Hellgate: London requiring subscription fees for online play?!? - confirmed

Yesterday they say it is a very complex first person massive multiplayer that will requires a subscription fee to play the game to help maintain it :( Yeah right, only after ya saw the recent earning Blizzard made for the 2006 year, at like $1 Billion dollars did ya make it a pay to play game. Bill Roper the designer says it was always planned as a first person MMORPG.

Now today, reading all the forums and how people are pissed off about the monthly fee for the game asking why they should compared to a game like HalfLife2, well now this comes out; Update: Today, Shacknews followed up with Roper, who clarified his comments and stated that the monthly fee subscription model is only one option currently under evaluation by the studio and its publishers Electronic Arts and Namco Bandai Games, and that his comments were intended in a theoretical context.

HalfLife2 which for no monthly fee, ya get the main game HalfLife22 one of the best shooters ever made, and ya also get in that same box CounterStrike:Source which is a free online multiplayer game, with buyable items, built in voice chat, they add new content like maps, and models, patches and bug fixes, servers to support the game, and this is all done for NO monthly payment
 
AdamNesvick said:
QUIT WHINING!

The SP portion will not have monthly fees, and hopefully we will be able to play it at on a LAN

Its not even out yet, we don't know if it sucks or is awesome, and your already complaining.

YEESH :mad:
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We are allowed to complain as this is information we have been told, fact or not, people are allowed to give their opinions on it, dont like it, dont read it.
 
Zorachus said:
HalfLife2 which for no monthly fee, ya get the main game HalfLife22 one of the best shooters ever made, and ya also get in that same box CounterStrike:Source which is a free online multiplayer game, with buyable items, built in voice chat, they add new content like maps, and models, patches and bug fixes, servers to support the game, and this is all done for NO monthly payment
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Exactly, and why, because it is a gfood games, good games pay for themselves from the intiaul purchase, and now you can buy CS:S alone for $20 if you want.

the good part about these games is the 3rd party community who develops free, or paid for mods for it and maps and such.
 
Correct me if im wrong, but wasn't Roper one of the biggest proponents for the free multiplayer service we all know as battle.net? I guess everyone has their price.
 
Zorachus said:
Yesterday they say it is a very complex first person massive multiplayer that will requires a subscription fee to play the game to help maintain it :( Yeah right, only after ya saw the recent earning Blizzard made for the 2006 year, at like $1 Billion dollars did ya make it a pay to play game.
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Still would like to see your source on this. :rolleyes:
 
My issue with monthly fees is that I lack the time to devote any consistency to online play.

It renders me the perpetual n00b, the Meat Puppet if you will. Dead as soon as I spawn with little opportunity to build anything for myself avatar/character/whatever.

I miss Tribes, but I had more time then.
 
just fyi, Games for Windows, who has had first hand experience with Hellgate and spoken with developers says blatantly "THIS IS NOT TRUE". It's a shame so many people believe anything they read on the net.
 
kaluminati said:
just fyi, Games for Windows, who has had first hand experience with Hellgate and spoken with developers says blatantly "THIS IS NOT TRUE". It's a shame so many people believe anything they read on the net.
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Especially when they read a quote from the lead designer of the game as posted on a reputable news site? Sure, they have since backpedaled to try to get out of the situation, but that doesn't change what it was when this discussion started.

 
I'm still looking forward to the game. :)

Will I pay a monthly fee? Eh, possibly, depending on the content/features/interaction it would entail. I'm waiting to pass judgment until they have a little bit more specifics available.
 
whrswoldo said:
I'm still looking forward to the game. :)

Will I pay a monthly fee? Eh, possibly, depending on the content/features/interaction it would entail. I'm waiting to pass judgment until they have a little bit more specifics available.
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Hopefully the open beta if/when they announce it will allow us to see if this game is worth a monthly fee.
 
chaikovski2002 said:
Ask yourself this question, would you have paid to play diablo ii multiplayer?
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Yes if it meant more patches, better servers, less cheating. It took what 2 years to get the 1.10 patch. Another year to get the b or what ever the latest version is. The ladder hasnt been reset still and its going on over a year. I still enjoy D2 today, but it gets boring since its the same game I been playing for over 3 years. If diablo 3(if it ever gets released) had a monthly fee, deserves a monthly fee and it is a good game I would pay. If Hellgate has a monthly fee and the game is good I will pay it.
 
I think as well this can come to, what if you dont have a credit card to buy online services, and your parents simply dont trust giving that info out of their own cards....
 
MrGuvernment said:
I think as well this can come to, whay if you dont have a credit card to buy online services says and your parents simply dont trust giving that info out of their own cards....
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They usually put out game cards in the stores. And why would they not trust a company with credit card info.
 
Yeah companies have more to lose via shoddy credit card abuse than consumers.

Say EA starts having stories pop up about the mishandling of people's financial information. I guarantee you they will take a far worse financial hit. Thus, they don't wanna screw stuff up for themselves. Make sense?


