I'm playing Archeage.. despite all the hate.

raystantz

I've spent more time perusing and searching these forums than I have actually spent playing the game thus far. Trying to figure out why it is I shouldn't play. What makes the cash shop so terrible, and why I should stay away from the game because of that?

I'm currently level 20, and I seem to be having fun. I'm not paying attention to much, just playing at my own leisure.

I work in the film industry and my schedule is pretty crazy. Some days I may log on for 8+ hours in a day, and some weeks I may not log on at all or for only a few days that week for a few hours here and there. Very casual. 

Will any of the concerns and complaints with the game that I'm seeing constantly ever be a factor for me? 

I'll probably go patron at some point if I continue to enjoy the game, but right now I'm just f2p. I'm not sure I play enough to be effected by the complaints. I'm on a legacy server right now despite everyone and their mother telling me that I should wait for the 10th for fresh start, but for someone who plays as casual as I do.. does that really even matter? 

I've narrowed my game choices down to This, Tera, or BDO. I enjoy random world PVP, and that's the thing I like to do the most. Those are the only 3 games that seem to still have some instance of it. I hate strictly instanced PVP with a passion. I'll play Smite when I want that.

I've watched videos about 3.0 and the fresh start servers and I still am confused about how it will affect me, the casual player.

Archlyte

I think any game is going to be fine for the Casual player as long as you can feel like you did something in the small sessions of play typical of casual schedule. Where contemporary MMORPGs fall apart is under prolonged use. 

raystantz

Archlyte said:

I think any game is going to be fine for the Casual player as long as you can feel like you did something in the small sessions of play typical of casual use. Where contemporary MMORPGs fall apart is under prolonged use. 

I'm in the minority of players it would seem? 

Maurgrim

Good for you I guess.
For me AA sucks and are boring.

raystantz

Maurgrim said:

Good for you I guess.
For me AA sucks and are boring.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm assuming you're a victim of the "prolonged use" syndrome that Archlyte was talking about above?

Archlyte

raystantz said:

Archlyte said:

I think any game is going to be fine for the Casual player as long as you can feel like you did something in the small sessions of play typical of casual use. Where contemporary MMORPGs fall apart is under prolonged use. 

I'm in the minority of players it would seem? 

I don't think you are the minority actually. I would guess that I am in the minority by a good stretch. I liked AA but when I played it one guild held the PvP land with impunity. The lack of other things to do besides PvP for that real estate kind of made me lose interest. 

To me a game must have variety and a spectrum of goals from the instant to the annual in range. 

Archlyte

raystantz said:

Maurgrim said:

Good for you I guess.
For me AA sucks and are boring.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm assuming you're a victim of the "prolonged use" syndrome that Archlyte was talking about above?

I'm not sure how this was meant, but I will say that any game that is released and is anywhere near a decent design should be fine for casual play. If the game cannot sustain that then it is a bad game for sure. 

Forgrimm

raystantz said:

...I enjoy random world PVP, and that's the thing I like to do the most...

If that's your main focus, then I'd suggest you steer clear of AA. You have 0 chance of being competitive in PVP unless you dump a lot of money into the game and pick one of the high performing classes such as Darkrunner, Shadowblade, Daggerspell, etc. I played AA for a year and a half and had a lot of fun but my main focus was farming, crafting, and trade runs.

Maurgrim

raystantz said:

Maurgrim said:

Good for you I guess.
For me AA sucks and are boring.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm assuming you're a victim of the "prolonged use" syndrome that Archlyte was talking about above?

Boring quest system to lvl 30 then pointless gameplay, glad you enjoy that crap, I don't.

raystantz

Archlyte said:

raystantz said:

Archlyte said:

I think any game is going to be fine for the Casual player as long as you can feel like you did something in the small sessions of play typical of casual use. Where contemporary MMORPGs fall apart is under prolonged use. 

I'm in the minority of players it would seem? 

I don't think you are the minority actually. I would guess that I am in the minority by a good stretch. I liked AA but when I played it one guild held the PvP land with impunity. The lack of other things to do besides PvP for that real estate kind of made me lose interest. 

To me a game must have variety and a spectrum of goals from the instant to the annual in range. 

I don't think that exists anymore. I wish it did, but I don't think it does.

raystantz

Maurgrim said:

raystantz said:

Maurgrim said:

Good for you I guess.
For me AA sucks and are boring.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm assuming you're a victim of the "prolonged use" syndrome that Archlyte was talking about above?

