“The Price of Microtransactions” column attempts to discover the cost, if any, of free-to-play (F2P) titles.  Most F2P titles are just that, free-to-play, but they offer objects for players to purchase.  Often these items are purely cosmetic, such as extra costumes, character customization options or non-stat armor modifications.  However, there are items that are more than cosmetic or “convenient” to own in today’s MMORPGs.  Especially for those who want to be in the title’s upper echelon.  The cost of those useful items are why we are here.

In a pre-launch Runewaker interview the founders of the company stated something along the lines of ‘you’ll never be able to purchase an uber sword’ in Runes of Magic (the interview was taken down when GetBuffed.com went into “database mode”).  And that is entirely true.  Runes of Magic’s Item Shop, called a Diamond Shop after the real-money transaction (RMT) currency, contains no weapons of mass destruction.  True to the founders’ point, the Diamond Shop offers few must need items for the average user, except the pricey permanent mounts.

The case can be made that there are numerous other items that are required for endgame participation outside of a stead, which itself isn’t cheap by any means.  Additional rune sockets (gear upgrades from Weapon, Armor and Accessory Drillers) are a must have to maximize a characters innate abilities for instancing.  As are the various jewels (Star, Moon and Sun Jewels - Wishes) that raise an object’s level.

Nearly as important as maxing one’s statistics is being able to hold on to everything you need.  Storage, and lots of it, is often an important “statistic.”  Be it multiple sets of gear for different purposes, items needed for crafting or your collection of Auction House purchases for later resale, everything needs a place to reside or it’s lost income.  In Runes of Magic new characters start off with a seemingly large supply of bag space, 120 slots.  That’s only when you compare it to a pay-to-play title though.  The less than intelligent quest design, item stacking and the parade of junk handed out fills one’s coffers quickly.  And that’s just the early levels.  It’ll become readily apparent to any player that bag and bank space are a premium, as it is for all other MMOGs.  Unfortunately Frogster doesn’t offer any permanent solution for space.  Sure, you can muster a additional slots by filling up your player house with small trunks, but on your person, or in your bank, the best you can do is rent additional space.  For the collectible nature of the gamers, and MMORPGs in general, this equates to subscription fee.  Albeit a petite one.

Here’s a breakdown on how much you can expect to pay if you want to be hardcore in Runes of Magic (1 Diamond ~ $.033).  This is admittedly the extreme case, but only applies to a single character, mind you.  Additional toons cost you extra:

Transportation:

• 199 Diamonds for a generic permanent mount or
• 395 Diamonds for a fancy permanent mount (ignored for total due to its aesthetic nature)

Item modification:

• 712 Diamonds on Expert Weapon Drillers for ranged and melee weapon (1068 for dual wielders of melee weapons)
• 1760 Diamonds on Expert Armor Drillers for all eight gear slots
• 1100 Diamonds on Expert Accessory Drillers for all five slots
• 95 Diamonds on Star Jewel - Wishes for weapon enhancements, with no guarantee to reach max stats of +6 (143 Diamonds for dual wielders of melee weapons)
• 188 Diamonds on Moon Jewel - Wishes for armor enhancements, with no guarantee to reach max stats of +6
• 117 Diamonds on Sun Jewel - Wishes for accessory enhancements, with no guarantee to reach max stats of +6

Storage space:

• 440 Diamonds for full bag space - 180 day lease
• 440 Diamonds for full bank space - 180 day lease

That’s 4171 Diamonds on upgrades alone!  God forbid you replace your gear often, as each replacement will cost you additional Diamonds for new rune slots and enchantments, or the less costly route of transferring your old gears stats to a new item.  When converted to real money, the upgrades alone will cost a tidy sum, $139.02.  I would also include the 880 additional carbon chains that will creep up every 6 months.  That creates a “subscription rate” of $4.88 per month for the hardcore player.

Then there are the numerous items that can enable one to reach the level caps faster.  This collection of consumables, experience/mount/loot/skill potions and encyclopedias for crafts, to name a few, are truly matters of (time saving) convenience.  Thus they are not required to be the best you can be.

It’s definitely worth noting that the major costs will only creep up on a player if they enjoy the game thoroughly.  Till that point there’s almost no reason to spend obtuse amounts of money on Diamonds.  Even if you do come to absolutely adore the title, there isn’t much reason to modify one’s equipment until you reach the level cap and begin collection level 50 gear.  Therefore, even hardcore players won’t spend much real money on Runes until later in the game.

Runes of Magic costs $140+ for the hardcore, but that’s only a small subset of Taborea’s population.  The vast majority of players will only purchase a mount (~$10), and perhaps a collection of potions and additional storage space to make leveling more efficient.  Outside those minute purchases, which can easily stay under the price of a retail MMORPG, Runes of Magic can truly remain free-to-play.