The only cash shop item that would be a dealbreaker for me is if you have to pay to even be able to use zone chat. If the megaphones are kept to being purchaseable items for global or inter faction chat I don't have an issue with it. If they go as far as even expecting continual payments for even having access to zone chat then doubt I'll play the game. That's a bit overboard far as I'm concerned and can make forming pugs a real nuisance. As for the other items I don't see the issue with it. They have to make their money somewhere and it isn't real surprising they're charginf for those things.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
The only cash shop item that would be a dealbreaker for me is if you have to pay to even be able to use zone chat. If the megaphones are kept to being purchaseable items for global or inter faction chat I don't have an issue with it. If they go as far as even expecting continual payments for even having access to zone chat then doubt I'll play the game. That's a bit overboard far as I'm concerned and can make forming pugs a real nuisance. As for the other items I don't see the issue with it. They have to make their money somewhere and it isn't real surprising they're charginf for those things.
Yeah lol, zone chat and the other normal chat modes you would expect in an MMO are free.
Originally posted by GrayGhost79 Yeah lol, zone chat and the other normal chat modes you would expect in an MMO are free.
Well, it isn't always an automatic. Requiem at least used to charge for that feature so there's at least one mmo that thought you should pay for that feature. Not sure if they're still doing that or not though. Still, every indication to me is that it's planned for things like global and the such so like you said it should be free.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
The problem is you neglected to acknowledge that you actually can get all of those items as drops in game.
Also you said "Why not make the keys craftable or expensive in-game?". That will already happen, some will use the item mall and sale the items they buy for in game currency. They will generally be expensive in game, but they will be purchasable in game. Which is exactly what you asked for.
So I see that I was biased because of wrong info or lack of more research. Thank you for the info!
The game has some bugs, it's Closed beta... thats expected. However you made an attempt to blow it out of porportion. It has no more or less bugs in CB than you would or could expect from any other MMO in CB. Be glad it isn't MO's beta lol, far buggier than allods and MO is a pay to play lol. Even worse this could be on par with Alganon which has launched ... it's best we don't go there as there are not words to describe how bad that game is.
Yeah i got a bit overboard there, the bugs aren't game-breaking. :P Hehe if other P2P are much buggier then I should be glad to have less bugs in a F2P. Still they should work more on the games, there are some silly bugs like camera issues ( not centering ) and damage text not dissapearing that should be easy to fix.
The megaphone complaint is asinine. You will have zone chat, guild chat, team chat, all the normal chats you would find in any other MMO and they are free to use. There is a special channel that lets you speak to EVERYONE in the game. I personally have no interest in doing so myself lol. Haven't ever needed to do so in any other MMO, can't imagine why I would need to do so in Allods.
Well, the problem I see is that it can make looking for a guild or advertising it in-game a complicate thing, unless the guilds actually take the time to post about them in the game forums.
The game looks and plays very good. Yes indeed.I specially like the combat system, it's refreshing to have to actually put effort into battles to play your class efficiently.I had a blast the other day crushing an elite a level over me with my crusader, if I would have been playing my class badly i wouldn't be able to beat it.
Hopefully this has been some help to you and maybe you can take an actual look at Allods this time and base your opinion off of what is and not what conclusions you feel the need to jump to. Yes it has been helpful.
Thanks a lot for the info GrayGhost, it seems indeed that I was stating wrong things. But hey, it's good to realize when you are wrong about something.
I will give the game another chance, since I like it a lot, and after reading other's opinions and info I realize it's not game-breaking what I posted.
I hope that they will not overdo the Item Mall like those asian grinders, where you have to pay for items to be able to advance at high levels. If they start to sell things like that I will be indeed leaving, but right now they aren't doing this and hope it stays that way.
The problem is you neglected to acknowledge that you actually can get all of those items as drops in game.
