What they’ve done so far with this new Drachenfels DLC is great imo. It works better than the old paid DLC economy for various reasons:
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It’s more lucrative for the devs . More money in devs’ pockets means more resources for the game.
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Content is not locked behind a paywall . Even if most veteran players wouldn’t mind buying it (I think BtU was a great deal), there’s a large portion of the playerbase who won’t get those DLC, even if there are new weapons to take into account
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It incentivizes casual players to return, and it keeps the engagement up for the community . When a new map drops, you immediately open the game and see how cool it is
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It’s a better deal for those who would have bought the DLC anyway . You can spend those 10 bucks to buy 3-4 cosmetics, so for the same price you are getting the maps AND the cosmetics, instead of only acquiring the maps (as for new weapons, they can always introduce them for free)
However, there’s one main reason for which I think the new freemium implementation will benefit the community the most, and that’s the potential introduction of new campaigns/new factions . It’s a common topic of discussion in the community, and for good reasons, but there’s been a fundamental restriction so far.
Think about it, the beastmen were cool and all (you can like or dislike them, that’s not the point), but you can’t realistically introduce new factions in the base game while being lore-friendly. After all, this Skittergate thing is a deal between a single Nurgle-worshipping tribe and a minor Skaven clan. Ok, beastmen are sons of Chaos so they can work alongside these fellas; but what about vampires? greenskins? other Skaven clans (with different units)? worshippers of the other Chaos lords?
What they could have done with the old DLC model is implementing 2/3 new maps and tossing the new dudes around the place. Creating a new full-fledged faction just to use it in 3 new maps is a waste, to say the least. On the other hand, the new model allows the devs to implement new “campaigns” of 10+ missions . If the new schedule consists of a major content release every season, they could realistically release a new “chapter” of the campaign when a new season comes, just like what they did with Drachenfels. This chapter would consist of 3/4 missions and would feature a boss in the final map, exactly like the current Helmgart ones. At the end, an epilogue with a final boss fight.
Imagine a world where Vermintide 2 would feature many factions, each one with their own main campaign. This is totally possible with the introduction of the new freemium system. You have had a genious idea Fatshark. Don’t waste it. Capitalize on it.
If they already thought about this, it means good news. If they haven’t yet, I’d implore they listen to this idea and embrace it.