Albion Online, the fantasy sandbox MMORPG developed by Sandbox Interactive, is now officially free-to-play. The game originally came out two years ago, and it's one of the very few cross-platform MMORPGs available right now (you can also play it on iOS, though that's still in beta, or Android mobile devices, with the client available here).

　　When we reviewed the game almost two years ago, Jorge praised it while cautioning more casual players due to the intrinsic grindy nature of the game.

　　Albion Online really lets you tell your own story almost entirely from the get-go. If you’re looking for a sandbox MMO that’ll remind of the early days of online gaming, there might truly be something here for you. Albion Online is a fun sandbox MMORPG with a clever progression mechanic and deep player-based economy. The mid to late game grind and hardcore nature might turn away anyone looking for a more casual experience.

　　The free-to-play launch also comes with a patch and we've added the changelog below.

　　As of April 10, Albion Online will be entirely free to download and play. Existing players can continue playing as normal, while new players can create an account and play the game without purchasing a pack. The Premium system continues unchanged, and Premium status can still be purchased with either real-world money or ingame currency. For more information about this change, please see this thread: https://forum.albiononline.com/index.php/Thread/104118-Free-to-Play-FAQ/

　　

Improvements

Moving between clusters within a city (main city, bank, marketplace, etc.) no longer requires a cooldown periodFurther performance improvements via optimization of nametags, mob health bars, veteran mob icons, and party target markers

Portal, Respawn, and Island Changes

Portal Changes

　　Each of the Royal Cities (Fort Sterling, Thetford, Martlock, Bridgewatch, Lymhurst) gains an Outland portal of its ownThe existing portal exits in the Outlands are split between the cities in the following way:Caerleon retains all 4 Portal exits in Mercia and the easternmost Portal exit in Cumbria (Alderwood)Fort Sterling gets 2 Portal exits in Cumbria (Coombe Tor, Bootsuck Fen)Lymhurst gets 2 Portal exits between Cumbria and Anglia (Hotshadows Plain, Thistlecopse)Thetford gets 2 Portal exits in Eastern Anglia (Slickhag, Hanging Valley)Bridgewatch gets 2 Portal exits between Western and Eastern Anglia (Midgebite Fen, Deepwater Fen)Martlock gets 3 Portal exits in Western Anglia (Roostcliff, Browngrass Meadow, Blencathra)Using a portal will:lock you to that city's portal color indefinitelyalso lock you to that specific portal for 20 minutesYou will lose your current lock if you return to the Royal Continent using any other city portalYou will gain a city's portal lock if you return to the Royal Continent using that city's portal or when respawning there after death in the OutlandsRespawn Changes

　　The ability to respawn "in nearest city" is replaced with an ability to respawn "in last visited city"The ability to respawn "at nearest territory" is removed, but you can set any territory tower as a homeYou can still respawn at a home, however you will lose your home binding when you choose to respawn in "last visited city"Special Island Move

　　During a special transition period of one month, you will be able to move your personal and guild islands to a city of your choiceEach island may only be moved a single time, and the move is wasted if not used during this transition periodIslands created after the patch goes live CANNOT be moved - this only applies to islands created before the patch

Increased Resource Respawn Speed

To prepare for a potential influx of low-level players, the respawn rate of resources in safe and yellow zones has been increased (i.e. the refill time for these resource nodes has been reduced):

　　   T2 respawns about 285% faster (now 21 seconds, was 60s)   T3 respawns about 400% faster (now 45 seconds, was 180s)   T4 respawns about 500% faster (now 100 seconds, was 500s)   T5 respawns about 170% faster (now 450 seconds, was 750s)

Guild Cost Changes

Cost to found a guild: 25,000 Silver → 100,000 SilverCost of a new guild island: 50,000 Silver → 75,000 Silver

Adventurer's Challenge Changes

Free users can now complete the Daily Bonus and earn Challenge Points. However, they can only claim the weekly and monthly rewards after buying at least 30 days of Premium status AND having Premium status active.The Daily Bonus now grants a Tome of Insight to all players.Additionally, free players now have the opportunity to earn 10 Learning Points by completing the Daily Bonus (instead of the 20 which Premium players continue to receive passively).

