Danny "Ralsu" Gourley has been looking forward to Frogster Interactive's Runes of Magic ever since he began exploring the world of Taborea. The game has frequently been in his Top Ten Free-to-Play Games, and it earned Ten Ton Hammer's Best Free-to-Play award for the 2008 Leipzig GCDC. Now that the game is in open beta, Ralsu can describe his beta experiences and let readers know if the hype for this title is deserved:
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Runes of Magic mimics a lot of other games in much of its gameplay mechanics, but it provides a deeply developed story for the backdrop. The result is a gameplay experience that is immediately familiar and engaging.
This is one of the games I recall seeing on your F2P list, but to be honest I never really came to any conclusions as to weather I would be genuinely interested in checking out or not. Now, normally that decision process tends to involve lots of breakdancing and playing Space Invaders with the disembodied spirit of a unicorn that haunts my neighborhood - In other words, it's an extremely scientific process that can be quite taxing on your emergency supply of baking soda if you're not careful!
But after reading through your article I decided to download the client and check RoM out. I didn't necessarily expect that the game was attempting to break new ground in any major ways, but at the same time I'm really interested in spending some time with a F2P title that does sound as though it manages to break from a lot of the common stereotypes associated with that particular business model.
Oh, and this part stood out to me of course ...
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For as long as I have known about Runes of Magic, I have heard people call it a WoW clone.
... but if there's no Night Elves dancing on mailboxes in their underwear, shoulder armor that would keep you from fitting through normal doorways or people in Trade chat saying such hilarious one liners as "[Dirge] lol!" then a WoW clone it is not.
So, RoM certainly looks like WoW quite a bit. I think the features feel like they are borrowed mostly from EQ2, but then, EQ2 changed to be more and more like WoW.
At any rate, it's a quality free game, and I recommend people at least try it on to see if it fits.
I actually didn't play any PvP. It's not normally my bag. I know some threads yesterday explored the feasibility of competing in PvP without using the Item Mall. A Frogster person stepped into the thread and promised that no unique gear can be bought and that all things puchased in the Item Mall replace time spent in the game or provide customization only.
Thanks for the review Ralsu! I've been mainly playing Wrath of the Lich King, but after registering on the RoM website today I'm really looking forward to d/l and trying out the game tonight when I get home from work.
Although, I'm not tired enough of WoW to quit playing it yet, how can I NOT try a free to play MMORPG! I was on the fence until I read your review. Now I know I will log on tonight and play a bit.
This would mean a lot more if I could download the damn thing, the 4 sites that I have tried have all timed out long before the download is finished. Why no torrent option!
Just wanted to say a quick thanks for pointing me towards RoM - mind you I haven't had a lot of time to play it, but I'm liking what I've seen so far! I can definitely see what you mean about EQ2-style gameplay dressed in WoW's casual wear. The funny little mushroom beasts you fight right at the start reminded me of Dungeon Runners in a smaller way as well.
At any rate, hopefully I'll be able to spend some more time with it, but for now I'm definitely enjoying the experience. Well, apart from some knuckle-dragger who created a character named 'Fail' who they sat down in front of the first main quest NPC and left there all night..
I downloaded RoM on the 15th and I have to say that I'm a fan so far. I like how it takes features from everything; EQ2-style housing, Diablo-style socketed gear and rune (gems in D2) combining, WoW's casual style, an easily accessible dual-class system...the list goes on.
It also doesn't feel remotely as grindy as every other F2P game I've played. Well, outside of Mythos, that is; I still miss that game. RoM certainly has its flaws, mostly in the realm of polish, but for free it's great. And hopefully a good number of its flaws will be fixed in open beta.
Long time, no see fierywater. Glad you are enjoying it. My wife and I had a lot of fun with it last night, and I hope she will continue playing it with me.
Runes of Magic Preview: Embrace the Familiar
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