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Economy exploits plague ArcheAge [Updated]
If you were hoping that this would be the week in which there were no stories of ArcheAge bugs or exploits hitting the news, we're sorry to say that reality has dashed your hopes. Players are reporting numerous exploits hitting the game, some of which have been publicly detailed on the game's subreddit, such as a method to force the game to offer specific loot when random boxes are opened. The exploits are being investigated and will be rolled back illegal character gains will be reversed if discovered, according to Trion Worlds. Further posts clarify that players who were unknowingly involved in these exploits (through the Marketplace or simple dumb luck) will not be targeted, although players are advised to use caution in their dealings and avoid obviously suspicious deals. [Thanks to squidgod2000 and Thunder for the tips! Our original story conflated the words rollback and reversal. Trion Worlds has told us that server rollbacks are not on the table. The studio says it will reverse characters found to have knowingly benefited from the exploit. The marketplace has been taken offline while the exploit investigation continues.]
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite MMO ship?
I finally got my ArcheAge fishing boat over the weekend, and now I'm setting my sights on bigger and better ship designs. And I'm doing a lot of fishing, naturally! I'm kinda partial to the Lutesong Junk, but then again the Eznan Cutter is pretty badass, too. What do you think -- what's your favorite in-game ship in ArcheAge or any other MMO? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
ArcheAge is going mobile
Sprawling, beautiful, messy sandparks like ArcheAge aren't usually the sorts of games that translate well to mobile platforms, but apparently that's exactly what's happening. A press release published today declares that XL Games has teamed up with GAMEVIL to make a mobile ArcheAge a reality. Global game publisher GAMEVIL has partnered with development company XL Games to release a mobile version of the widely successful MMORPG ArcheAge. [...] In addition to receiving praise in Korea, ArcheAge has also amassed over 2 million players in North America and Europe after being released in these regions in September 2014. By adapting this online game into a mobile RPG, GAMEVIL and XL Games hope to let even more gamers around the world enjoy ArcheAge. [...] The mobile version of ArcheAge will combine XL Games' development with GAMEVIL's service to provide the ultimate mobile MMORPG experience. It appears to be a standalone adaptation rather than some sort of crossplatform tie-in, but we will be very disappointed if we can't plant vegetables, gank noobs, and yoink housing plots on our phones as in the MMORPG.
Global Chat: Why we blog
Why an MMO player decides that he or she needs to take up an additional hobby of writing about these games isn't much of a mystery. We may all blog about a huge variety of topics, but the impetus behind it tends to be very common: We have so many thoughts about and so much love for these games that we can't hold it in. To blog is to open up and share experiences, observations, and hopes. It's to connect with others and to perhaps give another layer of meaning to the time that we spend in-game. We don't blog because we have to; we blog because we simply could not not blog. So let's see a few examples of what MMO bloggers couldn't keep inside of them! From spooky stories to rapturous tales of exploration, it's a testament to the power of words and goofy rejoinders.
An ArcheAge player found a way to kill the servers at will
It's never a good day when you see players on the forums boasting about causing server crashes. In nearly every single case, it's a matter of someone bragging about doing something with no actual proof as a bit of pointless ego boosting. What's worse, of course, is when a player posts about causing a crash and claiming it can be replicated... and then proceeds to do exactly that, demonstrating that the server can be crashed at will. This is apparently what happened to ArcheAge. User ArchegeDown posted a thread on the forums on Friday, stating that a specific bug was responsible for bringing down the servers and that it needed to be fixed. To prove these claims, the user caused two more server crashes at scheduled times, demonstrating the ability, with the stated intent being to simply get Trion's attention. The thread is currently locked, but it's possible that subsequent server crashes are a result of other players discovering the same method of inciting a server crash. [Thanks to xpactor and Matt for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: How long do you give an MMO to improve?
