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The Game Archaeologist travels to Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds
I confess that I have a particular fascination for MMOs that came into existence in the 1990s. It's not only the fact that I was oblivious to them at the time (er, wild college days?) but that practically each and every one of them were true pioneers in their own fashion. And while your standard MMO fan might think that there were only three such games in that decade (four, if they are gracious and include Meridian 59), the truth is that there were far more of them. Today we are going to look at one of the most important MMOs to emerge from that time period, Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds, although its influence was primarily located in Korea while being vastly downplayed in North America. Still, here's a successful MMO that not only beat Ultima Online out of the door by a year but has since won a Guinness World Record for longevity!
New ArcheAge producer promises communication, game improvements
There's someone new at the head of ArcheAge, producer Marv Lee Kwai. Kwai posted a lengthy letter to the players on the forums recently outlining the major standing issues that the team still sees in the game along with several of the changes and additions set for the game over the next year. He stresses that the developers are well aware of unusual market fluctuations, sieges being too costly and difficult, and the balance of top-end rewards; moving forward, the team means to see them all tweaked and improved. The letter goes on to mention that the team is planning to add a global trade channel to reduce faction chat spam. Also en route is The Diamond Shores, a new area in southern Auroria that accompanies a bump in the level cap to level 55. It's a little past the start of the new year, but Kwai's tone is hopeful that the game can rise above its somewhat buggy and controversial launch.
ArcheAge patches in Divine Gifts and land expansion certs today
Following today's ArcheAge patch you'll want to keep a close eye on the bottom left of the game's UI. You'll see a little icon light up to indicate that you have a new gift awaiting you, and then... you get free stuff. That's it. That's all you have to do. The newest patch will offer these Divine Gifts to players regularly, allowing you to open as many as 10 in a given day for rewards like Lunarites, bonus food, and Hereafter Stones. Players will also be able to craft land expansion certificates (which will also be available from the Marketplace in a future update) and larger storage chests. That's in addition to new rewards for maxing skill trees and new portals leading directly to Serpentis and the Sea of Drowned Love. Whatever your focus is in ArcheAge, you'll have plenty of opportunity to take part in it when today's patch goes live.
Das Tal boasts that it will 'do things better' than ArcheAge
Consider the gauntlet thrown down from one sandbox to another. Das Tal Head of Communications David Wells posted a new essay today in which he says that his title will best ArcheAge: "Unfortunately I, like a lot of others, have come to the conclusion that ArcheAge is probably one of the worst MMOs to come out recently -- but the reasons why are not straight forward. I am going to go over the good and bad, as well as shamelessly point out how our game will do things better." Wells says that ArcheAge stumbled with a messy housing system, bad monetization, cultural differences, hacking, heavy grind, lackluster PvE, no solid PvP, shaky server tech, and a lack of good communication by Trion. He goes on to provide a counterpoint for each these items, explaining how Das Tal will succeed where ArcheAge has failed. Or, if you're looking for a TL;DR version, "How we do it better: To put it simply, we give a s**t."
The usual suspects dominate December's Raptr rankings
Do you quote Raptr data when having unscientific discussions about MMO playerbase numbers? If so, rejoice, because here are some more numbers based on a sample size of dubious value! As you might expect, League of Legends, Dota 2, and World of Warcraft continue to dominate Raptr users' attention spans, while ArcheAge, Final Fantasy XIV, and Guild Wars 2 all dropped from their position in November's rankings. Click past the cut to see the full list. [Source: Raptr press release]
ArcheAge tosses its end-of-holiday update on the test server
Testing out an update that's mostly meant to just turn off the holiday event might seem to be overkill, but ArcheAge has seen such problems with bugs that the team behind the game is apparently taking no chances. A small patch is currently available on the test server and will go live later this week; it contains the shut-off for all of the holiday events (so players with gifts or stockings should use them before the deadline). This build also contains adjustments to the MTX Pet Healing Potion; the potion will now heal pets for 100% of their health, and a future build will add a resurrection effect. A Marketplace addition is also slated to go live on the test servers within the next few days. If you want to make sure that everything's working fine after the event gets turned off, you can hop on the test server today.
One Shots: Midnight sun
Reader Sid is out for a midnight fishing expedition in this ArcheAge screenshot, and I have to envy him of the breathtaking view. Although, why not fish during the day? Less kraken that way, my granny always said. So this wraps up our two-week series of daily One Shots! Tomorrow we'll be back to normal with the weekly column. I hope you got inspired to send in your own screenshots and stories to oneshots@massively.com, because I'd love to feature them! Want to be featured in a future edition of One Shots? Send your favorite MMO screenshots to oneshots@massively.com, and don't forget to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of the scene. Large, colorful, UI-free shots that tell a story and really show off the game make for the best images. Look ma, we brought back One Shots!
