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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.
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.
Lost Continent: Lucking into a breezy ArcheAge bungalow
My ArcheAge avatar is pretty fortunate. Last Friday night he became the proud owner of a breezy bungalow, which is that big bamboo marine house that you've probably seen in screenshots, videos, and the like. The bungalow's blueprint costs a whopping 300 gilda stars -- i.e., no small amount for a guildless guy like me who mostly duos his way through Haranya. I'd managed to save 250 of the character-bound gilda by doing various dailies over the past several weeks, but I had a few days to go before I'd finally be able to afford the plans. How did I come up with the balance ahead of schedule, not to mention the boat load of materials required to actually build the house? That's an interesting story, and it's another example of how ArcheAge's mechanics are a necessary breath of fresh air in a stale genre.
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.
Lost Continent: This is how you go off the rails in ArcheAge
Are you an ArcheAge tire-kicker who's wondering how to go "off the rails" and trade the game's questpark level grind for some of that downhome sandbox flavor? I'm here to tell you that it's as easy as deciding that you really want to do it. There's no magic button or pre-scripted path, though, because the game is sorta sandboxy.
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.
Lost Continent: Carebearing your way through ArcheAge
ArcheAge is, in part, an open PvP MMORPG. "In part" is the key phrase there, and I've had a few people ask me if it's possible to play XL's sprawling sandpark opus without getting ganked or otherwise forced into an ill-fitting playstyle. Not only is it possible, but PvE has made up the overwhelming majority of my gameplay for the past month.
Lost Continent: On the 'failure' of ArcheAge
This week's rumored XLGAMES restructuring brought with it a predictable cascade of "fail" catcalls from pundits and commenters who never climbed on board the ArcheAge hype train to begin with. Leaving aside the fact that it was a rumor as well as the fact that post-release game teams routinely suffer staffing cuts, I have to wonder at the cocksure I-told-you-so crowing with which some folks declared ArcheAge dead well before it's even arrived on Western shores. While some starving sandbox gamers may have prematurely labeled ArcheAge as the second coming, anyone who has actually played the game or followed larger MMO industry trends could have told you that it's a niche title regardless of how much money XLGAMES gambled on its development.
Lost Continent: Should we worry about ArcheAge's crafting?
It finally happened. XLGAMES did something to ArcheAge that I really don't like, and while I'll stop short of labeling it a deal-breaker, it's definitely made me think about the game in a different light. To be fair to the company, this particular gameplay tweak was made to the Korean version several months ago, so it's a) not a certainty for the American version and b) not exactly breaking news. It was breaking news to me when I read a recent high-level review of the title, though, because I'd been purposely steering clear of the Korean release in order to more fully enjoy myself when the game finally lands on U.S. soil.
Lost Continent: ArcheAge needs a business model, too
Massively's Eliot Lefebvre recently speculated on what WildStar's business model might look like, and even if you're not a huge fan of the upcoming sci-fantasy opus, it's worth a read. It's also a column topic worth stealing, and I'm going to do just that this week and apply it to ArcheAge. Like WildStar, ArcheAge is largely an enigma when it comes to its western business model. Unlike Carbine, though, Trion Worlds -- AA's western publisher -- has plenty of experience with all three of the major MMO models currently in use.
Lost Continent: About that ArcheAge automobile
I owe ArcheAge an apology. A couple of weeks ago, when XLGAMES released a trailer featuring steampunk-powered hot rods and an impromptu beachfront drag race, my kneejerk reaction was a boisterous what-the-funk! After I watched the clip a second time, I realized not only that the cars fit neatly into the world that Jake Song and company have created but that they tickled my fancy in the same way that numerous other elements in the game have done over the years.
Lost Continent: An ArcheAge community guide
Is it me, or has ArcheAge been a long time coming? I don't think it's me because it was three years and thousands of posts ago that Massively introduced ArcheAge to western gamers. Heck, it was six years ago that Jake Song and company started building XLGAMES' upcoming sandpark. And it's been two years -- two years! -- since I first got my hands on the game's seemingly endless closed beta. Now, though, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Trion recently and famously signed on to publish ArcheAge in the West, and despite the silence following the announcement, I'm still optimistic about a beta before the end of the year. Even if it that doesn't happen, we've still got plenty to talk about, which is why I'm taking the wraps off Massively's newest game-specific column. Join me after the cut for the traditional first-issue community roundup.
