The Wuxia MMO Blade and Soul revealed its payment model last week and said all the right things.
Asia-free-to-play MMORPGs have a particularly bad reputation, using all tricks to squeeze money out of players. However, Blade and Soul is a big title in Asia. The publisher NCSoft is one from the front row. So, can it shake off the bad reputation that many games have earned for free-to-play models from Asia?
General suspicion of free-to-play titles, especially from Asia
Perhaps you know the scene from the movie “The Other Guys”, where the villain bribes the two quirky heroes with concert tickets and tickets for musicals and sports events. While he is doing this, he denies that he is bribing them by simply repeating: “No, this isn’t bribery. This isn’t bribery.”
It’s somewhat similar with the dreaded term “pay-to-win” in free-to-play games and their payment model. The nastiest psychological tricks can be applied. Players who invest a lot, so-called whales, can dominate like gods and roam through virtual worlds untouched – from the mouth of the PR department comes: “No, it is definitely not pay-to-win. Everything is optional. Everything is great.” In principle, every free-to-play title is announced like this: both fair and not so fair ones. No one says: Yes, sure, you can buy significant advantages. After all, we want to live off something.
Now, not every free-to-play game is equally guilty, but the games are at least under a general suspicion these days, especially if they come from Asia.
The tricky part is that regardless of what nice things are said in advance, one only has to decide in practice and then finally in the end game, after having invested much time: “Is this fair and kosher now? Do I want to engage with it, or does something smell fishy?”
The essential points of the payment model for Blade and Soul
Last week, NCSoft sent out a press release for Blade and Soul. There, they outlined the main points of the payment model for the Wuxia MMORPG:
- Every player will have access to all content, nothing is hidden behind a paywall, like in Lord of the Rings Online (or soon in TESO), where you have to pay to access new content
- As a premium or cash shop currency, NcCoin will be used, which coins were already used in Aion. With them, players can buy so-called “convenience” items, such as experience potions or food, and also character and inventory slots. Additionally, there will be so-called “vanity” items, which are cosmetic stuff
- In addition to NcCoins, there will also be a second currency that players can earn in the game and with which they can buy the items that are offered for NcCoins, that is, for real money
- The more players buy things in the cash shop with NcCoins or the earnable currency, the higher their “premium rank” will rise. This premium rank is associated with increasing bonuses. NCSoft promises that these will not affect combat.
- They want to regularly bring new game content
- From summer, the game will be available for pre-order, probably with the “founder packs”
NCSoft really says all the right things about the payment model of Blade & Soul
My MMO says: It sounds like a very fair payment model, especially at first glance, there seems to be no quasi-subscription being offered, as most other games do. At least none is mentioned. And the idea that: “Everything that can be purchased can also be earned” is always very positive.
How it will actually turn out can unfortunately only be said in practice. When one notices: “The game bombards me with items so much that I am almost forced to buy more inventory,” for example. Or if the “replacement currency” can only be earned very slowly. Experience has shown that even beta phases do not provide insight into the details here, and even at release, this cannot be said. Only over the months do free-to-play titles reveal their “true” face.
But this should not be a death knell: NCSoft actually has a very good reputation in this regard. Perhaps Blade & Soul will succeed in dispelling the reservations of fans regarding specifically Asian free-to-play games.
More about the title itself and the planned West port can be found here: All details about the West release – Censored or not? English translation?