Also you said "Why not make the keys craftable or expensive in-game?". That will already happen, some will use the item mall and sale the items they buy for in game currency. They will generally be expensive in game, but they will be purchasable in game. Which is exactly what you asked for. So I see that I was biased because of wrong info or lack of more research. Thank you for the info! The game has some bugs, it's Closed beta... thats expected. However you made an attempt to blow it out of porportion. It has no more or less bugs in CB than you would or could expect from any other MMO in CB. Be glad it isn't MO's beta lol, far buggier than allods and MO is a pay to play lol. Even worse this could be on par with Alganon which has launched ... it's best we don't go there as there are not words to describe how bad that game is. Yeah i got a bit overboard there, the bugs aren't game-breaking. :P Hehe if other P2P are much buggier then I should be glad to have less bugs in a F2P. Still they should work more on the games, there are some silly bugs like camera issues ( not centering ) and damage text not dissapearing that should be easy to fix. The megaphone complaint is asinine. You will have zone chat, guild chat, team chat, all the normal chats you would find in any other MMO and they are free to use. There is a special channel that lets you speak to EVERYONE in the game. I personally have no interest in doing so myself lol. Haven't ever needed to do so in any other MMO, can't imagine why I would need to do so in Allods. Well, the problem I see is that it can make looking for a guild or advertising it in-game a complicate thing, unless the guilds actually take the time to post about them in the game forums. The game looks and plays very good. Yes indeed.I specially like the combat system, it's refreshing to have to actually put effort into battles to play your class efficiently.I had a blast the other day crushing an elite a level over me with my crusader, if I would have been playing my class badly i wouldn't be able to beat it. Hopefully this has been some help to you and maybe you can take an actual look at Allods this time and base your opinion off of what is and not what conclusions you feel the need to jump to. Yes it has been helpful.
Thanks a lot for the info GrayGhost, it seems indeed that I was stating wrong things. But hey, it's good to realize when you are wrong about something.
I will give the game another chance, since I like it a lot, and after reading other's opinions and info I realize it's not game-breaking what I posted.
I hope that they will not overdo the Item Mall like those asian grinders, where you have to pay for items to be able to advance at high levels. If they start to sell things like that I will be indeed leaving, but right now they aren't doing this and hope it stays that way.
Oo... well you are certainly welcome and I appologise if I came off a bit strong lol. If it makes you feel any better, this is probably the first time I've considered playing a free to play let alone actually took the time to defend one. I'm a strictly pay to play guy or at least I was. Guild Wars softened me up, hearing about DCUO made me not so die hard anti free to play, many P2P's going with an item mall anyways softened me up a lot on my anti free to play philosophy and Allods kind of knocked me for a loop with it's beta.
Normally I would be right there with you about how horrible an item mall is lol. Allods is the first to get me to take time and think it out and research the whole business model.
Don't know if it's because the game is just that good or if it's because the rest of the industry has decided to try and start grabbing for cash where ever they can even with a monthly fee in place lol.
Yeah lol, zone chat and the other normal chat modes you would expect in an MMO are free.
Well, in Russian OBT even /zone isn't free anymore.
This might be true, when I clicked on the "cash shop" button before I logged out, browsed around, and saw an item that was for zone chat I believe, but.. a few bucks to unlock some of the features of this game doesn't seem like a big deal to me.. in fact it's a pretty darn good deal spending a little bit for a game and so many hours of game play.
One thing I really like so far (that is a double edged sword) is that when you group with people leveling actually goes faster because you get the bulk of your EXP from quest turn ins, but the downside is most people won't group unless they are on the same quests :P but myself and others offer to help people with their quests as I have seen (= My advice is if you want to level quick and you are thinking of trying Allods bring a friend or two along
-------------------------- Playing: FFXIV, TERA, LoL, and HoTS My Rig: GPU: GeForce GTX 770, CPU: i7-4790K, Memory: 16 GB RAM
Yes, hopefully the cash shop doesnt get ridiculous. But after playing for my first time yesterday, Im pretty sure I wouldnt mind spending a few bucks here or there for such a delightful game.
Yeah lol, zone chat and the other normal chat modes you would expect in an MMO are free.
Well, in Russian OBT even /zone isn't free anymore.