Boring quest system to lvl 30 then pointless gameplay, glad you enjoy that crap, I don't.

Maurgrim said:

raystantz said:

Maurgrim said:

Good for you I guess.
For me AA sucks and are boring.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm assuming you're a victim of the "prolonged use" syndrome that Archlyte was talking about above?

Boring quest system to lvl 30 then pointless gameplay, glad you enjoy that crap, I don't.

I guess I just don't understand then, it's the exact same gameplay that's in pretty much every other MMO on the market. I'm assuming you're not playing any at all, because you're going to run into the same problem in all of them if that's the case.

raystantz

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

...I enjoy random world PVP, and that's the thing I like to do the most...

If that's your main focus, then I'd suggest you steer clear of AA. You have 0 chance of being competitive in PVP unless you dump a lot of money into the game and pick one of the high performing classes such as Darkrunner, Shadowblade, Daggerspell, etc. I played AA for a year and a half and had a lot of fun but my main focus was farming, crafting, and trade runs.

It's not a main focus in that I'm constantly gearing and thinking about how much of a bad ass I'm going to be and how I'm going to steam roll every player I come across. It's more of, when I'm out in the world I expect to come across other players who want to kill me, and I'll probably come across players I'll also want to kill.. or assist in some massive battle somewhere out in the world.

I think there are a ton of definitions about what it means to enjoy PVP in a game. Back in Vanilla WoW it was the same idea.. you win some, you lose some.. I didn't necessarily go looking for it, but sometimes.. sure it was a fun escape from questing etc. 

I guess I don't know what "competitive" in Archeage means. 

Myrdynn

I keep looking for reasons to hate it also, but I am playing and having fun, just started a couple days ago.  I am trying to build my class on my own, but damn if I don't keep messing up and my synnergies are all crap

right now I picked Sorcery, (love frostbolt), Auramancy, and Vitalism, then I found out im a Boneweaver lol, not sure how I feel about that

Rosenborg

raystantz said:

I work in the film industry and my schedule is pretty crazy. Some days I may log on for 8+ hours in a day, and some weeks I may not log on at all or for only a few days that week for a few hours here and there. Very casual. 

Same schedule here, TV productions..

For me games that are more sandbox than themepark, are better suited for my life style. I just went back to playing EVE after 10 years or so, found the game to be good for my schedule.

Forgrimm

raystantz said:

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

...I enjoy random world PVP, and that's the thing I like to do the most...

If that's your main focus, then I'd suggest you steer clear of AA. You have 0 chance of being competitive in PVP unless you dump a lot of money into the game and pick one of the high performing classes such as Darkrunner, Shadowblade, Daggerspell, etc. I played AA for a year and a half and had a lot of fun but my main focus was farming, crafting, and trade runs.

It's not a main focus in that I'm constantly gearing and thinking about how much of a bad ass I'm going to be and how I'm going to steam roll every player I come across. It's more of, when I'm out in the world I expect to come across other players who want to kill me, and I'll probably come across players I'll also want to kill.. or assist in some massive battle somewhere out in the world.

I think there are a ton of definitions about what it means to enjoy PVP in a game. Back in Vanilla WoW it was the same idea.. you win some, you lose some.. I didn't necessarily go looking for it, but sometimes.. sure it was a fun escape from questing etc. 

I guess I don't know what "competitive" in Archeage means. 

On a legacy server you're gonna get shit on by people who have literally spent thousands of dollars on the game. And you'll get shit on so fast that you won't even know what happened. Burst damage in the game is ridiculous. There's a handful of classes out of the 120 possibilities that are actually viable in PVP, the rest will just get shit on in even greater amounts. I can't stress enough how much it would behoove you to wait until fresh start servers come out.

raystantz

Rosenborg said:

raystantz said:

I work in the film industry and my schedule is pretty crazy. Some days I may log on for 8+ hours in a day, and some weeks I may not log on at all or for only a few days that week for a few hours here and there. Very casual. 

Same schedule here, TV productions..

For me games that are more sandbox than themepark, are better suited for my life style. I just went back to playing EVE after 10 years or so, found the game to be good for my schedule.

I tried EVE but I couldn't get into the space aspect. I would love to find something like that I could sink my teeth into that I could get into that works with my schedule, so I hear you on that at least!

Maurgrim

raystantz said:

Maurgrim said:

raystantz said:

Maurgrim said:

Good for you I guess.
For me AA sucks and are boring.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm assuming you're a victim of the "prolonged use" syndrome that Archlyte was talking about above?