A couple of days ago I took ArcheAge to task. My rant wasn't an I-quit post, though, as I'm still having quite a bit of fun with the game thanks to its unique systems and its immersive virtual world qualities. While I certainly hope the game improves enough to serve as my permanent MMO home, I don't have any inkling how long that might take. What about you, Massively readers? How long do you generally wait for a flawed but promising game to course correct and live up to its potential? Or do you wait at all? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
ArcheAge producer update talks Auroria, patron discounts, and more
Trion published a producer's letter for ArcheAge earlier today. In it, the company detailed why no rollbacks will be forthcoming in response to the disconnection issues that surfaced during this week's Auroria launch. Producer Victoria Voss went on to say that out of "tens of thousands of new, legitimate land owners," under 20 ended up with "more land claims than would have been reasonable." The letter also contains bits about ArcheAge's siege gameplay which the Auroria patch has enabled as well as an update on the much-discussed 10 percent patron discounts. "The 10 percent patron discount will take effect in the form of a 10 percent bonus to credit pack purchases beginning later today. This is something we're able to roll out independently, without adding more workload on the game's developer. As such, we've agreed that this is the best way to get a great benefit into your hands as rapidly as possible," Trion says.
Lost Continent: It's getting harder to like ArcheAge
ArcheAge fandom is hard. It was initially hard because of the waiting. Consider that we've known of the game's existence since 2010 and that some of us have been playing it in various incarnations since 2011, which is a full three years -- and dozens of gameplay changes -- prior to its official North American launch. Now that we're past said launch, the difficulty has shifted to watching Trion (or is it XLGAMES?) do its best to destroy a promising title via a series of clownshoes decisions.
Trove enters open beta, ArcheAge deploys Auroria in the EU
Have you been looking for another pixel-polygon building game to call your home? After being in the test phase for so long that you could be forgiven for speculating that it would never be released, Trove has hit open beta, letting everyone log in and try the game for both bugs and just for the heck of it. There will be no more wipes of the database, so you could easily regard this as something of a soft launch for the game. If you're not feeling that particular sort of building and you're over in the EU, you can instead try your hand with the latest update for of ArcheAge, which mirrors the patch deployed earlier this week on the US servers. Hopefully the EU rollout will not include the same login issues that hit the US servers as well. The patch is scheduled to go live today at 5:00 p.m. GMT. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
The Daily Grind: How do you diverge from conventional MMO wisdom?
I was reading some forum reviews of ArcheAge recently, and had I not played it extensively myself, I would have come away with the impression that it's a grindy gankfest with crappy combat and a hacker infestation so vast that it's actually unplayable. Needless to say, I disagree with all of those assertions. Similarly, most if not all of my MMO-playing friends and co-workers swear by Guild Wars 2's combat. It's so fluid and actiony, they say, to which I usually smile, nod, and think, if it really was all that, I probably would've played the game for more than a week! I'm likely in the minority on that one, though, which leads into today's Daily Grind. How do you diverge from what passes as conventional MMO wisdom? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
ArcheAge scrambles to fix disconnection issues after update
ArcheAge launched a big update yesterday filled with exciting new features -- chiefly, new territories that players can capture, build castles upon, lay siege to, and so forth. At least, you would be able to do any of these things if you were one of the lucky few players capable of logging into the game, which has not been the case for a great many players since the update went live yesterday thanks to serious disconnection issues. As of 7:45 a.m. EST this morning, the official Trion post on the subject says the studio has devised a new build to correct the issue, and the servers were brought down early this morning to apply the patch (they're back up now). However, that might not be enough to pacify the players who are agitating for a rollback under the perception that the update's new territory was claimed while significant portions of the playerbase were forced offline. We'll have more on this situation as it develops. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in! Our own AA players are in the same boat!]
ArcheAge's Auroria launches today
ArcheAge is scheduled to launch a big new update today on its North American servers. How big? Well, you can get a pretty solid idea just from the patch notes. The game is adding four new zones to be conquered and claimed by players, complete with space to build castles and houses once the claims have been made. There's also a new dungeon being added to the game, giving players uninterested in the land rush something to do with their time. New recipes have also been added for high-end weapons requiring Gilda Dust to craft. Vehicle stats have seen a rebalancing in an effort to make sure that no single vehicle is the unquestioned best in every field at all times; the vehicles retain unique abilities, but their performance is identical. Check out the full patch notes on the official site and start downloading as soon as you can since this patch is a big one. [Thanks to Robert for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: Are you an MMO jerk?
I've been doing some auto-fishing in ArcheAge recently, and not an hour goes by without a passing player trying to bump my avatar and disrupt his casting motion. On the one hand it's kind of funny since I'm not AFK and thus am able to immediately continue fishing. On the other hand, I have to wonder about people who go out of their way to screw with someone, especially when there's no benefit to the screwer and there's -- at worst -- a minor inconvenience for the screwee. What say you, Massively readers, are you a jerk in MMOs that allow jerkish behavior? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Which style of crafting do you prefer?