Additional Changes

With the launch of free-to-play, the global Silver discount has been adjusted based on a Silver-to-Gold ratio of 2000:1, which allows for lower Silver prices for actions like repairing, buying islands and seeds, re-spec, etc.The "fade to red" effect when health approaches zero has been reduced, giving players a better chance of staying alive at low healthAll visual quality settings/presets now have "Show Effects" set to "All" by defaultPremium and Gold stats now appear on the Character Selection screenChanges to dungeon immunity:You cannot get a new "bubble" (immunity to damage and other effects) in dungeons within 60 seconds of last receiving the buffDungeon immunity duration: 10s → 15sThe Undead Knight's spell indication should now be easier to readReward for "Not a Small Fish" tutorial quest was reduced from 2 Adept's Royal Sigils to 1 Adept's Royal SigilTier 7 Earth Elementals found in Randomized Dungeons now only have up to two charges of T7 Stone

Combat Balance Changes

Bows

　　Auto-attack (all Bows):Attack Range: 11m → 13mAuto-attacks per second: 1 → 1.3Damage per Auto-attack: 29 → 23Piercing Arrows (Passive):Damage Reduction per Stack: 1% → 2%Attack Speed (Passive)Buff Duration: 3s → 5sFrost Shot (all Bows):Hit Delay: 0.2s → 0sStandtime: 0.2s → 0sEnchanted Quiver (regular Bow):Number of Arrows: 15 → 18Undead Arrows (Whispering Bow):Damage per Hit: 39.31 → 50.00Range Increase: 50% → 35%Duration: 10s → 8sCrossbows

　　Removed the Passive "Aggressive Caster"Added the New Passive "Well-Prepared"Every 4 activated spells, your Q-slot spell cooldown is instantly resetAuto Fire (all Crossbows)Shot interval: 0.5s → 0.3sDamage per Tick: 28.01 → 37.00Explosion Damage: 67.22 → 89.00Range: 11m → 13mExplosive Bolt (all Crossbows):Energy cost: 4 → 3.5Hitdelay: 0.5s → 0.4Standtime: 0.5s → 0.4Knockback Shot (all Crossbows):Now also increases Attack and Cast Speed by 50% for 4sCooldown: 10s → 8sKnockback Distance: 5.27 → 10.00Damage: 41.13 → 62.00Hit Delay: 0.2s → 0.1sStandtime: 0.4s → 0.2sSnipeshot (regular Crossbow):Damage: 380.25 → 418.00Range: 15m → 16mStandtime: 0.6s → 0.4sSweeping Bolt (Heavy Crossbow):Hit Delay: 0.4s → 0.3sStandtime: 1s → 0.7sCooldown: 20s → 18sDaggers

　　Lunging Stabs (Bloodletter):Cooldown: 20s → 30sHitting an enemy below 40% now also reduces all your cooldowns by 10sFire Staffs

　　Contagious Fire (Infernal Staff):Damage per tick: 34.68 → 32.00Holy Staffs

　　Holy Beam (all Holy Staffs):Cooldown: 10s → 16sCelestial Sphere (Redemption Staff):Heal per Tick: 80.00 → 90.00Nature Staffs

　　Reanimate (all Nature Staffs):Is now a channel instead of a cast abilityRevitalizes an ally, restoring 60 health and 10 energy per second. The ability can be channeled up to 5 times. (15s Cooldown, each tick consumes 8 energy)Well of Life (Wild Staff):Cooldown: 30s → 25sQuarterstaffs

　　Forceful Swing (all Quarterstaffs):Cooldown: 15s → 18sHurricane (Iron-Clad Staff):Cooldown increased by 4sSwords

　　Mighty Blow (Broadsword):Damage: 276 → 287Spinning Blades (Dual Swords):Max Health Damage: 8% → 6%Helmets

　　Emergency Heal (Guardian Helmet):Cooldown: 40s → 30sDisplacement Immunity (Knight Helmet):Buff Duration: 10s → 6s

Fixes

Weight displayed under character button now updates when changing passives or mounting/dismounting, as intendedGraphical settings will now persist when logging out and back in of Albion Online[WINDOWS] Fullscreen is now Exclusive Fullscreen, and works only with Albion Online Launcher 1.0.34.247 - switching between different fullscreen modes requires restartPlayers will now see their own name tag and health bar flash and change color when entering an unrestricted PvP areaRespawning after dying during portal binding immunity in the Outlands now removes the binding as intendedFixed a bug that allowed looting of items from afar via teleport skillsThe Morgana Champion's spike spell now matches its indicator more closelyAdded missing mob shield to chests in several Randomized Dungeon templatesAdjusted Realmgate and Hidden Entrance soundsAdjusted volumes of Fire, Frost, and Cursed Staff spells and fixed missing soundsNumerous additional minor graphical, UI, localization, terrain, animation, and audio fixes