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At first I found the Quest System easy and a non-issue.
I am only LV17. So yes, not that far in.
However, the quests so far have been easy, go, move, no real back-tracking, ect, easy as pie. However, I just completed 10 quests, most over-achieved, and got 77% of a level. That's crazy to me. Especially since how boring these quests are..and there's no alternative to quest grind.
All I want in a MMORPG is the ability to grind XP in a party versus mobs. Ah...XI...back in the day, pre-Abyssea...that was great. That brotherhood. That sense of adventure.
I really love the class system in this, animations are not awful either, and while the world itself isn't the most unique, it does feel like it has some personality. Something most MMO's lack these days. I mean, for the grind to kick in @ LV17 like this...and gear. Gear comes from a quest in the zone or so, I've seen, a new main, secondary, and then armor or whatnot. Gear found in shops is literally crap compared to the quest gear in the zone, and expensive for the points you're at. So basically: You have to grind quests to advance. Every time. Every new character, you have to do this mind-boggling, but still annoying quests. Also you can just rush past most enemies.
The story sucks, too. Atmosphere wise, some areas are nice, but I don't know. It feels like it wants to be a sandbox, but the devs were to scared and made it half and half. If it were a real sandbox, I could just go and advance without grinding quests...but it's kinda a hybrid, and while that's neat to see them trying not to just fit the mold, it feels like it excels in neither. Also, the guy voicing the cutscenes in the story could not sound more bored. He's almost like "Christ, just get it over with." I am mainly a PvE'r, so this game probably wasn't for me. But I do enjoy some PVP now and again, but from what I have seen, this game does what many other does and ruins PVP: Making it stun based. Stuns. Should. Never. Be. Allowed. In. PVP.
Also, did anyone else really understand how screwed some quests are? "Hey, these guys poaching this area to feed their families. Go kill 10 or so of them and bring back strips of their cloth, so we send them a message." - The Good guys. For poaching, you end their lives? Now if they were killing some kind of protected species or whatnot...but even then, in another quest in the same area, you are asked to kill the creatures they are poaching! Because they are over-populated! It's insanity! You killed the poachers, so now there's overpopulation? Why the hell...come on, that's not even TRYING.
No one has fun having control of their character ripped away...and there are enough skills, without hitting stun immunity, to keep you stunned for 10s+, by which point you are surely dead, or the other guy just sucks or had to go AFK. 10s while watching your character get killed is awful, and boring.
I think this game needed to bake longer, maybe not be F2P, maybe something like 19.99$ + 4.99 monthly fee. I could see that. Restricting all the best features to Patron is going to be the thing that kills it. You can't even -sell- on the Auction House without Patron. You lose your home if your sub expires. Hackers and botters like crazy. I've never seen a modern MMORPG, F2P or no, where people can use hacks like they do in Archeage. I mean I've seen wall-hacks, people spawning monsters, people flying, one guy was using this hack that made him invincible in a fight, ect...all in a MMORPG. I know teething issues are part of a new MMORPG, but this kind of thing...
And then all the bans going on, even with people who just created an account and haven't logged in...that's bad. Not even being told. Of course there are actually botters being banned, but that six figures of bans they tout, I wonder how many of them were false positives? I'd say a damn good percent..
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Comments
Questing/leveling is mediocre, no doubt about it.
Thing is it's a once and done thing and should only take a few days if you're an average player.
I've also talked to numerous people that just leveled to 30 and then crafted their way up to 50. They probably had some help getting the materials though.
I also liked the feeling of brotherhood you got from FFXI. Its here in this game too, but it's not present during the leveling process.
Well see, the thing is...once I hit Max level, what is the incentive to play? The story will be done, my gear will be nicely off, not the best, but adequate.
As someone who wants a large, interesting world full of content and hidden secrets, and does not care about crappy PVP, what is there for me?
I believe it's the Journey, not the destination. I believe the game ends at max level, not starts.
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The incentive is you can PVP, fight for resources in groups or try to stealth trade, pirate, farm, craft. The progression continues with your gear and it takes a VERY long time to get the best gear in the game (I'm pretty sure there still isn't anybody with the best gear in Korea and it's been out a couple years).
