Business Model and Game play. (Bought retail and vouchers)

kilun

First, I've spent $29.00 in this game.  I figured I could not give it a fair deal if I didn't invest in anything.

First the game in general:

Setting is Steampunk on one side, and Avatar on the next.  Literally.  My 6 year old plays with me, and he said daddy its the guy from that movie.  Regardless of the setting, the world is visually solid (More enjoyable than Wildstar) We have land and flying mounts (carriers) that are awesome and can be used in combat, outside of dungeons.

Typical 2 faction combat.

Battlefield of Blood Fang: Static fighting map every 30 minutes with rewards.  Very fun as it involves 5 types of mounts((carriers) for each faction.

Arenas, instanced capture the flag, PVE, solo-timed instances(Adventures), crafting, etc.  Heavy PVP focus.

Time Vials:  A reward twice a day (unless purchasing more) that gives you loot based on your activity done in the game, dungeons/raids give the best reward.  Not a bad thing, not a great thing so far.

The BAD:

• Major lack of information on the game, including the forums.
• Low Population on Erlandir, current ingame event to hopefully boost this.
• No Monthly fee, more expensive than $12-15 a month easily.
• Daily Login bonuses/reward and  Time Vials

 

The GOOD:

• No box fee.
• Lots of stuff to do in the game based on play style.
• Can login for a few minutes and do something quick.
• One - time per/account (server I imagine as everything is set up that way) Loot hitting levels (like level 20 weapon, etc)
• Subjective/Personal: I enjoy the combat, setting, and art style.  This is why I am playing it.

 

Now lets talk about the cash I spent on the game.  The box copy gives you a crap ton of Black Gold and some other bonuses.  Nothing really cool such as a specific ingame item/mount only available to you.  I wish it did.  I am so-so on the box.  I haven't redeemed any of the stuff yet as I'm waiting to see how it plays out.

 

The Vouchers:  Snailgames have about a billion different store giftcards they accept (Subway, Sports Authority, etc)  I have no idea how they utilize them or verify but hey, your milage may very.

 

My credit card would not process.  I tried only one (Amazon Chase card) and then just went directly to Paypal.

 

Vouchers can be used to purchase time vials from other players and the VIP program(30 days of bonuses), which is my real complaint about the game.

 

Vouchers are purchased 900 for $3.00, but its more like 3/9/15/etc.  VIP cost 990.  See an issue?  Now the VIP each cater to a different part of the game.

 

VIP also has the distinct drawback of being per/character.  This is why this game can be expensive. As a full VIP trifecta will be effectively $10 per/character, I would much rather it be a static fee of 15/a month for account or the vouchers as some people only play one toon.

 

The VIPs are as follows:

 

• Knight of Montel:  Extra Exp, faster recovery of second class, and 50% off a time vial each day
• Exploration Card:  Free dungeon loot and other explorer type options
• Carrier Card:  This thing is a must IMO especially early on.  Your initial carriers don't consume energy/power.  Roll around and smash PVE face and quest in style.

 

Overall, I'm enjoying the game due to the large variety of stuff to enjoy.  Will I stick with it who knows, very few MMOs people last 2 months on, so I'll view it as an expensive steam game that'll get enjoyment out of.  I think it might be a little gem though, sort of like Chronicles of Spellborn.  I enjoy the gameplay and the PVP which is generally my focus in MMOs anymore.