Help! I want to love AA! What am I missing?

Entinerint · May 2014

Alright so just wanted to relay my experience with the alpha.

I gambled my $150 based on the feature set of AA. I always knew I'd hate the art-style and the UI but those are just taste things and I can get over them if the game is compelling enough.

I have been playing ESO since launch and honestly I think it totally spoiled me.

AA is very "old school" and not in a good way. It reminds me a lot of the current way DAOC starts. But I want to love it as it has SO many features that I've wanted from a well-made game for so long like FFA PvP, naval combat, etc.

Here's what I got out of it.

PRO:

- It's very pretty

- The animations are fantastically crafted

- FFA PvP

- Justice System

- Naval combat

- Sitting just about anywhere

CON:

- No quest VO

- Overbearing, unimmersive UI

- Painful connect-the-dots questing

- Boring, unimaginitive and grindy, 10-year-old combat

- No context or immersion into the world

- Unconnected story-less collect/kill quests

- The freaking awful ! and ? graphics really bother me for some reason

- God-awful movement controls

- Ridiculously unintuitive menus

- The freakin' popups

- Old-school camera system with no true first person

- Global Cool-downs

- Nameplates freakin' EVERYWHERE by default

STUFF THAT IS A CON BUT DOESN'T BOTHER ME AND/OR WILL OBVIOUSLY BE FIXED:

- Art-style (personally prefer realistic/gritty/western)

- Non-translated text (I wonder what it all means!)

Seriously, I want to love this game, but it gives me a headache and I honestly think ESO's immersive,minimal UI, believable art-style, story-drive questing and action-based combat REALLY spoiled me for older-school games like this.

So I'm asking for people to tell me whether or not it gets better and if I should stick with it and why they are loving it (since a lot of people CLEARLY do). If I am looking for an immersive, engaging experience, should I stick with this? Cuz right now it seems like a typical mindless Asian grind-fest with some cool features tacked on.

Mardukk · May 2014

Well OP your two big cons, the quests and traditional tab target are two things many of us would be willing to over look in our quest for a little bit of freedom. It sounds like all you did was quest. It also sounds like you are the type of MMO'er that needs to be told a story. This is supposed to be a virtual world with the quests just be a side note, not the only thing you can do (looking at ESO). You also shouldn't need to be told a story in a virtual world...you make your own story. Did your guild tell you to solo grind quest to quest just like ESO? Are you in a guild?

SamuraiXIV · May 2014

I'm not a fan of AA or ESO but from I've gathered they don't fall in same categories if I had no choice but to play one or the other I would choose AA. Way too many themeparks out there.

Also the biggest pro in AA is all the features and that you are not bound to progress in a linear way, those are big pro to not mention.

ReaperUk · May 2014

It seems to me from the OP that he didn't take on board the fact he was paying his $150 to join an alpha. Most of his cons relate to it being an unfinished product. As for the questing, that's just to introduce new players to the various game systems. If he thinks its all about questing he can't have played very much.

comicguy · May 2014

two different games. If you're into single player story mode quest game, ESO is 1000000x times better.

If you want to just run around and do stuff without being told, Archeage is your game.

Most people can't stand games like Archeage. I think ESO is the right game for you. Despite all the problems in ESO, it's my favorite single player MMORPG.

Entinerint · May 2014

Originally posted by Mardukk
Well OP your two big cons, the quests and traditional tab target are two things many of us would be willing to over look in our quest for a little bit of freedom. It sounds like all you did was quest. It also sounds like you are the type of MMO'er that needs to be told a story. This is supposed to be a virtual world with the quests just be a side note, not the only thing you can do (looking at ESO). You also shouldn't need to be told a story in a virtual world...you make your own story. Did your guild tell you to solo grind quest to quest just like ESO? Are you in a guild?

I have no guild but I was just sorta following the progression of the game. Even in sandbox games I do that to begin with just to get the hang of things. It didn't seem all that free and seemed a bit linear, (the horrendous map system doesn't help that much). I'd love to go out and PvP but I feel very weak at level 10 and I'm worried it would be an exercise in futility.

Having played SWG, UO and Darkfall more than any other MMOs, having no direct story isn't bothersome. What is bothersome is lack of context, making you feel like you're in a lived-in world, which all three of those games did really well for their time.

