"Because you can put your Astral Diamonds up on an auction house and sell them for micro-transactable points."

This is a dishonest article. What they're really saying is that a dedicated player can get someone else to pay for them. Someone had to pay for those MT points in the first place in order for them to be traded in an auction house, otherwise they don't exist. The system isn't "groundbreaking", and it isn't "free". It's just allowing players to benefit from someone elses wallet.

I agree with the conceptof getting paid for your work, but you're trying to coax players by saying the game will be completely free to play, and you're basing this statement on a technicallity.  Okay, let's play your game Mr. Emmert...

Let's say every single person to pick up this game wants to play without ever paying a cent in your cash shop. They all grind out Astral Diamonds and put them up on the auction house to sell for microtransaction points, only... wait there's no one who can buy those diamonds since no one has spent money in your cash shop. Weird, all those people who wanted access to everything for free now can't buy anything until someone shells out real money.

I can't be the only person that sees it that way, right?

I suspect that, as some have already said, while you may be able to buy everything by playing, the time constraints will be prohibitively slow e.g. grind-centric (at least for the 'good stuff').

Still debating one of the packs but I think the limitations on the classes at start will keep me from buying. Disappointing really. A ranger type class would have probably sealed the deal for me.

Oh well. 2013 is the year of the AAA titles. Maybe one of them will have it all (well all that I need!)

"Get Everything You Want By Playing"

90% True, except for Challenge. And a game without challenge is pointless as playing an armless man in tennis.

I loved my time in beta, it was fun to act and react to enemy movements.  Sorta reminded me of an softer Darksouls gameplay style mixed with Guildwars2.  However the more I played(17+level each class) I noticed that I can fight each group with little more than standing still and autoattacking.  In fact the only reason you seem to have skills at all is to do group play or to increase the speed of killing mobs and saving money on pots... :/

I'll say it again, I loved my time in beta. The game has tons of potential and they use allot of StartrekOnline mechanics economically. However like STO it has little real challenge in any aspect of the game. I fear that I'll play the game to max level expecting to unlock some challenges only to find delay forced grinds also like STO. If they fail to make it more difficult in the next two beta weekends ill drop my founders pack and never install the release version.

Add Challenge to the game! Such potential cannot be ignored.

Originally posted by rygard49

Let's say every single person to pick up this game wants to play without ever paying a cent in your cash shop. They all grind out Astral Diamonds and put them up on the auction house to sell for microtransaction points, only... wait there's no one who can buy those diamonds since no one has spent money in your cash shop. Weird, all those people who wanted access to everything for free now can't buy anything until someone shells out real money.

I can't be the only person that sees it that way, right?

That's not gonna happen :) as it was posted a few times, getting / grinding time-consumable (at least based on STO and CO) is slow, tedious and very limited. Especially if you take into consideration the amount you need from that currency for the game. There will be always players who will say, damn I rather drop in 5 bucks for Zen and buy the dilly / questionite / diamond than grind it myself for 2 weeks...

Wasn't Emmert the guy that said he hated F2P long ago when he was in charge of CoH and later CO?  Now he loves F2P?

I'll hold judgment until I see the game launch.  But I suspect the grind will be very prohibative that eventually you'll spend money.  I don't knock it; they have to make money somehow but I never consider F2P to be truly F2P.  It's one of my dislikes of F2P.  They know they have to make money somehow but they try very hard to convince you that playing without paying will have the same experience as those who pay.  It's so disengenious.

Just to clarify some things I have read through the postings so far based on playing this past weekend:

1) You get astral diamonds by invoking you gods power, which may be done every 60 mins.  You get 1500, 750, 375.  This skill can be done at any of the numerious campfires, with a portable shrine, or at a temple shrine.  It takes less than 3 seconds, and you also get a small amount of xp and a temporary buff.

2) You get astral diamonds from completing open world events in various zones in the game.  The reward varied by your rank at the end.

3) You get astral diamonds from certain instanced events as well, again, based on rank.

4) Sometimes you get additional astral diamonds from the events/instances as well (saw 2x multiplier a couple of times).

5) The most expensive (in astral diamonds) item I found on the vendors was a level 3 mount upgrade for just over 4 million astral diamonds (no clue what it did).

If you do your invoking, and events in the zones/instances (expecially with a multiplier) I was easily getting 1500+750+375+~350(per event/instance, usually participated in 2/hr).  This did not consume my entire time, but was done while leveling and doing storyline quests.  So take what you want from that.

Originally posted by Po_gg

Originally posted by rygard49

Let's say every single person to pick up this game wants to play without ever paying a cent in your cash shop. They all grind out Astral Diamonds and put them up on the auction house to sell for microtransaction points, only... wait there's no one who can buy those diamonds since no one has spent money in your cash shop. Weird, all those people who wanted access to everything for free now can't buy anything until someone shells out real money.

I can't be the only person that sees it that way, right?

