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General: Fiddle of Gold - Also Available in Shop
News Discussion « General Discussion 2/19/10 9:26:14 PM
Originally posted by digicakes
If you can show me the statistical data then i would love to believe you. WoW has been around for 5 years and it's the most heavily RMT'd game out there. Its player base is now pushing 13 million and will most likely increase once the expansion is released. I mean really, need i say more?
Instead of asking people if they oppose RMT in MMOGs -- why don't you ask people if they have ever quit playing because of it. Therein you will find the real answer.
This is really out of touch. Everyone actually knows the numbers are extremely high in favor of RMT. It's the fastest growing business model in the world, and still climbing. WoW is not the most heavily RMT'd. Sony has the most heavily RMT'd(that is also subcription games). Finding out a number of how many quit playing a game will result in a number that doesn't tell you anything. Whether it is WoW or some cash shop only game, the answer will be tens of thousands or millions higher, as people are always coming and going. It's the current trends you need to look at. The current numbers of Cash shop games being released every year around the country, and so on. |
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General: Fiddle of Gold - Also Available in Shop
News Discussion « General Discussion 2/19/10 9:19:09 PM
Originally posted by merv808
^Truth^ and honestly its not that we are confused about MTs.... Honestly, I don't think they have ANY place in p2p games, and I can say that until I'm blue in the face. But there will always be lazy people who are willing to pay to get "to the top" faster. And my voice, (and millions of others) will never speak louder than thousands of people spending cash. Too many people wanting to bring that cheat code mentality into RPGs where it has no business being
The root of all the problems is this mentality. most F2P games never offer a way to "get to the top" It is all a very fractured and wrong perception. Most players, near 80% never pay in any F2P game, yet they are playing. It's like the quote I read earlier "I like this game, even though it uses cash-shop". What? really? You honestly feel that F2P games are worse than P2P in general? Then why are you playing F2P games? If the answer is because they are free, then whether it has a cash shop or not should be irrelevant to you. Only people who play the game as though it has an ultimate never changing end, where they can access all the stuff in the game that has the highest numbers dislike cash shops because they want to use it as a tool to get to this non-existent "top" that they created. They are a very small percentage of gamer types that don't play the games for fun. They don't see the point in buying a chair because it's a chair, they only want it if it adds to them being more powerful. They are also the ones that are spending, and spending the most, and the ones complaining at the same time. Most people play the games and enjoy them without paying, or like buying a candy bar at the store, every once in a while buy something extra for their own personal game play. Cash shops do not offer a cheat code type of game play, they offer things that sally may want, and they offer things that billy may. I do agree their will always be those people that like to cheat and hack and all kinds of things. Those players will exist in all games, regardless of how you pay to play. Payment options are changing and evolving all the time. I guarantee there will be very different payment options in the future. F2P are much larger in number than subs. The US is the only one who predominantly uses monthly payments. The East, which is a much larger market with many more games, uses other payment options and cash shops. Some cash shops are better than others, but they are built for your style of game play, and to allow you to pay, pay what you want, and pay at your leisure. The idea that they all offer an imbalance is a conceited ego-centric, and backwards country-centric idea that most players don't subscribe to. Most players are out there right now playing their games and having a blast, and they don't feel they're being short-changed in the slightest, because they know they aren't. They are in control of their emotions, and realize that they can't beat everyone in a sub game or a pay game, and that paying won't make a difference for them, whether they are the one being killed or doing the killing. But mostly they realize that games let you do thousands of things inside them. PvP is just one tiny part. The power has already been given to the player, they just want to blame someone else when they feel like they need to have more than someone else. |
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Originally posted by petersand
Then don't. People usually end urguing just to win, and to argue the point. If you do that, you'll probably find a way to win. You don't have to pay, it doesn't matter if someone else is paying, because someone somewhere will pay. That is the point of pay to play and for business that run like that to pay money. There's no reason anyone should feel jealous or feel that someone who is paying is getting more enjoyment out of the game than a person who isn't playing. A lot of arguments and people that dislkike RMT or micro-transcation business models look at it too much like the kid that wants to go to the concert that his/her whole school is going too, but there parents won't let them. Or they don't have the money. They're not the only one. And not to just argue the point, but to keep with the RMT way, you can still download the concert, or watch it on TV, or whatever. Then later on down the road, if another concert comes along and you have the money and want to go, then go. But nothing in that equation can stop you from having fun either way. RoM let's you have anything, and actually many RMT based F2P games do that now adays. I just think RoM's is the nicest, or most balanced I've seen yet. More importantly, I think there game is really fun.