So far my own story has been doing errands for NPCs along a set path. I have heard AA called a "Sand-park" but should it really be "Theme-box" if it starts with the theme park stuff and then gets sandboxy later on? I imagine if I stick with it I will start to see the freedom, or am I really missing it right from the start? Can I go off and have compelling adventures without any quest markers right after I wash up on that shore or do I have to stick to the themepark until it becomes a sandbox?

Originally posted by ReaperUk
It seems to me from the OP that he didn't take on board the fact he was paying his $150 to join an alpha. Most of his cons relate to it being an unfinished product. As for the questing, that's just to introduce new players to the various game systems. If he thinks its all about questing he can't have played very much.

Oh so the UI, combat, lack of first person and stuff is all temp? That's good, I didn't really find anything broken or buggy, but good to know that that stuff will change/improve.

Originally posted by comicguy
two different games. If you're into single player story mode quest game, ESO is 1000000x times better.

If you want to just run around and do stuff without being told, Archeage is your game.

Most people can't stand games like Archeage. I think ESO is the right game for you. Despite all the problems in ESO, it's my favorite single player MMORPG.

Well as I said above, sandbox is my preference. UO, SWG and Darkfall 1 are my most-played MMOs by far. DAOC behind that and WoW behind that (but that was only because so may of my friends went from SG to WoW). I also played a fair amount of Wurm online which tells you I can put up with the shittiest of gameplay if there are awesome features to be found. I'm just not finding them in AA.

The "stuff" you mention, what is it? Aside from PvP and ship battles which I am guessing I'm too low level to take part in yet, is it just mob grinding and mat collecting, or is there other stuff I haven't seen yet? Can I rob people? Can I build a cabin somewhere in the woods?

syriinx · May 2014

The responses here are absolutely ridiculous.

Especially the 'its Alpha' one. Its a game thats been out over a year. Except for the one translation thing that he mentioned would be fixed, not a single one of his cons has remotely anything to do with localization.

and the person who said 'he needs to be told a story'...OP mentioned there is a lack of immersion and connection to the game world. Thats not the same as story. Everquest had no story but had a very interesting game world. I just dont see that with ArcheAge.

I think a lot of people are desperate for the type of game they want ArcheAge to be (and in some ways is, but not fully) that they pretend some of the warts dont exist. Some will ultimately be ok with what ArcheAge does wrong because it does enough right, but others will not.

comicguy · May 2014

same thing I told people that can't get into ESO. MOVE ON. Game isn't for you.

Creslin321 · May 2014

Originally posted by comicguy
two different games. If you're into single player story mode quest game, ESO is 1000000x times better.

If you want to just run around and do stuff without being told, Archeage is your game.

Most people can't stand games like Archeage. I think ESO is the right game for you. Despite all the problems in ESO, it's my favorite single player MMORPG.

Yup I agree with this.

ESO is basically a game that is "all in" on SP-esque story questing. Sure, it has a PvP zone, but it's pretty clear that the lion's share of the game's budget went to the questing. In ESO, you will level to 50 by questing...and then once you're 50, you will find a MASSIVE quest grind waiting for you. And this is the main reason I wound up not liking it that much. I really, really dislike linear questing.

AA though, while it does have linear questing which is definitely not as high quality as ESO...the questing is just a small part of the whole game. I've played AA for maybe a week or so now, and I've already done waaaaay more stuff in it than I did in ESO, including but not limited to...

1. Raising geese on a farm...and then feeling terrible when I had to kill the little guys to make room for trees . It was even worse because the action to kill them was called "Needless Butchering." Oh god lol...

2. Encounter some players slowly moving across the land in a ship by harpooning the land over and over and pulling the boat. It was hilarious lol.

3. Going on a trade run with my guild where we all sailed together.

4. Hear some dude playing the Jurassic Park theme that he composed himself using an in-game system (yes you can compose music!!!)

5. Fly all the way across the freaking ocean SEEMLESSLY to get to the other continent. Since when have you been able to do that in an MMO?

...All this in just in a few days. And what's even more important is that the game didn't "tell" me to do any of that, it just happened! That is why I LOVE sandbox games...you never know what kind of things you're going to run into.

