ArcheAge (KR) - New feature to deter thieves

Just a quick update on a supposed new feature which was added recently into ArcheAge Closed Beta 4. As reported on Korean gaming website, GameMeca, a new tracking system for thieves was implemented. You see, while players have their own houses, farm animals and plants from where they can obtain lumber, fruits and more, other players may steal these items when the owner is not around. This caused a huge problem leading to complains in the game forums.

XLGAMES, the developer, has apparently come up with a solution. Whenever such thefts occur, there is a chance of footsteps appearing on the ground nearby. The owner may then click on them and obtain an item with the print on it. Once activated, the thief will gain 1 penalty point. Once 100 points are reached, the thief will be sent to jail. There might be other solutions in the works as ArcheAge is seemingly vulnerable to such acts given the freedom players have.

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ArcheAge (KR) - Time for the pointy ears

The good folks at XLGAMES are really making their promise stand, with a patch almost everyday so far, the largest standing at a hefty 6GB. After a tough time playing as an archer using the Ferres race, I thought it would be a good time to move on the a familiar mystical being found in almost all fantasy games. With the Elven race, the first class which comes into mind would be "mage", and that's the class I chose this time round.


While the Ferres race got to experience mountain scaling, tree climbing is the mechanic found at the beginning. While not a really "awesome" feature when first mentioned, I can guess players who are exploring the new continents climbing up to have a good look at the area and sight some possible boss mobs. Over at the old continent where the PvP and castle siege are taking place, I guess this is a strategic feature for players to scout any incoming hostiles.


Boat rowing is one of the many transport modes in ArcheAge. Although it is really the beginning of sailing (with sail boats coming later into the game), the speed of traveling on water is the fastest, compared to swimming or riding on a swimming mount *laughs*. I was rather clumsy at the steering part, but I guess that is why I am not doing the same activity in real life :)


The standard mage class is easy to use, with the spells nothing less than gorgeous even at low levels. Yes, point and click, I hear the groans already. But it is not really what ArcheAge is about in the first place. The effects are some I have never experienced in most MMORPGs, and I can't wait to find out what spells me and new monsters can cast as I progress in the game. I guess I will be playing this character for the week or 2 to come. Stay tuned for more footage!

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ArcheAge (KR) - First territory conquest achieved

2 days ago, an expedition in ArcheAge Closed Beta 4 secured the game's first every territory capture. Called "Renaissance", this team of over 100 players braved through the many near-impossible tasks to secure this milestone. Korean website ThisIsGame had a chat with the team's leader, who happens to be just a 20 year old teen.

Q: Can you briefly introduce yourself and your team?

A: I am 20 years old currently, hitting 21 soon, so it is 2NE1 (a popular South Korea female pop group). Renaissance was established in July 2010, and it will be 2 years old in a few months' time. There are a total of around 170 players who took part in the expedition in ArcheAge, and our main aim is to seek adventures and to quest. We do meet in real life as well, having small gatherings for drinking sessions.

Q: How does it feel like being the first guild to have a territory in ArcheAge?

A: Very proud. All of the players worked hard together, and thank you all for your hard work. The original land was a place filled with volcano soot and barren lands. But after we placed the AKIUM (mineral to signify ownership of the piece of land), grass began to sprout out. We are happy to play a part in cleaning up the continent.

Q: Which was the hardest part of this expedition?

A: Collecting the required materials, especially the sunlight AKIUM which is rare.

Q: We saw many players gathering this item as well.

A: The system changed, we need to pack up the materials to build the ships, each time only allowing one bag to be transported over.

Q: Can you explain more about this new system?

A: After collecting 100 materials, we need to pack them up and carry. We need to reach the destination without dying.

Q: That means guarding the bundle is the main priority of this expedition?

A: Yes, if the player dies, the pack will drop and anyone else can pick it up.

Q: Can you tell us what items players need to prepare and the process of refining the AKIUM?

A: There is actually no strategy, everyone just collected the AKUIUM dusts and pieces and merge them together.

Q: How was the lumber and clothing material gathered? Many guilds are having trouble with this.

A: For lumber, we just needed to get more players to scout for trees to chop and monitor the progress. Clothing material can be dropped from a certain humanoid hunter monster.

