Bernie B

Atlantica Online is a great game with the worst cash shop I've ever seen in a F2P game. As you get closer to level 80 the game completely becomes Pay 2 Win. The depth in the AO world is vastly deeper than in any other MMO I've played, but the pay2win problem sucks all the fun out of it.

Want to purchase a new Mercenary class for your formation? Expect to spend $50-$70. Buying a Mount? Spend $10 for a random chance (very low) to actually obtain the mount you're paying for.

It's a real shame that such a good game is rendered unplayable by required use of their sketchy item mall.

Atlantica Online has some really excellent/unique content which is offset by the amount of money you would need to invest to compete at levels 100+

The Item Mall sells you randomized boxes which really equate to gambling and is a very distasteful practice that really gouges customers and creates a clear demarcation between those that have spent a LOT of money and those who have not.

Nexon really should take a look at D&D Online's online store which has really set the gold standard (IMHO) for micro-transactions.

The worst cash shop by far has to be Atlantica Online, where the money you spend for an item only gives you a random chance to actually obtain the item you're spending money on.

Those boxes aren't cheap either as the chance to obtain a mount from a box typically start at $10 a pop with a very low odds to acquire.

CoH relaunch as a F2P is the most limited F2P I've yet to try. It's mostly a veiled attempt to force everyone into a subscription. Was looking forward to playing CoH again as F2P, however the majority of characters are unplayable due to the severe restrictiveness of their model.

CoH could learn a lot from D&D Online on how to build a successful Micro-Transaction business.

Wait, what?

As a former Guild leader that went through some of the scenarios above I wish that other MMO's would use the Nation's concept that Atlantica Online implimented. This allows multiple guilds to join an alliance without having to lose their Guild identity. Had this form of guild grouping existed in other MMO's I don't think we would have had as many issues with attempted mergers in the past.

I played DDO quite bit into Update 7. When Christmas rolled around there were a bunch of other games to try out (Rift for instance) and Update 8 really didn't bring anything to draw me back. Update 9 however is a big deal, especially addressing crafting which has sucked since launch day. There will also be new content available at levels where players can typically stall out if Pugging (levels 15-18).

Looking forward to coming back when Update 9 finally gets here. Only gripe is that we still don't have Druids that were promised forever ago.

I'm currently at level 49 and one thing that I've been impressed with is the concept of Nations. Player Guilds can band together to form a Nation [up to 8 guilds] , Nations can go to war against other Nations, Guilds can bid for control of cities. Not too sure how that pans out as I'm still green to the game, but looks really interesting.
Other games could benefit from the Nation concept. I can recall other MMO's where guilds would band together in a chat channel, but it's not the same as having this functionality built into the game design.

My only gripe is now that I'm close to 50 there doesn't appear to be an easy way to obtain a Mercenary license in game. I could be wrong. You have a Mercenary room that holds dozens of slots where you can store your inactive Mercenaries, but in order to access those slots you need an active license. Maybe this is where the game makes its money?

I absolutely hate the crafting/equipment system in CO. This is one area that CoX really nailed. IMHO the entire crafting system in CO should be scrapped and rethought.

@Halfcentaur You may want to take a look at D&D Online after Update 9 launches