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ArcheAge Unchained ArchePass Re-enabled, Causes Issues, Compensation Issued - MMORPG.com
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ArcheAge Unchained ArchePass Re-enabled, Causes Issues, Compensation Issued - MMORPG.com
In case you missed it, the saga of ArcheAge Unchained's ArchePass seems unending after the ArchePass was re-enabled, and then taken down yet again recently.
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No, I do not want to be sold a different amount of stuff as the next guy for the same price depending on how much play time I do or do not have. No, I do not want to have to unlock the thing I paid for. Fuck you kindly.
Play the Game, Not the Company.
As I said, I'm casual. I only JUST got into a guild, and it's a small one that really doesn't do anything together. I also think they're mostly European players on an NA server, so I only speak with them when I'm on past midnight. I'm terrible at PvP. I am 100% inefficient with my labor points. I only got started with my ascension leveling last week. The PvE *IS* grindy. I have yet to run a single instance dungeon or raid. Most of my time is spent doing dailies, because I usually do them solo. My gear is only Hiram T1 (or T0? I don't know.. whatever it is when you become full Hiram gear), except for my weapon. Hiram gear is a terrible idea if you want to change skillsets, and I probably have a terrible skillset on my class, because I'm leveling up all skills (Not that I'll ever use them, I just want to max them). Hiram gear basically also makes all other itemization irrelevant for most players. The nation chat is obnoxious. Pirates suck, not just on boats, but on land as well. Locking activities to a certain time of day is an annoyance. I don't understand how all the systems work. The trade system can be confusing. There's poor documenation, if any, about a LOT of things. The negatives go on and on and on..
And I... Have LOVED every GOD DAMNED minute of it.
I have spent NOTHING beyond the initial purchase price. Not one cent. The main reason I stopped playing the original game has nothing to do with Pay-2-Win, I just didn't have the money for the subscription given the amount of time I had available, and Labor regeneration was directly tied to that system (You'd only regen when online if not a premium member, and slower too). Plus when I left, gear was a LOT more difficult to obtain due to RNG, and the disparity was massive - HIram, for all it's faults, corrected that in a major way.
I don't even really care about the Archepass system, except for the fact that dillegence coins are the only way to increase my bank slots. I don't care that the Archepass gives labor, because the more you use the labor recharges, the less labor they give you (1000 at first, then 975, then 925, etc., etc.). Maximizing their value means 1 per day. There is no way I will be completing almost ANY of those types of activities in my limited amount of time if that's how they're implementing it. If they offered inventory slots and the ability to roll more than 2 characters, I'd gladly pony up real money for that. And if they would just release the full catalog of costumes that were available in the original, I'd be perfectly fine with that being on the store page - I really want The Oathkeepr costume that I had on my main a long time ago - Before I'd even consider buying a premium Archepass. I'll pay money for cosmetics, and by and large, that's what has been on the real money store.
So why do I love it?
It's impossible to convey what a sense of accomplishment you get when things finally click. When you figure out the path you want to take. When that system that's been puzzling you finally makes sense in a way that some Youtuber or Wiki couldn't explain, or the advice proffered becomes clear. Or even better, when you prove a commonly held misconception wrong. TheLazyPeon once said in his videos that Hiram Awakening scrolls are only available from the dailies - Not true, they do drop in the world, but have a terribly low drop rate (A minor issue - TheLazyPeon is still awesome). When you realize that while the Labor system sounds like a stupid idea, it really, REALLY DOES give value to your limited time (literally), and learning how to prioritize that currency to accomplish the things YOU want to accomplish is so, so satisfying. When you finally get into that event that you've always JUST MISSED because it's only open for so long, and run around like a noob chicken (An egg?) with your head cut off trying to figure out how it actually works. Learning how to actually get a 16x16 farm that you place IN THE WORLD, counting your blessings you found the open land to do it. When your battle pet finally gets level 55, you shell out the gold for that pet armor, and you start to mow down mobs that used to have double or even triple the TTK (Bad player/spec, remember?) - And then finding out you've been vendoring all the materials to upgrade THAT pet armor in a moment of epic Face-Palming..
AA:U is deeply complex, and one hell of a slow burn, especially if you like to play solo. Yes, people suck, but they generally suck everywhere there is PvP of any kind. Yes, it's grindy, but with the grind comes a sense of reward. Yes, itemization and documentation are both issues that could use some attention, but learning something you couldn't just look up is a lost sense of reward these days.
You will NOT be good at this game if you've never played it. You WILL get ganked if you dare step out when a zone is in conflict once you hit level 50. It's punishing, it's brutal. It's not "pay-2-win" like the original AA was, but dammit, the people complaining that money gives other people an in-game advantage are at least 9 times out of 10 the same people that would suck at AA even if the money wasn't there.
If you have the patience, if you have the mindset that you are NOT awesome, if you are capable of enjoying learning rather than knowing, if you're goal oriented, if you like a diversity of builds even if they are not optimal for the meta, if you can delay gratification as you learn how and why you want to make your way in this virtual world.. AA:U is extremely, extremely rewarding.
Look, this isn't about backing the development team. I'm sure XLGames/Trion/Gamingo earned a lot of ill will in the eyes of a lot of players. Whether or not you agree with those evaluations of the developers is irrelevant - You should be wary of ANY developer. Remember when Blizzard and Bethesda were held in such high regard? Yeah... All business and developers have the capacity to mess up. Some more often than others, and yes, Gamingo seems to have issues.
Why could that be? Business executives trying to squeeze every last drop of cash out of users? That's common with almost every company, with few exceptions - It's what they're built to do. Bad developers? Possibly - I work in IT, but I have no idea of what or how they're developing. A small team with a high turnover acquiring a set of second hand code (Third hand, if you count the handoff from XL to Trion) dealing with a Korean developer? Definitely.
No developer is perfect, and some are really, really not good. Businesses do some really shady things.
No game lasts forever.
Archeage: Unchained, for all its problems from the game mechanics to technical issues to past monetization, can be a very very enjoyable experience.
Don't go in blind, but don't let anyone else's views or opinions (especially about a COMPANY, and not the game) stop you from finding something you enjoy. That includes me too.
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
yes becasue the ONLY problem is xlgames, just re read all the otehrs post there is enough info on it to drop your thinking
Couldn't the same be said about any game really that you can play together with friends.....even Anthem....? That said, the problem was never really the game but the people who develop it as well as the people running it. As for XL handing over the license, get real. This game makes money hand-over-fist in other regions, so we wont be seeing them turn it over anytime soon.
I'd still enjoy the game even if I wasn't playing with friends. First MMO in a while I've had a decent amount of fun.