger Dane@Feraal in-game