ArcheAge, the Korean sandbox adventure, has recently launched turbulently. This makes it a good time to take a closer look at the latest developments surrounding the free-to-play MMO. Even better, it helps when a representative joins the conversation. We had the opportunity for an interview with Victoria Voss, the producer of ArcheAge.
Whether it will become a long-term success is still uncertain. One thing is for sure: a hell of a lot of people are currently following the game, and it’s not due to any marketing tricks; there’s no Pied Piper of Hamelin luring with music. No, people want to explore the sandbox, and who knows? Maybe some will settle here and carve out their own path?
ArcheAge – Light at the End of the Tunnel
People are constantly saying that MMORPGs are running out of steam – the market is apparently oversaturated. But isn’t ArcheAge the online role-playing game that is currently making headlines?
Especially the endlessly long queues at the beginning show, although they were extremely annoying, that players are yearning for something new and that the genre is not coming to an end.
According to Trion Worlds, ArcheAge is 10 times more popular than expected. The extreme hype surrounding a Korean MMO has not escaped us either. Yes, it’s downright puzzling to us. We wanted to know from Victoria whether the age of classical theme park MMOs is actually over and if players are looking for a completely new gameplay experience. Unfortunately, she didn’t reveal whether that is truly the case. But Victoria provides her own reasons for thinking that it is being so well received.
“In ArcheAge, you can do what you want”
The unique aspect of ArcheAge is clearly the diversity that she explicitly emphasizes. During the conversation, it quickly becomes clear that she is not just selling a product, but that she is also a passionate player herself.
“I spend most of my time with farming. I enjoy creating things and supporting my guildies. But I also enjoy sailing the ocean and protecting others during a traderun on a ship.” Then she takes a breath and adds dryly, “or also finding other players to steal their stuff. Maybe I have a few entries in my criminal record.” In ArcheAge, you even have to fear the authorities. Here I wanted to know more and jumped in with a seemingly incredulous, “How can you even?”
After she had to laugh about it herself, she somewhat qualified her statement: “I’m not really good at killing other people. But you know, it’s fun to be able to do multiple things at the same level.” Referencing our interview with Scott Hartsmann, she praised the unique dynamics that even pure PvE players suddenly started to enjoy the PvP in ArcheAge: “It brings a certain thrill to the game without frustrating people too much.”
The game has a crafting focus, but there’s still so much more to do in the open world, including PvP or questing. However, there’s no pressure involved. Players are given the choice of how they want to spend their time. She illustrates this with a personal anecdote: “My husband prefers PvE and kills monsters, while I am addicted to crafting.” The two of them can thus play an MMO together because it “supports multiple play styles.”
ArcheAge is a game supported by the community
To steer the interview in a new direction, I directed the conversation towards the community, which also impresses us at Mein MMO. There have been truly many comments about ArcheAge in the past weeks, lively discussions, and guilds supporting us with insider information. We haven’t experienced that in any MMO before.
This didn’t just happen by chance but is largely due to the game design of the MMORPG.
In ArcheAge, players significantly shape the world – from territorial wars to a justice system to a player-driven economy and housing in the open world. I asked whether she doesn’t find it remarkable that players are suddenly interacting with each other so much. Most games in recent times have taken a different path, moving more towards a model where players play together but more superficially – for example, through automated grouping functions.
“The current trend in the gaming segment suggests that you can suddenly land in space from some location and be part of a group. Then you do something together that is fun, and that is cool. But there can also be another side where players really engage with each other, communicate, work on a solution, and not just run alongside each other. In ArcheAge, we particularly observe this in building areas. There are neighborhoods where people talk a lot and farm together. In PvP zones, they even help each other by warning about nearby “bad” players. And they consider going against them together.”
Such situations characterized MMORPGs in the past and made them so appealing. That is currently widespread in ArcheAge and something that characterizes this sandbox game and sets it apart from others. Even though ArcheAge is not perfect, it gives hope for the future. So one can still build on player-driven features, provided they are well thought out.
“We are surprised by player behavior”
No, the subtitle does not refer to the free-to-play community, which is said to have a questionable reputation. Admittedly, ArcheAge can be rough.
