The Hopeless Gamer

You may have seen the word "free" pop up here more frequently than in the past. It's no coincidence; since Free RPG Day just a few weeks ago, free has been on my mind an awful lot. I intend to continue my Free Hump Day posts, but today's discussion of free is going in a different direction.

I've become quite smitten with the PC gaming trend of Free to Play, or F2P release of games where companies offer a completely free entry point into their game and support the game's existence through extensive advertising and/or "microtransactions" where players are able to purchase superficial upgrades, access to new, exclusive areas in which to play, or character/play options which are just funky and weird for the sake of being funky or weird. Really, any aspect of a game from additional character slots in MMO's like Champions Online to weapon options and better ammo in F2P first-person shooters like Alliance of Valiant Arms could be made into a way for the company to make a profit on the game.