The launch of the sandpark MMO ArcheAge is overshadowed by dark clouds. This is also reflected in the reporting.
As a publisher, you know you have problems when even mmorpg.com publishes a negative report. The major US site focused on MMOs is not known for bashing MMORPG companies. Yet, the report about the first days in ArcheAge reads disillusioningly: Many paid a lot of money for the headstart and could not use it as promised.
And that’s just the article. In the comments, things get even rougher than usual. And that’s only in North America, where the launch took place in the morning and not in prime time like here in Europe. Here, the fans are a little angrier than elsewhere.
You Can’t Get In – ArcheAge in Germany
“Long waiting lines, DDOS attacks, server issues, construction sites taken” – these are the four dominant stories in ArcheAge so far and almost every report about the game – besides the usual guides – touches on one of these topics.
Already during the headstart, there were significant issues. Towards the end, a press release from Trion Worlds made the rounds, claiming how successful the headstart was. Almost no one published it. Not a good sign. A small magazine did publish it and ranked it visibly on Google. “ArcheAge – Headstart was successful” was something you could read on Monday.
The title of a preview on Gamestar captured it somewhat better in our opinion: “You Can’t Get In.” In addition to a detailed description of the game and a presentation of the features, the negative impressions from the headstart dominated the report here as well. The consensus is: The game has a lot of potential and is a welcome change, it would just be nice if you could actually play it.
ArcheAge Slightly in the Shadow of Destiny
Otherwise, it is clear that ArcheAge is not a blockbuster game in the MMO category like The Elder Scrolls Online this year. Its shine also spread beyond the niche of MMOs and MMORPGs. Most major US sites that generally deal with video games do not mention the launch of ArcheAge. There are few reports on the game. If anything, just a short notice addressing queues and server issues. Destiny still dominates the reporting in the gaming sector.
At the moment, ArcheAge appears almost only on sites that explicitly deal with MMOs or online games.
Here is the official launch trailer:
