Arche Age

[Pennilenko]

Out of curiosity, what other games specifically have actually mutated like that after release (in a given market)? That Russian one that was still in beta outside Russia when it went full-bore greedy grabby is the closest I can think of.

No offense, but I think you are better known for your joyful exuberance than for rational analysis (much less cynical deconstruction) during the early stages of a game.

That's kind of the point. If they have already turned Falc off to purchasing the game before it has even released then it really has no chance, because that dude will get excited for just about anything.

[LC]

Well the cash shop was revealed and it only costs $880/mo to become a winner in Archeage.

[Trippy]

Still cheaper than playing Zynga-type games

[WayAbvPar]

I think the shockwave from the thud this thing is going to make when it launches might produce an ELE. Is there still time to unfuck it?

[tmp]

It's a whole system that forces you to micromanage and pull you out of the game, which is just failboat written all over it.

Correction, it's a system that forces you to spend money in the cash shop in order to be able to do anything. Although I won't argue about the side-effects

[HaemishM]

I think the shockwave from the thud this thing is going to make when it launches might produce an ELE. Is there still time to unfuck it?

It's an Asian-themed sanbox with PVP. I'm not sure what they could do to make it not crater, but it certainly seems like they are not doing whatever that would be.

[WayAbvPar]

I think the shockwave from the thud this thing is going to make when it launches might produce an ELE. Is there still time to unfuck it?

It's an Asian-themed sanbox with PVP. I'm not sure what they could do to make it not crater, but it certainly seems like they are not doing whatever that would be.

There is a niche for that game in the Western markets if they remove most of the dick punching. It sounds more like they are going the other way. Ware your genitals.

[Draegan]

What do you get for the 880 bucks?

[HaemishM]

SUPER SAIYAN DICK PUNCHING!!!!!! 

[KallDrexx]

It's a whole system that forces you to micromanage and pull you out of the game, which is just failboat written all over it.

Correction, it's a system that forces you to spend money in the cash shop in order to be able to do anything. Although I won't argue about the side-effects

I meant pulls you out of the game immersion wise.  It forces you to constantly stop playing the game for a second in order to figure out if you want to whip out your credit card or not yet again.

[Malakili]

I meant pulls you out of the game immersion wise.  It forces you to constantly stop playing the game for a second in order to figure out if you want to whip out your credit card or not yet again.

This is the main reason I hate free to play.  It makes every time I play a game a potential transaction. 

[Rendakor]

Agreed. I'm fine with a sub because you're just paying for access. Having to debate a purchase every session is shitty.

[LC]

What do you get for the 880 bucks?

A subscription plus 360 Labor Potions from the cash shop.

Every account can use 12 labor potions per day.

It will take every bit of it. They even make you spend labor points to report bots and hackers. The real money cost is about $0.20 per report.

[KallDrexx]

I meant pulls you out of the game immersion wise.  It forces you to constantly stop playing the game for a second in order to figure out if you want to whip out your credit card or not yet again.

This is the main reason I hate free to play.  It makes every time I play a game a potential transaction. 

For the most part I agree, though I think GW2 did a good job of keeping the "pay now" part out of your mind for the most part.

[Falconeer]

They even make you spend labor points to report bots and hackers. The real money cost is about $0.20 per report.

This cannot be real. I refuse to believe this. Please substantiate or my head will explode.

[LC]

They even make you spend labor points to report bots and hackers. The real money cost is about $0.20 per report.

This cannot be real. I refuse to believe this. Please substantiate or my head will explode.

[HaemishM]

THE FUCK? 

I haven't even played the game and I'm already in the mind of "Fuck this game."

[Abelian75]

I think the most depressing thing about all this is that from what I know of Hartsman, he hates this sort of thing.  I could be wrong, but that was my impression from what I've read from him in the past.  So it sucks if this happens anyway.

Blown away by what I'm hearing here.

[kildorn]

Man, I'd almost go for the "labor for reporting" if there was some 3,000 labor payoff for tagging resulting in banning.

