Free to play, Micro Transaction Games

    One thing I've began to love about these free to play, micro-transaction games is the liveliness of the community's. The two games that have caught my time, money and attention, are Battlefield Heroes, made by an EA company DICE (Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment), and Project Powder, created by a game design studio in San Francisco, California., simply called Outspark.

   Currently, these games are my favorite to play due to involvement and attention that community members are given, as an example Battlefield Heroes holds regular contest anyone can participate in, including art contests like the "wish you where here!" postcard design contest. Also things like creative writing contests, and more, are held by neighboring community fan sites. In game prizes are awarded to the winners, based on a panel of judges, who are members of the community. Another great example, is when I recently attended an in game event for Project Powder, called "The Last Attacker", it evolved a basic GM or "Game Master" gathering people for a battle race, one of the game types. They gave out free, rare, and hard to get goodies!

    Both games have regular news and updates on their official web sites, and twitter posts, updating any and all fans, who want to be a part of the fun. The fantastic thing about games like Battlefield Heroes, and Project Powder, is that there are people behind the wheel, working together, to make these games enjoyable, and actually worth paying for, even though they are free to play. Those people also involve themselves in the communities, instead of just hiding from the fans of their creations. The community's in both games are alive and well, and the games are being updated and added on-to on a regular basis. All of these factors can be greatly appealing, to someone looking to belong in real online communities.

    Personally,  as a long time hardcore gamer, or someone  who has played many video games, over a long period of time, I have grown to dislike certain games simply due to their lack of after-market support, and over all community exposure and style. So, as a message to anyone looking for a new community, a free game, or just something to do with free time, check out both of these amazing games, and take part in their active community contests and events, because they make you really feel like you belong to something, instead of being treated like a mindless consumer.
  

Project Powder

Battlefield Heroes