[Megathread] ArcheAge - "Sand-Box" MMORPG

[Edge-]

"Alpha" ... given that the game has already been released else where.

Apparently enabling English requires a overhaul so huge that the game regressed to the feature incomplete "alpha" stage .. and cost $150.

You do realize that a lot more goes into localizing a game than just simply translating text...right?

[SodiumChloride]

You do realize that a lot more goes into localizing a game than just simply translating text...right?

Like ...

Any modern piece of software will have multi-language support build in from the get go and it's already out in Russia so it obvious can support another language.

All the technical stuff should already be working. "Alpha" is BS.

Alpha = feature incomplete.
Beta = feature complete but potential unstable.

[Edge-]

http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03...for-guild-war/

Very short writeup about ArenaNet's PAX talk about localization. Highly recommend trying to find a video of it and giving it a listen.

[SodiumChloride]

http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03...for-guild-war/

Very short writeup about ArenaNet's PAX talk about localization. Highly recommend trying to find a video of it and giving it a listen.

Err ...

It's mostly about language translation and localizing content. None of which needs the software to be deemed "alpha" - late beta maybe.

For most part, the whole exercise looks like a Kickstarter where Trinon is hoping to off-load as much of the risk of bring the game over to suc^H^H^Hadventurous early adopters.

[Gsara]

Err ...

It's mostly about language translation and localizing content. None of which needs the software to be deemed "alpha" - late beta maybe.

For most part, the whole exercise looks like a Kickstarter where Trinon is hoping to off-load as much of the risk of bring the game over to suc^H^H^Hadventurous early adopters.

Trion is also working with XL to make the game more in line with how western games are with some features. I guess you could say they are "westernizing" the game. The 150 founders is actually a pretty decent deal if you know you will play this game for awhile. $120 of it is sub and credits alone which equal out to be something like 8-9 months sub.

Not everyone is going to like this kind of game either. I can already hear the whining and crying on the forums the first time people start getting ganked and lose all their trade goods or their farms get robbed.

[SodiumChloride]

Trion is also working with XL to make the game more in line with how western games are with some features. I guess you could say they are "westernizing" the game. The 150 founders is actually a pretty decent deal if you know you will play this game for awhile. $120 of it is sub and credits alone which equal out to be something like 8-9 months sub.

Not everyone is going to like this kind of game either. I can already hear the whining and crying on the forums the first time people start getting ganked and lose all their trade goods or their farms get robbed.

Ah. I see.

Still $100+ up front for a game that isn't even in its final state ... To put it nicely, it's early access. To put it not so nicely, they are selling an over priced, incomplete game that they plan to discount to free in the near future. ><

Ya, ya, I don't have to get it if I'm not interested. The industry trend of "selling the hype" where they try to get you to pay exorbitant amounts upfront, via pre-order bonuses and crazy priced collector's editions, is getting kind of stupid.

[Grable]

The 150 founders is actually a pretty decent deal if you know you will play this game for awhile. $120 of it is sub and credits alone which equal out to be something like 8-9 months sub.

There is horrible value in these founder packs for how much money you pay for them. Disregarding all the useless stuff you get:
Silver 45€ = 13€ (cash shop) + 14€ (1 month sub) = 45€-27€ = 18€ money lost
Gold 90€ = 38€ (cash shop) + 28€ (2 month sub) = 90€-66€ = 23€ money lost
Archeum 135€ = 57€ (cash shop) + 42€ (3 month sub)= 135€-99€ = 36€ money lost

I like ArcheAge but why would I pay so much for alpha/beta access if there's going to be a wipe anyway?

[Collected]

But if you like archeage you're going to need to pay 15 euros a month to get the full feature set. And let's say the alpha runs for three months before live.. that's 45 euros of MMO game play. And that's before you even consider how much the in game items might cost on a store. So is your 36 euros really "lost"? I don't agree it is really. I think it's decent value for money just as long as you like the game and will play it a lot. Is weeks/months of fun and entertainment worth 36 euros? I think most people would say it is.

The only time there is a risk of a noticeable loss with the expensive packs is if someone goes all out.. buys the big pack and stops playing the game before launch or a month after launch. That's when it will bite them because of the unused credit. But hey.. it's what it is. I bought the WoW annual pass to get into the MoP beta and I stopped playing WoW 3 months later.

