Arche Age

[WayAbvPar]

And opening the loot is fucking dull anyway, siince there is almost never anything but coins.

[LC]

There's no shortage of Hartsman being called a sellout on various forums.

[Xanthippe]

Thanks to those who responded to my question re crafting.

Reading all the comments here makes me happy not to play. It sounds like it's the opposite of what I want a game to be like, more or less.

[Falconeer]

There's a bigger problem apparently regarding crafting. If anyone with more expericne can clarify this for us, it would be great. Anyway, from what I heard, to craft anything you need a component called "archeum". This material has been another gating mechanism, to prevent people from crafting too much, too early, too soon. Basically, you can't grow in crafting too fast because you will always have a shortage of archeum if you try to do so. And that would be fine.

Except.

Except it looks like no matter the limited labor points or the difficulty of getting the right materials, because the scarcity of archeum makes sure that you will pretty much NEVER be able to craft a piece of gear for your own level after level 25 or so. The amount of archeum, which is a random rare-ish drop, needed to level up the profession and craft items is so high that it is impossible not to fall behind. Eventually, once at level 50, you can focus on becoming a good crafter to craft your own level 50 equipment, since the best stuff in this game is crafted, but it's sad that you can't do your own stuff while you level up. And -needless to say- the archeum needed for level 50 gear is insane. And those drop values are locked by the Korean developer so Hartsman can't do anything about it even though he's aware this is another thing that it's hurting the game. He publicly said so and told XL that they need to change the drop rate, but the Koreans want more data before considering the change.

In the meantime, looks like the sandbox MMORPG that is supposed to have deep, meaningful and useful crafting, has its crafting part kind of crippled. But as I said, this is only what I read and I'd love for someone more informed to chime in.

[Threash]

I bet they add it to the store soon enough.

[HaemishM]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Koreans be crazy, y0.

[LC]

I think the problem most people have with it is:

[Miasma]

There's a bigger problem apparently regarding crafting. If anyone with more expericne can clarify this for us, it would be great. Anyway, from what I heard, to craft anything you need a component called "archeum". This material has been another gating mechanism, to prevent people from crafting too much, too early, too soon. Basically, you can't grow in crafting too fast because you will always have a shortage of archeum if you try to do so. And that would be fine.

Except.

Except it looks like no matter the limited labor points or the difficulty of getting the right materials, because the scarcity of archeum makes sure that you will pretty much NEVER be able to craft a piece of gear for your own level after level 25 or so. The amount of archeum, which is a random rare-ish drop, needed to level up the profession and craft items is so high that it is impossible not to fall behind. Eventually, once at level 50, you can focus on becoming a good crafter to craft your own level 50 equipment, since the best stuff in this game is crafted, but it's sad that you can't do your own stuff while you level up. And -needless to say- the archeum needed for level 50 gear is insane. And those drop values are locked by the Korean developer so Hartsman can't do anything about it even though he's aware this is another thing that it's hurting the game. He publicly said so and told XL that they need to change the drop rate, but the Koreans want more data before considering the change.

In the meantime, looks like the sandbox MMORPG that is supposed to have deep, meaningful and useful crafting, has its crafting part kind of crippled. But as I said, this is only what I read and I'd love for someone more informed to chime in.

Yes this is one of the things that really set me against the game, trion doesn't seem to have much control over the localized version, they can't even get something this easy to change done.

My understanding is the drop rate was recently slashed because they thought there was too much of it floating around where the game has already been out for a year, like Korea.  But they only thought about that mature market, not how it would impact brand new servers.  The mature servers have lots of it stockpiled and have already done their crafting grinds so they needed to set the drop rate crazy low.  A new server without any old sources of dust is going to be crippled though.

[Falconeer]

I think the problem most people have with it is:

While you can buy some expensive chests full of crap, including some archeum, the amount of it found in the boxes is negligible to the point even the whales are pissed off cause not even their credict cards seem to help. No, as Miasma said, this seems to be a stupid overlook from the Korean devs who simply don't give a fuck about the game's health in other corners of the world. What amazes me is this "lock" on everything that prevents Trion from making changes as simple as a drop rate. What kind of a fucked up deal did they sign?

[palmer_eldritch]

Yeah, it seems Trion have to ask XL (Korean devs) to make them a special custom patch whenever they want to make a change, even a minor one. Don't know whether that's for technical reasons or some weird condition XL insisted on.

[LC]

While you can buy some expensive chests full of crap, including some archeum, the amount of it found in the boxes is negligible to the point even the whales are pissed off cause not even their credict cards seem to help. No, as Miasma said, this seems to be a stupid overlook from the Korean devs who simply don't give a fuck about the game's health in other corners of the world. What amazes me is this "lock" on everything that prevents Trion from making changes as simple as a drop rate. What kind of a fucked up deal did they sign?

We had a guy in our guild open 30 archeum crates in open beta. He got 7 Sunlight Crystals, 4 moonlight crystals, 3 Starlight crystals, and like 15 - 30 of each dust. It's definitely a whale's wet dream.

I opened 10 myself and got 2 starlight, 1 moonlight, 2 sunlight, and I don't even remember the dust count.

