DCUO Latest Game Going Free to Play

Enjoy the notion of being a billionaire masked vigilante or an alien from another planet that can only be harmed by green space rocks? Then you probably have already checked out Sony Online Entertainments title DC Universe Online, the MMORPG that allows you to create your own superhero or villain and explore the fictional locations from DC's popular comic books. If you haven't, now is the time as the game will soon be free. Mike Fahey at Kotaku reports that the game is ditching it's monthly subscription fee's and making the game free to play starting this October. The new system will include a 3 tier system: the base game being free with limitations to 2 character slots, premium membership for anyone that spends more than $5 on content will  be allowed more character slots available to them, and legendary for those who want to continue paying the monthly $15 fee to get 15 character slots and all future expansions and content free.

The question is why is SOE changing from a straight monthly fee service to a F2P system only 9 months after it's initial release? The answer may be more complex than why is DCUO going free, but rather why are many games going free? Age of Conan, Champions Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, and later this year City of Heroes will all have adapted free to play systems to their games. What is changing all of their minds to embrace this system? It's simple and can be summed up in one word:

Microtransactions.

The microtransaction model in videogames is a truly extraordinary concept involving having the basic bones of the game free to download and play, but in order to experience the game fully you must make small monetary transactions for premium content. The system effectively takes out the risk of buying a $50-$60 dollar game with the chance of not liking it and instead makes an extremely low barrier for entry so that more people will try the game. More people trying the game gives it a higher chance of finding its niche audience that's willingly to pay for additional content. It's popularity in MMO's has been the highest so far, helping keep Age of Conan and Lord of the Rings Online afloat, even profitable, after struggling to maintain a steady flow of money from the monthly subscription method.

DCUO's change to F2P may upset some that paid for the title, but I think it's the right move for the company. If you can double your communities size by making the game free instead of charging the $15 a month, the new larger community spending (lets say) an average of $10 a month on microtransactions will see better profits at the end of the day. I think its an ingenious system that ultimately allows more people to experience great games at no cost and allows the passionate fans like myself the chance to enhance their experience for small sums of money. I can skip out on the games I see as busts and put my precious free time and money where I want it to be. What do you think? Do you want to see more free games with their income coming from content transactions? Do you think it could work for blockbuster titles like Battlefield of Call of Duty? Do you think that we should instead be entitled to all content from the publishers at one simple price point? Sound off below!

Step 1: Diablo 3 Skill Calculator Step 2: ??? Step 3: Profit

Kotaku writer Mike Fahey had the scoop Wednesday that Blizzard has released a Skill Calculator on their website for Diablo 3. The die-hard fans rejoice as they can plan out their class of choice over and over again with endless speculation in wait of its rumored release this holiday. You can deck out the barbarian, witch doctor, demon hunter, sorcerer, or monk (my personal favorite, depicted in the picture above) any which way you want from level 1 to level 30 without having to plug a single hour of gameplay in to realize how badly you messed up your build.

To the average gamer this isn't much news at all, but for me and other Diablo fans this news should be huge for one reason: the auction house. Blizzard had announced earlier in August that Diablo 3 will feature a new auction house that will allow players to trade in game items for real currency. That's right, you can now make a profit from all the tireless hours you spend playing the game. Like that enchanted battle ax? $10. Need new gems? $5. The possibilities are endless as it is presently laid out.

Now consider the news of the Skill Calculator. You can pre-layout your entire character before the game launches. Half the battle with new rpg's are figuring out what skills best coincide with one another and how to become a well rounded team with the varying talents available. With the skill calculator, you can figure that out before the game launches and be entirely set to tackle the game at full speed. As we speak, one of my roommates and I are using this tool to plan out our characters and how best to complement each other so we can focus on getting good loot and exploiting the auction house as early as possible in an attempt to find a fun way to pay our rent. All jokes aside; if the Skill Calculator shaves off 20 hours of learning my monk through trial and error, I gain 20 hours I can use to make money playing the game, it's a huge payoff for me in the long term.

What do you think? Is the auction house for real money a good idea? Is the calculator really going to help people looking to make money on the auction house get an early edge? Sound off below!

Origin And Digital Distribution

Over at Kotaku this week, Mike Fahey posted an interesting article about Electronic Arts plans to expand their digital distribution service, Origin. Origin is EA's re-branding of their online store and the beginning of a new service that can be installed on computers for PC gamers to digitally download their games. The article cited EA chief financial officer Eric Brown saying that install numbers of Origin has reached "about 4 million" and that 3rd party game support is coming "very soon" to the platform to make it a more complete service.


As a PC gamer, I am having a mixed bag reaction with this news on Origin. Digital distribution is in the midst of revolutionizing the way games are distributed and played on PC, completely cutting out the need for brick and mortar shop with a packaged product by delivering your gaming content directly to your household over the Internet. You don't have to browse through stores for the last copy of a popular title, the game is conveniently located in a browser that you can buy and download in a few mouse clicks. It is making PC gaming much more accessible than in the past. Origin adding extra games to their library adds competition to the scene, it forces prime digital retailers like Direct2Drive or Steam to give out better deals and improve their service. It can only help me as a consumer trying to get the best bang for my buck. 


On the other hand though, there is some potential downside. EA's Origin has caused some conflict with Valve and it's Steam service. Steam's estimated 40 million users have seen Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2 disappear from the store over night, while Battlefield 3 and Star Wars The Old Republic have already been confirmed to not be receiving a release on the platform from EA. The "4 million" installs that Eric Brown claims seems less to do with the service flourishing and rather because EA is essentially trying to power play you into using it's client now with the promise of content later. Ironically, I see this as discouraging to the whole digital distribution market. If EA can get 4 million people to download it's Origin because its the only way to get their games, why wouldn't other companies do the same? I could easily see Activision make it's own service to distribute Call of Duty or Ubisoft for Assassin's Creed if they get to control their product more and receive a larger chunk of the sales. It's a worst case scenario that could prevent me from getting good deals, as a gamer it would splinter up the large communities that surround streamlined programs like Steam, and it would make digital downloads more of a hassle managing multiple accounts and programs to get the games I want.


Maybe everything works out and Origin seamlessly co-exists with other services that are out there. Maybe it burns and crashes when it can't sell more than the exclusive games it offers. Maybe it is a sign of things to come and the end of the market as we know it. I am content with my gaming cloud on Steam, but I'm willing to see what Origin has to offer and any other distribution services that may be in the works if it enhances my gaming experience. It's something I'll be keeping a close eye on as we get closer to the launch of the holiday season. What do you think of EA's move into the digital market? Sound off below!