I enjoy crafting in ArcheAge, but XL's fantasy sandpark leaves a little to be desired when it comes to the actual item-making process. Like many MMOs, AA opts for a basic collect-subcomponents-and-press-the-button approach to crafting, whereas older titles like Final Fantasy XIV, EverQuest 2, and Vanguard gave crafters an actual crafting process with options that affected the quality of the finished product. Assuming you're an MMO crafter, which style do you prefer? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Why I Play: ArcheAge
Addicted may be too strong a word when talking about my relationship to ArcheAge... but not by much! Have I logged in every day since the early access? Do I look forward to logging in? Have I said, "I'll go to bed right after I plant a couple more things" only to find more hours have slipped by before I finally do sleep? Do I get excited about the next trade run? Have I set alarms to wake up to try and nab a prime piece of land? Have I had dreams about ArcheAge when I sleep? The answer to all of these is yes. ArcheAge may not have everything I have ever wanted in a game (entertainment classes should be a requirement), but it checks more than a few of my boxes. I haven't had this much fun throwing myself into a game in a very long time. I look forward to each play session, and I tend to spend hours in game each day enjoying whatever I happen to be doing, be it sailing, trade runs, sneaking into enemy territory, or even just staring at my plants waiting for them to grow.
Watch ArcheAge's leviathan raid boss smash a player ship
Curious about ArcheAge's endgame? 2P has published a partial look at it in the form of a level 50 leviathan raid. Unlike most MMO raids, though, this one features seven phases of PvE action followed by a PvP portion that pits pirate players vs. non-pirate players for the right to claim the beast's body. It's worth noting that 2P's information comes from the Chinese version of ArcheAge. You can watch a Chinese-language trailer featuring the leviathan after the break.
Lost Continent: Living a fisherman's life in ArcheAge
Fifteen years ago, I was floundering around southern Florida in a rudderless post-graduation haze. I rented this dinky apartment across US1 from the University of Miami, and my summers were equally divided between a series of forgettable jobs and a series of lengthy fishing excursions around the Keys and out into the Atlantic. The fishing was basically something to do; I didn't dislike it, but neither did I wake up thinking wow, I can't wait to get that gooey chum all over my shorts and bake in the sun for 10 hours. Now, in an odd but enjoyable art-imitating-life moment, I'm revisiting the experience in ArcheAge.
Trion responds to ArcheAge's 10 percent patron discount controversy
Things are never dull in the ArcheAge community. The latest brouhaha, as exemplified by this 100-page (as of press time) threadnaught, has to do with the fact that patron account holders haven't received the 10 percent cash shop discount that was promised pre-release. Massively contacted Trion to see if it could shed some light on the controversy as well detail any steps it's taking to provide patrons with one of their perks. Click past the cut to view the firm's response.
Jukebox Heroes: ArcheAge's soundtrack
ArcheAge is well-known for being one of the more beautiful MMO game worlds out there, but does its music stack up in comparison? The answer to that is a little yes and a little no. I got ahold of it several months ago, well before I was even paying attention to this game or its strong following. I felt that it was decent: pretty in spots, but short and not significantly better or worse than a lot of fantasy scores out there. It's certainly an Asian-style soundtrack with similarities to the Final Fantasy series and TERA. The score was composed by Music Director DaMeAte and reportedly garnered a few awards over in Korea. Good for it, I say! Let me present to you six of the best offerings from this album and let you make up your own mind as to whether they exceed or disappoint expectations.
Trion explains why ArcheAge uses Hackshield
Ever since ArcheAge's launch, Massively has been deluged with queries about Trion's use of Hackshield, an anti-cheating toolkit created by Korean company AhnLab, Inc. Western gamers aren't traditionally fond of such security programs; as of the time of this writing, even Hackshield's meager entry under AhnLab's English Wikipedia entry has been vandalized, presumably by disgruntled internet denizens. ArcheAge's Hackshield implementation recently provoked one Redditor to issue an open letter essentially accusing Trion of illegally and secretively installing a third-party rootkit on every computer that runs Glyph. We spoke to Trion about the legalities and efficacies of the program. Specifically, we asked about five topics: Whether the program is being installed without permission, Whether it is legal to install it in in this way around the globe, Whether it is causing technical problems for users as claimed, Whether it is fully uninstalling when ArcheAge/Glyph are uninstalled, And whether it actually works, given weekend reports about exploits.
