I really wanted to like this game.. but I have to totaly disagree with this preview. There is no place here for people who like action RPG's. Everyone may as well fire up sacred or diablo 2..hell, even diablo 1... because they are far superior games. This is a normal asian grindfest MMO with an action mask over its face.
It sound like to me you didnt even play this game...This game has both Character level and Skill level...You can level your character all u want..But it dont mean squat if you dont have the Skills to match it..It kind a put the pkers on edge..Sure you can be a lvl 50 character but it dont mean you can pawn a lvl 20 who has more power skills..The playing field is how you make it..Also it dont take long to team up with others to do bigger boss quests..Sure the game needs tweaking here and there..But this game is a lot better than most Free to play games...
Don't really know what you are on about here.. I said nothing about skills and/or levels.
The only thing that makes this game 'near' an action RPG is some overpowered area effect skills (of which there are very few) and an almost overhead view. Other than that it is the same as every other Asian grinder. They have just speeded things up (including leveling) to make it look like theres action and made tons of gold text popups all over the place, all the time.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
- This game really need a button to target and attack the nearest monster. When u go into some dungeon with your group, there's like 5 players and 5 pets in the screen at the same time, u can barely see anything! Just keep clicking until u ocasionaly target a mob. It's hella fun though haha.
...
There is a button to target the nearest monster. You press the key above tab. this key: ~
Oh, and by the way, this game is an exemplary game. It's nothing like a grindfest. You can get to level 30 in 4 hours or so.
So for fun I installed Battle of the Immortals, Erebus Travia Reborn, and Mytheon. They are all in beta and all action RPG MMOs. IMO Battle of the Immortals finishes last. Graphics are much better than Erebus but this game should not be classified as an action RPG. Out of the three only Mytheon will be the beta I continue to play, the other two games have been uninstalled because of boredom.
These F2P games have come to be as exciting as wet toast...
Don't look at the title, look at the pub, it comes to a point where I see IGG, PWI, Gpotato, Nexon, etc... you know it is the very same Pay 2 win model with a new skin on it, usually followed by some Richard Aihoshi propaganda stating how F2P is dar fyoochur... /grease palms... F2P merely exists to provide ad space to keep sites like MMORPG.com looking so shiny.
Alright, I'm going to give you guys a bit of in-depth, as someone who got a Heretic to level 55 in TWO DAYS:
1) No, it's not grindy - In fact, I wish it was harder to level, because I was in my 50s just from doing events with PUGs, and had quests from my early 20's I still hadn't gotten to. It was frustrating. Around 55 it became much less insane to level, but when you're given 300 minutes of free double exp a day and getting around 20k exp per mob in a dungeon, only need about 1.6mill to level, you can still manage several levels a day easily.
2) No, it's not that much like Diablo - I actually didn't care that much for D2 because of the skill system (I am looking forward to D3 though, but that's a whole other topic). As everyone kept comparing BoI to Diablo, I was going to pass, but I was bored. I expected VERY little of this game and actually ended up liking it quite a bit. I intend to play more once OB hits, and have stopped for now since everything will get wiped. Anyhoo, Diablo was more hack and slash; few things needed to be hit more than a couple of times to die, and there are AoE's to go around. There are AoE fests in the game, but every class only has a couple at most (Heretic only has one, I wouldn't get my second till level 70...mages don't get any at all till higher levels). So, monsters still die fast, but you'll mostly be picking them off one by one. Also, monsters in dungeons tend to take a LOT of damage before they go down, but they don't hit too hard so you can safely sit surrounded by things and just peck them away bit by bit.
3) Pet system is thuper! - Everything in the game can be a pet Of course, this assumes you're patient enough to grind on things till a pet drops, and I think it's been confirmed that quest-summoned mobs don't drop as pets, but otherwise there are screenshots posted of even the really big bosses being pets. No one knows if that was just a GM thing though...can't say for sure. I do know for certain that normal mobs in and outside of dungeons are tamable.
