Last week, Albion Online decided to offer up something new for players to purchase: warden mastery packs, a series of four new bundles with some of the usual goodies – and one highly controversial item.
These new packs provide things like tradable cosmetics or mounts, premium account access, and gold, but the thing that’s getting under most fans’ skin is the inclusion of learning points (LP), which can be used to fast-track advancement of a node on the game’s destiny board progression tree. The LP counts offered run between 1,500 and 15,000 depending on which tier of pack is purchased, while the bundles range in price from $20 to $200. Packs will go on sale on October 28th for Albion Asia and Albion Americas players.
The reveal almost immediately raised complaints from players ranging from pay-to-win accusations to the claim that the recent ouster of the CEO of Sandbox Interactive’s parent company, Stillfront Group AB, is somehow to blame for the move.
Response to the packs, as well as questions raised by players about them, prompted SBI to put out a brief FAQ to clarify a few additional things: These packs are not being sold to Albion Europe players because they’re meant to “help new and returning players catch up” on Asia and Americas servers (the Europe servers are comparatively young, having just opened this April); they can be purchased only one time per character; and while things like gold and LP are character-specific, cosmetics are account-bound.
