Spiral Knights - My thoughts on this game

My thoughts on this game

30 replies [Last post]

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 18:17

Zygrograxgra

Legacy Username

I went on Steam.
I saw the new game category: Free-to-play
I saw this game.
I looked at it, decided to get it.
I liked the main screen.
I made a character, loved it. Thought it could use a little more customization though.
I entered the game, fell in love instantly.
Fought through slime and chameleons, to get to the base camp.
Was still in love.
Entered the base camp, started exploring.
Wanted to hug the game.
Bought gear.
loved it.
left town forever.
Almost cried.
Started exploring the clock works.
Ran out of energy.
Went to buy some.
Saw the absurd prices.
Set up an offer to buy for all my cash.
Nobody saw.
Wanted to die.
That's my story.

This beautiful game, perfect in every way, has a great system.
It was put in badly.
The regeneration is too slow.
It would be bearable if you could rarely find pick ups that gave a small amount of crystal energy.
even better would be a faster regen system.
I'm loving this game when I can play it.
Raging when I can't.
Not going to dish out cash.
Can't use the in game cash due to inflation.
I'm at a loss.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 18:20

Kahryl

Legacy Username

Okay.. so if they let you

Okay.. so if they let you play unlimited time for no real money, why exactly would they develop and update this game in the first place?

Free to play means it is POSSIBLE to advance without RL transaction - which I have done, and gotten to the end of the game. It doesn't mean you're going to have a picnic of it.

If you love the game so much that you MUST play more per day than the mist tank allows, then you love the game enough to invest a tiny bit of cash in it.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 18:25

redten

Legacy Username

The crowns price for CE has droped really low

People who want to progress through this game for free must have patience.
Those who don't, feel free to buy some CE.
You can still get it with crowns, which I did now that its so cheap.
Its rough starting out, but don't worry, it gets better as you progress.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 18:28

opaopa13

Legacy Username

It's not too hard, once you

It's not too hard, once you can start doing at least all of T1 (the rewards are much larger for the second half of a tier), to make enough crowns to buy back the energy you spent with profit to spare. At the current market price of about 4K crowns for 100 energy, a T1 run only has to make 2400 crowns to break even.

I think there's a very strong incentive to buy some CE right away, even if it's just the smallest package, so you can more safely run T1 and start working on T2. Still, look at how beautiful the game is, how awesome the music is, how great the gameplay is, and tell me that's not worth dropping $2.45 on.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 18:33

Zygrograxgra

Legacy Username

Kahryl, redten... etc.

Kah, what i'm saying is, Don't get rid of the system, but make it bearable.
And I'm not saying let us regen it at full in five minutes.
I'm saying why not make it regen a bit faster when low on energy?
I just reviewed it in my style, which focuses on bad stuff, but still mentions good things.
and I don't love it that much. I love no game that much. Because I effectively split my life in two. my gaming life, and my real one.
Now then.
They already do let you play for an unlimited time. just so you know.

Red, I can't afford it due to inflation, like I said.
I feel like i'm in WoW...

opaopa13, to me, it's not. Not when I'm not at the certain point where i'm sure I'm going to love it as much as I do The first Halo and Morrowind.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 18:45

Sanzenin

Inflation!? It's close to

Inflation!? It's close to 4.1k per 100 ce at the time of this writing. This is cheap by how much it cost just over a week ago. It has been up to 7k+ the day before SK was launched on Steam and will likely get there again.

Aside from that, what Kahryl and Redten said. If you really love this game it's worth investing a bit of cash into it. If you don't want to invest cash into it you'll need to come to terms with the limited playtime.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 18:47

opaopa13

Legacy Username

You mention both that you

You mention both that you want to "hug the game", that you "loved it", that it nearly made you cry, that you "wanted to die" when you had to stop, that you "rage" when you can't play it... and that that it's not worth $2.45. You... don't see a contradiction there?

How much did Halo and Morrowind cost you? More relevantly, why should a company spend three years developing a game just so you can never spend a dime on it?

