ArcheAge / ArcheRage Game Review

Alternate Title: ArcheAge
Developer: XL Games
North American and European Publisher: Trion Worlds
Korean Publisher: XL Games
Type: MMORPG
Model: Free-to-play
Engine: CryEngine 3
PvP: Duels, Sieges, Events, Arenas, Open-world
PvE: Monster Hunting Quests, Dungeons, Raids, World Bosses

I never thought I’d be making this video. Why? Because I was done with Trion games. They’re a garbage publisher who’s sole intent is to drain as much money out of their fans as they can.
They relaunch Rift with a Pay to Play server, attempting to get players to pay.. for a game that is free to play. They relaunch Defiance under a new name.. with founders packs and literally no improvements yet somehow even more bugs.
They continue to fail the ArcheAge community by not addressing bugs, hacks, abusers.. pay to win issues, and.. man.
I’m not kidding when I say that I loathe the company. I hate Gameforge, I hate Aeria Games, I hate My.com, but c’mon.. Trion is on a whole nother level.

With that in mind, and after having already done a video on the “new and improved Defiance: 2050“, I figured ArcheAge was a solid bet to tackle.
However, instead of playing on the official broken, neglected cash-cow that is the official server, I instead opted to play on the private server: ArcheRage.
And before haters for the private server, or, hell, even a Trion employee come over and accues me of violating copyright.. I’m not forcing people to go over and play ArcheRage.
I’m not spreading game files around. I’m doing nothing more than creating a discussion. I want to discuss what the private server offers, and I want to discuss my thoughts on it.

So, what is ArcheRage, and how does it differ to ArcheAge? I believe ArcheAge is currently running off of version 4.5 – whereas ArcheRage is running off of an earlier 3.0 version.
3.0 was a much simpler time.. a time I know a lot of you reminisce over. Especially with the plethora of problems and changes that came with 3.5, 4.0 and more.

ArcheAge is an open-world fantasy MMORPG that is probably still one of the best looking free to play MMORPGs available online. It was essentially the free to play Final Fantasy XIV.
It offers 6 distinct races and two separate factions. It utilizes an open-world PvP system where players are forced into battle in the open world.
The Nuian Alliance are comprised of the Nuian’s.. which are essentially Human’s. Elves, and Dwarves. Whereas the Haranyan Alliance are comprised of the Harani.. which are skinnier Human’s, the Firran.. furry cat people, and the Warborn: The sexy horned women.

You’re given 4 “classes”, and I use that term here loosely, to choose from to begin your journey: Battlerage, Sorcery, Archery and Vitalism.
Character creation is fairly detailed. Not as detailed as Black Desert, but comparable to Blade and Soul.. minus the body sliders. Unfortunately.
You’re given a large variety of hairstyles, hair colors, and sliders to individually customize each part of your characters face.

Upon getting in-game for the first time, naturally I took to doing one of the most important things any gamer can do in a new game.. and that is check out the sweet, sweet dance moves.

There’s an in-game cash shop, because why wouldn’t there be? It is a free to play MMORPG after all and they’re always littered with cash shops.
From what I could see, there were outfits, housing decor, mounts, and various quality of life items.

Combat in-game is tab-target. Which is why I made the comparison to Final Fantasy XIV.
For a tab-target game though, the combat is incredibly fast-paced and requires quick thinking. Especially with the short global cooldowns.

As I mentioned earlier.. the term “class” is used somewhat loosely, as you’re able to have three different skillsets active at any given time.
Each skillset gives you access to skills associated with that skillset, ranging from Damage over Time skills, Buffs, Heals, Debuffs.. the list goes on.
This has a large effect on the kind of character you build, giving you significant freedom to play how you want. Something most MMORPGs do not do.

PvP, as I mentioned, takes place both in the open world and in instances.
Since we weren’t high enough level to engage in combat with the opposing faction and we had yet to unlock the arena, we opted to fight each other in a duel.
This ended equally as swiftly as it began. Wiggy repeatedly attempted to kill me but failed as many times as she tried.

Rates in-game have been increased several times over as well, to assist players with leveling, crafting, and gearing.
XP has been increased 5 times, growth of objects and animals have been increased 2 times, production speed has been increased 2 times, labor points generation speed has also been increased by 4 times.
Additionally, for those of you that don’t want to pay for Trion’s outrageous premium membership.. ArcheRage offers it for free. And there’s no recurring fees involved.
There are other rate increases like Honor increases, and there are various events that the official version does not have.

I know that pay to win in ArcheAge is a huge concern for players. The cash shop in ArcheAge has always been cause for alarm as it heavily favors whales, often offering a significant advantage for players that invest large sums of money into the game.
ArcheRage however has a cash shop.. that is much less pay to win. It’d be a lie to say it wasn’t pay to win all together, but where there is a Trion game.. there is pay to win.
So, less items and reduced credit cost make for a much lower advantage should players want to invest time into the game.

One thing I really love about ArcheAge is the ability to claim land and build on it.
Yes, other MMORPGs allow you to build a house and furnish it, but ArcheAge allows players to purchase land in the open world and build their house.. farm.. whatever they want, right there, readily accessible to every player that walks by.
So people can see you, and your shit in all its glory.. just an FYI, in case.. y’know.. you enjoy curling up in a ball in the nude like most cats do.

All in all, ArcheAge, and ArcheRage do a lot of things to keep player attention. The game itself is great, yet it is handled so poorly by Trion.
I, therefore, prefer the look and feel of ArcheRage, if only for the better staff and increased rates.
Not to say that it isn’t a better iteration of the game overall.
But if I’m being honest here.. and I always am, Trion is just worth avoiding in general.
Save yourself the time and money. They lie, they go back on their word, they deliberately neglect to address issues brought up countless times, and.. sigh.
ArcheRage exists. It’s less pay to win, handled better, and you’re capable of doing more in it. What you do with that information is up to you.