🔥 HOT: Profiles/ - High Quality

Update: 03/01/2025 (long post, please be patient when reading)

I felt like it was important to update anyone who found my review at all useful.

Dear Development Team,

Since Oct 2024 I have been enjoying exploring, building, giving feedback and reporting bugs within this lovely and wonderful world that you have all created.

While I was aware that a subscription was in the cards for us(as it was the thing that made the most sense) I was very disappointed to learn how your teams have decided to implement this required and, admittedly, necessary addition to the games full launch.

My understanding is that Pax Dei will charge PER PLOT. Not a monthly sub, a PLOT sub.

For those that are new to the game and haven't found their legs yet I will clarify that plots are used in game to claim land. Land that you build your home, fortress, clan hall etc. In a sandbox game that implements raid style content(albiet casually) the importance of plots and the land required to build your machines becomes much more nuanced.

Since EA launch the game and it's development team have supported the clan system. Making clans and the social aspect contained within to be incredibly important to the longevity of the player base. To support these larger clans more space is required. Why you ask? Because some of these machines are massive. Having multiple machines to support dozens of clan members becomes incredibly neccesary for those wanting to wear the best stuff and raid the t5 raids(make no mistake the player base DOES include these individuals, myself amongst them).

So - to put it in very clear words - Paying for plot space is a pay to win system. Those without the cash to maintain multiple plots for bigger clan spaces will find their teams falling behind those with mass disposable income.

Pax Dev teams - this was not your only option to support your servers. There are many many systems for other games, in place, that work very well. I wanted this review to be a love letter to a team that has, up until now, made every effort to hear out their player base. I'm at a loss. The disappointment I feel at having paid over 100 dollars towards this game(some of my clan members even more given how many accounts they have to build with) and the subsequent knowledge that in addition to the cost of those additional plot spaces(I have 4 - the game gave you one for free in EA) I will have to pay a monthly fee for those plots I already bought - is, in a word, heart breaking.

So more than a review this is my way of explaining why, should this not change before launch, I will stop playing this amazing game. I will not pay to win in this game. I will not pay more for something I've already paid for in support of your development of this game.

I cannot, in good faith, encourage people to play a game that will become like every other pay to win model. I wanted your team to be different. I wanted to have a development team I could have faith in when so many other bigger companies with better models(overall and in comparison to) have spent over a decade continuously letting me, the player that helped make your dreams come true, down.

If your team adjusts this issue with a better model prior to launch I will be happy to change my review. Until then, this will not be a recommended game from me. I will not support a pay to win model.

Sincerely,
One very heartbroken player.












I don't usually write reviews. Theyre subjective and don't always fully highlight all the nuance good and bad for any given game as the author(myself included) will focus on the things that either delight or enrage them.

****If you're here for a short YES this is great or NO don't do it....you should scroll on****

If you're here because you saw the MMORPG tag - please....do not come into Pax Dei thinking that you will be leading epic raids against telegraphed opponents to get the big phat loot.

As a former raid leader in wow and ff14 I have to say that all the things that I found positive about the MMO experience and all the things I hated about it are both present and not present in the game. To clarify, the social aspect of grouping up to take on a dungeon(as opposed to a several hour raid) is present while the required time and effort to keep being relevant is not. I can choose to find a group on their discord server and try my hand at large strong holds or dungeons or I can just chill out and chop trees, mix elixirs, build my clan home or do some exploring of the area at my leisure.

As a busy business lady who also loves to game I don't have time to sit down for hours worth of required farming so I don't let my team down because the point of Pax Dei isn't world server firsts. It's a more relaxed version of what you might expect from an MMO --- which the traditional concept of the MMO has changed over the decades ---

The best first impression I got from this *Early Access* game was my first night cycle...where the horizon of the game lit up with glittering lights from player made structures dotting the mountain side or valleys. The landscape is constantly changing as players log in to build up their plots and grind for power creep.

Is this game grindy? Yes, yes it is. But you can do it at YOUR pace. The player base isn't super bent over whether or not they have the highest skill or the best gear because of the relaxed nature of the game.

While there are definitely server frame drop issues for older graphics cards - I'm using a 1080 Ti - it hasn't really impacted my experience of the game in an overall negative manner.

The best piece of knowledge I got from the community was how mindful the crafting system is. Like many games you have tiered(1-4) ingredients. One might expect to consistently get elevated stats to their crafts based on this alone but this isn't the case. The players skill in the role they play and the tools they use are just as important as the materials used to create them. Each item has a base set of stats that is altered depending on your skill with the tool or your skill when crafting the item in addition to the potential for tiered stats.

I might like to see optional world bosses that all the clans can get together to murder and loot but I don't think it would be a game changing experience for me negatively if that never happened.

Overall if you're looking to marry the traditional concept of sandbox and MMORPG this is a very palatable target of that desire.