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[Interview] ArcheAge: Why the Labor System is Good
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
This isn’t going to make me popular, but I’m going to come out and say it just like Maccarthur says on our forums, I actually kind of like the labor point system. And there are a multitudinous reasons why. Before the pitchforks come out and people start claiming I’m pro “Pay 2 Win”, let me explain. While I think there could be some improvements to the system, I’m also fairly confident in my belief that the Labor system is better for the overall health of the economy and the game XLGAMES wants us to play. So, here we go.
Read more of BillMurphy's ArcheAge: Why the Labor System is Good.
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Comments
I actually don't mind LPs personally, I see them as just another tradeable commodity that can encourage community interaction, and as you say Bill, can act as an active equaliser. What Scott says here in this quote though is just so much non committal woolly waffle.
I expected better off him. There was a time when I relied on him to deliver hard statements.
Far too much common sense and logic in this post.
Rage is certain.
not pay to win?
buy bunch of them sell them on market and buy yourself best gear crafted or dropped by someone else and you dont need go out of town
Hartsman stopped to deliver hard statements long time ago -and even then you had to take them with a grain of salt.
In recent years though, i haven't read anything but plain PR fluff from him. "We're all so excited...", "we can't wait to...", "we absolutely love to..."
Too much business jargon, marketing speak and buzzword flinging, too little actual substance.
The labor system was good when ArcheAge was a P2P game in Korea back in the days. It was same labor for everyone. It was time = labor.
Now it's cash = labor and and if you really think that this is 'good for the overall health of the game', I really have to question your sanity.
Trion have been open and honest about things for years now?
Come on Bill, this is the same company who told us servers were merging because they needed them for some trial promotion (still waiting on that)
This is a company that sold 1 year expansion membership bundles while actively working on F2P transition.
This is the company that tried to sell conquest as what the players wanted (The PvP community certainly did not collectively want another battleground type option)
Trion, like most MMORPG companies, is anything but open and honest.
Regardless of all that, this notion of LP as an equalizer is absurd. By making them so easily obtainable, it is now absolutely back to the person with the most time. the equalizer argument only works if there is a cap that is within the reach of the average player: this is clearly not the case now. this system favors the hardcore probably more so than most games.
A game like World of Warcraft can manage to keep the most desired craftable items (things like mounts and bags) from being flooded on the market AND not being controlled by those who have the most time. And they do this without telling people: "nope, cant go gather anymore, you are cut off...go PvP or log out." Labor Points is about the worst way to do what XL games says they are trying to do. Labor Points are a monetization tool. That's what they were designed as, that's what they will always be.
And if its some effort potential thing, why can you buy it in jars out of thin air? Shouldn't the way to put it on the market be *exclusively* from other players? So 1,000 players playing = max 1,000 days worth of labor. the answer is because then XL/Trion couldn't make millions off it. So now ArcheAge has pretty much unlimited effort available. The system just doesn't mesh at all with what we are being told its for.
But it doesn't do that in its current state.
No, it is tradeable in game, as the article says.
This means that time spent in game still equals labour, because you buy that labour with gold.
Before questioning other's sanity, read to comprehend maybe.
This certainly is the time in any game's life that you really have to watch for suspicious shill accounts, that's for sure.
Or you buy that labor with money. So you can skip the gathering gold part if you want. Either way, someone spent cash to get that labor into the game.
Its a cash cow for XL Games, which would be fine if they didn't design the game to be so heavily slanted towards subscriptions.
And what is needed in order to obtain gold in the game?
OH RIGHT! Labor.
/shrug... The fact that labour pots are tradeable removes 99% of my worry about them. It is a key detail that the "P2W" cryers seem to be skipping over in their outrage.
I really don't see it as any different in practise to Plex, or Chronos, or even GW2's system.
I actually, as a subber, don't see me spending much real money at all on labour pots... I will be looking to buy mine with gold, probably off newbs that have just started in an effort to give them cash a boost to get going.
Friend, you do remember that you actually do get a fair chunk of labour for free daily, right? LPs that can be used to make gold?
You seem to be under the impression that the only labour comes from pots?
"I could understand the cries of Pay to Win, but that’s not really the case here. You see, these Labor Potions are tradable, and can be placed on the Auction House as well so players can make in-game money from them."
So you can buy labor points in the cash shop, sell them on the auction house and make in-game money. How is that not pay to win?
Effort potential?
More like a time limit. Oh boy systems that punish the player after some daily limit. Once you hit that daily limit you can still play but can't craft or harvest or do any labor point stuff unless you buy more or you could just log off. Should they really be putting in systems that encourage the player to log off? Wouldn't this kill any chance a weekend warrior gamer has?
Remove labor points and put in item decay to make the economy work and the game more sandbox.
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/Do you say the same to CCP with regards to Plex?
I accept that you might, I don't know you, but I don't remember all this drama about that system. Or about Cronos, or about GW2's gems... This really isn't all that different.
While LP is not quite the same as the true P2W titles, games like Runes of Magic have cash shop currency for sale for gold.
I dont think what AA does is pure P2W, but it is definitely borderline and the closest a freemium game has come to actual p2w.
Crafting is a MMORPG core and the ability to craft is something that should not be monetized no matter who is doing the actual cash shop spending. Would people who are pro labor points also accept a kill points system where you could buy the ability to kill another 25 players/NPCs today for a buck?
"mmorpg.com forum admins are all TROLLS and losers in real life"
My opinion
I don't play EvE... Can someone that does explain to me how, in practise, the trade of labour pots bought for RL cash for game currency is different in practise to Plex?
Do Plex not allow you to buy power in that game?
Honest question.
If it is spending real life money to buy in game gold. How is it not?
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/I guess what I am saying is that companies like CCP, ANet, SOE etc are given a free pass for this, while the outrage at Trion has been loud.
I just wondered why a now established RL cash to gold conversion practise is now so suddenly offensive?