Analysis: Trion Worlds (ArcheAge)

A 'Wowing' Squandered Potential...

Whereas the original article on this blog was an overall history on a singular developer/publisher, this article will instead be focusing moreso on a publisher's influence ruining the ability for a singular game to properly flourish. 

ArcheAge, back in 2014, was marketed as the game that was finally going to be the 'WoW-Killer'; a game that actually had the potential to uproot the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game World of Warcraft. ArcheAge had many features and customization options that were considered far better than the WoW, as it is known, as well as a beautiful aesthetic value that pioneered a next-gen style for MMORPG's. Developed by XL Games, AA was to be published by Trion Worlds and would have its Public Relations handled by them as well. Trion Worlds, having had experience with MMORPG's in Rift, there was an overall confidence that they could do well and handle the server load that would come with such a well-hyped game.

Problems first arose when players initially noticed a difference between the beta versions of the game and the proper release of the game. On day one, the overall server problems were made apparent with 1000-person plus queue lengths per server as well as initial issues with group-based instances; smaller areas controlled by other dedicated servers. These problems persisted for a few months, but upon their resolution a new issue had developed in the form of 'Apex'.

Trion Worlds, in an attempt to balance the overall economy of the game and give players the ability to get ahead quicker, introduced 'Apex', and therefore, 'Labor' to give a higher incentive to paying in a game that was marketed as being Free-to-Play. 'Labor' forced players to wait real-time hours to properly do tasks that are required for higher level play and 'Apex' granted players less time to regenerate 'Labor' as well as get access to a market where they could sell their accumulated Apexes to get in-game currency for other items.

This cyclical problem only compounded itself as players got more angry and accused Trion Worlds for introducing this system as a cash-grab. Trion Worlds did not acknowledge their new problem and would frequently ban players from forums, despite this problem snowballing into an even larger issue. Player vs. player combat is impossible in the overworld of AA and the 'Apex' problem has persisted throughout their many fresh start servers, as every newly released server becomes a race to spend the most money. Players have abandoned the game in large dumps as Trion Worlds attempts to fix their mishaps piece-meal rather than overhauling their pay system all at once.

Ignorance towards the wanting player base and a refusal to acknowledge their mistakes has lead to scores of sour reviews and squandered potential.