Game News Hellgate: London to Feature Paid Online Multiplayer

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Tags: Bill Roper; Flagship Studios; Hellgate: London

<a href=http://www.shacknews.com/>Shacknews</a> has <a href=http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/45282>reports</a> that <a href=http://www.flagshipstudios.com/>Flagship Studios</a>'s upcoming <a href=http://www.hellgatelondon.com/>Hellgate: London</a> will be subscription based.
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In addition to <a href=http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/45262>yesterday's announcement</a> that Hellgate: London will be shipping in Summer 2007, developer Flagship Studios revealed this week that the game's multiplayer component is a subscription-based online service. Speaking to Shacknews at CES in Las Vegas, CEO Bill Roper noted that the game draws significantly from massively multiplayer games, with genre trappings such as guilds, continually developed content, a full social system, and raid-type gameplay.
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Drawing similarities to ArenaNet's Guild Wars, Hellgate's online is heavily instanced. Group and solo PvE is the game's main focus; PvP will exist in a small scale form, but is not a major element of the initial launch. It will also feature a Hardcore mode similar to that found in Blizzard's Diablo II, a game on which many members of the Hellgate team worked. Hellgate's multiplayer will contain all of the missions and story from the single-player aspect of the game, as well as exclusive gameplay modes and content. Like the single-player game, it will be comprised of dynamically generated areas and items. Further content will be continually added over time by a dedicated Flagship team.
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Flagship expects to launch an open beta prior to the launch of the game. Pricing details have not yet been determined, though Roper noted that there will be some kind of trial or free play system for those looking to get a taste of the game without commitment.
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"I think that just as Diablo and Diablo II started this religious argument over whether they're RPGs or not, I think that Hellgate will spark that same debate over whether it's an MMO or not," commented Roper, who added that the game has been designed as an MMO from day one. Check back this week for an extensive interview with Roper, delving more comprehensively into the online aspects of Hellgate: London.
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I think I'll cut my way through undead and demon hordes for free, thank you very much.
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Thanks, <b>baby arm</b>!
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.shacknews.com/">Shacknews</A>

 

[aweigh]

I was seriously wondering why I was reading a news update for a DX10-showcase FPS game on the RPGCodex until I remembered that this drivel is what's considered part of the RPG genre nowadays.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

At the moment it's shaping up to be a roguelike of sorts.

 

[Shoelip]

Oh well, and I was actually considering this game.

 

[KreideBein]

Fuck that, there's no way I'm going to pay to play Hellgate online. I'm guessing that Flagship lost a lot of potential customers with this move.

 

[Balor]

As I understand, you can play in 'offline' for free (if you will d/l it for free, of course ), but will have to pay extra for multiplayer.
Dunno, kinda reasonable the payment is not too high... and not that I'm going to play it online anyway, he-he-he.

 

[Texas Red]

Ooooh, another scam in the game industry!

"Biothesda's new APG(Action Play Game) will feature jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, new age, next generation, real life, photo realistic graphics.

Features:

Play the amazing single player campaign for only 31.99$$!

Join milions playing online with the multiplayer addon for 21.99$! For only 15.99$ a month you can take part of epic adventures!

Choose your next quests with the cool new 10 addons for a minimal price of 9.99$!

Unlock 2 different endings in the next generation campaign for but 4.99$!

Ever wanted to play an orc, how about an elf? Look no further, for only 1.99$ you too can be one of those races!

Jelous of NPCs throwing fireballs? What about those rogues with their cool sneaking? For only 10.99$ you can unlock those classes!"

 

[Sol Invictus]

Single player's free.

A few months back, Flagship also stated that there would definitely be a free online mode in addition to the subscription-based online mode.

Quit yer bitchin.

 

[Texas Red]

Single player's free.

A few months back, Flagship also stated that there would definitely be a free online mode in addition to the subscription-based online mode.

Quit yer bitchin.

Whatever. That game looks like shit anyway.

 

[zioburosky13]

This will probaly be the different of 'Free' and 'Paid' multiplayer mode.
Player A: Shit that's some fucking cool helmet!
Plater B: Yeah I pay 12.99 to unlock it. And check out my new Fireball spells! It pwns!
Yeah right

 

[OccupatedVoid]

The problem with MMO's is that they try to imitate WoW way too much. Instead of trying to show off new exciting features, they try to copy WoW's success formula which usually ends up in failure. If people want WoW-like features, they'll play WoW.

I also wonder if this game's singleplayer will suffer if it tries to be two things at once...

...who added that the game has been designed as an MMO from day one.

Nevermind. Question answered.

 

[FrancoTAU]

Yeah, the line about it being designed as an MMO from day one pretty much killed most of optimism about the game.

 

[almondblight]

At the moment it's shaping up to be a roguelike of sorts.

:shock:

ummm.....yeah.....one of those MMO roguelikes...fond memories, those...

 

[Nightjed]

i hate multiplay exclusive content, thats how all the really cool diablo2 runewords are realm only, and the fact that runes/set items are so rare that its impossible to complete them without multiplay

 

[Sol Invictus]

This just in.

Shacknews fucked up.

We've received the official word in an interview with Flagship Studios.

http://www.hellgateguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2882

 

[Nightjed]

oh oh, a shameless plug, where did they fuck up ? i cant find anything different to what this post says

edit: oh my god, i found it so the difference is that what this post says is "not final" like if anything a developer ever said before a game was released could have been considered "final", who wants to enslave nations with necromancy ?

 

[FrancoTAU]

Yeah, they're still undecided on how best to rip us off. I don't see how they can charge a subscription for basically battlenet

 

[Nightjed]

i can see it, with exclusive items, ive seen they mention micropayments too many times during interviews, micropayments = pay for the nice items youll never get playing because the chance of getting anything worth your time is 1e-100 %

 

[suibhne]

I was hoping GW's success would make the pay-to-play less tenable outside of big MMORPGs. Oh well - last time I watched a video, this game was pretty underwhelming anyway.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

Well compare this

GW - about 1 million or so copies sold, with one-time only profit aside from the expansion packs

WoW - 7 million subscribers each coughing up 144 a year to play, not including the massive sales of the expansion that's forthcoming

And you can see why people think "omg mircopayments r teh future."

 

[Kraszu]

Well it all comes to question does people are really that dumb to get rip off by service that they know cost little for developer to run. Paying 20$ monthly for service like battlenet makes horse armor look like good deal.

 

[Ryuken]

This just in.

Shacknews fucked up.

Not really, they just quoted Roper and also mentioned in the original newspost that there would still be "a free part". What that last thing means is still not explained by Flagship and that's what most people are waiting for (since nearly everyone assumed the online multiplayer would have been free completely), not some details on how the paid online part will turn out. If the free part is anything less than what Diablo II had to offer through Battle.net then I am certainly out of this one.

 

[Texas Red]

Hmmm, how far are we from monthly fees for SP games due to [insert generic publisher's lying excuse]?

 

[FrancoTAU]

No, we're getting ads directly piped into our single player games.

 

[cutterjohn]

If you have to pay for the good items, I fail to see the point in playing the game to begin with, especially since it would be likely that by paying that means you instantly get teh shiny ph4t 1007.

In any event with the online subscription bit being pushed so hard, apparently, now for Hellgate I've lost what slight interest I had in this game to begin with. You just know that offline/free play is going to get the short shrift.