Boring quest system to lvl 30 then pointless gameplay, glad you enjoy that crap, I don't.

Maurgrim said:

raystantz said:

Maurgrim said:

Good for you I guess.
For me AA sucks and are boring.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm assuming you're a victim of the "prolonged use" syndrome that Archlyte was talking about above?

Boring quest system to lvl 30 then pointless gameplay, glad you enjoy that crap, I don't.

I guess I just don't understand then, it's the exact same gameplay that's in pretty much every other MMO on the market. I'm assuming you're not playing any at all,

Asian and Western MMO are not a like
, only difference is that Asian MMOs tend to have better graphics.
I play EVE, GW2 and ESO and none of those 3 comes even close to how bad AA is.

raystantz

Maurgrim said:

raystantz said:

Maurgrim said:

raystantz said:

Maurgrim said:

Good for you I guess.
For me AA sucks and are boring.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm assuming you're a victim of the "prolonged use" syndrome that Archlyte was talking about above?

Boring quest system to lvl 30 then pointless gameplay, glad you enjoy that crap, I don't.

Maurgrim said:

raystantz said:

Maurgrim said:

Good for you I guess.
For me AA sucks and are boring.

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I'm assuming you're a victim of the "prolonged use" syndrome that Archlyte was talking about above?

Boring quest system to lvl 30 then pointless gameplay, glad you enjoy that crap, I don't.

I guess I just don't understand then, it's the exact same gameplay that's in pretty much every other MMO on the market. I'm assuming you're not playing any at all,

Asian and Western MMO are not a like
, only difference is that Asian MMOs tend to have better graphics.
I play EVE, GW2 and ESO and none of those 3 comes even close to how bad AA is.

That's awesome, but none of those have world pvp and that's why I find those boring (except EVE.. pretty sure EVE does, but space isn't my cup of tea.) I own GW2 and ESO, and I just don't like instanced PVP, just like those boring quests are boring to you.. zoning into an instance to get a PVP fix takes all of the fun and element of surprise out of it for me. Just my personal preference. People are still telling me to stay away from AA if that is what I like to do, but I don't really know where else to go, because nothing else offers unrestricted pvp out in the world AND decent PVE content, it's either one or the other. I've tried them all.. Darkfall etc.

raystantz

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

...I enjoy random world PVP, and that's the thing I like to do the most...

If that's your main focus, then I'd suggest you steer clear of AA. You have 0 chance of being competitive in PVP unless you dump a lot of money into the game and pick one of the high performing classes such as Darkrunner, Shadowblade, Daggerspell, etc. I played AA for a year and a half and had a lot of fun but my main focus was farming, crafting, and trade runs.

It's not a main focus in that I'm constantly gearing and thinking about how much of a bad ass I'm going to be and how I'm going to steam roll every player I come across. It's more of, when I'm out in the world I expect to come across other players who want to kill me, and I'll probably come across players I'll also want to kill.. or assist in some massive battle somewhere out in the world.

I think there are a ton of definitions about what it means to enjoy PVP in a game. Back in Vanilla WoW it was the same idea.. you win some, you lose some.. I didn't necessarily go looking for it, but sometimes.. sure it was a fun escape from questing etc. 

I guess I don't know what "competitive" in Archeage means. 

On a legacy server you're gonna get shit on by people who have literally spent thousands of dollars on the game. And you'll get shit on so fast that you won't even know what happened. Burst damage in the game is ridiculous. There's a handful of classes out of the 120 possibilities that are actually viable in PVP, the rest will just get shit on in even greater amounts. I can't stress enough how much it would behoove you to wait until fresh start servers come out.

Even if I wait for fresh start, what will that change? I've already stressed that I'm a casual player. I'm not going to be on the fresh start server with an already mapped out plan of action on how I can get the best gear. I'm just going to play. If being a casual player AND participating in PVP without constantly being slaughtered is not an option then maybe I will go elsewhere.. I just don't know where else to go. I'm not interested in instanced PVP.

Forgrimm

raystantz said:

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

...I enjoy random world PVP, and that's the thing I like to do the most...

If that's your main focus, then I'd suggest you steer clear of AA. You have 0 chance of being competitive in PVP unless you dump a lot of money into the game and pick one of the high performing classes such as Darkrunner, Shadowblade, Daggerspell, etc. I played AA for a year and a half and had a lot of fun but my main focus was farming, crafting, and trade runs.