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 18:50

Zygrograxgra

Legacy Username

Mital

I haven't had it for long enough to hear about that. In fact, all I ever heard was the prices RISING.
And again, i'm not saying infite play time in a row.
I'm just asking, why not a more bearable regen? one that lets you go every once and a while, not waiting half a day.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 18:52

Madadder

so how does this company make

so how does this company make money? they dont do this for charity u know...

isnt it like 10 bucks for 3.5k CE? 2bucks or so for 750? its not that expensive

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 18:56

Zygrograxgra

Legacy Username

and my point is miss due to extreme-ism

halo and morrowind, not very much at all.
and I was being extreme with what I said. no contradiction, because guess what?
It is effectively a subscription, just barely detectable by few. Free to play, pay to enjoy.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 19:04

#10

Private_riem

Legacy Username

"Free to play, pay to

"Free to play, pay to enjoy."
Ooooh I love that statement.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 19:18

#11

Sanzenin

@ Zygrograxgra

Fair enough on not knowing about the prices.

I prefer this games system of paying for more playtime over the other system of paying to access areas or increase inventory or to get certain weapons or paying to win as some call it.

"Free to play, pay to enjoy for more than an hour a day" would be more apt (though obviously less sensational). When I didn't have CE...I still enjoyed my limited ME playtime per day.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 19:21

#12

Zygrograxgra

Legacy Username

riem, Mital

@riem
I'm confused as to why

@mital
I do too, but I've been doing calculations, and I delved in two floors in much longer time than that. but yeah... It takes a while to become self sufficient, doesn't it...

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 19:23

#13

Duskdash

I wouldn't call it

I wouldn't call it subscription. Sustainable play is possible, it's just that the early tiers are the hardest.

The long-time players don't need to keep paying to play. There's just a liiittle bit of a barrier in the early game that lasts a day or two, at most.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 19:37

#14

Sanzenin

I have more money than time.

I have more money than time. So it was easy enough for me to play the game a bit for free and decide it was worth spending money on to progress faster.

And yes it definitely takes some time to become self sufficient if you're going entirely F2P. Especially if you don't already know what weapons are good choices and which ones aren't or what materials will sell and which won't. There are one or two threads here about people who were logging their progress with entirely F2P characters. Of course their efforts are affected by their existing knowledge of the game. It'd be interesting to see how long it takes someone who just started, with no prior knowledge, to get to T3 without using cash.

If you're in T1 the best money maker is definitely the Snarbolax gate. And you can get some decent starter equipment out of it by trading those frumious fangs.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 19:45

#15

Tenkii

Yeah, it took me like 2-3

Yeah, it took me like 2-3 days before I got to tier 2 and started making enough money to regain energy.
;_;

anyway, that was weeks ago, and I still haven't paid any real money to play.

problem? :V

-----

Though one thing on playing on mist energy -
if you do it, don't wait like 3 hours and then try to log on and play again. Play at a time you know you'll be able to play at tomorrow, so you can enjoy more than like, 2 floors. Play a little 'tonight', play a little tomorrow night, play a little the next night -

Then play forever.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 19:54

#16

Zygrograxgra

Legacy Username

mital, tenlki

Mital, I knew about that gate just by looking at it, and I just heard of the game.
and somehow had a dream about it.
little over a month before it came out.

tenlki, nope.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:08

#17

novareid

Legacy Username

Yet another person missing

Yet another person missing the point about player progression.

If you don't plan on spending a cent on this game, don't expect to progress your character as quickly as someone who pays for CE. That's the reality of it, and it was intentionally designed this way. If you could progress to T3 in a matter of weeks instead of months using only mist energy, then there wouldn't be enough content and players would become bored with the game and quit.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:22

#18

Zygrograxgra

Legacy Username

novareid

weeks?
you mean hours/days, right?
months? you mean about a week or two, right?
because in about 3 hours, i almost got to tier 2

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:25

#19

Guildenberg

@Zygrograxgra

I think he meant getting down to each tier and forging all of the equipment needed to unlock new tiers.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:33

#20

Senshi

Legacy Username

Hnhhh...

