Albion Online

I'm going to recommend this game but I'm doing so very reluctantly. Last night was the last time I logged in because I decided to quit the game after playing for around 1.5 months.
I went into this game knowing very little about it. All I heard was "played driven economy" and "everything is crafted by the player" which sounded like a huge appeal. The PvP element became very obvious to me early on. Now, to anyone reading this, Albion Online is a game made around PvP. PvP is its heart no matter what anyone else gonna tell you. Even if you want to steer clear from PvP and focus only on gathering/refining/crafting you STILL have to deal with PvP in terms of gankers.
Gankers is the reason I decided to leave the game. I'm not much into PvP though I tried to get involved during my time in there. The game is fantastic with its gathering and crafting system. For me it was rubbing an itch in an unexpected manner. I was looking forward to improve my character to craft higher tier items and make a living as some sort of artisan-trader in-game.
I'm going to describe the event that lead to me quitting and I'll try to use layman terms so that people who haven't played the game will get a general idea of what happened.
I gather animal hides from a PvP zone (Black Zone). The reason I do that in the PvP zone is because that level of Hides you'd only get in these type of zone. There's a hideout where I was stashing all my hides. I've amass one week worth of hides and decided to move that stash to the royal city (safe city hub). As usual, I took whichever path I thought was the safest. 10+ gankers showed up out of nowhere and melted my mount (T6 Ox) within second and killed me. My gear and my loot was worth around 1.5m silver (for anyone playing the game for around 1.5 months, that's a big amount of silver). It was disheartening, I was quite annoyed at first but a few hours later I left it behind me.
Fast forward later that day. I have multiple farms. I use my farms to plant herbs then I use those herbs to craft Poison. Poison is an item used in PvE/PvP contents. So, on a daily basis I gather my herbs and then craft potion. Afterward I would move to a Royal City to sell my potion. I gathered my herd. I crafted my potion. I was on my way to the royal city. Once more, took what I thought was going to be a safe route (again, not the same everyday). When I was literally a few feet from the entrance of a safe zone, 10+ people showed up from nowhere again and ganked me. Effectively looting me from another 1.5m silver worth of equipment and potion.
At this point, I was completely crushed. Now, while I lost 3m silver and for most people who are just starting out it would be a huge lost... for me it was a huge lost which I knew I could come back from. From day 1 of playing this game I've been super optimal in what I do and would always look for the best way to invest my silver to build a steady stream of revenue. I knew the lost silver probably represent 5% - 6% of what I'd possibly make in one month or even less if I scale the stuff I do... BUT... I just don't want to deal with this anymore. The negative feeling I got in that moment, the mood shifting from happy crafter to depressed because of a silly game and virtual currency... Nah, this is not for me, I don't want to deal with that.
One thing you should know is that gankers will always have the upper hand in this game. Gankers are always going to look for weak target. A weak target is a trader who is just starting to get some success but not quite there yet... meaning the trader is always traveling with equipment that are weak (not in a fighting condition) and/or mount that are slow (can't outrun the enemy). Traders (gatherers/crafters) are easy target and getting ganked is there daily life. A solo trader have almost no protection against gank. Against 1 ganker, you're probably safe. Against 2, it could be hectic if your mount is weak. Against 3, the chance of escape starts to become slim but its there. Against 4, you might get super lucky (or they're awfully dumb as a rock). Against 5? Against TEN? Nah, just stand there and accept your fate.
Ganking is part of that PvP element. There's no removing it. Any suggestion to facilitate the life of traders will be met with harsh criticism from various parties. The game has one of the best gathering and crafting system out there but its weighed down heavily with ganking. There's almost no joy in gathering at higher level; you're constantly under stress of getting ganked. The only temporary joy is when you go to your hideout to hide your stash but you're still facing the anxiety of bringing that load back to the royal city. You might get start and hire a Scout to get you a clear path but at this point, what you're paying the scout might negate any revenue you'd make gathering early on.
What happened to me is not a tragedy, its just part of the cycle. My wall of text is not a big sign telling you to go back, its just a stern warning of what you're getting into.
If you are the type of player who enjoys PvP then go right ahead, you're gonna find a great amount of joy in this game. People who wants to steer clear from PvP? You can't. Full stop.
Again, I'm still giving this a recommend because the game is good. The system works as intended. Just keep in mind that PvP is the core of this game and there's no escaping from this.

