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Command & Conquer Generals 2 Goes Free To Play [Up: Trailer]

C

CecilRousso

Member
DBT85 said:
Does anyone else see the words "free to play" and instantly lose any interest in the title?
Click to expand...

I'm lost it at "EA ".

People should just acceot that no EA owned IP will be as the were before. Not C&C, not Battlefield, not NFS, not Mirrors Edge, not Dead Space, not.....you get my point.
 
C

CMDBob

Member
Well, there we go. C&C is dead to me now. Still glad I've got my TFD boxset, C&C3 and KW and RA3, but yeah. C&C is now totally dead. Well done, EA, you could have had a re-invigoration and a game that could have potentially challenged Starcraft 2, but nope.
 
W

whyman

Member
No! No! No!

I really had hopes they wouldnt f*ck it all up this time. Damn you EA!
Also did Bioware hand over this to someone else and thats why they just made it a f2p game?
 
C

Celegus

Member
Dubya tee eff. I'm assuming an F2P RTS means it's multiplayer only? Do they not realize how many people played C&C games for the single player?

Athough I haven't cared about C&C since Dawn of War came out, so no big loss.
 
K

Katana_Strikes

Member
I fucking loved Generals, so to hear a new game in the franchise was happening, I was so happy. Now no wonder the game wasn't mentioned at E3, they were changing the whole model and doing this to it.

Sad day for the once great franchise.
 
B

BrainZEROX

Member
Another thing I hate with F2P is I can't bitch about "how I'm not buying your stoopid game" because, errrr... Now it's free.

Anyway, if it's free I'll probably give the game a try but I won't put a cent into it because the basic premise of F2P hurts what makes an RTS game a good game: unit balance.

Plus the new trailer makes it like it's not a "Generals" game anymore. I lost interest here.
 
D

daviyoung

Banned
whyman said:
Also did Bioware hand over this to someone else and thats why they just made it a f2p game?
Click to expand...

The Bioware division making Generals 2 is Bioware in name only. Most of the staff are either ex-Westwood or MMO developers and designers drafted in from other companies. It's no surprise they're turning to F2P now, as most MMOs are going that way anyway. What's strange is that they're doing it with this particular game.
 
T

TouchMyBox

Member
Teknopathetic said:
Nobody does F2P worse than EA. If you ever wanted examples of what braindead anti-F2P troglodytes imagine all F2P games are like, just give one of EA's a shot.
Click to expand...

Actually, I find EA's F2P business model for most of their games to be decent.

There's just the problem that they charge $60 upfront for most of these F2P titles.
 
M

mandiller

Member
It look pretty but I'm terrified it'll be pay to win, that and it won't have a single player campaign ... And the fact that it has lost the General 2 monkier might mean it's not actually Generals 2 gameplay-wise..

..But at least it's pretty, right?

Show me the GLA!
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Member
I don't care at all about Generals 2 so this news doesnt affect me much.


Honestly EA needs to start back at the beginning when it comes to C&C.
I'd be happy with all the original games being remade with better graphics (While keeping just about everything else the same)
 
P

Pooya

Member
http://www.gamespot.com/events/gamescom-2012/story.html?sid=6391569
interview

GameSpot: The jump from packaged good to downloadable free-to-play game seems like a pretty fundamental change. What was the reasoning behind making the switch?

Jon Van Caneghem: When I joined EA, I shared a vision of moving the franchise to a digital direct-to-consumer platform--a single destination for Command & Conquer games making it easier to play with your friends and allowing us to more easily respond to feedback and update the games. Today is the official announcement of that platform, of that vision realized.

A live platform allows us to be more responsive to community feedback, delivering content that they care about. As developers, this sort of direct and evolving relationship with our audience excites us. Going free-to-play is the best model to use with these goals in mind, because eliminating the price barrier widens the audience and gives us a larger community to interact with.

GS: The name change from Generals 2 to the over-arching Command & Conquer (with the Generals universe being the first wave of content) suggests the free-to-play product is a new platform as much as it is a new game, a shell for the rest of the Command & Conquer universe to live within. How much of a shift in the way you approach the series is this?

JVC: "Platform" is definitely how we're approaching the development of Command & Conquer. This is more than a game; it is a free-to-play destination for gamers to access every Command & Conquer universe, from Red Alert to Tiberium and to where it all starts next year: Generals. This is a live service and we are committed to continually delivering content. Heralding feedback-driven design, Command & Conquer will evolve and develop with an expanding array of new content based on community feedback and activity, which is more than we can normally do when shipping a traditional boxed game, benefiting the consumer.


GS: This sounds ominous for the future of traditional Command & Conquer games. Has EA shelved the franchise as a boxed retail product?

JVC: Traditional Command & Conquer gameplay isn't going anywhere--we are simply adjusting our delivery model to one that allows more consumers to play it and allows us to provide content based on more accurate feedback. EA is committed to spearheading the industry's digital transformation. As a company, we believe that a direct-to-consumer relationship is meaningful and incredibly powerful. That said, we still have fans who want that boxed retail product experience, and we are not walking away from that any time soon. We still have exciting announcements in the pipeline that will satisfy exactly that type of gamer.

