Runes of Magic US / AU

would definitely recommend as a casual alternate to WoW.

combat is a bit faster, and there is more customization.

I agree with Cike.

And you're gonna get responses from both positive and negative points of view.

I enjoy the game as a whole, there's a lot going on for it, and the customization for gear is probably by far the reason I enjoy it over most MMO's.

I'm in the same boat as you right now though, I'm finding it hard to stay logged in for any extended period of time except to do my dailies. My character is maxed, and I've taken my gear about as far as I can go, so my time has been spent on other games.



The game as a whole is worth trying out at least, and then decide for yourself if you wish to stay. But it's "free to play" so there's no limit on leveling like there is to try WoW out.

Quoted from "acypcar90"

...it's "free to play" ...

This is the best piece of advice anyone could perhaps give - you can download and play as much Runes of Magic as you want without spending any money whatsoever.

I have been playing WoW for about a year, but it was quite a while ago. So here is my experience - I hope it is still relevant.

The first thing that stroke me in RoM was that there seems to be much more options for gear improvements. It's interesting, but this also means that unfortunately there is not much fun for new players in PVP in low-level brackets. Twinks of established players have crazily OP gear (compared to what new players can afford). Still, I had some fun at Tyrefen Mountain Range at lvl 29 with my rogue (just annoying those OP twinks, lol). But for example Karros Canyon is no fun at first at this level compared to the Warsong Gulch.

If your focus is end-game, you will discover ways to level up much quicker than in WoW, imho. Relatively large world and quickness of leveling means also that lower-level zones are fairly deserted (well - compared to WoW a few years ago; I wonder how it is there now...). Plus almost all toons in start-up zones are AH/storage alts of real players - a weird landscape at first.

PVE: instance experience seem to me quite similar to WoW, although it slowly becomes more "quick burn" and less tactics. There are huge differences between classes, so even if your class choice does not seem to matter at first it *is* important to choose your classes wisely to be relevant in end-game. Theoretically you can always start a new toon (it's free, lol) with a different class combo (and ppl do this a lot!), but you don't want to *have to* do this and have some of your effort wasted... (Besides scouts, for every other class there is more than one secondary that makes it fun and relevant and playable; but not all combinations fare as well - so the remark is more about choosing your secondary class than your first one, I guess)

PVP: mechanics (in most popular: siege wars and arenas) is fine (a few gliches); the huge number of two-class combos makes it difficult for things to be balanced... It still means always learning new tricks or counter-attacks. Definitely fun, something that keeps most people playing.

There are several very key differences to WoW (in which activities pay off, in how things work with gear upgrade etc., how you can use alts created on additional separate accounts etc. ); even if you are a pro in WoW, do expect to be learning a lot about RoM in your first months.

Graphics is nice. You also have to prepare yourself for crashes, though. This seems to be very different experience for different people. You can forget about high-details + huge visibility range, imho. For me normalish details with really, really low visibility range makes things pretty enough and stable enough. But: crashes you will get.

I switched to RoM from WoW because I thought the no-payment environment will make less pressure on spending all my free time in game. Well, after a while it turned out it is not. Expect the game to be highly addictive (if you meet right people) and to spend a lot (too much? ) time in it. So as you see - I would recommended it.

Edit: about downloading: avoid GF live! Get the 6.0.6 clinet from here and the patches from here or here.

The people in ROM are amazing and the beginning quests work, unlike some non-subscription based mmos

If you're starting out as a human though... Stay away from Moongorge... That place was a bit of a lack of foresight when they introduced line of sight...

Quoted from "Zhainne"

Well Im currently trying to get it downloaded and of course it's giving me problems. Seems like I always have some sort of problem downloading games.

You'll find a link in my signature with direct download links instead of going via the GameforgeLive downloader. It might be easier/quicker for you.

Make sure to read all the instructions posted by Inferiority though...

Quoted from "Yrcanos"

Quoted from "acypcar90"

...it's "free to play" ...

This is the best piece of advice anyone could perhaps give - you can download and play as much Runes of Magic as you want without spending any money whatsoever.

Its far from free to play. Not to mention to make up for the server population dropping they are charging more to the existing players. Most of the server population is at end game status. But that means there is no shortage of players to help you along. But if you want to play and contribute without being carried you will have to spend money. Around $80 for a end game set of gear. For one toon. Thats plussing the armor, Purfied fusion stones to place stats on your armor, Armor drillers, and not to mention the price of things keeps going up. I do like the game but i would not recommend this game. Other games out there have more to offer for a cheaper price. As much as i would like to see you on the game i wont lie to you. Yes there are things you can do without paying but the quality and ability of your toon depends on money, lots of money.

it depends on how you play, if you can put the time into it... it can easily be free to play, EASILY. BUT you need to play like all the time, and grind,farm, grind, make alts, grind together, farm together, etc etc etc. If you cant put forth that kind of time, and you would want to be endgame, then you will prob have to throw some money at it. If your horribly impatient like me, maybe a lil more lol.

Quoted from "Mrjoshua29"

Quoted from "Yrcanos"

Quoted from "acypcar90"

...it's "free to play" ...

This is the best piece of advice anyone could perhaps give - you can download and play as much Runes of Magic as you want without spending any money whatsoever.

Its far from free to play. Not to mention to make up for the server population dropping they are charging more to the existing players. Most of the server population is at end game status. But that means there is no shortage of players to help you along. But if you want to play and contribute without being carried you will have to spend money. Around $80 for a end game set of gear. For one toon. Thats plussing the armor, Purfied fusion stones to place stats on your armor, Armor drillers, and not to mention the price of things keeps going up. I do like the game but i would not recommend this game. Other games out there have more to offer for a cheaper price. As much as i would like to see you on the game i wont lie to you. Yes there are things you can do without paying but the quality and ability of your toon depends on money, lots of money.

Nice going Mr. Joshua.. Complain in EVERY thread about a lack of population and then try desperately to scare a newcomer away.

At op: Play the game. It is fun and exciting, and unlike what others have to say, you don't have to spend any money on this game unless, like some, you feel the need to get to endgame in 3 weeks.

Quoted from "Drakkarsdad"

Nice going Mr. Joshua.. Complain in EVERY thread about a lack of population and then try desperately to scare a newcomer away.

At op: Play the game. It is fun and exciting, and unlike what others have to say, you don't have to spend any money on this game unless, like some, you feel the need to get to endgame in 3 weeks.

Well not every thread. I have placed a lot of positive feed back on or about this game. But the truth is the truth. The server populations are down right now. Not saying they wont come back at some point but the game is going to be hard for a new player to find people to do things with. If i was him and if as going to start i would look for a server with a strong population of new players. And i don't do anything desperately. You can try and earn your brownie points if you want. I would rather tell the truth.

just wait til you hit the region settings

j/k ofc..





(check out Aqua's guide)

do not worry, once you get the client running, you can switch regions/languages with just a relog. many new players do not realize this, and it always seems to default to whatever region you DON'T play(trust me, EU complains about this too). just need to change region before trying to log in. saves alot of frustration on your part, and explaining on our part

aqualink made a guide for it in the "game guides" section of the forum.

yeah rom instalation is really buggy.

I just remembered something about one of my installations. A lot of anti-virus programs will suspect ROM of virus activity. Something to do with how it installs or patches. I had TONS of issues when I installed without giving rom the proper clearance through my anti-virus.. interface issues and graphics issues.