Free to Play...but how much will it REALLY cost?

finasoa
finasoa Posts: 68 Arc User
edited August 2008 in General Discussion
Mabinogi said it was Free to Play...until you start playing you realize it's going to cost a heck of a lot of money each month to become a decent player. You can reach level 50 without too much effort...which is about 60 AP after aging every saturday, but then you need to rebirth if you want more...

So my question is...how much will this game REALLY cost me? I am considering leaving Mabi because I just can't afford it. My money needs to go to better things.

I read something about purchasing something called hiemcolos or something from the item shop which are apparently very important...but I also heard you can buy them from other players for a lot of money...

So basically, what are the things you almost NEED to get from the item shop? And of those thigns, which can be bought from other players? How important would these items be to a Human Mage?

So to be a decent player, how much would this game cost...or is it reeally free?

I just want to know because I don't wanna take time from Mabi just to stumble across another 'free' game that really isn't free.

Thanks for everyone's input, I appreciate it.
Post edited by finasoa on
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Comments

  • troll
    troll Posts: 14 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    if you plan on zhen aoeing at higher levels and you're an archer, mage or healer - then expect to pay heaps.

    the furry tanker class (w/e it's called here) goes through loads of hp hiero too (w/e that's called here).

    about $20+ a month (estimate, 'cause most people would spend more once they get addicted to crafting and fashion and xp, not to mention pk with dolls) would cover your basic costs.

    you can buy stuff from players alternatively, but you better be good at earning in game money then.
  • wildd
    wildd Posts: 39 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    hierograms, exp scrolls, inventory/storage expansion stones, 50+ flying mount/wings are the basic's imo, but all can be brought with in game gold if you have enough of it.

    And the hierograms act as an automatic heal for example you get bronze silver and gold each has a set amount of hp i think silver hp one has 600000hp it will then heal you back to your full hp once every 10 seconds when ever your hp falls below 50%.

    They are extremely useful in mass pvp and you will find it hard without them, low lvl not so important

    No one knows how much any of these items will cost yet only comparison people have is the MY server shop but that isn't this one :)

    End of the day you can spend alot and make your life easy or not spend anything at all and find it that little bit harder.
  • soukyuu
    soukyuu Posts: 809 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    basically what the troll said
    if you want to level fast you will have to pay for hierogramms etc
    if you are a casual player, you can paly without spending money, but it will be slower.
    PW has been endless frustration for me #2
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • emma
    emma Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    everything from cash shop can be bought from other players.
    except venomancer legendary pets & battle pets. which probably won't be implemented for a while..

    I got to 91 on my-en server without ever spending real money on the game and it wasn't that hard. I just had to take the time to make ingame money to buy the cash shop items I needed..

    really just depends how much you want to pk or aoe level..that gets..really expensive without spending real money and if you spend real money you'll probably end up spending ALOT ><
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • finasoa
    finasoa Posts: 68 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    Well at least they can be bought in game...

    I have had an uncanny ability to make money in game in the past two MMORPGs I played so hopefully it will be the same for this one.

    This way I can avoid paying massive amounts of money just to play...I can just gold in game...
  • wimpknuckles
    wimpknuckles Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    For europeans this really sucks, y'know
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity.
    When many people suffer from a delusion, it is called religion.
  • karmelia
    karmelia Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    wimpknuckles wrote: »
    For europeans this really sucks, y'know

    What does?
    Frankieraye said : "we can promise that we will work to improve all facets of community, engineering, and customer service to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again."


    (We are still waiting to see any improvements or changes beign implemented. More empty promises from PWI?)
  • enigma32
    enigma32 Posts: 128 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    Lvl 63 EA...never payed a cent. Still have 11 quests to keep me lvling, and bought a bunch of cash shop items using in game gold.

    Time is money, if you wanna lvl quick, get ready to spend. If you're got a lot of time to blow and don't want to spend money, you'll be fine. Just don't get greedy and keep comparing yourself to people who use a lot of cash.

    You can get to lvl 100 in this game w/o spending a cent, and not at a rediculously slow speed like FLY FF lol.
  • sealed
    sealed Posts: 781
    edited August 2008
    You dont have to spend a single dollar.
    Heiros might be from item mall, but you can still buy them from other players in game.
    So if you have the in game money, you can lvl as fast as some one who spends 100$ each month for this game.

    sealed~
  • aeonan
    aeonan Posts: 23 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    Depends on how good you are in making money, since you can trade item mall stuff, and even trade gold for item mall money.

