Why doesn't Throne and Liberty use a blind auction house?

 RMT (real money trading) is rearing its ugly head in Throne and Liberty, but the developers are pushing back by penalizing players caught engaging in these transactions. When players are caught buying Lucent (the premium currency) from RMT sellers, they’re hit with negative balances in game, which the community seems to find amusingly effective. But it raises a question: Why is the game in this situation when there are better ways to design the systems to minimize RMT?

A screenshot from Throne and Liberty showing a negative Lucent balance due to a player being punished for buying Lucent off third party sellers.

 Taking a step back first: it's surprising that RMT is this prevalent, especially since there’s no direct player-to-player trading in the game. Player A can't buy items directly from Player B. Instead, all exchanges happen through the auction house, which is restricted to premium currency and a limited selection of items. Even calling it an "auction" system is a stretch, as there’s no bidding—everything is listed at fixed "buy it now" prices, and listings are anonymous, so players can’t see who’s selling what.

 This setup makes RMT transactions fairly obvious. For example, if someone buys an item for 10,000 Lucent that typically sells for 10, it's likely RMT-related. While it’s possible players are simply transferring Lucent this way without any real money trading hands it doesn't seem in the "spirit" of the game for players to move Lucent around like this.

 Given the lack of player-to-player trading and the limitations on which items can be traded, it seems like Throne and Liberty could benefit from a blind bidding system. In this setup, sellers wouldn’t see listing prices but only the most recent bid or purchase prices. When a player bids on an item, they’d either get a match or be informed their bid is too low. This would eliminate the obvious RMT loophole as players can no longer pick which seller they are buying from.

 Blind bidding has worked really well in other games such as Final Fantasy 11 and seems like the obvious design choice in Throne.  This blurb from the wiki I linked sums it up best:

In the auction houses of FINAL FANTASY XI, sellers designate an asking price when they put items up for bid. The first bidder to offer a price higher than the asking price gets to purchase the item.

 I can't even think of a legitimate reason that any player ever needs to buy something in Throne's auction house at a higher price than the current lowest price which means it is perfect for blind bidding.

 While Throne and Liberty’s current auction system limits direct player trading, it inadvertently leaves space for RMT to thrive, impacting the game's economy and balance. The blind bidding system would minimize opportunities for suspicious transactions that are likely RMT. As the developers continue to combat these issues with the negative account balances, it’ll be interesting to see if they consider more structural changes to the marketplace.

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

Monday Screenshots: Daily and Weekly Checklist for Throne and Liberty

 I’ve described Throne and Liberty as a “chore” to play, but I keep logging in because my friends are there, and I do find some moments of enjoyment. Since I’m sticking with it, I decided to get organized and establish a daily and weekly routine. Part of that involves visiting specific vendors to buy time-gated items they offer. I came across a helpful image on Reddit that breaks this down, and I thought it’d be useful to share. 

Note: The only item I don’t fully agree with is the Rare Parchment. You can earn 33 of these by completing a single contract, so I don’t see much value in spending contract coins on them. Contract coins are hard to come by, so I’d rather save them for other items. However, if there’s nothing else you need from the contract coin vendor, the Rare Parchments could be worth picking up.

Your Throne and Liberty daily and weekly shopping list; see notes above about Rare Parchment!

Sunday 10/27/2024 Post

 The Packers keep on winning keeping their QBs undefeated streak alive.  Backup QB that is.  Jordan Love goes down and Malik Willis steps in and just like last week the game comes down to a game winning field goal from our newly signed kicker.  You can't make this stuff up!  What I can make up though is a combo image!

Things I do like about Throne and Liberty

 In my last post, I laid out all the reasons Throne and Liberty drives me nuts—yet here I am, still playing. Why? Because there are moments in this game that are so incredible they make me forget the frustrations, even if just for a while. Throne and Liberty pulls off some things I haven’t seen any other MMO do, and for that, it’s hard to walk away.

 First off—and I’ve said this so often that other people are starting to repeat it—the game’s performance is incredible. One standout feature is the seamless transition time. If you press B to recall back to town, you’re teleported almost instantly. Ready for a dungeon with your party? You’re transported there near instantly.

I'm not the only one impressed by the tech!

 On top of this, the game handles large groups of players remarkably well. I’ve joined open-world boss fights with hundreds, possibly over a thousand players. Sure, it’s a chaotic blur of lights, but the fight remains perfectly playable, allowing players to execute the boss’s mechanics reliably. Seeing a massive zerg of players fighting a giant monster is the essence of what an MMO should be!

