No idea why people hate AA and go overboard about with their opinion about AA. Beside the launch issues the company behind has been open about what it is, no one forced anyone to anything etc. and then we have all sort of unfair comments and reviews.
First of all all of you are in MMORPG forum discussing a MMORPG. 2 things should be clear at this point.
a) There will be char progression. In some shape or another there will be some system in place which let you advance your char over time in attributes, abillities etc. It will need playing the game and investing time in the game before you can reach some "mastered" status.
b) There will be differences in gear. There is diufferent types of gear and different grades of gear. You won't be handed your best suit of armor and best choice of weapon for free on first day.
now since Archeage is a open world sandbox MMORPG game more things should be clear at that point :
a) there won't be many situation where you face other people in a perfect 1 vs 1 scenario and also should know about what this means regarding class balance etc.
b) there is freedom in bonding and socializing and crating groups who work together. Your group and contacts may not be the biggest and with most influence on the world.
I don't think many of the critics points stand afetr being clear about these basic things.
I've always held that the nature of vertical progression in an open-world MMO created an inherent "price" (which is the gear difference between players) that must be accepted as the nature of open-world PvP. However, if you look at the original poster's first post in this thread, its criticisms are about either game mechanics (such as "PvP is too CC-based" or "PvE is badly executed", which has nothing to do with the inherent gear imbalances of a vertical progression game) or the monetization (which, again, has nothing to do with the inherent gear imbalances of a vertical progression game, as those inherent imbalances will exist regardless of the monetization. Monetization potentially creates or adds its own imbalance separate from the inherent one, but the inherent one is... well, inherent, regardless)
@aslan - The best gear in AA is crafted gear, which also sells for ridiculous amounts of gold on the AH. So if I am a cloth wearer with tailoring as a profession and I max out my tailoring in a few days using stuff purchased off the real money cash shop, I have an advantage that is obtained by spending real $$.
In my opinion P2W is when real $$ spent translates to an advantage in the game, which in the case of popping pots every 12 hours on multiple toons does. No idea how this concept eludes people.
if you can't get a certain advantageous thing any other way than by spending cash, then you got p2w.
in AA you can buy with in game gold anything you can get in the item mall, including patron status and the certificates that let you add a character slot, also the LP pots are on sale in the AH all the time.
the fact that trion lets these items go for sale on the AH is a good reason NOT to call the game P2W, since anyone with enough patience can gain enough gold to buy patron status or whatever else floats their boat. it's more like p2farm less.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
The problem with this theory is that there is no finish line. Look at DMKano's recent thread on the best geared player in Korea. After 2 years he still hasn't crossed the finish line.
When you look at a game like GW2, the gear power scale is absolute. Within a very reasonable short time, you will be on par with the best of them. It plateaus and is easily attainable.
Not the case in AA. You will never reach the finish line. No one will, ever (They'll move it when someone gets close). Thus, the gear scale is always relative. Someone who has lapped you because they paid real money, will continue to lap you, again and again and again. the gap will only widen and you never converge without your credit card.
Sounds really, really boring...
Originally posted by aRtFuLThinG
Also, people forget that the stats gap between really really good gear and decent gear is actually quite marginal. Anything Illustrious or GHA/Hasla level or above are pretty close in stats and not distinguished enough to flat out win you a fight because of it alone.
Buffing up 40-50 gear is mostly sufficient.
You can't really prevent the OCD crowd from striving for what they perceive to be the "best" gear. They will work for weeks just to get another piece of gear with +1 to a stat in hopes it will give them an advantage.
My guess is a lot of people did this and ragequit when they realized they couldn't win every PvP altercation. That's what chasing the best gear is all about - feeding the ego by trying to become invincible.
Originally posted by YashaX
Amazing how every discussion on AA turns into white knights putting hands over ears and screaming "not p2w, not p2w, not p2w!" . It is especially funny in this case, because of everything in the OP the p2w part is the most objective comment, (although I basically agree with the OP on the other points as well).
You're kidding, right?
Just about every AA post around here is infected by the first or second reply by some hater with a snide off-topic jab at the OP or the game. I swear some of these people sit at their computers, foaming at the mouth, just waiting for an AA post. If the basement-dweller stereotype actually does still exist, then we know who they are. These "white knights" you speak so lowly of are just defending a game they enjoy from the angry-little-boy virus that has become the norm here at MMORPG.com.
If you are paying a sub (or sub equivalent) in any MMO, your preferred gaming activities/style should not be gated by a cash shop (as it is with labor points/crafting in AA).
Comments
I've always held that the nature of vertical progression in an open-world MMO created an inherent "price" (which is the gear difference between players) that must be accepted as the nature of open-world PvP. However, if you look at the original poster's first post in this thread, its criticisms are about either game mechanics (such as "PvP is too CC-based" or "PvE is badly executed", which has nothing to do with the inherent gear imbalances of a vertical progression game) or the monetization (which, again, has nothing to do with the inherent gear imbalances of a vertical progression game, as those inherent imbalances will exist regardless of the monetization. Monetization potentially creates or adds its own imbalance separate from the inherent one, but the inherent one is... well, inherent, regardless)
if you can't get a certain advantageous thing any other way than by spending cash, then you got p2w.
in AA you can buy with in game gold anything you can get in the item mall, including patron status and the certificates that let you add a character slot, also the LP pots are on sale in the AH all the time.
the fact that trion lets these items go for sale on the AH is a good reason NOT to call the game P2W, since anyone with enough patience can gain enough gold to buy patron status or whatever else floats their boat. it's more like p2farm less.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Dwight D Eisenhower
My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
Buffing up 40-50 gear is mostly sufficient.
You can't really prevent the OCD crowd from striving for what they perceive to be the "best" gear. They will work for weeks just to get another piece of gear with +1 to a stat in hopes it will give them an advantage.
My guess is a lot of people did this and ragequit when they realized they couldn't win every PvP altercation. That's what chasing the best gear is all about - feeding the ego by trying to become invincible.
You're kidding, right?
Just about every AA post around here is infected by the first or second reply by some hater with a snide off-topic jab at the OP or the game. I swear some of these people sit at their computers, foaming at the mouth, just waiting for an AA post. If the basement-dweller stereotype actually does still exist, then we know who they are. These "white knights" you speak so lowly of are just defending a game they enjoy from the angry-little-boy virus that has become the norm here at MMORPG.com.
If you are paying a sub (or sub equivalent) in any MMO, your preferred gaming activities/style should not be gated by a cash shop (as it is with labor points/crafting in AA).
Period.