It's not a main focus in that I'm constantly gearing and thinking about how much of a bad ass I'm going to be and how I'm going to steam roll every player I come across. It's more of, when I'm out in the world I expect to come across other players who want to kill me, and I'll probably come across players I'll also want to kill.. or assist in some massive battle somewhere out in the world.

I think there are a ton of definitions about what it means to enjoy PVP in a game. Back in Vanilla WoW it was the same idea.. you win some, you lose some.. I didn't necessarily go looking for it, but sometimes.. sure it was a fun escape from questing etc. 

I guess I don't know what "competitive" in Archeage means. 

On a legacy server you're gonna get shit on by people who have literally spent thousands of dollars on the game. And you'll get shit on so fast that you won't even know what happened. Burst damage in the game is ridiculous. There's a handful of classes out of the 120 possibilities that are actually viable in PVP, the rest will just get shit on in even greater amounts. I can't stress enough how much it would behoove you to wait until fresh start servers come out.

Even if I wait for fresh start, what will that change? I've already stressed that I'm a casual player. I'm not going to be on the fresh start server with an already mapped out plan of action on how I can get the best gear. I'm just going to play. If being a casual player AND participating in PVP without constantly being slaughtered is not an option then maybe I will go elsewhere.. I just don't know where else to go. I'm not interested in instanced PVP.

You'd be starting on even ground with everyone else. There won't be people running around in Ayanad gear one-shotting you. All accounts on the fresh server will be brand new accounts. They will also be limiting marketplace items on the fresh start server to cut back on people paying for progression. There won't be land barons who own dozens of properties charging ridiculous prices for good spots. Granted, as time goes on, the fresh start server will become more and more like a legacy server. But you'll at least get to enjoy the game from a launch perspective for a while.

trouser03

Also play AA for about 4 months now. I'm lvl 54 and having a blast! I don't read forums much but had heard the complaints about Archage Being pay to win, and I've been PK'd enough times to know my toon is undergeared. Doesn't bother me though ad it just gives me another goal to reach. That's really what has hooked me on the game, there is so much to do, I mean PVE is like the last thing I think to do which foe me is refreshing as every MMO I've played since EQ1 has been generic questing in each level tier. I get a sense of earning things in AA as they don't come easy and really like playing it casually and progressing. Community actually talks too and you get to know names on thee server. Been a while sonce I played a game where your toon gets a reputation.

Bring on 3.0!

trouser03

You do almost HAVE to get Paton if you play to end game or want to be able to participate in the economy. Secret farms are fun and exciting but having just signed on for Patron and built my house and farm it becomes much easier to earn gold and make trade runs. I never sub to games either, that show how much this game has impressed me.

raystantz

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

...I enjoy random world PVP, and that's the thing I like to do the most...

If that's your main focus, then I'd suggest you steer clear of AA. You have 0 chance of being competitive in PVP unless you dump a lot of money into the game and pick one of the high performing classes such as Darkrunner, Shadowblade, Daggerspell, etc. I played AA for a year and a half and had a lot of fun but my main focus was farming, crafting, and trade runs.

It's not a main focus in that I'm constantly gearing and thinking about how much of a bad ass I'm going to be and how I'm going to steam roll every player I come across. It's more of, when I'm out in the world I expect to come across other players who want to kill me, and I'll probably come across players I'll also want to kill.. or assist in some massive battle somewhere out in the world.

I think there are a ton of definitions about what it means to enjoy PVP in a game. Back in Vanilla WoW it was the same idea.. you win some, you lose some.. I didn't necessarily go looking for it, but sometimes.. sure it was a fun escape from questing etc. 

I guess I don't know what "competitive" in Archeage means. 

On a legacy server you're gonna get shit on by people who have literally spent thousands of dollars on the game. And you'll get shit on so fast that you won't even know what happened. Burst damage in the game is ridiculous. There's a handful of classes out of the 120 possibilities that are actually viable in PVP, the rest will just get shit on in even greater amounts. I can't stress enough how much it would behoove you to wait until fresh start servers come out.

Even if I wait for fresh start, what will that change? I've already stressed that I'm a casual player. I'm not going to be on the fresh start server with an already mapped out plan of action on how I can get the best gear. I'm just going to play. If being a casual player AND participating in PVP without constantly being slaughtered is not an option then maybe I will go elsewhere.. I just don't know where else to go. I'm not interested in instanced PVP.

