https://shop.bladeandsoul.com/founders/list Founders packs for Blade and Soul are available now. Pack pricing is kinda shit for the base/mid-tier option. Master is alright if you plan to spend all of that time in the game come next year. Honestly I don't care much for betas and even a 3 day head start isn't a big deal unless you are part of a progression guild attempting world first. I'll likely play on the first day this game opens maybe even get a subscription for the first month but paying 25 for the privileged to test sounds like ass and master is too much to drop on something that doesn't exist yet. Meh. Meeeeeeh. Shitty founder packs. At least the game is amazing. Edit: Plus the fucking WoW expansion is going to be early next year. Which I am already going to be playing.
A lot of games coming out around the same timframe. It is hard to complain about a $24 all access pass to a game such as this however. Anyone played with it? @Arimil @Fawler is it any good?
Played it back in Korean Open Beta. I had a thread in other games with a ton of screenshots...let me see if I can dig it out....nope (apparently I can't find since I don't have access to the archive). Let me see if I can link you a review: http://steparu.com/reviews/mmorpg/892-blade-a-soul-online-review http://mmoculture.com/2012/08/13-aug-19-aug-weekly-korea-rankings/ In terms of how much Koreans love this game. It has stayed top 10 since its release and has been gaining popularity (it sits at number 2 now). My quick review from Korean Open Beta: Visuals: A- (Extremely well done when the game launched. A+ then.) Gameplay: A (The combat system is extremely solid, I enjoyed it more than Tera personally.) World: B- (The beginning of the game is fairly linear, and I am not sure if it opens up later. The game is never truly "open".) PvP: B+ (1 on 1 ranked PvP with MMR and normalized gear, fanfuckingtastic. Open World PvP exist with faction wars. Hit or miss, can be extremely ganky and one sided but still fun in a group.) Forewarning: The game is a themepark game straight out. This isn't Archeage, EvE, or anything close to it. tl:dr; It has more in common with Aion and Tera than Archeage. I personally really enjoyed Aion (and RF Online) and loved my brief time with B&S (hence waiting for a billion years for the game to come out here). The only reason why I haven't bought the master for myself is already having a ton of pre-purchase on my plate already (Crowfall, Camelot Unchained, Armored Warfare) and expansion for games I play coming up (WoW: Legion, GW2: HoT in Q4 2015/Q1 2016). I rather play the game on launch date and spend $15 (or whatever it is) on the subscription to pay-as-you-go then paying lump sum on shit I might not need. To be fair, if the $25 founder coin things can be converted into subscription then I am totally down for that. If Xen ends up having a division, I would certainly come along for the ride with everyone since I am planning to play it with my girlfriend anyways assuming it doesn't conflict with another major launch date. Edit: Just read over the FAQ more in-depth. Basically more passive bonuses aside from the bonuses from subscription. Spend money, get bonuses.
If anyone is curious what each pack is worth, I have provided some basic information below based on typical F2P/B2P cash shop models: $15 USD for 30-days of subscription (examples: Tera, STO, Rift) $5-10 USD ($7.50 average) for character slots (example: Guild Wars 2, Tera, Archeage) $3-5 USD($4 average) for character appearance redo. Titles are worthless (many more in-game and no stats). Closed beta testing is great if you have never played the game before but you can install JPN/CN Blade and Soul for free to test. Head start is valuable for certain guilds (progression on a world first level) but importance diminishes after two weeks of play. Premium points are very hit or miss since no information has been released in great detail. ((All packs take one month of subscription to "activate" so I have added this to the first pack and taken off 30 from the other two)) Initiate Pack - $40 real cost ($25 shown) Value: $25 is all going into premium points which requires at least one month subscription to activate (+$15 USD). Comes out at tier 2 premium @ $40 USD Discipline Pack - $75 Value: -$15 for character slots, -$4 for character make-over kit, -$30 for coins. Comes out at tier 3 premium @ $26 USD Master Pack - $125 Value: -$30 for 60 days, -$37.50 for character slots, -$8 for character make-over kit, -$90 for coins. Comes out at tier 4 premium @ $-40.50 USD There is a few caveats here. You would have to spend all of the coins you received in the founder packs in either this game or other NCSoft titles (like Wildstar), you would have to use all of the characters slots on your account, and revamp your character (once or twice). It is also important to note that the ratio of which the coins are loaded into the founder packs. At discipline pack (30/75=40%) and master pack (90/125=72%). To summarize: All things considered the Initiate and Discipline pack is basically the same thing (other than T2 vs T3). $25 to beta test and 3 day head start. Master is the best deal but that is mostly because it is loaded with a ton of Ncoin which your value may vary (greatly).
I played the game on a crappy private server back in the day, it was really buggy but I attribute all of the horribleness that was enemies teleporting into walls and broken quests to be the fault of the private server. As for the founder pack I can't buy it right now so I'll be waiting for release.
This one is not on my radar. I'll ask some friends about it outside the community. Still very weary of KOREAN games at this point. I refuse to have what I seen in Archage happen again. If there is any thing pay to win on that crap. I will call my bank and demand a refund. AA broke me of any thing going forward at this point from them. Sorry, I'll just sit back and wait on this one.
Whats up Kyoji, I've been playing on the Japan's Blade and Soul client and getting around 120 ping so it's very playable (live in SoCal.) Installing it and setting up with an English patch takes a good minute but it's not so bad to try out the game since its free to play. I'm having fun with it even with nobody to play with. It's like TERA minus the slo-motion. Game has a huge skill ceiling and seems to have a competitive pvp scene. It's hard to say what westernization is going to do for the typical asian mmo feel. If they nail that aspect this could be the next MMO worth playing. Here's the youtube guide that I followed to get set up in Japan. Cheers XoObies, hope you're all doing well, especially you Kyoji.
I plan on playing it a bit. My in game name will be Ezenkrul if you want to team up or start something.
I enjoyed playing this a last night, not sure if its just cause im finally playing a "new" MMO. ill stream a little tonight, want to lvl up a bit more to catch up with the rest of the guys so I can join them ganking foos
Im actually quite surprised this game isnt creating more hype in XoO. The NA group intend to make this game an PvP Esport in the states just like it is in Asia
Too many people 'invested' in Camelot Unchained and Crowfall. Plus the game is going to be free to play anyways. I can see the hesitation that many people have about adopting a new MMO for 2016.
Frankly almost all MMOs are adopting the free to play model. With benefits for those who choose to pay monthly if they like it. It seems to be the new norm now. As long as its not pay to win or pay to get the lasted crafts, items, etc... I dont see a problem with it.
I agree, but I think it is far too hard to get hyped about a thing most of us haven't had a chance to test or play yet. I'll be playing Blade & Soul at launch but I don't know how much of the Asian playing MMO crowd we even have left (in Xen) after Tera's meltdown and the old Aion crew has been long gone. Launch is coming up in roughly two months, I think it will be a good idea to do a quick poll around Jan and see if we have enough core members playing to start up an unofficial division. So how many people do we have interested in launch at the moment? Myself Owainn Ezenkrul Tzepic Kava Arimil
I got the founders pack played around in the last beta really love they detail and artwork always wanted to play just had to wait years......wtf!