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Would you come back if Freeform characters were open for all?
GrayGhost79
Member UncommonPosts: 4,775
Simple question, would you play Champions Online again if freeform characters were open for free to play players as well?
Comments
i voted yes, but actually thinking about it I'd probably say maybe. having the freeform available from the start, being the main draw of this game, would draw a lot of people back to play this game casually. and i say casual because there isnt enough content in the game to make it a long term play, or a main game to play.
instead of making all these side games (alerts, vehicles, adventure packs, ect), which arent meaningful content, because they dont actaully make your character stronger or better. They should be focusing on making this game have some lasting power, which means making your character play thru actaul dungeons or raids that give players actual loot and stuff to make their character more meaningful. theyve monetized this game too much to keep the average player going, turning a lot of people away from the game.
alerts are just a massive grind at max level to get ore to get gear
vehicles are more of the same
adventure packs have loot, but are just glorified quest lines that add little to the game
making free form accessible is only the start, they also need to open up the newer power sets up aswell. limiting any class structure is the biggest turn off of any f2p game. the only reason dcuo gets away with it is value. meaning they toss a new powerset in aswell as giving you new raids and content to go along with it. this gives the player something to look at in terms of value. wanting to progress in the game with getting a new shiney powerset only adds to it. just monetizing a powerset gives no value aside from the person behind the computer always wanting to have a wind superhero. attaching other content to a powerset makes that 1-10 people that purchase it into a 5-10 purchase.
this is also my number one fear in neverwinter, since the recent info about adding classes into the game after launch. its going to turn into champions all over again.
In CO(STO and probably STO) there is a way to get zen(pwe cash shop currency) in game. Questionite can be obtain from certain missions involving alerts, adventure packs, comic series, etc. Questionite can be exchange for Zen through a exchange market. At max price freeform slot costs 5000 Zen which translate moreless into 1M Questionite @ exchange rate of 200Q/Z .
One of my silver friends already has 3 freeforms. The only limitation that silver players have are:
1) Max currency. It is low IMHO(people silvers and golds are asking Cryptic to up this limit) but definitely not as bad as in DCUO since players don't need to repair, and if the player buys a hideout they can store them as much money as they want.
2) Power tinting.
3) Vets rewards. This is for pure silver players, if the person got those rewards by subscribing that player keep those rewards even if that player goes silver.
I played Champions Online for about three to four months as a free player and seriously considered buying a LTS.
I traded Questionite for Zen and bought a Hideout. I worked on the crafting system to assemble a set of level 7 devices. I enjoyed the wide and varied range of content, which was quite apt to the genre.
However the events actually put me off. They simply were not heroic and I was telling the story of superhero.
They broke the in-character feel of the game for me.
Playing a free-form? It might have helped me get through a few bottlenecks here but free-to-play is pretty good.
What would tempt me back? Better campaign direction.
I have a lifetime sub so I get freeform characters anyway. Even so, I endorse this idea. I think this is the single biggest flaw with the monitization scheme for the game. Everyone should have reasonable access to free form characters.
One alternative would be to allow the free forms to be earned easier or have the powersets be unlockable. I would actually like to see it where you had to level up a character based on a powerset to unlock that powerset for freeform use. It doesn't take long to level up a character so this wouldn't be a great burden and yet it would give people a sense of earning greater and greater use of free forms over time.
I would also rebuild the archtypes so that they have the same number of powers as the freeforms. Freeforms shouldn't be more powerful, just more flexible.
I should also say that I like they way Marvel Heroes has structured itself now. Even though it is a very different game and in almost no way comparable, I do like how you can now slowly gain splinters that can then be used to unlock more heroes. This makes it so you can unlock what ever you like in the order you want them but it does take you time playing the game. A system like this to unlock new archtypes would work very well. They could sell new archtypes for a reasonable amount of questionite. Not the current cost of a freeform slot. but something more along the lines of 50 -100 hours of game play to unlock a new type. Alternatively, have people complete the storyline on a character to unlock the next.
All die, so die well.
