Arche Age

[Stormwaltz]

I had to spend most of last evening arguing myself back from an impulse purchase. My arguments were 1) FFA-PVP and 2) the last MMG I preordered (GW2) I quit after three weeks.

I long for the day developers realize that when most people say "I want a sandbox" they don't mean "I want Shadowbane and EVE" - they're saying "I want Skyrim and Minecraft."

[WayAbvPar]

Can we have all 4?

[Njal]

Will check failed. Oh well it's only money.

[Scold]

I really want to play it before putting down money, even if it's something I'm looking forward to.  That's what I hate about these founder's packs.

I've watched a bunch of gameplay videos from the Korean and other versions of the game, sold me pretty good.

[Scold]

I had to spend most of last evening arguing myself back from an impulse purchase. My arguments were 1) FFA-PVP and 2) the last MMG I preordered (GW2) I quit after three weeks.

I long for the day developers realize that when most people say "I want a sandbox" they don't mean "I want Shadowbane and EVE" - they're saying "I want Skyrim and Minecraft."

i think there's actually a ton of indie MMO potential to be had with MineCraft. It's such an open, extensible platform, with huge visibility, that any custom feature you want has probably already been built for it in a way that you can plug in modularly. Great for group development, too -- virtually anyone who wants to work on your project can find something to do even if they lack specific skill-sets, so long as you trust their decent judgment.

You could literally build the world now, plug in additional features later -- hell, switch the entire combat system if you want to, dozens of different combat systems have been made for MC.

[Malakili]

I long for the day developers realize that when most people say "I want a sandbox" they don't mean "I want Shadowbane and EVE" - they're saying "I want Skyrim and Minecraft."

Soo.... EQ Next?

[Lucas]

Sigh, I would have purchased  Beta access if it was for a continous testing (alpha is too pricey) instead of those crappy weekend events, also considering that between Fri evening and Mon evening I'm away from my main comp and on a crappy netbook 

[Stormwaltz]

Soo.... EQ Next?

I'm definitely watching it.

I think EQ Next's construction with Pathfinder Online's mob escalation systems would keep me happy for a long time.

[Jherad]

What in the...

http://www.twitch.tv/bikeman/c/4141434

Alpha party. 

[Senses]

That, was pretty awesome.

[Draegan]

I really want to play it before putting down money, even if it's something I'm looking forward to.  That's what I hate about these founder's packs.

You can easily go play o  the Russian server. There are guides out there if ya Google it.

[palmer_eldritch]

The newbie and lower-level areas of the alpha server are packed with players now. The server used to be fairly empty, and the lowbie areas were even emptier because most alpha testers had got through them already. So it appears that Trion sold hell of a lot of $150 founders packs.

[disKret]

The newbie and lower-level areas of the alpha server are packed with players now. The server used to be fairly empty, and the lowbie areas were even emptier because most alpha testers had got through them already. So it appears that Trion sold hell of a lot of $150 founders packs.

People are just crazy searching for anything that can keep You for more than first month of playing. Wildstar is meh, ESO is single player. There is nothing around.

[Scold]

that part when THEIR NUDIST PARTY BOAT ENCOUNTERS THE KRAKEN: http://www.twitch.tv/bikeman/c/4141728 

This is easily the most exciting thing to happen to MMOs in years.

[Lantyssa]

I really want to play it before putting down money, even if it's something I'm looking forward to.  That's what I hate about these founder's packs.

You can easily go play o  the Russian server. There are guides out there if ya Google it.

If you're asking for money for a product, I'd like to sample your product.  I'm interested, not obsessed.  With the latter I'd have been playing the Korean version when it came out.

[Draegan]

I really want to play it before putting down money, even if it's something I'm looking forward to.  That's what I hate about these founder's packs.

You can easily go play o  the Russian server. There are guides out there if ya Google it.

If you're asking for money for a product, I'd like to sample your product.  I'm interested, not obsessed.  With the latter I'd have been playing the Korean version when it came out.

Shrug. I guess you'll wait for their open beta stuff then.

[Count Nerfedalot]

I've already said this one's not FOR me, so I'm not criticising, but I am curious about what seems to be a blind spot in the business model of Arche Age in particular and many of these pvp sandbox games. Since all of these games depend on attracting enough sheep to keep the wolves from getting too bored, why are they charging for the builder portions of the game, but not charging the pure taker/destroyers? Shouldn't that go the other way, where sheep activities are free but you have to pay to prey?

[Stormwaltz]

Off the cuff, I'd guess because the PvP is construed as the "most exciting" part, while the "builder/socilaizer" folks are the ones most likely to invest long term in a sub.

