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[Column] ArcheAge: How ArcheAge Captures the Elder Scrolls Spirit Better Than ESO
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
In the first of what we hope to become a regular feature on the site, we're presenting you a guest column written by a reader of MMORPG.com. Kyle is a longtime reader of the site, and approached us with a unique take on why ArcheAge appeals to him while Elder Scrolls online did not:
My most memorable moment playing Skyrim involved Lydia, the dutiful, rarely-speaking companion bestowed upon you as a reward for one of the game’s earliest quests. It was my first playthrough, and I quickly learned that my poorly thought-out destruction mage benefited immensely from her unflinching willingness to charge into the thick of battle and start swinging her sword around.
Read more of Kyle Trembley's guest column ArcheAge: How ArcheAge Captures the ‘Elder Scrolls’ Spirit Better Than ESO.
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so, you think archeage is a better single player game than ESO?
okai
"believe me, mike.. i calculated the odds of this working against the odds that i was doing something incredibly stupid and i did it anyway!"
This sounds, to me, more like a realization that sandbox MMOs offer more personalized experiences than a theme park MMO would. I don't think ArcheAge and ESO need to be factored in as heavily as this article suggests.
ArcheAge's combat feels like it's right out of 1998, so it's hard for me to get into. As a roleplayer, the lack of height slider is more impactful than I figured it'd be. At the price of free, it's hard not to check the game out to some extent, but there are a lot of reasons to play ESO over ArcheAge.
But I would love to see more dynamic, sandbox-like content in ESO.
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I thought I read the devs say they weren't trying to create Skyrim online....which is what I get from the article and many posts.
The problem for some is their expectations.
mmorpg.com is running the risk of marginalizing itself even further with articles like this.
When I posted the mmorpg.com article asking for a Emp reset on the official forums (forums much busier than here btw), which raised a great question imo, it was meet with "who cares what that troll site thinks". It couldn't even gain traction because people couldn't get past the source.
I think you guys are barking up the wrong tree here.
Fulll Disclosure, this is OP-
Kyle Trembley - Project Manager at DB Creative, Inc.
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I guess if Skyrim had a cash shop that sold the ability to craft the best items in the game and the same combat from Morrowind years ago, yea I could see AA being "Elder Scrolls" like.
I don't think AA will be a bad game, but I think this article will make even the dullest knife the drawer giggle at how ridiculous it is.
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
Good article. The features listed in this game sound pretty nice. I admit I don't know much about AA but maybe I will take a closer look in a month or two when I actually have the time. Unfortunately, I DO know about ESO since I actually own it and played for a week or two. I'm sure some features have been improved since then but the general mechanics of the game seem to still be in place which is what got me to leave. It had nothing to do with bugs, and I actually didn't have many if at all, buggy issues when I played.
That being said, with the feature list of AA I can easily see why the author titled the article the way he did and makes some good points. ESO is a game that shoulda/coulda/woulda, but still isn't. Maybe that will change in 6 months to a year and I will come back. It's not like I will have to buy the box again to try, just pay for another sub. Maybe that will change by then too. Who knows? By then though I would have tried AA most likely so we will see if what the author says is true. I hope so, because for now ESO is not the answer.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
You're right about one thing (and 1 thing only), and that's that "this article will make even the dullest knife the drawer giggle at how ridiculous it is"
But that's because "the dullest knives in the drawer" will never understand AA gameplay or the concept of player-made content...
WOW This site has gone completely INSANE.
Hes deep in honey moon discovering this new world using it to bash other quality game.
First of all, ArcheAge shouldnt be compared and cant even start to compare to any ES game and even ESO. ESO did it wrong if only judged upon their initial intention and not based on this clown opinion.
There is nothing in this game that can begin to compare to ES games, pve, combat, the world atmosphere, graphics and all that... Terrible story, terrible pve combat, bad armors/weapons design. I leveled multiple 50s and i cant even remember one npc or even one mob that was hard or even interesting... Not one place in the world really hit me with amazing design or anything.... God awefull pvp arena, no pvp incentive, bad siege battle design... Ship despawn, no random sea treasure chest spawning for scuba diving....
Nice features but soo much terrible things about this game and in no way can it even compare with any ES games or even ESO. Eso is quality, this is subpar feature rich cash shop dependant P2W game.
Even then, if this game brought you some good old ES feelings, amazing, happy for you. Be a little profesionnal and stop bashing other games because you found something that works for you...
So much BS on this site lately, seriously.
True, but comparing these two games is laughable at best. I love sandbox style games and content, but AA is definitely not the answer with all the bad news coming out of the game the last few weeks.