You'd be starting on even ground with everyone else. There won't be people running around in Ayanad gear one-shotting you. All accounts on the fresh server will be brand new accounts. They will also be limiting marketplace items on the fresh start server to cut back on people paying for progression. There won't be land barons who own dozens of properties charging ridiculous prices for good spots. Granted, as time goes on, the fresh start server will become more and more like a legacy server. But you'll at least get to enjoy the game from a launch perspective for a while.

The key words here are "new accounts".. not "new players." That's what worries me. I understand being on equal footing but if it's only temporary that doesn't interest me much. I just wish the game was more balanced so that everyone could "contribute" even if you're not super geared. I wanted to play tonight but this whole thing just has me so disheartened I've just been playing Smite instead lol.

cagan

I would suggest Blade&Soul or the other B2P korean game that came out recently. AA is just horrible end game. It is an Ok experience till max level and then you say " Oh, so this is where we start to pay not to get chain killed over and over again"

Forgrimm

raystantz said:

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

...I enjoy random world PVP, and that's the thing I like to do the most...

If that's your main focus, then I'd suggest you steer clear of AA. You have 0 chance of being competitive in PVP unless you dump a lot of money into the game and pick one of the high performing classes such as Darkrunner, Shadowblade, Daggerspell, etc. I played AA for a year and a half and had a lot of fun but my main focus was farming, crafting, and trade runs.

It's not a main focus in that I'm constantly gearing and thinking about how much of a bad ass I'm going to be and how I'm going to steam roll every player I come across. It's more of, when I'm out in the world I expect to come across other players who want to kill me, and I'll probably come across players I'll also want to kill.. or assist in some massive battle somewhere out in the world.

I think there are a ton of definitions about what it means to enjoy PVP in a game. Back in Vanilla WoW it was the same idea.. you win some, you lose some.. I didn't necessarily go looking for it, but sometimes.. sure it was a fun escape from questing etc. 

I guess I don't know what "competitive" in Archeage means. 

On a legacy server you're gonna get shit on by people who have literally spent thousands of dollars on the game. And you'll get shit on so fast that you won't even know what happened. Burst damage in the game is ridiculous. There's a handful of classes out of the 120 possibilities that are actually viable in PVP, the rest will just get shit on in even greater amounts. I can't stress enough how much it would behoove you to wait until fresh start servers come out.

Even if I wait for fresh start, what will that change? I've already stressed that I'm a casual player. I'm not going to be on the fresh start server with an already mapped out plan of action on how I can get the best gear. I'm just going to play. If being a casual player AND participating in PVP without constantly being slaughtered is not an option then maybe I will go elsewhere.. I just don't know where else to go. I'm not interested in instanced PVP.

You'd be starting on even ground with everyone else. There won't be people running around in Ayanad gear one-shotting you. All accounts on the fresh server will be brand new accounts. They will also be limiting marketplace items on the fresh start server to cut back on people paying for progression. There won't be land barons who own dozens of properties charging ridiculous prices for good spots. Granted, as time goes on, the fresh start server will become more and more like a legacy server. But you'll at least get to enjoy the game from a launch perspective for a while.

The key words here are "new accounts".. not "new players." That's what worries me. I understand being on equal footing but if it's only temporary that doesn't interest me much. I just wish the game was more balanced so that everyone could "contribute" even if you're not super geared. I wanted to play tonight but this whole thing just has me so disheartened I've just been playing Smite instead lol.

Sadly, pvp in mmo's is generally shit due to either class/spec imbalances, gear imbalances, or both. I honestly think that MoBA's, FPS's, and Arena Games like Overwatch, TF2, etc. are a much better option for pvp.

Eldurian

Forgrimm said:

raystantz said:

...I enjoy random world PVP, and that's the thing I like to do the most...

If that's your main focus, then I'd suggest you steer clear of AA. You have 0 chance of being competitive in PVP unless you dump a lot of money into the game and pick one of the high performing classes such as Darkrunner, Shadowblade, Daggerspell, etc. I played AA for a year and a half and had a lot of fun but my main focus was farming, crafting, and trade runs.

I remember screwing people's worlds up on my Shadowbane (Vitalism, Defense, Witchcraft) and my fiance did quite damn well for herself on her Bloodreaver (Bloodrage, Auramancy, Occultism).

Yes the gear disparity can be a major problem. But no, you don't need to play a Shadowblade, Daggerspell, Cleric or some other super common build to be effective if you know how to make a proper build. There are plenty of non-cookie cutters you can kick butt with if you are any good.