Arche Age

[WayAbvPar]

I think you get a couple right in that range IIRC.

Does the beta wipe every time? Haven't logged in to check.

[Senses]

Are you still only able to mess around with housing and farms if you sub during this beta?  Makes no sense putting that behind a pay wall even in beta...its the one part of the game im interested in checking out at this point.

[Lucas]

I think you get a couple right in that range IIRC.

Does the beta wipe every time? Haven't logged in to check.

Thank you :) . And no, no wipe from CBT 2 to 3 (might change in subsequent phases).

[palmer_eldritch]

The NPCs with the trading and crafting quests have green leaves above their heads instead of the usual exclamation marks.

[Ozzu]

Beta was pretty crowded today. To the point where the server I had my CBT 2 characters had a queue of like 1000 people. So, I made a new character on another that didn't have a queue (yet) and there were so many people trying to kill the same mobs as me that I just logged out. I'll try again tomorrow when everyone and their uncle aren't playing at the same time.

I wish this game had some instancing of the newbie areas. There were at least 10 people jumping on every spawn and hundreds in a tiny area trying to kill boars for an early quest.

[Senses]

Beta was pretty crowded today. To the point where the server I had my CBT 2 characters had a queue of like 1000 people. So, I made a new character on another that didn't have a queue (yet) and there were so many people trying to kill the same mobs as me that I just logged out. I'll try again tomorrow when everyone and their uncle aren't playing at the same time.

I wish this game had some instancing of the newbie areas. There were at least 10 people jumping on every spawn and hundreds in a tiny area trying to kill boars for an early quest.

I thought the same thing when I made a new character on the last day of cb2 and had a lot more fun because I wasn't competing with so many others.  This *will* happen on opening day and its a shame that game companies don't take note.  For good or bad, so many people judge your entire game by that opening sequence of quests and it sucks if any of that is spent waiting for a chance to be the first guy to hit a mob.

edited to say, it doesn't even require instancing.  Don't make quests that lead to one mob that spawns once every 10 minutes.

[Signe]

I don't think I'll play this game.  It looks nice and there are bits I like but there are too many annoying features.  I don't like player collision in PvE and, these days, I mostly play PvE.  As far as I'm concerned it'll be heavily used to grief even though "they" say it won't.  It will.  Absolutely.  Not having a proper loot system but instead having to use these weird labor points is stupid.  The fact that you need them to report griefers and spammers is ludicrous.  I read that they did it that way so people would not abuse the reporting system.  Bleh.  If I played this game, it's more likely that I'd try to make myself some dosh by getting the spammers and griefers to pay me to keep my mouth shut.  

Also, I don't want to leave my computer on and logged into this game forever and ever so I have enough labor points to open a bit of loot.  Fuck that.

OMFG.  I just logged in and noticed that when I'm in the character select screen and I move my character around my boobies move around like crazy!  That is a brilliant touch and if I were a boy, I would probably buy this game.  Just for that.

[HaemishM]

I'm actually liking this game. I got a character to 10 and am feeling the urge to not play it in beta anymore so as not to have to repeat content on release.

However, those labor points... the system hasn't gotten dickpunchy yet since I don't do crafting. But it just feels like such an obtrusive mechanic especially when I have to spend them to figure out what loot I got. It makes looking at your inventory very annoying. I just don't see any good reason for it other than to annoy people into spending money.

[LC]

The trade quests can be found in Anvilton by the public farm if you are in the eastern (harani/firran) faction. I have no idea where it is in the west. I hate elves so I have avoided playing in that faction.