[palmer_eldritch]

There's a bigger problem apparently regarding crafting. If anyone with more expericne can clarify this for us, it would be great. Anyway, from what I heard, to craft anything you need a component called "archeum". This material has been another gating mechanism, to prevent people from crafting too much, too early, too soon. Basically, you can't grow in crafting too fast because you will always have a shortage of archeum if you try to do so. And that would be fine.

Except.

Except it looks like no matter the limited labor points or the difficulty of getting the right materials, because the scarcity of archeum makes sure that you will pretty much NEVER be able to craft a piece of gear for your own level after level 25 or so. The amount of archeum, which is a random rare-ish drop, needed to level up the profession and craft items is so high that it is impossible not to fall behind. Eventually, once at level 50, you can focus on becoming a good crafter to craft your own level 50 equipment, since the best stuff in this game is crafted, but it's sad that you can't do your own stuff while you level up. And -needless to say- the archeum needed for level 50 gear is insane. And those drop values are locked by the Korean developer so Hartsman can't do anything about it even though he's aware this is another thing that it's hurting the game. He publicly said so and told XL that they need to change the drop rate, but the Koreans want more data before considering the change.

In the meantime, looks like the sandbox MMORPG that is supposed to have deep, meaningful and useful crafting, has its crafting part kind of crippled. But as I said, this is only what I read and I'd love for someone more informed to chime in.

In answer to your question though: Archeum, usually in the form of archeum dust or arecheum crystals, is a substance needed to use make many items. You don't need it to improve every crafting skill, eg alchemy and cooking don't use it. Other skills like tailoring, leathering, metalworking, woodcraft don't strictly speaking need archeum to improve, because you can make stuff without it (eg turning leather into hides and those hides into various more valuable hides will give skill points just like making leather armour). But the final product - armour, weapons, jewellery etc - does need Archeum. And basically, yes, the drop rate seems to be too low.

[WayAbvPar]

Latest- they reset labor potions back to 12h, and are 'looking into' archeum drops to see if the in game rates actually match the database values.

In other news, I just bought a founder's package. Going to roll with the goons on whatever server they choose (which I am sure will be an overcrowded hellhole).

[Scold]

This is awesome -- we can play the game with a metagame of anger and rebellion at our callous colonial overlords, while they take the "why are those peasants in the far provinces whining, things are fine here at home" approach and the cycle intensifies.

[Falconeer]

What is a bit of a bummer is to have a MMORPG where gear is more crafted than looted and that went as far as creating these many cool tradeskills, only to gate them behind an unrealistic grind and a significant paywall.

[palmer_eldritch]

Patron status is $15 a month. You don't need to spend any more than that.

[Ginaz]

Patron status is $15 a month. You don't need to spend any more than that.

Correct.  Unless you're planning to poopsock, a sub is all you'll need.

[Falconeer]

Didn't we just agreed a few posts above that without purchasing the archeum chests in RMT store you are not gonna go far in crafting?

[palmer_eldritch]

Didn't we just agreed a few posts above that without purchasing the archeum chests in RMT store you are not gonna go far in crafting?

I said the drop rate was too low, that's not the same:) The drop rate was actually much higher before the big patch a month back, and if anything they were too common then. Now they're too rare but you'll still be able to make your gear, it will just take longer. And with any luck they'll tweak the spawn rate a bit (WayAbvPar's post suggests they might be looking at this, yay!). I also pointed out that you can increase your skills without archeum. You need it to make certain finished items.

It's just part of the crafting system - you need materials from farming, materials you pay NPCs for and in some cases, not all, you need materials you get from PvE, namely archeum crystals which drop from mobs. (and then sometimes you need other stuff - metal from mining, honey from beekeeping etc). It's not a terrible system in theory, but the drop rate of archeum is too low at the moment.

Bear in mind it used to be higher and got nerfed, so you'd find people complaining that waah it's too low now even if it was ok now.

[Venkman]

Why is anyone surprised that a Korean company that balanced the game for Korean culture results in a game deemed too grindy in key ways to U.S. players?

We've known this since back when we were arguing whether Lineage was generating comparable revenue to pre-Velious EQ. 

[Falconeer]

I am not surprised that XL balanced the game for South Korean culture. I was expecting for Trion, and especially Hartsman since he's a smart man and developer, to adjust stuff and change it for non South Korean culture(s). Turns out they just cannot. But it was only fair to assume they could and they would have.

[Falconeer]

I feel like adding a few lines about APEX, the EVE-like mechanic that basically allows players to buy their monthly subscription with in-game money.

To ensure that all players have the option to potentially become a Patron, there are two ways to obtain this status. Players can purchase Patron Status as a subscription via real money on the Trion Worlds web store; expect pricing in line with RIFT’s current Patron Program. Alternately, players can use credits to purchase a Patron Pass through the ArcheAge Marketplace – these credits can be acquired by web store purchase, Founder’s Packs, or by obtaining an in-game item called APEX.

