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[HowZatOZ]

Adventure in an open-ended MMORPG freed from predefined paths and progression. Build massive castles and lay claim to lands whose riches fuel a deep, player-driven economy.
Band together to protect your fortune in epic siege battles and naval combat – or live the life of an outlaw, prying glory and coin from foes left in your wake.​

Release Date: September 16th, 2014
Platform: PC [Windows]
Price: Free-to-play [Optional Patron Status Subscription]
Developer: XL Games
Publisher: Trion Worlds (for Western Localisation)
Homepage: http://www.archeagegame.com/en/


What is ArcheAge?

ArcheAge is an open-world Free-to-Play MMORPG that aims to offer the typical themepark world we've come to expect in modern massively multiplayer games but also sandbox elements seen in titles like EVE: Online.
With a diverse path of classes to choose from, a variety of crafting skills to take up and a place to call home, ArcheAge aims to be a world created and cultured by its playerbase.


Wait, Free-to-Play? Doesn't that mean Pay2Win?

ArcheAge actually employs a rather rigid micro-transaction system, with the in-game shop offering mainly cosmetic items. There are in-game items that do affect gameplay, but these are purchasable through in-game means and are not restricted in any form.

We work closely with XL Games to understand the impacts of the different items that are on the store in Korea so we can ensure that we keep store items optional and fitting our “No Tricks, No Traps” vision of free-to-play. As the game is new, there will not be catch-up gear in the store at launch, as is seen in our other free-to-play games. It’s important to us that items sold on the store are not required to enjoy the game.

What do I get as a Free-to-Play player?

Almost everything. As a free-to-play player ArcheAge will not gate off any specific areas, and will not stop you from exploring the vast world.
Free-to-Play will be restricted to only using Public Farms for their harvesting needs, and will not be able to place down a house.
This was done to protect the game from being bloated by too many houses taken up by accounts long since stopped playing, and to offer an incentive to become a Patron.

As the game employs a quite open-world sandbox style of play, ArcheAge doesn't stop you from putting that delicious chicken out in the open.
But, be careful, as once a crop or farm animal has been placed in the open world it can be stolen or harvested by anyone who discovers it. Be wary, and by all means look out for others to steal from.

Reddit user IAmScrewedAMA has created a great beginner's guide on what Free-to-Play users can expect from the game.

Raxious was also kind enough to offer a quick breakdown of the differences:

• Bonus online Labor Point regeneration (10 per 5 minutes)
• Offline Labor Point regeneration (5 per 5 minutes)
• Increased maximum Labor Points cap (5000 maximum)
• 10% bonus to all Experience gained through combat or labor usage
• 10% discount on Marketplace purchases (available after launch)
• 5 Loyalty Tokens per day for use in the Loyalty Store (awarded on first login of the day)
• Ability to claim land by placing farms and houses
• Ability to pay in-game taxes on owned property
• Ability to post auctions on the Auction House by default

What is Patron Status?

Patron Status grants all sorts of game boosts including improved labor regeneration, an experience bonus, the ability to own a house or farm, and loyalty rewards.
It is available in supplements of 30, 60 and 90-days game time. You can also purchase Patron Status in-game with the use of Credit, which can be converted to APEX (equivalent to $10).

For more on Patron Status visit the game's official FAQ.


Who can I play in ArcheAge?

ArcheAge is home to four major races: spiritual Nuians and secretive Elves share the western continent, while the nomadic Firran and cunning Harani inhabit lands to the east.
Loose ties connect the neighboring races, but allegiances are fluid, forever complicated by the whims of pirate factions sailing, trading, and pillaging at will.

What can I play as?

ArcheAge uses a similar system to Trion's Rift, in that players have the chance to choose three different talent trees to develop their class. ArcheAge features over 100 classes built from 10 skillsets favored by the gods and heroes of the Great Expedition.
Skillsets host a range of abilities, from Sorcery’s devastating spells to Songcraft’s soothing ballads. Each one levels up independently (as you gain experience with a skillset, you will unlock its array of powers) and over time you can master them all.

After reaching level 10, you can combine any three skillsets to make a unique class. You can swap skillsets in and out to change classes as often as you like, with no predefined path to follow. Experiment and discover classes to fit any situation, and all with the same character!


