No More (Poor) Heroes: City of Heroes Goes Free-to-Play

Posted 06/22/2011 at 12:18am | by Nathan Grayson

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What's that in the sky? It's a bird! It's a plane! Or maybe it's a cloud shaped like a giraffe. Whatever. The sky's pretty uninteresting, generally speaking. Down here on ol' terra firma, though, NCSoft has decided to give MMO longtimer City of Heroes the free-to-play treatment. Take that, the sky! Details after the break.

Villainous subscription fees will go out the window during the game's upcoming Issue 21: Convergence update.  Current subscribers, of course, will have the option to continue as VIP players, which will open up “more features, services, and rewards in addition to what they have already received.” Failing that, however, free players will hardly be left high-and-dry.

“A free player can achieve maximum character level (Level 50) in the game and can choose from among eight Archetypes (classes). Free players can create up to two characters (total) and play as Heroes in Paragon City or Villains in the Rogue Isles. Free players can join in most Task Forces, Strike Forces, Trials, and raids. However, certain content and rewards are reserved for VIP players only,” reads City of Heroes Freedom's newly rechristened FAQ. 

Thankfully, the game's notoriously meaty free update “issues” aren't going to become fondly remembered collector's items any time soon. “City of Heroes Freedom lets Paragon Studios continue to support free issue launches and major seasonal events that expand the lore of the City of Heroes universe,” the FAQ explained.

So yeah, it's pretty tough to complain. Why, with nearly every MMO on the market going all pow, biff, zot on their subscription fees, you'll probably never see the sky again. Oh well. We'll be sure to let you know about any particularly exciting cloud giraffes.