This might be true, when I clicked on the "cash shop" button before I logged out, browsed around, and saw an item that was for zone chat I believe, but.. a few bucks to unlock some of the features of this game doesn't seem like a big deal to me.. in fact it's a pretty darn good deal spending a little bit for a game and so many hours of game play.
One thing I really like so far (that is a double edged sword) is that when you group with people leveling actually goes faster because you get the bulk of your EXP from quest turn ins, but the downside is most people won't group unless they are on the same quests :P but myself and others offer to help people with their quests as I have seen (= My advice is if you want to level quick and you are thinking of trying Allods bring a friend or two along
The item for Zone chat is for 10 special messages. Not sure on the details of what they mean by "Special Messages" but you will be able to use Zone chat as normal for free. The only way to use World chat however is through the use of an item obtained off of the item mall.
Astral Megaphone = Allows you to write 10 messages in world chat
Megaphone = Allows you to write 10 Special messages in zone chat
As far as the Russian OBT, no idea as I am not in it. It is however still free in CB#3 here and seems to me it will remain that way as the only item used for Zone chat is to send "Special" messages.
If Allods lets you buy top quality gear and character boost at the max level I'm sure a lot of you are going to be complaining. It's not very fun to PvP when people are running around with huge stat boost and the best gear soon as it's released for purchase. Nothing against this game and people who choose to purchase items, but this tends to be a huge issue with people have at the max level and hurts the playerbase.
------------------------------ World of Warcraft-Retired (Blair 60 Warlock-Daggerspine) RF Online-Downloading Guild Wars-Retired (Amazonsfinest 20 Warrior/Monk)
If Allods lets you buy top quality gear and character boost at the max level I'm sure a lot of you are going to be complaining. It's not very fun to PvP when people are running around with huge stat boost and the best gear soon as it's released for purchase. Nothing against this game and people who choose to purchase items, but this tends to be a huge issue with people have at the max level and hurts the playerbase.
Totally agree, and that's probably where I would stop playing unless it was also attainable in game.
-------------------------- Playing: FFXIV, TERA, LoL, and HoTS My Rig: GPU: GeForce GTX 770, CPU: i7-4790K, Memory: 16 GB RAM
If Allods lets you buy top quality gear and character boost at the max level I'm sure a lot of you are going to be complaining. It's not very fun to PvP when people are running around with huge stat boost and the best gear soon as it's released for purchase. Nothing against this game and people who choose to purchase items, but this tends to be a huge issue with people have at the max level and hurts the playerbase.
Totally agree, and that's probably where I would stop playing unless it was also attainable in game.
I think this is really the distinction for me. No micro-transaction system should provide exclusive items, IMO. It should just be a short cut for those who cannot/will not attain the items normally. In addition, there should always be a class of items only attainable through in game progression. Not necessarily far better, but just unique in some way to reward the time invested.
Now some folks even have a problem with *that* level of micro-transaction. This does become a religious argument. Those who have a lot of time and limited funds will always feel "cheated" by any form of payment system, whereas those who have limited time to play but want some ability to progress in the game within their lifetime will find the absence of some kind of equalizer unfair.
Let me tell you a little story about Rappelz, another free-to-p(l)ay game from our dearest Gpotato friends.
At game launch you had it all. Active gamemasters, nice events (not those drop-rubbish-xyz item for a timed mask etc.), responsive forum moderators, and an item mall which was selling decent items that were moslty saving you time (to level up, to travel etc.). The game was growing fast, with many active players and new servers launching at a steady pace.
Then came the nerfs. Droprates decreased, xp gains were decreased, things you could have spend fortunes on (like pets) got changed radically making your money investment a non existing one, rare gear like weapons with crits etc. were introduced in the mall. Chances to make +2/+3 skill cards, or to enchant your equipment, were lessened. Events got fewer and fewer or were replaced by drop-rubbbish events. Pet cards were practically gone as ingame drops, and *tada* were made available in the mall. Many "vets" stopped playing. Servers getting emptier and emptier. Which motivated Gpotato to sell even more things almost exclusively in the mall, making the gap even bigger.
