Considering the upcoming free-2-play DC universe online, will Champions online switch to free-2-play as well in order to remain competitive??

oddly enough that isn't a bad question at all. Only time will tell and only Cryptic knows the answer.

It feels like a F2P game, has the makings of a F2P game, has the former maker of a failed F2P game, I dont see why not.

Originally posted by Legato89

It feels like a F2P game, has the makings of a F2P game, has the former maker of a failed F2P game, I dont see why not.

And a somewhat successful P2P. Funny that City of Heroes is still more respected than Champions. To be honest they shouldn't have even bothered making another super-hero mmo.

Originally posted by Lord_Ixigan 

 

And a somewhat successful P2P. Funny that City of Heroes is still more respected than Champions. To be honest they shouldn't have even bothered making another super-hero mmo.

It is pretty foolish to make one as similar to an existing one, for sure.

You have to be significantly better, if you're not going to be different.

I thought sony had confirmed that the F2p rumor about DC online was false.

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Originally posted by Lord_Ixigan 

 

And a somewhat successful P2P. Funny that City of Heroes is still more respected than Champions. To be honest they shouldn't have even bothered making another super-hero mmo.

It is pretty foolish to make one as similar to an existing one, for sure.

You have to be significantly better, if you're not going to be different.

Following this logic, we should have only one game of each type, 1 Fantasy, 1 Sci-Fi, 1 Space, 1 Super-Hero...Yeah right!

I think they are headed towards a service type thing rather than F2P.

Something along the lines of Sony station. Pay for single sub or get em all.

Depending on how STO does, Co is like a filler game to me. Something to fill out the line up, not really worth a sub alone, but if they can get a good game to draw in people then have a few decent games to fill more spots, might be worth a service type subscription down the line to add variety.

Interestingly enough I had the opportunity to talk with Bill Roper and I asked him about the F2P model and if Cryptic was looking at that as an option for Champions, Star Trek, or a future project:

Bill Roper: Cryptic is a very mobile company in that we’re constantly looking at what works, what doesn’t, and then moving towards where whatever it is that’s better for our players. This isn’t just limited to game play, but also business models and how we deliver our game. We had a lot of success with our digital download programs, so we’ll be looking to do more of that in the future. Our combined subscription / micro-transaction model has seen some good traction , so we’re examining what the best way to go is moving forward.

The subscription cost for this game is just too much too me. I just canceled my sub again :(

F2P would be a good solution for them. The population has seriously thinned out over the months. They're always letting people play the game for free once a month anyway

Originally posted by DarLorkar

I think they are headed towards a service type thing rather than F2P.

Something along the lines of Sony station. Pay for single sub or get em all.

Depending on how STO does, Co is like a filler game to me. Something to fill out the line up, not really worth a sub alone, but if they can get a good game to draw in people then have a few decent games to fill more spots, might be worth a service type subscription down the line to add variety.

I don't understand how can people be so pumped for that game (STO). Champions is not a horrible game but felt really rushed and suffered a lot of issues. I guess we'll have to wait and see but I don't have much faith in Cryptic to deliver a solid STO experience.

They are just too greedy for that. Add in Roper...heh. It will be the first F2P game with a required monthly fee.

"We at Cryptic think we should have more money. All the money as a matter-of-fact. Seeing as how we care about our player base we have switched Champions: Online to a Free-to-Play business model. But to liven things up we've decided to expand the horizons of what some people would consider a "regular" F2P business model and add a required monthly fee. So as to provide the best experience we can for our accountants.

Some people may not understand this business model but it has shown promise in many sectors, namely with people who own the stock. Those simple minded folks that are backwards thinking and do not understand the virtues of the F2P Monthly Fee Service should try it and see, it only requires the purchase of the new Champions: Online F2PMFS Edt. ($49.99) and a major credit card to start. We are cutting edge here at Cryptic and always are thinking of ways to improve the play experience for our customers, we feel they need options when deciding how to play, and we feel those options should garner us as much money as humanly possible. And by " play experience" I mean fleecing.

For an additional 200 Cryptic Dollars I can include punctuation in this news release! Please check the Cryptic Store for more information!"

I doubt they will go f2p after selling life-subs to people, unless they are going to give those people who LS something mayor in-game to make up for shelling over $200

Originally posted by prototypo

I doubt they will go f2p after selling life-subs to people, unless they are going to give those people who LS something mayor in-game to make up for shelling over $200

Flagshipp'd

Originally posted by ghost047

Originally posted by MMO_Doubter

Originally posted by Lord_Ixigan 

 And a somewhat successful P2P. Funny that City of Heroes is still more respected than Champions. To be honest they shouldn't have even bothered making another super-hero mmo.

