I'm still playing this game out of stubbornness after spending money on the lowest Founders Pack available. If I were a F2P tester in this beta I probably would have logged out and uninstalled the game by now.
Gripe #1: Questing, questing and endless f***ing questing! I've spent the first 20+ levels of this game doing nothing but all of these pathetic f***ing quests over and over and over again. I get on my knees and pray to God every time I turn a quest in that another won't pop up but... HEY LOOK! There's a new "!" to go check out right over there!
This game was supposed to be about open-world, crafting, exploring, conquering, etc. WTF is with all of this god dammed questing!?!? I don't feel like playing WoW again, I want a different game!
I've been told the quests last until about level 30. Great. Whoopdyfuckingdoo. The character I spent time customizing the way I wanted to play I still have to watch go through a story line I don't give two shits about through more than 50% of the levels.
Less is more. Instead of cramming walls of text that might as well be read as "Blah blah blah blah KILL blah blah blah blah 10 blah blah blah..." They should have taken lessons from other game that hinted at the storyline. DAoC did a good job with minimal questing and a lot of atmosphere. Portal gave you almost 0 storyline but told you the entire story through the game play.
Gripe #2: Facebookish. The one thing I was looking forward to most in this game was the crafting and farming. Then I get my farm plot and find I can only grow on this small piece of land unless I do more crap (see next gripe) to upgrade it slightly. Then I plant my vines and F*** ME! 4 hours? Really? I need to come back in 4 hours to harvest anything? Repeat this for every plant and tree you grow and you'll soon find yourself playing a glorified version of Farmville.
Gripe #3: Complicated for the sake of being complicated. Really, the smallest things in this game take huge amounts of resources to craft/grow. It got to a point where I, quite literally, threw my hands up and said "Of f***ing course I need 10,000 alchemy skill for this!" What should be a simple freakin recipe sounds perfectly simple, requires some work to get the initial resources, then you see this one little item in the list... 10,000 alchemy skill to craft it, a large fortune on the AH to buy it.
So basically, if you're less than level 50 with a huge stash of gold piled away and several maxed out crafting skills, this game pretty much slaps you in the face and gives you the finger from the start. A nice "F*** YOU" to all the would-be crafters out there who don't realize that doing something that should be as simple as raising a single freakin goat requires more time money and resources than you could ever hope to amass at the levels you're introduced to the merchant that sells them.
That leaves combat...
Gripe #4: Been there, done that. Combat's Blahhh. Nothing to see here, move along.
Gripe #5: Planet B-612. The size of this world is pathetic. Out of pure frustration (and since it's beta) I hopped and glided my way over mountain ranges that separated "newbie" areas from level 50 areas. Surprisingly, there was no one there. I just wandered freely, trying not to anger the mobs. There was also no loot, few resources to gather, few trees to chop and almost no NPC's.
Oh yeah... let me sidetrack and call this Gripe 2.5: A game that's supposed to be crafter friendly and open world should not put shackles on the player who wants to gather resources. There are only 2 ways to gather a common, much needed resource in this game so far - wood. You either have to grow the trees on your own pathetically small plot of land or go to a disputed area and cut them down in the wild. You can't just freely chop down any tree you see anywhere. Even in these "wild" areas, you're still restricted to certain tree types and they're few and far between.
I've never seen a game yet that restricts crafting in such a linear form as this one does. Even ones that didn't claim to be all about crafting handled this much, much better.
Back to gripe 5.... I then took my rowboat and crossed the ocean. Yep. You read that right. I crossed the freakin ocean in a row boat. So much for the "shiver me timbers" pirate life I was hoping to play out. "Dread Pirate Roberts scourge of the high lake" doesn't really have the terrifying effect I was looking for.
Overall, this game looks almost entirely different than the Korean previews I saw a couple years back. You saw crafters crafting, farmers farming and sailors sailing. What we got instead is questers questing questing questing questing questeing... slit my wrists anytime now... questing questing questing questing farming, going broke and giving up.
all i read is Gripe #1 and thats enough for me to not touch this game. Im am sick and tired of the ! .