4) It's fun, but has SERIOUS issues - Gold and Loot space. These problems are the only thing that could make me walk away from the game. I love the gameplay, so much to do, so much to complete, more events than you can fit in a day and still get your scenario quests in...but when you only have two rows (out of like, a dozen) in your bag open to collect all the loot that drops, you start to get pissy. Also, there's only 2 rows in your stash, as well. So, you have 4 rows total to start, 2 of which you need to be in a town to access, and lots of quest/gift/random loot. There is speculation in the forum that slots are supposed to open at level intervals (30,60,90) but it's not confirmed, AND it even looks like it might be necessary to spend 1500 or more ZEN (cash shop money) to open them. This is extremely greedy, as inventory manageability is pretty crucial to a game like this. You will find yourself throwing away important things, things that could be important, and things that you don't even understand the use for (items desperately need better descriptions) but that you got through a big event and thus are afraid to throw away. But, what choice to you have? VERY frustrating.
4b) As for Gold, there is so very, very little of it to be bad and it is so very, very important. It's not even a cash shop issue, because I don't see a way to get money from the cash shop unless you buy things then sell them, though most seem to be BoA. Mobs OCCASIONALLY (like, 1 out of 20) drop an item that can be sold for gold, but it is very little. The mobs my level were dropping things I could sell for about 68 gold, and certain mobs dropped a scroll that could transmute 10 of them into 1 larger item that sold for me. The problem is, leveling skills past 2 or 3, especilly my Heretic Buffs, was 12k+. This leaves me with a critical choice; level buffs for my team, level heals to keep myself and others alive, level attacks so I can actually play the damn game, or save the money for things I'll need like equipment, MP regen, etc. Money is frustratingly tight, and is an issue that needs major addressing. But then it's a CB, hopefully that will change.
Okay so, dassit. I enjoyed it, but it has issues. If they're addressed, I'd add this to the list of games I keep on my HD, even if I'm not actively playing.
Couldn't have said it beter !
My advice : play it till lvl 30, takes 1h maybe 2h for the slow casualmmogenrekiller, and at this lvl you already get a bunch of fun events, try at least 5 of them ... if you don't like any of your 5 events, then delete the game and wait for a new mmo.
Another F2P tossed onto the pile. I wish it the best, but it really amazes me how many F2P games get churned out every year, and how they all happen to look and feel so similar.
Hold up, WHAT.
What game is that in your sig?
Only on MMORPG.com folks.
I laughed out load.
You can't expect someone who bashes a game without even playing it or reading the article to be anything other than a tool.
You are not going to see how a cash shop distorts game play and lays down an unfair playing field in a few hours of play. You have to ask yourself, why another F2P MMO from the same company? What is it offering us that could not have been added on to one of their existing MMO's?
The concept seems to be that they need to churn one out every couple of years as they do not expect their players to stay with them for more than two years. The lure of the new is the hook to get you onto the F2P hamster wheel once more.
Another F2P tossed onto the pile. I wish it the best, but it really amazes me how many F2P games get churned out every year, and how they all happen to look and feel so similar.
Not to mention how they all look alike and play the same! Come on! Lets have something different rather than these "cookie cutter" games!
I am not sure what makes you decide how to approach some of the articles I see written on this site. Do you get 'advertising' money? The reason I ask is sometimes the arctiles sound like and ad.
First off I am one who wants to try BOI...to form my own opinion and like I said b4...MMO adict here. It is easy to say the CS doesnt seem to play big factor in the game with only a few hours of play (not enough to determine), aslo since the CS is not supposed to be open during CB (if it is...shame on them). For smart MMOers on "F2P" won't bother with CS until end game...it is cheaper to do so...
Also as far as WOW clones, cookie cutters...I agree and I disagree..WoW imo is not original...WoW might be a God in the MMO world but it just looked at other Gods and recreated/polished their ideas. I like the WOW play and layout, and if I could play an exact wow clone for free I prob would, but haven't come across one yet. (not talking just graphics here) On the down side yes it gets stale.
Oh about the amount of "F2P" being churned out each year...well I for one can say "F2P" games have only been really strong for maybe 1-2 years...and good ones are few and far between.
I am not sure what makes you decide how to approach some of the articles I see written on this site. Do you get 'advertising' money? The reason I ask is sometimes the arctiles sound like and ad.
