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New Player - 45 day review (May 2010)
OldManFunk
Member Posts: 894
After hearing good things about Runes of Magic I started playing Runes of Magic around March 30th 2010.
My first impression was, "Is this an illegitimate WoW private server?" Don't get me wrong, RoM is very different from WoW... but it's clear that RoM borrowed a great deal from WoW. The similarities are undeniable.
RoM is the most complete free to play (read: Item $hop) game that I have ever played. Its dual class system offers a lot of variety, there are a TON of quests, they have a PvP system that is similar to WoW's and even end game PvE raids.
RoM has a macro / addon system that is almost identical to vanilla WoW. You can write complex LUA scripts that let you play the game with a single button, no kidding. I play my Knight/Priest by pressing one single button over and over while my script decides what to do. ( http://forum.us.runesofmagic.com/showthread.php?t=33610 )
Yes, you can write scripts that let you play the game with one button. Yes, a player can often make better decisions than the automated macro... but the opposite is also true. If you ever did end-game raids in vanilla WoW then you know all that you need to know about how these scripts and addons can, for better or worse, turn the game into a single button mash-fest.
RoM is an Item $hop game. RoM has 4 different game currencies; Gold, Diamonds, Rubies and Phirius Tokens.
Gold is obtained in-game only from selling junk to vendors and doing quests.
Diamonds are obtained through the Item $hop with real money (current rates are 2 to 5 cents per Diamond depending on the sale price and the amount purchased).
Rubies are rewarded to people who spend Diamonds.
Phirius Tokens come from doing Daily Quests (10 daily quests per day, 10 tokens from almost all daily quests).
Both Gold are Diamonds necessary to obtain the things players need to progress. Players can trade Gold for Diamonds or vice versa. By making both currencies necessary, RoM encourages players with more time to farm Gold to trade with players who purchase Diamonds. This lets some players truly play for free and makes it easy for players with disposable income to legitimately purchase gold with real life money. RoM's publisher wins because people are still buying Diamonds and the players win because they either get to play for free or purchase Gold without having a guilty conscience and resorting to purchasing Gold from RMT.
But here's the catch...
RoM's publisher has DISABLED DIAMOND TRADE via the Auction House.
What does this mean? It is extremely difficult for players who want to trade Gold for Diamonds to find one another and once players do find someone willing to trade the trade cannot be done by a secure method. As a result the Gold price for Diamonds has trippled. In short, the cost of playing RoM has skyrocketed for anyone who supplemented their Diamond supply with Gold trading and what use to be a trip to the Auction House has become a long, difficult and risky endeavor that involves handing over millions of Gold in hope of having the items that you need gifted to you.
The first half of the game is completely free to play. There is no need to buy anything that can be purchased with Diamonds.
Once you get into end-game raids everything changes. You need Diamonds to buy items to upgrade your gear. It is impossible to stat and tier your gear for end-game without purchasing Diamonds and so impossible to do end-game content without spending a significant amount of money on Item $hop items.
6 Purified Fusion Stones * 55 Diamonds per PFS * 3 cents per Diamond = $9.90 per item
14 items * $9.90 per item = $138.60 per item set
But wait, there's more! Advanced Jewels will cost EVEN MORE!
Star Jewel - Holy Light costs 69 Diamonds each and has a chance to fail to upgrade your gear! It can take around 15 Jewels (depending entirely on your luck) to get a weapon to +6.
15 Star Jewel - Holy Light * 69 Diamonds each * 3 cents per Diamond = $31.05
Moon Jewel - Holy Light (for Armor) are 49 Diamonds each, so $22.05 per armor piece (8 pieces) is about $175.00 a set.
Sun Jewel - Holy Light are also 49 Diamonds each and there are 5 accessory slots, so $22.05 each and $110.25 for a full set.
But wait, there's more! Tiering your gear up will cost EVEN MORE!
~370 Transmutor Charges to get 3 T8 stones from T4s at 2.9 diamonds per charge is about $32 at 3 cents per Diamond.
"I hope my character looks cool in his new gear, I just spent $486 upgrading it all."
Suddenly progressing through end-game dungeons (read: obtaining new gear that is upgraded via diamonds) doesn't sound like fun...
IMPORTANT CAVEAT: It is not mandatory to fully upgrade each and every piece of gear that you get, the number of Jewels that it takes is random (could be more, could be less), and some costs can be deferred by using Phirius Tokens and Rubies.
