The Pharmer’s Almanac

After hearing many glowing reviews and reading about some engaging content, I decided to explore Atlantica Online. I read that this game can be played through without spending a dime of real world money.

This was all the motivation I needed to hack my own computer in safe mode to try and get rid of most of the Mabinogi game client. I don’t think I ever want to play that game again. But I have read removing F2P game clients are even harder than enjoying playing them. I am starting to realize that I am going to need to do a factory restore after I am done all of this F2P exploration. Good times.

Unfortunately while the game seems to be true to its promise, you get what you pay for. When I finally managed to get online, after a bug filled setup process, I got in line. Characters almost literally stand in line to visit game avatar after game avatar. Then they stand in line to wait their turn to kill critters to complete quests. It felt like I was in a passport office or at the DMV going from kiosk to kiosk to fill out different forms, jumping through different hoops and moving into the next area.

When I finally completed this gruelling process and got a reward for completing it, it didn’t work. Again I felt like someone who smiles knowing he is about to get his passport or drivers license, just to find out they spelled my name “Foneil.”

Goodbye Atlantica online. This may very well be the first true F2P game but why would anyone bother to stand in line to find out?

After trying to give Mabinogi an honest go, I think I am going to put it down for a while.

The fact that I had to download a client that is sitting on my computer means I want to be sure I really hate it before I remove it from my computer completely.

So far the grind of fighting critters without an overall goal or motivation to do so makes the game tedious. I like that the marketplace in the game is introduced so early but seeing how much stuff I can’t buy is de-motivating. Finally reading everywhere that this game cannot seriously be enjoyed without spending at least $30 a month just makes it seem like a waste of time.

Since critter killing style grinding isn’t doing it for me I had to really look around for a F2P game that is a little different.

I have finally settled on Urban Rivals which is an online Trading Card Game (TCG). Apparently the game is still quite playable without having to buy premium content. 

Today I spent a good 2 hours playing Urban Rivals and I thought I had genuinely found a great way to kill 15 minutes here and there while building a great card collection. The registration process was quick and when I skipped past both the tutorial and rules the game flashed a great little comic before the game started to give me the basics. 

The gameplay was dead easy and took no time at all to master. The depth in the cards and being able to level them up made the experience addictive. I was worried about the player matching element in quick matches but it seemed to favor me. I beat practically everyone I played. There were times when you could tell someone bought a custom deck, and you could tell you didn’t have a chance. This didn’t feel too bad though because as long as you focused on levelling one card, you still got something out of it.

The art is great and I kept looking for the new image whenever a card levelled up. I tried playing the game with the sound on and off and found the feedback the sound provided let me know when things were happening that needed my attention.

I wished there was a way to communicate with other gamers while we were playing instead of sending a message after the battle was over. The game would gain a lot from a sense of community. Still that was easy to overlook since the game seemed to be entertaining enough on its own.

I love the marketplace and felt great when I earned enough virtual currency to buy my first card. This also meant I could finally sell one of my own. I was going to use the cash to buy another card to customize my deck, but then I got a surprise. I found out that the game locks you out of the marketplace until you buy credits. That means the card I could sell for 850 virtual dollars could only be sold back to the site for 30 dollars. I would be robbed of 820 virtual dollars unless I bought something with real money first.

After that disappointment, I tried to continue to play the game because there is so much to like. I couldn’t get past that barrier. This is the only flaw I found in the game, and it severely limits my experience.

There are still plenty of ways to monetize this game without locking F2P players out of the marketplace. I think that one move is going to cost them a lot of lost players. Too bad. I was really close to finding a rewarding Free to play experience. But like Mabinogi I am going to have to put this one in the “Need to Pay” category.

Ok on to Atlantica. I hear this one could be the first true F2P game that is rewarding without spending a dime. I hope that is true, the content seems really compelling. Stay tuned for Part 3.