Perfect World Entertainment has placed a lot of stock in its newest MMO, Forsaken World. MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy has spent some time playing Forsaken World and has a few thoughts to share about the open beta. Check it out and then weigh in with your own experiences in the comments.

One of the first things you’ll notice is that while FW’s art style is derivative, it also manages to capture a style all its own. It’s not the gaming world’s most advanced game graphically but, like some of the genre’s other games, its style makes up for any shortcomings in polygons. The animations are fluid and the spell effects are pretty snazzy themselves. The textures are lower rez than I’d like, but overall I think Forsaken World is one of the better looking games to come from PWI.

Read more of Bill Murphy's Forsaken World Open Beta Impressions.

I Installed it. Couldn't invert the mouse controls, uninstalled it after trying the first 10 levels. When will these Asian companies learn that many in the west not only like to use an inverted mouse, there are people who almost  have to use one. Sheesh!

Originally posted by markt50

I Installed it. Couldn't invert the mouse controls, uninstalled it after trying the first 10 levels. When will these Asian companies learn that many in the west not only like to use an inverted mouse, there are people who almost  have to use one. Sheesh!

Very few people use inverted mouse, sorry to hear that.

It's "flair", not "flare".

 Just like to comment on one sentence..

"it doesn’t seem like the kind of game that will make you pay to succeed"

 To date, any new PWI game i've gotten into doesn't seem that way, during the CB/OB periods anyways, the in-game systems are built with CS in mind, but prices are reasonible enough for that not to matter. Soon after the community grows a bit, it always becomes next to impossible to play for free, thanks to the community and their ridiculous in-game gold inflations.

 Now that sounds pretty par for the course when it comes to F2P, but when it comes to the PWI community it just happens on a 'whole---nother----level!'(madtv? lol..).

 3 Months tops is all every new game of theirs gets before it is completely ruined by the CS community. So either start early to take advantage of prices (buy cheap / wait to sell months later), or start really late so you don't witness the outrage(s) for yourself and get turned off.

Originally posted by mithoss

{mod edit}

 

You didn't just go there...oh wait, you did.  :\

In Forsaken World, it's very fast to get to level 30.  I almost found it *too* fast.  Doing Gods' Trial a few times after level 20 with Lionheart scrolls on make you level very fast to 30, and by doing so you outlevel a bunch of quests along the way.  Fortunately, I can go back and do many of them, but for tiny experience gains by this point.  The Nightmare Carnival instance is kinda neat.  There's no fighting, just some cute mini-games to earn some tokens that can be redeemed afterward for unbound coins.

"And there’s nothing in the store that’s going to give someone with a padded wallet any real unfair advantage."  I agree with this for the most part, except for possibly one thing ~ the mercury statuette.  You could buy tons of them off the cash shop and redeem each one for at least 3-4 unbound gold pieces in game.  That will add up fast if you sink really money into the cash shop.  Why could this give players willing to do so an advantage in-game?  Because player sold items via the auction house are sold for unbound coin.  So someone buying a ton of mercury statuettes can buy the best gear on the auction house, whereas others not using the cash shop probably couldn't afford it for a long time.  I'm not really sure of how much of an advantage this is in FW, but for pvp-minded players it might give them a leg up to have the better gear.

The game has already been released, so why is it still being listed as being in development?

Originally posted by Painbringer

The game has already been released, so why is it still being listed as being in development?

 

From my understanding, FW is still in "Open Beta" phase which means it will continue to have updates/patches/tweaks done to the game, so it is not exactly released yet.

"it doesn’t seem like the kind of game that will make you pay to succeed"

Um....I kinda have to disagree with you on this. You can buy ingame money with real money, now you can even trade Zen for ingame money. You can buy pets and mounts that are far superior than ingame pets and mounts. Then there are those enchanting stones that give better stats than ingame stones. So I guess you can say it does not make you "pay to succeed" cuz you can succeed with lots of time but you can "pay to succeed faster".

Installed it. easy leveling,

1.day: few nice dungeons, nice daily quests...

2.day:few nice dungeons again, nice daily quests again...

3.day: few nice but boring dungeons again, nice but boring daily quests again...