I am guessing here but this game could have had 2, 3, 4(?) times the amount of servers it has today. People enjoying the original game, getting friends to play it too and spending their share in the mall. More profit in the long run.
I have no doubt, what so ever, that Allods will go the same route. Lure as many players to the game as possible, and slowly but surely nerf the game to oblivion to force buy mall items.
To conclude: sure, the company is entitled to a healty source of income and as such item malls can do that job. But why not go for the "more profit in the long run" business model, why the rush to milk people from their cash as fast as possible?
Currently playing browser games. Waiting for Albion Online, Citadel of Sorcery and Camelot Unchained. Played: almost all MMO pre 2007
Let me tell you a little story about Rappelz, another free-to-p(l)ay game from our dearest Gpotato friends. At game launch you had it all. Active gamemasters, nice events (not those drop-rubbish-xyz item for a timed mask etc.), responsive forum moderators, and an item mall which was selling decent items that were moslty saving you time (to level up, to travel etc.). The game was growing fast, with many active players and new servers launching at a steady pace. Then came the nerfs. Droprates decreased, xp gains were decreased, things you could have spend fortunes on (like pets) got changed radically making your money investment a non existing one, rare gear like weapons with crits etc. were introduced in the mall. Chances to make +2/+3 skill cards, or to enchant your equipment, were lessened. Events got fewer and fewer or were replaced by drop-rubbbish events. Pet cards were practically gone as ingame drops, and *tada* were made available in the mall. Many "vets" stopped playing. Servers getting emptier and emptier. Which motivated Gpotato to sell even more things almost exclusively in the mall, making the gap even bigger. I am guessing here but this game could have had 2, 3, 4(?) times the amount of servers it has today. People enjoying the original game, getting friends to play it too and spending their share in the mall. More profit in the long run. I have no doubt, what so ever, that Allods will go the same route. Lure as many players to the game as possible, and slowly but surely nerf the game to oblivion to force buy mall items. To conclude: sure, the company is entitled to a healty source of income and as such item malls can do that job. But why not go for the "more profit in the long run" business model, why the rush to milk people from their cash as fast as possible?
ROFLMAO, I don't know how I got to this forum, but I was just gonna post exactly the same thing that you did.
Gpot is not making this game to provide players with fun, but to make money. They will continuely redesign their game to force players to spend more money.
ex.
Rappelz:
- Redesigned the pet system away from unique pets to a tiered system where rarer version were just more powerful than the more common ones. Saw a lot of empty pet card sales after this.
- Lowered potion drop rates to promote purchasing of CS potions.
- Keep drop rates on higher tiered weapons extremely low. Some players would level an entire rank w/o finding level appropriate equips..... exp rates are <10% / hr and ranks are 20 levels. After months of player bitching they finally raised rates, but offered " rare " versions and normal versions in gamble boxxes.
Yes, lots of this stuff is sellable in the game, but it still doesn't solve the problem that CS users have a huge advantage over other players. The items they sell are always in demand and are costly for someone that uses the CS sparingly. I'm not saying it is right or wrong, but CS items being obtainable to all players does not solve the problem when PvP is involved.
For me, being an Rappelz vet myself, its preety sad what happened to that game. But some ppl will say that they need to make money out of something, some ppl will complain but its all pointless.
However im more and more sceptical about Allods, cuz even "/z chat" items isnt rumor anymore, and no one complain about that.
I supported f2p games b4, but now they've become too hatefull if u dont spend money. From now on ill rather play p2p or even b2p games like GW, cuz this policy of money-making became preety unfriendly to us, the customers.
Main MMO at the moment: Guild Wars 2 Waiting for: Pathfinder Online
What I want is that you aren't forced to buy CS items to be able to advance through the game, otherwise is a bye-bye from me. Right now as the game is I cannot see it happening, until like someone said early they nerf the game below the ground. Why I cannot see it until nerfed you ask?
Right now in the game there isn't a big dependence in items to advance, the difficulty of encounters is much more level-based than item-based and wise use of energy / skills matter. Sure, having good items help, but you aren't forced on getting the latest items for your level to advance and I hope it stays that way ( but they need to reduce a bit the harshness of enemies one level above yours ). I'm only lv16 right now, so I can't say right now if this non-heavy dependancy of items continues through the rest of the game or not ( I hope so ).