SCREENSHOTS:

VIDEOS:

Launch Trailer
ArcheAge Alpha Official Trailer: "What if...?"
Exploring ArcheAge: Make Your Mark
Exploring ArcheAge: Party in the Dungeon


SOCIAL:

GAF Member List - Open to all, add your name or find others on your server.
Official Website
Facebook
Twitter (useful for server updates)
ArcheAge Wikipedia
Reddit


SERVERS

This is the current list as of September 18th, 2014.

North America
• Aranzeb
• Naima
• Kyrios
• Ollo
• Tahyang
• Salphira
• Inoch
• Calleil

Europe
• Shatigon
• Kyprosa
• Eanna
• Dahuta
• Aier
• Nui
• Janudar
• Nebe

Where's the GAF Guild?

We have yet to determine a specific GAF guild, but if you happen to make one on a server and don't mind GAFers let us know and we'll place you here.


STATUS UPDATES/MAINTENANCE

Here is an updated list on current maintenance and any patches:

ArcheAge Version 1.2 Build 4.10: Patch Notes: Website | Reddit

 

[K.Sabot]

I was on Kyrios server

but after a 6 hour queue, I don't know.

 

[Korten]

Playing as a Harani on Inoch. I say the GAF guild should be there.

Though I'm biased. D: Don't like starting over. XD

Really can't wait to leave the starter zone, the game is gorgeous, but the Harani starting zone is a bit... toooo barren for my tastes.

My character. (Ignore the metal gauntlets.)

 

[Vasilisk 2038]

Played a few hours yesterday as a Elf in Melisara, it seems one of the best f2p korean mmos I've played for a long time. The sandbox gameply is promising, I'll try to give more time to see how the game progresses.

 

[jpax]

Sorry but the part about f2p=p2w is just not correct. Labor points dictate your power. You can buy labor potions. It is the perfect example of p2w...

 

[Korten]

Sorry but the part about f2p=p2w is just not correct. Labor points dictate your power. You can buy labor potions. It is the perfect example of p2w...

If I understand correctly, unlike saying buying real power. Labor pots in a way can be seen as more time saving rather than actually buying power. Though I am new so this may change.

 

[HowZatOZ]

Sorry but the part about f2p=p2w is just not correct. Labor points dictate your power. You can buy labor potions. It is the perfect example of p2w...

Yes, labor points are used for everything from opening coin sacks to crafting items, but it does not dictate power. A free-to-play player will have access to all items just like a paying player, but the paying player will just get it quicker.

There is no purchasable armour, and while you might argue that paying for subscription gets you armour quicker, it still doesn't lock out any armour for free-to-play users.

 

[JNA]

I keep seeing this game on twitch.

What's the general reception here? How's the character creator?

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I actually really enjoyed this in open beta. Is there a GAF guild going/planned?

I keep seeing this game on twitch.

What's the general reception here? How's the character creator?

I found the character creator to be quite good. Certainly on the same level as Guild Wars 2, at least. Races tend to share hairstyles, though.

 

[SteveO409]

Yes, labor points are used for everything from opening coin sacks to crafting items, but it does not dictate power. A free-to-play player will have access to all items just like a paying player, but the paying player will just get it quicker.

There is no purchasable armour, and while you might argue that paying for subscription gets you armour quicker, it still doesn't lock out any armour for free-to-play users.

Seems reasonable to me then. It reminds me of the Clash of clan model

 

[Korten]

I actually really enjoyed this in open beta. Is there a GAF guild going/planned?


I found the character creator to be quite good. Certainly on the same level as Guild Wars 2, at least. Races tend to share hairstyles, though.

Honestly I think the only downside to the character customization for me that brings it a bit lower than GW2 is... Well, the lack of body customization. Everyone is always the same size.

 

[HowZatOZ]

I keep seeing this game on twitch.

What's the general reception here? How's the character creator?

It is definitely worth a check out, just because its free-to-play. The model is reasonable as well, as I mentioned above, and you can even attain Patron Status (the optional subscription) through in-game means like EVE and WildStar.

The game is extremely open in nature, and shares a lot of sandbox elements but also has typical themepark questing for those wanting that experience. After the starting zones its all open-world PvP, and the game is quite relaxing as to what you can do (i.e you can be a farmer your entire gaming life if you want or become a pirate and pillage the seas).

 

[gocubs]

Downloading now can't wait to check it out.

 

[Smiley90]

Namia reporting in.

 

[Askherserenity]

Copying from the last thread. Good job at getting the OT up pretty fast

Anyone else in the NA server, Enla? Made my character there because it seemed to have smaller queues. Mainly going heals atm. Just built my first farm. Enjoying it so far...there's just...too much to the damn game that I feel a bit overwhelmed.

