Ten Ton Hammer's Danny "Ralsu" Gourley is constantly in search of brilliant games that don't cost a penny. Every week, he lists the Top Ten Free-to-Play games he has discovered. This week, he discusses the miracles resulting from a solid translation in Perfect World International and three reasons he thinks some people are scared to give free-to-play games a try:
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I think a lot people have trouble controlling their spending and are afraid that cash shops will cause them to overspend on their gaming.
I did once for a game that im not proud of... gunbound... for awhile the makers of gunbound had another game that was acctually really fun... it was called rakion i think it also has a player mall but its still free game and fun
Yeah, I tried Rakion a while back. With its lobby, I decided not to include it on the list of MMOGs. But it was fun to me. Nice to look at and had stuff you could do solo.
I have used the item malls in Silkroad Online and 9 Dragons. I really enjoyed playing those two mmo's during my break from WoW a while back. The only reason I honestly stopped playing 9 Dragons was due to the way the skills level up. You have to buy new ones from a trainer and you have to use them ALOT of times to strengthen them. It becomes quite the chore. Whats worse is if you don't you'll hit a wall where you can't progress cause your too weak from not lvling them up. I found myself leaving the game on, sticking pennies in between keys on my keyboard before I left for work so that my character would lvl up his skills throughout the day. After awhile I just realized how silly that was and stopped.
Your right about all of the points you bring up about why the western crowd doesn't respond as well to the free games. I also feel that alot of it has to do with the stigma surrounding them. Just like with anything once something gets a bad rep its very hard to shake it and most people will try some of the games thinking they will give it a shot but unconsciously have already picked out its flaws and why they wont like it.
Another thing is the communities. In my opinion you can see a very stark difference in the in-game and forum community based on the quality of the game. I remember when Granada Espada first came out and I tried it I enjoyed it but the community was awful. When K2 localized it and charged a monthly fee I gave it a whirl again and honestly had a better experience. The community was smaller but everyone wrote in proper english and things seemed a bit more calm and controlled. I quit SotNW because it just got boring but I didn't regret paying for it. I poked back in on it awhile back after they went f2p and the atmosphere just felt different. I'm sure others have had a similar experience.
If the company that owns the game runs a tight ship and cleans up grammer/bugs/etc it can make a world of difference. I mean, look at Perfect World
I've used an item shop in Archlord. A +xp item made the grinding not so bad for a while. At the level I am now, grinding is horrible with or without the +xp item so I stopped playing.
Atlantica Online goes into Open Beta next week. To go along with that, there has been a character wipe. Supposedly there will be no more character wipes, so if anyone wants to get in on the ground floor, login when the servers open back up on Wednesday.
I have had more fun with Atlantica Online than I have had with any current generation MMO. I know it sounds crazy to say that about a F2P but the different combat mechanic (making it turn-based) makes PvE and PvP just *worlds* more fun to me, because I feel like I'm making tactical decisions.
I have had more fun with Atlantica Online than I have had with any current generation MMO. I know it sounds crazy to say that about a F2P but the different combat mechanic (making it turn-based) makes PvE and PvP just *worlds* more fun to me, because I feel like I'm making tactical decisions.
I was gonna install and play it (Atlantica)... but after downloading the blasted thing all night. It gives me a crc failure with the indus dark elephant texture. >.<
And the site I guess says the game is down til they go into Open Beta...
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Originally Posted by JenSweet
I get so excited I have typo's
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Coyote: “You currently have [114 Tom Cats] in storage. Also, your house smells like loneliness and pee. Have a nice day. Beeeeep.”
I was gonna install and play it (Atlantica)... but after downloading the blasted thing all night. It gives me a crc failure with the indus dark elephant texture. >.<
And the site I guess says the game is down til they go into Open Beta...
I'm gonna try to install it, and if this happens to me, I'll look around the site for helpful tips/ etc.
NCsoft's new president of publishing, David Reid, hopes to dispel rumors (no, Tabula Rasa isn't shutting down) and clear the air about the company's recent restructuring.
In a recent phone interview with The Escapist, Reid echoed statements that he had made earlier indicating that the changes to NCsoft were meant to streamline the publishing process. Although some of the restructuring is philosophical, with the company now focusing more intently on "AAA list" titles like Guild Wars and Lineage II, some of the motivation for the decision to move the publishing headquarters from Austin to Seattle was strictly practical.
"On the basic level, it is very difficult, and in fact now impossible, to get a nonstop flight from Austin to Seattle," explained Reid. "But a second part of it is just, you know, if you're going to be great in the publishing business, you need be around the other great publishers."
Reid also stressed that although NCsoft will be throwing its weight behind larger games like City of Heroes, smaller titles such as the free-to-play Dungeon Runners are not being shut down. That said, it's unlikely that those titles will receive the same sort of support and attention that they have previously.
"If you're the type of person who bets on things, the safer things to bet on is that future expansions would be coming out for games like Guild Wars or Lineage," said Reid. "Not that these lighter games have gone badly for us, but if you go all-in on some of these bigger things, the reward is greater for the company."
NCsoft had previously announced an exclusive partnership with Sony to bring MMOGs to the PS3, and though the company is still interested in tapping the non-PC market, Reid says the company is keeping its options open.
"We have a good relationship with Sony and we're excited about it, but there are a lot of good platforms out there," he said.
Top Ten Free-to-Play Games
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