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THRONE AND LIBERTY Business Model – What to Expect

General

16/07/24

Amazon Games and NCSOFT are excited to bring you THRONE AND LIBERTY. In the coming months on the road to launch, our teams will strive to be keep you informed and up to date. It is important to us that we are open, communicative, and transparent about what is to come. You may have some questions about how the in-game store and economy will work in the regions supported by Amazon Games. While some of the specifics may change as development discussions continue, we wanted to provide an early overview of the key aspects of the game’s business model: Economy, Leveling & Battle Passes, and Aesthetics. First, let’s quickly discuss our approach.

Our Values

As our team worked with NCSOFT to develop the business model for THRONE AND LIBERTY’s release, we identified three tenets that embody our values, guide our decision-making, and serve as the business model’s foundation:

  • Player self-expression is paramount

  • Combat and power upgrades must be accessible to all players

  • Purchasing items from our in-game shop must feel rewarding, but never necessary

Key Systems

Learn about in-game terms and systems that form the core of the game’s economy and business model. Below the overviews and introductions of these systems, a more detailed section with specific changes can be found that dives further into the Auction House and the in-game passes available for purchase, and some of the Amazon Games updates (differences that players may notice between Amazon Games service region and other versions of THRONE AND LIBERTY) that will take place for those systems.

Currency Overview

There are three primary currencies in THRONE AND LIBERTY:

  • Lucent - Players can acquire Lucent by purchasing it with real-world money, earning it through specific PvP encounters (such as Castle Sieges and Tax Delivery Events), or by selling eligible items on the Auction House. Additional opportunities for acquiring Lucent may be added in the future.

  • Sollant - Players can acquire Sollant in-game through a variety of activities. It is primarily used for in-game goods from NPC vendors and is needed to execute tasks like crafting gear, upgrading gear, and engaging with other key systems.

  • Ornamental Coins - Players can acquire Ornamental Coins through special in-game activities (such as collecting lore books), and promotional events such as Twitch Drops. Ornamental Coins may also be earned through in-game events and the Battle Pass free track. There will be a shop for players to spend their Ornamental coins that offers a mix of cosmetics and progression items.

Auction House Introduction

The Auction House is the hub for the player-driven economy within THRONE AND LIBERTY, where players can trade items and gear with each other. The economy in THRONE AND LIBERTY is a little different from other MMOs. Trades on the Auction House use Lucent. The Auction House allows players to earn Lucent without spending any real-world money. Lucent earned through the Auction House can be spent on any purchase in-game that requires Lucent — paid and earned Lucent can be spent in the same way. We would like to note that the Auction House is a work in progress. You may see iterations on the in-game economy as we work with NCSOFT to refine the systems. Find a further deep dive into the specifics of the Auction House below the overview section that covers the nuances and other details of the system.

Passes Introduction

To accommodate different playstyles, we’ve developed two types of passes that players can opt to purchase. Both types of passes will have a free and premium track, which can be obtained in exchange for Lucent.

  • Leveling Pass - A one-time purchase per character that delivers an earnable stream of materials and items to enhance leveling in THRONE AND LIBERTY. There's much to explore in Solisium, and some players may want to experience it faster. The leveling pass does not provide any exclusive power related items.

  • Battle Pass - The Battle Pass is a recurring seasonal (roughly every month) purchase sold on a per character basis that delivers a combination of new aesthetic rewards, crafting materials, items, and various in-game currency in exchange for completing specific daily, weekly, and seasonal challenges. Although Battle Passes might change from season to season, we are committed to ensuring that each Battle Pass provides generous value and rewards.

In-game Store & Cosmetics Overview

The in-game store will allow players to purchase Lucent for real-world money. The in-game store will also sell various forms of cosmetics, including: Outfits, Morphs, Amitoi, Emotes, and more. Items purchased from the in-game store cannot be traded on the Auction House. Beautiful visuals are paramount to THRONE AND LIBERTY, and character outfits are no exception. We're committed to delivering a variety of outfit visuals to allow players to express their own player fantasy and style. We'll start with a handful of options and throughout the game's lifespan increase the offerings, including completely new styles. Please note, purchasable outfits are purely cosmetic and will not provide any player power enhancement of any kind. A portion of character outfits will feature options to further customize your appearance. Styles, dyes, or patterns are some of the additional options available ensuring you have the ability to showcase your unique style in Solisium.