First off I am one who wants to try BOI...to form my own opinion and like I said b4...MMO adict here. It is easy to say the CS doesnt seem to play big factor in the game with only a few hours of play (not enough to determine), aslo since the CS is not supposed to be open during CB (if it is...shame on them). For smart MMOers on "F2P" won't bother with CS until end game...it is cheaper to do so...
Also as far as WOW clones, cookie cutters...I agree and I disagree..WoW imo is not original...WoW might be a God in the MMO world but it just looked at other Gods and recreated/polished their ideas. I like the WOW play and layout, and if I could play an exact wow clone for free I prob would, but haven't come across one yet. (not talking just graphics here) On the down side yes it gets stale.
Oh about the amount of "F2P" being churned out each year...well I for one can say "F2P" games have only been really strong for maybe 1-2 years...and good ones are few and far between.
My 2 cents...happy hunting.
I dont see shame on opening cash shop in cb. If you are a cash shopper and got into live game and bought a bugged item you wouldnt be so happy. Its also great to have zen to spend as a player to see how much you can do with cash shop and without cash shop before it goes live to see if its going to be dominated by cash shoppers. I hope all free to play games do this with their cash shops on closed beta. Feedback from players on the cash shop has started on their forums and the future of BoI with cash shop items is being discussed, which is a good thing.
I am not sure what makes you decide how to approach some of the articles I see written on this site. Do you get 'advertising' money? The reason I ask is sometimes the arctiles sound like and ad.
First off I am one who wants to try BOI...to form my own opinion and like I said b4...MMO adict here. It is easy to say the CS doesnt seem to play big factor in the game with only a few hours of play (not enough to determine), aslo since the CS is not supposed to be open during CB (if it is...shame on them). For smart MMOers on "F2P" won't bother with CS until end game...it is cheaper to do so...
Also as far as WOW clones, cookie cutters...I agree and I disagree..WoW imo is not original...WoW might be a God in the MMO world but it just looked at other Gods and recreated/polished their ideas. I like the WOW play and layout, and if I could play an exact wow clone for free I prob would, but haven't come across one yet. (not talking just graphics here) On the down side yes it gets stale.
Oh about the amount of "F2P" being churned out each year...well I for one can say "F2P" games have only been really strong for maybe 1-2 years...and good ones are few and far between.
My 2 cents...happy hunting.
I dont see shame on opening cash shop in cb. If you are a cash shopper and got into live game and bought a bugged item you wouldnt be so happy. Its also great to have zen to spend as a player to see how much you can do with cash shop and without cash shop before it goes live to see if its going to be dominated by cash shoppers. I hope all free to play games do this with their cash shops on closed beta. Feedback from players on the cash shop has started on their forums and the future of BoI with cash shop items is being discussed, which is a good thing.
Another thing I would like to point out is that PWE gave everybody free Zen to use for the cash shop in BOI.
No cash shop should be open in CB since Closed Beta means accounts will be wiped...unless this has changed.
As the previous poster pointed out, Zen was gifted to the players during CB, you can't buy it, everything will be wiped, letting players buy Zen would have been an outrageous move during CB. As it is we are seeing how the luck mechanics of cash shop items will be a major source of revenue for the game and a drain on the players wallets. As an example - boosting you mount, the first use of stones is 100%, the next level is probably around (cant remember exact figures) 50%, then down to 20%, a failure means a reduction back to zero, you lose all of what was previously gained. Mounts gain speed and provide player buffs so it's worth the attempt. The cash shop item is very cheap but the high rate of failure ,if your intent on maxing your mount means you have to be very lucky to keep it cheap. The same is true with pets, gems, fortifying armour etc.
Of course they have to make money and having played Atlantica Online I'm no stranger to this luck mechanic with bought items, the problem for me is that I like to be guaranteed that I'm getting something for my money so it stops me paying for things beyond the basic necessities such as inventory expansion, I don't like throwing money away, I stay clear of gambling with money in RL I certainly am not going to start spending cash to gamble with pixels.
It's still CB, open beta isn't far off, if they listen to their community on their forums and change the luck mechanic so it's less heavily weighted against the player it will do them some good.