 

[SpecialAgentZ]

Oh
Finally!
Downloading now!
Nice OT!

 

[Askherserenity]

We should decide on a server soon.I'm afraid to keep lvling this character now since I would want to play with GAF if possible ><

 

[SorchaR]

So did they end up implementing PvE severs, or is it still PvP only?

 

[HowZatOZ]

So did they end up implementing PvE severs, or is it still PvP only?

All PvP. It's a core part of the game, and I feel like having PvE servers would probably defeat the entire purpose.

 

[Askherserenity]

Servers are going to be down for 6 hours for NA starting now. Not sure when the EU ones are going down.

 

[EdLin]

Did they drop the Korean rootkit DRM from ArcheAge or does it still install a keylogging driver into your kernel?

 

[Raxious]

difference between free and patron account:

&#8226; Bonus online Labor Point regeneration (10 per 5 minutes)
&#8226; Offline Labor Point regeneration (5 per 5 minutes)
&#8226; Increased maximum Labor Points cap (5000 maximum)
&#8226; 10% bonus to all Experience gained through combat or labor usage
&#8226; 10% discount on Marketplace purchases (available after launch)
&#8226; 5 Loyalty Tokens per day for use in the Loyalty Store (awarded on first login of the day)
&#8226; Ability to claim land by placing farms and houses
&#8226; Ability to pay in-game taxes on owned property
&#8226; Ability to post auctions on the Auction House by default

http://www.archeagegame.com/en/news/2014/06/archeage-patron-program-apex/

Still it's not neccesarily pay to win though, the reason the housing / farms are behind a paywall is because there's only so many slots available, and you gotta pay taxes for your slots as well.

 

[Zero2kz]

It says I have Patron status until December, and I didn't pay for shit.

Bug? Or do we all get some sort of Patron trial or something?

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Top 10 things to do; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MO8fL2jYUg


Well it certainly looks like the feature set is really old school in a good way. I really like how player crafting and resources is king. Reminds me of old school SWG.

 

[Godan]

Go in on the EU last night after waiting for about 2 hours. Made a character and just got to level 4 and came off it. What server is the EU people here going to be on?

 

[HowZatOZ]

Servers are down at the moment, here's the brief:

Adventurers,

The North American ArcheAge servers will be unavailable at 3:00 AM PDT (GMT-7) on Wednesday, September 17 for a scheduled maintenance. The servers will be accessible again within six hours. This downtime address a number of issues including granting Patron status to all players who should have it, removing Patron status from a small number of players who shouldn't have it, and adding five days of Patron time to cover the time Founders spent in Head Start (which we had said would be reimbursed). Additionally, we'll be extending the server queue system's grace period from five minutes to ten minutes.

Once this maintenance is completed, it will be repeated on the European ArcheAge servers which will be unavailable at 7:00 PM PDT (GMT-7) on Wednesday, September 17 for about six hours as well. In-game announcements will be broadcast in advance of each outage.

Thanks for your patience!

Also, in regards to guild server choosing we'll just have to see where the majority of people are and go from there. I've rolled on Kryios for the Oceanic crowd but if there is a majority on another we can certainly make one there.

North America
• Aranzeb
• Naima
• Kyrios
• Ollo
• Tahyang
• Salphira
• Inoch

Europe
• Shatigon
• Kyprosa
• Eanna
• Dahuta
• Aier

 

[Setsuna]

as someone from new jersey what Server should i be playing on?

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

as someone from new jersey what Server should i be playing on?

doesn't matter, just log on to whatever server and spam the chat about world of warcraft. They won't understand, it's a jersey thing!

 

[Won]

I'm on EU Dahuta. Just finished my house and with that I'm fully settled in.


Random tips that may not common knowledge for people still in the process:
-There are two different clipper designs (the fast ship for 50 Gilda). They look the same, but one has a cannon, the other has a harpoon. The Harpoon allows you to hook onto other ships to help you enter it and other shenanigans, while the cannon doesn't really do anything.
-The two small houses have small differences in their layout. The western house is a bit smaller, which leaves you with more farming space outside. This means 4 more spots for Aspern/Yew sized trees/animals/plants that afaik you don't get with the eastern houses.

It says I have Patron status until December, and I didn't pay for shit.

Bug? Or do we all get some sort of Patron trial or something?

It's a bug. The current downtime is supposed to sort this out.

