Throne and Liberty: From 3 Million Players to Server Consolidation

Developed by NCSoft and published in the West by Amazon Games, Throne and Liberty has most likely been the biggest MMORPG outing of 2024. The title was released with a ton of player interest, and I remember the launch period being backed by enthusiasm. Conversely, these last few weeks have clearly seen the playerbase decline, which inevitably causes the community to discuss the reasons behind it. Though the MMORPG is a technical masterpiece and has a gorgeous open world, its progression and monetization systems, PvP experience, clumsy gameplay, and guild-oriented model seem to be driving players away.

Progression and monetization

The most prominent issue pointed out by players is the progression, often described as tedious. The system requires you to achieve the same few dungeons and quests every day, a design choice that has presumably ostracized a considerable part of the community. Some players might value the long-term commitment, but most express that it feels unrewarding and monotonous. The situation is made worse by the fact that you can buy upgrades at the auction house for real money, creating an unfair playing field between the players who pay and those who don't. 

Throne and Liberty offers a model that may seem more player-friendly than its Korean predecessors. The difference lies in the fact that upgrades are not purchased in the MMORPG's official store (it’s not possible), but at the auction house. This simply means that, in order to buy an upgrade, it must have been looted or crafted by another player, who will receive your Lucents (the real-money currency) in exchange for the transaction. The seller, in turn, will be able to reinvest these Lucents in the auction house to buy another item, etc... This system undeniably leaves more room for players who choose to not pay, since they can sell their loot to buy items that interest them more. Even so, it still feels P2W.

PvP experience and combat gameplay

The PvP experience of Throne and Liberty, purportedly the core aspect of this game, also has had its share of negative comments. More specifically, although the MMORPG offers open-world mass PvP, world boss's narrow terrain makes the experience difficult to appreciate given the scale of the battles - which can bring together several guilds (70 players) or even alliances (4 guilds). Not to mention collusion, with some guilds and/or alliances sometimes helping each other out in spite of fair play. The result is an environment in which it is very difficult for smaller guilds and solo players to get their foot in the door. As a result, these segments of the playerbase legitimately feel left out of the endgame landscape.

On the gameplay side - so quite an important ingredient of the PvP experience - Throne and Liberty has a typical tab-target combat with low action-oriented features. I do not consider that a negative aspect at all, there are many players who love this type of gameplay. Nevertheless, compared to the industry standard, it doesn't perform well. The implementation gives an “old school” vibe (not in a good way), especially in comparison to other modern MMORPGs offering tab-target gameplay. I won't go into the details of why the gameplay is cumbersome, but there's an accumulation of unpleasant little things.

In reaction to the drop in player numbers, Amazon Games has introduced the “server consolidation” plan. This is a schedule to merge servers in several phases. First, auction houses will be consolidated, followed by an open and free transfer phase (limited to one free transfer per character), and then the consolidation itself - i.e., the definitive merging of servers.

The purpose of server consolidation is, of course, to reinvigorate both server activity and economy. While this will most likely improve the experience of veteran players, it's unlikely that server mergers alone will win back the unsatisfied ones.

Here comes the Talandre expansion

Despite these pitfalls, the imminent arrival on March 6th of the Talandre expansion may be the possible remedy for the MMORPG. This free expansion is packed with a range of new contents and features, such as tier two weapons and armors, single-player dungeons, a brand-new artifact system, the awaited interserver siege event, as well as 12-man raids a bit later. Not to mention promised quality-of-life improvements like better combat controls, a reworked weapon mastery system, and field boss changes (it will now be Guild vs. Guild instead of Alliance vs. Alliance content, working similarly to riftstone battles).

Throne and Liberty stands at a critical juncture. While the game launched with potential and a strong player base, its recent decline highlights the challenges of balancing progression, monetization, and player engagement. The server consolidation and Talandre expansion represent significant steps toward addressing the MMORPG issues, but their impact is to be seen, particularly in terms of combat, where much progress remains to be made.