F2PMeter: Is Vindictus Truly Free to Play?

May 22, 2015 10:49 ( Articles ) 0

 

This week we’re giving Vindictus from Nexon the F2PMeter treatment, starting at 100% F2P we’ll go through each question and depending on the answer that score will stay the same or drop each time, at the end of the questions we’ll give it a final score based on how well the game did.

Vindictus is a fantasy based MMORPG where players can explore a magical land and take on hundreds of different quests as they step into the shoes of one of many different pre-made characters, each with their own unique class and style of combat.

Let’s begin!

 

 

No. Players can download a Windows client for free

No. There is no current subscription model, but some purchased features can have a 7 day or 30 day limit and will require repeat purchases.

No. Currently there are no DLC or expansions to purchase.

Yes ― -5%. The business model for the game concentrates on purchasing Premium “Nexon Cash” NX currency, that can be used across multiple Nexon games. In Vindictus NX allows players to buy numerous in game items, buffs, avatar customizations, equipment dyes and more. All NX is purchased in blocks of 4,500 NX for $5 and there is no discount for purchasing more NX in one go.

Not (but...) ―5%. Whilst a large portion are cosmetic or convenience, the fact that they can be purchased does offer an advantage to those players that don’t buy them, though not necessarily a particularly big one, and most items can also be acquired by simply playing the game.

No. There are not restrictions to UI customization.

Yes. Players have access to six starting character slots and can choose any of the available classes/characters in the game, more character slots are available by spending NX.

No. The Auction House can be accessed without any restrictions for F2P players.

Yes ― -10%. The personal/banking inventory is quite heavily restricted and for players that want to enjoy crafting can be quite difficult to find enough storage to handle materials. Tickets are purchasable for NX and can be unlocked for 30days (3900NX), 90days (7900NX) or unlocked permanently (10,900NX, approximately $12)

No (but…) ― -5%. Players are, through mechanics, restricted to how often they can access particular areas, but they can be accessed by spending cash.

Yes ― -15%. As above, the game focuses on a “Token” system where players have 50 tokens which they spend to enter dungeons and raids, the more they enter these places the cost increases (it can take around 3hours of active gameplay before you have no tokens left and can’t enter dungeons). Tokens automatically refresh every few days, but between those refresh time there’s not that much to do without tokens in terms of end-game content, but players can purchase more Token for NX.

Yes (kind of) ― +10%. Of a fashion, there are lots of restrictions where buying them, for us, goes beyond pure “pay for convenience”, the default F2P game is made excessively inconvenient to push players towards spending cash. If you’re fine playing casually then you can enjoy the game without spending anything.

 

Vindictus scores a 70% of free-to-play-ness in our F2Pmeter.

 

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