Another thing I like a lot is having more slow-paced combat than in other games, where you have to think how you use energy and skills, it helps a lot making the game less of a rush through levels and you cannot faceroll your way into the game XD. People complain about this, but is perfect for me, there are enough ultra-easy and dumb MMORPG's out there, thanks. It's refreshing to see a more complex game than all those carbon-copies of WoW ( but I'm not saying WoW is not a fun game or that is bad, don't jump please ).
And another thing I like a lot is having a plot that you can follow through the game if you want. I want to see how it develops in the final release, right now I have fun following the Allods lore and doing those plot-related quests ( like the one where you need to rescue an elf from Khadaganians in the first "instance" of the game.
I am giving Nival a chance at this game, It would be a pity to leave it being a fan of the series, and I certainly don't want to see the same problems as you said with Rappelz happen again with this one. We'll see how this turns out.
Sadly, it is item dependant, you will get too much misses/resists with crap loot. And by the way, if you think think that getting killed by mobs is unfair, you havent played the start of russian obt, where being "raped" by rhinos was common. As for bag quest - its MUCH easier for league than imperium, much easier...
Only thing that should cost money would be some cosmetic stuff, some advanced gameplay elements, char name change, realm transfer and stuff (not saying that everything should be free), but yes, they shouldnt use some great advantage items, or some items that limit gameplay.
I just hope they wont start to charge for leveling up like in DDO, or more possible thing, to charge for Rubies which are crucial for talent grid. Who knows, maybe they wont do that in start, but maybe later as the time pass.
Main MMO at the moment: Guild Wars 2 Waiting for: Pathfinder Online
Sadly, it is item dependant, you will get too much misses/resists with crap loot. And by the way, if you think think that getting killed by mobs is unfair, you havent played the start of russian obt, where being "raped" by rhinos was common.
As for bag quest - its MUCH easier for league than imperium, much easier...
Yes, right now if you don't have expertise / finesse "updated" often the chance of missing / enemy resists increases too much, that is true. I hope they balance this in future patches, otherwise it will come close to the infamous "buy your advancement" that I don't want to see. :S
And no, I didn't say that being killed by mobs is unfair, that's silly XD. It's good to have some challenge again after all those "hold your hand" easy games.
The bag quest should be equal, that's discrimination.
I just hope they wont start to charge for leveling up like in DDO, or more possible thing, to charge for Rubies which are crucial for talent grid. Who knows, maybe they wont do that in start, but maybe later as the time pass.
I really doubt they would charge for the rubies. I mean they can do whatever they want since it's their game but expecting a monetary charge every time you level past lvl 9 doesn't seem feasible to me. I know the argument could be made that you don't have to buy them but that would be insanely gamebreaking to do.
I can see them charging for a lot of things but rubies? Doubt it. I would imagine the bulk of their money is going to come through storage space items, xp boosters, gold, etc. I wouldn't be surprised to see a speed potion booster made available to help people travel quicker but then again that could seriously fuck up PvP if it was available. Would be a hot commodity though since there aren't any mounts and people complain so much about all the running around you do and they could always make it so the speed bost is negated while you're under attack to alleviate any PvP wtf moments and exploits. Of course, it would take some effort to design but if they were to offer that as a cs item I could see that selling rather well.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Comments
GG, thanks for the info!
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
The only cash shop item that would be a dealbreaker for me is if you have to pay to even be able to use zone chat. If the megaphones are kept to being purchaseable items for global or inter faction chat I don't have an issue with it. If they go as far as even expecting continual payments for even having access to zone chat then doubt I'll play the game. That's a bit overboard far as I'm concerned and can make forming pugs a real nuisance. As for the other items I don't see the issue with it. They have to make their money somewhere and it isn't real surprising they're charginf for those things.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Yeah lol, zone chat and the other normal chat modes you would expect in an MMO are free.