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Originally posted by Thrasherbill
It's not a flat out lie. It's not a wavy curvy bodacious lie. Everything in the game is obtainable by everyone, part of what that means, is that you can do anything in game without the Item Mall. If you took out the item mall, everyone would still have access to everything they do now. The Item Mall simply adds toward progression. It speeds up the rate of game play. Some players enjoy playing the same game for 10 years, some want quicker access to different parts of a game, so they buy items that let them skip the time it takes for them to earn it in game(but they could earn it in game, and in fact many people you think are paying, are actually not paying at all). I addressed the topics that you brought up, and now you want to tell me I'm off course. I am following your lead. I'm sorry for wanting to defend RoM when you bring up Allods being better on the basis of graphics. I've played since closed beta. The truth is, we may think we have a good idea that 5 or 6 of the overly geared players, maybe, probably used the Item Mall, but we really don't know, and it gets really muddy when you start looking beyond those 5 or 6 players. No one really knows. I've talked to dozens of players over Vent, over this year, and many of them laugh it off when they always get people mad at them for being Pk'd, and they retaliate with a variation of "unfair CS user". There is a very wide margin of error when we try to figure out who has payed and who hasn't. One of the most illogical parts are never addressed. If paying matters, shouldn't how much someone pays make a big deal? So then, are we only looking at the best geared ones as the payers? or the only ones that matter? Because I know lots of players who were equal in gear(not that it even matters that much) that payed and didn't pay. Whether you play for 1 year and get that tier 8 +6 SoA, or you paid for the stones and shortened your time to 1 month, you still had to craft it from everything that's available to anyone else in-game. You don't know how long anyones really played for, or if they spent, and if they did, how much they spent. Broad over-generalizations are all that's possible. More importantly, why is it important to look at one guy, and then see that he has insane gear, and somehow that lessens your fun in a game that has thousands of players? Everyday I find new people to PvP with, or to hunt down for PK(even though I don't do it much, usually just defense), I always find people at my level to compete with, while steadily continuing to build my character. |
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That's actually why I wrote that paragraph, that you quoted. Every new game that comes out. Same thing. Perfect world? Many said what you're saying, but not about RoM but about some other game that was already out. Aion, same thing, many people are quick to call the next game the best game yet, because it's new. I'm not saying it isn't possible....it worked for RoM :) And....Perfect World and Aion are amazingly beautiful. Allods looks good too, but I think Rom looks great too Is that enough? I'm not saying it's bad, I'm saying that everyone uses the new kid as if they know, when right now, beta testers don't even fully know how it will pan out, since they just started implementing their CS, and now we have to wait for open beta. Plus, from a game review standpoint, it takes an ample amount of time to explore a game. It takes more than just burning through quests. It takes more than just reaching level 10 or 20. Economy, crafting, social tools, different parts of the interface, and how those work for many levels. I wasn't even quick to judge RoM, it took me a month before I started slipping into addiction. Plus most MMORPGs these days all have great graphics. We've come along way in console and PC gaming. It's more about art appreciation. Do we like one style over the other, not is one ugly and one beautiful, at least that's what I think. Allods might turn out to be a great game, but nothing is going to take away the success RoM has. I think they've already shown, after a year, and still growing and pumping out new content, that they can stand along the big dogs. |
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If all you are concerned about is raiding and nothing else, you might feel like your doing the same thing over and over again, because well....aren't you. You have a choice. The game offers many things. The same thing goes on in all MMORPGs. There are those that think the game is ruined because they have to do raids over and over and they don't get good enough rewards, fast enough. The game is growing fast too. Hardly anyone could fight Aichika shortly after Open Beta, but now people are solo-ing as well as Cyclops lair. The new expansion is in may, and the current raids will become more accessible. It's how all MMORPGs grow. RoM is just doing it very fast(which seems to me to be a wonderful thing - them giving us more so often). Did you know, that WoW has to fix things everyday? As well as all MMORPGs. I can't convince you of anything but I think that RoM is a terrific game that holds it's own against anyone else(even very large subscription games), and it has the nicest balanced Item Mall out there. besides everyone always trying to say the new kid on the block looks like it will be better than the games before it, when those aren't even out yet, what games now, especially F2P, are anywhere near as good as RoM? But whatever you decide to play, happy gaming. If you read the Job listings on MMORPG.com, that are readily available to anyone who visits the site, you'll see that the position is an unpaid writing job for people to write about games they play and know. So, you could be a RoM correspondent if you applied and they accept your writing style. |
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Today on the german server Laoch, guild "Delirium" slayed the Demon Lord photo |
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Runes of Magic: Chapter III: The Elder Kingdoms in May
News Discussion « General Discussion 2/12/10 9:04:01 AM
I am very skeptical, but also don't want to "cut off my nose to spite my face". I think Allods looks great. I also think RoM looks great. I enjoy RoM's flavor of Western Fantasy. I am skeptical not because of Allods, but because it's the new buzz game on the block. I think it looks nice, but will have to try it when Open Beta comes out to really tell. RoM also I think has georgeous graphics on max settings, but they look good for every setting. I don't think the game was really meant to look good on the lowest setting. It reminds me more of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and seems to let you strip a lot of graphical elements on low settings, but for a good reason- so more people with low end computers can play. RoM has no invisible walls. I've never heard of that happening in the forums, but it must be a one-time glitch or bug. RoM is very open and able to be explored like any big game(EQ2, Vangurad, Warhammer, etc...) I'd like to show some screenshots with graphics on max.