Now if I were to tell you what I did in ESO it would look like:

1. Questing.

2. Cyrodiil PvP.

That is the difference between a sandbox and a themepark.

Maquiame · May 2014

Originally posted by Creslin321
Originally posted by comicguy
two different games. If you're into single player story mode quest game, ESO is 1000000x times better.

If you want to just run around and do stuff without being told, Archeage is your game.

Most people can't stand games like Archeage. I think ESO is the right game for you. Despite all the problems in ESO, it's my favorite single player MMORPG.

Yup I agree with this.

ESO is basically a game that is "all in" on SP-esque story questing. Sure, it has a PvP zone, but it's pretty clear that the lion's share of the game's budget went to the questing. In ESO, you will level to 50 by questing...and then once you're 50, you will find a MASSIVE quest grind waiting for you. And this is the main reason I wound up not liking it that much. I really, really dislike linear questing.

AA though, while it does have linear questing which is definitely not as high quality as ESO...the questing is just a small part of the whole game. I've played AA for maybe a week or so now, and I've already done waaaaay more stuff in it than I did in ESO, including but not limited to...

1. Raising geese on a farm...and then feeling terrible when I had to kill the little guys to make room for trees . It was even worse because the action to kill them was called "Needless Butchering." Oh god lol...

2. Encounter some players slowly moving across the land in a ship by harpooning the land over and over and pulling the boat. It was hilarious lol.

3. Going on a trade run with my guild where we all sailed together.

4. Hear some dude playing the Jurassic Park theme that he composed himself using an in-game system (yes you can compose music!!!)

5. Fly all the way across the freaking ocean SEEMLESSLY to get to the other continent. Since when have you been able to do that in an MMO?

...All this in just in a few days. And what's even more important is that the game didn't "tell" me to do any of that, it just happened! That is why I LOVE sandbox games...you never know what kind of things you're going to run into.

Now if I were to tell you what I did in ESO it would look like:

1. Questing.

2. Cyrodiil PvP.

That is the difference between a sandbox and a themepark.

Amen!

CandyCaneNJ · May 2014

Originally posted by Creslin321
Originally posted by comicguy
two different games. If you're into single player story mode quest game, ESO is 1000000x times better.

If you want to just run around and do stuff without being told, Archeage is your game.

Most people can't stand games like Archeage. I think ESO is the right game for you. Despite all the problems in ESO, it's my favorite single player MMORPG.

Yup I agree with this.

ESO is basically a game that is "all in" on SP-esque story questing. Sure, it has a PvP zone, but it's pretty clear that the lion's share of the game's budget went to the questing. In ESO, you will level to 50 by questing...and then once you're 50, you will find a MASSIVE quest grind waiting for you. And this is the main reason I wound up not liking it that much. I really, really dislike linear questing.

AA though, while it does have linear questing which is definitely not as high quality as ESO...the questing is just a small part of the whole game. I've played AA for maybe a week or so now, and I've already done waaaaay more stuff in it than I did in ESO, including but not limited to...

1. Raising geese on a farm...and then feeling terrible when I had to kill the little guys to make room for trees . It was even worse because the action to kill them was called "Needless Butchering." Oh god lol...

2. Encounter some players slowly moving across the land in a ship by harpooning the land over and over and pulling the boat. It was hilarious lol.

3. Going on a trade run with my guild where we all sailed together.

4. Hear some dude playing the Jurassic Park theme that he composed himself using an in-game system (yes you can compose music!!!)

5. Fly all the way across the freaking ocean SEEMLESSLY to get to the other continent. Since when have you been able to do that in an MMO?

...All this in just in a few days. And what's even more important is that the game didn't "tell" me to do any of that, it just happened! That is why I LOVE sandbox games...you never know what kind of things you're going to run into.

Now if I were to tell you what I did in ESO it would look like:

1. Questing.

2. Cyrodiil PvP.

That is the difference between a sandbox and a themepark.

I agree. Don't forget test riding a car in Mirage around a track! Riding in the car, playing music and racing around that track is FUN! I love the cars! Only wish I could buy one already crafted lol.

Karble · May 2014

Originally posted by Entinerint
Alright so just wanted to relay my experience with the alpha.

