The MMORPG ArcheAge Unchained is set to receive new “Fresh Start” servers. On these, all players, whether new or old, can explore the game together from the beginning. The start of a new server is considered the best time in ArcheAge. However, there is already strong criticism among players.
What are these servers? On June 14, just three days after the new expansion “Garden of the Gods” is set to launch, the new servers will appear. These will be a European and a North American server for ArcheAge Unchained.
These servers have some special features:
- The account must own the new expansion, which must be purchased separately for Unchained.
- Each account can only have one character on the server. Character transfers are not possible.
- At the beginning, there will be no cross-world instances and content.
- In the first month, there will be no Battle Pass.
The goal of the servers is to explore ArcheAge Unchained as at release. Accordingly, housing will be activated later.
Anyone considering starting with ArcheAge Unchained has actually caught a good moment.
Are the new servers a good idea? Although the idea of a fresh start in the MMORPG itself is interesting, there is strong criticism in the forum and on reddit.
One reason is the poor experiences with “Fresh Start” servers in the past of ArcheAge. But the setup of the new servers is also criticized.
Calculated Server Deaths and New Purchases by Veterans?
What do players criticize about servers in general? On May 22, during the announcement of the new servers, reddit user Payne-Z expressed negativity towards the idea. Under the title “Fresh starts on new servers are a disrespectful move,” he wrote the following:
Forcing you to start over after farming for months and giving up all the cosmetic items you bought is disrespectful to old players. […]
New servers ensure that the old ones will eventually die out as they will never get new players, as these will always start on the latest servers. […].
I play on Alexander EU and it is very populated and I love everything about it. If it turns out that it dies because of the new server, I will simply stop…
Some users agree that the dying of servers is a price worth paying.
However, the experience with previous fresh servers in ArcheAge contradicts this. These were merged with already existing servers over time, leaving a popular server remaining. The downsides, however, were for the newcomers, who once again faced long-standing veterans.
What specifically bothers the players? In addition to the general criticism of fresh servers, there is special criticism of the server setup. They start without a Battle Pass and thus without “Labor Rechargers,” a means to generate more work points.
Work points are needed for crafting, gathering, and general actions like upgrading equipment.
However, the limitation can be circumvented using multiple accounts.
Is Unchained actually Pay2Win again? Officially, 3 Unchained accounts per player are allowed. However, it seems not everyone adheres to this.
Although the expansion must be purchased, there will likely be players on the fresh servers who will gain advantages through multiple accounts.
This is also feared by reddit user rmbermine:
Do they even play their game? You absolutely need Labor Rechargers just to earn enough gold to upgrade your gear. At this rate, people will only spend their work points on gear and nothing else!
Oh wait, maybe buying 1 or 2 more accounts could make that labor problem disappear…
Whether and how bad the situation on the new servers will actually be is difficult to assess now. ArcheAge Unchained was released only in October 2019, and these are the first “Fresh Start” servers for this version.
In recent weeks, ArcheAge has already come under criticism for the new expansion. This was due to the fact that owners of Unchained have to pay for the new expansion Garden of the Gods, while the Free2Play version gets it for free.