There are many more great screen shot opportunities as well. You can see about 29 other screenshots I have online right now at album. These don't "show off" as well as I could, but it should give you an idea. Movement may not seem to be fluid when comparing to RoM, but if you played different games, I'm sure you know they all are different. |
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Runes of Magic: Chapter III: The Elder Kingdoms in May
News Discussion « General Discussion 2/11/10 9:50:18 PM
Originally posted by mackdawg19
ROM is progressing fast because it has been out for quite sometime under another name. Somehow people forgot this and think Frogster originated this game when they really only bought the license to host. This game is great on paper and does have some good things to do for a F2P. But if your wanting PVP in this game, get ready to shed some dollars. To be even remotely PVP ready, your going to have to spend around $300-$400 on the cash shop. While this isn't really a bad thing seeing as I've spent $15/month * 48 + $120ish in box and exp sales for WoW to be good. This is for one character, whereas I have a lot of characters on WoW that have amazing gear. I honestly wish games would get away from loot centric and become more story centric. That is another discussion in itself though. But yeah, this game has been out for a lot longer then what Frogster has had it for. Just a hint, look up RA.
I'm only guessing, but I think most people realize this. It doesn't change anything. Even with all the hundreds of Eastern based games, it doesn't change this. RoM is unlike anything before it. What other game plays like a Western full-featured MMORPG and has a cash shop? DDO, well yeah. They are Western game, and they switched from a sub model to F2P after RoM came out, but yes I supposed their are similarities because of that. It's not progressing fast because it's been out for quite sometime. It's progressing fast because Runewaker and Frogster are on top of things and releasing this stuff faster than anyone else. All other Eastern F2P games have done the same. Yet they are very lacking and rarely release new regular content, compared to RoM. I and many others I know do fine in PvP without spending. Everything you say and the prices you quote are only based on time. You really don't know how much someone spent on their +6, tier 8 sword. My guild mates had armor and weapons like that, and never paid. Very few who argue this know. It's only based on the fact that players who don't want to play the game, and want to skip actually playing a game, so they can get as powerful as a game allows them, in the shortest amount of time, look at those numbers. And then no one plays the game at the same rate of speed or starts at the same time, or even plays for the same amount of time and you can't compare that, because no one knows. It's illogical to think that you feel forced to pay to compete because you see someone else with really powerful armor, when you don't know if they paid, and you don't know how long they've been playing. There will always be new players, players at all levels, and therefore there will always be people with similar power to compete with. RoM has a great story. It sounds like you are too concerned with some invisible achievement of being better than other players, to read the story. Every single quest has story in it. But if you just skip down to the part where you need to figure out the objective to complete the quest, you will miss it. A simple answer to this is you can very easily take away the few PvP servers and the game still is very popular with the many more PvE servers out there for the game. |
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Originally posted by Saya98
The games currency is diamonds. They can be traded in-game through the Auction house. You can buy diamonds with in-game gold, or buy gold with diamonds. You can also "gift" Item Mall items and diamonds to people in-game. The mount is probably the most substantial thing people like to buy, as you can have it at level 1, and it gets you around a lot faster. But you can also rent horses, if you don't have money to spend, so you can still have mounts without the item mall. There is player housing in the game, so there's a lot of furniture, and many other "cosmetic" items you can buy, depending on what you like. ...'how to say this'...If you want to level faster, their is exp and tp potions, and other one-time use items that can aid you. The game is a little gear-dependent. Some of the players who want only the best, and as fast as possible can spend a lot. It depends how fast you want to reach top level, and how badly you want to be #1. There are items in the game that you can use to craft better gear, and there are similar items in the Item Mall to help you craft faster. Basically, some will tell you otherwise, but it is because it depends on what they want. But, truly, everything in the game is possible without the Item Mall. There is only Item Mall items that help you do things faster. No weapons or armor(there are costumes but they have no attributes on them, only for looks). Give it a try, see for yourself if it is the kind of game you'd enjoy. It also depends a lot on how you have fun in an MMORPG. Hope this helps. |
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Why RoM is the Biggest Rock to be Thrown In the MMORPG Pond Since WoW
General Discussion « Runes of Magic 2/02/10 5:35:35 PM
Originally posted by drbaltazar
I just started downloading Dragon Oath. Are you saying you don't have complete camera control, in the game? |
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Why RoM is the Biggest Rock to be Thrown In the MMORPG Pond Since WoW
General Discussion « Runes of Magic 2/02/10 5:22:50 PM
Originally posted by drbaltazar
"Many Chinese MMOs, such as Perfect World, have been localized for the Western market, but they haven't done well" link The most popular F2P in the world are:
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My friend, the priest was rated number 1 in PvP from the majority of players from the forums, and in game she was pretty active. I'm the best, because of what I said. and it is something to be very proud of... To not believe and think that the only thing that matters in an MMORPG is that you try to be the number one killer. The only games I can think of that use kills as the only game play are FPS games. MMORPGs have thousands of things to do in the game, and they all matter just as much as PvP. If you like PvP, then cool. I don't care about looking for a pat on the back from you or anyone else. I play to have fun. If you aren't having fun, don't play. |