[Signe]

Have you tried the PvP yet?  I think that's where this game will probably shine.  Player collision in PvP is nice but not PvE.  I've been pushed off of cliffs and stuff a few times so far and it's annoying.  I saw someone who looked as if he was trying to push an afk player into an aggressive mob area.  I think.  What ever he was doing looked creepy.  There's a death penalty.  You lose a little experience and you take a hit to your gear.  You can fix yourself right up with points (gear doesn't seem to be destroyed if it goes to zero, thankfully)  but I don't like dying in PvE to people who are assholes.  And, if for some reason, you become a griefers wet dream, I'm sure the cost will become a real pain.   In PvP, however, using collision is a fair tactic as far as I'm concerned.  Player collision always presents new and interesting ways to kill players.  I might go back to this game in the future if the PvP turns out to be too fun to resist.  Hopefully they'll tidy up the bits that bother me and totally ditch the silly labor point crap.  It might be a nice feature for the company, but not so much for me. 

[palmer_eldritch]

PvP is fun. I've taken part in a number of different types of PvP on the alpha server.

* Overseas trading where people try to attack you on your ship, or when you reach your destination (the island in the centre of the ocean is the most profitable place to deliver trade packages and it is permanently PvP+)
* Piracy where other people are trying to do the above but you kill them, steal their trade pack and deliver it yourself! Mwahaha!!
* Castle seiges where the winning guild gets to own a region. These take place on this northern continent.
* Halcyona war. A capture the flag type event that takes place in Halcyona every couple of hours. Everyone in the winning faction gets a token that can be used to buy nice jewellery.
* Honour grinding. When a region goes in to "war" status, killing enemy players gives honour. Go there and look for people to kill! Hint: housing areas are a good place to find players. Kill people while they farm! (Don't try to farm when an area is at war)
* Arena battles. 5v5 or 1v1 in the arena for honour. I kind of wish they'd take this out tbh.
* Fighting over resources, eg the precious metals in the serpent mine in the north.
* Stumbling across someone from the opposite faction and being a scumbag for the fun of it

[palmer_eldritch]

ArcheAge’s fourth Closed Beta Event begins this week, starting Friday, August 22 at 10:00 AM PDT (GMT-7) and running until the same time on Wednesday, August 27, according to the official website.

http://www.archeagegame.com/en/news/2014/08/archeage-closed-beta-event-4/

If you want an invite you can apparently get codes from Wednesday, August 20 at Alienware, Razer, Rixty, MMORPG.com, PCGamesN, MMOHuts, MMOGames, OnRPG, according to the page linked above.

[Falconeer]

Is it still possible to escape from jal by clipping through the wall?

[Ginaz]

So, I've been playing this for a bit and today marked a few milestones.  The first was finally being able to build and sail my own clipper.  The second was accumulating enough infamy points to become wanted and to possibly go to jail if I'm killed in pvp from someone collecting the bounty.   In my defence, all I did was harvest about 30-40 tress someone had planted in a fairly secret location that I stumbled upon by blind chance.  All and all I'd say I have no regrets even if I do end up going to jail just because it helped me get my clipper that much quicker.  Totally worth it.

[HaemishM]

So what level do I have to be to engage in PVP? I got to level 11 and I have to say my tolerance for MMO leveling, even though this one isn't bad, is just at an all time low.

[Senses]

IKR.  Everyone is going on and on about the great sandbox full of open pvp and then you spend your first 30 hours playing World of Warcraft.   Still, I am interested enough to probably buy into this long enough to actually see the sandbox...I can't say many others will have the same patience.

[palmer_eldritch]

IKR.  Everyone is going on and on about the great sandbox full of open pvp and then you spend your first 30 hours playing World of Warcraft.   Still, I am interested enough to probably buy into this long enough to actually see the sandbox...I can't say many others will have the same patience.

This is true. Even us fanboys say this.

To answer Haemish's question, you start questing in PvP zones around level 30 but if you want to do the more interesting stuff you probably need to go look for it, eg look for regions in "war" and form a group to go wreak havoc, or get on a boat and go steal from some traders, head to Halcyone when the regular event there begins etc. If you want to do some overseas trading yourself then you should expect PvP even if you won't be actively looking for it.

Being in a guild really helps (Euros who are actually going to play in live, go join this guild http://aurorian-empire.eu/ !)

But if you want to know the horrible truth, it's that the thing to do is to level up to 50 and get stuck into the sandbox side of things after that. Which is indeed a major flaw.