[Grable]

But if you like archeage you're going to need to pay 15 euros a month to get the full feature set. And let's say the alpha runs for three months before live.. that's 45 euros of MMO game play. And that's before you even consider how much the in game items might cost on a store. So is your 36 euros really "lost"? I don't agree it is really. I think it's decent value for money just as long as you like the game and will play it a lot. Is weeks/months of fun and entertainment worth 36 euros? I think most people would say it is.

The only time there is a risk of a noticeable loss with the expensive packs is if someone goes all out.. buys the big pack and stops playing the game before launch or a month after launch. That's when it will bite them because of the unused credit. But hey.. it's what it is. I bought the WoW annual pass to get into the MoP beta and I stopped playing WoW 3 months later.

It's a loss because you're paying to play alpha/beta, which will have a character wipe. All those items you get are literally worthless and can be gotten in-game. If you spend the same amount of money on premium after release, you get 9 months of sub (for 135€), but without those items.

[konishiwa]

Err ...

It's mostly about language translation and localizing content. None of which needs the software to be deemed "alpha" - late beta maybe.

For most part, the whole exercise looks like a Kickstarter where Trinon is hoping to off-load as much of the risk of bring the game over to suc^H^H^Hadventurous early adopters.

Then by you line of thinking, WoW China was delayed for over a year considering for example WOTLK for no reason at all, since its just copy/paste a game right? You just pass the game by something like Google Translate and you good to go ? You dont need alphas and betas to see if the text makes sense, if the mechanics for the area in question are suitable for that audience, if all the infrastructure supporting the game suits the demand and so on and so on ? Perhaps not, and all company's even most "recent" TERA publishers in the West when passed by all those processes are also wrong.

But if you like archeage you're going to need to pay 15 euros a month to get the full feature set. And let's say the alpha runs for three months before live.. that's 45 euros of MMO game play. And that's before you even consider how much the in game items might cost on a store. So is your 36 euros really "lost"? I don't agree it is really. I think it's decent value for money just as long as you like the game and will play it a lot. Is weeks/months of fun and entertainment worth 36 euros? I think most people would say it is.

The only time there is a risk of a noticeable loss with the expensive packs is if someone goes all out.. buys the big pack and stops playing the game before launch or a month after launch. That's when it will bite them because of the unused credit. But hey.. it's what it is. I bought the WoW annual pass to get into the MoP beta and I stopped playing WoW 3 months later.

Pretty much that, and i tend to find these founder's packs cheap when you go over there to another game thread and find out that:
Game = 60 dollars
Sub = 15 dollars
Entire race behind a paywall, what you loose if you stop pay? Access to the game.

AA, what you loose if you stop playing? Your deployed house, which will be delivered to your mail once taxes are not paid, does it stop you from access the game? NO.

Alpha is a privilege, and as most privileges in life, open that wallet.

[SodiumChloride]

Then by you line of thinking, WoW China was delayed for over a year considering for example WOTLK for no reason at all, since its just copy/paste a game right? You just pass the game by something like Google Translate and you good to go ? You dont need alphas and betas to see if the text makes sense, if the mechanics for the area in question are suitable for that audience, if all the infrastructure supporting the game suits the demand and so on and so on ? Perhaps not, and all company's even most "recent" TERA publishers in the West when passed by all those processes are also wrong.

WotLK was delayed because China wanted it to be delayed. Their "rules and guidelines" are so freaking vague, they can ban anything for any reason.

Also none of those need the game to be labelled "alpha". "Alpha" is for feature incomplete software, where many things don't even work - heck, alpha software should never be seeing the light of day; it's too "broken" for end-user feedback to be much use.

Having a few words wrong != regressing to alpha.

- - - Updated - - -

Alpha is a privilege, and as most privileges in life, open that wallet.

LOL. Help companies test their stupid software is a "privilege"? They are supposed to do the QA them-fucking-selves.

What is this world coming to?

People helping test beta software is a "courtesy" toward the company.

", open that wallet."

HA!