 After 30+ years (holy crap!) of playing online games, I’ve learned to appreciate technological improvements. Whatever magic Throne and Liberty uses to enable near-instant loading and the ability to support thousands of players in one area deserves praise—it should be the standard!

 The game makes full use of these technical feats in its open-world dungeons. These aren’t small caves in the hillside; they’re massive, multi-tiered labyrinths requiring proper groups or careful solo planning to navigate.

 Just last night, my group spent an hour descending to the 6th floor of Syleus Abyss, where it felt like we were drilling down to the center of the earth. At the lowest level, we encountered massive lava pools and enjoyed knocking enemies off bridges into them. All the way down, we were flanked by hundreds of other players carving out their own spots in the dungeon. It’s a vibrant and dynamic environment.

 

The sixth floor of Syleus's Abyss.  Open world dungeons FTW!

 One of my favorite, albeit most frustrating, dungeons is the Sanctum of Desire. It only opens when it rains—which is annoying but also what I love about it! In so many games, content is always accessible with a click. Knowing Sanctum opens only with rain adds excitement whenever someone calls out, “Hey, it’s raining! Go, go, go!” It’s reminiscent of Dark Age of Camelot’s Darkness Falls dungeon, where everyone rushed in when conditions were right.

 This leads me to another feature I love: the server’s top players can activate world-changing abilities. One example is the power to make it rain. Sanctum of Desire has a world boss that spawns on a schedule, but if it’s not raining, players can’t get in. The other night, I watched our entire server plead with a top player to trigger rain so we could all rush in to fight the boss.

 Another thrilling aspect is that these open-world dungeons turn into PvP zones at night. Nothing beats the tension as two groups of players stand off in the depths of a dungeon, waiting for the clock to hit nighttime. The victor keeps their farming spot; the loser is kicked out. In Sanctum of Desire, if it’s not raining, the losing team can’t even get back in.

 Add in the “Eclipse” ability, where players can trigger nighttime across the server, and the stakes go even higher. Just recently, an Eclipse was triggered while hundreds of players waited for a world boss. The guild that triggered it was ready and ambushed everyone. I was frustrated after getting killed, but looking back, all I can think is, “That was freaking cool!”.  Players can literally change the world.

Eclipse! PvP is ON in the open world dungeons!

 I spend a lot of my game time in these dungeons, even though rewards stop once you run out of Abyssal Contract tokens. I really enjoy pushing deeper into more challenging areas and claiming my little farming spot. It’s a truly multiplayer experience that thrives on open-world interaction—and Throne and Liberty delivers here.

 Scheduled world events are another highlight. Whether it’s a “kill the most wolves” event or one where you can jump onto the back of a giant flying whale, there’s always something happening. The game even provides a schedule so you can plan for upcoming events.

 The game also excels at providing in-game information. Every item has an info icon you can click to see how to obtain it, listing vendors, quests, or other sources. You can click on a map location to see enemy types, then click on an enemy to view their loot drops. Once you learn the system, there’s hardly any need to visit an external wiki. 

Map > Area > Monster Info > Loot Table > Details about the drop without ever having to alt tab from the game!

 In the end, these moments I love—epic dungeons, massive player battles, and real-time world changes—are exactly what make Throne and Liberty’s shortcomings so frustrating. This game has the potential to be truly groundbreaking, with technology and ideas that could set a new standard for MMOs. If only the combat and PvP were tighter, if gearing weren’t such a grind, and if the progression caps weren’t so limiting, Throne and Liberty could be exceptional. For now, though, I’m sticking with it, because there’s still nothing quite like the experience it offers.

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

Things I don't like about Throne and Liberty

 I’m still playing Throne and Liberty because my gaming group is, but the game is starting to wear on me. To put it simply, playing feels like a chore, and there are several things I don’t like about it.

 My biggest issue with the game is that everything is based on random outcomes (RNG). Want to upgrade a skill? It might take one skill book or five. Want to upgrade gear? Same deal. Craft something? It’s a random result. Looking for a specific loot reward from an activity? Good luck, because that’s also random. Even when you complete your weekly tasks, the rewards are random.

 There are "pity mechanics" in the game, like tokens you get from completing a dungeon that can be used to craft rewards—but the number required is high. You're limited to three dungeon rewards per day. Even if you run 100 dungeons, you can only receive rewards three times. These three daily rewards do stack, so if you miss a day, you can earn more when you do play.

 This limited rewards system runs throughout the entire game, and I don’t like it. Whether it’s co-op dungeon rewards, open-world dungeon tokens, contract rights, or something else, there’s always a cap. Even basic crafting materials are limited per day!

