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Star Trek Online: F2P Model Coming in 2011
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
During a question and answer session between investors and Perfect World Entertainment's CEO Michael Chi and CFO Kelvin Lau it was revealed that a free to play version of Star Trek Online will be launched before the end of 2011.
And also Star Trek Online, after the acquisition, in fact Cryptic is working on the free-to-play model for Star Trek Online. This is going to be launched by the end of this year as well. So I think free-to-play model we have a bigger potential in US market and also in China market. Thank you.
In addition to this news, PWE indicated that the Runic's Torchlight MMO is projected to be released in late 2012 or early 2013 and Neverwinter will come along during the same time period.
Torchlight from Runic, as mentioned, I think the MMORPG version is going to be – is scheduled to be launched in late 2012 or early 2013, okay? For Cryptic games, Neverwinter, I think our schedule is going to – trying to launch the game in late 2012 or early 2013. So we are going to launch the game in US first and then followed by Asian countries.
Read more of the PWE Q&A at Seeking Alpha.
Thanks to Rohn for the tip!
Comments
wow this was quick. Good job on getting it up there as 31 AUG.
Well roll on F2P - exactly what this game needs. Subscribers have been paying for costumes and ships all year + a subscription, and with Pwerfect World Money behind creating new content and hiring more staff to get the job done things look on the up.
One can only hope that Cryptic/PW offer at LEAST the same model as Champions online so that current subscribers and lifetimers get significant benefits over free players.
See you out there in the free to play universe of Star Trek Online! Heck yeah!
I used to think I wouldn't mind playing this game if it went f2p but somehow this doesn't excite me at all.
I think it just stems from the feelings often associated with seeing everything developed for the game put in the c store while paying a sub anyway maybe the feeling will be different without the sub.
Hope it goes FTP...i played the game for a time but din´t grow on me....
If it goes FTP i will surely do it another chance & play some more!
All I can say is its about time. Looking forward to that switch. I really dont think STO is good for much more than a months worth of play at a time, but it will be nice to finally be able to go back and play it when ever I want.
Not that excited at all about this. While there was a store, it had nothing but fluff items, and some of the stuff in the store you could get through playing the game still.
Now all i see if the store selling not only ship and player costumes, but all the best weapons in the game and all that crap that pay to win is all about. I can also see the prices skyrocketing as well. Where as a ship costume woudl only cost 160 points, (less then 2 bucks if you really wanted it) now that the c-store will be the only means of profit for the game, everythign will get jacked up in prices.
we will see. I just hope they continue polishing the Foundry...but they will probably add some micropayement crap to that as well.
I said it in a previous thread, and I'll say it again. This game should have been free-to-play since its' launch. It wasn't worth $15/month then and has suffered the same fate of every other generic half-baked mmorpg.
As far as I'm concerned, Cryptic ruined this IP's potential, let alone this games' potential for anything resembling a noteworthy mmorpg.
This is what I was getting at in my reply earlier,I wish Cryptic had the guts shown by SE when they released FFXIV to less than stellar results. Just make the game free to play until they fixed some things now in many ways I just feel as though I would be helping Cryptic hide the fact that mmo's shouldn't be made this way.
Either way I still expect that if you wanted anything that would make this game worth playing you would have to pay for it much like they already do so my expectations aren't too high even though I suspect this will keep the game going quite a bit longer than it would have if PW hadn't aqcuired them.
if you look at champions online f2p model you will see that cryptic does not have a pay to win store selling uber items and whatnot. while the temp buffs and such might give you an edge there not gonna make you "win".
F2P-model is fine as long as they don't do it the Age of Conan-way which is so restriced to players it's actually nothing less than a trial.
Am i a hero? Well, i don't think Churchill, Perseus or Batman thought of themselves as heroes.. But yes.
I would say I was shocked but I would be lying...
Good for STO.
Its the first Star Trek video game I ever touched, and I liked it. Its a pretty fun game. Don't care what the hardcores say around here.
Looking forward to no subscription fee so I can buy things from the c-store without as much sorrow for my wallet.
Yes, Yes, wonderful news for poor people like me who can't afford the sub + the c store lol
There is something seriously wrong with the MMO industry that couldn't produce a blockbuster thriving dynamic deep immersive MMO out of the Star Trek IP.
But.....it was Cryptic + Atari. I'll say that again. Cryptic + Atari.
There's your "seriously wrong" right there. Im surprised it was actually as good as it was. I mean, it was like a blind man trying to paint the Mona Lisa. Or a fisherman trying to catch a salmon with a potatoe.
I know the industry as a whole has its problems but lets not go that far.
Besides there's some good things to be had with this game. I still think its probably the best Star Trek game ever made. Its just not much of an mmorpg.
Even so, that an IP with as much promise as Star Trek was given to a team that cared to do so little with it says something about the industry.
yay for F2P but this game isnt anythign i would ever consider playing...
Are the doors and interiors still 10x too large? Are the teleporter pads big enough for a car? Cryptic failed at the most basic things... this game isn't worth your time even if it is F2P.
Yes and yes. The interiors are gigantic. Hallways are large enough to hold a Nascar race down them. Transporter pads could double as a boxing ring.
They did this due to camera issues or something.
Space combat is really fun although repetitive. Ground combat has been improved or....supposedly it has been. There's a first person shooting mechanic thats optional but I never used it. For the most part, its the same old game as far as I could tell. I played it about a month ago for a few weeks.
It goes F2P and i'll happily play. I enjoyed the game a bit. Not enough to pay for it but for free I could kill some time in it.
Tribes 2 is back!!!! http://www.tribesnext.com/
And from the makers of tribes: Fallen Empire: Legions http://www.instantaction.com/
The WoW version as an another example is something else... Dont like that at all, its more like an extended trail trail and even for that it has way too many restrictions...
For other games I dont know besides from what I read about it and I can feel the fragile balance between making alot of money and not making the mistake of ''Pay 2 Win''...
Whats sad.....is STO has sort of had a free to play model since the beginning. But for some reason they got a little confused and thought F2P meant charging for subscriptions while having an absolutely massive item shop.
Its okay. Im just glad they figured it out.
It will be interesting to see the difference between Runic Games and Cryptic come next year.
Well this game was P2P+p2w item store for a long time. I was amazed that someone was playing it actually , well not much people since this game population is preety low.
F2P will help this game a bit at the beggining after transformation as it always is for first few months after p2p->f2p transform, but later on? Doubt it.
It will struggle as it is struggling now. Will have bigger population but less $ per one consumer so imho will be more or less same as now.
STO is just bad quality , badly designed game and there is no saving for this game in longer perspective imho.
F2P will at best extend this game's life thus gives bit of profit to company for a bit longer time.
Cryptics main source of income has been releasing ridiculously OP ship on cash shop, wait till every cookiecutterboi had bought it, then reply on forums to people whining about the ship "WE LISTEN!!" and then nerf the ship to oblivion only to restart the cycle few months later with yet another OP ship...it works because basic MMO player has memory and attention span of an goldfish.
If you have played the game you sure as heck wont want to pay for it. Good job on making it free!!