BattleForge Is Now Free

BattleForge is fun, but never should have been a full-price retail release, simply because you have to pay to get the units you'll need to be competitive. OR, it should have had a fully-realized single-player game in addition to its multiplayer component. Without a serious single-player component, it relies entirely on its popularity within the community, which so far has been lacking.

I don't feel like it's a ripoff exactly, but its chances of success seemed limited from the beginning.

Ikthog22

@Helba: By that logic, everyone post id ripped off them for FPS. All because two companies make games in a genre, doesn't mean anyone is ripping off anyone.

To be fair, the company that made SAGA could be said to have ripped off Vibes with their MMORTS, Mankind, which is the original MMORTS.

Hey, you guys who make RTS obviously ripped of Dune II, right?

what I don't get is why the headline doesn't say "Battleforge now offers a free play version"
Sorry, but to me this looks much like an ad. Is this going to get daily business here?

@-MasterDex-: oh ok, but i saw that the box of the game now works like a "point box".. you buy the game and is like you have bought new cards and shit (from the game site)...
I played the demo long ago so i might play it and *maybe* take some advanced stuff if i really like the game

Buy the game it's great.
Free version = 32 cards (which are the 4 started decks). You can do a lot with these starter decks and start finding upgrades (PVE gives card upgrades).
$30 version = 32 cards + 3000bf points which is about $30 so really they are the same thing. the price will never go down without them devauling the points.

If you like a good RTS + the fun of deck building + RPG elements of upgrading your cards then this game is for you

Jabin Tangeman

@MosesMonster: Buy the game it's great.
Free version = 32 cards (which are the 4 started decks). You can do a lot with these starter decks and start finding upgrades (PVE gives card upgrades).
$30 version = 32 cards + 3000bf points which is about $30 so really they are the same thing. the price will never go down without them devauling the points.

If you like a good RTS + the fun of deck building + RPG elements of upgrading your cards then this game is for you

Jabin Tangeman

I only just switched to chrome and so far I like it more than Firefox. I might try out opera someday when I reinstall XP again.

But yeah Thank you Neer'mo!

@Helba: It's a cruel world and I can see why some people would be upset about it but surely the developers have copyrighted their style of game so they can file suit against EA if they are indeed being copyed.

-MasterDex-

@MosesMonster: Wow. Terrific. It's a good thing I just bought it on steam for $30 last week.

GUH.

@syafiqjabar: Also, if you collect a full set of cards in magic online, you can exchange them for physical copies of those cards.

@MosesMonster: Yeah, i'll give it a shot if they drop the entry fee on steam.

@-MasterDex-: Exactly. I know the developers (worked with them for a while, though I can't say what my job was - if you want that you can PM me), and we came up with the idea a long time before EA even thought about it.

They actually approached the company with loose talk of buying the game, but instead opted to buy out the Spellforce guys and have them make a competing game with their insane budget and EA-style rip-offitude.

So what this is, is a giant publisher saw an idea in the Indie community, modified it just enough that it was technically different, and then dumped millions of dollars they knew we didn't have into it.

@KotakuFreund: Owned by EA. Their full name is EA Phenomic.

-MasterDex-

@-MasterDex-: Still doesnt change the fact, that Phenomic is a small Studio.

KotakuFreund

@0xC001D00D: Not true. We have all the content already, from the beginning. We got the cards, etc from the start and also got 3000BFP.

-MasterDex-

@MydLyfeCrysis: Not really. For 30 quid, you got the full game and 3000 battleforge points to spend on new cards. The price of 2250BFP is 19.99 so it's not as if, we were ripped off.

-MasterDex-

@Sauce: That's completely untrue. I have no problem getting players for multiplayer PvE maps and no problem getting people to play against in PvP. Your trolling fails.

-MasterDex-

Your going to need to spend at least $40, if not more to get the game going. This is just a fancy way of saying extended demo.

PsycheE

@Elchris: EA did make Battleforge. Phenomic, the studio that developed it is an EA established internal studio.

-MasterDex-

@DeborahMedusa: The singleplayer mode is decent enough but without getting extra cards, you're fairly limited in what you can do.

-MasterDex-

@MydLyfeCrysis: No, because who paid for the game now can use their serial code to unlock a lot of more stuff, basically before you had to pay the game and then buy other cards online, now who paid has a shitload of new content, so everybody wins.

@Chew13acca: pass to Opera :P

ouch, it's still 49 eur on steam... wtf?

awesome! i tried the demo but the 40$ plus decks price tag was a big no-no

Wow, if I'd have paid for this I would be pissed off.

Stuck in an another unfortunate catch-22: No one is playing, because no one is playing.

And the people that did pay to play, just got played because there are no players (and a lack of single player fun).

@Helba: IMO, Saga and BattleForge are very different. Sure, they might both be MMORTS games, but the way they work is quite different. I won't say how.

@the-hypnotoad: I don't know, I was under the impression that Magic Online is very popular among Magic fans. But it plays identical to the physical version, with no flashy visuals or anything.

syafiqjabar

@Chew13acca: The site is bugged for chrome.

Right below the checkbox is a gray link you can barely (or not at all) read. Click that link. Good to go.

Neer'mo

I'm surprised EA don't do this for The Sims too. Release a free Sims with enough stuff for a subsistence existence and then flog gear in-game for $. Wouldn't stop them selling a retail version either with more stuff in it.

Same goes for Buzz!, Singstar etc. They could easily release a free version with a tiny bit of content and sell stuff that expands the experience for extra.

