The new MMO everyone is talking about, Throne and Liberty, is out! Pay-to-win? Free-to-Play? When is it really?
Summary
- A rather vague shade
- Committed editors
A rather vague shade
Succeeding in creating an F2P is clearly not an easy thing. We have to find a way to make the title generous enough to be able to attract new players, but also succeed in encouraging them to invest in microtransactions in order to keep the game and its teams of developers alive while making a profit. This is where the question of balancing comes. A good F2P must be accessible and fun for players who do not want to spend 1 cent on the title, but it must also properly reward those who have invested real money in it, without frustrating the first category of players. This is the greatest difficulty, and few people manage to find this fragile balance.
This is the mission that the latest fashionable MMORPG sets itself: Throne and Liberty. For those who do not know this newcomer, here is the overview: the title is developed by NCSoft, a South Korean studio known for titles like Lineage and Aion. The game was initially intended as a sequel to Lineage, under the title Lineage Eternal, but after several years of development and various changes in direction, NCSoft transformed the project into Throne and Liberty set in a world of heroic- fantasy.
For players, the line between F2P or P2W is still far too blurry in this title.
Committed editors
On the Amazon Games side, the firm ensures that this is a balanced experience combining the best of both worlds. Moreover, Daniel Lafuente, Globalization Design Manager at Amazon Games spoke to our colleagues PCGamesN on the subject:
We wanted a game where everyone, whether they chose to spend money or not, could fully immerse themselves in the game’s rich world and content. If you choose not to spend a dime, you can earn premium in-game currency through various activities, from collecting rare items to sell to other players in the Auction House to acquiring them via PvP rewards.
On closer inspection, that’s pretty much all that games of this ilk sell us, without actually achieving it. Here, we’re talking about Lucent, this famous InGame currency that the Globalization Design Manager returns to:
With this earned currency, you’ll have the freedom to unlock cosmetics, upgrade passes, battle passes, and more, all of which would normally be locked behind a paywall in other games.
Once again, nothing really new or innovative compared to the competition and the market in general in recent years. Throne and Liberty even boasts a sort of auction house Diablo IIIhaving suffered so much criticism that it closed its doors…
In the meantime, Lafuente assures:
a free, fair and sustainable gaming experience
Throne and Liberty has been available since October 1 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.