APEX, short for ArcheAge Patron Exchange, is an in-game item that can be sold on ArcheAge’s Auction House or traded between players; it grants Credits when consumed by a character. The Credits granted by an APEX can then be spent on any Marketplace purchase, including the 30-day Patron Pass mentioned above. This allows industrious players in ArcheAge to let their gameplay pay for their Patron status without spending real money.

Considering you spend 1 labor to open any loot bag, I am pretty sure they fine tuned the rates so that in order to buy APEX you will have to sink lots of in-game gold, but at least the option is there. On the other hand, this means players with money can purchase their wealth in the game from gold sellers the usual way, except Trion gets a cut and the gold sellers are legit. For fairness, seems like this system is in all games now, including GW2. They all claim it's meant to fight gold-selling third party websites.

[tmp]

This is usually a nice idea in these games, but I wonder, with the way they'd apparently straitjacket the non-patron accounts in this game, is there realistic possibility for one to make enough gold to be able to purchase such a pass?

[Pendan]

I downloaded the game, created a character, and quit after 5 minutes because I could not find an invert Y mouse setting. Then a board search turned up a result that Trion says it is the number one requested feature by beta testers and their highest priority request for the foreign developers. The lack of such a simple feature tells me a lot about their ability to customize for a western audience.

Still no invert Y mouse setting on release by Trion. If the foreign developer can't put in such a simple to implement feature and it is the highest priority request then Trion has miniscule amount of influence on anything.

[angry.bob]

I downloaded the game, created a character, and quit after 5 minutes because I could not find an invert Y mouse setting. Then a board search turned up a result that Trion says it is the number one requested feature by beta testers and their highest priority request for the foreign developers. The lack of such a simple feature tells me a lot about their ability to customize for a western audience.

Still no invert Y mouse setting on release by Trion. If the foreign developer can't put in such a simple to implement feature and it is the highest priority request then Trion has miniscule amount of influence on anything.

From the sounds of it, why do they even have staff for this game? It looks like the only input into the game they have is cutting a licensing check and then fucking off back to their offices. I had fun killing stuff with spells while running around, but not being able to change anything about the game is going to kill it. Especially if the "teleporting instakilling bot" clip indicated the level of policing in the game.

[WayAbvPar]

It sounds like XL (the Korean masters) are really holding onto the reins tightly. Trion claims to be fighting the good fight to get things more palatable to a Western audience, but who knows what the real story is. What will probably happen is XL will see the large drop off after the first couple of months and THEN OK a list of changes when it is way too late 

I still find enough entertainment and potential to be a headstart customer. There is a lot to like.

[Scold]

This is usually a nice idea in these games, but I wonder, with the way they'd apparently straitjacket the non-patron accounts in this game, is there realistic possibility for one to make enough gold to be able to purchase such a pass?

What's more likely is that start out buying patron access and then achieve escape velocity.

[Falconeer]

Looks like less than 24 hours from launch Trion won iths fight over the South Korean overlords? Interesting...

ArcheAge Version 1.2 Build 4.8: Patch Notes
GAMEPLAY
* The drop rate of loot bags from monsters has significantly increased.
* The drop rate of Sunlight Archeum, Moonlight Archeum, and Starlight Archeum from loot bags has been greatly increased.
* The chance of equipment from loot bags has increased from monsters. These items can be salvaged to gain archeum.
* The Solid Shaft recipe is available again, allowing for the construction of fishing boats.

P.S: Miracle patch.

[WayAbvPar]

Heh just came to post that. Very cool.

[Ginaz]

Looks like less than 24 hours from launch Trion won iths fight over the South Korean overlords? Interesting...

ArcheAge Version 1.2 Build 4.8: Patch Notes
GAMEPLAY
* The drop rate of loot bags from monsters has significantly increased.
* The drop rate of Sunlight Archeum, Moonlight Archeum, and Starlight Archeum from loot bags has been greatly increased.
* The chance of equipment from loot bags has increased from monsters. These items can be salvaged to gain archeum.
* The Solid Shaft recipe is available again, allowing for the construction of fishing boats.

P.S: Miracle patch.

Very nice.  Happy now?

[Rendakor]

Any change to labor points?

[Falconeer]

Not that I know of. They raised Labor Potions cooldown to 12 hours, which shrinks the labor gap between whales and normal patrons, but they didn't change the labor acquisition rates.

The way it is now, I repeat, as a free2player seems like you have all the labor you need to play PvE and PvP (yes, you do have enough labor to open the loot bags). In short, to fight and loot all you want. But you do NOT have the labor needed to craft at all. So, the f2p portion of Archeage is just the combat and none of the other sandbox features, including something as simple as gathering materials.

[Pagz]

Do you use Labor in PvP?

[Falconeer]

Not at all, that's my point. People can argue that one way or another you need labor for EVERYTHING, including making money to gear up for PvP, so you are back to square one. But technically, as I said, you do not need labor to fight or level up so you don't need labor to PvP.

[WayAbvPar]

House plot reserved, 3 skill lines opened...even have 2 mounts (+ a glider). Not bad for a morning's work. So far it has been surprisingly smooth...took about 30 minutes to get logged in, but once I was there I have only been disconned once, and have been able to log in almost immediately (~30 in queue, which takes less than a minute).