DrXym

@Cronoking: Everything's a Rip Off of MTG

BarbeQueQ

@Helba: Sorry dude, SAGA is a ripoff of a that's been out for over a decade. It's called pocket monsters D:

@Boozerz: Also, EA didn't make Battle Forge. It was developed by a German developer, EA just publish it.

@Helba: The games look and play quite differently. Battleforge induces less screaming in my eyes too.

Anyone else having a problem with the website? I get to the page, then it all fades, and i see a check box, and a blue button, which has 3 options - German, French, and what I assume to be some other language.

Ways around this? (I'm on Chrome)

Companies keep trying but I don't know if they will ever truly have a breakout hit with these online CCG type games. Too many people have a problem with shelling out cash to get virtual cards (although I'd rather have my cards on a hard drive than have stacks of those long boxes full of cards)

I've tried my share of these type of games, but I wonder if they might have more success just giving everyone 4 copies of each 'card' and instead making their money via monthly subscription (like $5/mo, $50/yr, something like that).

the-hypnotoad

I'm not a troll, but nobody seems to bring this up.

Battleforge is a ripoff of a game that's been out for over a year - it's called SAGA. ([www.playsaga.com])

Made by an indie developer, not some giant gorilla; why can't anyone support indie devs who actually care about their customers?

To anyone that has played this, is this game worth the download for just the single player mode?

DeborahMedusa

It's still $30 dollars on steam. I think I might wait to see if they change that price too. EA is slow on that front always.

EA seem to be bringing Freemium games to the west and for that I applaud them. I've been enjoying the Battlefield Heroes beta for the past month, and while it has its flaw's you can't complain with "free". I think I will have a pop on this even though I've had the demo sat on my desktop for two weeks. (too many bloody games)

I kind of saw that coming.

BarbeQueQ

@Dorikasu: Mircosoft has already applied this concept to the 360.
You must be one of those games who purchases one game a year am I right?

Vonhert

@dancingmad: No, just poorly written title. Ever since the majority of writers either left/quitted kotaku, the source of errors and inaccuries just keeps on piling up.

Vonhert

@PsycheE: That or save the pirates time to download something else without throttling their internet connection.

Vonhert

@0xC001D00D: Plus mediocore reviews to a somewhat already dying game.

Vonhert

@0xC001D00D: Or you can just download the game for free, apply the hacks, and win win situation for you. EA's game servers have some of the worst anti-hacking preventions out there so if you have probems with it, then you shouldn't be gaming in the first place.

Vonhert

@Sauce: Don't even worry about it, just f@nboys getting butt hurt because you insulted their favorite game. Even when it was first pirates, the game was still a joke and the torrents only kept active for like two weeks max.

Yes, Kotaku loves news about pirates so don't go acting like you're Mr. Right in everything.

Vonhert

I've downloaded it, but for some reason after it validates the updates, it exits out and asks me to send an error report. I'm bummed now.

EricLecarde

@Ikthog22:
I have all 200 cards and many duplicates and have not spend a dollar more than purchase price for the game.

Kicken

@Sauce:
Definitely, no problem finding people to play with.

Perhaps if you go to the Razorleaf server you might have a long wait time... but on Overlord, even waiting for 12p missions is insignificant.

Kicken

@Helba:
Oh cry some more.

I'm a Game Designer, and the first thing anyone in the field learns is that who thought of it first means nothing.

There is a reason you can't copyright a genre, you know. As long as the two games don't have the same name, same characters, and roughly the same plot, they aren't the same game.

And to extrapolate from RARGPHLAM's statement, RTS games spawn from Dune II, which was developed by Westwood, which was bought out by EA, and so this game SAGA is obviously a rip off of EA's genre of RTS games.

Kicken

Something tells me that EA Will make a shipload of money using this marketing strategy making people buy the cards

Dorikasu

@deanbmmv:
True you cant complain because it's free but what happens when you need to pay to get a weapon that is on par to your enemys one. ea way of balancing is one weapon shoot's more and does less damage the other one shoots less and does a lot of damage witch not always translate to balance.

Anner J. Bonilla

@Vonhert: Ever since the majority of writers either left/quitted kotaku, the source of errors and inaccuries just keeps on piling up.

I'm sorry, what?

As far as I'm aware, Crecente, Good, Plunkett, Bashcraft, Mcwhertor and whoever else I failed to mention are still here. You know jack shit about Kotaku and your lack of an avatar or friends and followers shows how new to the site you are. Stop trolling!!

-MasterDex-

@Vonhert: Those mediocre reviews are the opposite to general user feedback on the game if you bothered to look into it.

It's funny how pieces of shit with big marketing budgets get stellar reveiws only to be panned universally be actual gamers while smaller, more niche titles with little to no marketing budget tend to get lower scores, eh.
I wonder why that is? Hmmmmm.

-MasterDex-

@Vonhert: Jesus H Christ! You call yourself a gamer?! You disgust me! Crawl back into your cave.

-MasterDex-

@Vonhert: Battleforge is far from my favourite game but it's a decent game and having someone spout bullshit about it only serves to lower any chance of more sales which would mean more people to play with (even though, as I said, there's already plenty there).

And STFU about piracy. You sound like a console fanboy that has no clue about the PC industry. Go bleet somewhere else.

-MasterDex-

@Kicken: Well, maybe it's just my naiveté because I'm relatively new to the industry; but what SAGA was trying to do was create something new, that's all.

You're right in that you can't copyright a genre; but doesn't what I described still sound like a huge dick move to you?

Courting an indie developer, asking to see things, hinting at money, and then stealing the idea with your own budget?

Is there no honor in this industry?