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Real quick questions about the game please provide honest answers.
Calintz333
Member UncommonPosts: 1,193
#1 How bad is the cash shop in terms of balance? How much of an advantage do cash shop users really have in general? Lets not get real technical here with " Well If you farm for 600 hours you can get just as much as a CS user can" lets realistically say from your own observations how much of an advantage do cash shop users really have at Low, Mid, and High levels. Both in PvE and PvP? would be awesome if you can answer your estimate in a percentage, for example "Cash shop provides 5% advantage in my opinion overall" something simple and to the point.
#2 Can some one explain to me that hole your NPCs die after a year then you have to level them up again rule this game has? Its been mentioned a lot on many public forums and has frightened away many people. To me it sounds a bit like its blown up in proportion. Its not logical that a game would have you level a character only to take it away from you later on...so I assume there is a good explanation for all this?
Can this game run well on ?
Pentium 4 2.80Ghz CPU ?
1GB Ram?
ATI Radion X300 ?
Windows XP SP2 ?
(My definition of well is (18-25 FPS Average) at around Medium settings.
Basically what used to be a strong PC back in 2003-2004. Right now my main machine is out on repairs so I can't play Aion beta like I would wish. I have to make due with this old system I had for many years so I'm limited as to what I can play. I can run Guild wars fine at around 16-20 FPS on Medium/High settings but I have played way to much of that I want to try something new. I'm trying to give other games a try while my main machine gets fixed (Should be about 2-3 weeks). So Im considering giving this game a shot since many people speak well about it. Would like to get my doubts clear up before I decide to download though.
Comments
Why dont you just download the game and mess around with it, opinions aren't always worth asking for.
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/346/view/forums/thread/244174/How-much-does-the-item-mall-matter-in-this-game.html
1) Gear later on in the game is expensive. Just about all the people I know with good gear in the game are either big cash shop spenders or gold buyers (or both).
I'm not saying you can't be uber without spending money, but I personally don't know anyone who is without it
2) ???? I dunno what you mean. Your mercs get older, but other than not being able to retire any more, it doesn't mean anything (for now, maybe in the future they will change things...)
3) Maybe. The game runs like crap, pretty much, despite the poor graphics. I wouldn't run it without 2 gigs of memory, either.
R.I.P. City of Heroes and my 17 characters there
Hmmm from the things I have read on here, and on official forums seems like the item mall means a lot. To bad every time a decent F2P game comes around item mall is a downer. Oh well more Title farming in GW till my pc gets repaired. Thanks for info.
The cash shop really does't have that much of an advantage, save for the 50% increased xp potion that you can buy (also available for in game gold on the market). At higher levels, it does seem like good gear will be a bit hard to get, but you don't really need top of the line gear immediately unless you are trying to get really far in pvp. I haven't bought anything from the cash shop, and have been doing fine in the Free Leagues (pvp tourney) up to the late 50s.
My comp is kinda overkill, so I have no idea how the game runs. If it helps at all, I get no lag on 4gigs of ram. I honestly can't recommend this game enough. Been playing it with a few friends and just having a blast. I've been a hardcore pvp'er in every game I've played, but this is the first one where I can actually enjoy questing/grinding.
I have to say, the whole idea they had behind giving gifts/mentoring is pure genious. I randomly found a mentor when I was about lvl 7 and he has been awesome.
Also the enchanting system makes even low level gear pretty good to hold on to. Keep enchanting up a piece of gear and it will last you a long time.
Well, the trouble is, at least for me, later in the game, gear above 105 doesn't seem to drop.
So the only way to get it, is apparently to craft it, buy it, or get real lucky with De Mere.
101 dungeon will drop Vol (90) & Conq (97) boxes pretty frequently (15 Vol and probably 10 Conq per run), and very rarely freezing (100) (generally 2)
105 dungeons are like the above, except freezing is a little more common, and you can get divine boxes once in a while (my last run I got 4, most runs I get 0)
Apparently you can get Phoenix boxes (that would be 113) by trading in divine boxes at De Mere. But as I say, divine boxes are so rare (for me), that I can't waste them.
Because even should I get 1 or 2 phoenix boxes, that's not enough. Because +0 Phoenix stuff is basically equal to +2 Divine stuff (or +3 Conq Stuff). Which isn't that great. Only when you get it up to +2, +3 or more is it really good. But that's insanely expensive, considering each Phoenix item costs 60-130 million each.
That's by design, though. They made the gear hard to get, so people will buy the ori stones (to enchance them) from the CS.
But like I said, there comes a point where you are kinda stuck (where I am).
Like my main has +4 Divine Armor. If I want to upgrade my armor, I'd have to spend probably 150 million on another +4 Divine Armor to make a +5. And then 300 million on a +5 to make a +6.