4.day: boring dungeons again (lot of noobish in Carnival omg -hit the good strawman!), boring daily quests again... Nice guild system, bad pvp system... NO pvp system, bored, noobish as metin2.   but -1 point for fw, bcoz no nations...

5.day: finally, eu pvp server started....

6.day: no real pvp on pvp server omg... and... boring dungeons again, boring daily quests again...

7.day: uninstall

Originally posted by weircui

From my understanding, FW is still in "Open Beta" phase which means it will continue to have updates/patches/tweaks done to the game, so it is not exactly released yet.

Then shouldn't it be listed under "in beta"?

Personally, I don't think FW will have an official release date, other than the open beta date, which has already come and gone.

Also, all MMOs have updates/patches/tweaks after launch - Unless they're neglected or shutdown.

have they solve the interface problem yet?

Sorry William Murphy but you are incorrect, this game is definitely Pay-2-Win. The gems sold in the item shop are definitely available in-game but are prohibitively expensive to get, to the point where it's nearly impossible unless you farm gold all day every day for YEARS. Without those gems, you cannot do high level content or compete in PVP at any level. You just fell for the illusion because you probably glanced at it for only a second when in all reality that should be the thing that you look the closest at.

To give a bit of perspective as you get deeper into the beta. Take a deeper look at the cash shop. Players have the abilitiy to max certain stats, specifically resistances, that makes them monsters in PvP. The items to do so are available in the cash shop, and the total price tag to max out resistances is literally in the thousands range.

That, for me, is not a big deal, since that's largely for PvP, which I don't do. That's actually one of the biggest reasons I avoid PvP; companies know how competitive players are, and know they're that much more likely to dig into their wallets when it means one-upping someone else, especially if that someone just ganked them. That's not the mindset for me.

The costumes are also expensive, but thankfully they don't add to stats and thus are completely aesthetic. I'm actually fine with this. Plus, they really are quite lovely. The textures on them are exceedingly detailed and painterly.

The biggest problem I have with this game, however - and also the only thing I can't look beyond - is the currency. If you noticed, there are two kinds of currency; soul coins and actual money (not including the various stones you exchange for gear that drop from rare mobs). The soul coins aren't really going to get you anything, they exist really only for leveling skills. Actual currency is what you want, it's what things sell for in the auction house, it's how you'll be trading with players, and it also DOES NOT DROP from anything. The only way to get it is from a 2 (might be 3, I forget) day-a-week event that's basically a festival of mini-games. That's the only way to make money. It was done to prevent gold bots, which other PWI games have a huge issue with, but to me this just seems stupid. I can understand logging in at a specific time, specific day to raid with friends, but having to do that just so you can afford anything is a bit to anal retentive for me. Without that currency issue, it could definitely be one of the better if not the best F2P currently available, unless you like PvP.

The only other way to get gear is a) hope it drops (drop rate gradually drops of to nearly nothing as you level higher), raid dungeons with equally horrid drop rates, or hunt rare mobs with a large spawn timer and HOPE they drop stones you can trade in for gear. Except you typically need 4+ stones per piece of gear, and I've never gotten more than two stones at a time from a rare. Quests stop giving you sufficient gear pretty early on, with the exception of the ones that take you into raid dungeons. I'm actually okay with all of the above, this would drive the player economy and force people to trade for goods, but not when the only way to get the money for said trade is an event you have to be online at a specific time for.

Originally posted by gaeanprayer

To give a bit of perspective as you get deeper into the beta. Take a deeper look at the cash shop. Players have the abilitiy to max certain stats, specifically resistances, that makes them monsters in PvP. The items to do so are available in the cash shop, and the total price tag to max out resistances is literally in the thousands range.

 

That, for me, is not a big deal, since that's largely for PvP, which I don't do. That's actually one of the biggest reasons I avoid PvP; companies know how competitive players are, and know they're that much more likely to dig into their wallets when it means one-upping someone else, especially if that someone just ganked them. That's not the mindset for me.

 

The costumes are also expensive, but thankfully they don't add to stats and thus are completely aesthetic. I'm actually fine with this. Plus, they really are quite lovely. The textures on them are exceedingly detailed and painterly.

