This week in Free Zone, MMORPG.com's own Richard Aihoshi takes a look at two announcements that have come our way recently; The shift of Age of Conan to a hybrid, F2P model, and the announcement of Wizardry Online. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Did it significantly surprise anyone who frequents this site when Funcom announced last week that it will shift Age of Conan away from straight subscription to a modified business model with a significant free to play element? As I noted a few months ago when the volume of rumors to this effect seemed to ramp up, I pretty much felt it was only a matter of time, and also that it might well happen before the arrival of The Old Republic and its potential to suck up a lot of the available players who prefer or are at least willing to pay a monthly charge.

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:D really cool news i can not wait tilll F2p conan

omg I was just thinking about a Wizardry MMOG, hopefully it would be based off the entire series, the ability to play a mmo as a party would be really cool, I was thinking a hybrid single party game like the series, with the ability to join up with 5 others where you bring your chosen char, or if there is only 3 of you you can each bring 2 etc.  

I spent hrs upon hrs from 1981-1989 playing Wiz 1, my entire group was level 450+, Hopefully if they did have a Wiz MMO, there would be a Greater Demon that calls for help.

Holy shit, Wizardry Online? Never in a million years would I have thought it possible.

Wondering what you consider the long-ago triad?  Ultima, Wizardry, Might and Magic?  Could also throw in Bard's Tale, Hero's Quest and King's Quest (no B.C. Quest for Tires, though *grin*).

I would have to say Wizardry, Bards Tale, Ultima, Might and Magic came far after those 3

Wizardry the Original

Bard's Tale the first color RPG

Ultima the first single player RPG

I know they arent the first in actuality, but the first actual big products

A Wizardry MMO - OMGHolyCrapYES!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGR-PMetrfs&feature=related

I know Gpot isn't big here, but the text being in English for the video gives me hope. I would love a Wizardry (or any real RPG) coming to MMO form.

While Wizardry would be cool, Might and Magic would be awesome, with the death of NWC and 3DO followed by the buyout by Ubisoft, we havent seen another.  While Might and Magic: Heroes Kingdoms may have been released a while back without much success, Might and Magic itself is a *completely* different game although related in lore.

Originally posted by skeaser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGR-PMetrfs&feature=related

I know Gpot isn't big here, but the text being in English for the video gives me hope. I would love a Wizardry (or any real RPG) coming to MMO form.

 

awesome vid

ps Trevor Sux

damm 30 yrs since Wiz 1 launched, starting a genre of gaming that has grown into what we see today

Provong Grounds of the Mad Overlord?  In an MMORPG?!

I'll subscribe TODAY to such a launch.

Ugh, I just RTFA and discovered the Wizardry owners are Japanese.  Ugh.  I'm not a racist, I'm of Asian-descent and have lots of family...but Asian games are all alike.  Art direction's the same (all the men look like women and all the women look like Barbies, spell effects are BAM BOOM BING FLASH, etc), all the stories are same (end of the world, save gaia, bleh).

Please give Wizardry back to the West!

Originally posted by Oyjord

Ugh, I just RTFA and discovered the Wizardry owners are Japanese.  Ugh.  I'm not a racist, I'm of Asian-descent and have lots of family...but Asian games are all alike.  Art direction's the same (all the men look like women and all the women look like Barbies, spell effects are BAM BOOM BING FLASH, etc), all the stories are same (end of the world, save gaia, bleh).

 

Please give Wizardry back to the West!

Actually this is great news, the Japanese love wizardry.  In fact one of the better games I played on the PS2 was Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Lands.  So I look forward to this.

I assume the unrated in the title for age of conan F2P is indicative of the "unrated" setting in your account control being unrated by default. Since launch there was a setting in account control for Rating: mine has always been "unrated" and I dont know if you can even change it yourself but maybe there is a parentla lock feature or something turned on in certain geographical locations where the sale of the game would have been jeopardized if they didnt tone down the violence and nudity (if you can call pixelated nipples nudity) ?

In any case I think for the short term this is a good more for Funcom with AoC although it may be too little too late as far as their shrinking subscriber base goes. I know one of the reasons I left earlier this year was lack of population. However the other reason I left still remains & I think even F2P players will eventually bail on the game due to the lack of endgame content.

Lets see what is there to do..... 6 man instances, godslayer mode 6 mans if you have a good group (a PUG generally wont cut it) so you can grind those over and over looking for tokens & gear. Umm what else oh yeas 4 tiers of raiding the first 2 of which can be handled by PUG's fine the second you will need an organised group for, the fourth we never raided. Again you raid weekly gridning for new gear and tokens. Hmm what else oh last but by no means least Khitai is where you go to grind tokens and faction reputation. I think ive forgotten something... oh did I mention the grind ? PvP minigames are an interesting diversion but the games PvP has never been all that flash.

Beyond that you can roll alts which is what most longterm players spend their non raid time doing.

Both are great news as I missed out on the early Conan free to play mode and forgot all about it. With the announcement of the new Wizardry which I hear was one of the best role playing games of all times the age for fun has expanded yet again.

In the future we will see brb in 1200 hours and mean 50 days and not half a day.

Wiz VI & VII vet here.  good times.

I don't see F2P working for Conan as it is currently set up. The alternate advancement is too important for PvP, and currently you need to be subbed to have it. This will turn a lot of people away from the game entirely. In fact, I reinstalled the game and then uninstalled it after finding this out. 

Wizardry Online??  OMG! Please now!

So AOC is falling. First step is usually F2P. When I usually do not play some game, for sure f2p will only make sure this will not happen at all. About money for sub ... usually who complain so much is spending few times this ammount for drinking and smoking or whatever ... So ... o, great, finnaly will play game xy because is f2p is pretty ... stupid. Ok, there are exception, i.e. kids that can not convince monthly sub is worth up to 15$ or parents should give their credit card number (but there is still paycard usually)...