Actually, no. I'm not okay with the whole Labor thing at all. What the hell, some saw the energy systems in mobile games and though "that looks AWESOME!"?

[LC]

I think the most depressing thing about all this is that from what I know of Hartsman, he hates this sort of thing.  I could be wrong, but that was my impression from what I've read from him in the past.  So it sucks if this happens anyway.

Blown away by what I'm hearing here.

Maybe he sold out.

[Nija]

I think it's an overreaction from when they had the bounty system in the game. You could have a few of your friends report the same guy and then someone who is a bounty hunter could send them straight to jail or some shit.

Now they've removed the ability for bounty hunters to do that, but they went ahead and added a labor cost to reporting someone.

Typical swing-and-a-miss MMO patching.

Problems like this are multiplied when they can't even control the code base. They have to phone in updates to devs on the other side of the world. Terrible.

[Rendakor]

Wow. That reporting thing. My mind is fucking blown. Is that for chat-spam too, or just if you see someone out botting?

I really, really want to like this game. Gameplay-wise it sounds like the sandbox I've been dreaming of, but all this cash-shoppy, labor points shit sounds proper fucked. If I could spend $15/month and do all the things, while f2pers got fucked with FB-energy-bullshit I wouldn't mind at all. But don't nickle and dime me on top of a goddamn sub.

[palmer_eldritch]

They just need to reduce labor point usage and the game will be fine again (more than fine imho, I think it has the potential to be great).

The game always had labor points and it was loads of fun. It's just that the recent patch ruined the game by ensuring you can run out of labor really fast.

There's still time . . .  I don't think they are going to fix it though :(

[LC]

They just need to reduce labor point usage and the game will be fine again (more than fine imho, I think it has the potential to be great).

The game always had labor points and it was loads of fun. It's just that the recent patch ruined the game by ensuring you can run out of labor really fast.

There's still time . . .  I don't think they are going to fix it though :(

And remove the pay to win potions.

[Scold]

I don't mind the labor points thing as long as it doesn't impact me if I'm playing an hour or less a day. Will serve as a nice reminder that if I'm spending more than an hour a day on an MMO, I should really be re-evaluating my choices.

[Draegan]

You guys are pretending that even if you had every single potion in the game that you'd actually play this game enough in a single day to make use of all of them.

[palmer_eldritch]

You guys are pretending that even if you had every single potion in the game that you'd actually play this game enough in a single day to make use of all of them.

With a subscription you can run out of labor in 20 minutes if you spend that time crafting. After which you cannot even go PvE, or not if you want to open the loot at least.

I have no desire to buy potions too (did I mention how easy it is to run out of labor even if you are paying the monthly sub?)

For anyone not familiar with how alpha works, Alpha players don't actually pay subs because people paid a $150 flat fee to get into alpha instead. But alpha accounts all have "patron" status, which is what you pay a monthly sub for when the game goes live.

[Rendakor]

Wait, $150 gets you a lifetime sub?

[Nija]

3 months of patron status.

[palmer_eldritch]

Wait, $150 gets you a lifetime sub?

What I mean is that it gets you a sub for as long as alpha lasts. The game is in alpha right now, you pay $150 to get into alpha and your account is flagged as subbed ("patron") throughout alpha.

And then when the game finally launches, as Nija says, you get three months patron status and a few goodies.

My point is that the game LC and I are playing and moaning about is what you get if you pay a sub. If you bought labor potions too, it would be on top of your monthly subscription fee.

[LC]

My point is that the game LC and I are playing and moaning about is what you get if you pay a sub. If you bought labor potions too, it would be on top of your monthly subscription fee.

That's the issue.

[HaemishM]

Meaning F2P will be an absolute dickpunching nightmare.

[Rendakor]

Meaning F2P will be an absolute dickpunching nightmare.

As an adult with a job, I don't really care how shitty the f2p is. But if the game isn't fully playable WITH a sub that's unacceptable.

[Cadaverine]

I've got a spare key for the second closed beta event that's coming up if any of the regular folk are interested in being horribly let down.

[Rendakor]

When is it?