Albion Online: Anyone up for a review of this game?

ste2000 · November 2015

I am not gonna lie I am tempted to buy this game but I don't want to throw my money out of the window.
So is any kind soul that played the game extensively (from Alpha) has time to write a review?
I would like to know both the Pros and the Cons in your opinion.
I don't want to hear only the good stuff (neither just the bad stuff).
No game is perfect so I am not going to listen to people who picture this game as the best thing after the sliced bread.

Any volunteers?

spikers14 · December 2015

Too early for a review IMO. Try this thread http://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/435625/people-who-have-played-how-is-it#latest. You just have to cut out the hype, ignore doomsday, and bend an ear for burnouts. Then you will have the truth. No seriously...there are many valid posts there.

On a side note, not sure I'd burn 30 or more dollars on any CB if I had to stop and consider my own finances.

Viper482 · December 2015

My first impression is....amazing potential. FIRST impression mind you. I have not felt an old school feeling like this since I played actually old school games. If you played Ultima Online that is the closest example I can compare it to. The thing I hate about new MMOs is they are basically solo games with chat rooms and other people running around doing the same solo things you are doing.

AO makes you rely on others. No one person can make all of their weapons, all of their gear, all tools you will need, etc. Everyone specializes in few things unlike a game like GW2 where you can max every craft and be self-sufficient. You will have to buy gear from other people, sometimes you will have to buy components from others.

Some people may not like having to depend on others, if this is you go play one of the many solo MMO's out there. MMOs like this capture the true essence of what an MMO used to be, and what made them great to those that jumped on the genre and fell in love at first sight. MMOs have lost their way in my opinion, AO is trying to bring it back.

Lerxst · December 2015

I'm also wondering the same things sort of. Not really one to send money on a closed beta, but when it launches, I might fork over some money to play it.

The game-play, I know from seeing the videos, is quite old-school like.That's a plus. Like Viper said, it also seems to make you rely on other players, also a good thing.

I'd like to know more details of a... I guess, social nature? PvP, guilds, those kinds of things.

I like MMOs, I like playing with other players and interacting with them. But... and a huge BUT... I like playing solo. I'll fight them in PvP, trade with them as a merchant, or join up with a group to take on a challenge, but I hate, really hate, absolutely despise, being forced into situations that require me to be grouped with other players; be it a certain quest, certain items, certain perk (housing, etc.).

I don't join guilds. I don't voice-chat. I don't join player-cities. I want to be a hermit and only interact when needed. The whole appeal of an MMO though, is it's lack of scripted AI and other events - the human factor makes the game challenging and chaotic enough to keep things interesting.

UO allowed for that and it worked well for my liking. Games since then though, always feel like they force you into their play style.

I'd be interested in knowing how Albion works as a game for the anti-social lone-wolves like myself.

Slapshot1188 · December 2015

I have resisted checking this game out because it seems to be very open for P2W. That said, it is getting harder and harder to stay away...

Lerxst · December 2015

Slapshot1188 said:

I have resisted checking this game out because it seems to be very open for P2W. That said, it is getting harder and harder to stay away...

I know. My initial criticism is that they want to charge people for playing a beta.

Another question I have is what do you get for a payment? What payment options are there? And so on. I don't mind a subscription based game and if that's what they are basically going after, I'd probably pay for it. If they start with micro-transactions for every in-game details, though, I'm out.

ZigZags · December 2015

This game is not ready at all. It is definitely not worth dropping any money on at this stage. I have put in over 18 hours in the last 3 days. Here is my review:

The game is shallow, there is no lore, music, or story of any kind.
Not a sandbox. The game is a series of boxed and walled zones with 2-4 zone in points. They are all extremely similar looking and feel more like giant Clash of Clan maps.
Dungeons are too easy and even the upper tier 5+ ones can be done in 5-10 minutes with a full group.
You cannot really be a Crafter only. You need to farm or buy, gather materials from higher tier zones. Either you fight your way (with gear that you need to rank of for) or you tag a long with a guild who is willing to wait for you to gather (none of them)
Every Town looks exactly the same
Housing is instanced on an island, only guilds will have housing in the "sandbox" (see above)
The Destiny Table/Tree is a total disaster and mess. It looks like my drunk 8 year old nephew who just woke from a 7 year coma made it.
You cannot really be or make whatever class you want or you will be gimped. Healers use staffs and wear cloth just like in every other game. Tanks use shields and wear plate, just like in every other game, DPS mainly wear leather and use daggers and bows....or are mages wearing cloth....just like in every other game.

