Basic/Premium Accounts & Item Mall
Basic and premium accounts yield a host nice bonuses over "free" players. Basic accounts run $7 per month with premium at $14 per month. The benefits gained from membership include:
" More XP
" Higher chance of item drops
" Lower death penalties
" Region chat
" Additional benefits from Item Mall purchases
My experience showed that the purchase of premium memberships would probably be worth it but isn't necessarily required to gain the best stuff. It just takes longer which is, undoubtedly, the point.
The Item Mall is another way, completely separate from the monthly accounts, where players can apply real world dollars to buy in game points. Points can be used to purchase things like a durability hammer to repair weapons and armor for free or a 'fast rex' to ride from the battlefield to town again. The rexes move about three times faster than a player on foot so it's definitely a nice feature but one that's not necessary if one is unwilling to pay for it. Again, it just takes longer.
Gravity has done a nice job with balancing things for the paying and non-paying customer of Requiem: Bloodymare. Purchasing store points is inexpensive and the items that can be purchased are well worth the low cost.
Fun Factor
Guilds have a big role in Requiem: Bloodymare. Finding a good, active guild makes the game more interesting and accessible as it does with most games. While it's not a necessary component, I found that my experience and interest level improved 1000% after finding the United Legion (HI GUYS & GALS!). Never negate the importance of a guild.
Add to the guild thing all the interesting and unusual stuff to see and do, Requiem becomes something worth playing every day. Is it perfect? No it's not. But devs have continued to improve the game with weekly maintenance and patching and plans are there for more additions and enhancements down the road.
Conclusion
I have found Requiem to be a blast to play. Perhaps my review is tinted somewhat with rose-colored glasses due to my involvement with the United Legion guild, but I don't think so. There's enough here to keep my interest beyond the "I have to play this and write a review" stage of things. Requiem has lots to do, lots to see and there is a lot of fun to be had if you can get past the small annoyances.
I don't like assigning grades or percentages to my reviews. I prefer to think of it this way:
" "Preorder this game NOW"
" "Buy it the day of release"
" "Wait for a couple of decent patches, then get it"
" "Wait for the bargain bin"
" "It's OK but only if someone gives it to you"
" "Not even worthy of being a coaster"
If Requiem were a game to be purchased in a store or via digital download, I would definitely rate it "wait for a couple of decent patches, then get it". As Requiem has been constantly patched since release in June, it's a safe bet to give it a try.
That aside, Requiem is worth the time to play. I've loved every bloody moment of my experience there and have plans to stay on for a good long while. My feeling is that for a first entry into the "horror genre" of MMOs, Requiem has definitely scored a base hit. Add some new content, fix some of the bigger problems and it's possible it could become a homerun. Only time will tell.
But, as they say, you don't have to take my word for it. Download the client, play Requiem and judge for yourself.