It is pretty foolish to make one as similar to an existing one, for sure.

You have to be significantly better, if you're not going to be different.

Following this logic, we should have only one game of each type, 1 Fantasy, 1 Sci-Fi, 1 Space, 1 Super-Hero...Yeah right!

Not quite. I think he meant is that if the new game is too similar to a previous still running game, its kind of pointless.  Yes, you can have many different games in the same genre, but if they're too similar, there's going to be lots of failures.

Originally posted by Irishoak

They are just too greedy for that. Add in Roper...heh. It will be the first F2P game with a required monthly fee.

 

"We at Cryptic think we should have more money. All the money as a matter-of-fact. Seeing as how we care about our player base we have switched Champions: Online to a Free-to-Play business model. But to liven things up we've decided to expand the horizons of what some people would consider a "regular" F2P business model and add a required monthly fee. So as to provide the best experience we can for our accountants.

Some people may not understand this business model but it has shown promise in many sectors, namely with people who own the stock. Those simple minded folks that are backwards thinking and do not understand the virtues of the F2P Monthly Fee Service should try it and see, it only requires the purchase of the new Champions: Online F2PMFS Edt. ($49.99) and a major credit card to start. We are cutting edge here at Cryptic and always are thinking of ways to improve the play experience for our customers, we feel they need options when deciding how to play, and we feel those options should garner us as much money as humanly possible. And by " play experience" I mean fleecing.

For an additional 200 Cryptic Dollars I can include punctuation in this news release! Please check the Cryptic Store for more information!"

and if the game does flop, hey! just say the playerbase had too high expectations.

It needs to go f2p to remain profitable.  With the dwindling population, I don't think they will have enough remaining players to remain profitable as a p2p game.  When DCUO comes out, they will have two competitors and a thinning player base.  Superhero MMO's is a niche market.  Spread the population across three games and I think one of them will be in trouble.

Originally posted by Legato89

Originally posted by prototypo

I doubt they will go f2p after selling life-subs to people, unless they are going to give those people who LS something mayor in-game to make up for shelling over $200

 

Flagshipp'd

Yeah and they didnt go f2p so whats your point. And where are everyone getting this dwindling number population business, cryptic has never released the numbers and low server populations can be attributed to a multitude of things whether people are at work, school or another mmo at the moment.

Originally posted by prototypo

Originally posted by Legato89

Originally posted by prototypo

I doubt they will go f2p after selling life-subs to people, unless they are going to give those people who LS something mayor in-game to make up for shelling over $200

 

Flagshipp'd

 

Yeah and they didnt go f2p so whats your point. And where are everyone getting this dwindling number population business, cryptic has never released the numbers and low server populations can be attributed to a multitude of things whether people are at work, school or another mmo at the moment.

1. Virtually my entire guild, penny arcade, quit the game from what I can tell. WE used to have bout 50-100 people in the chat at a time. Now its down to 2-3 active members last time I logged in

2. The Instances for Millineum city and Desert is waaayyyy lower than it was at launch

3. The official boards used to be bursting with activity. I remember if I started a thread it would be quickly buried. Now I go to Hero Games section on the site and only see a rare few souls posting. Threads remain a long time

IT feels like the game has a much lower population too me. Right now the free weekend is going on so I'd expect a lot more traffic in the lower level zones though. I'm in the upper zones (31-40)

Originally posted by briboi

Interestingly enough I had the opportunity to talk with Bill Roper and I asked him about the F2P model and if Cryptic was looking at that as an option for Champions, Star Trek, or a future project:

Bill Roper: Cryptic is a very mobile company in that we’re constantly looking at what works, what doesn’t, and then moving towards where whatever it is that’s better for our players. This isn’t just limited to game play, but also business models and how we deliver our game. We had a lot of success with our digital download programs, so we’ll be looking to do more of that in the future. Our combined subscription / micro-transaction model has seen some good traction , so we’re examining what the best way to go is moving forward.

I always love reading quotes from Bill. It's like a verbal game of Where's Wally? His roundabout answer seems to boil down to "I don't know".

If F2P is what they need to do to survive, they'll obviously go down that road. But it will further devalue mmo lifetime subscriptions in the eyes of mmo'ers and could potentially be very damaging for Cryptic's reputation.

If they want to avoid being labelled as outright rip-off merchants, they'd need to offer something like a lifetime monthly Cryptic Bucks allowance to those who shelled out for the lifetime subscription.