    At least that's how it was on the MY-EN version, and I think it should stay this way.
  • ren
    ren Posts: 662 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    Mabinogi is complete garbage, I didn't even have to login to know that the game needed uninstalled pronto.
    I laugh at anyone who played it.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    Official PWI irc: (mirc command, opens in a new window and won't interfere with any servers you're already on) /server -m irc.deltaanime.net -j #pwint
  • matthew
    matthew Posts: 135 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    If you want to powergame and enjoy the game, I would say it's at least ~$50 a month at PW-MY prices. This will depend on what items PWI will have in cash shop and what their prices are. A gold mana hierogram is $1.66 there and it only lasts me, as a mage, ~9 hours solo, or ~4.5 hours if I zhen party. This isn't including hp hierograms or dolls or anything else, this is just mana hierogram.
  • hypnos
    hypnos Posts: 97 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    emma wrote: »
    everything from cash shop can be bought from other players.
    except venomancer legendary pets & battle pets. which probably won't be implemented for a while..

    I got to 91 on my-en server without ever spending real money on the game and it wasn't that hard. I just had to take the time to make ingame money to buy the cash shop items I needed..

    really just depends how much you want to pk or aoe level..that gets..really expensive without spending real money and if you spend real money you'll probably end up spending ALOT ><

    Legendary pet eggs are dropped from the fb99 last bosses. There are no cash-shop pets.
  • kelansan
    kelansan Posts: 96 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    From what I heard, it'll cost between 20 and 50 a month, 50 to 100 is you're real important and hardcore.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • anima
    anima Posts: 5 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    hypnos wrote: »
    Legendary pet eggs are dropped from the fb99 last bosses. There are no cash-shop pets.

    These pet are contain in lucky boxes in PW Vietnam (I am sure about this) and China (my guild mate told me). The FB99 last boss does drop it, but it is rare and that guy is not easy to deal with, check the PW guide in French for the drop rate (sry I lost the link ><). Usually people get those pet by lucky boxes only.
    To me, things you have to buy (or exchange by the auction hall):
    1) Pet Cages (for WF after some free* cages), Stone to expand the inventory, bank storage (after some free* options ^^).
    2) The map to open all teleporter in PW (it is necessary for me, if you don't want to fly and explore one by one, it does save time to do the vila quest...)
    3) Replacement dolls (it is necessary for HH, FBs and PK ^^) 5% does hurt to grind at high lvl, ( you are lucky to have an EP with you, but still bring some just in case ^^).
    4)Flying pets or sword (Human even have flaming wheels ><) or wings, it takes days when you use the free one to fly, you guildmate, pt members will blame you for this. My advise is grind to 50 and buy the one has 3.0m/s speed
    5) Trumpets, for advertising to buy/sell, recruit members...
    Other things are optional (you will level faster, doing quest faster, have better gears...):
    1)Hp and Mp charm ( or Fu, hierogram w/e you called). This is needed when you go HH. Can add material for wood of HH too ( we don't have time to collect it, do we?)
    2)Miji (X2 exp scroll in 1 hour). Use it if you want to lvl faster.
    3)Teleport charm for doing vila quest, ingame quests and stuffs.
    These things are not necessary ( they for hardcore players, or pk lovers, or :
    1)Upgrade stones, metarial to craft stuff ( you can gathers all of material in game, some are drops from mobs, or you can buy from other players...) These are for more dmg or more defense or Hp.
    2)Riding pets, these are just for running faster, or for lurers who aren't WB, WR or WF. Cannot use in HH or FB or TW (need GMs to confirm this ^^ if something changed). You can deal with other players to buy at a reasonalbe price.
    3)Fashion clothes, facial scrolls, fireworks, more emoticons... If you are rich, no GMs ban you to buy these stuff.
    4)Soulbound charm to make items never drop due to redish ( to me, a female char is more attractive with red IGN ^^).

    Remember, everything above can be bargain and buy at a Wal Mart price ^^ ( I myself looking for a cool Guild Master ^^).
    Why...so...serious?

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • matthew
    matthew Posts: 135 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    anima wrote: »
    2)Riding pets, these are just for running faster, or for lurers who aren't WB, WR or WF. Cannot use in HH or FB or TW (need GMs to confirm this ^^ if something changed). You can deal with other players to buy at a reasonalbe price.

    The TWs I was in you could use land mounts, but you couldn't fly. Don't know if it's still the same.
  • dukex
    dukex Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    Ive heard from doing a little research tht they may or already are working on flying mounts being able to be used in TW but tht was for another version so im not sure when if any time will we receive this.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • akatsuki
    akatsuki Posts: 10 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    The first thing im doing in the game is checking out the cash shop, ill see what items are there to find out if its really free to play. If its obvious then im gona be forced to buy from the cash shop sooner or later, im sticking to psn when it comes to online :D
  • karmelia
    karmelia Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    anima wrote: »
    2) The map to open all teleporter in PW (it is necessary for me, if you don't want to fly and explore one by one, it does save time to do the vila quest...)
    ]

    Useless. By the time you get your first WQ (level 70) you'll have opened almost all the TP points needed for it already.
    2)Riding pets, these are just for running faster, or for lurers who aren't WB, WR or WF. Cannot use in HH or FB or TW (need GMs to confirm this ^^ if something changed). You can deal with other players to buy at a reasonalbe price.

