ArcheAge

ArcheAge? ArcheAge.

stargrace December 7, 2014 No Comments

What ever happened to ArcheAge? It released not even three full  months ago, and already there are far less players than when I first started out. Since I still have patron access thanks to being a beta supporter, and a friend was talking up the game over the weekend, and I actually had time to game for once, I decided why not explore once again. I had previously lost most of my desire to play when the guild I was in decided to implode due to a whole lot of drama. This time around I was starting fresh on a new server, and though I miss my old ‘mains’ (a lot, I really wish we had character transfers) at least there were some good friends around.

I’m nearing level 19 at the moment, and managed to find a spot for my small farm right away. Prices for items have skyrocketed to a degree that I would have never guessed. Just last month APEX were selling for 40 gold, those are now 200 gold. 16×16 plots of land were 300-500 gold, and those are now 1200-2000 gold depending on location. Even the 8×8 plots of land are going for huge amounts of gold, and it seems like only a small percent of the population controls the housing areas. I would still love to see all patrons be granted 1 16×16 and 1 8×8 – and then leave open spaces where people could battle for extra land. In any case, I was glad to get my small piece. I’m not sure what the chances are for me ever obtaining a 16×16 (especially not if I have to pay for it) but the 8×8 will suit me for now. Instead of picking up on a specific craft, I have just been harvesting and selling my goods on the AH. I’ve got a nice little store of coin, and I’m hoping that as I level up I can make use of that for gear and weapons.

I started out as a daggerspell, but at level 17 I decided I wasn’t really enjoying myself and I swapped over to a templar which has been my class of choice so far. I completed a few trade runs, and things are very much as they were when I stopped playing approximately a month ago (aside from the rise in prices). How long I stick things out this time will depend on a number of things (like how long my friends are around for) but I wouldn’t play at all if I didn’t have at least some fun doing it. I enjoy the world and the quests, I just don’t enjoy the mad property dash that seems to dictate every action in the game.

No House? No Problem.

stargrace October 4, 2014 2 Comments

Even a few weeks into the game, on Naima (my server of choice) finding 16×16 plots, or larger, is still difficult. That being said, I have spotted a LOT of 8×8 plots, so I imagine that with time and a bit of luck, maybe the larger ones will open up.

In the meantime all is not lost! I decided to give up the hunt for a 16×16 plot for a while, and found a solution that works great. I decided since my alt is a tailor, and I’m constantly running to machines / mailboxes, I would buy a design for a private loom (your alts can also access it). The design was 30 gold, so I used cash instead of gilda, as I’m still saving those up for a future project. The materials to build this were far cheaper than what I would have needed for a house, requiring only 1 fabric pack and one stone pack. Done and done. The best part? You can place housing items on these lots. Behind my loom is a storage chest (you can have two of them), and a mailbox out front. With my farm close by, there’s no real need to have a 16×16 house taking up real-estate. The only down side is the fact that these small gazebo-esc homes don’t come equipped with a fireplace to port ‘home’ to, so you may want to build relatively close to one or have a friend close by who has a fire you can create the port to.

Plus they just look really neat.

Crafting Gear, and Adventure Time

stargrace October 1, 2014 1 Comment

I decided to splurge, and made myself a set of level 30 plate armor, along with a new shield and weapon. Crafting is expensive – unless you farm everything yourself, and if you farm everything yourself, it’s lengthy. I rarely have labor since I use it all for crafting, and I now see why people tend to focus on just one craft at a time.

Unfortunately I have never been good at that.

Blesse, my main, is almost level 38. I had my first taste of PVP zones, as my quests took me to Cindermoor. Despite the fact that it was war time I only had one incident, and that was from a same faction player who decided to bloodlust on me. I’m not much of an opponent when compared to a level 50 player, and I was in combat with mobs at the time as well, so I doubt they got that much satisfaction from the ordeal. I didn’t let it deter me though, I went on my way and continued to quest once reviving at the statue.

I’d like to reach level 40 (and of course 50) within the next few days, but I have a pretty bad cold, so we’ll see how that goes. I keep hunting for a thunderstruck tree, but haven’t had any luck. I think I’m going to save mine for a future project instead of trying to get a farm tractor.

Property wise I am doing alright with 1 small house, 1 16×16 farm and 1 8×8 farm. I would love to own a larger home at some point, but I’m not going to hold my breath, and I’m content with my current set up. What I need to do (again, I have mentioned this before) is focus my efforts. So far that is easier said than done, at least for me.

Jury Duty

stargrace September 28, 2014 2 Comments

At level 30 you’ll be presented with a short series of quests from the honor NPC that awards you with the ability to serve on jury duty. Perform this task 5 times and you’ll get a cloak opened up to you. So far I’ve served on jury duty twice, with my third time upcoming at the time of this post. Jury duty is neat and annoying all at once. The quests to qualify were simple enough, you get to solve a murder mystery and do a bit of running around.

Then comes the longest part of jury duty, the waiting. You automatically wait in a queue (which you can turn off in options by auto declining jury duty) with your peers while players go to trial. There’s even a courthouse, where others can watch the proceedings (in fact it’s bugged right now, if you sit in a pew you won’t get kicked from the AFK timer).

A queue for jury duty only moves as fast or slow as the server does. On the weekend I’m often at 1500-1800 players ahead of me, which can easily take 8-12 hours to reach the front of. If you’re used to shorter play sessions (I tend to semi afk while I farm and do things on my other monitor) you may not ever see jury duty until the queue of jury members drops a bit. It’s also based on how many people happen to have crime points and how many of that group is engaging in PvP and getting killed. Remember the only time you’ll actually get sent to prison is if you have 50+ crime points and you get killed in PvP. I’m not a fan of this system because it promotes players to using lower level characters to grief, where they’re safe within the beginner zones. Evetually they’ll earn their 3,000 infamy and become pirates, but it takes some time.

The jury duty process itself is pretty neat. You’re presented with a screen of infractions from the player, complete with their personal details such as how much time they have spent in jail total, how many times they have appeared before the court, what guild they’re in, etc. All of these details help determine what judgement you want to pass. When the jury members have been ported to their seats, the defendant has time to voice their case. Most of the time it’s just simple jokes or insults because hey this is an MMO after all, but every so often you’ll recognize that a player is innocent. You’ll be presented with a selection of judgement options to choose from, make your selection, hear the verdict, and then get ported back to where ever you came from. Pretty simple.

The penalties for crimes are pretty lenient. Pirates who have been there many times before may face longer jail times (the most I have seen someone sentenced to so far has been 4 hours) but over all I like the system. Plus it’s just plain fun.