Tribes: Ascend also going free to play

by Andrew Yoon, Jun 27, 2011 4:15pm PDT

Related Topics – Tribes: Ascend, free-to-play, PC

Tribes: Ascend is being billed as "the multiplayer successor to the much lauded Tribes 2." Built on Unreal Engine 3, Ascend will be a downloadable multiplayer shooter for PC and Xbox 360. And, surprisingly, it will also be free-to-play.

Yes, like Team Fortress 2 and many MMOs, the game will be entirely powered by microtransactions. According to a report by IGN, Ascend is largely inspired by League of Legends' cycling release of warriors. In Riot's game, new "champions" are made available for purchase every two weeks, for about $5-10. Tribes: Ascend will, instead, allow players to buy entire loadouts. One loadout may give players more engineer-type attributes, while another may focus more on stealth. Developer Hi-Rez is hoping to create new loadouts on a regular basis, in addition to making cosmetic enhancements available for purchase as well.

Given the competitive nature of online multiplayer, Hi-Rez faces an uphill battle with making Tribes: Ascend a free-to-play game. In spite of the purchasable loadouts, gamers need to be assured that matches will always be balanced. On the other hand, Hi-Rez must constantly come up with new ways of ensuring gamers are incentivize to buy more. It's an interesting experiment, and definitely a sign of things to come.

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By: Shacknews x Show Full Post

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Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Tribes: Ascend also going free to play.

Built on Unreal Engine 3, Tribes: Ascend is a downloadable multiplayer shooter for PC and Xbox 360, billed as a "multiplayer successor" to Tribes 2. And, surprisingly, it will also be free-to-play.

Jun 27, 2011 4:15pm PDT

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Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Tribes: Ascend also going free to play.

Built on Unreal Engine 3, Tribes: Ascend is a downloadable multiplayer shooter for PC and Xbox 360, billed as a "multiplayer successor" to Tribes 2. And, surprisingly, it will also be free-to-play. : Shacknews
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  ugh, can't wait to hear the long long list of how this will be a disaster, a slap in the face to the "com... : cell9song
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    at this point im surprised any dev or publisher is even willing to touch the franchise name : yAak
    - exactly. Plus the thing looks pretty damned cool. : cell9song
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      Tribes has more franchise brand recognition than Global Agenda. : the archvile
      
      Shhhhhh... you'll interrupt the circlejerk : RumpleForeSkin72
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  I'm a HUGE Tribes fan, but this free-to-play stuff ruined it for me. I don't care how many developers an... : spyrext
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    sorry to do this but FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS : X-GOUKI
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      It's alright, you just need to grow up. : Curike
      
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      http://www.shacknews.com/search?chatty=1&type=4&chatty_term=grow+up&chatty_user=Curike&chatty_author=&cha... : dognose
      
      Grow up, dognose >:( : Durajim
      
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      Maybe he just hate short people? They do kick pretty hard... And when they punch you, it's always on the ... : G-3722
      
      And I've heard...they've got no reason to live. : Vorlonesque
      
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      This is indeed funny. : FuryVII
      
      What brought you to this thread :) : dognose
  - I wish we still had a front page chat comment bubble : dognose
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    Well, folks are going to have to figure it out, because F2P is going to become an ever larger subset of o... : riptyde
    - F2P is the best way to get a multiplayer game off the ground. Who cares about balance when there's no one... : HockeyJohnston
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    It's like a gambling addiction, really. I never really thought about it before because I don't really pl... : Jobos
    - #32
      
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      By: spyrext x Show Full Post
      
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      You are correct! I feel the same way! I told my roomie (oldschool Tribes1/2 uber-fan like me) that I wouldn't mind paying for 3 different $30 upgrades if the total was $60 and set, but the idea that the upgrades are theoretically infinite? This idea bothers me, and I wouldn't consider something a game anymore. It's a subscription at that point, plain and simple, and as you said, skill has nothing to do with it.
      