I haven't spent a cent on the game and I have always been able to play as much as I want, more or less.
Go check out the auction house, learn how to sort by 'buy price' and create auctions that will sell and sell your materials. Use your tokens to buy materials and sell them on the auction house. Sell your crystals for the best prices you can find in the not-yet-open-gates. If you just run T1 and try to buy more CE, you can't in this current environment.

It would be nice if you could, which is why we really really need desirable crown sinks that people would part with real money (aka CE) to get access to quickly or regularly. There's simply no incentive for players that already have 5* gear to sell CE... the only substantial costs in this game are crafting, slot upgrades, and heat amplifiers... all of which cost CE, not crowns.

Anyway, if you want to play for free you have to spend some time selling stuff for the crowns to buy more CE, at least until you get into T2.
It's a better game if you keep finding ways to earn crowns outside of runs, because then you can run something other than jelly king.

(Also... did you use the Mist Tank that was mailed to you for reaching Haven? You get a free refill of Mist Energy, best used when you have zero mist energy anyway, when you first reach haven, and again for first getting access to each tier.)

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:33

#21

BiggestLoser

Legacy Username

Zelda

new player playtime should be increased somehow

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:33

#22

opaopa13

Legacy Username

And again, i'm not saying

And again, i'm not saying infite play time in a row.

Which, in fact, it very easy to accomplish, once you have the skill or the gear to do an entire Tier without reviving a dozen times.

and I was being extreme with what I said. no contradiction

Okay, so you don't feel like Spiral Knights is worth a one-time payment of $2.45. Perfectly reasonable. But Three Rings needs to make money somehow. If you're the kind of person who is never going to send them a dime, they're not going to cater to you, specifically. Your whole argument is, "I wish I could have more for free", and that's just not very compelling.

It is effectively a subscription, just barely detectable by few.

It's not really a subscription, though. It's an optional payment that lets you skip ahead in progression. And calling yourself one of the "few" who recognizes the Energy system as a way for Three Rings to make money (a for-profit company creating a product for profit?? stop the presses!!) is pretty arrogant if you ask me!

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:33

#23

Zygrograxgra

Legacy Username

Rube and nova

the game has been out since the 14th...
I've played with people who have hit rock bottom on all the current areas.
Don't think it's gonna take months to tier three

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:34

#24

Zygrograxgra

Legacy Username

Rube and nova

the game has been out since the 14th...
I've played with people who have hit rock bottom on all the current areas.
Don't think it's gonna take months to tier three

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:44

#25

Pupu

Legacy Username

Oh look, it's this thread again.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:45

#26

Sunless

Saw the absurd prices. Ran

Saw the absurd prices.

Ran out of credibility here. Good day, sir.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 20:50

#27

opaopa13

Legacy Username

Release date

Actually, Spiral Knights was released in early April, it just didn't arrive on Steam until this month.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 21:06

#28

redten

Legacy Username

GET IT WITH CROWNS, WHICH YOU

GET IT WITH CROWNS, WHICH YOU CAN EARN FROM DOING RUNS WITH MIST ENERGY.
THE COST FOR CE IS CHEAP FOR CROWNS RIGHT NOW.
ITS HARD TO GET CROWNS AT THE BEGINNING BECAUSE OF THE LOW TIER IN THE CLOCK WORKS.

HIGHER TIERS = MORE CROWNS = ABLE TO BUY CE WITH A MARGIN OF CROWNS LEFT OVER = REPEAT = PROFIT

Now that that's all cleared up, enjoy Spiral Knights.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 21:32

#29

BsiGio

Legacy Username

Lolwut?

No offense but as much fun as this game is, you cant compare it to morrowind or halo ce. Its like comparing it to a pellet gun and a military AK-47, yes the pellet gun is fun but the Ak will destroy in 2 seconds.

Thu, 06/23/2011 - 22:20

#30

Sunless

That is the derpest metaphor

That is the derpest metaphor ever.

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My thoughts on this game