Where did you hear this? It has been stated repeatedly by the devs that at least some of the basic Ork faction is free to play. EDIT: Read the new FAQ. I'm not sure what they mean by their "explanation" of how the game's prices work - what the next-lowest form of the game is (bare minimum, talking one open character slot with unlocked progression). Still the basic game is F2P. I just made an assumption on how much it would cost to get a character slot for Eldar to use a Vyper with that might be wrong.
Some of the basic ork faction is not the base game, from the FAQ: "What business model will the game use?Eternal Crusade will be available for digital purchase, with a free-to-play option we call “Free-to-Waaagh!”. By purchasing a copy of the game, you will have access to it forever with no need for a subscription. There will be post-launch expansions as well as a cash shop for aesthetic customizations and side-grades. If you don’t want to buy a game key, you can still try the Free-to-Waaagh mode and play Eternal Crusade as an Ork Character. In contrast to the premium Ork progression, some options will be locked off, but you’ll be able to go anywhere and fight for the Waaagh! If you like it, but don’t want to pay the full price, you can unlock some of the missing options with micro-transactions."
It does if it locks off a critical strategic unit from any kind of use ingame. I was somewhat ambiguous about the actual gameplay affect an exclusive assault bike would have - it strikes me as a fairly basic upgrade, and I opposed it mostly on conceptual grounds and the exclusion of fun gameplay, rather than as a power upgrade or iconic vehicle exclusion. But the Viper is both incredibly iconic and has a unique roll in eldar strikeforces. It's more akin to making, say, the SM land speeder founders only. It's the perfect flanking vehicle - I don't know how anyone can say it'll be balanced against jetbikes because it's apples to oranges - the rotating heavy turret is made for hit and run flanking attacks that jetbikes simply won't be able to perform. I actually mentioned the viper as a sarcastic example of the worst possible implementation of founders only vehicles about a month ago in Unique Gameplay Elements - I never would have guessed that it would actually turn out this way. I've already got founders so this is less about me than as the eldar vehicle ecosystem as a whole - if we need vipers to launch a flank attack as the main force approaches, anybody should be able to pull one and help out. I can hope this is just a skin that will have a game-unlocked alternative, but they haven't said anything to that extent thus far and I'm fearing the worst.
Well, I still can't agree with you on principle as to the second-class citizen bit, but I do share your concern of having a 6 month to a year delay in others being able to buy it - I think it's generally bad for the faction and gameplay as a whole. I might also be a bit blase about it because I've never used them in TT. I have a footy army.
That's a specious argument to say the least. Firstly the normal player is paying for something... the game! Not to mention the monthly subscription ontop of that. Secondly having what may well be considered pretty central game content like iconic 40k vehicles and units only available via a second layer of paygating is not only an extension of the same kind of dubious business practise which gave us day 1 DLC, but more importantly tells the customer that the game they bought is not the entire game and if they want the full game they will either need to wait a really long time (in the MMO world that's potentially the game's lifetime) or better yet pay through the nose. Having to pay extra, over and above the cost of the game and subscription, simply to gain access to units that are very much a central part of a race's army list sends a very bad signal about bE's real approach to the customer - Remember talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words. If you think that kind of business practise is fine, well more fool you.
Monthly subscription? AFAIK nope, no monthly sub. Unless you want it of course...they have that kind of setup in the store. The FAQ did kind of throw a wrench in my argument, since we don't know now what it'll cost for a full character slot. Also, we have no idea if the non-founder Vyper will be pay only or if Req points are earnable in game. So here's my suggestion for you - don't call anybody a fool unless you're damn sure you know what you're talking about and not just working off of a bunch of assumptions. You fool.
Listen, we can argue about that stuff all day, and it doesn't really matter what we call it. I do agree that whatever you call it, the base game/trial/demo/F2P portion sounds like its going to be more limited than I had hoped.