Q:Was there any special planning or management done?

A: Within our expedition team, there are the information group, combat group and gathering group. Each group has its own mission and functions, for example the gathering group will find out where and where drop certain materials while the combat group will research on character skills and PvE combat. Our team has a number of veterans since Closed Beta 1, so we were able to guide them.

Q: If you need to transport AKIUM over to the old continent, ships are needed. For smaller boats, players can craft them easily, but what about those larger sail boats?

A: For sail boats, 1000 materials are needed, which means 10 packages. The new system also requires players to follow a standard pattern for inserting the materials to make the sail boat.

Q: The amount of 1000 materials is really staggering...

A: Yeap, and that is only for the smallest sail boat. When the bigger size ones are out...

Q: How did you overcome the Boss monsters along the way?

A: Different boss has different attack patterns, so we had to devise different strategies as well for each.

Q: It seems like your team is really strong.

A: When we were low level, 7 of us took down a boss. I guess it will only require 3 of us now.

Q: What are your plans now?

A: We will be gathering information about the castle building system and go gain some levels to prepare for castle siege.

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ArcheAge (KR) CBT4 - Sailing through the skies

Finally, I found the spot to try out this gliding feature. Similar to scaling mountains, gliding is used mostly for exploration now, before becoming an important source of... transport during castle siege in the near future. Imaging a battalion of those swooping down from the skies... Directions can be controlled, but it will require patience. We are not on land anyway!



I didn't manage to get much play time due to doing some work stuff and getting a tiny bit of lag spike today, but somehow getting to the gliding part made me feel satisfied. I wonder if it is time to move on to another race...

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ArcheAge (KR) CBT4 - Night view and more

My 2nd day in ArcheAge was actually quite a frustrating one, given the lack of knowledge about the Korean language. But still, the years of online gaming managed to get me through various interactive quests after a short while, including toying around and watching what others did. If you look at the top right corner, there is a bar stating the time of the day, and the night view in ArcheAge is nothing but awesome.



Yesterday, I posted about mounted melee combat. After leveling my mount (yes, and it dies), it learn the new ranged combat skill. However, it is pretty useless for now, perhaps just for luring mobs, as there is a long cool-down for even the normal attack. I wonder how this will evolve later in the game...


Dancing time~! As mentioned in one of my previous ArcheAge posts, dancing in the game is sort of different from the others. Here, you press the dance key, your character starts dancing but with additional strokes from WASD, you will be a moving dance machine! And yeah, you can jump as well. Superb stuff!


ArcheAge's landscape for the Ferres race mainly consists of plains, grasslands, mountains, cliffs and plateaus, with that occasional oasis. While most games tend to have boring landscapes, ArcheAge allows players to mine, dig and climb the lands for different surprises. Even watering random plants!


ArcheAge is looking great now, and yes, like most of you, I am aching at the "generic" combat, but the scale of the game for me now overwhelms much of the negative thoughts about this mechanic. Still trying to figure my way around the game using my instincts, let's see how far this adventure will last before stumping me!

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ArcheAge (KR) CBT4 - The first experience

So, I logged into ArcheAge for the very first time (beyond the character customization section) earlier today, and although I did not have much time, decided to give it a short spin.I chose the Ferres, simply because I thought it looked a lot more different from the other races. The beginning part is pretty much the same as most online games, but there was something about the experience which delighted me.


Even at low levels, players get to try out some of the features, including cliff climbing and especially mounted combat. In most other games, you would have to hit at least mid-level to try such things out. Yes, small features, but it is really the thought that counts in this instance.


Cliff climbing. Some may say it is a useless feature, but when you add secret locations, vines to climb up and hidden mobs, the experience takes a whole new turn. Small, but how many other 3D games have you seen them doing this? Minus those side-scrollers of course =.= Add in a few randomized caves, this feature will sure shine even brighter.


Mounted combat. Not something I really expected to try out at this level, but it was fun nonetheless. My character swung his blades both left and right side, attacking 2 enemies at once if there are any on the two sides. The mount has only 1 skill as well, which is to leap forward and bite the target. I expect more stuff to be added to this feature as the game progresses and for me to try out ranged mounted combat.