I gambled my $150 based on the feature set of AA. I always knew I'd hate the art-style and the UI but those are just taste things and I can get over them if the game is compelling enough.

I am going to start this off with the understanding I wanted to buy into the $150 version but recent RL issues happened that require my $ more.

my issue is with the combat voices from characters..would like them to sound more western if that makes sense.

I have been playing ESO since launch and honestly I think it totally spoiled me.

I played ESO in it's initial beta and was so bummed at how different from the single player and generic it felt that I couldn't get past the first few hours of play time.

AA is very "old school" and not in a good way. It reminds me a lot of the current way DAOC starts. But I want to love it as it has SO many features that I've wanted from a well-made game for so long like FFA PvP, naval combat, etc.

I think part of this may have something to do with some untranslated quest text perhaps. There is certainly room for improvement. From what I understand Trion has bought the rights to this version of the game and can modify it going forward however it feels b est suits the gamers here.

Here's what I got out of it.

PRO:

- It's very pretty

agreed

- The animations are fantastically crafted

agreed but could use more in combat portion

- FFA PvP

true

- Justice System

nice

- Naval combat

agreed but could be expanded further to allow for even more dramatic battles

- Sitting just about anywhere

dancing, emoting, driving, gliding, sailing, rowing, submarine, scuba, various mounts...alot of pluses

CON:

- No quest VO

What is a VO? I kind of like the markers at your feet always giving you indication of where you are heading so you can just navigate with whatever means to get there and enjoy the surroundings.

- Overbearing, unimmersive UI

I am not 100% sure on this but can't you customize the UI a bit, changing location, font size, color or opaqueness?

- Painful connect-the-dots questing

The quest serve to guide the player if the player needs or wants that kind of help. From what I understand there have been players that leveled completely by non-combat to cap in the game. It is what you make of it.

- Boring, unimaginitive and grindy, 10-year-old combat

There are some aspects of this I agree with since it's not an active dodge, block, aim, hit specific location on target kind of game like some pvp styled games. It's a preference and not everyone will agree on it.

- No context or immersion into the world

this could be said about UO or mortal online or other games. In the end it all come down to other factors, but I am sure there is some story that eventually unfolds which takes you into enemy lands or contested territory around level 30 or so.

- Unconnected story-less collect/kill quests

Almost all MMO's I played including WoW had many quests that were totally unrelated to any over-arching story, but rather to teach me of a new mob mechanic or provide some fun. Many times in MMO's like WoW I got storied out and just wanted to go fishing or something. I think that may be where this game shines since most or the crafting is functional and fun.

- The freaking awful ! and ? graphics really bother me for some reason

This has been around for how long now? It's still in a few other games that haven't released yet. Not sure if you will be able to turn it off or not. If it breaks your immersion I would hope they will allow for it to be turned off in UI customization on release.

- God-awful movement controls

No clue what you mean here. I read from a person you can use standard wasd or even use left click on ground in UI options to move.

- Ridiculously unintuitive menus

Have you ever tried Mortal Online. Get back to me once you tried that UI and then we can talk about bad menus and UI systems.

- The freakin' popups

not sure what this means..I have been watching twitch feeds and only pop ups I have seen are quest related roll play style dialogue between you and the npc like you were face to face. Similar to Guildwars 2.

- Old-school camera system with no true first person

This has been a trend for a while now. To be honest I am not sure which I prefer, but I do think there is some advantage to behind there character when dealing with PvP related combat if you are not using an active combat system

- Global Cool-downs

This is another thing for balance. Provide a powerful skill or spell but make it so you can't just spam it and win. Yes there are other ways of doing this such as mana, rage, or other meters which get drained and fill up again before using, but it ends up being the same mechanic....just different ways of doing it.

- Nameplates freakin' EVERYWHERE by default

once again you may be able to modify this, Personally I would want to see everyone many times just in case some fools from my faction decide to steal from me or kill me, I can write the names down for later pay-back on top of the possible jail system

STUFF THAT IS A CON BUT DOESN'T BOTHER ME AND/OR WILL OBVIOUSLY BE FIXED:

- Art-style (personally prefer realistic/gritty/western)

This will probably either never change or would take several years to work on a graphical overhaul.....think expansion.

- Non-translated text (I wonder what it all means!)

