Free-To-Play = The Future

Castrum - Now that the Age of WoW has come and gone, it seems Western developers are waking up to the reality of lucrative microtransactions and removing barriers to entry in their MMOs (and other assorted genres):

Wondering why going "free to play" is so trendy right now? Consider MMO Age of Conan. In May, it launched a F2P version. It's since doubled its revenues and increased subscriber numbers.

While this can lead to serious two-tier systems of gameplay, personally I welcome F2P. I'm so sick of paying $50+ for an MMO just to see it suck, lose subscribers en masse, and/or shut down a few months (or years) after launch.

If anyone's looking for a decent action-oriented MMO that's F2P, City of Heroes is going F2P later this year. I've put in about 6 years of time and money into the game already, and I still find it vastly different compared to other MMOs out there: http://na.cityofheroes.com/en/news/freedom/freedom_overview.php

http://kotaku.com/5829868/this-is-why-games-are-going-free-to-play

Trade Hats For Games (And Other Hats) In TF2

Castrum - Looks like the microtransaction gravy-train rumbles onwards:

Does your Team Fortress 2 backpack runneth over? With the newly launched Steam Trading Beta, you can turn your excess in-game TF2 items into other in-game items or, more importantly, a gifted copy of Left 4 Dead.

How does it work? Well, first, Steam users must first opt-in to the Steam Trading Beta. Then, should they have a Team Fortress 2hat, weapon, badge, footwear item or can of Crit-a-Cola that another user may covet, they can trade said virtual item for, say, a gifted copy of some other Steam game. Just look for other players who have opted into the beta via Group Chat or your Steam Friends List to get your trade on.

I will say, however, that this is refreshingly non-corporate-focused in nature. I'm glad to see that Valve is doing something with its customers in mind, rather than its bottom line.

http://kotaku.com/5829334/now-you-can-trade-team-fortress-2-hats-for-actual-video-games