[Nightblade]

IKR.  Everyone is going on and on about the great sandbox full of open pvp and then you spend your first 30 hours playing World of Warcraft.   Still, I am interested enough to probably buy into this long enough to actually see the sandbox...I can't say many others will have the same patience.

I just can't do it anymore. It's all the same; the same tired quest conventions with the same uninspired combat. I run up to a monster, and mash the three key to have my character spaz out like a Gmod video until enemy is dead. Repeat for undisclosed amount of hours until you're at fun part of the game. Maybe in another 10 years we'll be passed this.

[WayAbvPar]

I made two levels today without doing a quest or hitting a hotkey ability. There are other ways. If you haven't tried it, at least give open beta a shot. There are some grindy bits, and the labor system is fucked, but there is a lot to like as well. Hell, it is worth checking out just to see the water effects.

Did a run up to the north continent with some goons today (at level 19). Didn't get a ton of XP, but had a lot of fun and got to see some cool stuff. I like that 7 or 8 lowbies can melt tier 50-52 mobs.

[Ginaz]

So, I've been playing this for a bit and today marked a few milestones.  The first was finally being able to build and sail my own clipper.  The second was accumulating enough infamy points to become wanted and to possibly go to jail if I'm killed in pvp from someone collecting the bounty.   In my defence, all I did was harvest about 30-40 tress someone had planted in a fairly secret location that I stumbled upon by blind chance.  All and all I'd say I have no regrets even if I do end up going to jail just because it helped me get my clipper that much quicker.  Totally worth it.

Update, I did end up getting killed in pvp but it was from 2 players of the opposing faction while questing in one of the conflict zones.  Anyway, when I ressed, I was in court and given the option to plead guilty or go to trial.  Naturally, I went to trial and, shockingly, was found not guilty.  I totally admitted to everything and I included the part where the lumber helped build my clipper.  The jury seemed to like my story and set me free.  I was hoping to see what going to jail was like but I guess it wasn't to be.  Maybe next time.

[HaemishM]

But if you want to know the horrible truth, it's that the thing to do is to level up to 50 and get stuck into the sandbox side of things after that. Which is indeed a major flaw.

I don't think I can do it. I got my character to level 11 and was logged in Sunday night while waiting for the f13 draft to begin. I couldn't muster the energy to continue doing quests. Just the thought of clicking on more dudes with ! over their heads sapped my will to give a fuck. The game is pretty. The combat isn't bad. The game throws a shitton of things at you that don't make any sense unless you slow down and try to grok them (and I daresay a lot of it is utterly unnecessary for the level I'm at). PvE content like this in MMO's just kills me these days. I don't have any desire to do it for the 30+ hours it'll take to get to the parts I might actually be interested in.

[Falconeer]

But if you want to know the horrible truth, it's that the thing to do is to level up to 50 and get stuck into the sandbox side of things after that. Which is indeed a major flaw.

I don't think I can do it. I got my character to level 11 and was logged in Sunday night while waiting for the f13 draft to begin. I couldn't muster the energy to continue doing quests. Just the thought of clicking on more dudes with ! over their heads sapped my will to give a fuck. The game is pretty. The combat isn't bad. The game throws a shitton of things at you that don't make any sense unless you slow down and try to grok them (and I daresay a lot of it is utterly unnecessary for the level I'm at). PvE content like this in MMO's just kills me these days. I don't have any desire to do it for the 30+ hours it'll take to get to the parts I might actually be interested in.

I had exactly the same experience. Of you both. I like it, I like it when I think about it, and I know that it's only going to get better. But the reality is, after ten minutes playing, I feel so uncomfortable and uneasy, almost... as if I weren't having any fun.

[Ginaz]

So, open beta and launch dates have been revealed.  Open beta is 4-9 Sept.  Launch date is 16 Sept. with 12 Sept. being the head start for those who bought the founder packs. 

