In a new post on Discord, the ArcheAge Unchained team have announced charging a fee for upcoming large updates, citing the increasing challenge to deliver the Unchained version.
The post begins by first discussing the challenge and decision to charge a fee,
“We understand the concerns being raised about the access price for the exciting upcoming ArcheAge: Garden of the Gods expansion. It has become increasingly challenging to continue delivering the Unchained version of the game and remain as true to our pillars of fair-to-play as possible. We strongly believe in the Unchained brand and considered many ways to address this challenge. Multiple approaches were discussed internally and ultimately we decided on charging a low global access fee for new upcoming large updates instead of selling items that potentially impact gameplay progression in the marketplace.”
The post then quickly turns to anticipating the feedback which will undoubtedly arise from this decision,
“We know there are mixed opinions about this, specifically related to our previous commitment around charging one price to access existing ArcheAge content when Unchained released last October 2019. For the past 8 months this declaration has been fulfilled. Now we introduce new content in the form of a DLC expansion and we greatly appreciate everyone’s continued support. Without the dedication of our Unchained players, we would have never been able to make this version a reality.”
Indeed, one glance at the #general channel in their Discord server says it all. Says one user,
“So what #news is saying is that “It was either we sell pay to win items on the store or we sell dlc updates to keep the servers going“ LMFAO”
Another user states,
“@iArches you can't just break promises and say "well we kept them for 8 months so it's fine," that's not at all how consumer protection laws work”