Conclusion And Closing Thoughts
Runes of Magic is a decent free to play game for about 2 months. If you are looking for something to play until The Next Great Game comes out then by all means give it a try. You have nothing to lose.
If you are looking for a fun game that has end-game goals then keep on looking. PvP is not fun when scripts can and do decide the outcome, not to mention several item shop items that let you buy your wins. PvE raids can be a fun social experience despite LUA scripts that reduce the game to mashing a single button for hours on end but the financial cost to progress makes subscription games seem remarkably cheap.
Comments
As the author of the thread you linked on scripting I'd like to comment on that. I find it ironic that you put RoM down for allowing the user to devise smart scripts to "play the game with one button" yet you don't seem to have any problem running one. Why is that? If you're so put off by scripting, then don't run one. It's a personal choice, nobody is forcing you to "play" the game that way. It's not like you can automate it to play the game by itself... there's still plenty of things going on during combat besides picking your attacks that you have to do manually to keep you engaged. I can't tell you how many PM's I've gotten from people with various physical restrictions thanking me for coming up with that Combat Engine. Many of them wouldn't be able to play RoM effectively otherwise.
I also have a good bit of experience with macros and scripting in WoW and I can tell you even though WoW is more restrictive, you can do very similar things if you can build one that's smart enough. I remember playing my Warrior and having 1 button perform about 90% of my actions for me. So I really don't see *that* much difference.
I personally find that scripting is a game in itself and coming up with the right code to make your toon do what you want is just as rewarding (if not moreso) than mashing 1-2-3-4 over and over and feeling proud that you did it the "manual" way.
Single button macros that make decisions for you ruin PvP whether you are using them or not. I thought that it was worth mentioning to anyone who is considering trying RoM that if they plan to PvP in RoM they should expect to end up watching bots match gear, item shop items and macro code rather than actually competing against other players. If you're into that then good for you. I'm not.
PvE is different. PvE tends to be more of a social gear check to progress than a true competition. Artificial Intelligence is always setup to lose to an appropriately geared and played character. The true challenge to PvE tends to be finding other players to help you check your gear versus a given encounter and then luck in winning the progression roll.
Macro'd PvP I-WIN buttons combined with item shop I-BUY-WINS items makes RoM's PvP fail but it is the item shop prices (not the macros) that make the end-game PvE fail. The macro system may make the rest of RoM's PvE fail but I'm not a big fan of PvE grinding and so really don't care if people want to push a single button until they reach max level (to push a single button until they obtain end-game gear, to push a single button until...).
Wow... they haven't enabled again diamond trading through the Auction House? Sad.
OP spot on, this is why I do not play because it costs more to play this game end game then it does to pay to play game like WOW and get the same fun or enjoyment. There are many players in end game who have spent upwards of $500 or more to get a decent set of gear, some people even spend thousands on doing it.
I have to give it to these guys though who developed this game and system, they made it addicting enough for players to have to spend and they made the system so that they make more money off players versus a subscription fee alone to play. If I was to guess I would say the average amount they make from each player per month would be about $30. So in reality this FTP game actually is the highest subscription fee based game out that ranks in top 10 for players enjoyment for a FTP. *BOGGLE*
As far as macroing goes, everything you said about RoM can be said about WoW. Is it fail as well?
And as far as the item shop... what did you expect with an MMO using this type of model? To get something for nothing? At least you're able to play pretty much all the way to end-game without spending anything (aside from maybe $5 for a mount). How much would you spend on a subscription game up to that point?
RoM's macros are like WoW's macros back before Blizzard decided that macros should not be able to make game play decisions for players (pre-BC). In vanilla WoW healers used an addon that would place the person with the lowest health at the top of a healing list so that they could just click one button to raid heal. It also had the ability to check the raid for debuffs that could be cured and then cleansed them with one button press. Vanilla Wow's macros also gave players the ability to make macros that could choose the best spell for any given situation (based on health, mana, range, debuffs, etc) with a single button press or mouse click. You can't do this in WoW any more and it would be impossible to rewrite your RoM combat engine to work in WoW (without 3rd party cheats/hax).
WoW's current macro system doesn't play the game for you and so it does not ruin WoW's PvP (Blizzard finds other ways to ruin WoW's PvP). RoM's current macro system can play the game for you and so does ruin RoM's PvP (even before item shop items have a chance to completely ruin RoM's PvP).
