Well, sort of at least. Publisher NCSoft has announced that the online world superhero adventuring is going to transition from a monthly subscription model to a “pay for what you want†model instead.
With the game adding “Freedom†to its title, developer Paragon Studios have expressed hope in bringing their aging MMO to a larger audience without alienating their existing subscriber fanbase.
Instead, players who decide to invest some dollars will instead gain access to a VIP version of the game, which will grant them extra abilities and awards, as opposed to the free to play players who will have to buy these additional features one at a time, as detailed in this chart.
In an interview with PCGamer.com, producer Brian Clayton went into some more detail about some of the new content that VIP members would get.
We’re adding a new kind of content to the game called signature stories.Signature stories are exclusive to VIP customers. What’s really cool about that is that you now get to partake in the epic moments of the City of Heroes story unfolding and every month we’ll be releasing these new signature stories which will be able to be participated in from both the hero perspective and the villain perspective.
So each story arc is anywhere from three to five missions, but you’ll be able to participate in it from each side so it’ll be anywhere from six to ten missions per month.
Free to play customers will still have a host of content with which to customise their character, and will get to grind their hero/villain until level 50 before restrictions begin to set in.
The online PC game will relaunch later this year with the new free-to-play direction.
Source: PCGamer.com
Last Updated: June 22, 2011