Maybe this is the part where the story (plot) is more flushed out? no clue to be honest.

Seriously, I want to love this game, but it gives me a headache and I honestly think ESO's immersive,minimal UI, believable art-style, story-drive questing and action-based combat REALLY spoiled me for older-school games like this.

I didn't get the same feeling from the combat in ESO that you did. Maybe it was my class choice. It felt like typical click button 1, 3, 2 and repeat to me. Once again I was only in the early content pre-release so I don't know if this has changed, but I was looking more forward to a combat system like Neverwinter and didn't see it in what I played of ESO.

So I'm asking for people to tell me whether or not it gets better and if I should stick with it and why they are loving it (since a lot of people CLEARLY do). If I am looking for an immersive, engaging experience, should I stick with this? Cuz right now it seems like a typical mindless Asian grind-fest with some cool features tacked on.

Have you just tried exploring or getting into some form of crafting? perhaps set a goal in the game to achieve something like make a sail boat perhaps? there is alot to do in the game and you know how to play unscripted games from previous games in your initial descriptions....the game is what you make of it. You can choose to carve your little spot in it or move on. Obviously if you get very good at crafting something and know how to advance fast in it you may become a very popular person in the game. Perhaps you want to be a pirate and be able to attack both other factions.....the tools are all here to do or become whatever you want.

Is it a game about 5 years old now in it's initial build and fundamentals of gameplay? Yes.

Is it a game that expands on all the things many players have wanted in a game for a very long time without screwing things up badly? yes

My comments all listed in green for the OP.

An4thor · May 2014

You gambled 150$ and list things you don't like that could have been answered by doing some researches? Ok.
I've red through your cons and i just don't see how you would come to like AA unless you deal with them.
So imo move onto something else you like more; because what you don't like will most certainly not change.

theNILV · May 2014

few flaws are price of the freedom, which is quite refreshing after all these linear MMORPG's

If you can't get past those flaws, then it's just not game for you

Vesavius · May 2014

Originally posted by Entinerint
I honestly think ESO's immersive,minimal UI, believable art-style, story-drive questing and action-based combat REALLY spoiled me for older-school games like this.

So I'm asking for people to tell me whether or not it gets better and if I should stick with it and why they are loving it (since a lot of people CLEARLY do). If I am looking for an immersive, engaging experience, should I stick with this?

I believe that AA isn't suited to your taste and that you should stick with ESO.

Everything in the way your post is written (the token muted Pros and the overly dramatic hyperbolic Cons, for example) says to me that you have made your mind up anyhow and are not really asking for advice whether to play or not anyhow.

I am starting to question a lot of motives of some of these threads that I am seeing though, must be honest. While I recognise a lot of the concerns being raised as valid for that person (most are taste based, which is fine), there are a lot that are being made it seems with other agendas. I guess it's to be expected in an industry that invests hundred of millions into it's products though.

gelraen · May 2014

I also thought that the graphics were super shitty in AA (even complained about it here) until two things happened:

#1: I upgraded my rig --> the difference in quality between Normal Settings and very high is extreme! Normal looks like poo.

#2: I got out of the elven (are they called elves? I can't remember) starter area. The next areas look way, way better.

My first impressions were pretty bad, but man it looks good to me now. That said, it needs some good hardware to appreciate.

I also loved the look of ESO, but some didn't I know. I tend to like immersive realism, over stylized graphics like WoW or Wildstar.

Tybost · May 2014

If I were to spend $150.USD on a game I would like to try it before I make that decision. I played the Russian version of Archeage for a while and decided it was not the right cup of tea for me. Majority of the listed cons are not going under any extreme changes in the very near future.

Hope the game grows on you to amount of money you paid to get into it!

DKLond · May 2014

You're not missing anything, as far as I'm concerned.

Your thoughts seem to reflect my own - and the "alpha" that I'm in doesn't feel like an alpha at all. The only technical issue I had was some flickering on player-grown trees, which can be fixed by disabling multithreading.

Beyond that, the only thing missing is a proper and thorough translation.

I agree with what you said, and it DOES feel old and worn in terms of the core mechanics, and especially in terms of the world, lore and quests. Whether you enjoy themeparks or not, there's no denying the best of them have changed what many of us expect from these aspects of any great MMO.