I'm still playing this game out of stubbornness after spending money on the lowest Founders Pack available. If I were a F2P tester in this beta I probably would have logged out and uninstalled the game by now.
Gripe #1: Questing, questing and endless f***ing questing! I've spent the first 20+ levels of this game doing nothing but all of these pathetic f***ing quests over and over and over again. I get on my knees and pray to God every time I turn a quest in that another won't pop up but... HEY LOOK! There's a new "!" to go check out right over there!
This game was supposed to be about open-world, crafting, exploring, conquering, etc. WTF is with all of this god dammed questing!?!? I don't feel like playing WoW again, I want a different game!
I've been told the quests last until about level 30. Great. Whoopdyfuckingdoo. The character I spent time customizing the way I wanted to play I still have to watch go through a story line I don't give two shits about through more than 50% of the levels.
Less is more. Instead of cramming walls of text that might as well be read as "Blah blah blah blah KILL blah blah blah blah 10 blah blah blah..." They should have taken lessons from other game that hinted at the storyline. DAoC did a good job with minimal questing and a lot of atmosphere. Portal gave you almost 0 storyline but told you the entire story through the game play.
Gripe #2: Facebookish. The one thing I was looking forward to most in this game was the crafting and farming. Then I get my farm plot and find I can only grow on this small piece of land unless I do more crap (see next gripe) to upgrade it slightly. Then I plant my vines and F*** ME! 4 hours? Really? I need to come back in 4 hours to harvest anything? Repeat this for every plant and tree you grow and you'll soon find yourself playing a glorified version of Farmville.
Gripe #3: Complicated for the sake of being complicated. Really, the smallest things in this game take huge amounts of resources to craft/grow. It got to a point where I, quite literally, threw my hands up and said "Of f***ing course I need 10,000 alchemy skill for this!" What should be a simple freakin recipe sounds perfectly simple, requires some work to get the initial resources, then you see this one little item in the list... 10,000 alchemy skill to craft it, a large fortune on the AH to buy it.
So basically, if you're less than level 50 with a huge stash of gold piled away and several maxed out crafting skills, this game pretty much slaps you in the face and gives you the finger from the start. A nice "F*** YOU" to all the would-be crafters out there who don't realize that doing something that should be as simple as raising a single freakin goat requires more time money and resources than you could ever hope to amass at the levels you're introduced to the merchant that sells them.
That leaves combat...
Gripe #4: Been there, done that. Combat's Blahhh. Nothing to see here, move along.
Gripe #5: Planet B-612. The size of this world is pathetic. Out of pure frustration (and since it's beta) I hopped and glided my way over mountain ranges that separated "newbie" areas from level 50 areas. Surprisingly, there was no one there. I just wandered freely, trying not to anger the mobs. There was also no loot, few resources to gather, few trees to chop and almost no NPC's.
Oh yeah... let me sidetrack and call this Gripe 2.5: A game that's supposed to be crafter friendly and open world should not put shackles on the player who wants to gather resources. There are only 2 ways to gather a common, much needed resource in this game so far - wood. You either have to grow the trees on your own pathetically small plot of land or go to a disputed area and cut them down in the wild. You can't just freely chop down any tree you see anywhere. Even in these "wild" areas, you're still restricted to certain tree types and they're few and far between.
I've never seen a game yet that restricts crafting in such a linear form as this one does. Even ones that didn't claim to be all about crafting handled this much, much better.
Back to gripe 5.... I then took my rowboat and crossed the ocean. Yep. You read that right. I crossed the freakin ocean in a row boat. So much for the "shiver me timbers" pirate life I was hoping to play out. "Dread Pirate Roberts scourge of the high lake" doesn't really have the terrifying effect I was looking for.
Overall, this game looks almost entirely different than the Korean previews I saw a couple years back. You saw crafters crafting, farmers farming and sailors sailing. What we got instead is questers questing questing questing questing questeing... slit my wrists anytime now... questing questing questing questing farming, going broke and giving up.
all i read is Gripe #1 and thats enough for me to not touch this game. Im am sick and tired of the ! .
