Understanding the Monetization System of Throne & Liberty: From Currency to Auction Hall

Are you excited for the Throne & Liberty open beta this Thursday? Both NCsoft and Amazon certainly are. The duo have crafted a new blog post aiming to persuade you to join them, particularly focusing on their values and monetization method. A strong anti-pay-to-win approach is being enforced, arguing that power upgrades should be available to all and store purchases should never be an obligation. This involves:

• Three separate currencies exist, one of which can be bought with real money but also earned via PvP and auction exchanges. Another is gained through standard gameplay, while the last is an event currency for rewards such as Twitch drops.
• An auction hall is in place, facilitating trades using the real-money currency (also directing this currency to players who do not wish to spend actual money). Nevertheless, items from the cash store cannot be sold on the auction hall.
• A one-off per-character pass can be purchased for expedited leveling, in addition to seasonal per-character battle passes.
• A cash store is present where players can purchase cosmetic items and the real-money currency (but cannot buy standard currency, food, or potions).

The blog entry provides comprehensive clarifications for each aspect, making the system sound much more complex than it really is. Amazon and NCsoft also mention that they’ll be offering early access packs for the game which endow up to five days of advanced access to the game. Here’s how the pay-to-win prevention strategy will work with the early start:

“Early Access and Launch Servers will be available. Even players who do not purchase Early Access Packs will have the ability to choose brand new servers at the game’s official launch, where everyone will begin their journeys together. Those who start at the official launch will also have the option to create characters on Early Access Servers if they prefer. For a designated period, Early Access Server players won’t be allowed to transfer to Launch Servers, and the Auction House clusters will keep Early Access Servers and Commercial Launch servers separate.”

Open beta will be running from July 18th to 23rd for those who want to have a sneak preview before committing to the game.