Total Freebie: Path of Exile

[Taffycat]

Dilemma! This would qualify for the bargain thread, because it's totally free... but, it's a pretty decent game, so on balance, I think it belongs here.

"Path of Exile" (available from the website, or from Steam) was recommended to me just over a week ago, and within an hour I became hooked. For a freebie (always free, not time-limited or anything) I wasn't expecting much, tbh; but I couldn't have been more wrong.

You get 7 classes of character to play - 6 are accessible immediately, the 7th can be unlocked near the end of "Act 3." Characters can be customised to suit your preferences, via the vast passive skills tree. (This might look a bit daunting at first, but don't be put-off; it provides a lot of scope to develop your character's skills and quickly becomes intuitive to use.)

There is no gold-sink, but you get an abundance of loot to barter with vendors, or use on your characters. There is absolutely no "pay-to-win" any items in the store, are purely cosmetic, they don't give you buffs or advantages. You can solo, or team-up with a few mates. It's darned good fun. But rather than reading my waffle, you can check it out for yourselves.

 

[muckshifter]

looks better than Diablo 3 ... not for me tho'

 

[Abarbarian]

Path of Exile is an online Action RPG set in the dark fantasy world of Wraeclast. We're a small independent team of hardcore gamers based in New Zealand and have created Path of Exile as the game that we'd want to play ourselves. It is designed around a strong barter-based online item economy, deep character customisation, competitive PvP and ladder races. The game is completely free and will never be "pay to win". If you'd like to play, just create an account.

Sounds very neat and totally free

No good to me as my 8MB has been running at 50'ish mbps for the last few weeks. Haven't a clue why as it has happily been giving me a wonderful 140'ish mbps for the last year or so.

How do they make money from a free game ?

 

[Taffycat]

Sounds very neat and totally free

No good to me as my 8MB has been running at 50'ish mbps for the last few weeks. Haven't a clue why as it has happily been giving me a wonderful 140'ish mbps for the last year or so.

How do they make money from a free game ?

Aww, sorry to hear about your internet AB, that sounds like a pain in the butt. Hope a solution can be found soon.

As for how a free game can make money... As I understand it, there are always folk who like to spend real £ and $ on cool-looking effects, or extra storage tabs, etc. (Actually, storage is pretty generous in PoE to begin-with... but there are lots of hoarders out there. lol.) I've seen many say, that when a game is free to play, they will spend a regular amount (just as if there was a monthly fee) on purely cosmetic stuff.

 

[Abarbarian]

I did a router reset and speed is back to normal but still has loads of slow periods. Oh well at least it is cheap.

 

[floppybootstomp]

looks better than Diablo 3 ... not for me tho'

Sorry to go off topic here but Diablo III is going for around seventeen quid until March 24th and I wondered if it was any good? Anybody here play it?

I couldn't be bothered previously because of the very high price and super stupid DRM the game employs but for that price I might wanna give it a go.

The reason it's being offered cheap, of course, is that there's a Diablo III expansion pack being released shortly.

I also bought, from the same makers, Starcraft II for half price but I have to say I was less than impressed by it, still a waste of money imo, despite being half price.

As for path Of Exile, I will definitely try this, nothing to lose and everything to gain if it's a freebie eh? The cynical side of me still says there must be a catch though

 

[Taffycat]

Abarb, glad to hear your internet speed has improved. Will keep the leeks crossed for it to continue.

Just in case you're interested, there is an article here for you penguin-botherers.

...As for path Of Exile, I will definitely try this, nothing to lose and everything to gain if it's a freebie eh? The cynical side of me still says there must be a catch though

Well I must have played for a good 40 hours or so, and can truthfully say that I've not found any yet.... quote from the FAQs:

I still don't understand how it's free to play - what's the catch?
There is no catch at all, once you download the client you are free to play for as long as you like, with no charge. The purchasable perks do not convey any gameplay benefit, but help you create a unique look for your character and its fighting style.

In PvE, the loot-drops are pretty generous. We're provided with plenty of armour pieces, weapons, etc., to either use, or barter with the NPCs. It's a good system, imho. A character never feels "poor" as they do in certain other games.

If you enjoy trying-out different professions/builds, you can create (and keep) up to 25 characters.

FAQs if anyone wants to check 'em out.

 

[CSB]

Kind of wish I was into these sorts of games.

Again, if it's free you can't go wrong unless it became unplayable. It's about time Blizzard lowered the price of their games.