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Why RoM is the Biggest Rock to be Thrown In the MMORPG Pond Since WoW
General Discussion « Runes of Magic 2/02/10 3:49:19 PM
Too bold, too wild a statement? Don’t let the backlash hit you in the face from people saying it’s too outrageous of a statement for outrageousness’s sake. We always hear quite a number of daily statements like these that lead us to believe someone’s just “crying wolf”. “XXX is the new WoW Killer!”, “Best Game Ever!”, etc; All this wolf crying has made the MMORPG community jaded, but don’t forget that the possibility still exists. Thus ends my preamble or disclaimer to try to artificially un-jade you to look at this article “objectively” and not as another boy who cried wolf. But if you’ve managed to hang on this far, I would like to tell you that I have some broad MMORPG models as well as several detailed explanations with examples to defend my titular claim. Not only do I believe Runes of Magic is the next evolutionary jump since World of Warcraft hit the scene, I am confident that my facts and information will support this. So let’s get right to it shall we? Broad Evolutionary Jumps Runes of Magic(RoM) is the first MMORPG, since World of Warcraft(WoW), to do what it is doing. Namely they have created a great unique world with their own hands but developed around the best parts of some of the best games in the business. This is what WoW did. Runewaker(developers of RoM) has a good team that are MMORPG fans themselves, that saw the best parts of the best games like EQ2, LotRO, Warhammer, and WoW. They took all these great things that the current MMORPG community loves, and smooshed them together, made some tweaks, added their own great unique systems, and wrapped it all in their own world lore. They did this all to a degree very close to what Blizzard did when they created WoW. * Runewaker also showed strength, bravery, and risk taking ala Blizzard(developers of WoW) in finally taking the best of what’s currently out there and expanding on or improving on it, then “selling” it as an RMT business model. * Not only have they dared take hold of the reins in the same fashion as only Blizzard has done in all these years, but they are also proving their worth by not just being copy cats, but being vanguards. Runewaker is showing their tenacity and bravery in practically redefining how RMT can work well. No one has done this before them; creating an RMT MMORPG that is closer in scale and game mechanics to most larger subscriber based companies. RoM Both surpasses any size thresh holds and game play mechanics of any previous RMT based MMORPGs. * Another huge evolutionary change is a more focused implementation of “horizontal game play”. Where the core of most MMORPGs is to direct you to leveling, RoM is going to great lengths to apply large content patches that any player will be able to access without being forced to level to experience all the game’s content without taking away current favorite systems such as raiding. Most of these boil down into the basic category of “options”. Through Runewaker’s unique and ingenious design they have returned an immeasurable amount of options back to the players while retaining and improving on what has become favored MMORPG elements. Thus RoM has shown evolutionary and revolutionary additions and changes to not only the RMT business model, but to well established subscriber business models as well. While many games are coming out almost daily with great systems and options, none of them have done it to the extent of RoM(since WoW came out). The Proof is in the Pudding At first look, RoM seems to simply take great ideas and copy them, which many would be fine with. There is actually much more than meets the eye though, and it’s these subtle small changes that make a huge difference that will have long lasting impacts on the future of MMORPGs and show Runewaker’s true genius. RoM’s Item Mall (RMT done right) RoM not only has one of the best Item Malls(filled with only items that will increase the rate of speed at which a player can acquire goals in-game, and nothing is sold that cannot be obtained in-game by purists), but they’ve plugged it directly into their game unlike any other RMT modeled MMORPG to date. They use a total of 4 different types of currency: 1. Diamonds Through these various RMT and in-game currencies plus the powerful option of letting any player have the ability to earn these currencies in-game through a stable economy, RoM has transcended all previous RMT business models. Any non-paying purist can trade, buy, or sell through one-on-one player transactions, auction house transactions or solo play to get their hands on every currency type, without ever taking a credit card out of their wallet. One hundred percent of game content is delivered to every player regardless of how they choose to play, all without offering power overbalancing items. The economy fluctuates and wildly at times, but nothing is to such an extreme degree as to warrant legitimate claims the in-game price of items ever get truly out of a players reach, no matter what player type you are. For example, some of the top players in my server never spent a dime on the game. Horizontal Game Play Horizontal is just a fancy shmancy word to describe content that is delivered to players through a director free approach. The easiest way to describe this is through RoM’s professions. While holding their own level system, professions are independent of your characters level. You are free to raise alchemy, blacksmithing, or any other profession to max level whether your character is level 5 or 50. Other systems like player housing and mounts are provided with no “vertical” restrictions. You can get a house for free at level 5 and rent horses from level 1. Runewaker has not only built in great ways to provide more game content to all players, they couldn’t have done it at a better time. Whether planned or not(I like to believe it’s the former), we’re at an evolutionary