In October 2019, ArcheAge was released in a new version. Unchained aimed to break with the Pay2Win issues of the MMORPG and present an alternative. But did it succeed? And how do players view Unchained today?
What exactly is ArcheAge Unchained? At Gamescom 2019, Gamigo announced a new version of ArcheAge. Unchained was supposed to attract new and returning players by doing some things differently than the original MMORPG:
- It was to be Buy2Play instead of Free2Play. At the same time, the “optional” subscription system was omitted.
- Unchained was to completely avoid Pay2Win.
- A system with season passes was planned, allowing new quests as well as cosmetic rewards to find their way into the game.
Unchained garnered attention because ArcheAge was interesting to many MMORPG fans due to its sandbox world, housing, and its diverse class and combat system.
However, Pay2Win in the shop and the mandatory subscription to afford permanent content like housing in ArcheAge discouraged many players. Unchained was supposed to change that.
Unchained launched more than bumpy
How did Unchained perform at release? Even before the new version of ArcheAge was released, there were initial problems. The release was postponed by 14 days, from early to mid-October, allegedly because the developers wanted to fix bugs and deliver a functional game. However, they only partially succeeded:
- At release, there were long queues in Unchained.
- Some features that needed adjustments for Unchained did not function as planned.
- There were gold exploits in auction houses, leading to one entire server being offline for 3 days.
The biggest problem: Worse than the problems mentioned above was the new battle pass. Due to an exploit, it was possible to earn a lot of gold with it.
Following this, Gamigo issued a warning and subsequently there was a wave of bans. However, the bans were not consistent and led to significant discussions. Many players were unbanned afterwards.
Gamigo also decided to deactivate the pass. A return only happened after many weeks.
Does Unchained still have Pay2Win? With Unchained, Gamigo did manage to remove all Pay2Win content from the shop, but there is another method to earn additional gold.
The number of work points per day in ArcheAge Unchained is limited. You can remedy this by using additional accounts. This is even allowed by Gamigo, where a single person may own a maximum of 3 accounts. Nevertheless, many see this as an advantage and use multiple accounts for gold farming.
What has happened since the release of Unchained?
What has happened since release? Along with Unchained, the major update 6.0 was also released, bringing a new class specialization and new content. Otherwise, not much has changed in terms of pure content.
There have been updates to the shop, bonus weeks, and small balance changes. Only two real news items garnered attention:
- A dungeon was removed from the game because it caused performance issues.
- A ban wave targeted exploiters and top players were not spared.
What about the Season Pass? On December 5th, the ArchePass returned to Unchained after some tests. There was again a small, but quickly resolved issue.
Since then, there have been no complaints regarding the pass. At the end of January, the pass entered its second season with new quests and rewards, also without issues.
Where are the problems? The support for ArcheAge has a bad reputation. There are reports of tickets that have supposedly gone unanswered since the release of Unchained.
Additionally, the developers from XL Games in Korea are responsible for gameplay changes. Even if Gamigo from Germany requests adjustments or features, XL Games ultimately decides whether they will be implemented or not.
What do the numbers and players say about ArcheAge Unchained?
Where does the MMORPG stand on Steam? Nearly 4 months after release, opinions on ArcheAge Unchained are still very divided. On Steam, it received 126 user reviews in the last 30 days, of which 58% were positive.
However, the game has also lost players on Steam. While in November, an average of 3,714 players were active in Unchained, in February there were only 1,833. At peak, Unchained reached 3,015 players.
A large portion of the community will likely be playing directly via the Glyph client and not on Steam. The Free2Play version of ArcheAge also appeared on Steam but never attracted a large number of players.
What stands out on Steam is that regardless of positive or negative reviews, the issue of grind is often mentioned. So those who have a problem with grind will likely not be happy with ArcheAge in the long term. The experience has also been echoed by our author while playing.
What do the positive voices say: Positive reviews especially commend Unchained for moving away from Pay2Win. ArcheAge itself seems to have fascinated many before:
- Tomoko Tanue (144 hours played): “I played ArcheAge when it first came out. I loved it, but it lacked a good story and was Pay2Win. Then came Unchained [..]. ArcheAge Unchained is what ArcheAge should have been at launch.
- Zccentric_Solitude (130 hours played): “This game is the last one I would have thought would be an MMO for me, but let me tell you that you will not be disappointed: Many classes and skills and versatility with over 100 different combinations. No one has such a system where it takes only a few clicks to play warrior and mage + another class.”
- PauloRevolverMen (200 hours played): “ArcheAge has always been a really cool game. I only stopped playing because it was too much Pay2Win. Now it is different! You can take out members of your own faction, earn gold through the work of others. PvP is an awesome affair here. Now the game also gets a 100% recommendation from me and many friends for MMORPG fans looking for a game so extensive that you don’t need to play anything else.”
What do the negative voices say: Negative reviews especially highlight the grind and the hidden Pay2Win in the form of additional accounts. The community also does not fare well:
- Kerillian von Astraea (935 hours played): “Pros: Good graphics, beautiful environment and seas, an above-average character editor, and quests for those who want to play a farming simulator. In contrast: Very grindy, you need alt accounts to play at the top, issues with work points, and the PvP balance is not good. There are many more things I could mention negatively. [Note: We have significantly shortened the comment].
- Fastrider (160 hours played): “The game is no longer Pay2Win, but Buy2Pay2Win. [..] Second problem: The connection to Steam is a disaster. Third problem: The community is terrible. The chat is full of foul language, the justice system is dominated by an AFK-Hury who insults the accused. [..] Overall, it’s a club for failures with fat wallets.”
- John Swayze (70 hours played): “There is one thing that really ruins the game. Players with max level and the best possible gear can come into low-level areas and wipe you out. [..] This prevents me from progressing in the game, cannot complete quests, and cannot do anything else. This has killed the game for me.
What stands out besides Steam? On the Reddit of ArcheAge Unchained, it has surprisingly become quiet. While there were many new threads and discussions daily at release, it is now relatively quiet. Only 24 new posts were made in the last 7 days.
The topics are mostly about new players asking questions about the content of ArcheAge or advertising their own projects or videos.
A good sandbox MMORPG with obstacles
What our author Alex says: I played ArcheAge at launch and set it aside after a few weeks. Although I truly appreciate the game world and the MMORPG itself, the grind was always a bit too high for me.
With Unchained, there was a second chance, and again the game convinced only halfway. There has only been limited improvement in the grind. Nevertheless, ArcheAge Unchained seems to be the somewhat better version of the MMORPG:
- Since both receive the same updates, less Pay2Win, though not completely absent, is likely preferable.
- At least players still have to play on the additional accounts and cannot immediately buy strong equipment with real money.
- Moreover, Unchained does not require a subscription, giving players in the original ArcheAge an advantage as well.
Those who enjoy exploring a sandbox world, like to compete with others in PvP, and don’t mind grinding will definitely find a home in ArcheAge Unchained.
But to play at the very top, it seems you also need to invest a lot of time and a little money again. It’s actually a shame that Gamigo consciously allows players to have three accounts.
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