You are comparing an open world sandpark/themebox with a tried and true themepark experience. Hate to break this to people, but Skyrim was a themepark. You followed your main story quest, sure you did some stuff on the side and did a little bit of exploring, but it definitely wasn't a sandbox where you could do whatever you wanted in the game. It had the same limitations ESO has for the most part.
The reason why I think AA isn't going to do so well is multi fold. P2W Cash shop + Themepark leveling system + Sandbox end game = ???
I don't know yet either, but I think we are all waiting to see what happens with AA, as it will most likely influence the direction of other projects such as EQN.
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
There is no "bad news coming out of the game". There is however a deafening amount of whining by the western audience because the game design wasn't extensively changed to allow them to play all aspects of it completely free.
The deal for NA/EU players of AA is already the sweetest of any region where the game is published. But that's apparently not even nearly enough. It has to be made MUCH sweeter, otherwise the F2P players will refuse to play ! From the sublime to the ridiculous...
So ESO isnt as open world and sandboxy as ArcheAge, granted. But what they do have in the game is very good quality, upon which they will improve and add way more good quality feature over time.
Now ArcheAge has tons of nice features but very poorly implemented, most things lack details, poorly executed or balanced. Most ideas are amazing but not the way that they designed it, most things feels cheap, just like the combat, skills, the graphics, equipments and char creation...
Proof? This game has been released for over a year and a half? What have they done during all this time? They only tweaked the game so far, they made a bunch of balance, bunch of very little addition to the game and thats it...
Wildstar and ESO got more content out since their release than ArcheAge in its original country... Not counting that this game is BASED upon free to play/pay to win chinese/korean/whatever mindset. Published by incompetant of trion.
Cant believe this website really.
Uhm where have you been these past weeks really?
All the ''whining'' is people voicing their opinion on the game bro, one thread after another maybe 4 thread out of 5 were people bashing this game or its ''free to play'' model. Now if it were just me talking BS, maybe you could say im crazy but all these people on this forum and AA official forum...
Its not only in NA/EU that this game is having problem...DUDE They had to get back the first devlopper because the new one was failing so bad in their orignal country... THATs why there was no content update all this time, most of it were just balance fix trying to please people.,..
Try to get some information before you take part into any debate, this game had MAJOR problem in any country it has been released.
I actually play both games still. Still subbing to ESO, and have the Archeum pack for AA. And I have to say, the author missed the mark by a huge margin.
Firstly, ESO was never meant to be Skyrim Online, that was a problem with players expectations not with the developers. Ive been playing since the early days of PTS and I can see "Elder Scrolls" littered throughout the entire game. If you take off your rose-tinted glasses and look at the game for what it is, its very well done. They even managed to fix most of the bugs themselves without having to have a player-made mod for an "unofficial patch" :P
ArcheAge is also a great game. But like any other, it has its own flaws. Mainly for me, its the combat. They went about as retro as you can get in an MMO, using the oldest version of combat with pretty new animations and away from the new modern idea of "action" combat. You are still heavily guided at the start of the game, and although you arent "required" to do the quests and you can "forge your own story", you are hindering yourself by not doing them, especially the main story quests, as they are the best source of Gildas early on.
Seems the authors "Spirit of Elder Scrolls" is being able to forge your own path, and ignore story quests. While that may be, thats not even close to what it means to me. You are welcome to your own opinion, but if thats all "Elder Scrolls" means to you, I dare say you arent getting your moneys worth. And maybe for MMOs, you should just sit and wait until someone actually releases a Sandbox, because AA isnt it. There is a seamless open world, and you are free to do the quests or not, but you miss some pretty important quest rewards early on, and the real sandbox doesnt open up until much later in the game. Definately cant "forge your own path" right from character creation like you can in an "TES" single player game.
I'm much more concerned as a possible patron. I don't play F2P games unless I can sub and get all the content for my sub price, which is looks like AA will be unable to do for me. I'm still going to try it, but it really has been nothing but bad news with every bit of news we have gotten on AA the past few weeks, F2P player or Patron player either way are really getting hosed.
Just because people in Korea and Russia are okay getting ripped off doesn't mean we have to be
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
Taking what the article said and construing it in the most negative way possible?
Check.
Hmm...
I think you might be doing this on purpose.
Call me cynical but whenever someone makes a comment like that I shudder a bit.
Can I come to work for MMORPG.com? I'd love to work at a place where Hallucinogens are given out at the front desk.
Who is paying you to prop AA like this?
Why would you ever think that AA could EVER be compared to the Elder Scrolls games? You do realize that those games were all VERY quest driven? Yeah, you could do your own thing, but the story was so great you didnt want to miss it.
AA has much more extensive cash shop and it's the only thing that it has better or bigger than ESO.
Edit: Also, it's kind of pathetic how mmorpg.com hypes up titles for a fat envolope.