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Archeage Analysis and Experiences
Kamandi777
Member UncommonPosts: 223
I have played many MMOs, starting with Ultima Online in 1999 through AoC, WAR, Rift, Wow, Aion and FFXIV. I have long looked forward to a sandbox game that could get close to UO and hoped Archeage would be the one.
It isn't.
Why?
Let me begin with my experiences in the game so far and compare/contrast them with my expectations before I started and my expectations for the future of this game.
I rolled my first toon 2 days before the Lucius server went live. I got to play that toon for maybe three hours before the Q monster took away game play. I had bought the silver package and lost those perks when Lucius server opened up.
That is when the game went full throttle for me. I logged onto Lucius minutes after it popped and had a house, a guild and a garden in 2 hours. The next day I had another house and a garden. Two days later I had two 16x16 gardens and my property acquisition ended. My guild was really a bunch of farmers and old women so I had to leave that guild and joined another much more aggressive bunch.
At this point I started think this is when the game begins. Planting and cutting trees cannot be all this game is about. I expected since the game is called a "sand/park" there would be some bgs, some instances, some world bosses. I did go to SM twice and BC once. That was /yawn. There is no bg except for a zerg farm called "Halcyonia". Just quest after quest after quest.
Don't get me wrong I am a pvper, but I have yet to get in a fight that ended in someone dying. Either I get away or my opponent does. I know better than get caught in then open by a gank squad. So after 3 weeks in this game I still don't have 1 point of honor.
I have never even seen a pirate. I hear about them but on all the trade runs we do, never seen one.
I will hit 50 in prolly Friday, but have no idea what that will entail. I have heard "Halsa" in guild chat but until I Google it I have no idea what that is. It sounds like a place to grind gear -- exactly what no sandbox should have and exactly what a theme park is based on.
So as far as expectations, they were high when I started and confused at the present. I have no idea what is going to happen. Paying taxes and cutting/planting/sawing/selling lumber has been about it.
I guess action will come eventually. My new guild is active and we roll deep, but again, I have yet to see anyone attack us. In Halcyonia i see dozens of reds but I am in stealth and stay that way. I have attacked in halcyonia but before they die they pop a glider and fly to their friends so I stealth and get behind some trees. Attack someone again and the same thing.
Maybe I am missing some important quest or website that lays all this out and gives a plan of action.
I don't see any plan right now.
Comments
This sounds nothing like my experience honestly.
There are less instances and bgs because that brings people into the persistent world, which is what this game is about.
This game should not be quest after quest after quest for you. Take it slow, getting to 50 means relatively little compared to the amount of gear/items you can craft and gold you can farm.
You are doing something wrong in PvP if you haven't died or killed and you are almost level 50. I have been in multiple skirmishes which feel like epic battles, especially in two on two skirmishes. Generally, someone dies. If they get on a glider, use a ranged spell and they fall off...or if you aren't fast enough, give chase.
Hasla isn't that much of a grind and is the temporary endgame.
DMKano answered the rest.
Not a perfect game, but definitely a flexible one for many different styles. Not a casual game either.
Looking forward to: Crowfall / Lost Ark / Black Desert Mobile
1-50 is just a standard Themepark with sparse and random pvp that is largely irrelevant.
There is a 5v5 random arena, but you really shouldn't go there until you are 50 and at least have a hasla weapon.
The main 'sand boxish' pvp in the game right now is on the seas and Freedich island. People transport packs from the main continents to this island in order to get gilda stars or money/resources. Other players, including your own faction will try to steal them. In order to do this content you really should be lvl 50 and be in a big guild.
I can't really talk end game because I'm not there yet, but as far as bosses are concerned, I think there are some. I've come across one called windlord. (at least I consider him a boss.) Farming and crafting are a large part of the sandbox portion of the game, so if you don't really enjoy that, it does take away a bit from the overall experience. However, I know plenty of ppl in my guild that aren't crafter types who are still enjoying it. I guess if it didn't meet your expectations, there probably isn't anything anyone can say that will change that impression.
I self identify as a monkey.
The only end game raid bosses are the kraken and later, leviathan. Both naval battles.
Honestly, if you aren't in this game for the PvP, it's highly recommended you not bother no matter how much you enjoy the farmville aspects. The PvE in this game is at best filler and the farmville aspects in the end are meant to work in conjunction with the PvP (if you really like farmville that much, there are other games that do it better).
Archeage's endgame isn't just centered around PvP. It IS PvP. Look around and how many posts do you see of people saying how awesome it is to gather together a bunch of friends to go raiding and PvEing? It's all about the PvP. That's what you DO in Archeage in the end and there isn't anything else.
It's a PVP game, first and foremost. If you haven't been killing peeps, you've been avoiding them or waiting until the zones were marked "peacetime". On my server, the opposing faction GREATLY outnumbers my faction, so it's always a lot of them and very very few of us. So for me to quest out in any of the 30+ zones really means, it's their zone and you are merely trespassing in it. So you skillfully move your way around, killing when the opportunity presents itself... it's quite tactical trying to decide if you can kill the weakest peep amongst their friends and potentially slip away.
That is what this game is about. NO POINT IN GRINDING ANY GEAR IF YOUR INTENTION IS TO AVOID COMBAT IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. You should be seeking out combat at every turn. That is what this game is about. Not planting farms, not building a house, but generally killing or being killed. That is where the fun is. If you don't like that aspect of the game, all that is left is the dull drudgery of trade runs... and unless you leave the safe zones... mind-numblingly boring. So, you acquire 2 billion gold, for what? To acquire even more gold. I already have over 200 gold and that's merely through questing. Honestly, gold is easily acquired and at this juncture not really all that useful. Until Auroria opens, the real gear won't even be had.