shift within the MMORPG world where games are teaching players how to have fun in new ways, and at the same time player perceptions are changing in how they derive fun from MMORPGs. No matter which came first – the chicken or the egg – RoM is providing old and new ways to have fun, surfing on this wave of change like a pro surf boarder in the lead. Quests and World Lore At first glance, RoM seems to have quests the same as games like WoW and Warhammer. You have world quests and daily quests. But there are subtle ways in which RoM implements them that creates more options and fun for players. One difference in dailies is that you can collect the items needed without first having to accept the quest. This is a very big deal in the world of MMORPGs both RMT and subscriber models. It gives players freedom from constraints and provides many “kill two birds” options. For instance: Warhammer’s dailies require that you go seek out the location to accept the quest then return to the location where you get the needed drops. This is fine, but RoM’s method puts power and options into the players hand. Now if you’d rather be doing world quests or grinding for different drops or are busy in any other endeavor and don’t want to feel forced, you can choose to keep these daily drops or discard them. Someone may be in a position where they plan on heading near a daily quest board as soon as they finish mining, grinding, or doing whatever else in their current area, so they figure they’ll kill two birds with one stone and collect them. When they go into town to attend to their main objective, they can quickly stop off and accept the quest, which will be immediately completed. You can see how this frees players up to attend to what they want, when they want, and still provide the options of taking or leaving daily quest drops. An aspect of world(or general) quests, that may not be blindingly apparent at first look, is how well they deliver RoM’s world lore in a continuously driven and richly expanding way. When I first looked into the world lore, I felt it was very lacking. It seemed to overgeneralize a semi-unique past along with some briefly but no less generic overviews of individual zones. After playing for months I realized how bloodthirsty I became in wanting to complete all quests; not for gold, or experience, but simply to keep reading. A rich and detailed story started unfolding before me through all the world quests. It’s done in such a fun way as well. All 1,200+ of RoM’s current world quests are worth reading as they not only add details of the worlds history, but also details of its present and still yet giving hints as to where events are headed in the future. The story is delivered cleverly through miniature quest strings and individual quests both stand alone and tied to various dungeons and instances throughout the world. By using a little brain power you can easily piece together the ongoing story regardless of the order in which you accept the quests. There’s also “Epic Quests” that are like side stories, that still add to details to the world lore, with some nice rewards along the way. If you feel RoM has no real world lore to speak of, then you haven’t read the quests. RoM’s quests are well planned, timed, and scripted to take into consideration players driving the timing, delivery, and being an “actor” in them. They aren’t simply a tool to drive forward leveling, but are all like acts, or chapters, of a well written play. The major downside is the enhanced importance in translation. RoM has to be translated into English which no doubt leaves things to be lost in turn overshadowing the importance they placed on quest design. As long as they can continue to place a high standard on translating, and keep mistakes to a minimum, I will always feel RoM’s quests are more meaningful than WoW’s or any of the other MMORPGs currently out. Many players have no doubt become disheartened by quests and nowadays rarely read the text, but each and every world quest, in RoM, is a significant piece to the puzzle that is its unique and interesting world lore. Perhaps players could lament they don’t like to try and put the pieces together and would rather have the lore all written out on the website or some other more direct delivery method, but Runewaker has taken the limited options and picked the best of them. Even if players interested in world lore look down on this, the upside far outweighs the downside by breathing life into quests in desperate need of some form of resuscitation. Given available options, this is the best one that brings back strong meaning and importance to quests, and is a terrific new way to deliver world lore where the player is more immersed in the story. Unparalleled Customization On top of making great MMORPG features even better, RoM hasn’t skimped on unique content. * User Interface When you enter the world of Toborea for the first time, you are greeted with a fairly basic user interface. Many players aren’t used to being greeted with much hospitality in a game and therefore stop short at accepting this as being an almost archaic user interface devoid of any personality. Look a little closer. RoM offers unparalleled customization options in its user interface. It allows a very large number of hot keys to be organized horizontally, vertically, or a combination of both and placed anywhere on screen you wish. On top of that, you can customize every single part of your UI in a similar fashion. * Add ons Those familiar with WoW add ons, will recognize this term, and yes they are just that(only for RoM). Add ons are player made programs that can be used to change everything from colors, shapes, and sizes of your user interface, to adding tools such as built in calculators, auction house tools, and a slew of macros and scripts to enhance your playing experience. * Macros and scripts Whether a simple text macro(combining commands together to be executed in one button push) to shout “Hoozah!” as you cast fireball, or a much more complex set of macros and scripts, RoM lets you do it. Unlike any other subscriber based or RMT based MMORPG that only let you make very basic text or emoticon macros, change armor, or don’t offer macro creation at all, RoM lets you create macros from anything. Want to string a mixture of heals and spells together into a macro? Would you like to be able to make a macro to switch from a two handed sword to a one handed sword and shield so you can cast the shield required protection buff and then switch back to your 2 handed weapon, followed by a few attack spells all in the blink of an eye with the press of one macro? Go for it. Whether through scripts, macros, add ons or the plethora of built-in tools, RoM gives players near unlimited options in customizing their gaming experience. Bringing the Fear of Death Back * Experience Debt Rom has added a great system to provide a significant element of “fear” of dying without being overly annoying. Most RMT based MMORPGs will take away a percentage of earned experience when you are killed. While this adds to a desire not to die, it does little else and also comes with an equal or greater amount of annoyance which only takes away from a players perceived fun. RoM has added “Experience Debt” where you accrue a percentage of debt based on your character’s level. Once in debt, you will still gain experience, but a percentage of gained experience first goes to paying off the debt. * Meaningful PK(player killing) There are both PvE(Player vs. Environment) and PvP(Player v. Player) servers to choose from when starting RoM. In a PvP server, PK has had its meaningfulness ramped up. There’s reputation points to be gained or lost which results in certain advantages or disadvantages and there is also the added “fear” of losing not only items that a player may be carrying in their bags, but also items could drop that are being worn at the time of the gank. Another feature is that there are no PvP related factions. Anyone can fight each other or get attacked at any moment. As a nice trade-off of “fear” and annoyance, you do not accrue experience debt in PK situations and other non-combat situations(such as falling to your death). The importance or “fear” aspect of dying in MMORPGs has become a major concern in the industry as well as the game communities. RoM has found a way to bring it back with minimal annoyances attached to it. Unique Features That All MMORPGs Could Learn From * No More Clones A problem for characters at any level in other MMORPGs is the very finite limit to how armor can be customized. This is also very visible at an MMORPGs level cap. In a game like WoW you’ll have massive amounts of players that worked hard reaching the highest level and getting the best armor and weapons, but there’s a lot of disappointment when you realize that anyone else who has the same race end up as clones of each other. A lot of importance is lost in having armor that looks like everyone else. Players lose all individuality and are simply small armies of stormtroopers with no way to tell them apart. Although you have plenty of armor to choose from, this problem can still occur at any level. RoM has items known as “aggregators” that allow you to take the statistics of one item and transfer them to another. So if the ultimate in-game sword is still desired for its strength, but you like the less powerful and lower level sword because it’s a cool sparkly blue, you can have it. The aggregators work for all visible armor pieces and weapons. This little addition opens up a whole world of potential. The options for new players generated bragging rights and achievements open up to players not only wanting to have the most powerful gear but the coolest looking too. This plays into horizontal game play as well. Hours, days, or much more could be joyfully spent hunting down favored armor regardless of level. But wait there’s more… RoM also has other character(and mount) customization features allowing you to color individual pieces of armor, and not just a simple basic color. You have a lot of control and a massive color palette to choose colors from for your character and even coloring your mounts. Your character can truly be unique with features that let you choose from millions of colors for skin, hair, visible armor, weapons, and mounts. * Putting the “Runes” Into Runes of Magic Runes play a part in the story lore as well as game mechanics. RoM uses runes in professions as well as enhancing armor and weapon attributes. There is a wide variety of runes already in the game and most can also be added together or mixed to form new more powerful runes. The main tool for this is the “Arcane Transmuter”. The amount of runes in combination with other armor and weapon enhancements offered in RoM gives players a lot to do. The Arcane Transmuter can seem a bit overwhelming when first starting to use it, but with a little practice players will quickly be upgrading their items through, not only runes that can be created, but also through enhancement jewels and tiering. * Fusion Stones Just like many other subscriber based MMORPGs, weapons and armor can come in tiers. When found or dropped from mobs, tiers are based off the character level requirement. Through the use of fusion stones, you can raise an items tier, which in turn could allow it to accept more powerful runes and raises attributes. * Enhancement Jewels While fusion stones and runes take a little more understanding and time to figure out, there is another way to upgrade an item that is a bit easier to do. Enhancement Jewels can be purchased that you simply apply to an item to give it a + status. The jewels have a chance of success and failure which can downgrade any previous jewel enhancements or raise it still further. * Disenchanting Items Blank fusion stones can be used in a process where you wish to strip certain attributes off an item to later add to another item. All these options for upgrading do tend to get boiled down into one “must-have” option for serious competitors but still leave plenty of different options based off amounts of time, work, and money required to upgrade regardless of whether your a hardcore endgamer, a very casual casual player, or anywhere in between. No Ghost Towns Many MMORPG landscapes are dotted with towns, villages, tents, and hubs of one kind or another. All too often though, you can find little plots of housing in zones very far from a main city that end up being ghost towns. Other than maybe wanting a specific quest or three, there’s no reason to make a long journey away from a main city to a ghost town where there’s nothing to do, and no one to talk to. Everyone ends up gathering in only one or two places within the