Secret World Legends Free to Play Explained
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Whenever a game goes Free to Play, a question that inevitably arises is the one asking what exactly does Free to Play mean in this particular situation? An official news post fills us in on the details of The Secret World's F2P transition. It seems quite reasonable at first glance. Have a look:
WHAT IS FREE TO PLAY?
First of all, the whole idea behind Secret World Legends is to be able to share this crazy, rich universe with as many people as possible. We’ve got something like 100+ hours of mission and story content in the game, and removing the up-front pay barrier to the full game was really important to us. So, here we are: the game is free to play.
It costs nothing to download and nothing to play the entire game. Every story, every mission, every dungeon, every region–all free for everybody. This also means that any and all future content will also be free! Everybody will be able to experience new stories and content as they’re released without having to pay.
Really, the only limit is your own character’s level. You’ll never be forced to artificially pay out any cash or tokens in order to unlock missions and story progress.
MARKS OF FAVOUR AND AURUM
A pillar of our free-to-play model is being able to obtain anything through simply playing the game. Every item, skill, and ability in the game can be obtained without needing to pay real money for it–granted, you always have the option to buy things with cash, but you are never physically required to do so for anything.
The foundation of this pillar is a player-driven economy revolving around two currencies: Marks of Favour, and Aurum. There are many things you can only purchase with Marks of Favour, and some only with Aurum.
Marks of Favour are a flexible currency used for a variety of things, such as purchasing items from the Auction House, additional weapons, potion refills, dungeon keys, fusing items, cosmetic options, social items, and more. They are collected by completing daily challenges and by selling items to other players through the auction house–just playing the game.
For example, while each starting Class comes with only 2 different weapons, you can unlock every other weapon and ability for your character by spending Marks of Favour. You never need to pay cash or Aurum to unlock the other weapons for your character!
Aurum is Secret World Legends’ premium currency–you purchase Aurum with real money and use it to acquire various items, conveniences, and services. These include things like additional character slots, boosters, extra inventory space, vanity items (pets, mounts, outfits), and more.
THE EXCHANGE AND ECONOMY
Marks of Favour may be used to obtain Aurum, and Aurum may be used to obtain Marks of Favour. That’s where the Exchange comes in! The Exchange is a currency market where you may trade Aurum with other players for Marks of Favour, and vice-versa. You set the price, and you create the exchange rate. This is your economy.
Here’s a scenario: Let’s say an awesome shotgun drops for you while you’re playing. Sweet! This weapon could be worth a lot on the Auction House, so you put it up for sale; behold, another player indeed buys it from you! You then take your Marks to the Exchange and trade them out with someone for Aurum. Now, you can get that pet or booster you’ve been wanting!
You could even just keep the Marks for yourself, since many things are still only obtainable through spending Marks of Favour.
How you want to go about it is up to you!
We hope this helps answer some questions you may have had about Secret World Legends’ free-to-play model!
