So in the recommendation of some friends I started playing a new MMO called Arche Age. In terms of game mechanics, game play, etc., it seems very similar to Lord of the Rings Online or Guild Wars 2. It is supposed to be a “player’s mmo”, heavily inspired by fan feedback.
Besides combat, there is a ton of stuff to do and places to explore. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of space for player housing ATM, but those lucky enough to get land can build homes or castles from blueprints or design your own from scratch. There are also warehouses available for storage but I don’t know too many details about that yet. You can grow all kinds of different crops and the crafting system seems pretty robust. My friends say you can level up just by farming and exploring if you aren’t that into combat and fighting. I had a basic rowboat and a horse by level 7, and got a hang glider around level 12-13. I’ve also seen people driving wagons and cars(!) that seem to be fully customizable. The one thing is, I think you have to pay to unlock housing and some of the other higher end crafting.
I’m not too far into it yet at level 15, but it seems pretty cool so far. I do think GW2 and LOTRO have better graphics and animations, but the customization and freedom seems to be a big draw.
Is anyone else playing this? What’s your opinion? I’m still kind of feeling the game out and trying to decide to stay with it or move on to other games (I don’t have as much free time to MMO as I used to).
Those games are utterly and completely different in mechanics, to the point of barely being in the same genre…
Again, those games are so divergent in terms of quality and scale of graphics that this is like saying "I like painting “X”, although I think it’s not as well visually as a Picasso or the Sistine Chapel.
I’m not saying your OP is stupid, but I’m very confused by the specific comments you had there. This actually sounds more like Ultima Online given your statements about land, housing, and travel.
The time period that I played LOTRO was when it was still subscription based. I played for a few months, gave it up, then took it back up for a while after it went free to play. I remember at some point not long after I stopped playing it people started bitching about Turbine offering “pay to win” crap in the store (gear, exp potions or others along those lines). I think I played GW2 around the time Diablo 3 came out. So I’ve no idea where either game is right now in terms of quality and scope of graphics.
However, from what I remember they’re both pretty similar in terms of game play, quests, skill sets and item increments, travelling and mounts, exploration, etc. I guess you could argue that many other mmo’s could be included under that umbrella, which is kind of the point. I just started this and haven’t gotten deep into the meat of the game yet. I’m trying to figure out what this game does that is unique and should make me want to continue playing it. So I’m asking if anyone else plays it and how it stacks up to the other games I have played that seem to be at least somewhat similar.
I liked a lot of what i saw, specially the boat stuff and pvp, but the deeper i looked the more i realized i would have to be playing “medieval peasant simulator” in order to get anywhere. I don’t understand the appeal of crafting at all, and making it such a huge focus of your game is pretty much a deal breaker for me.