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[Column] ArcheAge: Getting Past the Grind
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
ArcheAge is most definitely a sandbox-flavored MMO. The seas and roads are alive with trade caravans transporting packs of local specialties. Players raid unprotected farms while pirates kill time and each other on Freedich Island. Guilds have claimed land, hastily constructed castles and declared war on one another. Most importantly, crafted gear reigns supreme. For some MMO fans, none of that matters. No amount of open-world interactions can prevent ArcheAge from becoming the target of "Korean grinder" criticism. It’s true, XLGAMES is a South Korean game studio, but there’s a catch.
Read more of Mark Wilhelm's ArcheAge: Getting Past the Grind.
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Comments
I wish you had mentioned the fact that Archage are changing the game under our feet by forcing us to have to do pvp in order to get anything in game. This will happen in the next patch called patch 1.2
In the game you need Gilda Stars to get hold of anything meaningfull: house, fast mount, car, etc, etc.
Up till now to get gilda stars you have to make up a trade pack and take it to a trader, on your own ladmass. should you choose to cross the see and enter pvp you will get even more gilder star that usual.
After patch 1.2 all this will change. Gone are all none pvp options, now you are forced to go pvp to get the gilda stars to get your house or anything else.
From what I have been hearing this game coudl be released tomorrow, but trion is milking the alpha 150 cost and will continue their greedy marketing with the paid beta as well.
The whole paid access with eventualy wipe shit is getting to me big time...especially when companies like Trion and SOE are doing it...when they easily have the money to get the product finished...its all about greed.
I want to play this game but refuse the current cost and due to the cost if another sandbox comes out i will pass on AA.
For me, you just described your typical raiding MMO like WoW, Rift, etc... end game is repetative grind.
P.s. Trion, where's that beta????
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
George Washington
I think the open world PvP/politics is probably where this game is going. That's kinda how sandbox MMOs work.
End game raiding is just another big ol' endless grind anyways. Not really a great alternative, housing is one of the best end game features in my opinion.
My boredom comes from your repeated " there is no endgame - no raids" posts - give it up. You have made your point, ArcheAge is clearly not for you, you have stated such several times already, and it would be nice if you would go back to your theme park raids and what not.
What do you call 'focused' end game, when you do the same dungeon over and over to get a certain piece of gear? Next question would be, how do you find it enjoyable, to do the exact same thing over and over again? Finally, what happens when you have all the gear in the game that has the 'focused' end game?
Human Intelligence, or lack there of, creates a dynamic world that you can enter, and never live the same tale twice.
They have mentioned plenty of times that your initial Gilda stars will be received through the leveling quests you do anyways which should be enough for the basics like a house and clipper. If you want more you can do the more challenging cross-sea trade run. What's not to like about that? Would you prefer to just keep questing for easy rewards? I enjoy a challenge...
I'm right there with you. Does anyone disagree? Why are people paying these sort of prices for buy-in to betas and alphas. I can see paying up to the cost of the final product cost if you are just excited about the title. I can see making donations beyond that if you have the cash, and you really want to support the developers and the game.
I can't see how they are managing to get enough buy-in on $150/pop. I'm just baffled.
Gaming since 1985; Online gaming since 1995; No End in Sight! My YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8POVoJ8fdOseuJ4U1ZX-oA
I think it is an easy answer, the mmo genre is so bad that people will pay anything that can bring it back. We want a good mmo, and will pay almost anything for the next big thing.
Originally posted by laokoko
"if you want to be a game designer, you should sell your house and fund your game. Since if you won't even fund your own game, no one will".
Here are some hysteria free facts about the gilda star changes for NA/EU (Trion):
Not only will you get gilda stars through the storyline quest, but you will also get gilda stars through doing risk free dailies. Currently they are a random drop for the dailies but will be guaranteed after the patch.
There will remain the option to do inter-continental trades for gilda stars. These run the risk of pvp encounters on the open ocean. You can time your runs so that the ports themselves are in a time of peace when no pvp is allowed.
So the economy wrecking option to safely trade inside your faction's continent for gilda stars is being removed, but more risk free ways to gain them have been added ... at a reasonable pace that won't destroy the game's gilda star economy as in the Korean version.
I'm glad Trion/XL is making this change before release.
Nice bit of misinformation you provided there. The truth is that Gilda Stars will be even easier to obtain for PvE players via risk free daily quests. Also, continental trade runs will continue to yield gold and it's possible to use that to buy things that cost gilda stars too. Everyone will be able to have a farm, a house and a boat just by playing the PvE part of the game.
People will have the option to take the risk of PvP for higher rewards but nobody is forcing anyone to do anything if they don't want to. The game is a sandpark so you choose your own path.
I don't see why this is hard, they clearly outline exactly what you get. Not only do you get the game but several months of sub as well as a bunch of other things. AND, if you believe in the game you get to support the devs as you already indicated.
I think in the end you actually end up ahead.
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
I'm definitely going to write more articles in the future, and I also produce the ArcheAge Report Podcast every once and a while. The 1.2 patch changes will probably be discussed in it's own article.
ArcheAgeSource.com
It's a lot less boring if you're part of an active guild that's building things like castles, subs, boats, siege weapons, full gear sets, etc. You have to motivate yourself in AA, the game doesn't push you forward like some others do.
ArcheAgeSource.com
You're right, but isn't having your character stuck on an off-server effectively a wipe then? I'm not sure how it's gonna work, that's why I'm asking.
