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Battlefield: Heroes No Longer Free to Play?
EA and developer DICE have changed the internal pricing structure for free-to-play title Battlefield: Heroes. The move appears to be an attempt by EA to drive more players towards spending their real-life money for items in the game in lieu of using the earned in-game currency.
Although it's free-to-play, weapons and items in the game have to be bought either using ValorPoints (VP) or Battlefunds. Players earn VP simply by playing the game. Battlefunds, on the other hand, have to be purchased with real money. EA has upped the amount of VP it takes to get stuff while simultaneously lowered the cost of Battlefunds. Thus, players will now have to grind for items or pay money for weapons and items they were previously earning just through normal playing.
The pricing change has had an immediate effect on the game and its players, with some complaining that it's now too focused on paying for Battlefunds to point where Heroes is no longer a free-to-play title since the grind commitment for VP has become untenable.
You can't argue with EA or developer DICE's need to make money on a product, but does this ruin the game for any Battlefield: Heroes out there? It will be interesting to see if this changes the game's community in the future. Will the game die out or simply find a new audience?
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