Hasla is your welfare epics... if you grind it long enough you will have weapons better than your quested ones. CRAFTED GEAR OUT CLASSES ALL DROPPED/QUEST/HASLA ITEMS. This is why there is crafting... so that you can work on crafting your gear. But it's not like you can craft MR. BiS right out of the gate... you have to level your crafting high enough to even make said item, and when you do, it has RNG stats, meaning it could be the ultimate or it could be terrible for your spec. Since crafted items consume lesser versions of said item, it can take quite some time to get the holy grail item you seek. If it does show up in the AH, expect to pay a pretty penny for it. So as you can see, everything FEEDS the PVP in this game. It's not a side activity to do OTHER than PVP. People may try to play it that way, but it doesn't pan out in the end.
And I killed my first level 50 pirate on the pirate island... have you visited it? Plenty of pirates... heaven help you if they see you before you see them. Try doing a trade run on the open waters... the pirates are all over you. You haven't even begun to play the game.
You're not approaching this game as a sandbox at all, you're mentality shows a yearning for the controlled, themepark style of gameplay. You're asking for battlegrounds when the game is filled with PvP zones (the entire ocean, Freedich Island, the war zones, and so on). The farming, gathering, chopping of trees, mining of ore, and all that is a bunch of stuff that supplements building ships, crafting armor, making weapons, and other things that progress characters; all of which provides XP to gain levels.
Also, your play type in PvP is that of a rather sad style of "attack from stealth then run and hide when numbers show up or they get away". That's the worse kind of PvP, a solo ganker's act, and is one of seldom satisfaction. Ocean ship fights are not like that all and guilds with Galleon ships are doing AOE and long-range fights between cannon fire while trying to defend or attack trade pack ship runs.
You're missing so much of this game because your playstyle description is that of a Rogue from WoW. Not even sure if you've ever played WoW, but that's what comes from your description in this thread.
i have made a brownies. pirates, all of us are brownies and we are priates.
Takes awhile to cumulate those points.
im still recruting brownies thats in my server. Most of us are fans of fluttershy. Our goal end game is live like pirates steal ships, and gank trade ships take their gold and plunder them.
i call our pirates clan fluttershy pirates. my pirates members are working together to make priate ship right now, got scout ships tho. hue hue hue.
First of all staying in the shadows is the way most do it when playing solo in a game where there is open FFA-PVP. Secondly he didn't say he wanted BG's as much as he said he expected that kind of thing because of the sandpark label. HE also expected there to be instances etc... as well as world bosses, you know Themepark things.... Hence the label...
He also mentioned running with his guild on trade runs hoping for some pirates which never showed, more or less.
His overall point was so far the game has been rather uneventful for him. He's looking for more than Cutting down trees or planting them, that's a fair wish IMO for one who prefers PVP.
Judging by a post DMkano made it would seem the drive for that type of thing isn't really implemented yet. Maybe that's the problem and the cure the OP is looking for?
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
The game did poor in the parts of Asia it released. The Korean version did "OK" as time went on but nothing spectacular.
Why would the western release be different somehow?
The second you log in you realize it's a game that should've been released 5 years ago. It's stale, clunky and fairly ugly looking. It takes all of a few days game time to realize the ideas are nothing like what you read about.
It is and always was a generic fantasy MMO that was never going to make any real waves.
Why do you think Trion kept it in "beta" so long? They had no access to the code, they made no content additions. Translation does not take that many months - their business model of cashing in on those founders packs was well thought out when they tried AA for themselves and thought "god what have we bought".
I share the same opinion as the above.
This game has all the old world attributes (Graphics, Size, Items, Feel, Lag-Spikes, Character-Looks, Mobility, Etc) to it.
Huge world where traveling has many Rides / Options like …. Mounts, Gliders, Carriages but eventually too much time consumption on traveling, …. any option you select.
I tried the game as a froob and could make till 35ish within 5 days.
(Ignored Crafting, Storing Items, “F-A-R-M-S-V-L-L-E”, Farming Gilda Stars, Farming Gold, Buying any cash shop item … ) … Only Pve questing.
It has the same “free to play” disadvantages of buy out everything from shop or auction house (EVEN YOU “BUY” ability of USING AUCTION HOUSE – THIS IS -- !epic!) and the huge crafting system is bound to make your eyes go red while scrolling down the storage. The same force to make alts and the same force to keep building storage as you might need everything someday.
PvP aspect is very chasing kind of a story. (Too Much Space To Run Away Unless You Are Attacking Someone Already Into Something Else)
You get “KILLED” when Pve questing through your own faction. This is interesting.
Too many skill combinations are bound to make misbalanced classes and eventually experimental classes will get wiped out by the preferred safe options.
Instances look even worse and simpler and older than a few browser based game’s …. “Instances” we have today. The bulk client and the compressed client might make your laptop or computer over-heated sooner than most other games.
After 30, the game is not casual anymore. It is kind of “G-R-I-N-D-Y” and “slow” and “repetitive”.
Under-Water Caves and Diving and Ships and the Sea part of the game looks Adventurous indeed.
Note: One very bad "DEVELOPMENTAL" error I find in this game is around the PK system. I am killing a mob and a player kills me. If the last hit WAS by the mob when I died , I will actually lose XP / labor points. This error has the potential to break the game which is revolving around PvP.
Cheers
Sourajit Nandi
" Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can't play this or that. That's nonsense. Make up your mind,and you'll never whine or repent about gaming hours anymore, then have a go at every Game. Open up the Internet, join in all the Mmorpgs you can. Go make the Guild. But never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible. "
Once An Addict Always An Addict .