Following Senior Staff Writer Chris Tom's editorial about Champions Online's big change, Executive Producer Shannon "Poz" Posniewski reached out to talk a little bit more about this soon-to-be free-to-play MMO.

ZAM: With this announcement of free-to-play, many players have drawn the natural lines of comparison between Turbine and Cryptic, notably that Turbine seems to have a very different view of the free-to-play model than Cryptic. One recurring problem that some players have raised with CO's current plan is that with games like DDO or LOTRO, players will often purchase, say, $50 worth of adventure packs and content out the door so that they can work through it as they see fit. In other words, Turbine sees F2P gaming as giving players the ability to choose pay for (and play) their game; more active 'hardcore' players can subscribe for a better deal, while players who have less time can get more 'bang for their buck' by simply purchasing content a la carte. With Champions Online, however, I've argued that it feels as though Silver players will constantly feel like "second-rate citizens," in that even if they spend more money at the C-Store than a subscriber does on a monthly basis, they will never be able to play the full game of Champions Online, just because they choose to play CO via its F2P route. What went into making a decision like this?

Posniewski: I think our game is very different than those games, and the same approach would not have worked. We looked hard at what makes Champions Online special. We looked at the feedback we've received since Champs launched to see what players had problems with. And, obviously, we looked to see where players were likely to spend money to get something extra.

We found that many players liked the action of beating up bad guys in Champs, but they sometimes got stymied when they got to choosing powers. There are many, many power choices and some are not as good as others. There wasn't enough structure there to help players make great heroes. To address this, we came up with the idea of Archetypes. Archetypes operate much like classes do in a typical MMORPG. They define what abilities the hero gets over time. They guarantee that the hero is balanced, powerful and fun to play.

Doing this gives us a way to bring more casual players into Champions and make sure that they'll have good builds. These builds are not weak or underpowered. One of the main focuses of Beta is verifying that they are good builds (and modifying them until they are). We've already made several changes suggested by our beta players that make archetypes more fun and thematic.

We hope that players who really like Champions Online will want to get more into it and subscribe. That opens up the option to freely choose whatever powers they want. We think subscribers will play Archetypes as well as free-form heroes because they are very easy to just hop in and play with. In addition, they provide a baseline set of builds for PvP and teaming.

But no one has to subscribe to get the full experience of Champions Online. For free, you can fully level up way and play in all of the main zones. And, of course, you have complete control over your hero's costume. I think Champs gives away a lot more than other games do.

ZAM: As of right now, players will have access to eight free archetypes in the beginning, with the option of purchasing other archetypes, or even "Gold archetypes." Will these purchasable Archetypes just be more specialized power-sets, or will there ever be a gold archetype that allows for, say, two or three "custom" powers, while the rest are standardized?

Posniewski: (We've renamed "Gold Archetypes" to "Special Archetypes" in an effort to reduce some confusion regarding the name.)

There will be eight free Archetypes at launch which cover the main roles that one typically finds in MMORPGs (tank, DPS, support and common blends). Over time, we'll be adding new "Special Archetypes" that revolve around other themes and roles. Free-to-play players will need to pay to unlock them, but subscribers can access any of them for free. At first, they will be constructed like the free archetypes, but it's possible that there will be exceptions to this rule in the future.

That said, as we go through Beta, we are also evaluating the choices (or lack thereof) that an archetype has. We may decide to put some more choice into all archetypes.

ZAM: To end on a positive note, nobody can doubt the confidence you have in this F2P shift for Champions Online. What do you think players should be most excited about with this change, and what do you have to say to any of the naysayers?

Posniewski: I'm excited about having more people out there dispensing justice! Whether they pay anything or not, I love to see people enjoy the game we made. Likewise, I think players will like having new people to play and group with. The community surrounding MMORPGs thrives when there are many people to draw from.

Most nay saying seems to revolve around Archetypes being weak. That's certainly not the intent, and I don't think it's true. First and foremost, Champions is about being a superhero and Archetypes are in no way short on that score. When free-to-play launches, anyone who wants will be able to come and see for themselves. I think they'll find that it's a great game-- as an Archetype or a free-form hero.

ZAM: And that's all I have for now! Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down to answer my questions, and best of luck with Champions Online going free-to-play!

Posniewski: Thank you!