      I don't mine some DLC here and there, it doesn't bother me that there are upgrades, or sequels within a year or so, I don't even mind experimenting (like VALVE is) but there is no way I'm going to let the real world economy ruin the last place I have to feel like a fair and honest champion. It's bad enough money can buy you innocence or guilt, a better education or healthier children... I don't want that fucking commentary entering into ANY virtual world I use as an escape.
      
      Jun 28, 2011 3:46am PDT
      
      You are correct! I feel the same way! I told my roomie (oldschool Tribes1/2 uber-fan like me) that I wo... : spyrext
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  Ugh why is it that everytime I see that a game is going to be powered by microtransactions my excitement ... : clickles
  - Because the world is run by microtransactions and it's not much fun either. : spyrext
  - Because typically when you pay up front for a game, you usually get more for your money. Instead of bein... : deject
- Tribes? yay! http://chattypics.com/files/035944_gameone_lebron_slide_e6ur19acpi.jpg what! microtransact... : Veegeezee
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  While we're talking about it, a lead designer from tribes is working on this game: http://www.firefallthe... : kaddar0
  - From what I understand it (firefall) doesn't have skiing. It could still be very cool...but its not real... : Vorlonesque
  - I think firefall is going to be a huge fail. I hope I'm wrong though. : razlebol
- its slowly turning into global agenda 2 : rtrson
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  if it costs $50 to play seriously then you just paid $50 to buy the sequel to Tribes 2. You pay nothing ... : mort
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    no big deal if they do even 75% as good a job as TF2... but what are the odds : Veegeezee
    - 25% : devpaul
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    That was my point above. The objective is NOT to get $50, it's to get as much as they can. That's a ver... : spyrext
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      I think a lot of these developers aren't actually aiming for that, I'd imagine they just want to be succe... : Durajim
      
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      You are 1/2 right. Devs think this. They were sold that shit by the marketing guys. The marketing guys... : spyrext
      
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      Just using Lord of The Rings Online as an example, since that went free to play, their profits have sky r... : Durajim
      
      I think you're right. It's a wise money-making decision. I think it's a poor design decision. All your... : spyrext
      
      League of Legends has been extremely successful. The purpose of a free to play game is that it allows for... : Zek
- If this is well done and they get skiing right (i.e....if its a worthy successor to Tribes) then I'm fine... : Vorlonesque
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  This needs to have the following: - Skiing, and no bullshit "easy mode" hold-down-the-spacebar-to-ski.... : MercFox1
  - As long as they follow Tribes 2's formula, I really think the game will be great. What I want thoug... : silverback1138
  - It was so fun to rape people with clever deployable placements. "Oh please, did you really think nobody ... : riptyde
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  "A loadout determines ... the two weapons they will be carrying ..." :-/ I mean, this isn't quite a... : Johnny Law
  - Man, what the fuck are they doing to this game? Are they seriously doing a 2 weapon limit? : MercFox1
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    I don't really remember ever using more weapons than that in Tribes 1/2. : Zek
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      Light class had 3 weapons, Medium had 4, Heavy had 5. As a heavy in T2 you would at LEAST use 4: Missile ... : MercFox1
      
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      Well that loadout right there is pretty much everything a Heavy can do in Tribes. It sounds like you'll b... : Zek
      
      That just tells me they don't understand vintage Tribes. Heavy's specialize in heavy armor, lots of firep... : MercFox1
- I already said in the other thread, but I think I need to say it again, just to be quite sure: YES YES Y... : Durajim
- Exclusive "Shazbot!" voice pack, now only 4$. : Lukiopimp
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  MUTHER FUCKING RAGE. Lame shit. Crippled game, unless you buy shit.. : icedcool
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    You aren't paying anything initially. Did you want it to be completely free? How in the world would that ... : JohnnyRey
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      60 bucks, and you get the game. Not, those who pay more, have better weapons. : icedcool
      
      I'm with this guy. I'd pay $70 bucks for a tribes game, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna compete with my ... : spyrext
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  If they model it like LoL (the only thing that you can't earn by playing is skins--paying for champs is j... : vodor
  - Oh, also! LoL has rotating free champs. That's important. Try before you buy. : vodor

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