ArcheAge Korea adding second-story housing upgrades, treehouse
When update 1.8 hits in Korea, ArcheAge housing will reach new heights -- literally. Two different models of houses, the thatched farmhouse and the medium house, are getting a special upgrade that will elevate them to two-story dwellings. Available in the cash shop, this upgrade item is applied to existing homes; there's no need to tear down and build anew. In addition, there are new models of houses being developed for release in Korea, including a house nestled high in a tree. Yes, folks, there's an outline of a genuine treehouse to tantalize housing aficionados! There's also talk of an exclusive housing district, but the details of the translated notes are fuzzy. Whether the Western market gets this update, however, remains to be seen; if it does, it's likely a long way off.
ArcheAge details its upcoming update, PTS, and holiday events
What do stockings, a vengeful sea goddess, and a dragon have in common? No, it's not a titillating new fantasy paperback. It's ArcheAge's next update. Version 1.2 Build 4.6 (as it is officially known) heralds the introduction of the Red Dragon to Erenor, an insane ancient Wyrmkin that will test the mettle of the strongest adventurers. Additionally, the jealous sea goddess Dahuta will make traveling the waters near her domain even more treacherous. Other update tidbits include a five-second forced delay between land claim attempts "in order to disrupt rapid spam-placement attempt tools" and the sale of the Comet speedster for 800 gilda. Players can test these new experiences out on the newly launched public test server. More information on all this and instructions for installing the PTS can be found on the official site and the PTS FAQ. This update also introduces the Winter Maiden Festival for the holidays. Featuring buff-giving trees you decorate and stockings you assemble all from loot drops, the event sees players decking the mobs with swords and staffs all through the season. Plushie collectors have the chance to acquire seven new snowman plushies to decorate their homes.
A dragon interloper is approaching ArcheAge
ArcheAge is gearing up for its December update, and that means getting ready for a dragon. A long time ago in the in-game lore, the dragon Misagon tried to take the land of Erenor for himself and his kin, which led to the Nuon rising up and killing him because that's just a really rude way to move in. The dragons panicked and left, but one among them started planning for Dragon Invasion II: The Dragoning. That invasion is going down as part of the December update, with the somewhat uncreatively named Red Dragon leading his minions in an assault on Erenor. This is the same dragon who resorted to feeding on other dragons to get stronger, so you know he's... well, not a good guy. Go ahead and check out the lore post for a slightly less irreverent explanation of what flies forth on crimson wings, and get ready to undertake some dragon hunting in the game's next major patch.
Leaderboard: Would B2P or a sub-only server bring you back to ArcheAge?
I've been thinking about ArcheAge a lot this month, and most of what I've been thinking about it is pretty negative. XL's fantasy sandpark has more problems than any single MMO should, but despite all of them I would still enjoy it if it weren't for that godawful cash shop. Yeah, the bugs are annoying as are some of the more pervasive exploits (flower dance griefing, really?), but underneath all that is a feature-rich virtual world I'd love to keep playing. At this point, though, the only thing that would bring me back is some sort of subscription-only server, or failing that, a buy-to-play-with-a-cosmetic-cash-shop server that doesn't sell labor potions, tax certificates, appraisals, and the like. What about you, Leaderboard readers and disgruntled ArcheAge expats? Would you come back for a subscription-only server or a less invasive cash shop? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
ArcheAge reinstates APEX purchases
The time since ArcheAge's launch has been a cycle of allowing cash shop purchases, discovering exploits with those purchases, and disabling those purchases, usually APEX. There have been a variety of other goofs hither and yon, but the important one right now is APEX. After a long period of being unavailable, it can be purchased once more, hopefully without a need to disable it again in the future. APEX, for those of you unaware, is essentially a way to purchase subscription time and sell it in-game, a la EVE Online's PLEX or WildStar's CREDD. The exploit issues caused by use of APEX items without actually consuming them have led to the items being removed from the store on multiple occasions. Hopefully this reinstatement signals the end of that particular cycle for the game.
Lost Continent: Yep, F2P sucks for ArcheAge
Thus far I've put up with quite a lot of crap in my quest to like ArcheAge. There was the launch debacle in which no one realized that many millions of people will show up and expect a working service if you yell "come play for free!" Then there was the Auroria debacle, in which no one cared about server accessibility during a competitive launch event. And of course there's ArcheAge's easily exploitable code, the ramifications of which include hacks, cheats, and bot-related problems that continue to be visible to anyone taking Trion's really-guys-it's-only-a-tiny-minority spin with a grain of salt. Finally, there's the grossly intrusive monetization plan that prevents subscribers from playing certain parts of the game unless they spend additional money in the cash shop. ArcheAge has a comically long list of problems, but it's this last one that's finally wearing me down.
Trion compensates ArcheAge players with cash shop potions, play time
Are you still playing ArcheAge? If so you might be interested in the stuff Trion's giving away as compensation for this week's lengthy server outage brouhaha. If you're a patron or former patron, you'll be able to claim a patron pack that contains five days of patron time and a bunch of cash shop potions that will help you bypass some of ArcheAge's more annoying gameplay restrictions. And of course they'll whet your appetite for more cash shop potions! If you've never been a patron, well you get fewer potions and no patron time. [Thanks David!]