Combat. Well, there is auto attack, auto path to attack target similar to most games out there. If you are looking for action combat, just wait till TERA finally hits the English market. The skills system is easy enough, spend some money and you can upgrade or learn those available.


Overall, my first hour or so in the game was really occupied at the thought of trying out those few stuff in the early levels. Well, I may try too hard to make it sound like a big deal, but it was still a refreshing experience for me. I hope I have more time tomorrow, so till then, have a good day!

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ArcheAge (KR) CBT4 - Character creation footage

I may not have time this weekend to play the game, but nonetheless I managed to squeeze out an hour to have a quick look at the various races available. I know, some of you have seen these much earlier, but hey, it is my first time in the game T__T As you can see, there are 4 races here: Nuians, Ferres, Elves and Hariharan.


Some of the races have limited customizations, especially Ferres, but hey, this is just still Closed Beta~ The overall system looks good for now, although some facial cosmetic appearance overwrites the various scars and there is no randomize function.


The skills testing footage you see near the end of each video is basically the choosing of classes. Each character can choose up to 3 different abilities and combine them into a class. More about this system in the English ArcheAge website (link).


The first option lets players to manually do it, the second with a series of pre-listed classes to choose from while the third option is randomized. More videos to come over the weeks, stay tuned!

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ArcheAge (KR) - Closed Beta 4 schedule

So, Closed Beta 4 for ArcheAge begins in less than 24hours~! While this phase might last 80 days as reported earlier (link), there are still selected time slots during which the servers will be open. For one, Tuesdays will be maintenance day, hence the game will not be up. For the rest of the days, ArcheAge will be up from 16:00 till 23:00, a total of 7 hours per day.

The game client's size, even for Closed Beta, is quite hefty at nearly 25GB, which can be seen in the launcher + downloader below. Well, the game is nearing an official release in a couple of months, no one should really be surprised I guess.

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ArcheAge (KR) - New combat trailer

It is more like a teaser trailer for what players can expect in the upcoming Closed Beta 4. Wait, I think Closed Beta 4 begins tomorrow, right? Oh well. So, you can see the castle siege, the gliders, eye-catching spells and melee combat all lumped in this short trailer. How many of you are in the Closed Beta already?

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ArcheAge (KR) - On course for Closed Beta 4

To cause further mental damage among players who aren't able to play the upcoming 80 days Closed Beta 4, XLGAMES released a new trailer today to signal the phase's impending arrival. In the trailer, various groups can be seen sailing towards the Continent of Origin, and right till the landing part I thought it was One Piece.

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Further into the trailer, the territorial war is also teased, although no apparent combat took place. There is still no English publisher for ArcheAge announced, so my best bet would be to try the China server out next year. Sigh.

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ArcheAge (KR) - Dance fever !!!

XLGAMES, the developer for ArcheAge, recently uploaded a new dance trailer displaying the light social side of the game. If you think that is just so simple, think again! The dance system is something XLGAMES took a serious look at as well, with different situations having different dance effects.


Dance moves can be choreographed by the players using the movement key buttons, in this case I am guessing WASD for most. Different from the old dance systems found in almost every MMORPG, players can move while dancing without staying at the same spot. The default dances can be accessed when the different social expressions are pressed during the activity. When players are in the same area dancing, there will be special effects and movements, which are seen in the trailer above. Awesome eh?

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[TGC 2011] ArcheAge - PvP footage

While not some bombastic piece of news, the public got to see one of the PvP features in ArcheAge for the first time over at Tencent Games Carnival. Similar to most team battles, this is apparently an instanced map, apparently called the Siege Warfare Training Camp, with the number of players set at 5 Vs 5. The Necromancer's spell, which can lift targets up into the air, looks pretty awesome! However, it should be noted that the game is still kind of bugged, especially since characters are sliding around...


If you looked close enough, there are characters wielding a bow and sword combo, a bow and shield combo or even all 3 weapons at once! What in the world? For the latest interview article with the game's developer, Mr Jake Song, click here (link).

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[TGC 2011] ArcheAge, Blade & Soul set for 2012

Let me get one thing clear first, there isn't any surprise announcement over at Tencent Games Carnival for either ArcheAge or Blade & Soul except both games will enter beta in 2012. Yes, bummer. But a couple of trailers were shown for both titles, first up is a traditional sand art demonstration. I am guessing this is Mr Jake Song's very own story. And yes, I spent time putting captions in it.