Aye we will, at least we are not forced to grind raids 5 days a week to obtain the best gear.
We just have our farm and skip that piece of crap and go straight to what we want ! PVP PVP PVP ! on the sea ! for castles ! for honor ! for fame and for glory !
I know its hard to understand for the carebears......you must be crying your eyeballs out if anything as the danger of pvp lurks somewhere.
But we like it ! after a decade off shit themepark mmo's its finaly a sandpark / sandbox for us.
Just buzz off and pick one off those newly mmo's instead of this one o/
I've hit 50 only 2 weeks ago after having played for 6 weeks and I still think the game is no grind. Though it's still alpha and I told myself not to go for certain goals, I am already working on them.
Like the article tells. It's a non-typical Korean MMO grinder. You 'grind' the way you want and 50 is certainly not the the end of the game or the start of the daily dungeon grind. Instead AA gives you a lot of other things to do and enjoy and IMO AA gives the player the most choices of things to do at level cap of every MMO I've played so far.
So what is the difference with raiding exactly? People think only raiding is the end game as that is what WoW told them it should be. Raiding is grinding to the max. All you do is the same area over and over again until you finally won the roll for that piece of armor or weapon you wanted so badly...and then you go to the next raid to get the gear there. How is that not grinding?
I don't play MMORPG's for raids. I don't like raids, i never needed raids to keep a game fun for me when i was max level. I take joy out of doing PvP and RP. When i hit the level cap it means i don't have to lvl up anymore and got time to do those two things without needing to lvl up to get into certain area's that otherwise would be out of my level reach.
It is to early for me to say if ArchAge will be a great RP game. But it has potentional.
And people seem to have forgotten what MMORPG's where all about. MMORPG's is not Raids and endgames only. A good MMORPG gives you a living breathing world. A world you can lose yourself into. A world that you love to visit and love to be part of. An MMORPG isn't all about combat and only getting the great equipment by defeating bosses in locked away zones called raids. In games like Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies (before Sony screw up) you could be a pure crafter who hardly saw any combat. In SWG as bounty hunter your end game could be just hunting other players for rewards as people could put a bounty on other players. Others their end game was to become the greated armor smith you had ever seen in the game or establish a great RP order in the game.
I haven't played AA, i can't say anything yet if it becomes boring quickly or not. But i do know that MMORPG's or rather RPG's in general are grindy, doesn't matter what. The difference is "what does a game offer next to the grind". As of late MMORPG's don't give anything else. Atleast of what i seen this game tries to give some variation. It looks like you got plenty of other things to do to get nice things. I never understood why only defeating bosses in raid's should get you the amazing stuff anyway.
Grinding will always be there but i rather grind in the open world then being locked in some dungeon for hours with people who think they are more entitled to get that piece of armor because they don't have to go to work the next day, don't have a family to take care so they got 20 hours a day and only sleep 4 hours. I rather grind resources and have someone else make that great armor that i wanted. I rather grind in PvP where i can decide when i do it and leave when ever i want too then being stuck for 5 hours in some dungeon. But most importantly for me is how the world is presented to me. I don't need anything but a nice believeable world to keep me entertained in the game. A good mature community and great RP is all i need to keep me playing for a long time. Sadly that's what been lacking the most for the last 5 years as communities seem to be drama driven these day's, but that is a whole other discussion i won't bother you with here right now.
I spend most of my time in Archeage trying to level skills (in other trees) to find the best build that works for me in PVP. I find that fun and intriguing. After that I try to get resources for things I might need or want to do. You'll want a mount, you'll want 16x16 farm land, and a boat. You'll want gold or resources to get the best possible gear for your character (not really a big fan of how gear is crafted and the RNG involved at the higher levels).
When I'm not playing I often miss joining my friends list and terrorizing the opposing faction for revenge of the torment they cause on "our" side of the world. I have genuine hate for pirates and faction traitors. The player generated stories are what makes Archeage fun. You WILL remember certain guild names, you'll know what they stand for. You'll know how to feel when you see them in disputed territory or the high seas. The blend between enemy NPCs and OWPVP is fun.
The things I think Archeage is missing is 1) Improved Class balance 2) Improved Justice & Moral Compass System 3) Reasonable Gear/Weapon Crafting RNG (after level 40 it's pretty silly) 4) Good lore/story atmosphere (right now it's pretty disposable). 5) Stability (this is why the game needs to remain in alpha. They still got work to do).
Archeage is not a solo friendly game after level 28-30 unless you wish to craft and farm 24/7. Questing solo or going into hostile/disputed territory solo is asking to get rightfully terrorized (unless you're sneaky about it). Do NOT try to make Archeage into something it's not. It's a PVP-centric game with PVE elements sprinkled around it. If you join in before 1.2 goes hits alpha server, prepare to get stun locked and bombed on by OP exploitable builds before and during lvl 50.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The concept of "grinding" is weird. If an activity is fun and immersive, it's gameplay. If not, it's grinding. What is and isn't grinding is mostly subject to preference. Someone might consider running trade packs for stars "grinding", in the same way someone might consider raiding "grinding". PvP battlegrounds and arena can also be "grinding", to some. Essentially, any activity you don't enjoy or feel immersed in where you're working to achieve a goal can be considered "grinding".
Therefore, it's useless trying to convince others that games involve a lot of "grinding", because the only thing that tells you is that there is a lot to achieve within the game. Some people do relate it to the level of effort required to perform a specific activity, but most activities in MMOs can be mastered, lowering the effort required to perform said activity (rendering the argument less valid).