Star Wars: The Old Republic Free-To-Play

BioWare has announced today that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be free-to-play this Fall. During that time, the game will also have a major sale as it will be $14.99 that will include a subscription.

Free-to-play players will get limited access to character creation choices, how many Warzones can be played in a week along with Flashpoints and Space Missions. F2P players will not be able to complete Operations and they will also have limited access to traveling around the galaxy.

Being a subscriber instead of being F2P has its perks. Subscribers will be able to have complete and total access to what the game already features and they will be able to earn Cartel Coins through different ways in order to purchase special goodies like a Kowakian Monkey Lizard Pet, a Sith Meditation Throne or the Lost Helm of Darth Nihilus.

Along with the news that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be free-to-play, EA has announced today that they have lost a massive amount of subscribers as they are below 1 million of them. The exact number is not known but they have gone from 1.7 million subscribers to 1.3 million to below 1 million.

"The message from players exiting the game is clear – 40 percent say they were turned off by the monthly subscription," said EA Labels president Frank Gibeau. "And many indicated they would come back if we offered a free-to-play model."

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Dota 2 Will Be Free-To-Play

If you were wishing that Dota wouldn't be a subscription based game, then you should be happy as Valve has announced today via the Dota 2 blog that the game will be free-to-play.

On the blog, Valve states that they have addressed the top two most concerned things, whether or not Dota 2 will be free-to-play or not and if all the heroes will be free to play as or not. Well we already addressed the free-to-play part, and as for whether or not all heroes will be available free of charge, they will be free.

Not only will the game be free-to-play and the heroes will cost nothing, but Valve has also announced that there will be in-game microtransactions and that Dota 2 will be supported by the Steam Workshop. So if you have some great ideas for armor, weapons, clothing and other such things and you would like to see them in the game, then just upload your models onto Steam Workshop!

Valve has also set up a FAQs page for those who need it.

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Marvel Heroes Will Be Using Unreal Engine 3

Marvel Heroes seems like it's going to be intense graphics wise despite it being a free-to-play MMO, considering it's just been announced that the game will be using Epic's Unreal Engine 3.

Graphics aren't everything though, we still don't know how the gameplay is but at least we know that the heroes and areas of Marvel are going to look pretty damn awesome.

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Ubisoft Releases Free-To-Play Ghost Recon

Lately Ubisoft has been speaking out against PC games because of piracy issues, they have also gone off and made some PC gamers upset. So it's no big surprise that Ghost Recon Future Soldier won't be coming onto the PC, instead Ubisoft will be releasing a free-to-play game called Ghost Recon Online.

“We are giving away most of the content for free because there’s no barrier to entry," says Ubisoft's Sébastien Arnoult. "To the users that are traditionally playing the game by getting it through Pirate Bay, we said, ‘Okay, go ahead guys. This is what you’re asking for. We’ve listened to you – we’re giving you this experience. It’s easy to download, there’s no DRM that will pollute your experience.’"

Ubisoft believes that PC Gaming is not that big and that it would be a waste and time to port Ghost Recon Future Soldier onto the PC because they think that the demand for the game on the PC is too low.

"Perhaps it will only take twelve guys three months to port the game to PC, it’s not a massive cost but it’s still a cost. If only 50,000 people buy the game then it’s not worth it.”

For those that are excited about the free-to-play Ghost Recon, it is currently in a closed beta but it is now available for those in France and Germany. The UK should be expecting it to be released in the next few months; no news on a US release.

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SOE Makes Everyquest II Free-To-Play

It seems like developers are switching to free-to-play lately these days when it comes to their MMORPG games, even Sony Online Entertainment is allowing players to play Everquest II for free.

Next month Everquest II and Everquest II: Extended will be available for players to download and play the game for free. Along with the game being free, some changes to the game will take place, such as:

• Gold membership in Everquest II will provide access to all races and classes.
• The free membership level will be called "Free" instead of "Bronze".
• Silver membership now costs 500 Station Cash instead of 1,000 Station Cash. (If you purchased a Silver membership in Everquest II: Extended within the 60 days before the launch of this chance, 500 Station Cash will be refunded to your Station Wallet).
• Players can no longer purchase a Platinum membership. Existing Platinum memberships will continue until they expire.

That is not all the changes that the world of Everquest will be experiencing, Sony Online Entertainment has also announced the a new expansion pack - Everquest II: Age of Discovery - is on it's way and will be released this winter.

To find out more that's going on, head over to Everquest II's website.

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LEGO Universe Servers Shutting

LEGO Universe will soon be closing down their servers early next year, meaning that the LEGO MMO will fade away.

“Right now, we have almost 2 million players in LEGO Universe, and we get extremely positive feedback from players," says Jesper Vilstrup, Vice President of LEGO Group. "Unfortunately, we have not been able to build a satisfactory revenue model in our target group, and therefore, have decided to close the game.”

