Throne and Liberty, the MMORPG from NCSoft and Amazon Games, has been the subject of debate since its launch in South Korea in December 2023 and with its imminent arrival in the West in September 2024, the community has revived the debate of whether it is Pay2Win or “Pay to win”. Question that Kanon, a well-known YouTuber and streamer with thousands of hours of playing this title, offers his perspective in his latest video, where he analyzes the game from the perspective of a clan leader with more than 600 members.
In the video, Kanon begins by describing vertical character progression in Throne and Liberty as a system based on dungeons, equipment crafting, and clan content. Lucky players can also earn equipment upgrades by defeating monsters in the open world. As an example, the best armor is currently found in dungeons, while Clan Challenge Archbosses award the best weapons once a week (these weapons can also be sold to other players in the auction house). But he also adds that much of the content is unlocked as the character reaches specific milestones and that to access all of its elements and secrets, players will have to embark on a regular adventure that could last between one and two months.
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But is Throne and Liberty Pay2Win?
And speaking about what worries thousands of gamers, Kanon directly addresses the question of monetization, concluding that Throne and Liberty does fall into the “Pay2Win” category. The game features two currencies: Lucent (equivalent to Lost Ark gold) and Solarium (equivalent to silver). Lucent is used to purchase equipment and upgrade materials from the auction house, while Solarium is used for almost everything else. Both coins can be purchased with real money. While he admits that most modern MMORPGs have Pay2Win elements, Kanon highlights “Traits” as the biggest problem in Throne and Liberty.
These additional effects on equipment are extremely difficult to obtain through normal play, but can be purchased from the auction house, providing a huge advantage to players investing real money.
To finish and provide a nuance, Kanon says that NCSoft has made changes to reduce Pay2Win elements and emphasizes that many other MMORPGs have more unfair monetization models, thinking that Throne and Liberty can be fully enjoyed as a free game. He claims that many members of his clan do not pay for Battle Pass, subscription, or coins, and yet they place themselves at the top of the leaderboards.
Throne and Liberty promises battles for up to a thousand players on PC and consoles announces its Open Beta
Throne and Liberty is the next MMORPG from Amazon Games and the Korean developer NCSoft, it will arrive on September 17, 2024 in its global version, adapting a Free2Play model but with an in-game store. And for those who want to give it a try before its premiere, an Open Beta was announced from July 18 to 23, 2024 for PC through Steam, in addition to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles.
Game that was criticized last year because many testers found the game visually impressive, but empty in content. Something that developer NCsoft promised to improve before launch, implementing some unique features. Among them are its flexible class system where players can freely switch between different weapons and thus adjust their role in combat spontaneously, a dynamic world reacts to the time of day and weather, which adds excitement and variety.
