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~~What I am not a fan of

Crafting – At first there seems to be only 3 professions and 3 materials to gather.  If you take a look at our crafting guide here you will see how wrong I really was.  There is so much more that you can do with crafting than I ever thought possible.  And just the amount of time you spend doing it… wow. 

Adventuring – The starting areas are nice, simple and give you the quest mark ups.  This changed quickly as soon as level 5 but was not really touched upon in the beginner guides as the game was still new and exciting and it didn’t bother me as much.  Now perhaps I am feeling this more due to playing every class at least a little bit and really only through the starting levels but it has become a major headache for me.   

The Grind – This is probably the number one reason I have not gone much past where my Rogue is today.  The grind is killer once you get past level 10.  There are days I don’t log in because I cannot face another grind fest

~~What I do like

Community – Runes of Magic seems to have a very helpful community for the most part.  Just like every game that has been created and every game that will ever be created they have their fair share of trolls and elitists who think they know all and you are crap if you don’t play the game just like them but for the most part they are a very nice and friendly bunch. 

Equipping – This one is interesting.  It’s a love hate kind of thing.  I love the customization that is available through the Runes system in the game but it can be very time consuming.  Especially for the new kid that loves to get in and do all kinds of odd things. 

Character Customization – I was a fan of this from the first time I loaded the game and it has not changed.  The amount of time that you can spend just making the character your own is amazing to me.  I love it.  Even with all of the characters that I have created, played, and deleted it is still a joy for me every time I get to create a new one.  

~~Overall mid way impressions

Runes of Magic is an amazing game for anybody looking for a free-to-play option.  It has a lot of features that you don’t find on some pay-to-play games and it does them well.  I think that perhaps some areas of the game are over complicated and there is a lot of emphasis on crafting when maybe there could be more on questing and other things.  Runes being Frogsters’ first release into the US’s very competitive and often overflowing MMOG market I would have to say that it has proven two things.  One, you do not need a multibillion dollar budget to produce a good game. Two, it does not have to have a monthly pay model to be successful. 

If I were to grade Runes of Magic based on my experiences so far leveling through the mid-game I would have to give it two grades.  

Compared to other free-to-play games that I have played I would give RoM an A-:

• I give it this grade because compared to other free-to-play offerings its head a shoulders above the crowd.  I will have to say the system requirements are really the only thing that is disappointing compared to other free-to-play games as Runes of Magic requires more from your system than the average free-to-play title does.

Compared to other MMOG monthly pay games I have to give RoM a B:

• Some of this grade does stem from the fact that it is a free-to-play model that can at least qualify to run with the “big” MMOGs. I also dub it with this grade because it is fairly smooth and in a world where the larger free-to-play market seems to only be able to create a grind fest Runes makes a decent attempt at mixing it up a bit.

At the end of the day there is no question at this point to me that Runes of Magic is worth looking into.  It’s decently polished and does really good in a lot of areas. This is not the game for me as the grind gets so mundane at the end.  For me once I reached level 20 it really became the same act recycled over and over again.  I have not gotten a character to end game yet so it may change once I get there.

So, to me Runes of Magic has a major lull in the middle but what do you say? Leave a comment and we will do lunch!