Devilian Goes The (Expensive) Founder's Pack Route

In a move that should come as a surprise to no one after ArcheAge, Trion revealed Devilian's Founder's Packs today, supposedly as a part of their time at PAX. These Founder's Packs can be found on the official website, under a new store tab. Let me tell you; they aren't cheap.

Following the ArcheAge Founder's Pack model almost to the letter, Devilian's Founder's Packs start at $49.99, giving you access to beta events—not 24/7 access—along with some credits, the cash shop currency, a two day headstart, a month of Patron status, a pet/bank/vendor, the typical Founder's Title, and an assortment of other goods. Higher tiers afford you more goods in $50 increments, including mounts, more talismans, more titles, more credits, and even more of the usual stuff. I find it odd that the minimum buy-in doesn't get you the Talisman called "Trion Worlds Founder," but perhaps they consider +10% Quest XP to be worth a good portion of the $50 between tiers.

I also find it a bit odd that they are unclear about how access will work on the store page itself, with that information relegated to the FAQ, so let me explain how it will work. If you pay for the highest tier, you will get an alpha invite—well, possibly, as alpha invites are limited and they are unclear about whether the highest tier will be removed when they fill the limited amount of slots. This alpha invite will give you 24/7 access to the server while other tiers will give you access to limited-time beta events only. That's right. If you pay for the mid-range, $99.99 tier, you are only getting access to beta events.

The oddest thing about all of this is that Trion are trying to replicate the success of ArcheAge's Founder's Packs for a game that has objectively less hype and interest garnered. Rather than being the "next great sandbox MMO designed by Jake Song of Lineage fame," Devilian is another attempt at an ARPG MMO, even if it turns out to be a nice one. Not to mention, regardless of who players blame for what happened with ArcheAge, many are still questioning how another localization done by Trion will go. Given that, the prices might be a bit high and I foresee them having less success with this one. Perhaps a buy-in beginning at $19.99, as Trove was, would have been more suitable. Of course, you could always take your chances at being randomly selected for a beta key instead.