The recent outrage in the MMORPG ArcheAge revolves around the “normalization” of the speed of new mounts. Players felt cheated.
The new operator of the MMORPG, gamigo, has now spoken out on this matter and clarified the situation.
Players are Angry
What happened? In ArcheAge, some mounts were offered in the game’s “lockboxes” for money. Especially the high speed of the mounts led players to want them. The increased speed was also advertised.
However, with the update 5.1 to the version “Relics of Hiram”, a so-called “normalization” occurred.
This meant that the speed of the mounts was “nerfed” to align with the other mounts in the game. They no longer gave a speed advantage.
This, in turn, led to fierce criticism. Players felt cheated and referred to it as a bait-and-switch. A backlash ensued.
Gamigo Bows to Pressure
This is how gamigo is responding now: Gamigo, the new operator of ArcheAge, attempted to explain the situation.
Mounts in the Korean version of the MMORPG have a higher speed than the mounts here.
The Korean values of the animals were adopted, which was an oversight. The mounts should never have been offered with high speed. Hence the “normalization” occurred.
It was stated that Gamigo is working with the developer studio XL Games on a solution to satisfy the players who felt betrayed.
Players Would Prefer Compensation
What does the solution look like? Back in 2017, there was already such a situation with the mount “Stormwraith”. At that time, players received compensation. However, this time that is not the case.
Instead, the “normalization” will be reversed.
With a patch that will be released soon, the mounts will regain the original speed with which they were offered. Currently, this patch for ArcheAge is still in a testing phase. Gamigo will soon announce when it will be released.
How do players see the situation? There is intense discussion in the official ArcheAge forum.
Interestingly, there is now criticism that the mounts retain the high speed. Because according to some, this forces players to “buy” the fast mounts. This smells to many like a Pay2Win mechanic.
A compensation would likely have been better received by the players.
