The major update to this superhero MMO will also introduce changes to powers, advancement and content.

Champions Online is going free-to-play in 2011! Executive Producer Shannon Posniewski just posted a massive State of the Game address outlining this major change, and it's certainly a lot to digest. In addition to the subscription switch, the update will also bring changes to powers, advancement and content.

Let's focus on the powers first. The big change is that Cryptic will be introducing Heroic Archetypes to the game, which will specify which powers you earn as you level up. For example, choose "The Brute" Archetype and you'll be dishing out melee damage with some survivability thrown in the mix. There will be at least eight Archetypes available once the F2P update is live.

Free-to-play players will have to get used to Archetypes, because it's how they will create their characters. Players can either become Gold Members for $14.99 a month and get access to everything the game has to offer, or become free-to-play Silver Members with certain restrictions. One major restriction is that Silver Members can only create heroes by choosing an Archetype. You can check out all the differences between the Gold and Siver memberships on Cryptic's F2P features matrix.

As far as content is concerned, players can look forward to an improved tutorial and revised storylines in Westside and the Desert. Also, the C-Store will be filled with new items for both Gold and Silver members.

The Champions Online free-to-play update will be entering closed beta on November 9. What are your thoughts on the change? Will you be more likely to try out the game once it's free?