That was quicker than I thought.

http://www.archeagegame.com/en/news/2014/08/archeage-schedule-announcement/

[Simond]

Two months before the "sheep" go 'fuck this, imma go back to WoW now WoD's launched'. Sorta doubt that's going to be enough time to make their localisation money back.

[Scold]

Two months before the "sheep" go 'fuck this, imma go back to WoW now WoD's launched'. Sorta doubt that's going to be enough time to make their localisation money back.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the only thing wrong with this game the labor points thing which they can turn off in a flip of the switch if they realize it's costing them major subs? I think they're aiming for more than fair-weather WoW players, this isn't 2011 launching Rift and WoW isn't the lodestar anymore.

[Falconeer]

The labor point is the only blatant problem with the game but it is not a small one. I am pretty sure it doesn't feel that bad once you get used to it, but in order to get used to it you have to get over the MMORPG burnout that this game enflames so much. Archeage is more than a competent MMORPG and it definitely has a lot more to offer than your usual WoW-clones, but labor is a huge cockblocky mechanic that will spread out a lot of negative word of mouth, and the absolute lack of originality in the first ten levels will do the rest.

I honestly think Archeage will win its stable niche and will eventually flourish over the next few years, but it's not competing with WoW at all. If anything, it's good timing to steal Wildstar and TESO the few players they have left, and start slowly and steadily building from there. If anything, this game comes out with a HUGE AMOUNT of well tested (in South Korea) content.

[WayAbvPar]

I am sorely tempted to go whole hog for the Archeum package. I will blow that much in the cash shop eventually anyway. I think this will be a fun run with the goons for at least a couple months.

[Scold]

I am sorely tempted to go whole hog for the Archeum package. I will blow that much in the cash shop eventually anyway. I think this will be a fun run with the goons for at least a couple months.

I bought the $100 package, first MMO in years.

[Venkman]

Finally starting to pay attention to what you folks been talking about, but I only started at page 15 :P Can someone offer a synopsus of why this is worth checking out?

[Falconeer]

It is a WoW/Rift-clone with some things on top of it. Specifically:

- Open PvP with some territorial conquest and sieging.
- Consequences for open murdering, like going to jail.
- Justice system, players can do a quest to become judges and actually roleplay a triel where they have to decided how much jail time a criminal will have to serve.
- Extremely detailed open housing and crafting and sandbox activities like livestock farming, gardening, or actually stealing all of it.
- Seafaring and pirating. Build your own multiplayer boat and engage in various activities at sea, including attacking other players on trading routes to steal their cargo.
- Rift custom class system on steroid. You pick and match any 3 classes out of 10 to a whopping total of 120 possible combinations, each with a specific name.

That's mostly it. They combined your usual DIKU with lots of sandbox stuff. It's pretty cool if you are not burned out on MMORPGs, it's biggest major flaw is the "lbor" system which regulates how much activities you can do outside of combat every day. It's like a Facebook game kind of "energy" mechanic, and you can replenish it by staying online or paying real money. Either way, it's bullshit and could totally kill the game. We'll see.

[Threash]

Two months before the "sheep" go 'fuck this, imma go back to WoW now WoD's launched'. Sorta doubt that's going to be enough time to make their localisation money back.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the only thing wrong with this game the labor points thing which they can turn off in a flip of the switch if they realize it's costing them major subs? I think they're aiming for more than fair-weather WoW players, this isn't 2011 launching Rift and WoW isn't the lodestar anymore.

When and if they do that it will be too late.  You get one month to make an impression, after that you can't stop the dead spiral.

[Miasma]

Finally starting to pay attention to what you folks been talking about, but I only started at page 15 :P Can someone offer a synopsus of why this is worth checking out?

It is a terrible, boring, old PvE grind after which you have two options.

1) Play farmville.
2) PvP but only if you are in one of the biggest zerg guilds on your server.

[Venkman]

Thanks!