RoM was a fun, surprisingly complete, free game for about 2 months. If you were going to play a game for 2 months without ever wanting to experience the end-game then RoM is a great choice.
2 months of RoM costs you nothing.
The WoW Battle Chest costs $30 and comes with one month. The next month is $15. The final expansion is another $30... but you won't likely get to it in 2 months (just like you won't likely get to the point in RoM where you need diamonds in 2 months of play).
RoM can be FREE for 2 months. WoW costs $45!
What if you play for a year and experience game content? It's something like $160 for a year of WoW + $30 for the game and $30 for the most recent expansion... so $220 for a year of WoW!
Finding the cost of playing RoM is far more complicated. You could spend $500 on maxing out a single set of gear but you could also spend much less... and here is my biggest problem with RoM, as long as you play to progress (get better gear) then you are going to replace your gear. Every time you replace your gear you need to stat, tier and plus it to get the most out of it... and so every time you get new gear you're looking at buying diamonds. How many times will you obtain items that need to be upgraded in a year of playing? The more you play and progress the more it's going to cost you and you're not going to get the best of the best end-game gear without enhancing and then replacing some lesser gear first.
Further complicating RoM is that your characters are dual class. Want to gear out that second class? Unless it can share gear from your first class (like Priest/Mage) then you'll have to obtain and upgrade a second set of gear if you want to play both classes (ie: War/Mage). Like to play alts? Each alt will cost you even more to equip. Obtaining a single set of end-game gear can be expensive. Multiply that times each of your alts that you plan on maxing out.
Even further complicating RoM is all of the item shop consumables and extras. Maxing out your gear can be expensive. So can maxing out your TP unless you're willing to spend a great deal of time grinding without item shop items to boost your gains. Oh, and those 70% mounts sure looked nice... for people who could afford to pay extra for them.
If people are happy not being able to participate in competitive PvP or do end-game content then they could save a ton of money playing RoM for free. If they want to be able to PvP competitively or experience the vast majority of the game then they can spend less money and experience more content in a subscription game.
I'm not referring to WoW during the pre-BC timeframe. I played past the release of BC and that's when I used the macro I was referring to. It was tricky to get the logic right but I certainly could play with 1 button.
Not true at all. For it to "play the game for you" would mean that your intervention isn't needed (i.e. a bot). In the past that was possible with RoM, but just like Blizzard, Runewaker has put a stop to automation of that sort. What you can do with RoM is have it pick which skill to use every time you click a key, just like I could do with WoW. I'll reiterate, WoW's code was more restrictive but I could certainly have it pick skills for me based on certain criteria.
If you don't believe me, just look at the http://wowmacros.com website. Here's an example macro from there:
/castrandom [equipped:shields] Shield Slam, Revenge; Revenge
/cast [equipped:shields] Shield Block
Kinda looks like a 1-button macro that uses 3 different skills to me.
And that's just a simple case. There are much more complicated ones.
And again I ask... what did you expect of an item-shop game? Something for nothing?
Holy crap thats a lot of money. Well thanks for this review. I just downloaded the game to give it a second try after having quit in Jan of last year. You just saved me the 2-3 weeks It would have taken me to discover this on my own in game. It looks like things have not changed much in the last year. Because I am actually looking for a NEW long term mmo I don't think ill keep this installed. I can play a higher quality P2P game for less than this lol, Hell My cell phone bill is less than this per year and thats something I need for work :X
The WoW macro you use as an example can't check hps, mana or pick the best move based on anything except whether or not you have a shield equipped. All the WoW macro does is save keyboard space... but if you have a WoW macro that works in the current WoW build that can do even half of what your RoM macro does then please post it. I'm sure millions of people would love to see it.
The RoM macro you wrote can check your hps, your target's hps, your mana, your buffs, your debuffs, your target's buffs, your target's debuffs, your party/raid's hps, your party/raid's buffs, your party/raid's debuffs, select an appropriate target and select the best action for any given situation with one single button press.
Here are the conditions that I used on my RoM Priest/Knight Solo macro (created with your posted combat macro):
As you can see this single RoM macro buffs, heals and attacks your target with a single button press... and could do even more with a few more lines of simple script! The action taken is based on a set of conditions. The only input this macro needs is a single keypress per action taken (and yes, a character can be put on auto-follow with a single button being pressed repeatedly and it will play the game without further input as long as something keeps pressing that single button to activate the macro... it could be a healer that checks the group's hps, debuffs and reacts accordingly, a ranged DPS that assists a predetermined target or even a tank that tabs through nearby targets checking to see if they are attacking group members, check threat levels and react according to marks).