People say you don't have to do the quests but you kinda do.. It hurts you so much by not doing at least the trade quests and finish the story line quests.
You can SHARE farms with your friends/guild - a group of people crafting/building together - it will make it a LOT easier as you can plan together what to gather/grow/build next - it goes 10x faster when there's a group doing it.
IMO the biggest issue that many people have is they are playing AA alone - don't do it - the game is NOT meant to be played solo - it's just painful.
Approach Archeage as you would a group sport - would you ever run out to a football field alone to throw a football to ... nobody?
Get a group of folks together *at level 1* play actively with them and you'll see what a huge difference it makes in everything.
I think people are not used to actively social games anymore - and that's what AA is really - it's all about communicating and doing stuff with others.
Bottom line:
Don't approach ArcheAge as you would many other games like WoW, ESO, Wildstar, Rift etc.. where you SOLO TO MAX and THEN GROUP - don't do this in AA!
Group up as soon as you can - ideally go into it with a group of friends who play actively with you at level 1, less ideally solo to 15 - then group, least preferable - solo to 30 - after that solo you're not going to have fun.
Just my 2c - and yes on Korean servers I soloed to 50 (yes I was dumb) - next time I leveled up - did it in an active guild with others - about 20 times more fun and I got to do a LOT more that I couldn't do solo - like build a Galleon.
I can pretty much guarantee you that vast majority of negative reviews on ArcheAge are done by solo players who play AA as they would other games - trying to solo to max - it's simply the wrong approach for this game.
The thing is, from a combat perspective the mechanics in ArcheAge really aren't that great for grouping.
The class system is the main culprit here.
The reason why EQ worked as a group game was the group mechanics themselves. Various classes complemented each other and you could build varied groups based on class compositions.
The mix and match class system of AA really doesn't really lead to interesting group mechanics.
That said, ArcheAge is meant to be a PvP game. Class synergies matter much less in that environment, and that's where ArcheAge is at its best.
AA is a poor PvE game, and a good PvP game.
As for crafting, well yes you want groups/guilds to work with getting the materials. There is just lots of things that go into making an item and it can be tedious to do everything yourself (and time/lp consuming)
It's more than obvious that the OP want a completely different game from what AA intend to be. In short, he wants a ultra-mega-casual experience where he can jump and get everything in a short time. No mmo has this, even the ultra-casual themeparks like GW2 and WoW.
I dislike certain kind of games, like multiplayer FPS. However i never went to a Counter-Strike or CoD forum complain that they dont have storyline, complexity, economy and so on. Because this, i wonder why the heck a person that obviously likes a completely different kind of game comes to this forum do threads like this.
I wouldnt call Ultima Online, EVE Online, Darkfall etc an ultra-mega-casual experiences.
What OP is looking for, is semi-sandbox game, not another quest grinding machine for mentally challenged people.
Its not like the current braindead, quest based, leveling design fits MMORPG more than it would fit some random multiplayer FPS game. RPGs were never about grinding thousands of ultra dumb quests or clicking on yellow exclamation marks.
It's more than obvious that the OP want a completely different game from what AA intend to be. In short, he wants a ultra-mega-casual experience where he can jump and get everything in a short time. No mmo has this, even the ultra-casual themeparks like GW2 and WoW.
I dislike certain kind of games, like multiplayer FPS. However i never went to a Counter-Strike or CoD forum complain that they dont have storyline, complexity, economy and so on. Because this, i wonder why the heck a person that obviously likes a completely different kind of game comes to this forum do threads like this.
I wouldnt call Ultima Online, EVE Online, Darkfall etc an ultra-mega-casual experiences.
What OP is looking for, is semi-sandbox game, not another quest grinding machine for mentally challenged people.
Its not like the current braindead, quest based, leveling design fits MMORPG more than it would fit some random multiplayer FPS game. RPGs were never about grinding thousands of ultra dumb quests or clicking on yellow exclamation marks.
