Off-Week Update (for Ep. 15)
You know, it sure as hell doesn’t FEEL like the off-week.
I’m shocked that Lineage 2 was so universally reviled, to be honest. I figured it’d be one of those games where everyone who religiously has played it since launch would come in screaming about how click to move controls are a lost art, that quests requiring kills in the 300 enemy range are too sophisticated to be appreciated by such low-class, uncultured ruffians, or that playing in a PK system makes you irresistibly attractive to everyone who meets you.
What I should be saying is that I was never informed about how hated Lineage 2 was. I honestly thought it was liked and popular before I looked at it.
Once again I WILL state that I did start to get into it. There have been more than a few times where I was in bed at night thinking, “I wonder if I could do this…” before realizing I had uninstalled it long ago. No Kamaloka for me.
So the next game is one that EVERYONE WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT, and I’m hoping I don’t regret my decision to do it. So far I have not… I’m remembering that when first playing the game, despite spending what I had spent, I had no desire to play it after the first day. It was not a bad game, it just didn’t feel right in certain aspects, and I had no drive to get back into it. While I can’t say they fixed everything I felt was wrong with it, they did alleviate some of my biggest issues with the game. It’s still a bit dodgy though.
I can’t guarantee this will be back to the Wednesday release schedule, I can say that I’m trying harder to keep it this time, and I don’t feel I need to do as much to understand a lot of this game. I did most of it yesterday, and as I stated, I HAVE played this game before. Wish me luck.
One final thing I want to ask…
What is your interest in “Free-to-Try” games like “Rift Lite” and World of Warcraft?
These are games that are, at the core subscription games, but allow you to play the game for free in an extremely limited trial form. Like, letting you play until you reach a certain level, or keeping you from partaking in a lot of community features like Auctions or Guilds.
I really didn’t count them for MMO Grinder since I KNOW how limiting it is to be stopped at level 20 in WoW. There does seem to be a genuine interest in Rift Lite, and I’m wondering if I should once again make an exception, just to see if the formula fits. Granted, it’s not like that opens many doors. Free-To-Try isn’t exactly a vast market… hell, I just named the only two I know of.
Posted on February 8, 2012, in News and Updates and tagged lineage 2, subscription games. Bookmark the permalink. 16 Comments.
MMO Grinder 
I don’t know about “free to try” games because, at their core, they’re still subscription games, and thus the free-play period really comes off as a glorified demo version that just happens to take several days to finish trying out before deciding whether to pay to keep playing.
If you were to review something like WoW, how would you format it? I’d think your list of “what you don’t get to see during the free period” would end up taking up more time in the review than the “how the game works and what you can do for free” portion.
I’d GUESS it’d work the same way you usually do things? Plot synopsis, classes/races, goals, etc., as usual, but having to take the time out each time you spell out a goal in the game to clarify whether it’s actually do-able in the free period?
Wizards 101 is another free-to-try game, despite their supposed policy of being free-to-play. After the first road or so, you have to buy unlocks for the other sections. I think once a place is unlocked, it’s unlocked forever, but I never bothered to play it that long. Toontown I think also falls into free-to-try games, although it went from “can’t leave starting area” to “can’t do anything interesting outside starting area”.
As for whether you want to cover them or not, I would vote nay. It’s not that I have anything against the format or policy, but if you can only get a certain amount of content, then it’s kind of like a demo rather than a full game. If you do decide to cover one, though, I think a disclaimer up front should make it clear that this game is only free up to a point.
I will never play the ‘Free to try’ type of game, but if you were to review it just to show how utter rubbish it is. That would keep me informed =]
I want you to review this game. Rift does not get enough love vs WoW. WoW players come in and see that it is not WoW and then leave. The community can be really nice, I still subscribe and am working slowly through. If you have questions about the game, I can be of help.
I really did like Rift, in fact if I played Rift before playing WoW I would be a Rift player, but there just isnt enough to it, for a WoW player like me, to want to switch.
I bought Rift upon launch because my WoW guild buddies were all going to switch over to it. We all chose “Defiant” side because of the cool lore behind them, and wanted to be the “cool” vanilla players. We had some fun with it, I liked the PVP, and class system (Saboteur was ridiculously fun) but the novelty from all the new features wore off quickly, and the game’s flaws became apparent. I would like you to review it, because as a WoW player you are the target demographic for the game (the game priding itself on being ‘The WoW Killer’).
sup? Love your reviews! especially the latest lineage 2 review. my mom and dad have been playing it for roughly about 7 years and I noticed it really has become a trollfest since it became free to play (not to say it didn’t have trolls beforehand, but not so may as they have now) I really did plan on giving this game another try, but now that you mention all these things, I’m not sure if I want to play it again.
Wanted to know if you plan on reviewing Ragnarok online. IRO is the very first mmo that I got to play. after about a month of playing it by myself my parents jumped on the band wagon! after a few monthes though, we left it to play on private servers… I love it if you gave it a try! Thank you playing crazy mmo even I wouldn’t play! (seriously maple story???)
I’m ok with free-to-try games because I have a short attention span, bore easily, & commitment is not in my vocabulary (best housewife ever?). I play an MMO anywhere from 2 days to a month before I get bored & move on to something else, & while I might play them again, it’s usually a year or 2 latter. I on;t think I’ve ever stuck with an MMO long enough to get past level 40. I think I ended up this way, being spoiled by the amount of FTP MMOs available & wanting to try them all.
After playing Lineage 2 and making the comment “this game will make or break you” – You really need to try playing EVE Online, where scamming and griefing other people is a legitimate part of gameplay if you so wish so.
On the other hand, there’s actually nice people in EVE, unlike L2…. :p
Warhammer is free up to level 10 the you have to sub to go further. pvp is fun pve is meh.
about lineage 2 truth be told i think even thou they release these “expansions” from time to time the true nature of the game still shows underneath,it is a mostly dated game many of the mechanics that were new and interesting back when it was released are now not that well accepted nowdays,and about making trial games,i suppose its ok thou it kind of depends on the game,im not sure but i dont think WoW for example has much to be said in the trial version and aside from wow i dont really remember many other trial games specially since they seem to be gradually all turning free to play with some kind of subscription bonus but as far as reviewing goes i think it should be fun,let you know what you’re going for before downloading a 6gb game.
I would love to see the free trials on subscription games from you. Perhaps as a subcategory? MMOGrind Lite brand soda. Perhaps they could be shorter and easier to put out, all you have to do is level to the tiny cap and give first impressions based on the trial, the way a noob would see things going in.
I don’t think I’ve tried Lineage II, but I tried one or two other click to move games like Persona and I extremely did not like that part of the game. Which is a shame because I like the Persona world in general, but hated the movement and combat.
I don’t even bother with “Free-to-try” games. I would rather be able to just log into a game whenever I want to, rather than be able to just “have a taste” and then not ever play it again.
-I haven’t even seen your Lineage 2 review. This should be fun fun fun to watch then-
Well that Hell Gate London game is kinda a Free-To-Try game seeing as how you can only play Act one of that game without paying for it. So I wouldn’t mind if you decided to do others like that.
You know, I hadn’t though of that one… granted, you don’t have to consistently pay for Hellgate, as once you drop the cash on Act 3 and Tokyo, it’s unlocked for you to play as long as you can stand playing it… that and you can technically grind out the in-game cash to buy the tickets in the auction house. With WoW and Rift, you still have to pay monthly, regardless if they’ve done anything with the game in that span of time.