Arche Age

[Stormwaltz]

Stiff combat, a UI reminiscent of EVE Online, awkward running animations, VO'd error message spam ( ), and UO housing sprawl.

They've got some work to do.

[Xanthippe]

It looks like a normal Korean grinder from that mid-level gameplay video. I shut it off after a few minutes. It made me not interested in the game.

I like how the guy knew exactly where to stand when the bridge blew up.

But... farming!

[Mrbloodworth]

More sexy in game videos. http://youtu.be/yraYIpxxLoI

[Draegan]

Looks pretty but there doesn't seem to be anything to do.

[Mrbloodworth]

ArcheAge 3CBT review


Some parts that poped out to me:

[luckton]

ArcheAge 3CBT review


Some parts that poped out to me:

So, it's one part A Tale in the Desert + one part EVE set in a fantasy realm.  Love the idea, just as long as they expect and accept to see ATitD and EVE subscriber numbers.

[tmp]

We are now sure on 100%, that ArcheAge is a team-play game. It will be very hard to play it alone, since everything is expensive and takes a lot of time to achieve.

I have lost the horse on the opposing continent, and it would take me an hour to get to the nearest friendly stable to ressurect it.

Ha. Ha.

edit. also:

By the way, about the dangers - the grind in ArcheAge is pretty interesting. Two monsters create a nasty problem for the player, and he will sweat trying to kill them. Three monsters without a proper preparation and kite (they allow to kite themselves with impunity yet), they are simply impossible to kill. So, if you suddenly discover yourself at the mercy of three evil monsters, it is recommended to immediately run for cover.

[Mrbloodworth]

We are now sure on 100%, that ArcheAge is a team-play game. It will be very hard to play it alone, since everything is expensive and takes a lot of time to achieve.

I have lost the horse on the opposing continent, and it would take me an hour to get to the nearest friendly stable to ressurect it.

Ha. Ha.

They have two man horses yah know.

[luckton]

I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around a game like this in today's 'solo-friendly' environment.  The premise is great, don't get me wrong...I would love to play this game as much I would love to play EVE.  But to put so much of your content and gameplay on the ideas of group-play?  And then pin on some 'hard-core' elements?

One could take 'ArcheAge' out of that article and replace it with 'EVE' easily.  'Horses' with 'ships'.  'Uninteresting quest system' with...ok, that's spot on, look the point is that I'm just not seeing the appeal here.

[tmp]

They have two man horses yah know.

And 100% friendly community willing to go out of their way to help complete strangers, i'm sure.

[Mrbloodworth]

I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around a game like this in today's 'solo-friendly' environment.  The premise is great, don't get me wrong...I would love to play this game as much I would love to play EVE.  But to put so much of your content and gameplay on the ideas of group-play?  And then pin on some 'hard-core' elements?

One could take 'ArcheAge' out of that article and replace it with 'EVE' easily.  'Horses' with 'ships'.  'Uninteresting quest system' with...ok, that's spot on, look the point is that I'm just not seeing the appeal here.

They also have RvR. Title is being made by one of the old Lineage Developers.

The appeal? The features of the game I suppose. Not everyone needs to make a single player online. The idea of crewing a ship with my friends is highly appealing, a far contrast of, say, POTBS and Eve. The rest of the group play required was talking about the same stuff a group is always required for. This GROUP OF PLAYERS, wrote a closed beta impression. So, its best to take it with a grain of salt.

A clarification by one of the group:

"omg not solo friendly" - the review meant the sandboxy BIG features. YOu can't sail the ship alone, you can't really build a village out of one house and you certainly won't participate in the whole political hijinks, build castles or be the dictator alone.

I'm sure we can have yet another multi-page thread about Group VS. Solo if needed. But its a stupid argument.

They have two man horses yah know.

And 100% friendly community willing to go out of their way to help complete strangers, i'm sure.

Yes, thats what I said.


Here is the first CBT impressions.

[tmp]

Yes, thats what I said.

It is quite implicit requirement for the two man horses to be of any use to a guy who finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere. And i think we both realize what that means in practice.

