While we wait for more information on the West release of Lost Ark, MeinMMO author Irina Moritz has thought about what the MMORPG should improve to be successful with us. These 3 things worry her.
By now, there is no doubt that the MMORPG Lost Ark will eventually be released in Europe and the USA. In recent months, the developers have not only emphasized that they are working on a global release, but also:
- announced a publishing partnership with Amazon
- searched for a Localization Manager for Lost Ark in Europe and the USA.
As much as I am looking forward to Lost Ark with us and had a lot of fun with it in other regions, there are still 3 things that worry me.
Pay2Win
This is by far the biggest problem that Lost Ark would have to tackle with us and also the one aspect that western players are keeping a very close eye on. Even before Season 2, there was criticism of the microtransactions in Lost Ark.
Players could spend money to speed up their progress in the game. You could additionally buy upgrade materials, raid passes, or other items that bypassed restrictions on daily and weekly activities.
This “Pay2Progress” was limited to one item per day or week, but still meant that players who paid progressed faster in the game. While this left a bad taste in my mouth, it didn’t bother me too much yet.
With the big Season 2 update, however, another problem arose that bothers me more.
What has changed with Season 2? The purchase of gold with real money was already possible before Season 2. This is not an unusual practice even in established MMORPGs like WoW or Guild Wars 2. However, with Season 2, significant changes for the broker NPC were introduced that make it problematic.
Originally, players could buy certain things for gold that had a certain influence on gameplay. For example, there were potions, food, and runes, basically consumables. You could farm them, but if you didn’t feel like it or didn’t have the time, you could also invest money and buy them.
In the latest version of Lost Ark, almost any type of item can be bought for gold as long as it is offered on the open market. This includes armor and enchantment materials. So things that have a direct impact on your strength in the game and massively boost your item level if you have the necessary funds.
Together with the Pay2Progress system, this is too much for me, and I think such a system could also deter some other players. Such a system would allow players to buy their way completely through the game in a very short time by simply converting real money into gold continuously.
I therefore sincerely hope that Lost Ark will significantly tone down this system before the West release. My GameStar colleague Maurice Weber is also concerned about Pay2Win and Pay2Progress:
Content Supply
Another problem that Lost Ark would need to solve is one that has occurred in almost every MMORPG at some point. Players quickly cut through the content and then get bored because they have nothing left to do or are not interested in the remaining aspects of the game.
Since Lost Ark has been on the market for almost 2 years, there have been several major updates in Korea that added new content like raids, areas, classes, and dungeons. It’s basically completed content just waiting to be localized.
In the Russian region, these updates were released at larger intervals of several months. There is about a year’s gap between update releases in Korea and Russia.
However, the situation in Japan is different. Lost Ark was released there in September, and the remaining months of the year are packed with content.
- Mystic Guardian raids are coming in October
- The Lance Master class arrives in November
- The first new continent Rohendel is coming in December
This is content that took Russia up to half a year to receive. I have a sneaking suspicion that this slow trickle of content partially contributed to the merging of servers in the Russian version.
I therefore hope that the content supply in the West will not be distributed in small bites over many months, but rather at a similar pace as in Japan.
Especially since we will not immediately receive the cool new classes that have appeared in Korea after the release. This includes all 3 sub-classes of the Assassin, my absolute favorite class in almost all MMOs.
Better Rewards in PvP
In this regard, I advocate for the PvP players among us. I myself probably won’t play the PvP in Lost Ark extensively. The big guild-vs-guild battles are cool, but arena PvP is not my thing.
Nevertheless, I wish for a revision of the current PvP system in Lost Ark, as it offers almost no rewards. It is dynamic PvP that requires good crowd control and stands outside of the “Pay2Win” or “Pay2Progress” mechanics. Which is a good thing in itself.
However, while it was previously possible to earn upgrades or gold in PvP battles, this is no longer the case. There are hardly any incentives for players to engage in PvP, and that is very unfortunate even for me as a non-PvP player.
PvP is also a kind of self-sustaining content. While one eventually knows all the PvE fights by heart and has upgraded their armor as much as possible, PvP fights often remain fresh for a long time because each fight is different, and that keeps fans playing.
I therefore hope for the sake of the PvP fans among us and also for the health of Lost Ark after the West release that the developers introduce more rewards for PvP.
If the developers address these points, especially improving the new Pay2Win system of Lost Ark, then I will play the game until my fingers bleed. The gameplay has already convinced me, now only the West release has to be right.
What are your wishes for Lost Ark? Are there certain aspects that worry you the most? Share them in the comments.