The game has other flaws, currency is hard to come by and the amount of inventory you're given free just isn't enough to stop frustrations very early on in the game.
There's a lot I like about the game and i will enjoy playing it for a while on a casual basis come Open beta and release, as it currently stands though they will be getting very little cash from me, I'll increase my inventory and play until I either get bored or it it gets to the point it becomes pay to win if your lucky.
Guys stop bashing the game. I played it myself and its a very good mmo I played. Its far better than most mmo I played in awail it kept me up almost until daybreak. this mmo BOI is addictive and enjoyable for a F2p MMO , they should have invested it on game consoles, and get their moneys worth for their time and energy they put into it. I GIVE THIS A 9/10 for a job well done. My only complain is the camera angles they should have made it 3d. But it is 2.5d , hope they do some changes but if not I will stll played it. sorry for the long writing but I can sit back, and let your talk negative about BOI like that even thought we all have our own opinion. Give the game a chance it is worth it and its FREE.
For some reason I cannot stop playing this game. Its SOO much fun. The graphics are amazing for a F2P game and pretty decent somewhat comparable to the cartoony WoW on a P2P level. The armors start out like any MMO dull and uninteresting but quickly become incredibly bad ass. I currently have a 66 Berzerker after playing the game aggressively for three days and the armor I have aquired make you look and feel very powerful.
Another great aspect of this game is how insanely deep this game is. Players will have a lot to keep themselves busy with. Ways to improve your charecter include leveling (obviously), manual control over leveling your skills, obtaining gear, obtaining materials to forge (level up) your gear, obtaining materials to combine and socket gems into gear, obtaining blessing on gear (kind of like an enchant), spending points in attributes, hunting for and leveling rare powerful pets and socketing with skills, merging pets, enhancing pets growth and quality, etc. The pets are a whole nother game in itself. Obtaining the rarist pets from Lord monsters and Zodiac gods and working diligently to enhance them is fun. The list goes on and on.
Gear mainly comes from instances which have many difficulty setting easy, normal, elite. The same set gear drops in each difficulty however the harder the difficulty the better drop rate. The instances are fun and steadily increase in difficulty.
I have only had limited time with PvP but its pretty fun and competitive. Its similiar to a War of Emporium in Ragnarook where guilds do battle in land to take castles and stuff. Successfully controling the land gives guild members INSANELY good rewards for taking and defending. The catch is that only a certain ammount of guilds are permited to enter and so they must bid for spots by spending guild funds which can be gained by having guild members completing quests and other tasks. It makes it very competitive between guilds for those that want to do it. Contributing to your guild also allows the guild to level up and gain benificial skills for all members such as increased HP, damage, mana, etc.
One thing I really like about the game is the crazy number of events that are in the game which auto adjust difficulty to your level. Your competing on some of them against the clock which in some cases like Fallen Darkness your party is mashing buttons and coordinating to kill monsters in time.
The events and instances aren't super deep like a raid boss fight but do have tricks to learn which are required to defeat bosses and it adds to the fun. Examples are dodging AoE's, coordinating with your team to save XP skills for a certain buff before unleashing them, leading a monster away from a boss, etc.
Personnally I love the 2.5D isometric view. I LOVED Diablo and feel at home with the view. WASD controls are in the game as well as click to move. Its either you love it or you hate it. Get some friends and give it a try. I'm addicted and have left my P2P MMO's for this game you might enjoy it too. Its a relaxing game to play with friends chilling and killing on ventrilo.
Comments
"I can attest that after a few hours of play BOI seems every bit as engaging as many of the industry's recently released F2P games"
Well that's a dissapointment, and here I was hoping for a good game.
"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin
Don't really know what you are on about here.. I said nothing about skills and/or levels.
The only thing that makes this game 'near' an action RPG is some overpowered area effect skills (of which there are very few) and an almost overhead view. Other than that it is the same as every other Asian grinder. They have just speeded things up (including leveling) to make it look like theres action and made tons of gold text popups all over the place, all the time.
There is a button to target the nearest monster. You press the key above tab. this key: ~
Oh, and by the way, this game is an exemplary game. It's nothing like a grindfest. You can get to level 30 in 4 hours or so.
