Before You're Sucked Into (A Not So) Perfect World

Posted on Saturday April 24, 2010 @ 11:16 PM

Let's set the record straight. Perect World is free to download and play. And, yes, you can play it to some degree without paying cash or using gold.

However.

With the extremely limited pack and bank space (Runescape has more for their free players!!!),  you will find yourself hustling to get scarce commodities to raise your bank space a limited amount of spaces. Same with the pet spaces. As for the pack and the wardrobe, forget it. Cash or someone else's cash (by buying their previously-paid-for-with-real-money gold).

Sure. Technically. Free.

As if a sub shop said... our sandwiches are free. They give you two pieces of thin bread with a slice of lettuce between the slices of bread. Techically, a sandwich, yes. But, you want a thin piece of meat or a condiment? Pay! Pay! Pay! Now, we learn the truth behind PWI.

Their motto should be: GIMME ALL YOUR MONEY! MONEY! MONEY!

They're not interested in quality game play. They make everything so difficult that you are forced to use "Charms" to really get anywhere in the game. What are charms? Well, you install a hit point charm and it recharges your character's hp whenever it falls below 50%. You can also install a mana charm which does the same for mana when it falls below 75%. They both have a small cooldown period (to recharge - we're talking a few seoncds, here).

Not really a role-playing game at this point. Just a throw-monet-at-it event. Certainly real gamers see the difference and know the difference between this and real RPG.

As for the fairness of the game. One player works his shiney-hiney off getting to a certain level and another simply buys "hyperstones" that can be used to get as much as 12 times the experience. Normally, I would say "Who cares"? except the games has a lot of competetion built into it including PvP (Player vs PLayer), Territory Wars (where players fight for the right to own a territory in the game), and vie for the kill of a monster (the most damage dealt gets the monster's drop). So, how can that be fair? It's just a game where the richest, most spoiled of kiddies (or adults), throw the most money at the game and "win." Yeahhh. Nice game concept. For crying out loud, where did the PWI game designers learn game design???

They not only 'support' (yes, that's sarcasm you see) stickiness, but DEMAND it of their players. What is 'stickiness'? Stickiness is an aspect of the game that makes the players WANT to belong to groups such as (in Perfect Worl'd's case) squads (small groups), factions (large groups), and even marriages. PWI has gone so far overboard that a player attempting to solo the game has really no hope in doing so. Too much is required of forced team play. I just went through their "single" version twilight dungeon. There was no chance I could finish the quest without... you got it!... charms!!! Money in PWI's pocket. Oh, do not get me wrong... I am sure there are players with characters that could do the solo version of that dungeon at the prescribed level. I am not a bad player, I am not great, but I enjoy having fun on a game.... and to be entertained. This solo dungeon ending (well, it was my ending) was anything but that. Fact is, I was initially shocked that PWI had provided an entertaining option for solo players in the Twilight Temple. really, I was truly shocked. Well, until I saw the boss. I fought him before... required a cleric to keep me alive. No such help, here.... It was solo.

So.... What about other aspects of the game? 

Want a cool mount? New clothes? How about pigments to dye the clothes a decent color? How about this...$25 real money for a cool mount (Or more... some less). A few dollars for a single article of clothing... Oh, wait... get this... You'll spend $40 to get your mount spurred (to make him about 22% faster) and to buy a pirate costume, fine... but they get you in 6 different pieces of clothing to complete the costume for a total cost of $14!!! Oh, heaven help you if you want it in a color you actually LIKE!!! But, no worries! PWI will sell you, cash, the dyes to change the items to the colors you want! How much, you ask? A mere $21!!! Cash!!! Oh, but wait!!! You buy a dye pack and get a RANDOM color!!! You are gambling to get the color you wanted. So, the truth of the matter is, you could end up spending hundreds of dollars cash trying to get a red pirate's outfit!!! Watch out when mom and dad get that credit card bill back!

There's a lot of the gambling aspect in the Perfect World Shop. Gambling. Right. That's what our kids are doing... Gambling to get the item they want. And, with your money, mom and dad. Nicely done, PWI... Have our kids gamble with mom and dad's money and often without the parents realizing it.

So, what's good about the game?

Great eye candy. Kisses for the boys from scantily clad, gorgeous elvin women played by middle-aged, overweight, balding men with nothing better to do. Yeah. Good thinking there, PWI.

