Nice article overall but my feeling is even if they carbon copied Turbines system it still wouldn't work for them (atleast not to the extent that it worked for Turbine) Champions is simply not that fun of a game and even for free I can't see that there are that many people who will play the game.  I for one couldn't level a character beyond level six at the most on the free trial.

The bottom line is,  are there that many people who feel like the game is worth a play but not a sub?  My experience with Champions is that it isn't, most people I know who have played it and moved on have no desire to go back whether it's free or not.  Add to that there are all the limitations the op mentioned and you'll see the failure this project will be.

I think short sighted is going to be the 'word of the day' when the dust settles after F2P is introduced. The forums over at Cryptic are slowly resembling this one, unfortunately Poz, etc. are intent on making their POS model a reality. I forsee this dying faster than Tabula Rasa, the game simply isn't worth a subscription and the silver archtypes are garbage.

Im not so sure about thier F2P model so far.  

Even with thier little adventure packs and the addition of Vibora Bay, CO is still extremely content thin.  Its only real selling point has always been the customization of powers.  And they are going to take that away unless you pay them $15 bucks a month.

I quit playing CO because it didnt have enough content to warrant paying $15 bucks a month.   There is no way I would pay a premium sub just to have acces to one feature and still have the game be anorexically puny in regards to content.

I hope this kind of stuff stay away from DCUO, because the more I play it, the more I'm getting sucked into it.

This is becoming the standard marketing system for MMO franchises now, look at EQ and LOTRO, they have 3 or 4 levels of subscribers, F2P players are limited to certain levels, areas, equipment and content while the ones that pays can level higher and access more areas.

IMHO this is destroying the gaming industry, basically "pay your way to win!", Need for Speed: World is going to be exactly that, you buy cars or parts to beat the F2P players.

Originally posted by sookster54

This is becoming the standard marketing system for MMO franchises now, look at EQ and LOTRO, they have 3 or 4 levels of subscribers, F2P players are limited to certain levels, areas, equipment and content while the ones that pays can level higher and access more areas.

IMHO this is destroying the gaming industry, basically "pay your way to win!", Need for Speed: World is going to be exactly that, you buy cars or parts to beat the F2P players.

 Now please explain to me how keeping the same pricing model and benefits for paying that price that has always been there is "paying to win" by adding a different method to play the game for those that dont really want to pay a sub?The way you put it makes it sound like on top of paying for the sub in what basically is a "sub" but is just adding some more options for playing it,that on top of that sub they are opening up options to pay more to get farther.

This sounds alot like what Turbine does with thier games. To be honest, neither Lotro, DDO and CO should of had a subscription model to begin with.

Originally posted by jpnole
Even F2P will not resurrect CO. The final nail in the coffin comes when DCU releases in January.

Are you kidding?? I agree that F2P will not resurrect CO. I disagree with the final nail. I forsee DCU will be in the same boat as CO. You see DCU is lacking a lot....A LOT....more so than CO is. I wish I can post specifics but because of the Beta NDA, I can't. All I can say is CO had lots of potential like DCU. Comic book fans are going to be hurt over DCU. CO failed the day they announced the game was instanced (like their Star Trek game). That right there killed it for many. Who wants to play a "online" game when you are separated from the rest of the community?

F2P should really mean F2P. No in game limits. What should supplement the games income is the C store or other micro transactions. Like the interview article said F2P is really nothing more than an endless trial. In reality F2P means game over in my opinion.

how about this guys and ladies ?  just pay for XP boost   for set times    and buy    costmetic stuff for toon   not at point to buy stuff to beat other players       "eeek" i played a game like that they make you buy stuff to beat other players  just to stay alive    for me i rather buy xp boost and costmetic stuff for fun  or fluff  

From the article:

Cryptic recently announced that Champions Online will be going free-to-play in 2011, but do they plan on appreciating their non-subscribers?

I wont blame a company for not caring too much about its free to play players. To me it is a trial, do i get upset at "free to play" games that i cant fully experience the game without paying for it? of course. I still dont blame the company that made the game for that. Either ill play it and pay for it or i wont.

In reality paying customers will usually (if not always) be treated better than a non paying customer. The opposing view is obviously "well you want your non paying customers to turn into your paying customers." Im not gonna argue against that right now, but i do understand it.

From the orange post above:

CO's content is so weak that the character customizer IS content.  So they're gonna pretty much take that content away from silver players.  Permanently. 

I wasnt sure if it was just me so im glad i saw that. When i created my character i was blown away (same in City of Heroes) but then i started playing the game and i was like wow, i just left World of Warcraft after 6 years and here i am playing a super hero themed version of it.

I only reached level 10 and my sub is still up atm but i really just dont care to play it.

I love/d World of Warcraft and other similar games like DDO, LOTR, 4 Story, hell i could post up a huge list but im not gonna. Im apparently tired of these games ya know? I did not know that or epxect it, i still enjoy the game styles themself but i dont want to play it anymore right now.

I was just surprised how much like WoW these 2 super hero themed games are.

DCUO did it right with the combat in my opinion.

The combat in CO and CoH is so damn boring to me and i dont feel like theres anything super powered about it.