Well, it isn't always an automatic. Requiem at least used to charge for that feature so there's at least one mmo that thought you should pay for that feature. Not sure if they're still doing that or not though. Still, every indication to me is that it's planned for things like global and the such so like you said it should be free.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Thanks a lot for the info GrayGhost, it seems indeed that I was stating wrong things. But hey, it's good to realize when you are wrong about something.
I will give the game another chance, since I like it a lot, and after reading other's opinions and info I realize it's not game-breaking what I posted.
I hope that they will not overdo the Item Mall like those asian grinders, where you have to pay for items to be able to advance at high levels. If they start to sell things like that I will be indeed leaving, but right now they aren't doing this and hope it stays that way.
Thanks a lot for the info GrayGhost, it seems indeed that I was stating wrong things. But hey, it's good to realize when you are wrong about something.
I will give the game another chance, since I like it a lot, and after reading other's opinions and info I realize it's not game-breaking what I posted.
I hope that they will not overdo the Item Mall like those asian grinders, where you have to pay for items to be able to advance at high levels. If they start to sell things like that I will be indeed leaving, but right now they aren't doing this and hope it stays that way.
Oo... well you are certainly welcome and I appologise if I came off a bit strong lol. If it makes you feel any better, this is probably the first time I've considered playing a free to play let alone actually took the time to defend one. I'm a strictly pay to play guy or at least I was. Guild Wars softened me up, hearing about DCUO made me not so die hard anti free to play, many P2P's going with an item mall anyways softened me up a lot on my anti free to play philosophy and Allods kind of knocked me for a loop with it's beta.
Normally I would be right there with you about how horrible an item mall is lol. Allods is the first to get me to take time and think it out and research the whole business model.
Don't know if it's because the game is just that good or if it's because the rest of the industry has decided to try and start grabbing for cash where ever they can even with a monthly fee in place lol.
MMORPG genre is dead. Long live MMOCS (Massively Multiplayer Online Cash Shop).
This might be true, when I clicked on the "cash shop" button before I logged out, browsed around, and saw an item that was for zone chat I believe, but.. a few bucks to unlock some of the features of this game doesn't seem like a big deal to me.. in fact it's a pretty darn good deal spending a little bit for a game and so many hours of game play.
One thing I really like so far (that is a double edged sword) is that when you group with people leveling actually goes faster because you get the bulk of your EXP from quest turn ins, but the downside is most people won't group unless they are on the same quests :P but myself and others offer to help people with their quests as I have seen (= My advice is if you want to level quick and you are thinking of trying Allods bring a friend or two along
--------------------------
Playing:
FFXIV, TERA, LoL, and HoTS
My Rig:
GPU: GeForce GTX 770, CPU: i7-4790K, Memory: 16 GB RAM
Yes, hopefully the cash shop doesnt get ridiculous. But after playing for my first time yesterday, Im pretty sure I wouldnt mind spending a few bucks here or there for such a delightful game.
I will be playing through the rest of the betas
This might be true, when I clicked on the "cash shop" button before I logged out, browsed around, and saw an item that was for zone chat I believe, but.. a few bucks to unlock some of the features of this game doesn't seem like a big deal to me.. in fact it's a pretty darn good deal spending a little bit for a game and so many hours of game play.
One thing I really like so far (that is a double edged sword) is that when you group with people leveling actually goes faster because you get the bulk of your EXP from quest turn ins, but the downside is most people won't group unless they are on the same quests :P but myself and others offer to help people with their quests as I have seen (= My advice is if you want to level quick and you are thinking of trying Allods bring a friend or two along
The item for Zone chat is for 10 special messages. Not sure on the details of what they mean by "Special Messages" but you will be able to use Zone chat as normal for free. The only way to use World chat however is through the use of an item obtained off of the item mall.
Astral Megaphone = Allows you to write 10 messages in world chat
Megaphone = Allows you to write 10 Special messages in zone chat
As far as the Russian OBT, no idea as I am not in it. It is however still free in CB#3 here and seems to me it will remain that way as the only item used for Zone chat is to send "Special" messages.