I'm still playing this game out of stubbornness after spending money on the lowest Founders Pack available. If I were a F2P tester in this beta I probably would have logged out and uninstalled the game by now.
I swear, some of you guys are your own worst enemies.
Had you actually done your research, looked at forums, read what people were saying during the Russian release or even what was being said after the korean release you would have known what the game was like.
So many people related their experiences about questing, about the maps, about the pvp.
You have no one to blame but yourself. Heck, when I bought the initial founders pack I knew all these things and went in knowing what to expect for the most part. Including that I hated many of art design decisions.
You have no one to blame but yourself. Lesson learned.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
You can SHARE farms with your friends/guild - a group of people crafting/building together - it will make it a LOT easier as you can plan together what to gather/grow/build next - it goes 10x faster when there's a group doing it.
IMO the biggest issue that many people have is they are playing AA alone - don't do it - the game is NOT meant to be played solo - it's just painful.
Approach Archeage as you would a group sport - would you ever run out to a football field alone to throw a football to ... nobody?
Get a group of folks together *at level 1* play actively with them and you'll see what a huge difference it makes in everything.
I think people are not used to actively social games anymore - and that's what AA is really - it's all about communicating and doing stuff with others.
Bottom line:
Don't approach ArcheAge as you would many other games like WoW, ESO, Wildstar, Rift etc.. where you SOLO TO MAX and THEN GROUP - don't do this in AA!
Group up as soon as you can - ideally go into it with a group of friends who play actively with you at level 1, less ideally solo to 15 - then group, least preferable - solo to 30 - after that solo you're not going to have fun.
Just my 2c - and yes on Korean servers I soloed to 50 (yes I was dumb) - next time I leveled up - did it in an active guild with others - about 20 times more fun and I got to do a LOT more that I couldn't do solo - like build a Galleon.
I can pretty much guarantee you that vast majority of negative reviews on ArcheAge are done by solo players who play AA as they would other games - trying to solo to max - it's simply the wrong approach for this game.
The thing is, from a combat perspective the mechanics in ArcheAge really aren't that great for grouping.
The class system is the main culprit here.
The reason why EQ worked as a group game was the group mechanics themselves. Various classes complemented each other and you could build varied groups based on class compositions.
The mix and match class system of AA really doesn't really lead to interesting group mechanics.
That said, ArcheAge is meant to be a PvP game. Class synergies matter much less in that environment, and that's where ArcheAge is at its best.
AA is a poor PvE game, and a good PvP game.
As for crafting, well yes you want groups/guilds to work with getting the materials. There is just lots of things that go into making an item and it can be tedious to do everything yourself (and time/lp consuming)
Correct - I was mainly talking about leveling up and PvP. I mean who PvE's in AA at 50?
Its a PvP game.
So the PvPers aren't happy because it has PvE at start game, the PvEers arent going to be happy because it is OWPvP at end game, and XL/Trion aren't going to be happy when the game goes dead.
No one wins.
It may have had some redeeming value had they made it consensual PvP at end game. As it stands, the future for this game looks just as bleak in NA, as the past and present versions turned out for KR and RUS.
Developers will soon learn that mixing PvE with OWPvP is bad game design.
People still mindlessly throw out money to play games they have no idea about, when they could watch some youtube and twitch and never spend a cent knowing if the game is for them or not? Junkies...
"Move along, OP, this is not the game that you're looking for..."
OP's rant is a fine example of someone that can't see the sandbox for the sand. There's nothing stopping you from completely ignoring the quests. However, the crafting will not become "instant mode" ever. I've never played a sandbox game where the crafting wasn't complex and time consuming.
AA is everything I expected and better than I'd hoped for.
"Move along, OP, this is not the game that you're looking for..."
OP's rant is a fine example of someone that can't see the sandbox for the sand. There's nothing stopping you from completely ignoring the quests. However, the crafting will not become "instant mode" ever. I've never played a sandbox game where the crafting wasn't complex and time consuming.