games world while any other towns are basically left empty with no one milling about. RoM has added, to one degree or another- based on the zone and encampment – player amenities in every hub adding to the social reason for players to congregate. This ensures meeting groups of players in every hub of the world. Many of these players will be the same level so you’re likely to meet up with people to run instances and complete quests much quicker. It’s yet another seemingly small thing that creates a huge difference and has a large impact on the overall MMORPG. Regardless of when you started playing, or at what rate of speed you are leveling and/or questing, when you roll into any of the many towns in RoM you are greeted with a living breathing little community that does a lot to feed a players perceptions of how this really is a real, vibrant, living world. * NPCs Among Us The vast amount of NPCs, combined with people sounds(the sound of crowds milling about greet you in most towns) amplifies this sense of a world that feels much larger than it actually is. It all combines with the very integrated continuous story driven quests, crafting stations, and other player amenities. Quests are also built out of these hubs. No taking a quest to go kill 10 boar out in the middle of nowhere that aren’t hurting anyone. Quests, as I mentioned are very story driven and this is also apparent in any sized hub anywhere in the game world. There’s large amounts of rationale, reason, and purpose for how the quests work and interact with the NPCs of any hub. Making Standard MMORPG Tools More Player Friendly When I started World of Warcraft, I loved it and was amazed by what it had to offer, but numerous tiny annoyances poked me multiple times every game session. It reached the point that my frustration levels were through the roof. RoM uses similar windows, and in-game tools(as does many MMORPGs), but I noticed my frustration was significantly reduced because I felt RoM delivered the same tools to me in a much more player-friendly method that gave me options. Even if players are going to typically all choose the same methods to explore a virtual world, the perceptions that a MMORPG can feed a players mind plays a big part on whether they have fun or not. Even though I chose to go after skills and spells, in WoW, that I could only get in one director driven way, I didn’t like the “feeling” of being forced to do this. What if at any moment I got bored and wanted to switch to joining friends in a party slaying mobs or go PK other players my level. I could do it, but I really couldn’t do it. For instance, my friends often told me you’re not strong enough because you haven’t gotten your class specific skills yet. They might as well have said “Go back and do the “required”(see: forced) quests in the only area they are available, in the only way to obtain them before returning to explore and level up with us throughout the rest of the world”. I was frustrated with how difficult it was to do something as simple as gain my skills, find a specific NPC, keep track of quests, etc…. I quickly realized that while WoW is still an amazingly fun experience for me, it is very director driven. They do many step oriented requirements that require you to complete many tasks in a very specific manner outlined by the game, before being able to obtain items, honor, reputation, quests, etc… There’s also minor annoyances when simply opening up a quest window to find it reset leaving me to re-scroll to find what I need, limited bag organizing options, and many other blood pressure raisers. RoM has virtually done away with this directed and limited options feel. I can level my spells and skills from anywhere with the only requirement being that I gain points from killing…anything anywhere. Apart from a few quest requirements before entering certain instances, there’s no caps put on when I can obtain a mount, when I can go to certain zones, how far I can level professions, and much more. RoM has a slick World Search interface that lets you adjust many settings to your preference. You can turn on auto-run, NPC locaters, Turn on or off a myriad of labels; player names, mob names, mob health bar, NPC names, tool tip pop ups, easier to use quest logs, and many more minor tweaks that have me playing RoM in the same manner I played WoW but without those annoyances. Sure, one could argue that it takes any challenge or skill out of the game to turn easy NPC locaters on or turn auto-run on. Well, if some players feel that way, they aren’t forced, they are given the option to turn those features off to enhance their particular play style. Game Tie-Ins What other RMT based MMORPG has a full range of merchandise tie-ins including posters, mugs, mouse pads, t-shirts, and more? Some other RMT companies have occasional “giveaways” to win these types of items on an exclusive basis, but it’s a fully implemented year round store for RoM. I think the fact Runewaker started all these merchandise tie-ins at such an early stage of RoM’s life adds a lot of potential to see many more tie-ins as the MMORPG ages. It All Adds Up I encourage anyone of any age or MMORPG background to try Runes of Magic. You will not be disappointed. Whether you’ve never played a Western subscriber based game, or never played an Asian RMT based game, you will find a lot of fun in RoM that improves upon both of these MMORPG business models, and play styles in many different ways. These seemingly small changes are really not so small and show that the developers actually thought, and thought hard about the choices they made. RoM has many small changes, each that make a big difference, but also show skill and talent to be placed in the same game together providing the most enjoyable MMORPG experience since the early days of World of Warcraft. But I’m not solely comparing, because RoM has even transcended those times by pushing the envelope in offering an unprecedented amount of player options and large improvements over currently established game mechanics. Runewaker is exploring and braving vast unexplored terrain in a successful manner compared to Blizzard. It is a lot of boasting to say all this, but looking closer at immense affects that even the seemingly smallest in game changes -like immediately being able to obtain a mount- have far reaching effects. It’s enough to say