    Pet rides are usable in TW.
    Frankieraye said : "we can promise that we will work to improve all facets of community, engineering, and customer service to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again."


    (We are still waiting to see any improvements or changes beign implemented. More empty promises from PWI?)
  • karmelia
    karmelia Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    akatsuki wrote: »
    The first thing im doing in the game is checking out the cash shop, ill see what items are there to find out if its really free to play. If its obvious then im gona be forced to buy from the cash shop sooner or later, im sticking to psn when it comes to online :D

    You can play without spending one cent on cash shop items.

    Simply don't expect to level faster than players who do. If levelling fast is not your major concern, then you won't have any problems.

    But remember that players who are heavy cash shop users will always have the advantage over those who don't. It's the same thing in all games with cash shops.
    Frankieraye said : "we can promise that we will work to improve all facets of community, engineering, and customer service to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again."


    (We are still waiting to see any improvements or changes beign implemented. More empty promises from PWI?)
  • ark
    ark Posts: 1,635 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    Quite true. I almost never used the cash shop - I mostly bought things. The cash shop stuff I bought were the Black Hole flying sword, some dolls, perhaps and exp scroll or two, and a couple heiros for TW... but nothing major. Mostly used in-game gold for that stuff. I enjoyed my experience quite well... though, without spending, it's not easy to get 1337 gears. Farming HH is hard unless you've made lots of good Barbarian and Cleric friends ;)
    As a Guild,

    Live as One, fight as One, win as One.
    Strength in Unity,
    Order through Chaos,
    Victory united.
  • wimpknuckles
    wimpknuckles Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    karmelia wrote: »
    What does?
    Me no has dollars ;(
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity.
    When many people suffer from a delusion, it is called religion.
  • itch
    itch Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    Cash Shop for a mount and hieros. That's about it.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • karmelia
    karmelia Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    wimpknuckles wrote: »
    Me no has dollars ;(

    Get a job?
    Frankieraye said : "we can promise that we will work to improve all facets of community, engineering, and customer service to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again."


    (We are still waiting to see any improvements or changes beign implemented. More empty promises from PWI?)
  • ark
    ark Posts: 1,635 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    Job Name: Hobo
    Description: Scrounge off of people in your city for their spare change.
    Recommended Skills: Charismatic; persuasive; lazy; not concerned about hygiene.
    Work Time: 6AM-11PM
    Pay: $5.00/h-$5,000/h depending the use of knives and guns.

    You can get to work immediately.
    As a Guild,

    Live as One, fight as One, win as One.
    Strength in Unity,
    Order through Chaos,
    Victory united.
  • showharu
    showharu Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    You can make alot of firends that just give you that **** for free:p
  • wimpknuckles
    wimpknuckles Posts: 2 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    karmelia wrote: »
    Get a job?
    You do know Europeans don't use Dollars as money, I hope.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity.
    When many people suffer from a delusion, it is called religion.
  • taelrak
    taelrak Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    You can't play effectively without cash-shop items at higher levels depending on your class and what you plan to do. If you're a cleric, you will need hieros for runs even if you don't zhen. If you're in TW, you're not contributing your best unless you have hieros. Also a lot of what makes the game so fun (fashion, better-looking and faster rides, marriage, etc.) are cash-shop items. Obviously, as mentioned above, if you zhen, you'll need hieros as well.

    That being said, you CAN get those items without paying real $ if you're good at working the ingame economy. Making gold in the game isn't horribly difficult if you're patient and have a bit of luck. Using real cash is just faster for most people since being a good trader consumes enormous amounts of time. You can depend on a good # of people who sell lots of cash-shop items just to make gold ingame.

    If you want the absolute best though, you'll probably have to invest some cash in at some point unless you have tons and tons of time to play (in which case, it's probably more efficient to use a portion of that time to make real $ and buy cubis anyway, especially depending on inflation?). Ultimately, someone who's willing to sink tons of real $ will probably have an edge over someone who's not. Sadly, there have been people in PW-MY who have spent over $3k+ in real cash (especially people who milked the whole golden egg thing).
  • embl3m
    embl3m Posts: 494 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    taelrak wrote: »
    You can't play effectively without cash-shop items at higher levels depending on your class and what you plan to do. If you're a cleric, you will need hieros for runs even if you don't zhen.

    EPs and MG can pot there zhen with lvl 70 pots, so you dont really NEED a heiro to zhen unless you're a EA
  • taelrak
    taelrak Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited August 2008
    embl3m wrote: »
    EPs and MG can pot there zhen with lvl 70 pots, so you dont really NEED a heiro to zhen unless you're a EA

    It's been a while, but I seem to recall that you can't use those pots while in an active array....or maybe that only applies to crafted pots?

    Also, at least until the price of cubi inflates up, the # of lvl 70 pots needed for a few rounds of zhen costs more gold than hieros do (assuming you could keep up with the pots at all).
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