LEGO Group is closing down the servers to LEGO Universe due to the fact that they can't get their free-to-play players to become premium members, and you become a premium member by spending money.

The game will go all the way to Junary 31, 2012 until it will meet its end.

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DC Universe Online Is Now Free-To-Play

For those that wanted to play DC Universe Online for free, the day has finally come. Yesterday, DC Universe Online officially became free-to-play.

There will be three tiers for players - Free, Premium and Legendary.

• Free: New players will now have access to the current gameplay in DC Universe Online (including Gotham City, Metropolis, and all current raids and alerts), with the ability to create two characters, join a league, and many other benefits. Free level players will be able to purchase downloadable game packs/updates, additional character slots, powers, and more through microtransactions.

•  Premium: Any player who has spent at least $5 USD (including former paid subscribers and new players who have purchased $5 of in-game items) will qualify for the Premium access level. Premium level players will have more benefits available to them than the Free level player, including additional character slots, additional inventory slots, and higher cash limits. Downloadable adventure packs, additional character slots, and more can be purchased in-game.

•  Legendary: Maximum features and benefits are included at this level. Loaded with enhanced additional features, Legendary access will be available for a $14.99 USD monthly fee and includes all DLC packs at no cost, more than 15 character slots, more than 80 inventory slots, the ability to form unrestricted-sized leagues, and many other benefits. 

I'll have to download and play DC Universe Online within the next few days.

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DC Universe Online Will Be Free-To-Play November 1st

Back in September, it was announced that DC Universe Online would be free-to-play in late October. The date for it's release has been pushed back, but don't worry, it won't be that far since everyone will be able to play it November 1st.

There will be no charge to download it and play it, it's all completely free starting in late October. There will also be three different types of players - Free, Premium, and Legendary. The descriptions for each are as follow:

• Free: New players will now have access to the current gameplay in DC Universe Online (including Gotham City, Metropolis, and all current raids and alerts), with the ability to create two characters, join a league, and many other benefits. Free level players will be able to purchase downloadable game packs/updates, additional character slots, powers, and more through microtransactions.

•  Premium: Any player who has spent at least $5 USD (including former paid subscribers and new players who have purchased $5 of in-game items) will qualify for the Premium access level. Premium level players will have more benefits available to them than the Free level player, including additional character slots, additional inventory slots, and higher cash limits. Downloadable adventure packs, additional character slots, and more can be purchased in-game.

•  Legendary: Maximum features and benefits are included at this level. Loaded with enhanced additional features, Legendary access will be available for a $14.99 USD monthly fee and includes all DLC packs at no cost, more than 15 character slots, more than 80 inventory slots, the ability to form unrestricted-sized leagues, and many other benefits. 

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Digimon Goes MMO

Digimon has gone even more digital with the release of Digimon Masters, a free-to-play MMO game. Made by Joymax, Digimon Masters is in full English and completely free. You get to pick from four different characters from the fifth season of Digimon and you then get to go into the Digital World and make Digital Friends.

Digimon Masters was originally a Korean game but is now in complete English for us all to enjoy. I'm currently downloading the game now and will give it a try.

Click here to go and download the game as well.

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Team Fortress Arcade now available

TF2 fans rejoice as the unofficial "demake" of Team Fortress Arcade is now available for download for absolutely free!


The game is made by independent 8-bit game developer Eric Ruth who is famous for his 8-bit versions of DJ Hero and Halo. The game will feature all nine TF2 classes and play like a 90's arcade side scroller.

The game can be downloaded at Piki Geek.

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City Of Heroes Goes Free-To-Play

City of Heroes officially goes free-to-play today, the hero and villain based MMO finally allows everyone to get a taste of what they have to offer; it's free-to-play and free to download.

Just like other free-to-play games, players will be split into three groups - New Free Players, Premium Players and VIP Players. VIP players gets full access to the games while New and Premium players get a limited restriction to the game.

Check out the website for more information and the chance to sign up and play the game, I know I will be downloading it tonight.

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DC Universe To Be Free-To-Play In Late October

DC Universe Online has been on my list of video games for awhile, but I have been forced to remove it due to lack of money to pay for the subscription fee. If it was free-to-play, I would be taking on enemies from all sizes, joining the Justice League or trying to kill Batman...oh wait, I can next month.

Sony Online Entertainment will be making DC Universe Online a free-to-play game on the PlayStation 3 and PC; there will be no charge to download it and play it, it's all completely free starting in late October. There will also be three different types of players - Free, Premium, and Legendary. The descriptions for each are as follow:

• Free: New players will now have access to the current gameplay in DC Universe Online (including Gotham City, Metropolis, and all current raids and alerts), with the ability to create two characters, join a league, and many other benefits. Free level players will be able to purchase downloadable game packs/updates, additional character slots, powers, and more through microtransactions.

