Yesterday, Kakao ran an AMA on the MMORPG subreddit to address player “confusion” over its impending stewardship of ArcheAge here in the west following its move – and all your characters’ moves – from Gamigo. Here are the highlights:
- The team says it will use “the same build as [Korea] giving our region the same content at the same time” but with “culturalization to a certain degree” – like different events and shop items. We’ll also see the same monthly class balancing patches as Korea.
- Expect a revamp to the crime system and its many exploits, including the trial/jury system, at some point. A revamp for the trade system is planned too, followed by a fishing revamp. There’s also a tease for a revamp of aerial combat. There are no details on any of this; the studio just tells players to stay tuned.
- The team says it’s “continuously monitoring” gold influx data. “We’re looking at ways to restrict the benefits gained from alt accounts.” One player asked about strategies for dealing with goldsellers, to which Kakao replied, “[W]e have a dedicated team with experience at this.” A follow-up response reiterated this. “We have a dedicated team to deal with bots and RMT. Our track record toward the end of our service on a previous MMO demonstrated the effectiveness of this. We have multiple tools and methods to combat nefarious gameplay.”
- Kakao says it’ll address monetization on the non-Unchained game “soon,” saying that Unchained needed addressing first as it has more changes. “We think the F2P model will still attract plenty of new players.”
- “Limited time items that were sold in the shop are planned to be purchasable within the game.”
- There will be in-game GMs “both for events and hacker hunting.”
- Kakao will be monitoring server load at launch to see whether new servers need spooling up.
- “We are preparing guild-centric PVE and PVP.” Faction balancing options are on the table, but the team would rather avoid them.
- “We also recognize that production at the ArcheAge is a very important factor. However, we are currently thinking carefully about linking production with crafting systems.”
- The team plans to add furniture with labor bonuses.
- Kakao is considering ways to reduce grind with the Ipnysh Artifact system.
- There are no plans for a South American server, Oceania server, or classic server.
- ArchePass rewards “will be revealed soon.” No plans for the Succubus costume for Unchained.
- Mistmerrow is not expected to reopen.
- Expect a small delay for the Steam relaunch, but it’s happening.
Finally, players asked what Kakao could say to convince people that this time around will truly be different.
“Nothing,” Kakao’s rep replies. “You’ll need to watch and judge for yourself. I can only say that our respect for ArcheAge is massive and we’re here to try and take care of the game and the community and try to make it the best possible experience we can.”
The servers open tomorrow, though no time was confirmed. The land rush itself doesn’t kick off until December 11th.
Source: AMA. Cheers, Protobear!
