Tag: Free to Play

DUST 514 Not Impeded By Sony Certification, Says CCP


Being an MMOFPS, the idea that CCP is releasing DUST 514 on the Playstation 3 understandably has some users worried. How would an ever-expanding and changing world react on a console where updates are notoriously held up in Sony’s certification system? CCP Senior Producer Jon Lander wants you to know that Sony’s certification will not be a problem. In fact, the developer plans on bypassing it entirely.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Jon Lander points out that the game is built with multiple systems in place to allow the addition of new items, or swapping servers around without requiring a client update.

“But if we want to do major client updates to the PS3, then we go through Sony’s usual submission process. But we do have ways of just being able to change other parts of the infrastructure as we need to.”

Additionally, this means that while DUST 514 and Eve Online may exist in the same universe (and servers), Eve Online’s updates also will not affect DUST 514 users.

DUST 514 launches (hopefully) sometime in 2012, although CCP has noted that the game will not launch until the team is satisfied.

(Source: Eurogamer)

Age of Empires Online Will Be Free To Play, Not Free To Try


Age of Empires Online has had something of an identity crisis. Although enjoyed by plenty of players, the team at Gas Powered Games has been on the receiving end of some harsh criticism that the game isn’t so much “free to play” as it is “free to try.” Premium civilizations aren’t so much an optional add-on as they are a necessity to compete, adding a considerable road block at $10 a piece (they used to be $20).

Starting this summer, players will be able to obtain Empire Points either through buying them or by playing the game. Premium civilizations aren’t going anywhere, but by playing Age of Empires Online a player could accrue sufficient Empire Points to purchase the premium packs without paying a dime. According to GPG developers, a regular player might take two to three weeks of playing daily to obtain a premium civilization.

Age of Empires Online becomes more free to play this summer.

(Source: PC Gamer)

NCSoft Reactivating Aion Accounts


Aion free to play technically doesn’t launch until next week, but NCSoft has something all players can get into, past, present, and prospective. Starting today, inactive accounts that are in good standing will be reactivated and able to log on. When Aion Truly Free goes live, a new server Kahrun will be launched. While you cannot play on the server until it goes live, starting today players will be able to create characters and reserve names on the server.

To compensate current players with additional time on their accounts, NCSoft is crediting 40 NCcoins per day remaining on the account (or around 1200 coins for each month you had remaining). The credit may take several days to process, however.

(Source: Aion news)

Vanguard Will Go Free To Play


The moment you have all been waiting for and already knew was coming, has come. Sony Online Entertainment has announced the upcoming free to play transition of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes.

Therefore, I’m happy to announce Vanguard will be the next in line of our AAA games to make this transition.  Since we’ve literally just begun on the work, I’m not ready to go into much detail.  However, I will say that you can expect something similar to EverQuest®, EverQuest® II and DC Universe™ Online when we roll-out our free-to-play offering this summer.  Once we have more information to share, you’ll be the first to know.

In addition, the announcement goes on to reveal that Vanguard will also be receiving regular content updates, and that there are some new and old faces returning to the development team.

(Source: Vanguard)

Everquest's Massive FAQ: Making Sense of It


Everquest goes free to play this Friday and in preparation Sony has released a Frequently Asked Question list that covers everything, and I do mean everything. The list is enormous, and many questions overlap one another, so I’ve decided to create a list to consolidate most of the important points.

See the entire FAQ here.

  • A welcome pack will be given to all players.
  • Veteran rewards will accumulate on all accounts.
  • There will be multi-month subscriptions at a reduced rate. Existing subscriptions will become gold.
  • You need a reoccurring subscription for the monthly 500 station cash. If you have station pass, the EQ and EQ2 monthly cash does not stack. Yearly subscribers will receive 500 station cash monthly.
  • You will receive 500 station cash from each game if you subscribe separately (no station pass), but this is not advisable.
  • Silver membership is an upgrade in the store for 500 station cash, it is a separate purchase and should not be confused with “spend 500 station cash.”
  • All accounts will be upgraded to House of Thule, gold members will still have to buy Veil of Alaris if they haven’t already.
  • Alternate advancement point cap can be raised.
  • Legends of Norrath cards will still be handed out each month.

Free Limitations:

  • If you allow your subscription to expire, your gold races/classes will be locked. You will have to resubscribe or purchase to unlock those characters.
  • If you purchase Veil of Alaris, you still have access to it if your subscription lapses.
  • Free/Silver can buy from the bazaar but cannot use “trade mode.”
  • If you drop back to free with gold rank spells, you will keep the spells but they will only have rank 1 effectiveness.
  • You will not lose any platinum if you are over the limit and lapse, you will simply not be able to gain more currency.
  • Prestige gear (gold only) will not be lost on lapse of subscription, it cannot be used.
  • House of Thule augments are prestige, this will change when free to play comes.

Everquest’s Massive FAQ: Making Sense of It


Everquest goes free to play this Friday and in preparation Sony has released a Frequently Asked Question list that covers everything, and I do mean everything. The list is enormous, and many questions overlap one another, so I’ve decided to create a list to consolidate most of the important points.