Use that on your parents if you don't have your own credit card. Or if you're in college grab one of First Financial Bank's interest free cards ;)
 
Wow, this thing is still in development? I thought it had gone the way of perpetual vaporware.

Anyway, I'm a rather large fan of WoW and I have to say subscription fees for something that is supposed to be the next Diablo is terrible. Plenty of games offer the same instanced/content update stuff that Hellgate: London is offering, but for free. If they're going to charge a monthly fee there better be a crapload of persistence and content updates on the scale of a true/pure MMO, none of this half-assed stuff.
 
JustinSane said:
I have a feeling pay to play games are gonna take a nasty dive this year.
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Agreed.

Hell I have the feeling I'm finally going to buy an Xbox 360 and take up console gaming. Xbox Live charges a monthly fee, but that's voluntary. I haven't had a console since I lost my modded PSX in a nasty break up. Me thinks it's time again.
 
Caffeinated said:
Agreed.

Hell I have the feeling I'm finally going to buy an Xbox 360 and take up console gaming. Xbox Live charges a monthly fee, but that's voluntary. I haven't had a console since I lost my modded PSX in a nasty break up. Me thinks it's time again.
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I agree that Console's which I have never been a fan of, look more appealing if PC games are going to be 2x pay to play, meaning pay $60 for a game, and on top of that keep paying again monthly to rent or play the game online :rolleyes:

I really do see the point to pay for WoW, they have to maintain the servers and added content, so I can accept the idea to pay monthly, just dont feel like need to charge $15.00, I think it certainly does not cost anywhere close to that to maintain the game and make money, but what do I know a Billion dollar business :)

But a game like Hellgate;London should NOT be 2x pay to play, why do I have to pay $60.00 for the game, and again keep on paying to be able to play ? What is that extra fee really giving me that games like NwN2 dont do ? I mean with Never Winter I can play the single player game, or CoOp game, and also go online in a persistant server with lots of players, while BioWare still patches the game, add's free content, and the servers are hosetd for free
 
If this game is going to be a legit FPS MMORPG, then I have no problem with fees. That is, a huge persistant world, large communities, large servers, content updates, etc, etc. I've been dying for an MMORPG with FPS qualities that is done right.

This isn't simply making maps, adding some guns, or something like that. To run a true MMORPG it does take quite a lot of money. I have no problem with paying a fee as long as the game is a good game.
 
Zorachus said:
I agree that Console's which I have never been a fan of, look more appealing if PC games are going to be 2x pay to play, meaning pay $60 for a game, and on top of that keep paying again monthly to rent or play the game online :rolleyes:

I really do see the point to pay for WoW, they have to maintain the servers and added content, so I can accept the idea to pay monthly, just dont feel like need to charge $15.00, I think it certainly does not cost anywhere close to that to maintain the game and make money, but what do I know a Billion dollar business :)

But a game like Hellgate;London should NOT be 2x pay to play, why do I have to pay $60.00 for the game, and again keep on paying to be able to play ? What is that extra fee really giving me that games like NwN2 dont do ? I mean with Never Winter I can play the single player game, or CoOp game, and also go online in a persistant server with lots of players, while BioWare still patches the game, add's free content, and the servers are hosetd for free
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Does Bioware host the servers are do you? Last time I ran Nw it was hosting on my computer. Maybe theres a service i am unaware about though.
You cant really say Hellgate does not need a fee when the game is not out yet. Hell there has been so little info about that game we really dont know how the multiplayer works besides the fact that it has instanced maps. Nobody knows how much it costs to run the servers except the devs. Flagship said they will do regular updates. Time will tell how regular they are and if it warrants a monthly fee. I doubt they could live off just the copies they sell. They only have 1 game to sell. 15 bucks a month is just a little more when compared against the every 5-6month expansion system. WoW makes you pay for the expansion and a fee. Lineage 2 gave free expansions and had a monthly fee. Guild wars releases 50 dollar expansions that you need to buy so you get the better skills and stuff. Ya you don't need to buy them, but it would be rather stupid if you didn't.
Just because companies offer free multiplayer service doesn't mean its good. I would rather pay for a good game/service then a crappy service aka bnet. Also until Flagship officially says on the main site that the fee will be 15 bucks or however it will work, its just rumors and other bs.
 
uzor said:
Especially when they read a quote from the lead designer of the game as posted on a reputable news site? Sure, they have since backpedaled to try to get out of the situation, but that doesn't change what it was when this discussion started.

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Taken out of context. It's easy to misrepresent what someone said by taking a quote of of context, or does that mean it's true?

Even a "reputable" news site can get the story wrong. They are not infallible.
 
Fuck monthly fees. Everyone said WoW would be awesome with monthly fee's because you wouldn't have to pay for expansion packs. Well think again, you have to pay $40 for BC.

I was looking forward to Hellgate. Screw it to hell now.
 