 

The biggest problem I have with this game, however - and also the only thing I can't look beyond - is the currency. If you noticed, there are two kinds of currency; soul coins and actual money (not including the various stones you exchange for gear that drop from rare mobs). The soul coins aren't really going to get you anything, they exist really only for leveling skills. Actual currency is what you want, it's what things sell for in the auction house, it's how you'll be trading with players, and it also DOES NOT DROP from anything. The only way to get it is from a 2 (might be 3, I forget) day-a-week event that's basically a festival of mini-games. That's the only way to make money. It was done to prevent gold bots, which other PWI games have a huge issue with, but to me this just seems stupid. I can understand logging in at a specific time, specific day to raid with friends, but having to do that just so you can afford anything is a bit to anal retentive for me. Without that currency issue, it could definitely be one of the better if not the best F2P currently available, unless you like PvP.

 

The only other way to get gear is a) hope it drops (drop rate gradually drops of to nearly nothing as you level higher), raid dungeons with equally horrid drop rates, or hunt rare mobs with a large spawn timer and HOPE they drop stones you can trade in for gear. Except you typically need 4+ stones per piece of gear, and I've never gotten more than two stones at a time from a rare. Quests stop giving you sufficient gear pretty early on, with the exception of the ones that take you into raid dungeons. I'm actually okay with all of the above, this would drive the player economy and force people to trade for goods, but not when the only way to get the money for said trade is an event you have to be online at a specific time for.

 

There is a post somehere on there forums where a guy did the math and found out the masterys and resistance for maxing out a character in boh of these fields will cost $4000

ANd   pvp might not be a big deal to some but the top 2 guilds (rawr & Onovia) are already participating in guild wars on the pve servers and guess what guild wins every fight they had so far (3:0, with a recent score of 208:13<---Kill vs kill) And you know what i found out from being in one of these guilds, most everyone has already dumped over a $200-500 into the game and all of there gear is slotted with gems from the CS. Since then i dropped out of the guild and formed another one with a friend and we both decided that when we get to the point where hard work doesnt pay off or something comes along better we'll just leave, cause we both agree that P2W sucks and unbalances a game. ALso this information could have been found out using there forums and spending more than 15 minutes in the game.

I stopped reading when you wrote about the early levels not needing a Cash Shop. It is very obivous that you have not played many Pay2Win games or else you would know that the devs are easing you in.

Anyway another Pay2Win game that says it is a beta but will never have a server wipe. This site just had an article on being honest with the review but i guess you did not read the feed back.

Nothing to see here, same old crap .... move along.

another pay2win ... like everything from PWI.. stay away from it

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Originally posted by Xero_Chance
Sorry William Murphy but you are incorrect, this game is definitely Pay-2-Win. The gems sold in the item shop are definitely available in-game but are prohibitively expensive to get, to the point where it's nearly impossible unless you farm gold all day every day for YEARS. Without those gems, you cannot do high level content or compete in PVP at any level. You just fell for the illusion because you probably glanced at it for only a second when in all reality that should be the thing that you look the closest at.

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Did you even get past 40 ?
Let me break it down for you :

After lvl 40, you can get into Glistering Lowland, where EVERY party member gets a gem at the end. If you're in a guild and you go in with your guild mates, you will get a LOT of gems very fast. So no, your argument is invalid.

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Originally posted by sibs4455
I stopped reading when you wrote about the early levels not needing a Cash Shop. It is very obivous that you have not played many Pay2Win games or else you would know that the devs are easing you in.
Anyway another Pay2Win game that says it is a beta but will never have a server wipe. This site just had an article on being honest with the review but i guess you did not read the feed back.
Nothing to see here, same old crap .... move along.

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It's obvious you need to WIN.
Me, i am doing fine without spending a dime. And that is with 3 hours game every day.

It's definitely Pay2Win. I quit once I realized only way to get money is to do carnival (which gives very little) or buy statues from cash shop (which gives a lot). Completely fail tying an ingame currency with the cash shop.

ive spent all night downloading it,now its still patching.why cant they have an upto date dopwnload.

as far as teh so called pay to win. you hear that at every f2p game.they have to earn cash SOMEHOW. there is no monthly fee,this is NOT a charity.if the items can be got without buying then what is the POINT. you don't like pay 2 win then go play WOW. or another pay2 play.

the f2p games ive played really have no need to buy items to play.so oyu cant get the best item,omg the world will end.you can still play.but you want th ebest items AND not pay for them.