See the entire FAQ here.

  • A welcome pack will be given to all players.
  • Veteran rewards will accumulate on all accounts.
  • There will be multi-month subscriptions at a reduced rate. Existing subscriptions will become gold.
  • You need a reoccurring subscription for the monthly 500 station cash. If you have station pass, the EQ and EQ2 monthly cash does not stack. Yearly subscribers will receive 500 station cash monthly.
  • You will receive 500 station cash from each game if you subscribe separately (no station pass), but this is not advisable.
  • Silver membership is an upgrade in the store for 500 station cash, it is a separate purchase and should not be confused with “spend 500 station cash.”
  • All accounts will be upgraded to House of Thule, gold members will still have to buy Veil of Alaris if they haven’t already.
  • Alternate advancement point cap can be raised.
  • Legends of Norrath cards will still be handed out each month.

Free Limitations:

  • If you allow your subscription to expire, your gold races/classes will be locked. You will have to resubscribe or purchase to unlock those characters.
  • If you purchase Veil of Alaris, you still have access to it if your subscription lapses.
  • Free/Silver can buy from the bazaar but cannot use “trade mode.”
  • If you drop back to free with gold rank spells, you will keep the spells but they will only have rank 1 effectiveness.
  • You will not lose any platinum if you are over the limit and lapse, you will simply not be able to gain more currency.
  • Prestige gear (gold only) will not be lost on lapse of subscription, it cannot be used.
  • House of Thule augments are prestige, this will change when free to play comes.

RuneScape Free Trial Returns?


Last month I posted an article about a 14-day membership for new accounts. The trial was unannounced and held rather ambiguous requirements as to who could participate (at the time it appeared to be UK-only), and remained unmentioned by Jagex until later in the month when Mod Hippo posted to announce that the trial had ended.

With today’s update to RuneScape, it appears that the trial is back. Upon character creation, users are reporting seeing this:

I am checking up on the RuneScape forums to see if I can find any comment by Jagex staff and will update with any more information.

Did ProSiebenSat.1 Accidentally Leak Vanguard Free To Play?


Color me interested. For at least a year now, Sony has slowly escalated the slow moving striptease that is the prospect of a free to play Vanguard. John Smedley has made comments of the Vanguard team hiring new staff, who have begun patching the game and even adding in an updated new player experience, and back in November a user tweeted to John Smedley: “how about making vanguard saga of Heroes ftp… If not just kill the game already,” to which Mr. Smedley responded “stay tuned.”

Sony’s ongoing fiasco with Alaplaya over European hosting may have accidentally produced some juicy tidbits of information. In an IRC discussion, the community manager for Alaplaya may have accidentally let slip that Vanguard is heading free to play:

With the launch of DC Universe, we will introduce a new in-game currency that is similar to StationCash. It will not be Alaplaya Points. Your Station cash will be converted to our currency and you will be able to use it with EQ2 and Vanguard.

Granted, this could just be a misunderstanding. Vanguard isn’t even listed as one of the games set to transition to Alaplaya.

(Source: EQ2Wire)

Aion: Truly Free Coming To North America


Last year, NCSoft announced the upcoming free to play transition of Aion…in Europe. In a rather unsurprising move, the developer announced today that North America will be following. Players will have access to all of the content in Aion free of charge, without restrictions on zones, housing, mounts, quests, etc. In addition, NCSoft promises robust cheat detection to ensure that bots won’t take a choke hold over the game.

As a head start, NCSoft will be launching a “Rallying the Troops” event, offering new players a chance to check out the game with no time limit, but a level cap of 40. Returning players will have the ability to have their accounts reactivated for 14 days in the run up to the launch of Truly Free.

Aion Truly Free hits this spring.

(Source: Aion Truly Free)

Everquest Officially Free to Play in March


Someone call my doctor, nutritionist, and accountant, and find me enough provisions to last until I die. With Sony’s multitude of announcements over free to play, the titles have been falling like dominos. Everquest 2, Planetside 2, DC Universe, Pirates of the Burning Sea, and the possibility of Vanguard at some point, the idea that Everquest might go free to play is both exciting and unsurprising at the same time. So, behold! Everquest is moving free to play in March.

So what can I expect for free, you ask patiently. Everything, well mostly. Everquest is following a similar tier of payment to its predecessors. Tiers are divided between free, silver (past subscribers and gold subscribers. Free players have access to all content up to the seventeenth expansion (House of Thule) with Veil of Alaris purchasable. Free players are restricted to Human, Erudite, Barbarian, and Gnome races, as well as warrior, cleric, wizard, and rogue classes, with the rest purchasable. Free and silver members are also restricted to rank 1 spells, among a few other restrictions you might expect. Bag slots, mail and chat, guild, coin purse, quest limit, etc.

you can find the whole matrix here, there is really too much to discuss here.

More on the transition as it appears.