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The Anvil of Crom: Completionism and avoiding the F2P plague
I'd like to start this week's column with a disclaimer: I expect to get a lot hate for what follows. A few of you might agree with me, and that's great, but as something of a traditionalist (both in and out of gaming), I'm used to my views being unpopular when measured against current trends. And let's be honest, nothing is currently more trendy, in vogue, or bandwagontastic than F2P when it comes to MMORPGs. F2P, or more accurately, F2T (free-to-try) is sweeping over our industry like a ravenous zombie horde, sucking brains, wallets, and customer common sense right out the window due to its insane profitability and a glitzy PR assault. Right now, in fact, someone, somewhere in the Funcom offices is no doubt running the numbers on whether or not tacking a cash shop onto Age of Conan makes financial sense. They may even be contemplating pulling a Turbine and going completely F2T. I mean, how could they not be considering it? With subscription-based games dropping like flies, it's only a matter of time before every game on the market is engaging in Sony-style double dipping (yes Cryptic and now Icarus do it too, but frankly the alliteration just wasn't there). Hit the jump to learn why F2T isn't as great as you think.
E308: Matt Wilson briefs us on the state of The Agency
We had a fantastic chance to talk with Matt Wilson about The Agency during E3. While a great deal of the footage they showed was largely identical to the footage we'd previously seen, many of Matt's insights about the direction they're taking The Agency in were quite illuminating. From PvP to operatives to vehicular combat and the eventual beta, Matt was generous enough with both his time and knowledge, and let us in on lots of great news and background. If you've been hungry for more information on some of the different aspects of this upcoming game, be sure to join us after the break for a great overview on this hot upcoming SOE property.