 

[Zero2kz]

It's a bug. The current downtime is supposed to sort this out.

Looks like claiming land is a Patron perk. What happens if I already did that? lol

 

[Staab]

I played the beta a bit and enjoyed it, got to level 14, the look and feel of the game was great.
I'm also very interested in any non-traditional MMO types so that helped, how much of an "end-game" is there apart from the PvP-centric land-claim thing ? Are there raids and dungeons that require high levels to cooperate or is that just during the levelling phase ?
Is the best gear obtained through drops or crafting ?

Still have it installed so will likely patch and play it this week-end !

 

[SorchaR]

All PvP. It's a core part of the game, and I feel like having PvE servers would probably defeat the entire purpose.

okay, thanks. I'll keep ignoring this game then, life's too short to put up with gankers.

 

[Hellers]

Looks like claiming land is a Patron perk. What happens if I already did that? lol

You won't be able to pay your rent and you'll quickly lose your plot.

 

[JORMBO]

The release date in the OP says November, but the game is out now? I was looking forward to it based on what I have heard, but have not really followed it much.

 

[friday]

Thread title holds true, I spent the whole night waiting in Queue and I never got in. Hopefully today goes better.

 

[Zero2kz]

You won't be able to pay your rent and you'll quickly lose your plot.

Just like real life!

And I joined the newest server when I got home yesterday. Was called Elna (or Enla?). Was only a 10 minute queue, but by the time my brother got home from work and tried, it was already 2+ hours for him. I imagine it being even worse today.

 

[Finaika]

The release date in the OP says November, but the game is out now? I was looking forward to it based on what I have heard, but have not really followed it much.

This.

 

[CrazedProfessional]

I just finished downloading! Downtime? Fuck you!

 

[friday]

Patron status will help you get through the queue, but registering for patron status seems to be broken right now.

 

[nothing]

The release date in the OP says November, but the game is out now? I was looking forward to it based on what I have heard, but have not really followed it much.

Yes, it's now released and you can download it here -- > http://www.archeagegame.com/en/play-for-free/

 

[Dunlop]

Nice OT

Was excited, but couldn't get my beta version to work

I see the opening animation and then the game has seizures, it looks like the resolution is off as 1/20th of the screen seems to be on my other monitor but it would not let me resize it.

Maybe they fixed it, I'll give it a whirl tonight

 

[JORMBO]

Yes, it's now released and you can download it here -- > http://www.archeagegame.com/en/play-for-free/

Thanks. That is a nice surprise. I'll give it a whirl.

 

[Raxious]

regarding the current maintenance:

The North American ArcheAge servers will be unavailable at 3:00 AM PDT (GMT-7) on Wednesday, September 17 for a scheduled maintenance. The servers will be accessible again within six hours. This downtime address a number of issues including granting Patron status to all players who should have it, removing Patron status from a small number of players who shouldn't have it, and adding five days of Patron time to cover the time Founders spent in Head Start (which we had said would be reimbursed). Additionally, we'll be extending the server queue system's grace period from five minutes to ten minutes.

Once this maintenance is completed, it will be repeated on the European ArcheAge servers which will be unavailable at 7:00 PM PDT (GMT-7) on Wednesday, September 17 for about six hours as well. In-game announcements will be broadcast in advance of each outage.

 

[Sectus]

I got stuck in a table.

 

[Godan]

Was trying to add the Patron status to my account last night but couldn't really find it.

 

[timkunedo]

Jolly Good OT! I'm on the Kyrios server. Queues are brutal but should level off after a week or two. Glad i got my land day 1, because it was pretty much gone by day 2. Now to get that thatched farmhouse built.

 

[Mechanized]

Huh, so the game is launching over a month early? Or is this some kinda beta access? Didn't see it mentioned in the OP.
This was totally off my radar, downloading now. Always up for a new F2P mmo.

 

[timkunedo]

Huh, so the game is launching over a month early? Or is this some kinda beta access? Didn't see it mentioned in the OP.
This was totally off my radar, downloading now. Always up for a new F2P mmo.

Game officially launched yesterday for F2P folks.

 

[RicoTheMad]

Definitely interested in this, was a huge fan of UO back in the day and this looks as close as it's gonna get to that kind of MMO again.

Is the housing all gone already? Really? That would suck.

 

[nothing]

okay, thanks. I'll keep ignoring this game then, life's too short to put up with gankers.

Don't put yourself out to get ganked then.