I have no real preference - and I love both kinds of games, and I think they both should be part of any MMO. But AA fails to implement the themepark aspects to my satisfaction.

Still a great game if you don't care about these things, though.

apocoluster · May 2014

I hope you managed to some how get in for free...otherwise your missing $150

gelraen · May 2014

Originally posted by DKLond
You're not missing anything, as far as I'm concerned.

Your thoughts seem to reflect my own - and the "alpha" that I'm in doesn't feel like an alpha at all. The only technical issue I had was some flickering on player-grown trees, which can be fixed by disabling multithreading.

Beyond that, the only thing missing is a proper and thorough translation.

I agree with what you said, and it DOES feel old and worn in terms of the core mechanics, and especially in terms of the world, lore and quests. Whether you enjoy themeparks or not, there's no denying the best of them have changed what many of us expect from these aspects of any great MMO.

I have no real preference - and I love both kinds of games, and I think they both should be part of any MMO. But AA fails to implement the themepark aspects to my satisfaction.

Still a great game if you don't care about these things, though.

I'd agree with you. I had to kind of "accept" that the quest delivery is very dated, compared to ESO, GW2, Swtor, etc. but after I've gotten over that, I'm really having a great time in the game. Where AA shines is in being a deep and involving crafting and trade simulator, with not bad combat in an interesting world to explore. The game breaker for me will be how much the PvP annoys me later on -- I intend to get involved in it a little but mostly focus on the shipping trade, farming, dungeons, etc.

summitus · May 2014

I'm sorry but most of the " Cons " you listed are just BS .... maybe move on and find another game

DKLond · May 2014

Originally posted by gelraen
Originally posted by DKLond
You're not missing anything, as far as I'm concerned.

Your thoughts seem to reflect my own - and the "alpha" that I'm in doesn't feel like an alpha at all. The only technical issue I had was some flickering on player-grown trees, which can be fixed by disabling multithreading.

Beyond that, the only thing missing is a proper and thorough translation.

I agree with what you said, and it DOES feel old and worn in terms of the core mechanics, and especially in terms of the world, lore and quests. Whether you enjoy themeparks or not, there's no denying the best of them have changed what many of us expect from these aspects of any great MMO.

I have no real preference - and I love both kinds of games, and I think they both should be part of any MMO. But AA fails to implement the themepark aspects to my satisfaction.

Still a great game if you don't care about these things, though.

I'd agree with you. I had to kind of "accept" that the quest delivery is very dated, compared to ESO, GW2, Swtor, etc. but after I've gotten over that, I'm really having a great time in the game. Where AA shines is in being a deep and involving crafting and trade simulator, with not bad combat in an interesting world to explore. The game breaker for me will be how much the PvP annoys me later on -- I intend to get involved in it a little but mostly focus on the shipping trade, farming, dungeons, etc.

There's no denying the crafting is great and what I like to call the gameplay arsenal is vast and impressive.

It's all down to what you prefer and what you like.

Personally, I'm a HUGE immersion freak - and I need my world to be absorbing and I absolutely need to be able to take it seriously.

AA is simply too bright and doesn't seem to do anything to pull me into its world or lore. Sure, the cutscenes are still not translated - but it's very obvious from the quest givers that lore isn't where this game tries to break the mold. In fact, it seems to want to go back in time.

If you're not about lore, engaging quests, immersion and a "serious" vibe - then I can easily see how you can appreciate the great stuff in AA. Because it DOES have lots of great stuff.

RaZKaLz · May 2014

Ive been playing the game for 2 weeks now and god theres a lot of stuff i want them to change. The game is good but not everyone gonna like it. Like the pvp doesnt start before 30ish, lower if you want to go in the pvp zones with no skills at all and at low level and get wrecked really fast.

I dont know why they called it a Open pvp cause you cant kill people 99% of the time that you play. Too many safe zones and those Alliances, they are pissing me off. Still gonna play the game though.

