A super quick ArcheAge column today, as there’s not much that can be said, but there does seem to be a bit that can be shown. Folks hunting for information on the English side of things will not be pleased, but those in RU (Russia… hence the title) who did find information were also somewhat dismayed by the current information presented to them and how it was shown off.
Bond, James Bond (of secrecy)
In the US, Trion Worlds seemed to spend a minute discussing it, with Imporylem capturing a portion of the stream and putting it up on YouTube. You can actually see the video below, but I’ll distil the minute into two main points.
The basics of the discussion: they’re likelyto keep mum until they’re ready to show something, and we should not think in terms of weeks, but rather months before Trion Worlds is ready to come out with more info.
The Russian Hint
The fascinating bit of info in the past few weeks has actually come from Russia, though quite a number are taking offense to the info disseminated. Simply put, people who want to play the Russian version of ArcheAge will have to deal with everyone who desire to play the game, even if they don’t want to shell out a dime.
The following thread on ArcheAge Source basically spells it out. ArcheAge in Russia is free-to-play with a premium subscription element that grants more total labor points for doing tradeskills, faster labor points gain, and increased experience and mining drop rates.
This also turns the game into a rather complicated web of currencies. With real money, gold, ark, and crystals all playing a part. You can buy crystals with real money. You can apparently buy account services (subscriptions and server transfers) and custom paintings using crystals. Subscriptions and purchases with crystals can provide ark, which can be used to buy premium shop items and in-game things at auctions (a sort of real money to ark conversion, it seems), as well as for paying property taxes. Then there’s gold, which is used for the regular in-game stuff.
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MMOCast adds that, according to current information, it’s touted as not being a pay-to-win system. At the same time, MMOCast’s report notes that the premium shop “will have things like cosmetic items, warehouse slots, inventory slots and labor points.”
The labor points bit is strange, since you can crank out more crafts with labor points, which could provide an edge in PVP skirmishes if your team can pay to craft more and advance through crafts quicker to make better armor, weapons, or vehicles.
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The Worldwide Decision?
Of course, a petition in Russia is ongoing, but how does this affect the rest of the world? Well, what if it’s a worldwide model? Some are pointing out the possibility of this being the case: this may be the model for all ArcheAge localizations.
The ArcheAge Source link above has this line: “Sergei Teymurazov (producer of Archeage localization in Russia) in an interview said that this distribution model was created by XLGames and not by them and that it's going to be the world-wide model, not just Russia's.”
The translation could be wrong, of course, and things could change, but at the very least, some more light needs to be shed by XLGames.
Victor Barreiro Jr. / Victor Barreiro Jr. maintains The Devil’s Advocate and ArcheAge columns for MMORPG.com. He also writes for news website Rappler as a technology reporter. You can find more of his writings on Games and Geekery and on Twitter at @vbarreirojr.
More great MMO coverage:
- Last time on ArcheAge: Will Piracy be worth it?
- On The Social Hub: Subscriptions and Community Quality
- Scott Hartsman on Trion Worlds’ Future
Subscription model image source: MMOZG.net
