Quake Champions Will Be Free, Unless You Want to Buy It

Megalith

Megalith

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I don’t know if being “free-to-play” cheapens the Quake brand, but that is the route id Software and Bethesda has taken for the franchise’s latest entry. The good news is that all players, regardless of whether they spend money or not, will be on an even playing field: the only real advantage for those who pay up is access to additional characters without having to earn in-game currency, which is supposedly easy enough in itself. So when are we getting a new single-player Quake?

Willits said that players who want to can play a single character, a Champion named Ranger, for free. Or they can buy the Champion Pack and get unlimited access to Ranger and all his other friends for a fixed price. The reason for this approach is simple, he said. The gaming world has changed since the launch of the original Quake in 1996. It’s gotten bigger. There are more players from more parts of the world than ever before. Some markets simply have different expectations of how — or if — they pay for their games. By making Quake Champions both free and for-pay, his team can get it in front of as many players as possible.
 
Quake one Shareware from 1996 had tons of people just playing the shareware maps and not the total core game.
I think this is the right move it's what drove Dirty Bomb into being more popular than if they did charge for it.
 
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dgz said:
Check out the new DM6

http://www.youtube.com/embed/ePnikEEWCp8

I am not feeling it at all for this game, and I've been playing Quake games for two decades now. Plus I hate Bethesda with a burning passion

Quake 3 CPMA for life :D
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I don't know, that trailer made me a feel a bit better about the project. Of course, the last video I saw for this game emphasized all of the different character's abilities, which left a bad 'Quake Meets Overwatch' taste in my mouth.
 
Unreal Tournament is doing the same thing. I don't think it's a bad idea as long as purchases are purely cosmetic.

Still though, I'm not sure how I feel about different characters having different abilities. Seems very un-Quake like.
 
i'm fine with this.

I don't like the I can pay cash to have a character someone else spends 80 hours on to build/stats.

Don't like lazy people!
 
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azuza001 said:
Well at least this way people will be able to test it before they decide it's worth spending a few bucks on.

And I agree. I want more quake 2. I loved quake 2.
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I liked Quake 2 as well, but we got Quake 4 and then Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. :( Now Quake 3 will get Champions as a sequel, though it seems to borrow from so many others to the degree that I don't see a Quake game anymore. I am kind of glad at this point they have not soiled the original.

SeymourGore said:
I don't know, that trailer made me a feel a bit better about the project. Of course, the last video I saw for this game emphasized all of the different character's abilities, which left a bad 'Quake Meets Overwatch' taste in my mouth.
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This. I don't want Doom, Unreal or Overwatch in my Quake. I half-expected Harry Potter to appear in that video.

Paint it however you want, but even idBeth doesn't think they can sell this game.

Jim Kim said:
I remember when Quake Live was free, until it wasn't.
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Pepperidge Farm remembers.
 
NeoNemesis said:
Unreal Tournament is doing the same thing. I don't think it's a bad idea as long as purchases are purely cosmetic.

Still though, I'm not sure how I feel about different characters having different abilities. Seems very un-Quake like.
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It is not though, it is more like Dirty Bomb or Killer Instinct where you buy the characters you want, or just like KI you can just buy them all for the price of the game. I like this format, it is like a big trial, and if you are the type of gamer that only plays with one type of hero the game is super cheap.
 
blkt said:
I liked Quake 2 as well, but we got Quake 4 and then Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. :( Now Quake 3 will get Champions as a sequel, though it seems to borrow from so many others to the degree that I don't see a Quake game anymore. I am kind of glad at this point they have not soiled the original.

This. I don't want Doom, Unreal or Overwatch in my Quake. I half-expected Harry Potter to appear in that video.

Paint it however you want, but even idBeth doesn't think they can sell this game.

Pepperidge Farm remembers.
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Dudes, check it out, I just bought the
Avada Kedavra spell! I am totally going to pwn these noobs!
 
Jim Kim said:
I remember when Quake Live was free, until it wasn't.
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I was about to pay the 10 euro when I found it was already in my Steam library. Not sure why. Could've been my pro subscription. I wonder just how much data do these companies share.
 
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Makaveli@BETA said:
i'm fine with this.

I don't like the I can pay cash to have a character someone else spends 80 hours on to build/stats.

Don't like lazy people!
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i'm fine with that because buying characters doesn't make you better.. the person that spent the time unlocking it also spent the time learning and getting better at the game while the person that didn't is still going to be a potato player 90% of the time.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
i'm fine with that because buying characters doesn't make you better.. the person that spent the time unlocking it also spent the time learning and getting better at the game while the person that didn't is still going to be a potato player 90% of the time.
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Yeah, but you can't even unlock characters, you can only "rent" them. Usually I agree with your stance, but this is a bit different.
 