The graphics are great. Sure, your character can get stuck between buidlings and hillsides, but all in all, nicely done. The music is outstanding and worth listening to on its own merit. The special effects are A-1. I love the combat interaction. It's what won me over the first day.

Quests. "Ahem" A quest USUALLY consists of more than just running out and pummeling critters into a bloody mass of fur and bones. Oh, yes, there is the occasional "run to this character and then that character for this or that." There are even a few jumping quests where you must spend three hours trying to learn to jump around a corner. Oh, I am not kidding at all. Fortunately, I didn't play a human. I played a barbarian and an assassin. Unfortunately, my good friend DID play a human. We spent three hours together trying to make that jump. It's possible. I did it twice using one technique. He did it once using another technique, but not while on the timer. He finally waited until he could use his flying machine to complete the "quest."

So, if you enjoy real quests.... these will disppoint you immensely. Zero depth to be quite honest.

Dungeons for killing things? Pretty darn good except there is really no hope for soloing the dungeon in any capacity unless you do so far beyond the expected level to have completed it.

Skilling. I like the skills. Tough to do, actually, though simple in concept. Unfortunately, you can buy your way through the skill sin two ways: One, just buy their materials packs (cash, of course) from their shop. That's right. You work hard to get the drops from monster who reluctantly give up what you need... and the higher you get above the monsters that drop the items, the worse the drops become, while someone else throws a few dollars at the game and simply BUYS the stuff from PWI. Nice competitive gameplay there, PWI (There's that rich sarcasm again). Two, you can buy from other players. Well, that seems fair enough. It's how it's done in many games. But, what's the point of working hard for hours to gain the respect of other players when someone else can just buy their way to skill levels? There is certainly no respect deserved to high-level players in this game. You can never tell how much was EARNED and how much was simply bought.

And, my biggest gripe. I found it very difficult to learn how to play the game. The docs were tough to hunt down. They have a WIKI which is all fine and dandy, but as you play the game, you realize that it's the specic details that are missing for the game. Not everything is intuitive. I spent a couple hours trying to shut down world chat. Took me awhile to find out, somewhere (forums?) that world chat cannot be shut off in the common chat. There is a trick to get rid of it, but if I reveal it, PWI will break the trick. And, yo pretty much have to have someone tell you how to turn the game off. Most people click the "X" in the upper right corner. No, that doesn't do it. It just puts the game into the tray in the lower right corner of the computer. (Right now a lot of you ar saying "Oh, damn!") I spent the first few days shutting it down by using alt-ctrl-del and shutting it down from there.

Back to stickiness. It's a game attribute to keep people coming back time and time again to the game. Fine. It's a great idea to OFFER it in the way of factions and squads... even marriages. But, don't force it down our throats.... Most of us are independent people and we think for ourselves. Sure, you'll get the sheep and the young that do not know better, but PWI... let US decide. As many (more?) of us will keep coming back to a game that provides us with intellectually stimulating gameplay as will come back to the eye-candy and groups you provide.

So, be careful with this game, folks. It is not FREE in the long run. You can play it without paying for anything. You can also sit in your car without gas. In both cases, you will not get very far. Personally, I would be happy to pay monthly for a game (and I do on some games) if it is a good game that stimulates me intellectually and somewhat visually.

If you enjoy a game where you can go do your own thing, you'll be very disappointed. The game is likely to degrade to simple grinding. I suppose if you like killing the same monsters over and over for hours on end.... well... this might work for you. It is, after all, active and fun to watch.

GAME DESIGN: 2/10
INTERFACE: 9/10
CHAT SYSTEM: 4/10 (MOSTLY DUE TO FORCED WORLD CHAT VIEWING)
VISUALS: 9/10
MUSIC: 10/10
SOUND F/X: 10/10
GAME PLAY...
   COMBAT: 10/10
   QUESTS: 1/10
   DUNGEONS-GROUP: 8/10
   DUNGEONS-SOLO: 0/10
   SKILLS: 5/10
STICKINESS OPTIONS: 3/10 (PLENTY OF OPTIONS BUT FORCED STICKINESS)
FAIRNESS: 1/10
PRICE: 1/10 (DUE TO 'HIDDEN' COSTS AND THE CONSTANT, OBVIOUS, OVERWHELMING GREED OF PWI)
SUPPORT: 4/10

Would I recommend this game? No.

I may upgrade this entry as time permits. You are welcome to flame me. I don't really care. The facts remain the facts and my opinions are my right.

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