(sorry if you meant the original comment to be green, if so i've misread it)

[Tarami]

"omg not solo friendly" - the review meant the sandboxy BIG features. YOu can't sail the ship alone, you can't really build a village out of one house and you certainly won't participate in the whole political hijinks, build castles or be the dictator alone.

In Asian grinders, even dictatorship takes a party.

[Mrbloodworth]

Yes, thats what I said.

It is quite implicit requirement for the two man horses to be of any use to a guy who finds himself stranded in the middle of nowhere. And i think we both realize what that means in practice.

(sorry if you meant the original comment to be green, if so i've misread it)

Yeah I don't expect randoms to be like "Hop on friend!", just that others with you can at least give you a ride. I really like the idea of 2 player horses too, Makes duoing a bit more interesting. That and I think everyone gets a horse really early. So, lots of things may require groups, but they seem to have a good deal of tools for it too.

[luckton]

They also have RvR. Title is being made by one of the old Lineage Developers.

The appeal? The features of the game I suppose. Not everyone needs to make a single player online. The idea of crewing a ship with my friends is highly appealing, a far contrast of, say, POTBS and Eve. The rest of the group play required was talking about the same stuff a group is always required for. This GROUP OF PLAYERS, wrote a closed beta impression. So, its best to take it with a grain of salt.

A clarification by one of the group:

"omg not solo friendly" - the review meant the sandboxy BIG features. YOu can't sail the ship alone, you can't really build a village out of one house and you certainly won't participate in the whole political hijinks, build castles or be the dictator alone.

I'm sure we can have yet another multi-page thread about Group VS. Solo if needed. But its a stupid argument.

No, you're right...if a developer out there wants to make a game their way then go for it*.  I wish the developers good luck in their quest in making a mark in the industry, and will check in on this title again when it's released.  Until then, good day sir. 

*because it's worked out soooooooo good for FFXIV so far ^_^

[Mrbloodworth]

FFXIV was a technical and design abomination, its not comparable to this title that already has more working features than it. I have no idea how this title will turn out, but I can't even fathom that comparison.

[ghost]

More sexy in game videos. http://youtu.be/yraYIpxxLoI

That's a lot of swimming.

[Draegan]

He was leveling his swimming skill.

[luckton]

More sexy in game videos. http://youtu.be/yraYIpxxLoI

That's a lot of swimming.

No...stop it...the EVE nightmares are coming back...so...much...empty space....

[Mrbloodworth]

Thing is, apparently sea travel is very important. Some other features like no classes or equipment restrictions (but with downsides) are rather neet too.

[Malakili]

I only skimmed that article but it didn't look like he spent any time discussion how long this stuff takes.  I'm guessing you can't just go and plop down your house anywhere in the game on day1, etc.  (If you can, I'm buying), but he didn't seem to acknowledge any of that stuff.

[Chimpy]

I thought this had no plans to localize it to the West at all?

[Lantyssa]

They have an English page, so looks like there are plans.

Cautiously watching since I'm dying for a more-sandboxy game.

[Mrbloodworth]

I only skimmed that article but it didn't look like he spent any time discussion how long this stuff takes.  I'm guessing you can't just go and plop down your house anywhere in the game on day1, etc.  (If you can, I'm buying), but he didn't seem to acknowledge any of that stuff.

I did come across something that gave the impression its not hard to make the most basic house. Ill see if I can't dig it up. Problem with this title is, we are at the mercy of the closed beta users as far as English speaking info.

Still, no NDA for the title.


EDIT: Housing system overview.

[tmp]

Been hearing some rumours the korean guilds which played the beta went promptly back to Aion, tails between their legs.

If it's too grindy even for the Koreans then the odds of doing well elsewhere... welp.

correct rumour, wrong game. Nothing to see here. 

[Lantyssa]

Was it too grindy or not grindy enough?

[Mrbloodworth]

Other than time needed, I'm not sure how grindy it could be. Apparently, you can level just by crafting/farming ETC, questing is not required. Considering the best items in game are crafted....

[luckton]

Easier question: How many Koreans play EVE Online? 