WARNING: IF YOU ARE PVE PLAYER WHO HATES ANY PVP WITH PASSION, THIS GAME IS NOT FOR YOU.
Also the game server is located in the USA, so be warned, you may not enjoy high ping, lagg and rubber banding which given that Albion online is full loot pvp game may ruin it for you.
Well, since all of the above are out of the way, we can discuss this awesome game. Yes, its grindy as hell, one can grind till the end of time and then some more. Even one of my friends, who really enjoys grinding, could not withstand the grind, but to be fair, its one of the charming aspects of this game. No matters whats happened to you, you can always return to safe zones and grind for some resources, clear some dungeons and make some quick back to fund your pvp exploits. As a player driven economy always will need resources, even low level tier.
High risk, high revard.
One may play safe in blue & yellow zones, but how long before you will look for better hunting grounds? Full loot pvp sounds scarier then it is. As every veteran player will tell you, don't go in red/black zones with gear which you can't afford to lose. As game have been designed, you can craft or buy lower tier( T4/1 T4/2) and still make some runs in to the abyss. There has to be a good balance of skill/gear and knowing when to/not to fight. And its also possible to run away.
I myself are more of pve player and not that good of pvp, even so I managed to farm, do solo dungeons. Even so, stand one against 2 and survive, or help another when he get ganked. Its all about earning more then loosing. One successful dungeon run in black zone may be enough to cover 10 bad ones. One successful farming session in red may cover 10 failed ones.
Another thing is how skills work in albion. You are never stuck with one build. You can mix all sort of things together and see how they work. Its dont take long to get in t4, which I would say is entry lvl gear for pvp zones. So each weapon category has different skills, same with armor and one can quite fast find things what works for him. Even better, master a lot of them and you can switch around for whatever task you gonna do (farming/pve/pvp)
Overall its fun game, yes its grindy, but no matter what path you will choose, you will always feel growing and progressing. Yes there will be bad days, with sorrow and lost fortune, but that only will make good days feel better. It may feel like other job, more so if you have premium, but there is no another game like this(Yet)
My only complaint is that of server performance. Its no fun having 300ping while galloping through black zone while having a few mil loot on you. And I think they should warn people that servers are located in USA. For full loot pvp game having game servers only there gives huge advantage to natives …
A fool and his silver are easily parted

So far, Albion isn't really a newbie-friendly game, but once you get some levels and experience up, you'll get the game to its full potential.
PROS
- Massive PvP battles that are really enjoyable. From open-world PvP, to large 100 people zerg vs zergs.
- Large playerbase, huge guilds, and plenty of things to do as a group
- Sandbox with no quests, but your quest is mainly to be the richest (i guess?), but really cool for me
- Free to play, lots of things to do even if you're not upgraded to premium
- Classless characters, meaning you can go any character, any build, anytime you want.
- Full loot PvP, as I previously mentioned, which makes the game alot more exciting and challenging
- Cross-platform support
- Microtransactions is pretty minimal to none, usually just spend $10 on 1 month of premium or even just earn ingame currency to get your first month of premium
- Conquering of cities, territories, castles, etc.
- Custom islands where you can have houses, farms, etc.
- HUD and UI is really great (for me)
- Most of the items ingame is player crafted
- Gives Diablo 2 and Runescape vibes, with a mix of some Dota 2
CONS
- NEEDS LOTS OF TIME INVESTMENT, it's really grindy to get higher tier items and rare stuff, took me a decent week to max out my gathering skill.
- Player-driven economy, inflation of items are inevitable, lots of players are shit and raises the tax to 999% in crafting stations, and most of the stations in major cities are owned by players and large guilds.
- NOT GOOD FOR SOLO PLAYERS, as a solo player myself, it's really fucking bad to play this game alone. With full loot PvP in the open world, you'll always go against 3 people or more.
- Guilds are controlling the game. In lots of places, guilds own most of the territory and would instantly kill anyone they meet that aren't their teammates.
- Only one server, which is NA. As a SEA player, and the vast majority of the players from EU, it brings lots of us in a disadvantage, especially in PvP
- Toxic af community lol
- Gameplay gets pretty repetitive unless you're in a big guild that normally starts wars and territory attacks/defense
- Really hard to start out as a newbie, unless you got a group of some sort
- Every fucking city is overcrowded, not good for people with low-end PCs even if it has Dota 2 graphics
TL;DR
Every single thing you do matters, large scale full-loot pvp, player driven economy with lots of unfair taxes and prices but mostly normal, you can be any class or equip any item at any time, yet it feels really nostalgic. Lots of frame and ping lag, especially if you're in SEA or EU or any other place other than NA. But a really good game so far, even as a sandbox, it feels like you always have something to do.