•  Premium: Any player who has spent at least $5 USD (including former paid subscribers and new players who have purchased $5 of in-game items) will qualify for the Premium access level. Premium level players will have more benefits available to them than the Free level player, including additional character slots, additional inventory slots, and higher cash limits. Downloadable adventure packs, additional character slots, and more can be purchased in-game.

•  Legendary: Maximum features and benefits are included at this level. Loaded with enhanced additional features, Legendary access will be available for a $14.99 USD monthly fee and includes all DLC packs at no cost, more than 15 character slots, more than 80 inventory slots, the ability to form unrestricted-sized leagues, and many other benefits.  

If you have already bought the game discs, then you're automatically a Premium member, and if you want to go Legendary, you would need to continue to spend the extra $14.99 a month.

I'm sure this will get a big flock of users to come and try out the game, I know I will be in October. But what's neat is that there aren't many big limitations. Free players can do what the Legendary or Premium players can, except they don't get bigger sized slots or more money. And I don't mind spending $5 just to become a Premium member at all.

I'm not too sure if rage will spread throughout the community just like Team Fortress 2's community got mad when Valve decided to make TF2 free-to-play.

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TF2 Complaints

I've been reading a lot of complaints about Valve deciding to have Team Fortress 2 a free-to-play game; their concerns go from them feeling scammed, a worry about an increase in hackers and annoying people.

I understand why people feel scammed, especially if you just bought the game recently, but there's also a consideration that needs to be brought up. Team Fortress 2 is worth more than a $20 dollar value, we get free updates and free packs, buying items in game is optional; most of the time we can craft or find drops of the in store items. I bought the game a few years ago and I love it, and I have no problem with Valve's decision since they've taken care of us with all the nice updates (yeah some updates caused many glitches but what game doesn't?) Considering all the stuff they have added to the whole game play experience, the value of Team Fortress 2 should have shot up in price.

I don't understand why people are concerned about hackers, it's not like Valve is getting rid of VAC and I personally do not see a lot of hackers on Team Fortress 2, of my many hours of playing, I don't believe I've seen any hackers at all. And for annoying people, there's something called "Mute Player" than can easily be done with a couple of clicks with your mouse.

These are silly little concerns, and I don't believe that this will be the end of TF2, plus, Valve is giving Premium Users (people who bought the retail version) more benefits than the Free-to-Play players.

Along with that he get a simple little hat.

For some of you, that might not be enough, but for me it is; at least Valve is showing support for the Premium Users and are acknowledging us.

Valve has stated that they'll even keep an eye on any exploiters:

"Q. Won’t going Free to Play mean more griefers and cheaters?

We’re increasing our focus on making sure that hostile players can’t ruin your fun. Specifically, we’ll be keeping a close eye on players exploiting the ability to make infinite free accounts to bypass bans. We’ve built systems that’ll allow us to measure and track what these players are doing, and respond quickly."

In the end, I don't think the F2P update will cripple TF2 at all, I think it will either stay the same or make the community vast. I would love to hear what others have to say though, but I welcome this new update.

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Uber Update - Day Four - Meet the Medic

The video I posted in my last post was indeed the Meet the Medic video, and I'm sorry I'm a bit late on this, trying to get access to the Team Fortress 2 site was hell. But anyways, the star of the update got his chance to shine today with a new video and new weapons that are:

• The Quick Fix - Medigun Prototype
• The Solemn Vow - Bust of Hippocrates
• The Overdose - Syringe Gun Prototype

The new weapons are pretty impressive, it would have been nice if they offered some Battle Medic helping items; the Solemn Vow will surely come in handy at times though.

Along with the Medic's new arsenal, Valve has also announce that Team Fortress 2 is now free to play.

This will certainly cause a lot of uproar and people saying things like "I want my 20 bucks back." But hey, it is what it is now, and there's no way we'll be getting our money back. What would be neat though is if Valve gave players a neat item for having the game before today. At least everyone can enjoy Team Fortress 2 now.

I just also realized that the Engineer still needs his update, I'll be looking around the TF2 blog to see anything Engineer realted.

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Marvel Goes MMO

 
Marvel has announced their next biggest video game plan: A free to play MMO. It's all free that lets you play as any character in any Marvel event that's taken place from the 60's to now from the 616 universe. But that won't be the only universe you can explore, the Ultimate Universe will be included along with the Marvel Studio films.

You do not get to make your own character, instead you choose any character from a supposedly extreme list that tops any Marvel game. So far they have revealed Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Nova and Squirrel Girl.

The first platform to be getting this new Marvel game will be PC first with a TBA release date, then the consoles will get their releases.

People are wondering if it will be Disney like, and luckily Bendis has said that it won't be Disney like at all. The target audience are the adults.

So far, this sounds like it will be a big project, there seems to be a lot going on with the game. I'm extremely excited for this and will try to keep an eye on the progress. I might play as Squirrel Girl and unleash an army of Squirrels on Doctor Doom, I hope they'll let us do that. But for more information, take a gander here.

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