• EA Makes Command & Conquer: Generals 2 Free
    117 replies, posted
[quote] Electronic Arts is transforming Command & Conquer: Generals 2, first announced last year, into a free-to-play title simply called Command & Conquer. That doesn’t mean Generals 2 is going away, it’s just not called Generals 2 anymore. It’s part of a Command & Conquer platform that, for EA, appears to be a big initial step toward reinventing its venerable real-time strategy franchise. The news perhaps isn’t as shocking as it once might have been. Free-to-play games are common these days, including online shooters, MMOs and DotA-style games amongst many others. For EA VP and general manager Jon Van Caneghem, this move was the next natural step. "We’ve seen what online has been able to do for RPGs, for FPS games, for puzzle games, and the like—what I’ve been interested in is what can online do for strategy games? To that end, we’ve been developing a platform for Command and Conquer games with Generals 2 as the lead product on that platform, focusing on having a single identity across the franchise to bolster social ties and also providing us a way to add and update the games constantly over time.” “The platform itself also offers several other advantages to players and developers. With a lower barrier to entry, more people can experience our game and gain access to the cutting-edge visuals, sound and destruction of a full, AAA strategy game – for free. This live service approach also makes developing games more exciting as we are constantly responding and reacting to community feedback to deliver content that they care about.” As of yet, no specific payment structure has been determined. “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.” [img]http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/stg.ign.com/2012/08/Command_Conquer_Screen1-610x343.jpg[/img] The Generals portion of this new Command & Conquer will still be built with Frostbite 2, though it appears to be too early to get a sense of the exact amount of content that will be included at launch. “The content that we have already created for Generals 2 will be part of this new free-to-play experience. We aren’t ready to discuss specifics about factions and units, but we are building an experience that you’d expect from a traditional Command & Conquer game, with the advantage of continuously building new content based on player and community feedback.” Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a single-player portion anymore, a feature that seemed to be a prominent part of the game the last time we had a chance to ask about Generals 2. This new Command & Conquer will also require you to be connected online at all times. “At launch, the focus will be on multiplayer as we are currently focused on building a fun, high quality RTS experience that we want to get in your hands on as soon as possible. From there, we will continuously evaluate additional content based on a variety of player feedback.” So perhaps there could be single-player content some time later? It’s certainly an interesting approach for the franchise, and one that’s perhaps better suited for the rapidly changing world of PC gaming. For now, EA has no plans for retail distribution of the game and has “nothing related to consoles to announce at this time.” Hopefully EA will be able to share more details soon about gameplay and pricing structures with this reinvention of its RTS distribution model. “Command & Conquer is a destination for players to go to experience the Command & Conquer universe and that has the potential to extend beyond Generals. Though it starts with Generals next year, Red Alert, Tiberium and beyond will serve as additional content offerings for the game.” Interested? Then sign up for the beta. If the link doesn't work, the site should be live soon. Also, here's the initial reveal trailer in case you missed it when Generals 2 was first announced: F2P trailer: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_LwAA2keM8[/media] Original CnC Generals 2 trailer: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2GfH1AosaY[/media] Beta sign ups - [url]http://www.commandandconquer.com/free/[/url] [/quote] Source: [url]http://au.ign.com/articles/2012/08/15/ea-makes-command-conquer-generals-2-free[/url] TL:DR Command and conquer generals 2 renamed to just Command and conquer, will be a F2P title with always on DRM, no single player component (as of yet). People already pissed about it. CnC Generals 2 already had pre-orders available on Origin so I'm guessing they won't be too pleased about this.
Guess EA is going all out on the F2P/P2W model.
I stopped playing the franchise after Generals.
Well that's the end of that
Normally I stick up for EA, since they are doing what businesses tend to do. But they can fuck themselves right up the arse for this, total bullshit. A game I was really looking forward to, completely ruined. Bollocks.
[QUOTE=mcattack1092;37248750]with always on DRM[/QUOTE] Why the hell does an F2P game need DRM?
[img]http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-suicide.gif[/img] Why did I let them get my hopes up for Command and Conquer again :(
Ruined the game before they've even shown much of it. I was looking forward to this, not so much now.
And I thought they couldn't do worse than CnC4.
I guess this also means Singleplayer is out of the question, they can't profit from that. Christ, whats it going to be? Pay £10 to build this base, and an extra £5 to build units in it. FUCK.
Why on earth would you put DRM on an F2P game?
[QUOTE=mac338;37248787]Why the hell does an F2P game need DRM?[/QUOTE] If it's a multiplayer game I don't see why not.
Why rename it Command and Conquer don't sully a once decent franchise with more of this shit.
First STALKER 2, now Generals 2. Damnit EA, stop raping Command and Conquer...
Massive disappointment.
[QUOTE=mac338;37248787]Why the hell does an F2P game need DRM?[/QUOTE] So it doesn't get pirated, duh.
Generals 2 was the one EA game I was actually looking forward to. Now it's just another vehicle for farming money. For fuck's sake.
It sucks that EA is horrible with F2P games. All of them are horribly p2w and most of them are just remakes of other games.
Why does everything have to be fucking free to play now? I just want a normal game where I get everything when I buy it rather than having half the fucking game inaccessible unless I pay some stupid fucking, over priced subscription fee. I really, really hate the new F2P bandwagon, I just want to buy my games and get the full thing like I used to be able to.
[QUOTE=BigSmokeDawg;37248885]First STALKER 2, now Generals 2. Damnit EA, stop raping Command and Conquer...[/QUOTE] What does EA have to do with STALKER 2?
Oh god, why.
I miss Westwood, one of the few game developers I truly miss.
NO
EA is such a fucking joke, they can't walk a single step without screwing a franchise, a game or their customers.
Why don't EA just make a HD version of Generals /w Zero Hour added in and include some elements from the Shockwave mod, then resell it for $15 and have it sell like hotcakes.
[QUOTE=BigSmokeDawg;37248885]First STALKER 2[/QUOTE] Why does people keep bringing unrelated things up when we're talking about EA, or EA when the topic is about unrelated things?
"Instant superweapon arm, just $0.99 per usage!" "Put a tunnel network exit anywhere you wish for only $0.25!" "About to be destroyed? $0.5 heals all units and boosts damage for 15 seconds in the selected area!"
[QUOTE=Lizzrd;37248999]How the hell does this have anything to do with EA?[/QUOTE] I think he's more talking about the fact that loads of good games are all becoming free 2 play pieces of shit.
For anyone interested in how EA handles their F2P games, I suggest checking out Battlefield Play4Free and Need for Speed: World, two games that outright let you buy power. In Battlefield you can buy boosts that increase the damage you do and decrease the damage you take, while NFS lets you buy better cars than what you can get for ingame currency. Oh well, Generals 2 sounded neat, but not interested in more EA F2P garbage.
[QUOTE=Coffee;37248975]Why don't EA just make a HD version of Generals /w Zero Hour added in and include some elements from the Shockwave mod, then resell it for $15 and have it sell like hotcakes.[/QUOTE] Why don't they just make a HD version of RA 2 aka a good game.
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