CoH Supergroup: The Millennium Paladins
I started playing during the beta, played for quite some time as a subscriber when the game first came out and had characters just as I wanted them. As 'Freeform' toons, they were perfect. My insect winged super strong brawler could do kinectics. I lost my job and had to stop playing all my subscription games. When I was able to play again (F2P), all of the 'archetype' system pretty much crippled every toon I made. If I could consistently keep up a subscription I would. But I don't think the basis of creating a hero and the travel powers should be shop items. If you want uber -customization of power colors, aura effects, make your own insignias, yeah, pay for that. But Not being able to make a 'swinging' superhero in a game about making heros because you have to pay for the swinging? No Sir! I don't like it! (Said in my Mr. Horse voice.)
I voted "No" because I ponied up and paid for the FF slot. I mean, if the games gonna survive, it needs to have people buying something- and that FF slot really makes a difference.
I agree with the alerts content- I love CO, but am peeved I made a nemesis and only get a few dumb missions involving her and an Alert every now and again. They should have focused on deeper storylines instead of instanced level-fests.
Great concept that just can't hold itself... nothing new is ever offered. I mean vehicles- really? In a super hero game, we get vehicles and vehicular combat? Some heroes fly and shoot frickin' lazerbeams out of their frickin' eyes- they don't need vehicle combat! It wouldn't be so bad if it hasn't been the only thing in CO they've been focusing on.
Loves: SMITE, WildStar, Project Zomboid, PSO2, DCUO,
Worst Online Communities: WoW/WoD(the OG MMO Trolls), DayZ/WarZ, SMITE/LoL/DOTA, EVE Online, APB
"Im ready for
All the comparisons
I think its dumb and its embarrassing
Im switching off
No longer listening
Ive had enough of persecution and conditioning
Maybe its instinct- Were only animal" - Lily Allen, Sheezus
I have a lifetime and I don't even use it. while its fun at first, it gets repetitious quickly. The developers didn't really address that before it lost its customers and they have abandoned it since.
There is nothing so wrong about the game that it can't be fixed, but if they don't care then there is no fixing it.
'Sandbox MMO' is a PTSD trigger word for anyone who has the experience to know that anonymous players invariably use a 'sandbox' in the same manner a housecat does.
When your head is stuck in the sand, your ass becomes the only recognizable part of you.
No game is more fun than the one you can't play, and no game is more boring than one which you've become familiar.
How to become a millionaire:
Start with a billion dollars and make an MMO.
Lolipops !
Nice 1 year necro
since then the question became n/a, as FoxBoogs mentioned above as well, presently Silvers can have Freeform slots.
I too disagreed with CO's model quite often, its maybe the only model on the market where the free < - > sub conversion is practically hindered on both directions (gold -> silver you either lose your characters or with the transform you loose their Freeform boons, while on subscribing, silver -> gold you also loose your silver characters unless you turn them into gold, but then you loose them later when you decide to cancel the sub).
On the other hand, looking it from Cryptic's point of view, there weren't really other options for them. CO's main strength (beside the cel-shaded gfx, it's like playing a comic book
) is Freeform, it was obvious that they should keep that somehow restricted for the free folks - but here's the problem, Freeform is rooted in the deep core of the characters, they can't simply took it away when the subscription is cancelled... So they choose to lock the characters.
The funny thing is, with allowing the Freeform purchase they went into b2p in a sense... if you buy a Freeform slot then you've bought the "game" - true, with some less inventory and stuff, but you won't need to pay the sub ever. For that character, I mean.
Play for fun. Play to win. Play for perfection. Play with friends. Play in another world. Why do you play?
With well-timed purchases on sale you can lower that price to the 40ish range, maybe even a bit below $40, which is less than a 3 months subscription... that's why I wrote it's b2p in a sense, if you plan to play that particular character for more than 3 months (and not an altoholic like myself
) it's better to buy a Freeform than subbing.
Even more since the content is not locked, and you keep that slot unlocked forever so you can leave for a few months, than go back and play some more as a Freeformed one, without any sub fee.
(and -just in brackets 'cos I don't like the grind- also you can gather Zen in game through Questionite, so you can buy the slot for free if you have enough time to spare
)
Champions has good character creation, options and travel powers vehicles etc. , bad mechanics. DC universe is the opposite, great mechanics almost no options 3 travel powers so half the players are Flash, the perfect superhero mmo is somewhere between these two.