That being said, if you're looking for more of a PVE experience with a vast land full of secrets, and you enjoy leveling more than endgame, than Archeage probably isn't your game.
Archeage is a vast land full of level 50s that want to steal your tradepack.
That's not to say there isn't ample room for rewarding exploration. You could go treasure hunting in the Ocean, find a private island to live on, or spend time looking for illegal tree farms other people have planted.
But yeah, if you don't care about PVP I would probably pass. It's a pvp-centered game for sure.
1) crafting/gathering is far faster xp the quest grinding, the game is designed with the intention of getting people to interact. the quest were added for basic tutorials and for the niche group of people that like to level via questing.
2) you can get through the entirety of the AA story in under a half hour. it ends at lvl 30 not even cap.
3)your gear will not be nicely off. the last quest armor is 47 and the limited choice of noncrafted weapon is token grinding by killing hundreds of mobs, and you will be stomped into the ground with it. there is a huge power difference between the quest gear and the mid range 50 crafting gear let alone the rngesus top gear.
4) there are hidden areas within the game but the bulk of the game is about interacting with other people:
be it pveing down world bosses for material to craft special items, dominating the market and getting lots of cool cosmetics, or pvping for area control.
the archeage "journey" starts whenever you want it to start because its your goals in the game that dictate the experience not the developer. if your goal is just to complete the story then id say go play something else because the game isn't designed to be played long term that way.
Why are you playing this game? You are deliberately avoiding the activities and mechanics the game is based around to engage in the activity that is in the game as a filler.
If what you want is group mob grinding, why aren't you playing a game where group mob grinding is a standard feature?
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Anyone who isn't interested in the crafting, farming, or ESPECIALLY PvP aspects really should have known to never come here in the first place. The PvP is the most important thing, too. If you really like farming that much but don't like PvP (including the PvP race to get better gear), farmville is a better option, because without PvP you're basically just doing crafting and NOTHING else (the house customization system, if you can call it that, leaves much to be desired) because the PvE sucks. This is NOT a "Farmville and have fun PvE-ing" game. This is a "Farmville and then PVP" game. And a very competitive and gear-based one at that.
And I'm honestly not sure why anyone would think otherwise if they paid any attention at all about this game. Sure, I can understand why some people wouldn't realize just how competitive it is (in terms of everything to do with the sandpark, such as land and open world ganking, etc), but it's pretty obvious the PvE in this game is practically filler at best. Several times the topic has come up and posters have replied even with detailed descriptions of what the dungeons are like and made it very clear those dungeons are really just... there and mostly ignored. (as for end-game raids? There's like... one ocean-hunt I believe... two with an upcoming update, and that's it far as I know).
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If you are bored at lvl 17 it only gets worse, much worse especially if you are soloing a lot.
You are not correct about gear at 50 - quest gear is complete trash. If you like mob grinding with a party you might like hasla farming because thats exactly what it is. Old school mob grinding for days while competing with your own and enemy faction for tags and spawn camps.
I will say AA really is a game that starts at max level. The reason is the hugely advanced crafting and property system. If you want to make stuff like boats and warships, mansions and gear it requires a large guild level infrastructure and organization to get the necessary skills and materials.
Basically you need lots of people with farms who can make trade packs. You get ships and players to defend the packs and take them to far off trade vendors to get money or guida stars. You use the stars to make all kinds of stuff from galleons to mansions. Enemy faction, pirate and even your own faction will try to intercept and steal these packs for themselves which leads to meaningful pvp.
I am critical of a lot parts of the game, but it does have quite a bit of depth that you really only get to appreciate if you are with a large, organized guild.
The journey in AA dont end in lvl cap. Getting to 50 is just a small part of AA, in fact AA could be leveless and will be fine.
If what you looking in a mmorpg is a pre-made story that you follow untill "game over" like FarCry3 then you have plenty of other mmos around really cool for that.
TSW is the most amazing imo.
ArcheAge dont have what you looking for, here people is making their own story.
pretty much this..
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson