The developers outline the differences between archeypes and free-form heroes.

Cryptic announced a couple weeks ago that Champions Online will be going free-to-play in 2011. The change will allow F2P players, also known as Silver players, to create characters using the Archetype system, which is a pre-defined hero build. Cryptic has provided more details on Archetypes and how they compare to paid free-form heroes:

"First of all, you'll see that Archetypes get fewer powers (11 total) than free-form heroes do (14 total). We found that all 14 powers weren't necessary for most builds; players usually pick up some extra powers to fill in holes. This makes high level free-form heroes capable of filling in for practically any role needed. Archetypes, however, are more like comic heroes. They don't switch roles; they do their one thing really well. It lets us make more interesting and varied Archetypes as time goes on, too."

Interested players should definitely check out the article for more information. Cryptic plans to unveil information on the base archetypes this week. What are your thought on the new system?