The second trailer is too long for me (it is Saturday and I am busy playing BATTERY), hence I will explain only a little in the trailer. For the rest of the trailer, you can see castle building, town building, naval combat and more.

You can read more about each race's description here (link), but of course, teased in the trailer, many more races will be added in due time.

There is nothing much about Blade & Soul, except the official Chinese name and logo being revealed. Closed Beta 3 is due to start early next year in Korea, while the game will enter commercial phase next year as well.


There is also an interview trailer with the game's Art Director on how he gets inspiration for his artwork and the processes to go through to make them come alive in the game. Main point, his female character designs are more awesome as he is a male, and he said if he is a female, the male artwork would be better. And of course, how he pays attention to every single detail on the character's clothing.

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ArcheAge (KR) - Closed Beta 4 interview

As most gamers would have known by now, ArcheAge will begin Closed Beta 4 in Korea starting from December 8, lasting a total of 80 days (link). Other than a new continent, a new race will be made playable as well. This interview taken with Mr Jake Song was posted a few days back, but due to G*Star I was holding it back until now. Please note that not all questions were translated and some answers are summarized. Read on!

Q: What new content can players expect in Closed Beta 4?

A: We have prepared quite a number of new content, as well as solving all the bugs occurred in previous tests. The main aim of Closed Beta 4 will be the new continent, which players can sail to on ships.

Q: Does the territorial warfare in the new continent refer to the castle siege system?

A: When players arrive at the new continent, they can occupy certain points or areas of it, followed by building their own castles. After that, they (I guess the guilds with castles) can fight amongst themselves. This feature will not be available during the start of Closed Beta 4 but at a later date. There is, however, still a possibility the castle siege system will not be released at all in Closed Beta 4.

Q: How are the updates over the 3 months of testing being organized?

A: No matter what, there will at least be one update a week. This means the game will be upgraded on a weekly and regular basis throughout the period. This is a promise we made to the players, and one we are not going to disappoint.

Q: What is the character level cap now?

A: This is something we are still discussing, but we will be monitoring how players progress in the game. Although not confirmed, it should be around level 25.

Q: Can players swim over to the new continent?

A: Well, taking the ships will be the easiest and fastest way. Players will meet many monsters if they decide to swim over, so it is not advisable.

Q: We once saw players on a ship engaging a sea monster in one of the trailers. Is it something which will happen in the game?

A: We feel that players might get bored floating aimlessly in the middle of the sea, hence added some boss-level monsters to roam the waters. As it is a boss battle, these monsters will drop items as well.

Q: Can you tell us more about the new race, Hariharan?

A: Hariharan is a human race with a slightly cute design and influenced by the Eastern cultures.

Q: With Closed Beta 4 taking 80 days, does it mean Open Beta will be delayed?

A: We are trying to get into the Open Beta phase as soon as possible. Once the content is ready, we will roll out the Open Beta phase, which we are working very hard on.

Q: How many players will be let into Closed Beta 4?

A: There will be 5000, but we will monitor the game as Closed Beta 4 begins, and we might let in more people too.

Q: There are players who are still not satisfied with the design of the various classes announced so far. Why do you think so?

A: We are listening to players and taking their opinions to alter the class designs. Furthermore, players can look forward to a better customization feature when creating their characters. I must stress that we will not be going down the "sexy" design way for our characters, we just want to make them more beautiful and accepted by the gamers.

Q: Have you ever thought of going down the "sexy" design route for the characters?

A: If the players want it, I might change my mind. However, this is only a thought, there are still various levels of organizational structures to go through (but you are the boss!) before confirming anything. This will need time.

Q: What content do you wish payers to pay attention to in Closed Beta 4?

A: Actually there is no specific content which players must take note of. We want players to engage in all the features found, not just concentrating on killing mobs and gaining levels. They should make good use of their time to experience the world.

Q: In the last beta phase, there were negative comments about the user interface (UI). Has this issue been addressed?

A: Yes, we have updated and optimized the user interface and players will get to try it in Closed Beta 4.