So for fun I installed Battle of the Immortals, Erebus Travia Reborn, and Mytheon. They are all in beta and all action RPG MMOs. IMO Battle of the Immortals finishes last. Graphics are much better than Erebus but this game should not be classified as an action RPG. Out of the three only Mytheon will be the beta I continue to play, the other two games have been uninstalled because of boredom.
These F2P games have come to be as exciting as wet toast...
Don't look at the title, look at the pub, it comes to a point where I see IGG, PWI, Gpotato, Nexon, etc... you know it is the very same Pay 2 win model with a new skin on it, usually followed by some Richard Aihoshi propaganda stating how F2P is dar fyoochur... /grease palms... F2P merely exists to provide ad space to keep sites like MMORPG.com looking so shiny.
What are your other Hobbies?
Gaming is Dirt Cheap compared to this...
Couldn't have said it beter !
My advice : play it till lvl 30, takes 1h maybe 2h for the slow casualmmogenrekiller, and at this lvl you already get a bunch of fun events, try at least 5 of them ... if you don't like any of your 5 events, then delete the game and wait for a new mmo.
I laughed out load.
You can't expect someone who bashes a game without even playing it or reading the article to be anything other than a tool.
-------------------------
The game is 'ok' in terms of F2P but it has no 'hold' effect and will lose a lot of player base due to this reason.
(\ /) ?
( . .)
c('')('')
You are not going to see how a cash shop distorts game play and lays down an unfair playing field in a few hours of play. You have to ask yourself, why another F2P MMO from the same company? What is it offering us that could not have been added on to one of their existing MMO's?
The concept seems to be that they need to churn one out every couple of years as they do not expect their players to stay with them for more than two years. The lure of the new is the hook to get you onto the F2P hamster wheel once more.
Not to mention how they all look alike and play the same! Come on! Lets have something different rather than these "cookie cutter" games!
First I am a fan of any MMO be it "F2P" or P2P.
I am not sure what makes you decide how to approach some of the articles I see written on this site. Do you get 'advertising' money? The reason I ask is sometimes the arctiles sound like and ad.
First off I am one who wants to try BOI...to form my own opinion and like I said b4...MMO adict here. It is easy to say the CS doesnt seem to play big factor in the game with only a few hours of play (not enough to determine), aslo since the CS is not supposed to be open during CB (if it is...shame on them). For smart MMOers on "F2P" won't bother with CS until end game...it is cheaper to do so...
Also as far as WOW clones, cookie cutters...I agree and I disagree..WoW imo is not original...WoW might be a God in the MMO world but it just looked at other Gods and recreated/polished their ideas. I like the WOW play and layout, and if I could play an exact wow clone for free I prob would, but haven't come across one yet. (not talking just graphics here) On the down side yes it gets stale.
Oh about the amount of "F2P" being churned out each year...well I for one can say "F2P" games have only been really strong for maybe 1-2 years...and good ones are few and far between.
My 2 cents...happy hunting.
I dont see shame on opening cash shop in cb. If you are a cash shopper and got into live game and bought a bugged item you wouldnt be so happy. Its also great to have zen to spend as a player to see how much you can do with cash shop and without cash shop before it goes live to see if its going to be dominated by cash shoppers. I hope all free to play games do this with their cash shops on closed beta. Feedback from players on the cash shop has started on their forums and the future of BoI with cash shop items is being discussed, which is a good thing.
Another thing I would like to point out is that PWE gave everybody free Zen to use for the cash shop in BOI.
No cash shop should be open in CB since Closed Beta means accounts will be wiped...unless this has changed.
As the previous poster pointed out, Zen was gifted to the players during CB, you can't buy it, everything will be wiped, letting players buy Zen would have been an outrageous move during CB. As it is we are seeing how the luck mechanics of cash shop items will be a major source of revenue for the game and a drain on the players wallets. As an example - boosting you mount, the first use of stones is 100%, the next level is probably around (cant remember exact figures) 50%, then down to 20%, a failure means a reduction back to zero, you lose all of what was previously gained. Mounts gain speed and provide player buffs so it's worth the attempt. The cash shop item is very cheap but the high rate of failure ,if your intent on maxing your mount means you have to be very lucky to keep it cheap. The same is true with pets, gems, fortifying armour etc.