That's not gonna happen :) as it was posted a few times, getting / grinding time-consumable (at least based on STO and CO) is slow, tedious and very limited. Especially if you take into consideration the amount you need from that currency for the game. There will be always players who will say, damn I rather drop in 5 bucks for Zen and buy the dilly / questionite / diamond than grind it myself for 2 weeks...

Of course it's not going to happen, it was a hypothetical. The intent was to show that he's being disingenuous when he says everything in the game will be free. The fact is that someone has to pay for it, whether you personally got it for free or not.

The whole article is a dishonest spin, and should have been questioned and scrutinized before being posted on a major MMO gaming website.

Originally posted by allumo666
i like to read some of the stuff posted here but regarding this fellow´s interview i must say what a bunch of junk speach. talking only on how free this game will be when they do the opposite regarding beta. i agree they have to get some sort of revenue but charging for beta is just wrong. beta is to put the game to test and get as much feedback as possible. trion worlds did that with defiance and they even gave keys everywhere. on the nwo foruns theres a thread for beta testers to answer ppl questions theres only one guy apart form the moderators answering. so if they make this sort of stuff for beta i can only imagine how it will be when game goes live 

 It's not really junk speech, they have adopted the same in-game currency / RL currency marketplace that GW2 has. It's already in the beta version of the game, so not sure what your point was.

Originally posted by thekze
Will you be able to purchase astral diamonds at any time? Can you buy items with these astral diamonds?? Will players have to work very hard to obtain what others got by spending money?? If yes is the answer to my three questions. This game is pay-to-win.

 

 Astral Diamonds are in game currency. You can earn them in game by completing dungeons, competitive challenges, events or invoking your god every hour. You can also trade Zen (RL currency) for other players Astral Diamonds via a GW2 type broker.

You buy items with those Astral Diamonds. You can obviously get items quicker if you just buy them with RL cash, but there is no need to.

Thats not Pay to Win, its just convenience.

"In-game, a player can earn Astral Diamonds from completing content"

like lotro then :D

u know what ? if thats real when the game is launched, i will buy a pack just to show some support

and thats boys is how u do a f2p game !

good job!

Originally posted by evilastro

Originally posted by thekze
Will you be able to purchase astral diamonds at any time? Can you buy items with these astral diamonds?? Will players have to work very hard to obtain what others got by spending money?? If yes is the answer to my three questions. This game is pay-to-win.

 

 Astral Diamonds are in game currency. You can earn them in game by completing dungeons, competitive challenges, events or invoking your god every hour. You can also trade Zen (RL currency) for other players Astral Diamonds via a GW2 type broker.

You buy items with those Astral Diamonds. You can obviously get items quicker if you just buy them with RL cash, but there is no need to.

Thats not Pay to Win, its just convenience.

Transforming real world currency into in-game currency allowing you to buy anything with real currency is pay to win. Unless the endgame items are bound on pickup so you can't simply purchase them.

Originally posted by vmoped

Just to clarify some things I have read through the postings so far based on playing this past weekend:

1) You get astral diamonds by invoking you gods power, which may be done every 60 mins.  You get 1500, 750, 375.  This skill can be done at any of the numerious campfires, with a portable shrine, or at a temple shrine.  It takes less than 3 seconds, and you also get a small amount of xp and a temporary buff.

2) You get astral diamonds from completing open world events in various zones in the game.  The reward varied by your rank at the end.

3) You get astral diamonds from certain instanced events as well, again, based on rank.

4) Sometimes you get additional astral diamonds from the events/instances as well (saw 2x multiplier a couple of times).

5) The most expensive (in astral diamonds) item I found on the vendors was a level 3 mount upgrade for just over 4 million astral diamonds (no clue what it did).

If you do your invoking, and events in the zones/instances (expecially with a multiplier) I was easily getting 1500+750+375+~350(per event/instance, usually participated in 2/hr).  This did not consume my entire time, but was done while leveling and doing storyline quests.  So take what you want from that.

So using those numbers 672 hours of grinding, for a level 3 mount upgrade...  Somebody check my math, because that seems kind of ridiculous.  It really makes me sad to see Neverwinter go the Free2Grind, Pay4Fun route.

Originally posted by GoldenArrow

Originally posted by evilastro

Originally posted by thekze
Will you be able to purchase astral diamonds at any time? Can you buy items with these astral diamonds?? Will players have to work very hard to obtain what others got by spending money?? If yes is the answer to my three questions. This game is pay-to-win.

 

 Astral Diamonds are in game currency. You can earn them in game by completing dungeons, competitive challenges, events or invoking your god every hour. You can also trade Zen (RL currency) for other players Astral Diamonds via a GW2 type broker.

You buy items with those Astral Diamonds. You can obviously get items quicker if you just buy them with RL cash, but there is no need to.

Thats not Pay to Win, its just convenience.

Transforming real world currency into in-game currency allowing you to buy anything with real currency is pay to win. Unless the endgame items are bound on pickup so you can't simply purchase them.

 

that's never how i viewed P2W for me that's pay for convienence.. to me P2W is having items in the CS that give players who pay an unfair advantage over players who don't pay