Slapshot1188 · December 2015

ZigZags said:

The Destiny Table/Tree is a total disaster and mess. It looks like my drunk 8 year old nephew who just woke from a 7 year coma made it.

Congrats on his waking up. Comas are serious stuff. Please do NOT let someone that age drink though... not sure what you are thinking.

noskills87 · December 2015

Don't bother with this game if you are seriously into PvP. For being a supposed PvP-focused game, the combat is god awful. Combat revolves around CC and there are zero skillshots. This means it's nearly impossible to defeat a group larger than yours because they have more CC abilities that can't miss. You will be CC locked and lose pretty easily.

Also, the point, click, auto attack, tab target combat system they are using was maybe cool 15 years ago. Now it's just pathetic. There is zero skill involved. You manage 6 cooldowns and then press the button again. You don't even have to look at your enemy, you just stare at the cooldown bars.

Static, boring combat in a PvP game is a definite pass for me. I'm glad I got in for free. I would be really sad if I wasted money.

Quesa · December 2015

Lerxst said:

Slapshot1188 said:

I have resisted checking this game out because it seems to be very open for P2W. That said, it is getting harder and harder to stay away...

I know. My initial criticism is that they want to charge people for playing a beta.

That's the norm, my friend.

Gaming.Rocks2 · December 2015

"Charging people for playing a beta" - Kill me now already. This never goes away.

@ste2000 if you want to try the game by yourself PM and I'll sort you an account. (only OP not anyone else)

Dawgdoc · December 2015

ZigZags said:

You cannot really be or make whatever class you want or you will be gimped. Healers use staffs and wear cloth just like in every other game. Tanks use shields and wear plate, just like in every other game, DPS mainly wear leather and use daggers and bows....or are mages wearing cloth....just like in every other game.

This is the only point I disagree with ZigZags. You can certainly mix and match to be anything you want...I think you just need a deeper understanding of the game concepts to see it perhaps.

That being said...Im an AO legendary founder who has played in multiple alphas and the most recent beta and I agree with every single other point he made.

In a nutshell its a boring and unfinished game. Hopefully it changes and turns the corner soon.

FWIW.....

tkoreaper · December 2015

Viper482 said:

My first impression is....amazing potential. FIRST impression mind you. I have not felt an old school feeling like this since I played actually old school games. If you played Ultima Online that is the closest example I can compare it to. The thing I hate about new MMOs is they are basically solo games with chat rooms and other people running around doing the same solo things you are doing.

AO makes you rely on others. No one person can make all of their weapons, all of their gear, all tools you will need, etc. Everyone specializes in few things unlike a game like GW2 where you can max every craft and be self-sufficient. You will have to buy gear from other people, sometimes you will have to buy components from others.

Some people may not like having to depend on others, if this is you go play one of the many solo MMO's out there. MMOs like this capture the true essence of what an MMO used to be, and what made them great to those that jumped on the genre and fell in love at first sight. MMOs have lost their way in my opinion, AO is trying to bring it back.

I just want to point out and clarify a few things so that no one gets the wrong idea. You CAN do everything yourself, but you better be willing to spend an absurd amount of time doing it... Even doing a few things yourself can take a very long time, ESPECIALLY if you have no one to help you. Being in a Guild is highly recommended and I don't imagine anyone having any kind of fun without being in one. So trust us when we say "If you don't like this idea then this game won't work for you".

Aside from this I'd like to add a few things. There's very little PvE content. The game is focused around PvP and Guild Territory Control. Most of this PvE content allows and encourages PvP so you better be okay with people being able to gank you while you're making your way through a dungeon.

And finally, if you don't like or can't tolerate grinding at all... This is definitely not the game for you. The way they have the refining system set up is stupid IMO. Raw/Refined Materials range from Tier 1 to Tier 8 and each tier of refined materials require raw material of that same tier and the refined material of the tier below it. So, as an example, if you want to make T5 Bars you need T5 Ore and T4 Bars. Because of this you will always be needing to purchase or farm lower tier materials in order to do crafting. This creates a huge dependency on other players unless you really want to grind out everything yourself... It gets very repetitive and frustrating once you start progressing up the tiers.

Honestly, I'm not trying to bash the game at all, but in it's current state you would have a much better time playing Runescape.

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