[Ingmar]

Other than time needed, I'm not sure how grindy it could be.

You pretty much just described the entire concept of grind right there.

[Mrbloodworth]

Other than time needed, I'm not sure how grindy it could be.

You pretty much just described the entire concept of grind right there.

Well, no. I consider grind to come in many flavors. Such as, Repetitive tasks, Non-compelling reasons to be doing X, ETC.. I do not consider simply having a progression system, a grind.

Having the option to not quest at all and still progress overall helps a great deal. The more distinct activities a game offers the less grind they are in one aspect. So, having what is traditionally separate advancement systems, at least impact one another, does help IMO. Of course none of us know how any of the advancement systems will be ranged, so it could be a huge time investment. From what I am reading, cool stuff happens rather early, Horse, house, so there very well could be many distractions to fill your time masking any 'grind' there is.

I'm not sure how much i will care about leveling as i am blowing people off the deck of ships with my cannons! ( Yes, you can hit players ON the decks of ships, not just the ship )

The game is a odd mix of Sandbox and theme park with both sides of that coin seemingly optional. "OMG ITS KOREAN" is no longer an instant "Its going to be a pointless grind". People "Grind" because they care more about some point in progression, more than they care about what they are doing right now.

Unless all you care about is getting to the highest level the fastest, there is no help for you then.

[Hawkbit]

I have this idea in my head that having a boat will be ten people attempting to "row", which is ten people playing QWOP in sync to move the oars, with the captain/GL yelling "more dots, you fucks.  more dots". 

[Ingmar]

Other than time needed, I'm not sure how grindy it could be.

You pretty much just described the entire concept of grind right there.

Well, no. I consider grind to come in many flavors. Such as, Repetitive tasks, Non-compelling reasons to be doing X, ETC.. I do not consider simply having a progression system, a grind.

Having the option to not quest at all and still progress overall helps a great deal. The more distinct activities a game offers the less grind they are in one aspect. So, having what is traditionally separate advancement systems, at least impact one another, does help IMO. Of course none of us know how any of the advancement systems will be ranged, so it could be a huge time investment. From what I am reading, cool stuff happens rather early, Horse, house, so there very well could be many distractions to fill your time masking any 'grind' there is.

I'm not sure how much i will care about leveling as i am blowing people off the deck of ships with my cannons! ( Yes, you can hit players ON the decks of ships, not just the ship )

The game is a odd mix of Sandbox and theme park with both sides of that coin seemingly optional. "OMG ITS KOREAN" is no longer an instant "Its going to be a pointless grind". People "Grind" because they care more about some point in progression, more than they care about what they are doing right now.

Unless all you care about is getting to the highest level the fastest, there is no help for you then.

Meh, what makes grind grind, is feeling grindy. What makes it feel grindy? Taking forever, mostly. Giving me 15 different things to grind on vs. 1 isn't really that much of a difference if it still makes the bar move .0001 pixel at a time.

[Xanthippe]

I could make bricks for a long time in aTitD without it feeling grindy.  Or plant/harvest/process flax. 

Or fish in WoW, which was often described as a grind.

For me, it was the act in and of itself that was fun, I guess, and relaxing.  I wasn't doing it to get better at it.  I did it because I liked doing it, I guess.

[Malakili]

I don't mind grinding when its my own project - building a house, doing something that is sort of my own idea/design.  Building a house, or a ship, or something I don't mind doing.  Examples: In minecraft there is lots of "grinding" but it never felt grindy to me.  In an MMO example, I used to mine for capital ship production in an industrial corp and we were contracted for a lot of big projects.  For some reason I really liked doing that as well.

What I hate is grinds that aren't of my own choosing, so to speak (yes, technically its almost my choice, but hear me out).  Stuff like "Get exalted rep with so and so and then you can do such and such a raid"  Basically, when the developer puts in a time sink JUST for the sake of me taking time to do it.  Basically, grinds which open up stuff to do bother me, grinds which give me something at the end I mind slightly less.

[pxib]

Every time this thread pops back up I find myself thinking of Age of Conan set in 1960's Riverdale.