Overall, what surprises Victoria the most is the behavior of players concerning what is currently happening on the high seas. They knew, of course, what the harpoons on the ships could do. However, they never dreamed that many groups would board enemy ships with harpoons to pull them all the way to land. And all just to have a party on the conquered ship. More than a horrified “Really?” crossed my mind. “Yes, that is truly unexpected, we now call them the Land Party Boats.” Give players tools in hand, and unexpected things happen.
When Victoria spoke about regional differences and mentioned that there are not only different play styles between Korea and the West but also within Europe and America, I was interested in details. Unfortunately, I only got a small insight that it is fun to observe the player behavior from some countries. Some focus more on crafting, while others fully commit to PvP. And the American servers are progresstechnically ahead of the European ones. However, the Black Pearl, the most powerful ship in the game, has still not been completed by anyone.
It had a bumpy start…
As amusing or quirky as player behavior may sometimes be, it must be said that the launch was unfortunate from a technical point of view. As mentioned at the beginning, the start – and that is a mild way of putting it – was suboptimal. Excruciatingly long queues, issues with VIP status, barely any leftover building spaces, and much more.
Even before the launch, a community outcry caused a lot of commotion. We remember: There were changes in the shop and in the work points, which were heavily criticized. If it had remained that way, high spenders could have gained a significant advantage – even over subscribers. They probably took that back due to the criticism. The situation has noticeably relaxed since then. When I asked whether further changes were planned, Victoria replied: “We are still looking at the situation with ArcheAge, but I think we are quite happy with how it is currently. There seems to be a good balance regarding the work points.”
They had to play around with the work points a bit. Players should get to know the system to see how it influences gameplay. For players in the West, this mechanism is unfamiliar, which is why many statements from the community were initially negatively inclined.
When asked about the long queues, Victoria said, “It’s really interesting to plan how many servers you want to have ready for launch. It’s a big question of balance.” After all, many numbers play a role, whether registered players or similar indicators. From the beginning, they kept 4 servers as a backup, but the number of players far exceeded expectations. For example, many players from Russia also joined the servers. That was not anticipated.
ArcheAge is not suitable for server merges
There are now 21 servers worldwide, and Trion will continue to monitor player numbers and queues to see if further adjustments are needed. However, more servers are unlikely, as they want to avoid having to reduce the number of servers at some point. When asked about an emergency plan for empty servers in the future: “We have already seen server mergers in other regions, and we have talked with XLGames about various tools to prevent this.” That would be the absolute last resort, as ArcheAge is not really suitable for that. No one likes to lose the house they have worked hard for. Those who want to switch servers will be able to do so with server transfers in the future. She advises new players to settle on the new servers. There is still plenty of land available to place a farm or house.
Generally, most technical problems have now been resolved and the queues have become more manageable. It’s running more smoothly. What about the coming weeks?
The Future: Auroria is Coming Soon, Expected to Solve Building Problems
“The next big update will be Auroria.” Honestly, that felt a bit vague to me – wouldn’t it to you? Believe me, I’ve tried to find out the date and even promised, “I might not tell anyone (except for the readers on Mein MMO).”
She still mentioned a few more details in closing:
- It won’t take long, just a little while, they will announce it in time (probably in a few weeks).
- Trion wants to ensure that enough guilds reach the end game level. Otherwise, there is too great a risk that a single guild secures all castles on Auroria. That would ruin the fun of the game.
- The new continent Auroria will open at different times in Europe and America, each during primetime.
- Trion expects that the problems with the limited building areas on the most popular servers will resolve with Auroria, as many will typically move to the new areas. Some will also lose interest in housing over time, which is why they ask for patience.
- “When it’s done, it’s done” is the motto for content updates. There is no fixed schedule. The reasons for this lie in localization.
- Costumes, pets, and other items are coming soon in the item shop, e.g., for Halloween and winter.
- Along with XLGames, they are planning events, and there will be a preview around Halloween.
Thank you to Victoria Voss from Trion Worlds for the nice interview.
Trion is also developing a new game. Unfortunately, she couldn’t reveal more. However, it didn’t sound like a new MMORPG.