  • Amazon Games Update:

    • The in-game store will not have Sollant, food, or potion consumables. Consumables for cosmetics such as dyes and sewing thread are still available.

Early Access Overview

Early Access into Solisium will be available to players who purchase an Early Access Pack. To learn more about the packs and their contents, visit our Early Access Pack Showcase on July 18.

Early Access Packs can be purchased until the game launch date, at which point they will no longer be available for purchase. Purchasing any version of the packs will give players up to 5 days early access to THRONE AND LIBERTY. We understand the concern that early access may bring to some players. Because of this, we’re taking the following steps:

  • We will have both Early Access and Launch Servers. Players who do not purchase Early Access Packs will still be able to select fresh servers at launch when all players are beginning their adventures together.

    • Players who start at launch will still have the option to create characters on Early Access Servers if that is their preference.

  • For a set period of time, players from Early Access Servers will not be able to transfer into Launch Servers, and the Auction House clusters will not mix Early Access Servers and Commercial Launch servers. This is designed with fairness in mind to prevent players from Commercial Launch servers from accessing any items sooner than intended from the Early Access Servers, or being overwhelmed by players with a head start.

    • Transferring from a Launch Server to an Early Access Server will be allowed, subject to availability. Server transfers will be available at launch, and we will further explain this system in future articles as we head toward launch.

System Deep Dive

Dive into the specifics of the THRONE AND LIBERTY Auction House and Passes, along with regional changes we’ve collaborated with NCSOFT to develop.

Auction House

The Auction House is the hub for the player-driven economy within THRONE AND LIBERTY, where players can trade items and gear with each other. Trades on the Auction House use the premium in-game currency, Lucent, allowing players to trade goods with other players for the exchange of Lucent. Lucent earned through the Auction House can be used anywhere in the game, including the in-game shop, Battle Pass, and Leveling Pass. This means that players who choose not to purchase Lucent for real-world money can still earn Lucent by selling items through the Auction House, and use that Lucent to purchase any of the game’s offerings. The Auction House has a two-tier tax system. First, there is a system tax that removes a flat percentage of Lucent from each transaction. Second, the Auction House has a tax system where a portion of the tax is set by the guild that owns the Castle. This additional tax rate can be set by the Castle Owner (within a certain range). Any trades that take place will have some of the Castle tax distributed to various PvP events that can be earned by guilds and distributed to their guild members as another avenue to earn Lucent by playing the game. The current events for earning this tax are the Castle Siege and the Tax Delivery Event, with additional exciting activities on the horizon. In the Castle Siege, guilds can earn Lucent through various methods, not just by winning the overall siege. We will cover the further nuances later in an in-depth article on Castle Siege.

Only items listed by players can be purchased. This means that top-end gear is likely to be very limited, especially in the early game when guilds are vying for control and keeping the best-in-slot gear for themselves. It also means that the total number of people who have top-end gear is always limited to the total number of times an item has dropped. Only base level gear can be listed on the Auction House. Any gear that has been advanced or upgraded in any way is not eligible to be listed for sale. Gear obtained from instanced content such as Co-op Dungeons and Guild Raids are also not eligible to be listed in the Auction House. This means that players must still play and upgrade their gear in order to reach its highest gear level, even if they acquire gear from the Auction House. There are four major progression tracks that influence a player’s power. Learn how the Auction House interacts with these systems to balance empowering players through the in-game economy while ensuring players need to engage with the game to progress.

  • Weapon Mastery: Cannot purchase anything on the Auction House that increases your Weapon Mastery.

  • Skills: Skills require training books in order to enhance. Training books cannot be purchased directly on the Auction House. Training books can be acquired as rewards through gameplay or crafted at the Skills Researcher NPC.