If Allods lets you buy top quality gear and character boost at the max level I'm sure a lot of you are going to be complaining. It's not very fun to PvP when people are running around with huge stat boost and the best gear soon as it's released for purchase. Nothing against this game and people who choose to purchase items, but this tends to be a huge issue with people have at the max level and hurts the playerbase.
------------------------------
World of Warcraft-Retired
(Blair 60 Warlock-Daggerspine)
RF Online-Downloading
Guild Wars-Retired
(Amazonsfinest 20 Warrior/Monk)
Totally agree, and that's probably where I would stop playing unless it was also attainable in game.
--------------------------
Playing:
FFXIV, TERA, LoL, and HoTS
My Rig:
GPU: GeForce GTX 770, CPU: i7-4790K, Memory: 16 GB RAM
Totally agree, and that's probably where I would stop playing unless it was also attainable in game.
I think this is really the distinction for me. No micro-transaction system should provide exclusive items, IMO. It should just be a short cut for those who cannot/will not attain the items normally. In addition, there should always be a class of items only attainable through in game progression. Not necessarily far better, but just unique in some way to reward the time invested.
Now some folks even have a problem with *that* level of micro-transaction. This does become a religious argument. Those who have a lot of time and limited funds will always feel "cheated" by any form of payment system, whereas those who have limited time to play but want some ability to progress in the game within their lifetime will find the absence of some kind of equalizer unfair.
Let me tell you a little story about Rappelz, another free-to-p(l)ay game from our dearest Gpotato friends.
At game launch you had it all. Active gamemasters, nice events (not those drop-rubbish-xyz item for a timed mask etc.), responsive forum moderators, and an item mall which was selling decent items that were moslty saving you time (to level up, to travel etc.). The game was growing fast, with many active players and new servers launching at a steady pace.
Then came the nerfs. Droprates decreased, xp gains were decreased, things you could have spend fortunes on (like pets) got changed radically making your money investment a non existing one, rare gear like weapons with crits etc. were introduced in the mall. Chances to make +2/+3 skill cards, or to enchant your equipment, were lessened. Events got fewer and fewer or were replaced by drop-rubbbish events. Pet cards were practically gone as ingame drops, and *tada* were made available in the mall. Many "vets" stopped playing. Servers getting emptier and emptier. Which motivated Gpotato to sell even more things almost exclusively in the mall, making the gap even bigger.
I am guessing here but this game could have had 2, 3, 4(?) times the amount of servers it has today. People enjoying the original game, getting friends to play it too and spending their share in the mall. More profit in the long run.
I have no doubt, what so ever, that Allods will go the same route. Lure as many players to the game as possible, and slowly but surely nerf the game to oblivion to force buy mall items.
To conclude: sure, the company is entitled to a healty source of income and as such item malls can do that job. But why not go for the "more profit in the long run" business model, why the rush to milk people from their cash as fast as possible?
Currently playing browser games. Waiting for Albion Online, Citadel of Sorcery and Camelot Unchained.
Played: almost all MMO pre 2007
ROFLMAO, I don't know how I got to this forum, but I was just gonna post exactly the same thing that you did.
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Gpot is not making this game to provide players with fun, but to make money. They will continuely redesign their game to force players to spend more money.
ex.
Rappelz:
- Redesigned the pet system away from unique pets to a tiered system where rarer version were just more powerful than the more common ones. Saw a lot of empty pet card sales after this.
- Lowered potion drop rates to promote purchasing of CS potions.
- Keep drop rates on higher tiered weapons extremely low. Some players would level an entire rank w/o finding level appropriate equips..... exp rates are <10% / hr and ranks are 20 levels. After months of player bitching they finally raised rates, but offered " rare " versions and normal versions in gamble boxxes.
Yes, lots of this stuff is sellable in the game, but it still doesn't solve the problem that CS users have a huge advantage over other players. The items they sell are always in demand and are costly for someone that uses the CS sparingly. I'm not saying it is right or wrong, but CS items being obtainable to all players does not solve the problem when PvP is involved.