Of course they have to make money and having played Atlantica Online I'm no stranger to this luck mechanic with bought items, the problem for me is that I like to be guaranteed that I'm getting something for my money so it stops me paying for things beyond the basic necessities such as inventory expansion, I don't like throwing money away, I stay clear of gambling with money in RL I certainly am not going to start spending cash to gamble with pixels.
It's still CB, open beta isn't far off, if they listen to their community on their forums and change the luck mechanic so it's less heavily weighted against the player it will do them some good.
The game has other flaws, currency is hard to come by and the amount of inventory you're given free just isn't enough to stop frustrations very early on in the game.
There's a lot I like about the game and i will enjoy playing it for a while on a casual basis come Open beta and release, as it currently stands though they will be getting very little cash from me, I'll increase my inventory and play until I either get bored or it it gets to the point it becomes pay to win if your lucky.
Guys stop bashing the game. I played it myself and its a very good mmo I played. Its far better than most mmo I played in awail it kept me up almost until daybreak. this mmo BOI is addictive and enjoyable for a F2p MMO , they should have invested it on game consoles, and get their moneys worth for their time and energy they put into it. I GIVE THIS A 9/10 for a job well done. My only complain is the camera angles they should have made it 3d. But it is 2.5d , hope they do some changes but if not I will stll played it. sorry for the long writing but I can sit back, and let your talk negative about BOI like that even thought we all have our own opinion. Give the game a chance it is worth it and its FREE.
For some reason I cannot stop playing this game. Its SOO much fun. The graphics are amazing for a F2P game and pretty decent somewhat comparable to the cartoony WoW on a P2P level. The armors start out like any MMO dull and uninteresting but quickly become incredibly bad ass. I currently have a 66 Berzerker after playing the game aggressively for three days and the armor I have aquired make you look and feel very powerful.
Another great aspect of this game is how insanely deep this game is. Players will have a lot to keep themselves busy with. Ways to improve your charecter include leveling (obviously), manual control over leveling your skills, obtaining gear, obtaining materials to forge (level up) your gear, obtaining materials to combine and socket gems into gear, obtaining blessing on gear (kind of like an enchant), spending points in attributes, hunting for and leveling rare powerful pets and socketing with skills, merging pets, enhancing pets growth and quality, etc. The pets are a whole nother game in itself. Obtaining the rarist pets from Lord monsters and Zodiac gods and working diligently to enhance them is fun. The list goes on and on.
Gear mainly comes from instances which have many difficulty setting easy, normal, elite. The same set gear drops in each difficulty however the harder the difficulty the better drop rate. The instances are fun and steadily increase in difficulty.
I have only had limited time with PvP but its pretty fun and competitive. Its similiar to a War of Emporium in Ragnarook where guilds do battle in land to take castles and stuff. Successfully controling the land gives guild members INSANELY good rewards for taking and defending. The catch is that only a certain ammount of guilds are permited to enter and so they must bid for spots by spending guild funds which can be gained by having guild members completing quests and other tasks. It makes it very competitive between guilds for those that want to do it. Contributing to your guild also allows the guild to level up and gain benificial skills for all members such as increased HP, damage, mana, etc.
One thing I really like about the game is the crazy number of events that are in the game which auto adjust difficulty to your level. Your competing on some of them against the clock which in some cases like Fallen Darkness your party is mashing buttons and coordinating to kill monsters in time.
The events and instances aren't super deep like a raid boss fight but do have tricks to learn which are required to defeat bosses and it adds to the fun. Examples are dodging AoE's, coordinating with your team to save XP skills for a certain buff before unleashing them, leading a monster away from a boss, etc.
Personnally I love the 2.5D isometric view. I LOVED Diablo and feel at home with the view. WASD controls are in the game as well as click to move. Its either you love it or you hate it. Get some friends and give it a try. I'm addicted and have left my P2P MMO's for this game you might enjoy it too. Its a relaxing game to play with friends chilling and killing on ventrilo.