Roma Victor

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Roma Victor is an historically authentic MMORPG or virtual world based on the Roman Empire in the latter half of the second century. Roma Victor is being developed by RedBedlam Ltd of Brighton and Hove, England and is currently in beta testing. It will be possible to either play in 1st or 3rd person during the game, although combat will be 1st person only.

The release date announced by RedBedlam is July 14th, with special pre-order customers being let in 2 weeks earlier, June 30th, as per terms of the contract. It has a unique payment system involving buying an account key and downloading a free client but, in contrast to most other MMORPGs there is no subscription. To compensate, the developers have decided to use a new revenue model, consisting of buying in-game currency with real money. It is a system in some ways similar to Project Entropia, but unlike that title, it is not possible to "cash out" money earned through normal gameplay. The developers claim that it will be possible to play without paying; however, as this is not the "chosen method of character development", players who attempt to do so may experience difficulty. It is claimed that £5 (pounds) will provide enough currency for about 2-3 months, although that could be stretched if the player spends his or her money wisely and/or gets more income routes inside the game, or for less than that if the player lives lavishly. This figure is roughly equivalent to the monthly fees paid over the same period under traditional payment structures. However, the largest draws for gamers are the open-ended, sandbox nature of the game, its historical setting and the great range of options regarding skills, with 185 already confirmed, ranging from combat-based skills to more peaceful pursuits such as irrigation and tanning.

Roma Victor recently recieved a score of 8% in PCZone [1], the lowest score the magazine has ever awarded. Many Roma Victor fans believe that the low score is unfair, and due to a bias or 'shiftiness' on the part of the reviewer, Ed Zitron.