http://www.leagueoflegends.com/pages/summoner_faq

This game doesn't look to be demigod's competitor anymore now that it's free.  I've been waiting for the beta ever since I heard of this game last year.

Yet I got into the Heroes of Newerth beta first which I heard nothing off.  Heroes of Newerth (a dota clone) is awesome, the nda has been lifted for it this week. 

wow, didn't see this coming

http://forums.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=7298 (official site)

I'd rather it be retail..  Now it's just about who spends the most on the micro transactions.

uhh.... my interest just dropped to zero. "invest for success!" is not my idea of a fun game.

I had a feeling this game wasn't going to be for me, now I guess it isn't going to be for a lot of people. Why do companies feel the need to ruin their games with an MMO style payment system when a retail release would have done quite well? I think they just shot themselves in the foot.

Actually, ShakeNBake, Champions will also be purchased. Due to the inherent nature of Champions, their skills and their play styles this creates holes in the balance system for people who do not have access to them. I, for one, don't like the idea of playing a game where I only have access to half the balance tree, while my opponents have access to the other half that may - or may not - counter my selections entirely. It's a horrible concept.

One way of thinking of it is that you can pretend to be buying the game when purchasing these points...  But then it's no fun when you get the upper hand of everyone..  I like an even battle field

edit: it appears I'm wrong and that it truly is simply for looks. 

Zileas	Today, 06:38 PM
Director of Systems Design   Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 953	Quote: Originally Posted by SquishyBrains I think somebody should clear this up once and for all. If a person were to purchase everything you possibly can for this game, would they have any more options that affect gameplay than a person who pays nothing and unlocks everything possible. Will Clans be available to everyone? This sounds too good to be true. Is it as good as it sounds, or better? The way you word certain things makes it sound like you're trying to be tricky. "This program is totally free!!!!" *Download and install* "Please purchase the official license to make this product work ~ $100" That's just an extreme example and honestly there's no harm done in DLing the game and finding out for yourself. Yes, the person who plays a lot and pays us $0 will have everything that the guy who pays us money but plays a moderate amount does except: 1) He will be missing some champion SKINS (not champions, but goth annie, black minotaur, plus more to come). 2) He may be missing a few minor convenience features. What they will have in common at that point is: 1) Access to all champions 2) Access to all runes (the hardcore guy who pays $0 may have access to more realistically) 3) Max level summoners 4) Access to the new maps, matchmaking modes, etc as they come available.

It appears I stand corrected. My apologies ShakeNBake.

Interesting business move then, now I'm curious to see if it's as good as they think it is - if it is, people will gladly put down the money.

Isn't this just another WC3 mod? why would anyone pay for that.

I think it's a good move.  Battlefield Heroes, a free fps game by EA that came out last month, has reach 1 million registered users in one month.   

Demigod, a retail release game after 3 months has sold at most 200,000 copies. 

So the community will be much much larger.  A person who hasn't paid doesn't not gain an advantage.  Although a paid account gets access to all heroes right away while the free acount has to unlock them.

Just like Battlefield heroes, a paid account gets more costumes.  The free accounts needs to unlock the weapons by playing more. 

In game advertising... nothing good will come of this.

Yes, I am still skeptical of this business model as well but I am putting my hopes on Riot Games. So far they have lived upto everything they have set out and stated they will do during the beta process. Yes, I am one of their beta testers and I also happen to beta test HON which is what it is, a dota replica but both games are really good and have an awesome feel to it.

Also a little insider information states their pre-orders are selling like hotcakes and so far the business model seems to be working, I will make sales of pre-orders available oncee their NDA has been lifted.

Also even though the game revolves around a micro-transaction system, a non paying costumer does not gain any disadvantage over a paying costumer regardless of how colourful his champion skins are, so far they seem to stick to this notion but only time will tell.

What can possibly go wrong with LOL being free? We will find out and I will keep the DG community informed as well.