It is a WoW/Rift-clone with some things on top of it. Specifically:

- Open PvP with some territorial conquest and sieging.
- Consequences for open murdering, like going to jail.
- Justice system, players can do a quest to become judges and actually roleplay a triel where they have to decided how much jail time a criminal will have to serve.
- Extremely detailed open housing and crafting and sandbox activities like livestock farming, gardening, or actually stealing all of it.
- Seafaring and pirating. Build your own multiplayer boat and engage in various activities at sea, including attacking other players on trading routes to steal their cargo.
- Rift custom class system on steroid. You pick and match any 3 classes out of 10 to a whopping total of 120 possible combinations, each with a specific name.

That's mostly it. They combined your usual DIKU with lots of sandbox stuff. It's pretty cool if you are not burned out on MMORPGs, it's biggest major flaw is the "lbor" system which regulates how much activities you can do outside of combat every day. It's like a Facebook game kind of "energy" mechanic, and you can replenish it by staying online or paying real money. Either way, it's bullshit and could totally kill the game. We'll see.

Is the game a box purchase/subs or purely f2p? The energy meter approach is interesting and it certainly works for mobile/Facebook games. But I think they work on mobile is because those aren't multi-hour sessions. They're a lot of occurrences of very short sessions around the lifestyle of that kind of game player (make moves while on the phone/bus/sidewalk/etc).

But for a game you expect to sit down and play for a few hours at a stretch, energy crap doesn't feel right. Sounds like combat isn't tied to this, which is a plus I suppose. But locking all the unique aspects of Arche behind this kind of gate would seem to dilute it's chances of getting noticed as anything but another diku.

Which skimming recent pages is what I think you've all been saying? /johnnycomelately 

[Threash]

Yes, the labor point system is a "don't bother with this game, this will kill it during the free month" level of game breaking.

[palmer_eldritch]

Thanks!

It is a WoW/Rift-clone with some things on top of it. Specifically:

- Open PvP with some territorial conquest and sieging.
- Consequences for open murdering, like going to jail.
- Justice system, players can do a quest to become judges and actually roleplay a triel where they have to decided how much jail time a criminal will have to serve.
- Extremely detailed open housing and crafting and sandbox activities like livestock farming, gardening, or actually stealing all of it.
- Seafaring and pirating. Build your own multiplayer boat and engage in various activities at sea, including attacking other players on trading routes to steal their cargo.
- Rift custom class system on steroid. You pick and match any 3 classes out of 10 to a whopping total of 120 possible combinations, each with a specific name.

That's mostly it. They combined your usual DIKU with lots of sandbox stuff. It's pretty cool if you are not burned out on MMORPGs, it's biggest major flaw is the "lbor" system which regulates how much activities you can do outside of combat every day. It's like a Facebook game kind of "energy" mechanic, and you can replenish it by staying online or paying real money. Either way, it's bullshit and could totally kill the game. We'll see.

Is the game a box purchase/subs or purely f2p? The energy meter approach is interesting and it certainly works for mobile/Facebook games. But I think they work on mobile is because those aren't multi-hour sessions. They're a lot of occurrences of very short sessions around the lifestyle of that kind of game player (make moves while on the phone/bus/sidewalk/etc).

But for a game you expect to sit down and play for a few hours at a stretch, energy crap doesn't feel right. Sounds like combat isn't tied to this, which is a plus I suppose. But locking all the unique aspects of Arche behind this kind of gate would seem to dilute it's chances of getting noticed as anything but another diku.

Which skimming recent pages is what I think you've all been saying? /johnnycomelately  

If you buy a sub (called Patron Status) your labour regenerates quicker, including offline, and you can own land.

So if you intend to craft or farm, or you're someone who enjoys decorating a house, you need a sub. If you just want to run around and kill people you'd be fine without.

You can still *use* a farm or housing without a sub if you know someone with a sub who gives you access to theres but I reckon you'd need to be part of an organised guild or something to do that. If you played with your oh you could perhaps get away with only one subbed account between you.

You can buy patron tokens in game from other players for in-game gold but I don't see newbies being able to do this.

What I'm saying I guess is you want to buy a sub to enjoy the full game.

Having said that, free players do get full access to all the classes/areas/skills/levels/loot etc on a free account.