My RoM conditions were setup for solo grinding but I could have easily added conditions that automated drinking pots, checking my target's status, checking my party/raid's status and kept it all in the same macro that did everything with the push of a single button. If you can write a similar WoW macro that will work in the current WoW build then please post it. I don't play WoW any more but I know a lot of people who would love to have a WoW macro that could make decisions for them.
You can say a lot of bad things about WoW but it is completely unfair to compare WoW's macro system to RoM's.
I have to admit that I didn't expect to drop $500 on a single set of gear. I guess I expected the prices to be more reasonable?
The amount spent is completely up to the individual. Unlike a P2P where you're required to spend $160/yr (or whatever) if you want to play. In the 15 months that I've played RoM I've spent less than what I would have spent on WoW, although I don't feel pressured to "keep up with the Joneses" and I progress at a pace that my time and wallet afford. I don't have this choice with a P2P... I either pony up the money or quit, there is no middle ground.
If you feel it's necessary to spend $500 on a single set of equipment, then don't bash RoM for that, that's your own lack of self control. It's not required. You could certainly buy end-game gear (already stated) with game gold, thanks to people retiring items and using bind lifters. Funny how you didn't mention that in your "review".
How much are bind lifters going for now? 79 Diamonds? ($2 give or take depending on diamond prices) + several million gold per item for an item that someone else deemed unworthy of keeping? It is absolutely true that you can purchase gear that has been unbound and some players will even take all gold for these items (no need to buy diamonds!)... of course that gets you gear capable of running an end-game raid (once you've bought many high end unbound items) but what do you do when new gear drops? Pass on it because you're not willing to buy diamonds or spend real money upgrading the item? (Hence the reason why I focused on what it would cost to fully upgrade an end-game set of gear and not on what it would cost to go through intermediate sets of gear... I assumed the players would be playing the game in hope of progressing and not just collecting used pieces of gear.)
Limiting how much you spend in RoM also limits how much you can do in RoM. What do they say on the official forums? Free to play but pay to succeed? That sounds about right.
I'm not going to use special, to try to prove my point. But seriously, what game isn't pay to succeed, if the game does have a cash shop? I've played tons of free to play games and there hasn't been a single one, since 2004 that you could get to end game, compete with the best, and spend minimal dollars. Meh, I guess it's just based on opinions, eh?
I'v played this game for over a year. Free to Play? Not really. To reach any kind of "End-Game" content you HAVE to
spend real money. Over the last year I'v watched this game spiral down and down. Now it's really not worth playing.
There are lots of quests which is good,however a lot of them are bugged and don't work. The Guild Castles are
Nice but they don't work half the time. Most of the time they kick you completely out of the game if you stay in too long.
Frogster is also Ban happy. They will permanently ban you from the game if they even think you've broken a rule.
If you have a problem in the game, such as one or more of your characters got deleted because of a game patch.
Frogster considers it harassment if you continue to ask them to fix it, and will ban you for it if you don't stop.
At the start of this Game I would have given it a 7 out of 10 as an all around good game to play. Now the best
rating I can give is a 2 out of 10. I highly recommend if you want to play a free on-line game, that this game be
Avoided.
while nothing the op has stated is really new, his points are vaild. there is no reason for fanboi hate on him.
i quit for unrelated issue of a ghost town on grimdel and begging for a pvp server merge for months prior to quitting, but if i styaed active i would have quit when they removed diamond trade via ah. and if i stayed active even after that i would have quit bcz even when i could find a raid, not everyone was prepared, meaning fail gear. so i got out rather than continuing to enrich a company that punishes critical feedback and whose fanboi forum mods have worn out the lock and delete functions of their cp.
i keep following the news of this game, hoping that many of my grimdel contemporaries would come back after they tired of aion, but i guess they are very much like me, once a game loses you, ur gone.
the only way to enjoy this game is if your a carebear on a pve server which apparently do maintain a certain population. but really, in pve whats the point?
You have no idea about the difference between macros that make decisions and macros that don't.
