Tribes 3: Rivals will learn from Ascend monetisation "mistakes" and might let you build your own singleplayer

rockpapershotgun.com:

Prophecy's Tribes 3: Rivals broke cover earlier this month - or more accurately, came skiing out of cover with a flag in one fist and an electric crossbow in the other. The developers have now shared a bit about how it differs from Hi-Rez's Tribes Ascend, released way back in 2012, which we adored.

Created by a former Hi-Rez subsidiary that includes several of the original Ascend leads, the new shooter retains its celebrated predecessor's emphasis on agility and momentum, but will be a premium game sold for $20 with separately sold cosmetics, rather than a free-to-play affair. It also won't have a singleplayer campaign, much to the probable consternation of Tribes: Vengeance fans, and the indifference of everybody else.

All that comes from a new PCGamer interview, in which an unnamed Prophecy spokesperson acknowledged that "we made some mistakes in how we monetized Ascend in the past, and have learned from them." The reference here is to the ability to buy weapons, which some players decried as a pay-to-win format (others disagreed, as you can see from this ancient Reddit thread). You won't be able to purchase "gameplay items" in Rivals, and some of the cosmetics, which include emotes and voice packs, can be unlocked rather than bought. Shazbot?

Prophecy are also developing more robust networking options, and are keen to get newcomers involved with the series. "Another important new area for the game is matchmaking and ranked gameplay, which were not available in Ascend, but will be a core component of Tribes 3," the developers went on. "This updated approach will keep matches more competitive and fair, and will allow players to compete for the highest ranks. Additionally, we'll make Tribes 3 more approachable for new