I guess i should drop a review too, i experienced a free-to-play gameplay from server launch to here. So i can speak with a certain "authority" about the "f2p" gameplay:
My experiment began with a full f2p Knight (No Vip and Tiered Itens), my name ingame is Free Ironman.
Regarding the Early-Game Journey:
(Level 8-200)--> I trained my skills up to 85/82 and basically did each task/mission from the respawns and kept grinding. The gameplay is absolutely equal to VIP until level 100, when VIP players can make dungeon and obtain Silver Tokens. (They do not matter that much early on assuming u have not bought any item from store besides VIP).
The second half of gameplay (Level 100-200), I basically finished Quester Kah's missions and finished most of Tasker's aswell.
Regarding the Mid-Game Journey:
(Level 201-500)--> At Level 200 i had finished most of the Spawn Room Quests, obtaining a Demon Helmet, a Magic Plate Armor, a Golden Legs, a Boots of Haste, an Weapon from "Mini Annihilator" (2 Players) and a Mastermind Shield. However, as i reached level 200 i noticed i could finally access the Silver Token Quest (Single Time), but it was far too hard at my level in comparsion with Level 100 Dungeon (Hourly).
The second part of gameplay (Level 200-350), During that time interval i mostly hunted Nightmares (Level 1) and Finished all remaining tasks.
The Third part of gameplay (level 350-500), As soon as i reached level 350 i tried rushing the Silver Token Quest, and i noticed if i wanted to do it properly i could have done it, however i decided to rush it. The road to level 450 was quite interesting? i was making a very good profit/h and an amazing 90-120kk exp/h on f2p Level 1 spawn.
The Fourth and last part of gameplay (Level 451-500?), I basically kept hunting the same monsters however, the exp rate decreased at (451-600) so it went slower. i was still making solid 80-90kk exp/h since i got stronger
, i think that is as far as f2p gameplay goes.
Regarding the Late-Game Jouney: (THE LATE-GAME in my current observation does not exist for "pure f2p" and for "normal f2p's and VIP'S starts at 500+ since this is the level VIP's can start doing Daily-Quests to obtain the Sanic Boxes to get Tiered Items.)
I assume that level cap for the season as f2p assuming no stamina dolls used neither exp boosts would be something between 601-750?, my current level is almost 500. I had fun with my experiment so far, assuming that my "experiment character" is way stronger than my main one with VIP.
Final Considerations: Free-To-Play (NON-VIP) cannot compete with VIP players, there are so many VIP only features.
I would make the level 100+ dungeon a "repeatable" quest that still gives the Silver Token. however i would not make it HOURLY (Maybe 4-12 Hours Delay?), [i feel like tiered items are so much better than normal ones.]*Edit1
Edit1: I feel like THE SKILL BONUS from tiered weapons make them extremely overpowered (not talking about the +2 scale) im talking about tier 1 giving +12 skill. If tier 1 was something like +6 or even +8 the discrepancy would be smaller?
I also feel a bit of p2w as everyone in the top 5+? bought sanic promotion + tier 1 bundle at store.
Since this season has a prize pool i kinda understand people "investing" some money trying to grasp the prize.
Maybe next season we get a new dynamic? Im willing to play season 1 and eventually season 2 if some changes were implemented.
Edit2: I also have to say that a f2p can probably accquire level 1k by the end of the season! i wont say which spawn it is tho
Kind Regards!