Albion Online is a medieval sandbox MMORPG that officially released in July 2017. I bought an Epic Founder’s Alpha pack way back in February 2015 as I was very excited about this game and wanted to support the developers, Sandbox Interactive. Characters weren’t tied to specific classes, instead you determined how you wanted to play based on what gear you equipped. One day you could be a plate wearing sword and board fighter, the next, a cloth-wearing mage. You could change after a difficult fight and become a plate-wearing mage just by swapping your gear. There was full-loot PvP, player-driven economy, plant harvesting, animal farming, crafting, dungeons to explore, and heaps more.
I played the game at release and enjoyed my time, but with my limited play time, the monthly premium subscription ultimately became too much to afford. You can play the game for free but only after you have paid the minimum US$30 starter pack which is a fair pay wall these days. F2P players also earn xp and gold/silver at a slower rate than premium players. Free players don’t get access to a private island either which is where you can farm resources and grow animals (you can make your own player mounts!). If you played the game enough you can use in-game silver/gold to pay for the premium subscription with having to fork out real money, but as a free player it can take Alas, once my mates left the game, I too moved on. However, come April 10, Albion Online will be free-to-play! From the official Albion Online website:
“Albion Online is entering a new era: on April 10, the gates will open for a plethora of new players when the game goes free-to-play. For those who’ve been waiting to dive in, the world of Albion is now even more accessible – and for veteran players, the options for group exploration, PvP, new refining and crafting opportunities, and economic expansion will be nearly endless.
This change will bring incredible new dimensions to the world of Albion, as a new generation of players ready to make their mark on the world enters the fray. This new blood, along with the numerous content updates planned for the coming months, will make 2019 a thrilling year for Albion, and we look forward to seeing all the creative ways players find to push the limits of the sandbox experience.”
For veteran players or anyone that purchases a Founder or Starter pack prior to April 10, you will be rewarded with this mighty looking Spectre Wolf mount. There will also be a ten-day Fame boost starting after maintenance on April 1 and ending with maintenance on April 10. The Mists of Albion buff will be active, giving a 25% boost to all Fame earned through ingame activities.
The developers have today dropped the sixth major post-launch update titled Oberon. This update brings a major new Randomised Dungeon feature, new creatures, shrines and chests, numerous quality-of-life improvements and much more. Watch the trailer here:
If you haven’t tried Albion Online before and you like playing sandbox MMORPG’s, I highly recommend giving this game a go, especially once it goes F2P. If you have more question, the Albion Online website has a great F2P FAQ which answers alot of good questions, and the website also contains various new-player guides which will teach you how to play. These will be handy even for when I return to the game. The developers have also laid out a hefty development roadmap for 2019 which is exciting and worth the read. Hopefully I’ll see some of you in-game!
#gameonAUS