that RoM has made a cornucopia of brilliantly fun changes and additions to the MMORPG genre, but each of those changes are like a pebble thrown into a lake creating a ripple affect that spreads out touching and playing off all the aspects of RoM. I don’t think it’s a stretch in any form of the word to say that RoM has swooped in under the radar and fooled us all. That is perhaps the one major flaw in the design. RoM’s ingenious game design, implementation, and improvements aren’t as apparent as WoW’s were back in the day. But It nonetheless is showing that good things don’t need an overabundance of buzz or advertising. The game is only a year old and has been opening up new servers at a break neck speed. Will RoM be a WoW killer? probably not. I don’t think they’ll ever be as large of a company as Blizzard. Blizzard has been the massive exception to the rule, when it comes to the world of MMORPGs. There’s just too much history in Blizzard that concerns not only the quality of their games but how they have evolved over time as a company. However I think players and companies around the world are already perking up their ears and paying attention to what quite possibly could be known as the second greatest moment in MMORPG history. In retrospect, RoM has not only done what WoW has done in building the next greatest MMORPG, but also in how the company runs. Runewaker has done what Blizzard has done by taking the best of pre-existing MMORPG features, combining them, and adding their own fun elements, but they are also braving new waters as a company. They have already outgrown any other RMT company in size of employees and plan to grow RoM much larger as time goes by. Runewaker isn’t afraid to be innovators, to tread new waters to improve MMORPGs in the future and to improve the business model the genre has been working with. |
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Originally posted by cyandk Yeah right, good luck with that...
My friends and I are the best in our server. #1 priest in whole server, never spent a dime, in less than 2 months made it to the top. The big thing about RoM is the huge community of players that swarm from one F2P to the next doesn't know how to handle RoM( a totally new experience in F2P games), and they try to play it the same way they've always played F2P games. I'm the best because I realize an MMORPG doesn't solely consist of reaching the highest level the game has, then trying to find the best armor/weapon the game has, and sitting around talking in forums about how I'm the best, instead of actually playing the game, crafting, socializing, joking, running, jumping, fishing, and a thousand other fun things to do in MMORPGs. |
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Originally posted by martaug
All "Free-to-Play" MMORPGs are free to play. Who made you pay? and how? |
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Originally posted by frostsmith
This is interesting. I would like to see exactly which companies are doing this. That is not good business. Please could you tell me which companies and how to locate them on the RoM site, so I can see this for myself that they are asking for SS and bank numbers? |
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A Tale in the Desert IV: Player Driven Server Launches Feb. 20
News Discussion « General Discussion 1/28/10 3:17:31 AM
Originally posted by Wizardry
Have you ever played WURM? It is a lot of survival, and maybe to an extent what people would call "extreme" crafting. I can go into WURM and just "pop" no objectives no rules, no quests, no nothing. I can find some land and terraform it. In WURM, for example, I would open an inventory window that would have tools. There is a vast amount I can do to altar the world around me. I can dig, build hundreds of things, level a mountain if I want and spend the time. I can fish, grow crops, and many more things. Let's say I find a nice little grotto by the water. I can open iventory, choose shovel and perform many things with just this one tool. I can flatten some earth, dig it, pack it, pile it up. I can clear a plot to later build a house. Now for my house. I need wood, use axe from my inv. and cut down some trees, now I chop those trees up, then use a saw to cut into planks. I think need to build a forge that I make from stone that I get with my axe pick from digging deep enough to hit rock. I can make the forge, then mine iron to heat up in the forge to make nails, then use the nails and the planks to build any shape or size building I want. I can put windows in some of the walls, a door in one. I then need to build it all. The game is tremendous fun. I have been spending weeks just hauling dirt to dump into the water at the shore. to build a single file lane of dirt out into the water, that I will later build floor boards on. This will essentially give me a dock, then I can build a small boat, and a shack to store food in that I catch when I fish....after I build a fishing rod. I've never played a tale in the desert, but I hear it is a similar game only with an egyptian theme. So if players are in total control, it will be like a sims game only you make every last little nail, and shape every little mound of dirt how you want. WURM has a PVP server, and animals you fight, but I here ATIND has no PVP at all, it's all building. Sounds fun. |
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A Tale in the Desert IV: Player Driven Server Launches Feb. 20
News Discussion « General Discussion 1/28/10 12:52:32 AM
I've recently been really enjoying time spent in WURM. I think I will have to give this game a shot. Do you think it would be fun for a first-timer to start on this new server, or do I really need to get the hang of things on an existing one first? |
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Don't buy Gold!!!!!! and this is just a temporary CC and Paypal Block everyone knows it.
General Discussion « Runes of Magic 1/21/10 3:17:22 PM
Originally posted by Sixpax
Yes, Thank you for being the one to give me the refreshing take on things. I guess I, like many, end up getting a little upset, and not always staying focused. In light of that, I guess I can't be made if anyone said "I suck" lol. Oh, the ups and downs of gamer forums(or any forum, for that matter). |
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