C&C Generals 2 Becoming F2P Command & Conquer

Couchpotato

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EA announces Command & Conquer, a new free-to-play online strategy game (which they are calling a "destination"), saying this will now include the BioWare-developed project originally announced as Command & Conquer Generals 2. This is to launch next year, and they are currently signing up beta testers on this site, where they have more details, and this new trailer. Here's word:

An all-out war rages in Command & Conquer, as players take control of multiple factions, compete for resources, build up operation bases and lead massive batteries of tanks, soldiers and aircrafts into battle. With incredibly detailed units, fully destructible environments, dynamic physics and exhilarating visual effects, Command & Conquer is poised to re-define what gamers expect from a strategy game. Heralding feedback driven design, Command & Conquer will evolve and develop with an expanding array of new content based on community response.

Okay this just pisses me off now. I was excited about Generals 2 but now EA in there infinite wisdom has decided to make it into an F2P game. As if there isn't enough of them now.

Good job ruining another game series EA.>:O

Link-http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120815005458/en/EA-Announces-Command-Conquer-Free-to-Play-Destination-Powered
 
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GameSpot: The jump from packaged good to downloadable free-to-play game seems like a pretty fundamental change. What was the reasoning behind making the switch?

Jon Van Caneghem: When I joined EA, I shared a vision of moving the franchise to a digital direct-to-consumer platform—a single destination for Command & Conquer games making it easier to play with your friends and allowing us to more easily respond to feedback and update the games. Today is the official announcement of that platform, of that vision realized.

A live platform allows us to be more responsive to community feedback, delivering content that they care about. As developers, this sort of direct and evolving relationship with our audience excites us. Going free-to-play is the best model to use with these goals in mind, because eliminating the price barrier widens the audience and gives us a larger community to interact with.

GS: The name change from Generals 2 to the over-arching Command & Conquer (with the Generals universe being the first wave of content) suggests the free-to-play product is a new platform as much as it is a new game, a shell for the rest of the Command & Conquer universe to live within. How much of a shift in the way you approach the series is this?

JVC: "Platform" is definitely how we're approaching the development of Command & Conquer. This is more than a game; it is a free-to-play destination for gamers to access every Command & Conquer universe, from Red Alert to Tiberium and to where it all starts next year: Generals. This is a live service and we are committed to continually delivering content. Heralding feedback-driven design, Command & Conquer will evolve and develop with an expanding array of new content based on community feedback and activity, which is more than we can normally do when shipping a traditional boxed game, benefiting the consumer.


GS: This sounds ominous for the future of traditional Command & Conquer games. Has EA shelved the franchise as a boxed retail product?

JVC: Traditional Command & Conquer gameplay isn't going anywhere—we are simply adjusting our delivery model to one that allows more consumers to play it and allows us to provide content based on more accurate feedback. EA is committed to spearheading the industry's digital transformation. As a company, we believe that a direct-to-consumer relationship is meaningful and incredibly powerful. That said, we still have fans who want that boxed retail product experience, and we are not walking away from that any time soon. We still have exciting announcements in the pipeline that will satisfy exactly that type of gamer.

GS: Don't we already have a free-to-play Command & Conquer with Tiberium Alliances? What's the difference between the two games' target markets?

JVC: We are excited to have a great franchise that gamers and fans can experience on different levels and in different ways. Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances is a free, browser based strategy-MMO that introduces a new way for players to experience the Tiberium universe. With over 1 million players in less than three months since launch, the game has carved out a growing passionate community. This new Command & Conquer is a more traditional, full client RTS experience with high-definition graphics, real-time, fast-paced action, full destruction and a best-in-class physics system, all made possible with the power of the Frostbite 2 technology.

GS: How is the free-to-play integration going to work? Will it be the social-style free-to-play of Tiberium Alliances or something closer to a microtransaction-driven market, like League of Legends?

JVC: 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.


GS: Will there still be a single-player campaign told from multiple viewpoints? How will the business model work in single-player?

JVC: Not at launch. We are currently focused on building a fun, high quality RTS experience that we want to get in your hands as soon as possible. From there, we will continuously add additional content based on a variety of player feedback.

Well then I wont be playing anymore C&C games. The campaigns and weird FMV's are what made the series not online skirmishes.

Simply put No campaign = no sale or in this case no download.
 
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Another C&C? For a few seconds I thought this was Phenomic's game.
 
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JVC: Traditional Command & Conquer gameplay isn't going anywhere—we are simply adjusting our delivery model to one that allows more consumers to play it and allows us to provide content based on more accurate feedback. EA is committed to spearheading the industry's digital transformation.

Urgh.

GS: Will there still be a single-player campaign told from multiple viewpoints? How will the business model work in single-player?

JVC: Not at launch. We are currently focused on building a fun, high quality RTS experience that we want to get in your hands as soon as possible. From there, we will continuously add additional content based on a variety of player feedback.

Translation : "Please stop bothering us with questions about ancient, obsolete concepts like "single player" which actually interest no-one. We are solely focussing on the multiplayer part !"
 
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Translation : "Please stop bothering us with questions about ancient, obsolete concepts like "single player" which actually interest no-one. We are solely focussing on the multiplayer part !"

Sad thing is some developers actually think like that.:-/ Apparently Jon Van Caneghem is one of them. It's hard to grasp given his previous games.
 
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Yeah.. it uses the Frostbite 2 engine that was first featured in Battlefield 3. I'm somewhat curious to see what the minimum requirements are even though I have no intention of playing it myself.

I'd actually approximate the requirements BELOW battlefield3.

With RTS games you can get away with a 30FPS limit that would feel bad in an FPS game. (to a pc gamer, anyway :p) and also the default view just naturally has less visible at once.

P.S. This game looks better. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/659943965/planetary-annihilation-a-next-generation-rts
 
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I'm actually playing a bit of C&C3 at the moment. It's ok, but I tend to prefer the earlier games, particularly the first, which brings back some great memories.
Frank Klepacki's soundtrack is still oh so listenable. The Covert Ops also had some fantastically long and drawn out, difficult missions.

From what I've read and heard, I should avoid C&C4 like the proverbial tiberium plague. Opinions? Seems like the downward slide continues somewhat from this news.
I never played Generals either, for that matter.
 
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And they wonder why people hate them.most people still consider Ubisoft to be worst major publisher but EA is seriously catching up to them.
Bit off-topic Ubisoft announced that new Anno game is going to be F2P browser game so that is 2 strategy series ruined in one week.
 
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