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Command & Conquer: Generals 2 becomes part of free-to-play C&C platform
by Alice O'Connor, Aug 15, 2012 6:00am PDTThough the announcement of Command & Conquer: Generals 2 was welcomed by many, EA really needed something a little more drastic to revive the flagging strategy series. Drastic it has indeed delivered, announcing at Gamescom that Generals 2 will be free-to-play as part of an online F2P platform, with more free C&C to come.
The game/platform/service/thing named simply 'Command & Conquer' will bring a variety of free-to-play C&C "offerings" built upon the Frostbite 2 engine, starting with Generals then moving onto Red Alert and the classic Tiberium universe.
"Heralding feedback driven design, Command & Conquer will evolve and develop with an expanding array of new content based on community response," EA said in the announcement.
"We are thrilled about this opportunity to transform Command & Conquer into a premier online experience," EA VP and GM Jon Van Caneghem added. "For nearly two decades, this franchise has existed as something you buy; now we are creating a destination where our fans will be able to access the entire Command & Conquer universe, starting with Generals and continuing with Red Alert, Tiberium and beyond. With Frostbite 2, we are able to keep an emphasis on the AAA quality our consumers expect while staying true to the RTS gameplay they know and love--all available online for free."
Command & Conquer will launch on PC in 2013. Closed beta signups should be available on the official site later today, though the page isn't active yet.
Comments
Though the announcement of Command & Conquer: Generals 2 was welcomed by many, EA really needed something a little more drastic to revive the flagging strategy series. Drastic it has indeed delivered, announcing at Gamescom that Generals 2 will be free-to-play as part of an online F2P service, with more free C&C games to come.
Though the announcement of Command & Conquer: Generals 2 was welcomed by many, EA really needed something a little more drastic to revive the flagging strategy series. Drastic it has indeed delivered, announcing at Gamescom that Generals 2 will be free-to-play as part of an online F2P service, with more free C&C games to come. : Shacknews
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MS turned AoE Online into a miserable, repetitive, and LONG, LONG loot grind. I've read they've improved upon this some though. I may go back and try it again. But my first experience with it was not fun at all. I don't really think repetitive grinding in a game is fun but if its your thing then more power to you.
My biggest complaint with AoE Online is the one thing that made RTS games fun to me, and the vast majority of other RTS wonks, was Skirmish mode. In a traditional RTS, all the units, tech, and Civs are "unlocked" so they are available in the Skirmish mode. It makes for a wonder open sandbox gaming experience even against the cpu, let alone other people. You have to unlock units and tech inside the gaming session of course but you aren't externally locked out of anything.
In AoE Online, you have to buy the Skirmish pack... understandable since its F2P and they want you to buy the game piecemeal. That pack though only unlocks all the units for the Civs you unlocked or bought and all the Ages. The tech tree is available is only what you've unlocked in game via the grind. It isn't even something you can buy with microtransactions.
Thats my biggest gripe with the F2P model used for AoE Online. You are still forced to grind in order to have a full Skirmish mode experience where in the RTS genre the "grinding" has been traditionally left to the single player experience. AoE Online from what I've read has been trying to make it less a grind and more enjoyable and fun to level up your Civs to unlock tech. I hated the game last year and haven't gone back to see if they have changed that or not though.
This move to F2P does ZERO to excite me about C&C Generals 2 where before I was very, very excited for the game.
We'll see if they screw this up into a miserable mmo type loot grind or make it something more enjoyable somehow.
At least with MS they didn't turn AoE Online into microtransaction hell. You get things with "booster packs" you can buy instead that give you a lot of content.
Who knows the road EA will take with this. But they have a long, long way to get me excited for it where before it was a Day ONE $60 purchase for me.
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