In WoW now (ever since 1.12.0 or 2.0.0, not sure which) you can make macros to perform certain individual actions. You must specify a target (I.e. "focus" or "target" or "self") and you specify an action. That is where it ends. In old WoW, and in ROM, you can set up a macro like "First, find the player with the lowest health, then, based on their HP%, cast shield if they're very low, flash heal if they're medium, or renew if they're topped up." The game played itself. In old WoW, I was a priest - I would stand in the bush at BS and literally SPAM A SINGLE BUTTON. I called the button 'BGWin'
That functionality is long gone. ROM still uses it. If you can't see the difference, then you just don't understand. Stop arguing.
ROM is a cash grab. No one with any experience in this world wants something for nothing. There are games that run an F2P model and enjoy great success. Look at League of Legends, for example. The company is so un-greedy that players buy endless skins JUST to support the company, mostly because they like the game so much. DDO is another successful F2P that allows you to spend as much or as little as you want, while still enjoying a great deal of content and never feeling like your VISA makes you uber.
I'm somewhat affluent IRL (not sayin I'm rich or anything) and I could buy all the end-game goodies I could ever want. But you know what? I don't play in virtual worlds to push people around with my real world bank balance.
------
Played - UO, FFXI, WAR, WoW, EVE
Currently - Bored.
I bet you run around ROM end-game in terrible gear just hoping players will accept you for your personality.
Seriously --- a game that makes upgrading your items NECESSARY (more stats come from the upgrades than the item) makes you almost cringe if new gear drops.
I'd stick to WoW (if I wasn't entirely sick of it). At least there you know that you're dealing with a solid company, and your performance in game, and not your VISA, will determine your success.
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Played - UO, FFXI, WAR, WoW, EVE
Currently - Bored.
This macro no longer works. The castrandom command will now simply choose a skill from the list at random and stay on that skill until it is useable again.In WoW, it is no longer possible to have a one button macro for your spell rotations.
Not only is this game not even close to free anymore. They will ban you for nothing. I got banned for reporting another player harassing me.Read more here-
http://tinyurl.com/28qxgh7
If we fail to change the things of today, they will become the lucid nighmares of tommorrow.
Right on!! I think you got this exactly Right.
You really have no idea what you're talking about.
I really wish people would stop comparing WoW to other games like everything in the MMO world was invented by WoW.
IT IS NOT!
Wow stole from God knows how many games and RoM just did the same. Does it work? That's what matter.
If it ain't dead you're not pressing 2 hard enough.
True.
Dont get me started on FPS games stealing from previous FPS games lol.
All in all - what WoW mostly did was stole then polished the game ideas what previous games had.
Reason why i think most people think WoW is the top dog and everyone steals from WoW is because it is either their first MMO and or have not played any other MMO before it thus not knowing anything else.
WoW brought some good stuff to the table, but claiming it is their own ideas is not right - lots is, but lots isnt too.
Lets leave it at that ;D.
RoM is just WoW style but way less lagre and fun, only cost way more then any p2p.
At least at p2p you know how much you gonna spend & money will not influence your game, as well as for "free" are no services and no rights of users.
I played RoM from beta & till lvl 55 cap and spent like 750$ or more for my 3 chars, now my account got hacked as 100s of others (you can find very small thread on EU technical forum, very much down the page), and game is clear: nobody will help you to get your money / items back!!!!
Great f2p, you loose your money and waste your time. Just for info: at p2p (like WoW) or bought game (CD or key, like GW) you ALLWAYS get all back if got hacked.
Anyone belive then 100s of guys at same server tells his passwords to a mate? or dont have decent anti virus? to me it clear: RoM have hudge security problem, so this game looks more crap then it does only from crazy item shop.
I dont mind f2p games selling you costumes or even mounts but RoM thives sells you whole gear upgrades and you need or : spend tons of cash on real money shop, spend ages in game for token shop.
By the time you got your gear game made new laggy & buggy patch with better stuff and you start over!
If it fun you looking for: good luck with RoM.
if you think it silly & shame: never even start RoM.
try before buy, even if it's a game to avoid bad surprises.
Worst surprises for me: Aion, GW2
I'd just like to say that this man speaks the truth. Macros in WoW are extremely limiting (as they should be), and to compare them to the way RoM does it is just stupid.
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" RoM is an Item $hop game. "
I stopped reading there.
I will never, ever, ever ,ever play an item shop game.
Ever.
They would have to pay ME to play their game.