In the sandbox MMO ArcheAge guilds play a particularly important role because without enough players many of the game’s exclusive features simply don’t work. No proud ship sets sail without a sufficiently large crew, and if you want to found your own nation , you need enough trustworthy people who take on the most important roles in the new state and haul in massive resources. Read here about the reasons for joining a guild in ArcheAge.
Guilds have been a staple in the genre since the early days of online role-playing games, and whether they are called clans, alliances or even pantheon, guilds simply belong to an MMORPG . However, while in many games the guild is merely “nice to have” and most content can easily be completed alone or with random groups, in the sandpark MMO ArcheAge by Trion Worlds we actually need to belong to such a player association if we want to utilize some of the coolest features and unique selling points of the game.
A shipping journey is fun, especially with a guild
Ships are an important element of ArcheAge and the seas are full of vessels sailing around and cannonading or boarding each other. While each player can build a small rowboat on their own, creating decent ships requires so many resources that doing it alone is quite difficult. Here, a well-equipped guild is almost mandatory, and those who want a prestigious giant ship like the famous Black Pearl cannot avoid spending many hours of work and gathering massive materials.
Building a large ship is by no means the end, as what good is such a big vessel if it just sits pretty but useless in the harbor, collecting barnacles and seaweed? Such a ship must go out to sea to transport goods or to sail as a pirate ship to take away others’ possessions. But it’s hard to sail without a crew, so we again need a well-organized guild to provide the necessary crew and possess appropriate skills.
The elaborate and complex sailing system in ArcheAge makes guilds as ship-owning communities more than useful. Moreover, it is simply a great feeling to work together as a guild and finally build a prestige item like a Black Pearl after days of hard work. Since sailing is also such an integral part of the game, any player without a corresponding guild would lose quite a bit of enjoyment from the game. Only those who are members can enjoy opulent sailing journeys and epic naval battles!
From castle to kingdom!
Ships are nice and all, but operating a virtual shipping company or pirate band is far less impressive than witnessing the rise of a nation of your own! And this has been possible in ArcheAge since June 2016 with the Update 2.9 “Selection” as well. While guilds previously sought a common residential area, essentially founding their own village or city, the thinking now is on a larger scale. Nations are a union of various guilds and dozens of players into a strong empire that stands on par with the established factions of Nuia and Haranya.
A nation originates from a castle, which we can also expand into a strong fortress with an attached city. While players outside the guild are allowed to help here, it is especially cool when the same emblem is displayed on the towers of the fortress as on our guild badge. This fosters a good sense of belonging and cohesion in the group. The castle along with the associated city can become even more when we maximize its expansion.
For the prince!
Once the capitol in the castle reaches level 8, we can set off a chain of events that ends in the birth of our nation. In this process, we have to personally deliver various declarations and sovereignty signs to certain NPCs, while the entire world learns about our plans via server message and may sabotage our nation-building efforts.
Therefore, it is essential that we have our guild homies ready to protect the player acting as the courier on his perilous journey from other players. Additionally, we need a lot of materials for insignia of sovereignty, like the royal seal or the national flag, which we first have to farm together. This is only possible with a large, well-organized guild.
The birth of a nation
Once we have everything together, we must gather 50 players in the capital of our future kingdom, and only when they swear allegiance to us via emote will our guild nation be ceremoniously founded through a cutscene and proudly hoist our self-designed national flag.
An emotional moment, which is already a good reason to join a guild. Besides the leader of the new nation, called the Sovereign, up to 10 deserving players are represented in the Council of Heroes, a kind of advisory council to the leader and effectively the “officers” of the nation.
Our prince has the bigger… dragon!
The sovereigns of the nations have all sorts of privileges. First, they can collect taxes from their castles every day, amassing unimaginable wealth. Good leaders distribute the profits fairly so there is no unrest in the nation. However, improved tax revenues are not the only privilege of the nation’s prince.
Whereas heads of state in real life are chauffeured around in private jets and limousines, the sovereign in ArcheAge has an even cooler mode of transportation. Nothing less than a dragon known as a “Lindwurm” is his mount, and to raise such a monster takes at least a month of gathering various materials that must first be collected by diligent guild members. Thereafter, the prince may ride on a golden Lindwurm for 21 days and even use the beast in battle!
The ultimate sense of belonging
Thus, it is already an emotional moment when the nation meets for the great PvP brawl and our sovereign leads us into battle on the back of a dragon that we, along with our guild mates, were significantly involved in raising. So, anyone who values the “MM” in MMORPG and has no desire for individual combat will definitely find satisfaction in ArcheAge.
The founding of nations is already possible, but with the upcoming update 3.0 “Revelation” two cool new races will be added, and a complete restart is possible on new servers. Ideal for all players who want to build something in ArcheAge right from the start – for example, their own nation! Want to read more about it? ArcheAge is starting a new beginning with Update 3.0 Revelation!