AA is everything I expected and better than I'd hoped for.
Yes there is something stopping you from just not questing.. It slows down your progress to a retarded level.
I played this a bit and overall it was OK but the whole labour point system worries me. It just seems completely unnecessary and a giant cock block to playing how you want to play. It doesn't matter what you think of labour points, the first time you go to do something and you can't because you lack the points you'll see just how bad it is. You basically have 2 options. Find a way to stay logged in or buy the labour point potions.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
Originally posted by Ginaz I played this a bit and overall it was OK but the whole labour point system worries me. It just seems completely unnecessary and a giant cock block to playing how you want to play. It doesn't matter what you think of labour points, the first time you go to do something and you can't because you lack the points you'll see just how bad it is. You basically have 2 options. Find a way to stay logged in or buy the labour point potions.
I think Labor Point management is supposed to play a strategic factor in the game in and of itself.
Originally posted by Ginaz I played this a bit and overall it was OK but the whole labour point system worries me. It just seems completely unnecessary and a giant cock block to playing how you want to play. It doesn't matter what you think of labour points, the first time you go to do something and you can't because you lack the points you'll see just how bad it is. You basically have 2 options. Find a way to stay logged in or buy the labour point potions.
I think Labor Point management is supposed to play a strategic factor in the game in and of itself.
What kind of strategy is it that doesn't let me craft, extract resources or open loot? Is it the kind of strategy that forces people to sub or buy potions from the cash shop?
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
I am going to toss in my 2 cents and might seem off a bit but i am certain of this.
The REAL problem with gaming is every player or the majority are looking for a game to play like Wow ,which is solo and easy play.
If you incorporate grouping into your game design it gives players a chance to talk with others and learn with others,that way everything is not a mess of confusion.
I mention this because it seems to me this player has been playing SOLO or alone this makes learning any game a real tough chore and imo far less enjoyable.This is not the players fault,this is the game developer's fault.Even if true that questing stops or slows down by level 30,that is a very long time to play single player WOW all over again.
This is why i have quit supporting and no longer play these single player game designs.I also despise ANY game that is using tons of hand holding like ! or ? or an y colored markers over npc heads.As soon as i see that i know it is another Wow clone to which i have no interest.Developers need to wake up,there is no longer any longevity for copy cat same old same old games.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Originally posted by Ginaz I played this a bit and overall it was OK but the whole labour point system worries me. It just seems completely unnecessary and a giant cock block to playing how you want to play. It doesn't matter what you think of labour points, the first time you go to do something and you can't because you lack the points you'll see just how bad it is. You basically have 2 options. Find a way to stay logged in or buy the labour point potions.
I think Labor Point management is supposed to play a strategic factor in the game in and of itself.
What kind of strategy is it that doesn't let me craft, extract resources or open loot? Is it the kind of strategy that forces people to sub or buy potions from the cash shop?
Keeps everyone from maxing out everything within a few weeks and crashing the econ..
That is what happen on FFXIV ARR... Everyone maxed out every trade skill and no one needed to trade.
Originally posted by Ginaz I played this a bit and overall it was OK but the whole labour point system worries me. It just seems completely unnecessary and a giant cock block to playing how you want to play. It doesn't matter what you think of labour points, the first time you go to do something and you can't because you lack the points you'll see just how bad it is. You basically have 2 options. Find a way to stay logged in or buy the labour point potions.
I think Labor Point management is supposed to play a strategic factor in the game in and of itself.
What kind of strategy is it that doesn't let me craft, extract resources or open loot? Is it the kind of strategy that forces people to sub or buy potions from the cash shop?
In Wushu it was an economic strategy. What it did there was prevent the market from being flooded with goods, plus it added some realism. You should not be able to craft 100 swords in 5 minutes just because you have the materials.. Labor takes energy. Labor points seem to be similar to energy in Wushu.
I could be completely wrong about AA, but that's why they are there in Wushu.
Gripe #2.5: You also don't need a farm at all, you can plant anywhere in the world .. not just in "disputed" areas. This solves the tree problem you described below, plant 100 or 10,000 trees if you want. Oh, you'll have to defend them of course, but you liked DAOC and pvp, so bonus! You can also chop down anyone else's trees you find not planted on a farm.
I laughed when I read this. For real ? The chat was lighting up with people complaining about other players ripping up their plants. Some dude by the name Karl Marx was stealing people vegetables. Cause every few hours he was up on trial to say he was innocent. I think he got something like 900 minutes in jail until he broke out and did it again but at least it was funny. As far as the planting 10000 trees, like yeah, I am going to sit around for a day or two just to guard my illegal crop or trees. Why not have in the game the exciting quest of just watching paint dry while I'm at it.
Gripe #2.5: You also don't need a farm at all, you can plant anywhere in the world .. not just in "disputed" areas. This solves the tree problem you described below, plant 100 or 10,000 trees if you want. Oh, you'll have to defend them of course, but you liked DAOC and pvp, so bonus! You can also chop down anyone else's trees you find not planted on a farm.
I laughed when I read this. For real ? The chat was lighting up with people complaining about other players ripping up their plants. Some dude by the name Karl Marx was stealing people vegetables. Cause every few hours he was up on trial to say he was innocent. I think he got something like 900 minutes in jail until he broke out and did it again but at least it was funny. As far as the planting 10000 trees, like yeah, I am going to sit around for a day or two just to guard my illegal crop or trees. Why not have in the game the exciting quest of just watching paint dry while I'm at it.
I stole around 150 trees the other day; was quite the awesome experience since i could finish my boat and scarecrow. If you are not up to having fun, try some other game.
I keep seeing folks on this board say that AA does not support solo play styles and i would like to say to them that maybe they should try it solo first as there is plenty to do alone at least as much as most other games i have played..
While i do agree in principle that AA just like almost any truly great game is far more fun played in a group there is still plenty you can do alone if you wish, however it is much slower and more lonely as you would expect because guilds are where the real power fun in this game will come.
But imho you do not have to partake in any these activities to enjoy this game as an intentional free spirit/outsider roleplayers and true solo players generally enjoy the rugged more impoverished yet completely self made loner life and AA offers as much if not more of it than most games but its self made rewards will require both sweat of the brow and much patience to achieve and there is indeed a large part of the game a loner cant indulge in just like in real life..
While you can have fun playing alone or guilded up this game is not for folks that want to devour content like a swarm of locusts this game is seriously built for the long haul and will require much time and effort to achieve great things..
Quest? Grind mobs? Use your glider to find all the exploration points that award gilda stars which combined with the quest awarded Gilda stars lets you easily build your first cutter, which then enables you to explore the oceans both above and below the water.
You can do trade runs on land and sea for gold or stars,you can gather ores and sell them on the market, and use the profits to start a market trading career. Or you could help your guild transport materials to the northlands to set up the guild village, pvp a bit, try your luck at the arenas or maybe even chat with folks or even group up or help them.
How did I do?
Yes, you can either quest/grind mobs or just fairly pointlessly run around. Same like in any other themepark/linear MMO.
You played EVE so you know the difference when the game is designed horizontally. There is crap load of actual, meaningful content for you, regardless whether you are 1 hour into a game or 5 years.
That was my point, the game is not "do whatever you want" but usual "level up and do end game content".
Just pointlessly run around? That's what you equate the highlighted items in yellow from my post?
I could map every one of those experiences to one in EVE, in fact, I spent all day yesterday in a null sec mining fleet, while also mining for ore in ArcheAge at the same time. Only difference is I gained a couple of levels in AA, in EVE I ended up donating all the ore to the corporation as it was the weekly OP day.
I could find many similarities between EVE and AA in fact, in a variety of activities. True, AA is not nearly as much of a sandbox as EVE, but there certainly is a wider variety of rides for players to participate in than the standard theme park MMO.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I will concur that ArcheAge gives a bad first impression. I mean... BAD. Yes, we all hear the things are so much more engaging and emergent at around the level 30 mark. While yes, it would seem you can skip these quests. However, it doesn't appear that there is much more to do from the outset. You simply won't have enough LPs from the outset to do much in the way of gathering and crafting without leaving yourself logged in overnight or something. And killing some of the most statically placed mobs since EQ Classic for exp's sake is laughable.
It is smart to quickly introduce the skill/class system which is something in-between Rift and TSW. Imagine if Rift allowed you to combine souls across archetypes. Imagine abilities designed to synergize via states. The tab based combat isn't so bad. There is enough mobility in it that it doesn't feel too dated.
I don't doubt that there is a very fun game there at higher levels. The stories I hear of high level play are very interesting. However, it is fair to say it isn't doing itself any favors in its current state.
Comments
Id have to agree with the OP.. I find it annoying I MUST do quests to get some of the important upgrades.
Also, if you don't have a good guild that works together. You are going to have a bad time..
all i read is Gripe #1 and thats enough for me to not touch this game. Im am sick and tired of the ! .
People say you don't have to do the quests but you kinda do.. It hurts you so much by not doing at least the trade quests and finish the story line quests.
The thing is, from a combat perspective the mechanics in ArcheAge really aren't that great for grouping.
The class system is the main culprit here.
The reason why EQ worked as a group game was the group mechanics themselves. Various classes complemented each other and you could build varied groups based on class compositions.
The mix and match class system of AA really doesn't really lead to interesting group mechanics.
That said, ArcheAge is meant to be a PvP game. Class synergies matter much less in that environment, and that's where ArcheAge is at its best.
AA is a poor PvE game, and a good PvP game.
As for crafting, well yes you want groups/guilds to work with getting the materials. There is just lots of things that go into making an item and it can be tedious to do everything yourself (and time/lp consuming)
I wouldnt call Ultima Online, EVE Online, Darkfall etc an ultra-mega-casual experiences.
What OP is looking for, is semi-sandbox game, not another quest grinding machine for mentally challenged people.
Its not like the current braindead, quest based, leveling design fits MMORPG more than it would fit some random multiplayer FPS game. RPGs were never about grinding thousands of ultra dumb quests or clicking on yellow exclamation marks.
Actually RPGs were about that, ARPGs not so much.
I swear, some of you guys are your own worst enemies.
Had you actually done your research, looked at forums, read what people were saying during the Russian release or even what was being said after the korean release you would have known what the game was like.
So many people related their experiences about questing, about the maps, about the pvp.
You have no one to blame but yourself. Heck, when I bought the initial founders pack I knew all these things and went in knowing what to expect for the most part. Including that I hated many of art design decisions.
You have no one to blame but yourself. Lesson learned.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
So the PvPers aren't happy because it has PvE at start game, the PvEers arent going to be happy because it is OWPvP at end game, and XL/Trion aren't going to be happy when the game goes dead.
No one wins.
It may have had some redeeming value had they made it consensual PvP at end game. As it stands, the future for this game looks just as bleak in NA, as the past and present versions turned out for KR and RUS.
Developers will soon learn that mixing PvE with OWPvP is bad game design.
"Move along, OP, this is not the game that you're looking for..."
OP's rant is a fine example of someone that can't see the sandbox for the sand. There's nothing stopping you from completely ignoring the quests. However, the crafting will not become "instant mode" ever. I've never played a sandbox game where the crafting wasn't complex and time consuming.
AA is everything I expected and better than I'd hoped for.
Yes there is something stopping you from just not questing.. It slows down your progress to a retarded level.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
I think Labor Point management is supposed to play a strategic factor in the game in and of itself.
What kind of strategy is it that doesn't let me craft, extract resources or open loot? Is it the kind of strategy that forces people to sub or buy potions from the cash shop?
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
I am going to toss in my 2 cents and might seem off a bit but i am certain of this.
The REAL problem with gaming is every player or the majority are looking for a game to play like Wow ,which is solo and easy play.
If you incorporate grouping into your game design it gives players a chance to talk with others and learn with others,that way everything is not a mess of confusion.
I mention this because it seems to me this player has been playing SOLO or alone this makes learning any game a real tough chore and imo far less enjoyable.This is not the players fault,this is the game developer's fault.Even if true that questing stops or slows down by level 30,that is a very long time to play single player WOW all over again.
This is why i have quit supporting and no longer play these single player game designs.I also despise ANY game that is using tons of hand holding like ! or ? or an y colored markers over npc heads.As soon as i see that i know it is another Wow clone to which i have no interest.Developers need to wake up,there is no longer any longevity for copy cat same old same old games.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Keeps everyone from maxing out everything within a few weeks and crashing the econ..
That is what happen on FFXIV ARR... Everyone maxed out every trade skill and no one needed to trade.
In Wushu it was an economic strategy. What it did there was prevent the market from being flooded with goods, plus it added some realism. You should not be able to craft 100 swords in 5 minutes just because you have the materials.. Labor takes energy. Labor points seem to be similar to energy in Wushu.
I could be completely wrong about AA, but that's why they are there in Wushu.
I laughed when I read this. For real ? The chat was lighting up with people complaining about other players ripping up their plants. Some dude by the name Karl Marx was stealing people vegetables. Cause every few hours he was up on trial to say he was innocent. I think he got something like 900 minutes in jail until he broke out and did it again but at least it was funny. As far as the planting 10000 trees, like yeah, I am going to sit around for a day or two just to guard my illegal crop or trees. Why not have in the game the exciting quest of just watching paint dry while I'm at it.
beLIEve
I stole around 150 trees the other day; was quite the awesome experience since i could finish my boat and scarecrow. If you are not up to having fun, try some other game.
I keep seeing folks on this board say that AA does not support solo play styles and i would like to say to them that maybe they should try it solo first as there is plenty to do alone at least as much as most other games i have played..
While i do agree in principle that AA just like almost any truly great game is far more fun played in a group there is still plenty you can do alone if you wish, however it is much slower and more lonely as you would expect because guilds are where the real power fun in this game will come.
But imho you do not have to partake in any these activities to enjoy this game as an intentional free spirit/outsider roleplayers and true solo players generally enjoy the rugged more impoverished yet completely self made loner life and AA offers as much if not more of it than most games but its self made rewards will require both sweat of the brow and much patience to achieve and there is indeed a large part of the game a loner cant indulge in just like in real life..
While you can have fun playing alone or guilded up this game is not for folks that want to devour content like a swarm of locusts this game is seriously built for the long haul and will require much time and effort to achieve great things..
Its about "your journey" however you play it..
Playing GW2..
Just pointlessly run around? That's what you equate the highlighted items in yellow from my post?
I could map every one of those experiences to one in EVE, in fact, I spent all day yesterday in a null sec mining fleet, while also mining for ore in ArcheAge at the same time. Only difference is I gained a couple of levels in AA, in EVE I ended up donating all the ore to the corporation as it was the weekly OP day.
I could find many similarities between EVE and AA in fact, in a variety of activities. True, AA is not nearly as much of a sandbox as EVE, but there certainly is a wider variety of rides for players to participate in than the standard theme park MMO.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I will concur that ArcheAge gives a bad first impression. I mean... BAD. Yes, we all hear the things are so much more engaging and emergent at around the level 30 mark. While yes, it would seem you can skip these quests. However, it doesn't appear that there is much more to do from the outset. You simply won't have enough LPs from the outset to do much in the way of gathering and crafting without leaving yourself logged in overnight or something. And killing some of the most statically placed mobs since EQ Classic for exp's sake is laughable.
It is smart to quickly introduce the skill/class system which is something in-between Rift and TSW. Imagine if Rift allowed you to combine souls across archetypes. Imagine abilities designed to synergize via states. The tab based combat isn't so bad. There is enough mobility in it that it doesn't feel too dated.
I don't doubt that there is a very fun game there at higher levels. The stories I hear of high level play are very interesting. However, it is fair to say it isn't doing itself any favors in its current state.