The new subscription model at Pax Dei has caused a lot of criticism, as the last players feel robbed. They lose what they have already purchased.
Pax Dei was a promising MMO, particularly impressive with its large sandbox world and pretty graphics. Until now, one could mainly participate in the game by purchasing founder packs and securing bonuses. However, these bonuses, which cost around €100, are now also tied to a subscription. This has led to a lot of frustration and devastating reviews.
What’s going on with Pax Dei? Anyone looking at the reviews of Pax Dei on Steam will likely be quickly deterred from the game. The overall rating is “Mixed” and the rating for the last 30 days has dropped to “Mostly Negative”. The main point of criticism is the announcement of the subscription model. Many have no problem with that alone. But from the perspective of the buyers of the previous “Founder’s Packs”, they are now being forced into a subscription if they want to keep access to their own houses.
What kind of subscription is this? The subscription for Pax Dei comes in 3 different variants – for €7, €11, and €19. All subscriptions grant the benefits of premium access but also come with other bonuses – namely plot tokens. Either 1, 2, or 4 of them. These are needed to keep one’s plots “active”. Those wanting to build and use a plot must therefore equip it every month with a plot token.
This is not going down well in the remaining community. Many have purchased “Founder’s Packs”, that is, founder packages, sometimes for up to €100 and a plot “forever”, which apparently was part of the deal for many. The fact that this is now retroactively tied to a subscription model has caused a lot of displeasure.
The community is boiling, calling developers “thieves”
The ratings of the game have drastically plummeted since this announcement. Only 30% of recent reviews are positive. Most are now negative and criticize the “greed of the developers” and the “broken promise”. Here are a few excerpts from reviews on Steam:
- “After purchasing the premium founder pack, my house plots are limited by a subscription? (…) The game isn’t even complete. No duels, trading barely works, currencies and combat mechanics are unfinished, and there are still no mounts. No, I’m done. I feel robbed of €100 and they’re just killing the city-building.” – Atlas_UK
- “The developers are simply thieves. The game is dead and was already dead before the subscription model was announced, and now it’s even more dead.” – ドリル
- “Stay away. Look at the player count and you see the real picture. They sold us a promise and then got greedy while watching their game slowly die.
Don’t waste your money on this, when there are so many other games to try.” – Magical Mycologist
How is Pax Dei otherwise doing? One has to say: Not very well. A look at player numbers reveals that the game has been struggling since entering the testing phase. A year ago there were still 6,500 players simultaneously in Pax Dei, now in the last 30 days, there are only about 520 concurrent gamers.
This is likely far too few to still be considered “healthy” – even if the game isn’t officially released yet. Some see precisely the dwindling numbers as the reason for the subscription. A review from the player ドリル on Steam states:
“They want to force these remaining players into a subscription model so that they can keep what they have long paid for. Steam needs to take this off the market and enforce refunds, at least for the DLC, as it is no longer what was originally sold.”
The future of Pax Dei may be uncertain, but at least currently, the signs are rather poor. Whether the subscription model is a last-ditch effort to get back on track, or indeed the final “scamming method”, as many reviews claim, will likely only become clear in the coming months.
Meanwhile, the developers had recently taken a little inspiration from the combat system in WoW.
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