Just my 2 cents, theres a shit ton of stuff to do. Like i said ive been playing for 2 weeks now with a friend of mine and we only got to 32. We were having fun doing trades and backflips in the ocean. We are discovering the open seas and trying to figuring out where are we gonna put our stuff at release. Crafting is awesome in this game, but theres just too much essential things that you need and so few that you can craft at first lol

Its the best money i invested on a game since Aion and blade and soul(I really like korean games) and its not even out yet. Cant wait to see the rest but i really hope they are gonna fix that trial thing cause its fucking annoying.... getting jail time cause i killed people... in a pvp game... really... fucking really....

SpottyGekko · May 2014

Originally posted by comicguy
same thing I told people that can't get into ESO. MOVE ON. Game isn't for you.

The simplest answers are often the correct ones !

Games are all about taste, just like music, art, TV or almost any form of entertainment. One persons "awesome" will be another's "unspeakable".

Trying to convince yourself to like something because "a lot of other people" like it is a recipe for disaster, and almost always doomed...

Bacchira · May 2014

Funny, nearly all your cons are pros on my list.
I find for example the movement controls to be spot on, and I love the combat.
I really don't like the limited number of skills that most MMOs have today so this is a refreshing breeze for me.

syriinx · May 2014

Originally posted by DKLond
Originally posted by gelraen
Originally posted by DKLond
You're not missing anything, as far as I'm concerned.

Your thoughts seem to reflect my own - and the "alpha" that I'm in doesn't feel like an alpha at all. The only technical issue I had was some flickering on player-grown trees, which can be fixed by disabling multithreading.

Beyond that, the only thing missing is a proper and thorough translation.

I agree with what you said, and it DOES feel old and worn in terms of the core mechanics, and especially in terms of the world, lore and quests. Whether you enjoy themeparks or not, there's no denying the best of them have changed what many of us expect from these aspects of any great MMO.

I have no real preference - and I love both kinds of games, and I think they both should be part of any MMO. But AA fails to implement the themepark aspects to my satisfaction.

Still a great game if you don't care about these things, though.

I'd agree with you. I had to kind of "accept" that the quest delivery is very dated, compared to ESO, GW2, Swtor, etc. but after I've gotten over that, I'm really having a great time in the game. Where AA shines is in being a deep and involving crafting and trade simulator, with not bad combat in an interesting world to explore. The game breaker for me will be how much the PvP annoys me later on -- I intend to get involved in it a little but mostly focus on the shipping trade, farming, dungeons, etc.

There's no denying the crafting is great and what I like to call the gameplay arsenal is vast and impressive.

It's all down to what you prefer and what you like.

Personally, I'm a HUGE immersion freak - and I need my world to be absorbing and I absolutely need to be able to take it seriously.

AA is simply too bright and doesn't seem to do anything to pull me into its world or lore. Sure, the cutscenes are still not translated - but it's very obvious from the quest givers that lore isn't where this game tries to break the mold. In fact, it seems to want to go back in time.

If you're not about lore, engaging quests, immersion and a "serious" vibe - then I can easily see how you can appreciate the great stuff in AA. Because it DOES have lots of great stuff.

I dont even think the crafting is great. There is no skill involved in it, its just click and combine. And the labor point system kind of ruins it. Of course its better than anything thats come out in the last 10 years because of its gathering system, but the gathering system will be too affected by PvP.

But I think you hit the nail on the head with the immersion. And the OP hit on it a little too. The immersion factor is non existent. And immersion is very important in this type of game. And the lack of lore isn't back in time, because in the past games had great lore. Everquest is probably still the tops in creating a new world filled with lore and immersion.

And that was Everquest's secret to success. Norrath. And the world of ArcheAge is no Norrath. Everquest was not remotely a quest driven game but Norrath had a rich lore and lots of personality. Its kind of funny that AA is published by Trion, because its world reminds me a lot of Telara, pretty, colorful, and boring and soulless. When creating a brand new IP you need to do better for races than humans, elves, and catmen who look like humans with cat ears and a tail.

Here are the issues I have with AA. Some of them will be strengths to others:

1. PvP focused-cant do anything worthwhile later on without subjecting yourself to the asshattery of others

2. Lack of immersion

3. Labor Points

4. Ultimately a boring class system.-Ill admit this could change later, but the three tree system is so overdone.

5. Themepark elements are pretty poor. Wouldnt be a big deal if they werent so prevalent.

6. Click and Combine, skill-less item making

7. No open world dungeons

8. Fast leveling

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