http://kotaku.com/5416592/battlefield-heroes-is-practically-ruined

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As a regular player of the game, I've had some kind things to say about Battlefield Heroes. As an online game, however, things can change at the drop of a hat. And EA just dropped the hat.

The game's economy, which had always walked the tight-rope between allowing people to play for free/very little and encouraging people to spend money, has this week been turned on its head. And the game's rather sizeable player base is upset.

See, many items in the game used to be available in one of two ways: valor points (VP), which you earned in combat and through playtime, and BattleFunds (BF), which were earned by spending real cash. Sure, some superficial things like outfits were BattleFunds-only, but all the important stuff - like better weapons - could be earned solely through consistent play.

Not anymore. EA have made sweeping changes to the game's online store, drastically raising the cost of almost everything bought via VP and lowering the price of almost everything bought via BF. "Rentals" have also been altered, so that important items can only be leased for 1-3 days, not for entire months as was previously possible.

This means that, according to some user calculations posted over on Ars Technica, "the amount of rounds you need to play each day to keep ONE weapon [is] about 60, which is about 5 hours playtime, every day". Obviously, that's not going to happen.

Which means the game, which by all accounts had been doing just fine allowing people to play for free then charging for the odd outfit or upgrade (example: I'd spent around $20 on it so far), is now for all intents and purposes subscriber-based, with those electing to play the game for free - which was one of the main "selling" points of Heroes in the first place - locked on the outer and stuck with the game's crummy standard weapons.

Makes you wonder, if EA felt the need to start squeezing players for microtransactions so drastically and so suddenly, whether the game was actually doing as great as we'd been led to believe..."

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I played Battlefield Heroes for a short time over the summer. It's okay for a free game, but these changes have sealed the deal that I'll have no interest in returning to the game. If I recall, they had said that they weren't going to charge people so they can have an advantage and outside of being able to buy experience boosts that held true when I was playing. Big advantages for people who spend real money incoming?

Oh well, it was decent while it lasted. If there's one thing that I'll fondly remember, it's the theme song.

They responded with this in the official forum:

http://www.battlefieldheroes.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=88636&pid=939699#pid939699

I played about 3 or 4 rounds and then never again.
Okay for a free game, but not on par with other games.

Yea, it's okay, but that's about it.

It had a nice TF2 like charm to it though just without the blood and gore.

I find this move a bit bizarre. Originally when I heard about this game I thought it was going to be ad-supported in addition to paid DLC content. The only ads I've seen in game are for paid BFH content. For me, the idea of a free to play game that as enjoyable in short bursts as some full price games is what got me playing originally. It's fun, and for someone who doesn't play very often, the fact that you could get the same stuff as paid players (sans double XP perk and superficial costumes) made it feel like at least somewhat of a level playing field.

Now, however:

The purchase options for regular guns are simply broken unless you pay. Before it was 45 or so for a week, or 170 (VP) for a month. Now it's 150 for a day, or 450 for 3 days. Not to mention that they introduced more powerful guns for paid players which means anyone who is new and chooses not to spend money is probably going to get destroyed online. "Free to play" is now very misleading as they force everyone to pay up just to keep their heads above the water.

Seems like they killed the entire interesting premise of the game. I haven't played in a while though. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

It was a really fun game, I was in the closed BETA and played it a lot. It has a nice charm and some really fun abilities! But it was unbalanced and there were a lot of cheaters, so I stopped playing...