ArcheAge servers are back up; Trion is sorting out in-game timers
If you're following the ongoing saga of ArcheAge problems, you probably know that the game had all of the servers shut down over a holiday weekend, which could theoretically solve the game's exploit issues in the same way that setting fire to your house solves any problems you have with your wallpaper. The server issues were stated to be a result of emergency maintenance, with community representatives denying that it was connected to servers overheating, DDoS attacks, or exploits. The good news is that out of the game's 21 servers, 16 were up and running last night, with the last five brought online early this morning. Players are promised compensation, which will be revealed later today. Unfortunately for players who had taxes due, the timers for all services continued to roll while the servers were down, so crops, housing plots, and the like were all still affected by time during the lengthy maintenance cycle. Trion says it is "definitely aware this is an issue for players with taxes due and is talking with XLGAMES about the best way to resolve it while the servers are offline." A server rollback is not in the cards. But at least the servers are back online. We'll have more updates on the compensation for players when it is announced.
Some of ArcheAge's servers are back online this morning
Trion's FireCait addressed the latest ArcheAge downtime crisis on the official forums just before 5 a.m. this morning: Hi all! Here's the latest update for everyone. You can log into the following EU servers: Shatigon, Kyprosa, Eanna, Dahuta, Aier, Orchidna & Melisara. We continue to work on Nui, Janudar and Nebe. In North American, you can log into Aranzeb, Naima, Kyrios, Ollo, Tahyang, Salphira, Enla, Ezi and Lucius. Inoch and Calleil continue to be offline as we work to resolve the issues on those servers. Please note that the servers that are being worked on will show up on the server selection, and vanish from the server selection screen, as they are being worked on. Their visibility is not an indication of their status until we indicate that they are fully online. We expect to have another update for you in the mid-late morning (Pacific time). Thank you all for your patience. The servers were down Sunday and Monday for what Trion called "unscheduled maintenance." The studio told Massively yesterday that players will be compensated for the extended multi-day outage, though exactly how hasn't yet been announced. Queues are reportedly still keeping many players from logging into the live servers on Tuesday. Oh yeah, and that rumor about the servers catching on fire and being in a state of desperate salvage? It's not true. "This did not happen," Trion's Scapes declared to forumgoers. Ocho likewise dismissed the idea that exploits are responsible for the downtime.
ArcheAge's 'unscheduled maintenance' stretches into day two [Updated]
Would you like to play ArcheAge today? Well, good luck with that! Two of the fantasy sandpark's North American servers are currently up but sporting a queue, which wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that they've basically been down since November 30th along with several other shards. Trion community manager Evan "Scapes" Berman first posted about the outage -- due to "unscheduled maintenance" -- yesterday morning, and he continued to update the post as instability and latency issues occurred throughout the day and into the evening. Massively has contacted Trion seeking comment. [Thanks everyone who tipped us.] [Update]: Trion provided Massively with the following statement. "The team's been working all night and has already made a lot of progress improving things and are currently working on fixing the remaining problems with XL GAMES' help. We should have updates coming to the community in the next few hours." The firm also mentioned "extra generous" compensation for the downtime, and said it would have more info on that once the problems are fully resolved.
ArcheAge launching in China in July 2015
If you want to relive the experience of ArcheAge's launch again or just love seeing the game come out in new regions, you'll want to keep your eyes on the game's Chinese version. Tencent Games recently announced that the game will launch in China in July of 2015, complete with some exclusive content to entice players who may have already heard of the game. Players in the Chinese version can look forward to what appear to be panda-styled gliders, special pets, some new costumes, new ship designs, and traditional Chinese house designs. No word has been released on business models, although it's almost a given that the game will be free-to-play as it is almost everywhere else in the world. Let's hope for a smooth launch for Chinese ArcheAge fans free of bugs and game-breaking exploits.
Lost Continent: Why so impatient with ArcheAge?
It's kinda silly, but I feel like giving up on ArcheAge. It's silly because the game launched in mid-September and we're currently in November. The fantasy sandpark does have more than it's share of problems, but logically I know that it's way, way too early to start piling dirt on its imaginary corpse. That said, there are so many MMOs clamoring for my attention nowadays that the idea of being patient with one of them is almost laughable. I'm not alone here, either, as many gamers I know look for the first available reason to leave an MMO and cross it off their to-do list, simply because they're wired to complete tasks and the ginormous glut of games long ago passed the point of overwhelming.
A glance at Civilization Online's robust character creator
Let's cut to the chase: Past the break, we have two videos embedded showing off Civilization Online's character creator, which you can use the next time anyone starts talking about the challenges of body sliders with stylized art. It doesn't take much to see that the characters here are pretty heavily stylized, but despite that, the character creator features a huge array of options, sliders, and details. Many of the creation options are controlled by a grab-and-pull system similar to the one seen in The Sims 4, making adjustments to body dimensions more instinctive. There's no official timeline for when Civilization Online will come to the US, so you'll have to either wait or get familiar with Korean if you want to try this out for yourself.
