Mario Bautista
As we near the launch of Throne and Liberty, the new MMORPG from Amazon Games and Guild Wars 2 publisher NCSoft, the team digs into its business model. Whether you’ve had your fill of FF14 Dawntrail or you’re looking for your next MMO hit after WoW The War Within, Throne and Liberty’s arrival on Tuesday October 1 might be just what you’re after. If you’re planning to jump into this free Steam game and don’t want to spend money, the developer reassures that you’ll still be able to earn its premium rewards.
In a new blog, the team at NCSoft outlines its plans for the Throne and Liberty auction house and the game’s overall business model. It begins by noting that “combat and power upgrades must be accessible to all players,” avoiding the potential P2W pitfalls of some MMORPGs, and establishes two further tenets. The first is that “player self-expression is paramount,” and the other is that “purchasing items from our in-game shop must feel rewarding, but never necessary.”
As such, it describes the in-game auction house as “fundamentally important” to the game’s economy. This hub of player trading will allow you to earn the game’s premium currency, Lucent, without spending real money. Lucent is not required to post listings, and thus the auction house allows you to obtain the premium currency as a completely free-to-play player by selling your unwanted or duplicate gear and items to others.
There will be other ways to pick up Lucent without spending money, too, such as through PvP rewards. “One of the main goals is to provide a consistent system for free-to-play players to earn currency in-game and use the Lucent earned to acquire content normally locked exclusively behind paywalls,” NCSoft explains. “With this earned currency, you’ll have the freedom to unlock cosmetics, leveling passes, battle passes, and more – a ton of items that would typically be locked behind a paywall in other games.”
It’s important to stress that you can’t put everything on the auction house. The natural concern that arises with such news is whether this system means players can simply spend real money to buy their way to the best Throne and Liberty weapons and gear. “Only base level gear can be listed on the auction house,” NCSoft says. “Any gear that has been advanced or upgraded in any way – if traits are unlocked are upgraded – is not eligible to be listed for sale. Gear obtained from instanced content such as co-op dungeons and guild raids is also not eligible to be listed on the auction house.”
The developer also answers a few key questions about how Lucent and in-game cosmetic items will apply across your characters. Lucent is shared across all characters, regardless of server; even when earned by selling items from one character, you’ll be able to spend it on another. In addition to this, cosmetic items bought with real-world money or Lucent, earned from early access packs, or obtained from Throne and Liberty Twitch drops will be shared across all characters.
Conversely, cosmetic items earned through gameplay and events are specific to the character they are earned on. Throne and Liberty’s battle passes and leveling passes are also character specific – NCSoft explains that “the rewards in each can be useful and we want to allow you to purchase up to one per character.” However, cosmetic items earned from these passes are account-wide, and if you earn duplicates across passes bought on multiple characters you’ll be able to sell them to one of the in-game vendors.
In closing, NCSoft responds to a common community question asking if the costumes shown in the game’s early access packs, which enable access to the game from Thursday September 26, are fixed in their colors. “Absolutely not,” it confirms, “By using the Mirror Boutique you can dye your costume and customize your appearance in a multitude of ways. Helmet and accessories are optional. Please note that to change colors and patterns, dyes and sewing threads are required.”
If you simply can’t wait until the launch of Throne and Liberty, take a look through the best new MMOs for some other potential options. Alternatively, there are even more free Steam games you can jump into while you wait.
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