So, what to expect from this game?
Pros:
- Pretty reasonable file size for the game
- Quite fun to waste some of your precious time
- Easy to learn basic mechanics
- You hardly need to pay real life $$$ for in game currencies (just get ready to grind all the time)
- Runs well even if you have a potato PC
- One of the best F2P MMORPG
- Lots of guides on the internet on how to get started
- LOTS OF PVP
- Dungeon Raids
- Lots of active players
- Easy for new players to catch up with the veterans
Cons:
- Hard to master
- Guilds that camp on portals on the black zones (Full Loot PVP on all the time) that will gank on you and squeeze you dry
- GRIND ALL THE TIME
- Fixed camera angle (THIS SUCKS)
- No map autopathing (You either have to click on where you want to go, or just hold the left/right mouse button) can be frustrating because of the fixed angle and limited zoom option whereas the map is quite big (THIS SUCKS EVEN MORE!!)
- If you don't research on how the market works first, you can expect big profit loss even after you gathered for hours
- Toxic chat community (on the general chat)
- Scammers guild that preys on newbies (100% tax)
- No fast travel method (teleport only transport you to the black zone)
- You have to save up to 8.0 Million silver/ 3K Gold to get 30 days premium account, to get your own island which only costs 17.0 K silver (But it's worth it, and you only have to pay for it once) just get ready to farm for quite some time
Well, that's that from me, thanks for reading my review!
If you're the type of guy that likes grinding/farming then this a game for you and expect a lot of it!
If not, SHOO! Don't waste your time here, just trust me.
I recommended this game just because it's free to play and P2W is not really an option.
P.S : Please note that this only my personal opinion and I'm only 24 hrs on to this game

Hello! Glad you found this review. If you scroll through the reviews, you see a few negative ones, clearly stating how horrible this game is, that there is no story, or that you lost ALL your inventory to a stupid player and now you are dirt poor... Well... Before you are scared away from this game, give it a chance. Here's why:
The game is complex, with a steep learning curve. But don't let that fool you, there is a lot of open-minded people and guilds out there to help you out. Don't be scared to ask for help or advice, and try to look around for a guild with a teaching mentality. Do not look to the top 50 guilds, as they are focused on being competitive and have no interest in teaching new players.
I have seen these reviews crying about there not being any content. Well, if that is your perception, you have clearly not done 2v2 hellgates, 5v5 hellgates, 5v5 arenas, 5v5 crystal leagues, 20v20 crystal leagues, solo dungeons, corrupted dungeons, group dungeons, avalonian dungeons, static dungeons, hardcore expeditions, open-world roaming/PVPing... Yeah you get my point, there is a lot of content.
I also strongly feel the need to address the negative reviews claiming that this game is only a grind for 2000 hours, and then you can start PVPing. Well... You are not required to grind more than 15 minutes to wear tier 4 and go out and PVP. But to be successful in PVP without breaking your bank, you should probably grind a few more hours. But no, this game is not all grind. :)
And yes, this is a full-loot game. But there is zones where it is NOT full-loot, which means you can do your own thing, in your own pace, without being stressed out about being ganked and losing your inventory. And yes, while you lose your inventory in red/black zones, it does not mean you lose ALL your progress... Only the set your wearing and your items in your bag. Store your expensive gear in a bank and don't bring it out unless you can't afford losing it.
And no, there is no set story by the game. You create your own story, your own path. Will you be a famous guildmaster, a famous crafter, a HCE god or will you climb to the top in the 5v5 crystal leagues? Go find out :D
And to all the solo players out there... Yes , you can be a solo player, but it is waaaay harder than being in a group. Find a guild, play with a community and do group content. Nothing beats a group dungeon with 5 half-whitted people in a discord channel :D
To summarize this review: This game is very fun and addicting, but being a solo player might not be the best path to go or the most enjoyable one. Try finding a guild and community to play with before giving this game a negative review simply because you do not enjoy solo content. Yes, I do recommend this game, and I certainly hope I will see you on the battlefield ;)

I'm playing this to kill time until a better mmo comes out.

" If you engage in pvp in open world and die, you can lose all your currently equipped gear and resources. "
Now take a moment to re-read what I typed above and think before you join the game. If like me, the thought of losing gear via a Risk/Reward system, is something that will make you rage, then don't play. They will gank you, they will attack at the worst time possible and this will happen over an over again, till you learn the basics and can fight back, with a guild or dedicated team.
If you're ok with the above, then let's continue.
The game is different from your average MMO. A few quests early on, give you the basics of gameplay and then.... nothing. You're free to make your own adventure, your own choices, your own dreams. If you want to gather stone, go ahead grab a pickaxe and enjoy. You want to npc/mobs, grab a weapon and kill. Pvp? It's got you covered in many formats, from solo, team, gankfests, faction vs faction and land ownership for your guild.
From humble beginnings, you'll need to establish your economy first though, because you'll lose everything. Whilst the game allows you to get the best gear, with best enchants, with best mounts, you can lose it all, yes yes, even your mount. Take time to stay in the learning zones, establish crafts, resource gathering, learn which areas, use which resources and most importantly, learn which areas to stay clear of, until you think you're ready.
This game has much to offer..... it's got an abundance of loyal, established pvp'ers and players. It's so different from normal MMO's that you want to get stuck in, your OCD looking at all those skills, wanting to get them all..... but remember, this is very much a risk vs reward game and if it hasn't been expressed enough already.... you can and probably will, lose the shirt off your back.
Good luck and may the gankers never find you.