Title: Albion Online
Developer: Sandbox Interactive
Platform: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android | IOS Planned Soon
Price: $29.99 USD (Veteran Starter Pack)
Release Date: July 19, 2017 | IOS Coming Soon
What is Albion Online?
Albion Online is a cross-platform sandbox MMORPG set in an open medieval fantasy world. It has a fully player-driven economy; all equipment items are player-crafted. You can freely combine armor pieces and weapons in our unique classless system you are what you wear. Explore the world and tackle challenging PvE content. Engage other adventurers in small- or large-scale PvP, and conquer territories. Gather. Craft. Trade. Conquer. Leave your mark in the world.
How much is Albion Online? I hear it is Pay 2 Win, is it?
Albion Online currently starts at a base price of $29.95USD, which includes 2,000 gold coins and 30-days of Premium time. In-game gold coins can be used to purchase special outfits and items that are purely cosmetic (and in some cases can be broken/looted by other players in PvP) or extend your Premium status. Once purchased the game is forever free, with no ongoing costs unless you decide to subscribe for further Premium time like a typical subscription MMO. Gold can also be traded in-game through the market for silver, so again another similar system to that of other MMOs like World of Warcraft or EVE.
Also note, everything in this game be broken or looted from other players. This includes at this moment the Epic and Legendary starter kit exclusive armour and mounts. You've been warned.
How do I play?
Albion Online is a cross-platform MMO, including mobile devices. Players can play across Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android and IOS (coming after launch, sorry Apple!).
You say sandbox, how is it a sandbox? Is it truly player-crafted?
Albion Online is most definitely a sandbox MMO with its player-driven crafting system. In the world you will not find any items dropping off NPCs that are created by the game, only by a player. This means that if you want to become a heavy armourer wearer who wields a two-handed axe you have to create all of those items to become that character, or barter from other player's specialising in those trades. Due to this economy choice from the developers it means that at times items may be incredibly rare because of popularity, so there is always a chance to make money or craft your own personal adventure!
Wait, what is this Premium status? Is that the Pay 2 Win?
Albion Online is, at this very moment of launching in no way resembling other MMOs that may be considered Pay2Win. With Premium status on your character (Premium time is character-based, not account-based) you are essentially paying for convenience rather than any form of winning at the game. With Premium a character gains a variety of reductions or increases, but overall there is still no game skill advantage as any non-Premium player can still access ALL of Albion Online and its adventures that await.
Currently at the time of launch this is what Premium status gives players:
+ 20 Learning Points per day - shortcut for learning one level of a skill, can only be used when at least 20% of the skill XP bar has been filled
+ 10,000 Crafting Focus per day - can enhance a crafting item potentially increasing its item level and stat value
+ 50% Fame Bonus
+ Ability to buy personal island - Retroactive, once player loses Premium status they can still keep their personal island and continue to build on it
+ 50% Silver and loot from mobs
+ 50% Gathering yield
+ 100% Crop yield
+ 100% Farm animal growth rate
+ 50% Reduced market tax
Purchase for the first time and get:
+200 Learning Points
+30,000 Crafting Focus
Because all current purchasable versions of the game get a form of Premium status there is inherently no pay2win element involved, alongside the fact that silver is INCREDIBLY easy to get so purchasing it shouldn't be a problem for anyone playing.
So what do you actually do? Is this solo-friendly?
Literally anything you want is the real answer. Want to be a farmer who raises animals providing mounts and transport for adventurers? Fancy being the best sorcerer this side of The Royal Continent? Rather just live your life in the woods whispering to the trees that cutting them down isn't deforestation? You can do all of those and a ton more in Albion with how open the world is and how vast the character customisation goes.
With each character you are able to master a variety of skills at your choosing, however it is advised to know a general outline of what you want to do. While everyone can do anything they want, Albion Online rewards those who are truly good at their art, and less so the Jack-of-all-trades that many other MMOs before have rewarded. Being that it takes some time to just master one profession you are going to see more success honing your skill, and this is most definitely something that a solo player can accomplish without the aid of guilds.
Skills you say? What skills?
These skills.
Yeah, there's a lot. Don't be overwhelmed though as once you become aware of what you would like to do in Albion Online it becomes easy enough to decipher and guide yourself through the vast skill tree, unlocking exactly what it is you require to complete the task at hand. I personally found Bucky's video on the skill tree a great overview of what exactly it has to offer, and where you should look into first when it comes to deciding who you want to be in this vast world.
So you've talked about PvE a lot, what about PvP? I want to kill things!
Albion Online is almost all PvP orientated, with the world divided into three different tiered colours: Blue where players can not PvP, Yellow where players can PvP but will not drop all of their items on death and Black where it is full blown PvP with loot on death.
For the most part you can adventure in Albion Online without needing to PvP, but that does mean you will miss out on the highest tier of crafting materials and rewards alongside some of the more tougher dungeon rifts that feature PvEvP. Again though it is entirely up to you, the player, as to how you want to play and for the most part the game caters to your choice should you not want to PvP with a variety of ways to escape combat if thrust into it.
Alongside normal PvP encounters guilds can also take on their own battles with Guild versus Guild. There is also base capturing among the black tiered areas for guilds to conquer and make their mark on the world of Albion Online, if they are good enough. Doing so gains you notoriety but also unlocks higher resource income and taxing of those using your goods and services in the town or city. Yeah, you can capture cities.
Player and Guild Housing
Build your home, then furnish and decorate it to your own style! Comfy beds, tables laden with hearty food, gruesome hunting trophies Furniture not only makes your house a home; each item also provides distinct bonuses and abilities to your character.
Claim your own corner of the world, then choose from over 20 buildings to develop your patch of land into a functioning city! Whether military, industrial or residential; plan carefully to use the valuable building land effectively and expand your empire.
Pretty Pictures and Videos
Specifications
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Windows
Windows Vista, 7, 8 or 10
Intel/AMD CPU with SSE2
Graphics card with DirectX 10 support or better
4 GB RAM or more
OSX:
Mac OS X 10.7 or higher
Intel/AMD CPU with SSE2
Graphics card with OpenGL 3.3 support or better
4 GB RAM or more
Linux:
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64 bit or higher or SteamOS (other distributions do work, but are not officially supported)
Intel/AMD CPU with SSE2
Graphics card with OpenGL 3.3 support or better
SDL2: libsdl2-2.0-0
4 GB RAM or more
Android (full Android Support will be available after official release):
Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or higher
A tablet with 7"+ screen size is required. (Phones can most likely run it, but are not officially supported)
ARMv7 (Cortex) or Atom CPU
OpenGL ES 2.0 support or higher
2GB RAM or more. We expect the minimum RAM requirement to increase to 3 GB in the near future as the game keeps expanding.
iOS (full iOS Support will be available after official release):
A high-end iOS tablet will be required. Detailed minimum system requirements will be published ahead of the iOS release (ETA yet to be determined)
Links: These will be updated as time goes on so keep checking back!
GAF Guild? Our official Albion Online guild is titled Glory and Fortune, which you can find in-game by pressing 'G' and searching for the guild name. We also have a Discord channel up as well which you can quote to reveal.