Q: Has the housing system been altered? In the previous beta phase, players were building their houses right beside some important in-game buildings.

A: We also pondered on this issue for some time. We are still at odds over whether to limit the number of houses built or increasing the maintenance fee, which will be concluded in the near future.

Q: Will ArcheAge be entering the Open Beta phase after Closed Beta 4?

A: This will depend on the results from Closed Beta 4, there might be another Closed Beta test, and it will also be possible ArcheAge will enter Open Beta next.

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ArcheAge (KR) - Closed Beta 4 official statement

I was just sent an email by the good folks over at XLGAMES, the developer of ArcheAge regarding the announcement of Closed Beta 4 earlier today (link). Here is a small snippet for you guys, as the rest of the email is confidential :) And, please be reminded that it is XLGAMES, not XL Games as I posted in all my previous posts~!

ArcheAge CBT4 test will start on December 8 and
(don't get too surprised)
this test will go as long as 80 days.

CBTs nowdays only go for 5-6 days, but XLGAMES thought that such test period is too short to get detail feedbacks from testers.

SO, ArcheAge CBT4 will go on for 80 days to receive intense and thorough feedback from testers,and will be updated every week during the test period(including content update, bug modification)

In ArcheAge CBT4, the new (third) continent/land will be revealed at last after 5 years of development, along with new race 'Hariharan'.

In the new(third) continent/land players will be able to establish a new country, build castles, and participate in siege warfare with your fellows.

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ArcheAge (KR) - Closed Beta 4 announced

(Korean website) The application for ArcheAge Closed Beta 4 begins today, 8th November till 4th December 2011, with a period of 27 days allocated. XL Games confirmed that 5,000 applicants will be selected for this phase, with the results be announced on 7th December. Before I forget, Closed Beta 4 will begin on 8th December next month and last 80 days.

While the exact details of this phase is currently shrouded in secrecy, the only information known is there are many bugs fixed, the various features including castle building, castle siege are included and players can expect to explore new areas. Once again, ArcheAge will not be in the public area at G*Star 2011, only setting up a booth at the business area.

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[TGC 2011] ArcheAge (CN) - Preparing for the big day

As reported earlier (link), ArcheAge China will be playable at Tencent Games Festival, with a never-played-before PvP mode shown to the public for the very first time as well as established gaming guilds having a PvP tournament there as well. Leading up to the big event, 2 trailers were revealed (the bottom one is for the Korean version), even though their resolutions aren't really excellent.


If you missed out reading this news and are from China, you must apply for the VIP status for ArcheAge China (link). Just look at all the prizes given! Mr Jake Song, the founder of XL Games (ArcheAge's developer and creator of Lineage) will apparently be at Tencent Games Carnival as well according to his Tencent Weibo post below.

Note that ArcheAge will not be having a public booth at G*Star 2011, only hidden at the Business to Business area, hence I guess no new information would be given during this period of time.

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ArcheAge (CN) - Signup for VIP account begins

While it will be a couple of weeks before the new version of ArcheAge is shown at Tencent Games Carnival 2011 (link), the MMO giant has not taken the liberty to invite China gamers to apply for a VIP account for ArcheAge. Registration is done via a lengthy online survey form, phone interviews and a written interview at TGC 2011.

Do note that this is a permanent VIP account event, meaning they will enjoy all the extra perks for free forever. Since the business model is not out for ArcheAge China, I doubt the VIP accounts will get free game time if it is a Pay to Play scheme. Too good to be true? If only this was open to overseas gamers, I would have signed up in a heartbeat...

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ArcheAge (CN) - Playable demo at TGC 2011

As you might have read from my posts earlier this year, Tencent Games will be publishing ArcheAge China next year (link). At the upcoming Tencent Games Carnival 2011 coming next month, the company will be rolling out demo builds for the game at the event grounds. The build will not be one where players just create characters and go kill some monsters for a few minutes though.

A report from China stated that after interviewing the product team for ArcheAge China, this demo build will be showing players what the battle arena will be like in ArcheAge. It will be a 10 Vs 10 PvP battle arena, with the teams with most kills getting some prizes on the spot. Prominent guilds and competitive players are also invited to join the various PvP events during the upcoming event.

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