GS: Don't we already have a free-to-play Command & Conquer with Tiberium Alliances? What's the difference between the two games' target markets?

JVC: We are excited to have a great franchise that gamers and fans can experience on different levels and in different ways. Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances is a free, browser based strategy-MMO that introduces a new way for players to experience the Tiberium universe. With over 1 million players in less than three months since launch, the game has carved out a growing passionate community. This new Command & Conquer is a more traditional, full client RTS experience with high-definition graphics, real-time, fast-paced action, full destruction and a best-in-class physics system, all made possible with the power of the Frostbite 2 technology.

GS: How is the free-to-play integration going to work? Will it be the social-style free-to-play of Tiberium Alliances or something closer to a microtransaction-driven market, like League of Legends?

JVC: We are still building out the game and the exact scope of the advanced experience has not been announced yet. In our development, we are guided by the commitment to create a gameplay experience that offers the cerebral, strategic fun and fast-paced action that fans have come to expect from our franchise with no barrier or resistance.


GS: Will there still be a single-player campaign told from multiple viewpoints? How will the business model work in single-player?

JVC: Not at launch. We are currently focused on building a fun, high quality RTS experience that we want to get in your hands as soon as possible. From there, we will continuously add additional content based on a variety of player feedback.
Click to expand...

Origin required also, duh :p
 
H

HotHamWater

Member
Don't worry guys, Riccitiello is going to get sacked soon and who ever takes over will spend the next 5 years downsizing. So by my estimates we will only have to wait roughly 20 years to get another great CNC game made from resurrected remains of former Westwood employee's.

Also, China will grow larger.
 
S

Sethos

Banned
BattleMonkey said:
Nope. Have had a blast with a ton of free to play games. And since they are free I can freely try them out and determine if it's worth my time or money.
Click to expand...

We used to call that demos.

And then we could go purchase a full fledged game that isn't pay 2 win for 60 bucks or less.

Now we have to spend twice that to get the same amount of content and now we also have to buy advantages.

F2P ( The EA and big publishers version of it ) doesn't get any more anti-consumer, can't believe some people back that shit up.
 
U

ultron87

Member
The only way I could really see it being balanced with this model is if they just make each faction besides one cost money. Maybe have the free one rotate League of Legends style. And then sell a bunch of cosmetic hats for your tanks or something.

I'll try it at least. Since it is in fact free.
 
G

glaurung

Member
*views the trailer

It's just called Command & Conquer now. How much more generic can you get?

Even though the game looks technically proficient, there is zero soul in those models and art assets. Another strike for being utterly, soul crushingly generic.

Will never play.
 
D

DTKT

Member
It's pretty sad that every single strategy/sim game is now a F2P browser based game.

The end of an era.
 
B

BattleMonkey

Member
Sethos said:
We used to call that demos.

And then we could go purchase a full fledged game that isn't pay 2 win for 60 bucks or less.

Now we have to spend twice that to get the same amount of content and now we also have to buy advantages.

F2P ( The EA and big publishers version of it ) doesn't get any more anti-consumer, can't believe some people back that shit up.
Click to expand...

If you just want to rage against EA perhaps. Oddly enough your gladly supporting MWO, which is a f2p game while saying this.

Not all F2P is bad. Will this C&C suck? I'm sure it will because all the recent ones have blown chunks. But I don't automatically shit the bed when I hear F2P like some people.

DTKT said:
It's pretty sad that every single strategy/sim game is now a F2P browser based game.

The end of an era.
Click to expand...

Starcraft and Conflict of Heroes are not going free.... plenty of non f2p options out there still.
 
A

Aaron

Member
Well that 'interview' full of cliched PR bullshit certainly reassures me! Seriously, why even bother with answering the question if you're going to load with with verbal garbage like that.
 
stuminus3

stuminus3

Banned
No single player campaigns? That's incredibly disappointing to me. I'm terrible at playing RTS games competitively, but I always enjoyed the meaty (and often amusing) campaigns of the C&C games.
 
U

universalmind

Member
Jon Van Caneghem: When I joined EA, I shared a vision of moving the franchise to a digital direct-to-consumer platform--a single destination for Command & Conquer games making it easier to play with your friends and allowing us to more easily respond to feedback and update the games. Today is the official announcement of that platform, of that vision realized.
Click to expand...
IT WAS HIS IDEA! GET HIM!
 
S

StayDead

Member
7393304800_5c450d4e4c_o.gif


Good work EA, your franchise was dead to me with C&C4 and even Generals 2 at the initial trailer looked bad, now you've made sure I never want to play a new C&C again.
 
E

evangd007

Member
I'm trying to figure out how to implement a F2P model in an RTS without making it pay to win or breaking competitive balance.

...

I got nothing.
 
F

Feature

Banned
Sad day in the history of gaming. Generals was my favourite RTS of all time... The tanks etc also look like they're from the future or some kind of mad max world.
 
G

ghst

thanks for the laugh
i can think of few things harder to create than a competitively balanced free-to-play RTS and fewer companies less likely to pull it off than EA.

it's not pessimism, it's occam's razor.
 
Guy Legend

Guy Legend

Member
Why did they have to screw with the one and only PC game I actually care about. I've been a C&C player since the original.
 
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