Atlas came on the scene recently as one of the wildest MMO stories in years. Out of nowhere ARK creators launched their MMO which had pirates, islands, and all kinds of crazy technology for players to battle it out. However the communities are forming up on either side in a warfare that looks similar to EVE Online.
In a wild mirror of humanity, three massive guilds from China have launched an all-out war against everyone in Atlas. They essentially are killing anyone with Western style names on site. This has been happening since December and it caused a huge unification among players who are outside of this group.
Let the wars begin, after a huge victory between the holidays. The Chinese guilds are now starting to meet resistance. So much so that the game has been hacked several times, with once rumors of WWII fight planes attacking ships out of the blue. This took everyone by surprise, there are a lot of videos out there of the event. It is hilarious. The other thing that hackers spawned in droves to defeat their foes was whales, lots of them. So, many that it forced Grapeshot to legitimately shut down the game.
The main problem among players is that now the group who has been found responsible is not being dealt with accordingly based on fan feedback. Like Ark, Atlas asks players for huge investments in time and resources. If losing a battle and losing a ship or island comes to it from a massive hack, well then, Grapeshot has a lot of problems on their hands.
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The good news is that an open warfare game of this magnitude could host a runway for years to come in the game. EVE has proven that huge guild wars actually work to extend the life of a game much further. The question is can Atlas survive these wild hijinks to continue being fun?
Players who have banded together in western guilds are now excited about an all-out warfare across the game. However, many people have left after the hacks now have happened twice in one week. The risks vs. reward on the game is out of hand and there is no telling what these three giant guilds have in store for everyone else. Maintaining a fair game environment is critical to serving your community. As any CM will tell you, people will come play in the sandbox as long as they know the rules and the rules are enforced by the developer. However, once hacks start coming in and the game gets out of hand, there is no telling what could happen. That is the moment players may begin to walk away.
For MMO players, Atlas could be a dream world. Especially if you are into hardcore PvP and figuring out how to wage war on a massive scale. However, these types of games can get old quickly if bugs are hacks are not addressed properly. The Wild West is fun, until you have to raise a family in it. So, will Grapeshot make the needed changes and crack down on the systems so everyone can have a proper war on the high seas? Time will tell.