For me, being an Rappelz vet myself, its preety sad what happened to that game. But some ppl will say that they need to make money out of something, some ppl will complain but its all pointless.
However im more and more sceptical about Allods, cuz even "/z chat" items isnt rumor anymore, and no one complain about that.
I supported f2p games b4, but now they've become too hatefull if u dont spend money. From now on ill rather play p2p or even b2p games like GW, cuz this policy of money-making became preety unfriendly to us, the customers.
Main MMO at the moment: Guild Wars 2
Waiting for: Pathfinder Online
What I want is that you aren't forced to buy CS items to be able to advance through the game, otherwise is a bye-bye from me. Right now as the game is I cannot see it happening, until like someone said early they nerf the game below the ground. Why I cannot see it until nerfed you ask?
Right now in the game there isn't a big dependence in items to advance, the difficulty of encounters is much more level-based than item-based and wise use of energy / skills matter. Sure, having good items help, but you aren't forced on getting the latest items for your level to advance and I hope it stays that way ( but they need to reduce a bit the harshness of enemies one level above yours ). I'm only lv16 right now, so I can't say right now if this non-heavy dependancy of items continues through the rest of the game or not ( I hope so ).
Another thing I like a lot is having more slow-paced combat than in other games, where you have to think how you use energy and skills, it helps a lot making the game less of a rush through levels and you cannot faceroll your way into the game XD. People complain about this, but is perfect for me, there are enough ultra-easy and dumb MMORPG's out there, thanks. It's refreshing to see a more complex game than all those carbon-copies of WoW ( but I'm not saying WoW is not a fun game or that is bad, don't jump please
).
And another thing I like a lot is having a plot that you can follow through the game if you want. I want to see how it develops in the final release, right now I have fun following the Allods lore and doing those plot-related quests ( like the one where you need to rescue an elf from Khadaganians in the first "instance" of the game.
I am giving Nival a chance at this game, It would be a pity to leave it being a fan of the series, and I certainly don't want to see the same problems as you said with Rappelz happen again with this one. We'll see how this turns out.
Monthly p2p > IM
Sadly, it is item dependant, you will get too much misses/resists with crap loot. And by the way, if you think think that getting killed by mobs is unfair, you havent played the start of russian obt, where being "raped" by rhinos was common.
As for bag quest - its MUCH easier for league than imperium, much easier...
IZI MODO?! Ha-ha-ha!
Only thing that should cost money would be some cosmetic stuff, some advanced gameplay elements, char name change, realm transfer and stuff (not saying that everything should be free), but yes, they shouldnt use some great advantage items, or some items that limit gameplay.
I just hope they wont start to charge for leveling up like in DDO, or more possible thing, to charge for Rubies which are crucial for talent grid. Who knows, maybe they wont do that in start, but maybe later as the time pass.
Main MMO at the moment: Guild Wars 2
Waiting for: Pathfinder Online
Yes, right now if you don't have expertise / finesse "updated" often the chance of missing / enemy resists increases too much, that is true. I hope they balance this in future patches, otherwise it will come close to the infamous "buy your advancement" that I don't want to see. :S
And no, I didn't say that being killed by mobs is unfair, that's silly XD. It's good to have some challenge again after all those "hold your hand" easy games.
The bag quest should be equal, that's discrimination.
I really doubt they would charge for the rubies. I mean they can do whatever they want since it's their game but expecting a monetary charge every time you level past lvl 9 doesn't seem feasible to me. I know the argument could be made that you don't have to buy them but that would be insanely gamebreaking to do.
I can see them charging for a lot of things but rubies? Doubt it. I would imagine the bulk of their money is going to come through storage space items, xp boosters, gold, etc. I wouldn't be surprised to see a speed potion booster made available to help people travel quicker but then again that could seriously fuck up PvP if it was available. Would be a hot commodity though since there aren't any mounts and people complain so much about all the running around you do and they could always make it so the speed bost is negated while you're under attack to alleviate any PvP wtf moments and exploits. Of course, it would take some effort to design but if they were to offer that as a cs item I could see that selling rather well.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.