I don't have a huge problem with this, but I think they should have done it like RB6: Siege where once you unlock a character with in-game currency, you have it forever. Unless the in-game currency is really easy/fast to obtain, I don't like the idea of "renting" characters.
 
/Yawn.

F2P but all the "Extra" content that should have been included in the game at a fixed price you have to pay for.
 
We played all the Quakes in the day, but thought I remembered Quake 3 Arena the most.. I was wrong. Although I do vividly remember Q3Arena, it was Unreal Tournament that we played the most. That being said, I'm pretty excited about this one. It looks to be pretty close to Q3A, which we did play quite a bit, but not as much as Unreal Tournament. I think it was due to the modding of UT. Good times either way. Excited to see new ones of both! Perfectly fine with the F2P as long as it remains just that. Seems like they're taking a good route. It's a shame games now days don't have demos and very very few trials. Even for MMOs.
 
Evil said:
I knew Bethesda would absolutely ruin this game. Bastards.
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Technically the consumer did, by buying DLC & "Extra" content. You can't blame them for wanting to make a buck & knowing how to make said buck.

The idea has now become the institution, sad to say. I had a feeling they were going to turn this into a F2P game from the get go.
 
azuza001 said:
Well at least this way people will be able to test it before they decide it's worth spending a few bucks on.

And I agree. I want more quake 2. I loved quake 2.
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Quake 2 was the game in the series I liked the least until Quake 4 came along.

NeoNemesis said:
Unreal Tournament is doing the same thing. I don't think it's a bad idea as long as purchases are purely cosmetic.

Still though, I'm not sure how I feel about different characters having different abilities. Seems very un-Quake like.
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I was going to make the same point about Unreal Tournament's latest installment. One of the things I like about Unreal Tournament (I've played quite a bit of the alpha) is that its like the earlier installments. There are no bullshit unlocks, no character classes, loadouts or other nonsense. It's just you, your knowledge of the map and your skills that come into play. Nothing else. Its the arena shooter I've been looking for. Quake going to something like that may very well ruin it the way the latest Doom game's multiplayer was ruined with bullshit features.

I know it sounds like I just want kids to get off my lawn but there's just something I don't like about unlock systems in most cases. I don't like that your success is due in large part to being able to sink tons of hours into the game. Its often less about skill and more about the weapons you acquire. In Unreal Tournament, we all begin the match as equals. Each and every time.
 
blkt said:
This. I don't want Doom, Unreal or Overwatch in my Quake. I half-expected Harry Potter to appear in that video.
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The thing is, conceptually and even to some degree in execution, Unreal Tournament is the most similar game to Quake out there. Overwatch, Doom (with it's shitty MP) and other modern shooters are nothing like the original arena shooters many of us cut our teeth on.
 
This is the first time I've really been excited about a new game coming out in nearly a decade.

Quake 3 and Soldier of Fortune 2 were my favorite all time games. (both based on the ID Tech 3 engine)

I tried a few other games around that time period Doom3, Quake4, HalfLife2, but nothing was ever as fun, fast paced, smooth, etc... in multiplayer mode as those 2 games.

I stopped playing video games when my kids were born, and I was waiting for them to get a little older so we can fire up some MP games against each other! Looks like its almost time, to kick it old school with 2 PCs in separate corners of the house on LAN, so there's no cheating, no lag, etc. ;)
 
Dan_D said:
The thing is, conceptually and even to some degree in execution, Unreal Tournament is the most similar game to Quake out there. Overwatch, Doom (with it's shitty MP) and other modern shooters are nothing like the original arena shooters many of us cut our teeth on.
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UT and Q3 were direct competitors but their gameplay physics, visual style, engine features and mods were what made them unique. I am not feeling any of that with Quake Champions, but I guess we will see. The trailer videos left a bad taste in my mouth.

dgz said:
OMFG. id's back
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All you NOOBS out there, you are watching the best Quake player ever. and ever. and ever...
 
blkt said:
UT and Q3 were direct competitors but their gameplay physics, visual style, engine features and mods were what made them unique. I am not feeling any of that with Quake Champions, but I guess we will see. The trailer videos left a bad taste in my mouth.
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I won't ever argue that these games felt different. When I say they were similar, I meant they were both contemporary arena shooters which were fast pace, highly responsive, competitive and conceptually similar. Execution was very different beyond a broad sense. I haven't watched the QC trailer yet. I'll have to do that when I get home.
 
Dan_D said:
The thing is, conceptually and even to some degree in execution, Unreal Tournament is the most similar game to Quake out there. Overwatch, Doom (with it's shitty MP) and other modern shooters are nothing like the original arena shooters many of us cut our teeth on.
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Where is a new Jedi Academy when all of these other games are making comebacks?
 
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