Is Throne and Liberty pay to win? (Based on April beta and Korean release)

As of the most current release, Throne and Liberty is pay-to-win, much to the dismay of most gamers. However, this is something that could change at launch. Some players opine that any benefit you spend real money on is pay-to-win, while others insist that it is only items/purchases that give a player higher stats than someone who chose not to invest their real money into an MMO.

During the April beta test of Throne and Liberty, many felt the game was pay-to-win. Even before that, there were reports of players accusing the game of being predatory when it came to monetization. It’s worth noting that this could change though. If so, this article will be updated accordingly.

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Throne and Liberty is currently pay to win

The pay-to-win nature of the game could change in the coming weeks or months (Image via NCSOFT)

As mentioned, Throne and Liberty is currently considered pay-to-win. However, it’s worth noting that the next open beta test will be on July 18, 2024, and there is a possibility that NCSOFT could update the game and remove some predatory purchases that disappointed fans. On their website, the developers also said that everyone who takes part in the test will be able to fill out a feedback form.

It’s not unusual to see pay-to-win games in the free-to-play space, though. Whether it’s Diablo Immortal’s monetization or games like Tarisland and The First Descendant that have some pay-to-go-faster purchases, it is a popular but annoying system in free-to-play MMOs like Throne and Liberty.

While Throne and Liberty features real-money currency, that doesn’t make it pay to win. What makes it - or made it pay-to-win in April 2024 - was what you could purchase with it. You were able to spend real money on Growthstones, Precious Parchment, and Precius Marind, allowing you to upgrade skills/equipment.

Being able to spend real money on powerful gear in this MMO is a slippery slope (Image via NCSOFT)

You can also spend real money on a Leveling Pass, which “activates the premium rewards in Leveling Log upon purchase.” From levels 1-50, players will get better rewards upon leveling up, and they will be incredibly useful.

However, the big thing is the marketplace. When you couple this with the fact that during the April testing phase, you could only get 15 rare crafting material drops a day through daily activities, spending real money appears to make sense.

Diablo 3 tried this, and it went wrong for them. Players can put up their powerful equipment on the marketplace and sell it for Lucent (real-money currency). Granted, you can try and flip this equipment to make Lucent for yourself, but that doesn’t change the fact that Throne and Liberty feels incredibly pay-to-win this way.

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This could change in the future, but as of this writing, it appears spending money may just be the best way to succeed in this free-to-play MMO.