The sandbox MMO ArcheAge is about to launch its Head Start for founders. We have summarized the ten most important things everyone should know when logging in.
1. Never delete a character
Everyone participating in the Head Start is a founder. The founder’s package grants specific bonuses and items depending on its cost. The special items, like the chest, are only available for the first character created. Bonuses apply to the first six. So if someone creates a character, plays for three minutes, and then realizes that they don’t like the walk or that their hair doesn’t look great, or that they are allergic to cats, they should really avoid deleting the character.
2. When does the Head Start for ArcheAge start, when can the rest join the servers?
It starts at 7 PM tomorrow evening, on Friday. Free2Play players will start four days later, on Tuesday, also at 7 PM.
3. Who is eligible to participate in the Head Start and can I still join?
Everyone who has purchased a founder’s package from Trion Worlds is eligible. Anyone wanting to join the Head Start should act quickly. As the nice lady from buffed correctly said in a podcast recently: Experience shows that the publisher’s site crashes at release. Then it will be too late. Theoretically, one could still buy a package a few hours before the release and participate in the Head Start.
If someone buys a founder’s package not for the Head Start but for the other benefits: The packages will later be available as “Starter Packages”. They might be cheaper then, but that’s still uncertain.
4. Choosing a server
ArcheAge is launching with four European servers. They are all the same, there is no “PvE” server or anything else.
There is also no German server, neither officially nor unofficially. An official one was planned, but it seems that did not happen. Unofficially, there were a lot of polls. As the fan site ArcheAge-Online.de reports, nothing came of it. At least there are two unofficial roleplay servers, with the international one being Dahuta and the German one possibly being Eanna.
Perhaps Trion Worlds will launch additional servers at release if the influx is huge and if the waiting times become too long. These “fresh” servers would be a good choice for players without Head Start advantages.
5. Character creation in ArcheAge: Classes and races
ArcheAge features two factions: The ones on the map to the west, Nuia, are more “western” oriented (our medieval/baroque), while the ones in the east, Haranya, are more “far eastern”. The racial advantages are explained via tooltips, but they should balance each other out. You can choose based on personal preferences (no furry gags!).
Otherwise, during character creation, even if it’s hard, take your time and pay special attention to the appearance (if you don’t already have a skin saved from the beta). ArcheAge, as typical for Asian MMOs, has some features we don’t usually see here. For example, you can change the size and position of scars or tattoos. That’s quite nice.
We will try to bring an article about class selection tomorrow during the day. It’s quite complicated: In ArcheAge, there are no “typical” base classes, but everyone can initially choose three from six skill lines, later ten, and thus become one of 120 classes. The initial selection can also be changed relatively easily in the game (however, new skill lines then need to be leveled). Tomorrow we will likely present some of the most popular combinations.
6. What happens to the alpha and beta characters at the Head Start?
Beta characters are deleted, they are gone. Alpha characters are also not playable, but they will likely be saved and might be resurrected on a test server later. The characters that are created now at the Head Start will remain with the players when it also starts for the rest on Tuesday. Otherwise, it would be nonsense.
7. When do I get my stuff from the founder’s package?
It’s planned for the Head Start. Keep an eye on your mailbox.
8. And does the Head Start really start from the beginning?
Yes and no, basically yes, but for a considerable time the northern continent “Auroria” will remain locked. There, guild endgame PvP takes place. They can conquer fortresses there. At Trion Worlds, they say they want to wait until stable structures are in place, until several guilds are ready. In other countries, it took about six weeks for the action to really begin with the PvP continent “Auroria”. This could also happen in Europe.
9. How many characters can I create?
Two. Additional slots can be purchased for 1000 credits. A total of six can be created per region (that is, all of Europe). As I said: Don’t delete any character.
10. Any tips for starting ArcheAge?
Sure: Trust no one, look for a guild as soon as possible, and if the Head Start goes totally wrong, hope that new servers will open at release and start anew with the experience advantage of four days (and hopefully with fewer ganker guilds in the neighborhood). Otherwise, it’s probably a good idea, to familiarize yourself with property acquisition and trading mechanisms.
ArcheAge has been playable somewhere in the world for more than two years now (first in Korea, later in Russia). Many gamers here have also been in the alpha for months, learning the game, devising plans for the launch, and forming alliances. Keeping up as a newcomer will likely be almost impossible.
ArcheAge is a complex game, there’s a ton of information on it, with dirty tricks and guides (the tricks are dirty, the guides probably not).
In ArcheAge, knowledge is indeed power. The best thing would probably be, if you are after “power” or “success”, whatever that means, to join a guild with experienced players and slowly grow into the game. Of course, it should primarily be fun.
Anyone generally planning to do their own thing – should perhaps reconsider. In ArcheAge, forming and maintaining social contacts is even more important than in typical theme park MMORPGs.
If you have any questions or tips, please write them in the comments. More about the sandbox MMO can be found on our ArcheAge theme page.