[Scold]

Off the cuff, I'd guess because the PvP is construed as the "most exciting" part, while the "builder/socilaizer" folks are the ones most likely to invest long term in a sub.

Also, the PvP ties directly into player justice mechanisms -- would distort that to have two tiers.

[palmer_eldritch]

I've already said this one's not FOR me, so I'm not criticising, but I am curious about what seems to be a blind spot in the business model of Arche Age in particular and many of these pvp sandbox games. Since all of these games depend on attracting enough sheep to keep the wolves from getting too bored, why are they charging for the builder portions of the game, but not charging the pure taker/destroyers? Shouldn't that go the other way, where sheep activities are free but you have to pay to prey?

You can't let free players build farms because land space is not instanced, it exists in the game world and it's limited. Meanwhile, farms are easy to set up but you are limited to one large farm per account (although houses can also have a little farmland around them).

If they don't gate access to farms by making them subscriber only then dedicated crafters would claim entire regions for their farming empires. The only thing stopping them would be the ability to create enough email addresses to create fresh accounts.

By the way, I'm not going to try to talk you round on the game but it's not quite as dog eat dog as perhaps I may have suggested earlier. I mean, it's nothing like Darkfall or pre-Trammel UO. I imagine many players will stick to the safe zones, especially crafters.

[Tyrnan]

By the way, I'm not going to try to talk you round on the game but it's not quite as dog eat dog as perhaps I may have suggested earlier. I mean, it's nothing like Darkfall or pre-Trammel UO. I imagine many players will stick to the safe zones, especially crafters.

Is it possible to avoid PvP altogether then?  I know I read something about areas cycling between PvP-enabled and not (I think) but is it really viable to play that way?  Some of the sandboxy elements of the game seem quite interesting but I've never enjoyed open PvP games so had pretty much written this one off.

[Draegan]

You can to a certain degree, but not really.

[Tyrnan]

Ah ok, thanks.  I'll (re)scratch it off the list then.

[Draegan]

Ah ok, thanks.  I'll (re)scratch it off the list then.

Yeah, this game is not for people who want a perfectly free PVE experience and be able to do everything. It's not as wild wild west as games like darkfall or eve (I think), but you can get messed with.

[Rendakor]

Can people raid your farm/house? Can they do so while you aren't online? I don't mind PVP but I'm not playing fucking Travian.

[palmer_eldritch]

Can people raid your farm/house? Can they do so while you aren't online? I don't mind PVP but I'm not playing fucking Travian.

No, they can't.

[Miasma]

Awful lot of boats in the promo material, not sure that would work out, does it?

[Logain]

I had my doubts as well but so far I think the naval battles have been one of my favorite aspects of pvp. Nothing like two galleons full of players facing off, one person steering, someone working the sails, a bunch of guys manning the cannons all the while fighting off boarding attempts. It only gets crazier and more fun once more people get involved. There's just enough at stake to give you a sense of excitement but the penalties are really trivial beyond the repair costs if your boat gets sunk.

The only thing that kills it right now is the majority of players are in the 30-40 range and when you come up against a whole crew of 50's they can really wreck your shit. But at the same time, it's not such a lopsided situation that a single max level character can't be taken down by several much lower level characters.

[Scold]

It sounds like in the longer run once the game goes live hitting 50 is pretty trivial, though? And there's no raid game after that to mess with us PvPers?

[Draegan]

It sounds like in the longer run once the game goes live hitting 50 is pretty trivial, though? And there's no raid game after that to mess with us PvPers?

Hitting 50 on three classes is easy, real easy. Hitting 50 on other classes is grinding.

The game has dungeons, it has open world raid bosses. In korea they had level 55 dungeon daily grinds that people hated. It'll be interesting to see how Hartsman changes the NA version of the game. There are some tweaks they are allowed to make.

[Scold]

If they don't release the game with an FFA PvP server, I wonder if we could make our own by picking a server to have a cultural norm of "always vote to acquit on murder trials".

[Draegan]

You can just make a guild and then do whatever is necessary to create your own faction so it's you against the world. Or be a Pirate.

[Logain]

Oddly enough I've seen juries opt for acquittal as a means of punishment quite often because usually the defendant is more concerned with losing their infamy points than spending a short time in jail. The player justice system is interesting but it needs a little work. Increasing the length of sentences would be a good start.

[Scold]

You can just make a guild and then do whatever is necessary to create your own faction so it's you against the world. Or be a Pirate.

My understanding is that creating your own faction takes a metric fuckton of work, and that the pirate faction received some major nerfs to its viability. Here's hoping they make it easier in the NA version.

[Simond]

Dear Trion, a tip: "The client is in the hands of the enemy"

(Apparently, a fair bit of the game is run client-side).