 Another major issue is the lack of a proper in-game economy. While there’s a premium currency auction house, it only allows certain items to be sold. So if you need extra honey to cook a meal and you've hit your daily purchase limit, you're out of luck. Plus, there’s no player-to-player trading for most of the game’s materials.

 You’d think that restricting player-to-player trading would solve the "gold buying" problem. But no—gold sellers easily bypass this by using the auction house to sell items for the purchased gold amount. What’s worse is that this involves the premium currency. It’s absurd that gold farmers can sell the game's premium currency at a cheaper rate than the game itself!

 The design of the PvE dungeons is another area where the game falls short for me. Most dungeons are short, which I don’t mind, but the basic structure is repetitive. You do a practice fight, then proceed straight to the end boss, which is packed with wipe mechanics. There’s no leniency—either you execute perfectly, or you wipe. I find it frustrating, as the fights feel more like memorizing mechanics than real progression.

 Another frustration is the complete lack of resurrections during combat. There’s no in-combat res, and there’s none in the open world either. If your hit points hit zero, it’s back to the respawn point. If you’re in a dungeon and get knocked out due to a moment of lag, you’re out of the fight. Gone is the dynamic of balancing in-combat resurrections.

 Then there are the events—another aspect of the game’s design I dislike. I enjoy many of the events, but they’re all on a strict schedule. If you can’t play during the scheduled time, you miss out. There are events I’d love to do over and over, but they’re locked away by this scheduling.

 Add up the RNG progression and all the caps, and it’s practically impossible to have a second build for your character, which is a shame in a classless system. It’s more efficient to just play a second character because that gives you access to another set of daily, time-gated rewards. Plus, premium currency is account-wide, so you can farm it on both characters and get more than one character could on its own. This is just terrible design.

 To top all of this off, the game often leaves me with analysis paralysis. There are so many currencies with so many uses, and since many are capped, I end up stressing over every decision. The tutorial might show me how to use five tokens to unlock something, but I’ll hesitate, because I only have seven tokens and worry I’ll need them later. Next thing I know, I’m on YouTube, watching guides on how to "best use Y tokens"—and still confused because everyone has a different opinion.

 So with all these gripes, why am I still playing? Well, despite everything, there are some things I genuinely enjoy about *Throne and Liberty*. But that’s a story for another day. Stay tuned for my next post!

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

Rerolling into Rosa

Update 11/30/2024 - I switched back to playing my main on Valhalla.

 New World Aeternum has launched, and although my internet was still down due to Hurricane Helene (thankfully, it’s back now), I was determined to dive in. Bad internet or not, I couldn’t resist the urge to join the wave of new players hitting the shores. I decided to hop onto the new crossplay server, Rosa, and bring HeartlessgamerX (aka X) to Aeternum!

 My main goal? To play through the new storyline and reach level 65. I’m a few days behind the herd, especially since I’m still playing Throne and Liberty, so this will be a slower grind for X.

Amazing view!

 For my leveling build, I’m sticking to my tried-and-true setup: Firestaff paired with Sword and Shield. I’ve spent thousands of hours mastering this playstyle, and it’s still as satisfying as ever! There have been a few tweaks to the Firestaff, particularly with mana, so leveling a new character feels like a good chance to familiarize myself with these changes.

 Jumping back into New World was refreshing—literally! I like how the new introduction starts with the player swimming toward the shoreline. After a brief introduction to combat and item interaction, you're thrown into a dust-up with ole’ Thorpe and then introduced to Isabella. The tutorial now has much more substance than at launch!

 Once out of the tutorial, it’s back to familiar territory: the shores of Windsward, where I found myself gathering flint, picking bushes, and hunting pigs. The early quests feel familiar but have some fresh twists, with new characters joining you on the journey. While I think these new additions are well-executed, the story is still just "OK" for me. As much as I promised myself I'd pay more attention, I ended up clicking through most of the dialogue.

 All in all, I’m enjoying my return to New World. While the game feels improved, the commitment to push to level 65 is still substantial—especially when you factor in trade skills, gathering, and everything else that also is starting over. Having put thousands of hours into my main character, I already miss the perks of having piles of gold and full ultimate trophies. But for now, it's one step at a time. Stay tuned for more updates!

Sunday 10/20/2024 Post

 Gave them Texans 16 points just to break their hearts in the end.  Field Goals are back on the menu boys!

Helene Update Day 22: INTERNET

 It is day 22 post Hurricane Helene interrupting our lives and Spectrum has finally restored our home internet.  While I am grateful for TMobile 5G home internet helping get us through the down time on Spectrum I won't miss the constant connectivity issues the 5G experienced.