That's more money than I have, really (I probably make 150 million a week on average). But it's what I pretty much have to do, because Phoenix armor is even worse. It's 130 million for a +0 on the market. So 250 for a +1, 500 million for a +2.
(And on my server, just to put it into comparison, $10 in the cash shop = 200 million)
And when you consider you have 9 mercs, and they have what, 5 slots for armor (head, chest, pants/orb, shoes, gloves). It's insane.
That said, one big help has been the recent jackpot system. The 101 dungeon gives out armor if you trade in a drop. Before jackpot, it was hard to get the drop. After, it's easy to get the drop. The armor is basically freezing armor (100), but it has the defense of divine gear. So all my mercs have +3 that.
As to it mattering in PvP, the + of the gear doesn't really count, but the tier does. So you need Phoenix gear (or one of the uber weapons, like SDF, Shotgun, Stormbringer) to be good in PvP. (Or run a double spear or have a musician. Or all of them).
R.I.P. City of Heroes and my 17 characters there
Sounds like its worse than the Sword of the new world cash shop there man. At least there for about 10 bucks you can get most benefits that give stats advantages like the wings.
Seems to me like it around the same as the sword cash shop was before the Feso and before the re-priceing of all the items.
However, this game does not have 92e Equivalent armor that you are able to get without CS does it?
To bad that game play over there is so boring, otherwise id still be playing it.
@Calintz333
The item mall does not offer weapons or armors. There are mounts, wings, potions, licenses, stones that all favor your advance in pve but they don't work in pvp. PVP is influenced indirectly by the item mall. Item mall users have more money because they can sell the items from the item mall so they can buy better armor and weapons but i can live with that because after all they keep the game running.
IMO the item mall is not a must for lv 100+ but what do i know? I'm just a level 67 with 300+ mil... (At 95+ i guess i'll easily have passed the 1 billion mark and i never used the item mall...)
Come on... Give me a break!
1. Item mall isn't bad like other "free" mmos. They provide some bonus, like mounts, wings, or potions (experience bonus and non-pvp attack/defense bonus). But it's not insane. And with the actual key event running at the moment, I actually got a mount too. Not the lateast top mount, but a good one (armed tiger), which was free with the event.
Please keep in mind, that pvp is mainly in free league in Atlantica. Hence, it's a choice to participate in pvp or not. But if pvp is your main goal, then it's better to have the latest top-notched add-on item-mall gear.
2. 1 Gig memory is a bit short. I have 2 Gig memory, and I found myself lagging when doing certain nation dungeons, because my pc reaches its maximum memory and starts swapping on disk.
I don't use the Item Mall
But i would say the most useful stuff in it is the Licenses, the rest is just 'fluff'.
L60 and under using the mall or not isnt really an issue, questing brings fast xp/gold/loot and Licenses are very cheap from the ingame market
L61+ life gets more inconvenient, the only 24hr License i can afford is the Patrol License, the rest are just too expensive on a daily basis (ie Teleport (III) - 4m+)
Generally not using the mall isn't a game-breaker, its still quite easy to get stuff done, it just takes a little longer with running everywhere.
I use the item mall but not on the mounts or wings. its too much of a gamble. but i do purchase blessing license and warrior's pack every month. I have mounts and wings in game but i bought it cuz of the money i got in game. everything can be bought in game so it's no problem.
Honestly from what I observed while playing the game is that it is not necessary except for those wanting to get things immediately rather than earn them through regular gameplay. Many of the items in the Item Mall are easily obtainable in town markets, as quest rewards, and through trades with other players. I have just reached lvl 20 on my first player slot and have already achieved enough gold to form my own guild, buy added inventory slots and other rewards offered in the item mall. I would have taken away a lot of the gameplay experience if I didn't have to earn them or had them before I even new what they were for or if I even needed them with my character and playing style. The only thing I see that some of the mall items have is longer durations than some of the items found within the game. For example. I am able to purchase unlimited extra inventory slot scrolls at next to nothing in the town marketplaces but they generally only last for 7-15 days each while the ones in the item mall (that you pay REAL money for) can last for up to 6 months. But since you get so many of the 7-15 day ones for free and you can stack the time, using ten 7 day scrolls will give you 70 days of expanced inventory, why pay real money?
It's a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing Milk-Bone underwear.
yeah I agree. Item mall item is for just making the gameplay faster. but aside from that, anything can be bought in game.
it's more like an option
if you want to progress faster, you can purchase those license
but if you to take it nice and slow, you can skip it
just gwt rich quickly and purchase it in-game. lol
I'm lvl 108 on Thebes, I admit to having spent 100's since day 1 of AO in the item mall. I ride a MArs Rider, wear wings of light and full scarlet costume. I have a tele license every month (couldn't play without it), and have 100's of item mall scrolls and potions ive gotten from gambling boxes for my gear. SO i'll be honest in your questions.
