Since about mid-November, I've been hoping to bear some fruit of hope to my friends that bailed on this game. So I've stuck around the boards and played messenger to my friends since then. I've given my feedback, and I've gotten a sense for what Cryptic is doing with the game.

Now though.... wow. Cryptic is totally off their rocker. And from now on I'm pretty much just here for the lol-factor it seems. There's now no way in hell I'd ever convince any of my friends to come back to this game. There's just no frickin' way now. As much as a lot of us forum goers have disagreed about how to make this game better, it seems like many of us are wholeheartedly against the idea of paying Cryptic more money to play their half-arsed game.

But I have to say this: don't make Vibora Bay free. If they make it free now, they'll just look even more moronic than they already do to those of us that have already given up on them. "Doh... you mean dat yous don't wunt 2 paiz four a finusht end-gaim?" They've already smashed the hopes of so many players. The only redemption here would be to make Vibora Bay so lip-smackingly beautiful that people honestly think it is worth the money. The people that love Champions Online will pay for the expansion anyway. Cryptic will get their money from those people.

If they make it free now, it's just more indication that their management is sofa king we tar did. I can deal with developers wanting money. That's fine. But, if they get all wishy-washy and second guess every decision they make, that'll just make even more customers lose confidence in them. The best thing they can do is to stick by their decision and just make it actually worth the money they ask for. That's the tricky part, of course.

Should they have asked for money in the first place? Eh.. no, probably not. It would've been better to surprise us with competence in a free update. Now though, it seems like they're stuck with option #2: surprise us with their competence in a paid update. They need to learn to set the bar low and then wow us with more than we expected. Everything about Champions so far has been the other way around.

And yes, I'm sure my thread title probably ignited a few flamethrowers. But here's a good question: How many of you that canceled because of this Vibora Bay business will resubscribe if they reverse their decision and make it free? (I'm sure there are some, I'm honestly asking here.)

I'm not canceling because of this, but I'm sure as hell not paying for it. Maybe if it was like $5, but even then I'd have to think about it.

It makes more sense to make it free.

Making everything this new year free with the exception of those C-Store costumes, makes this indeed sound like a Legendary year. Making it free will attract people the game had previously lost, as well as new ones.

Charging for it only pushes us further and further away from them.

I already cancelled my subscription after hearing this news. I might resubscribe if they reverse the decision to make it a paid expansion.

It depends on whether it's released before my 6-month subscription ends in April, and whether I judge the new content to be enough to make the game worth the monthly fee. This game needs much more than one small zone with four levels of content in it -- but I have lost a lot of faith in Cryptic over the past few months.

I think people need to chill out and reserve judgement for when we have more information on the Expansion and all it entails. If its more than simply a new zone it might be worth a small fee like how EQ2 did with its mini add ons.

Right now we know there's a new zone and its for 37 - 40. We dont know anything else like does it add more Unity? How many Dungeons does it have? Does it add several new storylines for Nemesis? (which it sorely needs) Etc etc etc.

I'm an moderately displeased lifetimer and I'm reserving my judgement until we know more about what the add on entails. It would of been nice if it was free but atleast they gave us Nemesis Confrontation, Zombie Apocalypse, both the holiday events, several costume parts, they're revamping / making permante the bloodmoon event, & new crafting (tho retardedly grindy) things for travel for no extra charge.

Hell we dont even know if they might give us more free stuff long before this mini expansion even happens.

Everyone just jumps on the extreme bandwagon. You got the uber fan bois that could be sold a box of flaming poo and be happy because its from Cryptic and you have the other half of the spectrum the avid OMG DOOM Sayers. Both sides needs to shut up or atleast have some common sense and see what happens.

Btw this doesn't change my personal opinion that someone at Cryptic has ilke a Giant F for Fail scrawled into his forehead by now and its slowly spreading to the rest of the company.

Pre-emptive strike to the Vibora Bay fiasco.

The only good Vibora Bay content update is a free one.

You're the one who needs to shutup, because I cannot respect someone who tries to silence those who they don't agree with.

Everyone's freaking out on the ends of extreme over minimal information. If they post a whole of info over time or soon and its still not more than what we know now I could see the freak out.

I can't respect someone that supports Freaking out and Ass Hatery over Minimal information. You might as well stand on the side of the street with a giant sign that says "THE END IS HERE WE"RE ALL GOING TO HADES"

I think if people simply chill out it could become a more productive debate on the worry and concerns this brings up for anyone.

btw I'm not really trying to shut up the masses or i'd be on every thread. I think people just need to chill out and get more information so we know what course is the best course to take against Cryptic before we all /quit or fanrage ourselves into idiocy.

Kindly read my threads, there is no "Freaking out" or "Ass Hatery" in them.

Your making a generalization, not everyone is doing one or the other, some are in the middle. People are making valid points left and right in those threads.

Ah, I think those that 'freak out' do so because the track record has been kind of low since the get-go. It's not even a matter of quantity of info, its a matter of what is already in front of people that they can see. And it isn't good. The game already lacks content, and now we are going to have to pay for content...with no word on any other content otherwise. Not a good sign.

Edit: Completely misread your question. Let me retype this response...

I think I stand a good chance of resubscribing if they make it free. I love the basic premise of the game between the customization and the combat. The things that frustrate me the most are the bugs, the campy content and monotony of it, and the extortion against my pocketbook for all the MT content I can't keep up with.

If the update was free, it'd not only address the content concern but also give me hope against the last concern.

But if it's not free, that fee now becomes a deterrent to resubscribing. I've already quit and resubscribed before, but last time I didn't have to pay an extra price above my monthly $15 to enjoy the game.