Speaking to TVG, Codemasters Online Gaming's Ed explains their strategy behind the new payment system...

A few days ago Codemasters confirmed its payment details for the forthcoming MMO, Archlord. Christened PayPLUS, the system is set to offer gamers a three-tier pricing tier allowing them to choose the one best suited based around varying levels of in-game credits and prices.

Speaking to TVG, Codemasters Online Gaming's Director of Marketing (and ardent Bristol City fan) Ed Relf explained the company's reasons behind the system, commenting that:

"The PlayPLUS system has been designed primarily to enable us to substantially lower the fixed monthly subscription of ArchLord. Rather than the typical higher priced subscription fees of other games each month the PlayPLUS system has enabled us to dramatically lower that monthly subscription to just £6.99."

The strategy did seem to suggest that the MMO may have been open for a rich/poor class system to develop within the gameworld, something that Relf strongly rebuked, "It would never be our intention to create a class divide within ArchLord and we are confident that this system will not create such a scenario," before adding, "It's important to point out here that ALL players will receive free credits each month to purchase enhancements regardless of package and we shall be releasing the list of these enhancements shortly."

A key concern voiced by many is that it rewards paying over playing, a view that was quickly dismissed by Relf, who claimed: "PlayPLUS rewards commitment and not paying players. A player willing to put the time into playing ArchLord will always progress faster in the game than a player willing to purchase extra in-game credits."

COG has been very open in its plans to expand its portfolio in the future, so we asked whether PayPLUS would be a system that the company would be interested in pursuing post-Archlord:

"This particular system works extremely well with ArchLord and the way the game mechanics work and this was primarily the decision behind implementing the PlayPLUS system into the game."

However, Relf is open to other business models, so PayPLUS may not be rolled out across COG's entire portfolio.

Promising that PlayPLUS will evolve to meet the demands of gamers, Relf advised anyone wishing to test out the game and voice their opinion, to sign up to the BETA at www.archlordgame.com.

TVG would like to thank Codemasters' Ed Relf and Dean Scott for answering our questions; look out for more on ArchLord soon.