1) the advantage to using item mall items are HUGE compared to those who do not. The mobs, especilly at higher lvl, are overpowered and difficult, as are the merc quests and diungeons FOR that reason, to make you need the item mall, or quit from frustration. I like wise agree with trancejeremy's post on this question. The top 1-2% of players are all multiple 1000's of dollar item mall spenders, gold buyers, long time micro/macro-botters (thats using little macros/trainers or soft personal bots on occasion), long time players who have the 24 hours a day time to fish and feed their crafting over the last 15 months sso they can afford item mall stuff with in-game gold, or plain out liars if they deny it...LOL No one I know at 120 or above denys item mall/item mall items usage. PVE is where it matters most, you'll never get far without items. Free Leauge is not as bad as the uber stuff is nerfed..BUT then again FL is NOT PVP. Yes the player has a part in the battle, but 95% of even matches are chosen by the FL AI. The winner is determined by who gets slapped with stun resistance and or the random death scrolls the GAME casts on one or the other player. My FL record is pretty much even wins/losses. Yet I state no brag nor worry. I've never really beaten another player nor been beaten in an even match. Which ever of us gets the scrolls thrown on us are 95% gonna lose..lol
2) this is a misnomer/rumor...your mercs do not die or auto-retire unless YOU retire, dismiss or make them independant.
3)AO will play fine on the system you mentioned.
just recently got back to this game (played on the beta before, then stopped and my characters have vanished
) but from what ive experienced so far, the item mall only serves to speed up the game play. its mostly support items. most of the items in the game are also craftable so you just need to have patience to get them.
game requirements are here.
also, 1gb would let you run the game, but chances are it'll slow down after a while. XP alone can eat up half of that memory. dunno about your video card tho.
im still newbie so i don't really know about the item mall
but so far the game is really addictive im an addict in finishing quests so
i guess this game really got me..
and also every now and then there are good players that sends me gold
and their extra items so i already have lots of friends..
I don't know how far you've gotten, but the item mall "Scam" of AO doesn't begin to raise it head until certain points (according to ones gameplay)...some begin to see it at lvl 50, others begin to get upset around 80, most begin to get upset by lvl 100 and lvl 100+ is where you really begin to get into areas where alot of IM iitems are required to play. As for crafting, none of the important licences, scrolls or other leveling stuff are craftable. You can craft gear, but upgrading that gear is very expensive and the rates for in-game ways of doing it are quite low/nerfed (either enhance which has a very low chance and most often breaks the gear or enchant stones which are very expsive for higher level gear due to the extremely nerfed droprate of those boxes, with an item mall stone of course as the "highest chance" to u[grade the gear.
Item maller have a huge advantage.
But the reality is you don't need the item mall to progress.
By just playing 1 hour a day, you can easliy level from 100-120 in 10 month without spending a single dime on item mall.
Since they give bonus exp for 3 quest a day and 2 arena match. This is probably the best casual friendly f2p games where you don't need to spend any money on item mall.
Yeah but 10 mos is so much time lol. but yeah this game is progressible... at least the grind starts at 95 instead of other mmos which start as early as 50.. i hate those.
That is a shame. I could have been interested in the game for many reasons, but getting uber gear via cash shops is game breaking IMO.
"Good? Bad? I'm the guy with the gun."
I actually think most of the best geared people didn't spend a dime on item mall.
The problem is this isn't a new game. There are people who play 5~10 hours a day for a year.
Add to the fact gear progression is very linear in this game, it's very difficult to catch up.
Actually they did it two ways,
1) They've been playing for as you say...over a year (me included) where we both spent money on the item mall but also had the benefit of a lot higher gearbox and enchant stone drop rates.
2) Gold drop rates and in-game money making strategies were normal meaning those who didnt buy from item mall buoought those item mall items with in-game gold.
Because of the extreme nerfs to both gold drops , in-game money making strategies and gear box drops rates in effort to force alot more item mall usage + as you say, the game progression is very linear, it is almost impossible now for new players to get anywhere or "Catch up" unless you have a huge aount of RL money to spend on the item mall, either for yourself, or to sell those items in-game for in-game gold. It's a sad situation. For the game and the players.
For me the luckiest people in AO are the ones who were playing since the start or the ones who started and got lucky during the Mega event. I got a friend around level 30+ during the mega event.. got 2 soulstones.. forgot which, around 3 mounts and 2 costumes... for a newbie.. he was kinda rich.