Is a bad MMO still bad when it's free?

[shawn]

Okay, so they had their little reactivation thing start yesterday, I fired it up and checked it out.

..I'm actually fairly impressed, it's almost an entirely different game. I was on my level 26 clerics, and as I went though old zones, there were new quests everywhere. One of them looks as if it leads into a dungeon instance, but I wasn't able to enter it because my level was apparently too high.

I'd also forgot about their skill/movement system, which gives you bonuses depending on what direction you're moving. If you're walking forward, you gain an attack bonus, moving backward - defense, and strafing - dodge. And naturally there are a ton of 'typical mmo things', such as minipets, mounts, and costumes. Although I was impressed with what they call motion manuals, which gives your character a new set of animations for walking/running, idling, resting, and jumping. There are two, a ninja style and a levitation style, and the npc lets you try out the ninja style free for a day. (They're 14 million kinah to buy, which sounds insane, but it's not too bad at high level. Most high-end wing sets are several million.)

They've also added other required mmo features, such as a looking for group finder, common things such as daily quests which offer a pretty crazy chunk of exp, and new things such as a 'mentor' program which I'm not exactly sure about yet. I think you're supposed to sign up with the mentor people and help out newbies.

All in all it's pretty neat, except I forget what all my spells do, or how the stigma stone system works.

[Rob Van Der Sloot]

and new things such as a 'mentor' program which I'm not exactly sure about yet. I think you're supposed to sign up with the mentor people and help out newbies.

If that is how it works, that is actually pretty clever. I don't think I've seen that before in an MMO.

[Lady Rhonwyn]

I tried to install the free-to-play client yesterday... But it wouldn't start...

[Simply Kedde]

Might try it out.

[raspberry jam]

Bad game is of course still bad when it's free, what changes is that it might change from being not worth your time to actually being worth it. Time has to be valued both in the enjoyment you get out of the time playing the game, but also the time spent on earning the money to pay for the game. With the last part of that equation out of the picture, it might change.

Agreed, but then again the average MMO monthly fee is something like $15, which you'd earn in like 1-2 hours on a normal salary.

[Simply Kedde]

You uphold that amount against the possible scenario of you not enjoying the gameplay itself and simply using it as a buff chatroom with your friends and some minigames.

[Buddah]

Aion Sucks.


That's been my battle cry when dealing with a few friends for the past 18 months. The whole time I hear them on Vent complaining about the grind for PvP weapons, the server imbalances to one side or the other, the constant waves of gank squads hunting players 10+ levels lower than them.

The whole lot of them have moved on to SW:tOR. Myself if I want to grind for better crap to take on other players, I'll do it in a game where the gear doesn't matter as much, Battlefield 3.

[Simply Kedde]

yo buddah, you playing bf3 as well? gief name.

[sorudo]

battlefield isn't an MMO, bad comparison.

[Simply Kedde]

Wtf bro. What does that even have to do with anything. I just wanted his account name so I could add him.
Besides, the comparison was simply that he finds grinding weapon unlocks more fun in a game where it's less prohibitive and doesn't require you to do anything else than simply play.