[Collected]

It's a loss because you're paying to play alpha/beta, which will have a character wipe. All those items you get are literally worthless and can be gotten in-game. If you spend the same amount of money on premium after release, you get 9 months of sub (for 135€), but without those items.

But you're still playing which still equals enjoyment and entertainment. The wipe doesn't cancel how much enjoyment that game has given you in the period of time between now and the wipe. It's still worth something even if your character asset at the end is reset to zero. You can then put to use the experience you gained in the test to make the live experience a little more smooth. I've not purchased myself but I can see the packs do have some value, even if they're not for everyone.

[konishiwa]

WotLK was delayed because China wanted it to be delayed. Their "rules and guidelines" are so freaking vague, they can ban anything for any reason.

Also none of those need the game to be labelled "alpha". "Alpha" is for feature incomplete software, where many things don't even work - heck, alpha software should never be seeing the light of day; it's too "broken" for end-user feedback to be much use.

Having a few words wrong != regressing to alpha.

- - - Updated - - -



LOL. Help companies test their stupid software is a "privilege"? They are supposed to do the QA them-fucking-selves.

What is this world coming to?

People helping test beta software is a "courtesy" toward the company.

", open that wallet."

HA!

Was delayed in China because they had to change all the skulls and more to suit their localization, more than just pass trough a translate phase eh?! Vague is your knowledge of what is happening in the gaming world, im sorry to say.

[Lagmonster]

Are there some mobs that drop wood? That's like the one thing I'm having the most trouble with right now. I'm sure I should just level some more, just haven't found one tree to chop down in 24 levels so far xD Too many people chopping them all down I guess

On another topic

With the cheapest Hariharan house, can you fit trees around that? I'm just not sure how much usable land is around it for farming. Just up in the air on building my house or a ship first. And if I can get some trees around that house, I might just build that first.

[Puremallace]

I got little $49.99 pack for two reason. Beta Access to see how the game shapes up and to also see what Patron status nets you. If they do Patron for Rift and Archeage in one pack then fuck yeah I will keep and if not I will probably buy warddrobe packs like I do in Rift now.

2nd reason is simple. I love Trion

[Gsara]

There is no character wipe for the alpha, it will become the PTS when the game releases for those that are on it now. Beta servers will be completely wiped on release.

The rest of the items in the founders pack will most likely be cash shop items as well. The titles are unique to the packs I believe. So $120 in credits and sub fee and $30 in cash shop items which most likely will cost more than $30.

Im not sure why its ok for every other company to have founders packs and buy ins for beta, but suddenly its just so horrible this game is doing it and it isnt worth it. I mean how many people bought an imperial edition of ESO? That is one of the bigger "ripoffs" for a buy in that should be complained about honestly.

[Deleted]

I played the western side of the game in Korean Closed Beta and currently I am enjoying playing my Hariharan on the east side. I think the game won't become that cash shop dependent.

[Gsara]

Are there some mobs that drop wood? That's like the one thing I'm having the most trouble with right now. I'm sure I should just level some more, just haven't found one tree to chop down in 24 levels so far xD Too many people chopping them all down I guess

On another topic

With the cheapest Hariharan house, can you fit trees around that? I'm just not sure how much usable land is around it for farming. Just up in the air on building my house or a ship first. And if I can get some trees around that house, I might just build that first.

Yes you can plant tree's on your land and make sure to go to your mail and pay the tax so its safe. With the release of founders packs the alpha server has grown significantly and finding tree's in the lower lvl areas is pretty rough.

- - - Updated - - -

I played the western side of the game in Korean Closed Beta and currently I am enjoying playing my Hariharan on the east side. I think the game won't become that cash shop dependent.

I agree, I dont think the cash shop will be that important for most players.

[Collected]

True founders packs are usually expensive but it is also a rip off. As you won't know if you would like the game or not or even continue playing it long term.

I think what's missing is a refund option.

[Puremallace]

I played the western side of the game in Korean Closed Beta and currently I am enjoying playing my Hariharan on the east side. I think the game won't become that cash shop dependent.

Trion is pretty smooth with how they run their cash shop. Mostly convenience feature to eliminate the grind. My only issue in Rift is when they create a artificial grind where one is not needed. They have crossed the line once or twice but not too much to make me rage like I did at NCSoft.