water_wendi
Water is not wet!
i ran across this free-to-play mmo a week or so ago from one of the threads here on GAF. The game is surprisingly polished and well made for a F2P game. Most F2P games ive played you can tell that the game would never make it to a retail shelf. RoM however, could easily survive if it were a subscription based model. Click the image above or go to www.runesofmagic.com to download the client and try it out
Races and Classes There are two different races in this game (Humans and Elves) and each race has six classes to choose from. Each race gets Warrior, Scout, Rogue, and Mage. The Humans get access to the Priest and Knight classes while the Elves have the Druid and Warden classes.
The Dual-Class System - Once you hit level 10 with your first Primary Class you gain the ability to assume a Seconday Class. You have to level your Secondary just like your Primary, however, General Skills of your Primary class can be used while playing your Secondary and vice versa. For example, with a Priest primary you will have access to several healing skills. If you choose a Rogue as your Secondary Class you will have access to those healing spells while playing as a Rogue. There are 40 different combinations so there is a ton of variety.
The Dual-Class System part 2 - Elite Skills - Every one of those 40 different combinations have their own unique Elite Skills. You get access to them when both of your classes reach level 15 and typically gain a new Elite every 5 levels afterwards. The Elites are different depending on your Primary so in practice you have two sets of unique Elite Skills. For example, if you are Priest/Rogue the level 15 Elite is Snake Curse which is a DoT which uses Energy to cast instead of Mana.. whereas the Rogue/Priest level 15 Elite is Quickness Aura which buffs you and your parties Dodge Rating using Mana instead of Energy.
PVE or PVP Server? - RoMs pvp system is very much like Ultima Online. Anyone can attack anybody. Not only that but you can drop certain items in your backpack if you are killed. If this kind of PK pvp system is not your cup of tea you can roll on a PVE server. You can still flag yourself for PK, duel, do arenas or battlefields on a PVE server.. you will just not have to worry about being ganked. If the thrill of surviving against overwhelming odds is more to your liking, PVP is the way to go.. just know that once you hit 15 your character is permanently flagged for PK and you can be attack anywhere. In towns, talking to quest NPCs, going through your bank.. there are very few safe places. This is old school PVP, folks. Also, because of this PVE servers are much more lively.
Instances - Yes there are instances in this game. Dungeons are either instanced or open-world. Instanced dungeons are there for you alone but open-world dungeons are similar to World Raids in WoW. You can get to the end and find out someone else has already killed the Raid Boss. There are also instances that are generated each time just for you. These kind are usually entered by paying an entrance fee of special coins or items. An example would be a Treasure Hunt game where you pay 30 tokens you get from Daily Quests and try to loot as much as you can before the time limit is up.
Currency! or Whats the Catch? - The game if F2P so the developers have to finance the game somehow. Most F2P games use a Cash Shop where to get any kind of good items you need to pay real money. Runes of Magic gets around this in two ways: First, the game provides good gear for you without having to pay anything. Second, the currency used to buy Cash Shop items (Diamonds) can be traded from one player to another. Because of this it is possible to have access to everything without spending one real cent on the game.
To help illustrate the basics of the game ive been recording a set of videos for Youtube and will update the OP as i add them.
Runes of Magic Introduction A - Character creation and some very basic basics explained.
Runes of Magic Introduction B - Continued intro about basic stuff.
edit: well, i kind of figured i was sending this topic to die being in the Online side but damn if it wasnt stillborn. Anyway.. some other videos ive done detailing the item system in this game. i love this fucking part of the game. The arcane transmutor and the dual class system should make this a must-try for mmo/rpg people imo.
Refining items A
Refining items B
Item durability
Arcane Transmuter demo A - showing me creating a great level 1 item
Arcane Transmuter demo B
Arcane Transmuter demo C