 And yes I feel a bit of guilt being this excited over something as stupid as good internet access. Folks in our neighborhood are still months of repairs away from having their normal homes back.  Just north of us in western NC the scene is still apocalyptic in areas.  Their wait for power will be months and they may never get stable wired internet back; 5G or satellite are their only answers for the foreseeable future.

 So I'll take a moment to enjoy reliable low latency and massive download speeds but still think of those folks a short drive away and we'll keep volunteering and donating.  I'd suggest if you have any means to give that you do so.

 Also some visuals for anyone interested in what the difference means on our internet connection.

Network monitoring via Pinging.net web tool. 
TMobile 5G on the bottom; latency spikes and consistent drops.
Spectrum on the top; smooth consistent connection.
Literally night and day difference.

 

 

 

Speedtest results on Spectrum.  Note: speedtest isn't the greatest of tests but it is a simple way to illustrate a connetions potential.  For comparison TMobile 5G sometimes couldn't even run speedtest as it would die out during the test or if it completed it was 20-50 Mbps down and 1-5 Mbps up and latency was always 60ms+ (expected with 5G).

Thoughts after making level 50 in Throne and Liberty

 Even with my poor backup internet I was able to hit level 50 in Throne and Liberty last night.  I have some thoughts to share on the experience.

Yay! Level 50!

 First, I’m not sure if reaching level 50 in Throne feels like much of an achievement. This isn't your early 2000s MMORPG where you'd grind for weeks to max out. Instead, leveling in Throne is extremely fast and requires minimal effort—basically just completing the main story quests. Aside from a small grind from levels 44 to 45, the quests propelled me right to 50, and I hit that milestone upon finishing the final story quest.

 This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as leveling in MMORPGs has largely become a way to deliver the story and introduce game mechanics. However, I can’t help but feel that something is lost with this express-train approach. The fast pace means I didn’t stay in any single area long enough to truly appreciate it. 

 The fast-paced quest design also left me feeling disconnected from the world. Most quests followed a simple formula: go here, click, walk a few steps, click again, and fight a couple of enemies. After that, you’d enter an instanced story mode, complete an activity, teleport back to town, and move on to the next area. As a result, I never felt encouraged to explore the visually stunning world.

 Another issue was that the story itself felt incoherent and disjointed. I struggled to follow it from chapter to chapter, and the actions my character took—making potions, arming magic traps, breaking into buildings—didn’t connect with the actual game mechanics. It was frustrating to set up elaborate magic traps in a quest, only to realize I couldn't do anything like that in the open world.

 The lackluster story only emphasized how generic the world felt. Despite the visual variety, the environments didn't offer much meaningful interaction. Harvesting nodes were the same from level 1 to 50, and they often felt out of place. In New World, you can chop down any tree or break almost any rock, but in Throne, you’re limited to just a few types of gathering nodes.

 Enemy placement in the game was another immersion-breaking element. It often felt like I was walking into "dumb piles of mobs"—"mob" short for "mobile" from text MUDs.  These were just enemies that stood around waiting to be killed. In many areas, they respawned so quickly that it disrupted any sense of immersion. And then, in the next area, there’d be nothing at all—no enemies, no gathering nodes, just empty space.

 Unfortunately, this left me feeling unmotivated to explore. The world has beautiful environments, and the game’s morphing abilities allow you to fly, swim, and jump to all sorts of places. But there’s no real reward for doing so. Your best bet is to use the map, which tells you exactly where everything is, making exploration feel unnecessary. The entire exploration side of my brain was left unsatisfied.

 Despite my gripes, I did enjoy the journey to level 50. While I didn’t explore as much as I’d have liked, the visuals were stunning, and jumping on the back of a giant flying whale to watch the world pass below is a core gaming memory for me now. Now that I’m level 50, I can finally dive into the game’s many progression systems. There’s a lot to explore—tokens, contracts, various UI screens, and mountains of unopened reward boxes. But with so much complexity, there’s a chance I’ll just get irritated and return to New World instead. For now, though, I can recommend Throne and Liberty as a decent free-to-play experience.

TLDR; Throne and Liberty: OK experience up to level 50. 

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AIs.

Once Human up to more crazy stuff

 I haven't checked back into Once Human since stopping after the first season ended on our server, but I caught Force Gaming's video update featuring some of the new content and it's some crazy (thematically) stuff!  I especially liked the theme park area featured in the video.  I may have to go check this update out!