I guess all "free" games do this. But this one really takes the cake.

The new content in this really takes the cake (edit, doh, you can tell I'm mad because I'm repeating myself).  The timed quests. The first one I come across to get the new merc has you kill 5 Wanted Men in 5 minutes.

Unfortunately, it's a rather rare monster, most mobs have only 1 or 2, some have none.  And the chances of finding 3 in a row that have one are pretty low (I've tried it now, 4 times).

The only way to do it, apparently, is to have a patrol license. Part of a warrior pack, $15 a month.  And realistically, to kill them that quickly, you also probably need a blessing license. Another $15 a month.

And I swear, every patch, the game runs worse.

And why don't you just buy them from the market? Patrol license 1 day (why do you need more than 1 day patrol anyway???)  is one of the cheapest licenses on the market... And 250-300 mil (Sik) for the BL is not much either for a 100+. But if you wanna buy them with real money, you're free to do it...

On Thebes, there aren't any PL IV for sale, so that's not an option. And even the PLIII is 3 million. Which is hardly expensive, but how many people who are 100th level exactly will actually be able to finish the quest in question? (Maybe if they had all +6-10 Freezing, sure, I guess, but they'd have to either buy gold or lots of CS items to get that good of gear at that level)

And really, my issue is more the whole sneakiness of it.

Whenever the other "free" game I played would come out with a new character, you'd have to pay money at the cash shop, but they were upfront about it.

Its OP fault..you play crappy games..they give you crap...the market if full of p2p and f2p crap games...people play them..so they keep on making them..lol

Please restrain yourself if you don't know of what you're talking about. AO is a great game as it is and the OP laments about the politics of the developers.

@OP

i'm just lv.91 and yesterday had only a few minutes to patch the game and check the new things in the market... I don't know at which level you can get the new guitar merc but i know that every merc is ment to be used from a certain level BUT the recruitment quest forces you to be a much higher level to get that particular merc. The quests for every other merc forces you to enter the shadw dungeons and party up OR wait some more levels to be able to fight your way through. The oracle finnal boss is 17 levels higher (93) than the reccomended oracle level (76). I, most of the times bought the merc when i could first use it and made the recruitment quests later.

sorry trance.. i managed to do it in 1 try... i do have a warrior's pack but i didnt need to view the mobs. freezing scroll in market = 250k... in mycenae anyways. desperados goes down in 1 scroll... i skip turn, next turn 1 scroll... then skip turn to make it fast... you can do around 4 mobs that way in around 2 mins. trust me on this... the price for the scrolls... a total of 1m... where is the item mall in that?

btw.. minstrel is a lvl 100 quest. don't tell me that you dont have 1m?

Originally posted by lm8dark

sorry trance.. i managed to do it in 1 try... i do have a warrior's pack but i didnt need to view the mobs. freezing scroll in market = 250k... in mycenae anyways. desperados goes down in 1 scroll... i skip turn, next turn 1 scroll... then skip turn to make it fast... you can do around 4 mobs that way in around 2 mins. trust me on this... the price for the scrolls... a total of 1m... where is the item mall in that?

 

 

btw.. minstrel is a lvl 100 quest. don't tell me that you dont have 1m?

scrolls are from the item mall you dumb ass and if you nee to scroll in dallas your team is pretty weak, i can kill in the same amount of turns by just aoe and skip.

you can check the market too for the scrolls. duh... im just giving the option of finishing the quest aside from the item mall. why not read the starting post. then good for you if you aoe that much. as if that helped.. it also depends on the build.

freezing scroll in market = 250k... in mycenae anyways. desperados goes down in 1 scroll... i skip turn, next turn 1 scroll... then skip turn to make it fast... you can do around 4 mobs that way in around 2 mins. trust me on this... the price for the scrolls... a total of 1m... where is the item mall in that?

Nice contradiction

Atlantica is anything but a crappy game. It's a F2p game that needs money, so pay up to get the merc.

They need to change the term Free to play to Free to partially access.

How do you expect a game to go on without them squeesing a few bucks out of the hardcore gamers.

Originally posted by metalhead980

Atlantica is anything but a crappy game. It's a F2p game that needs money, so pay up to get the merc.

They need to change the term Free to play to Free to partially access.

How do you expect a game to go on without them squeesing a few bucks out of the hardcore gamers.

you need to use the term 'few bucks' loosley. People spend thousands on this game others spend a minimum of $30 on licenses if they need money $10 translates to 200-300m and a good weapon will cost 1-2 billion.  You need to equip a minimum of 9 characters (not 1) and most people including me equip 20 of them.  So it costs more than a few bucks if you want it fast which most people seem to do.

I said this on this forum and  on others too: if you want it fast, fast, fast PAY FOR IT! If you can chill and enjoy every aspect of the game you can relax and you don't have to pay at all or really really little... But i guess this kind of patience  (and wisdom) comes with the age and the free time one has... I have very little free time so when i can play i relax at it and don't stress myself with things that don't really matter.

at least f2p games gives you an option of buying or not buying. all the items from the item mall can be bought in game anyways. besides, it doesnt give you much of an advantage if you buy them especially in FL cuz your might scales down. this is a very good game compared to other f2ps and better than some p2ps. as was said earlier, if you want it fast, go buy, if you dont want to buy, then take the game slowly.

Again the Item mall is just an option. if you think that it's cost is way to much. then don't buy any from the mall. simple as that.

This wasnt the way it was at first, been there since day 1, the first 6 months were wonderful (if not buggy) patches of total game content, balance and a few cool new things to wear. Then 6 months ago the patches became nothing but what this thread states. They spend 95% of their patches and time now trying to think of new things to Nerf (merc power against PVE so you need the blessing potions,scrolls, and uber enhance stones for a better chance to upgrade your gear..all from the item mall of course), or increase (like the travel agency fee which free players use who do not have a tele license, and overpowering higher level mobs and bosses, see above need for item mall battle items), or new costumes, mounts and wings/accessories to entice more gambling with th e item mall oxes to get those bonus stats.

It's a sad situation, and most everything new that has been added to the game, less than 5% of players will ever see, because they cant get that high lvl without spending 100's at the item mall OR spending a year saving money to buy those item mall items with in-game gold.

Sad but true.