    • Crafting a training book requires two materials: A Gem and Parchment. Gems can be acquired through the Auction House. Parchment is not available on the Auction House and can only be earned by playing the game.

  • Gear Score: Increasing your gear score requires an item called “Growth Stones”. Growth Stones cannot be purchased directly on the Auction House. Growth Stones can be acquired as rewards through gameplay or crafted at the Weapons/Armor/Accessories Crafter NPC.

    • Crafting a Growth Stone requires three materials: A Gem, Magic Powder, and a Crystal. Gems can be purchased directly through the Auction House. Magic Powder can be purchased indirectly through the Auction House by purchasing gear and dissolving it to receive Magic Powder. Crystals can only be earned by playing the game, and are not available on the Auction House.

  • Gear Traits: Increasing your Gear Traits requires you to enchant your existing gear with another piece of gear that is of the same type with the same trait. For example: If you want to upgrade a Sword with the +Hit trait to increase the +Hit amount, you need another sword that has +Hit as its trait.

    • You can also increase Gear Traits with “Trait Extracts”. Trait Extracts allow a player to extract the trait value of a particular item and sell it on the Auction House. This is useful when a player has acquired a piece of gear that cannot be listed on the Auction House. If you extract the trait, it will destroy the item, but allow you to still sell the trait itself.

Passes

Leveling Pass

The Leveling Pass is a one-time purchase per character that delivers an earnable stream of materials and items to enhance leveling in THRONE AND LIBERTY. The Leveling Pass provides players with cosmetics, Sollant, progression materials, and other valuable items. It is intended to enhance the player’s journey from level 1 to level 50. The Leveling Pass will have both a free track that all players can enjoy along with a paid track. Everything other than the cosmetics found in the Leveling Pass are earnable through normal gameplay. Players can unlock rewards at each level and by completing specific game content relevant to their character level.

  • Amazon Games Update:

    • The Leveling Pass purchase price has been reduced, and is now purchasable with Lucent instead of real-world money, allowing players a free-to-play path to acquiring the pass.

Battle Pass

The Battle Pass is a monthly purchase sold on a per character basis that delivers a combination of new aesthetic rewards, crafting materials, items, and various in-game currency in exchange for completing specific daily, weekly, and seasonal challenges. The Battle Pass will refresh roughly every month at launch. Each pass has both a free track and a premium track that can be unlocked with Lucent. The pass contains a combination of cosmetics, Sollant, Battle Pass Shop Points, in-game materials, and consumables. The Battle Pass Point Shop is accessible to all players and items can be purchased as soon as you gain Battle Pass Shop Points. Once a character achieves the maximum Battle Pass level they will convert additional Battle Pass EXP to Battle Pass shop points. The shop contains rotating rewards and offers such as other cosmetics and items to help with progression. The Battle Pass Point Shop is accessible by all players, not just those who purchase the premium Battle Pass. Free players can earn pass points at the same rate as paying players.

  • Amazon Games Updates:

    • Added additional cosmetics to the Battle Pass tracks.

    • Updated the final reward cosmetics to a premium level outfit.

    • The Battle Pass purchase price has been reduced, and is now purchasable with Lucent instead of real-world money, allowing players a free-to-play path to acquiring the pass.

    • Added additional Battle Pass Shop Points into the free track of the Battle Pass so points can be earned prior to completing the entire Battle Pass.

    • We’ve removed premium-only quests and rewards, allowing all players the same amount of access to Battle Pass EXP.

Blessing of Solisium

For those of you that may have played on the Korean servers or watched content creators, you might be familiar with Blessing of Solisium. This is an optional purchase which provides a variety of benefits to the player. Blessing of Solisium will not be available in the regions supported by Amazon Games at launch, as we continue to evaluate how this offering needs to change to serve the needs of our players.

Looking Ahead

We’re excited to invite players to experiment with these systems in our Open Beta. Create a character, join a guild, and fight for Solisium during Open Beta, running from July 18 until July 23. Learn more in our Open Beta Details article. As we continue to test and develop we look forward to your feedback!