MrGuvernment said:
We are allowed to complain as this is information we have been told, fact or not, people are allowed to give their opinions on it, dont like it, dont read it.
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QFT

Draax said:
Correct me if im wrong, but wasn't Roper one of the biggest proponents for the free multiplayer service we all know as battle.net? I guess everyone has their price.
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Yes, he was. As has been noted, this all seemed very "tacked on at the end to see if we can get away with it."

Now the company line is that HG:L may or may not be pay to play and it is under investigation.

Honestly, I think it was an attempt at cash-grabbing to see if they can get away with it. Forgive me for saying so, but they are starting to get a bit cocky. I'd hate to be reminded of another hype-riddled title named Dai-Katana. We really don't need shades of "Bill Roper will make you his bitch." Though to HG:L credit, there appears to be some gameplay there even at these early stages, which is more than could ever be said of Dai Katana.
 
Mark_Warner said:
"Most crucially, Roper noted that Hellgate: London is guaranteed to include some kind of free online mode that gamers will be able to access without any monetary commitment. "

From the Shack.
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Given all the back peddling and scizophrenic double talk from him and EA marketing in the last week,I'll believe that 'guarantee' when I see it.... :rolleyes:
 
Kind of a shame. This game has been free online since the first sneak peaks. I guess looking at WoW and salivating over monthly fees changed their minds. Then you throw in "what" it was like this all along" BS and people are a bit disillusioned.
 
WarriorX said:
They usually put out game cards in the stores. And why would they not trust a company with credit card info.
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Ah yes, cards good idea

and many MANY people dont trust companies with their credit card info, trust me, 6 years in the gaming industry and you find out just how paranoid people can be!
 
sculelos said:
Not for me...
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Yeah, too many hidden fees.

I was thinking about getting this, but if there's monthly fees than no.
For the casual gamer, paying a monthly fee in addition to the initial $40+ dollars is a turnoff. I wouldn't play it enough to justify the ~$15/month (IMO).
 
MrGuvernment said:
Ah yes, cards good idea

and many MANY people dont trust companies with their credit card info, trust me, 6 years in the gaming industry and you find out just how paranoid people can be!
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So these people never play pay to play games, never buy stuff on line. Over paranoia if you ask me. Only reason I see it is because they are afraid of sending that stuff over the internet. All you have to do is monitor your credit info to make sure no charges are made. You should do that regardless if you use it on line or anywhere. Install apps such as firewalls and virus scanners and you should be pretty safe.

I dont think big companies are going to go screw their customers if they use credit cards...
 
big_aug said:
If this game is going to be a legit FPS MMORPG, then I have no problem with fees. That is, a huge persistant world, large communities, large servers, content updates, etc, etc. I've been dying for an MMORPG with FPS qualities that is done right.

This isn't simply making maps, adding some guns, or something like that. To run a true MMORPG it does take quite a lot of money. I have no problem with paying a fee as long as the game is a good game.
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No, it's not a huge open non-instnaced world...It's pretty much designed like b.net/Guild wars, with cities/hubs, then the missions are instanced/randomly generated area's.
 
I never play over the net, so this doesn't bother me.

Why play multi player diablo over pre made landscapes anyway? Single player Diablo sounds great, multi player diablo sounds like a bowl of shit.
 
Godofdestrcution said:
I never play over the net, so this doesn't bother me.

Why play multi player diablo over pre made landscapes anyway? Single player Diablo sounds great, multi player diablo sounds like a bowl of shit.
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Multi player is for the coop. Same idea for Hellgate London. There is also PVP. D2 pvp sucks but maybe HGL will have decent pvp.
 
Godofdestrcution said:
I never play over the net, so this doesn't bother me.

Why play multi player diablo over pre made landscapes anyway? Single player Diablo sounds great, multi player diablo sounds like a bowl of shit.
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Umm...mp diablo was quite fun imo, it wasn't generated like Hellgate: london, which is pretty much (the misisons, etc) are 100% randomly generated (which imo can never compete with something a skilled artist/designer can do, computers just aren't that good at artistic things themselves).
 
arr4ws said:
sex is free
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No, it isnt

where do we start:

1. did you take them out to dinner or food ?
2. did you drive somewhere (gas) or taxi's / bus ?
3. did you buy them something nice ?
4. how long have you been together if dating someone ?

You are always paying for it in one way or another!
 
I wouldn't mind if we had to pay to play the game. As long as the game delivers overall. Less kids & boneheads to deal with that way =).
 
DarkLegacy said:
I wouldn't mind if we had to pay to play the game. As long as the game delivers overall. Less kids & boneheads to deal with that way =).
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WoW is the perfect example of how this is just not true.
 
Draax said:
WoW is the perfect example of how this is just not true.
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Never had any problems on WoW. I do know that it is true in some cases. I mind my own business in that game though & have a good time with the select few I do play with. I may have been cursed out a few times for getting to a chest first or so called KS'ing a certain mob. I don't let any of that crap bother me or let it bring down my gaming experience.
 
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