MarkJW

Pearl Abyss is a studio with something to prove. That’s the feeling I get after spending a day beta testing the Korean version of Black Desert. The game has plenty of dull edges that need to be polished out, but the basic shape is already visible.

This past week, ArcheAge players had the distinct privilege of being unable to access both North American and European servers for over 24 hours. We still don’t know exactly what happened.

I was lucky enough to participate in one of this weekend’s castle sieges as an attacker. I’d love to recall for you an epic tale of bravery and destruction, but nothing of the sort actually occurred. Instead, here’s some tips for castle defenders preparing for the next round of sieges.

Trion Worlds dropped the ball this week. A triple-whammy of bad decisions has managed to push players away from the game just in time for the holidays. Let’s take a look at what went wrong.

The hectic, war-torn northern continent of Auroria will be open for invasion in November. Let’s review what the “Land of Origin” has in store for new players and their guilds.

When Trion Worlds launched ArcheAge last month, was the company fully aware of the quantity and quality of client modifications and third-party tools available for the title?

No MMO launch is flawless. ArcheAge’s launch in Europe and North America has had its fair share of issues this past week. Let’s take a look at a few of them and discuss what Trion Worlds can do to give players a better experience.

ArcheAge has its fair share of die-hard fans. It’s Tuesday, September 16th, 2014. The game servers should be live and free players should be flooding the authentication server queues. I emphasize “should” because the last few days haven’t been kind to Patrons trying to enjoy their Head Start. Despite having multiple MMO launches under its belt, Trion has managed to fall victim to sophomoric blunders.

There are no brakes on the ArcheAge update train. XLGAMES released Patch 1.7 for the Korean version of ArcheAge last month and the features it added are pretty exciting. Let’s take a look at the changes.

There’s been some controversy on various social media and MMO fan communities over Trion Worlds’ implementation of ArcheAge’s F2P cash shop and Patron subscription model. Let’s review all the items available for purchase with real money in the shop. Keep in mind that currently 150 credits seem to be equivalent to one real world US dollar, according to the Founders Pack shop page (7500 credits, $50 value).

How long should MMOs last? It’s a question that splits communities and confuses publishers. Some enthusiasts believe an MMO should persist in perpetuum, continuously getting updates, never ending. Others think they should be able to complete the content of a new MMO within a few months, maybe even weeks, of it launching. The recent implementation of Patch 1.2 on Trion World’s ArcheAge alpha servers brought this topic to the forefront of discussion among fans of the game.

A few days ago Trion Worlds announced that ArcheAge’s beta events would be delayed by a couple weeks in order to incorporate Patch 1.2, a collection of content, balance and feature tweaks. What does this update change and why is it so important to ArcheAge’s success in Trion’s territories? For answers to those questions, rewind the ArcheAge timeline one year.

ArcheAge is most definitely a sandbox-flavored MMO. The seas and roads are alive with trade caravans transporting packs of local specialties. Guilds have claimed land, hastily constructed castles and declared war on one another. Most importantly, crafted gear reigns supreme. For some MMO fans, none of that matters. No amount of open-world interactions can prevent ArcheAge from becoming the target of "Korean grinder" criticism.