Scott Hartsmann, CEO of Trion Worlds opened up in an interview about the challenges of taking an F2P MMO from East to West, and what will set ArcheAge apart from so many others in the genre.
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"[S]ocially acceptable free to play in China is radically different from socially acceptable free to play in the west", says Hartsmann in an interview with Forbes. "If you look at what's happened with some Korean games, what a Western [audience] would call grindy an Eastern audience would call relaxing. It's just two different perspectives."
Hartsmann goes on to emphasize the emergent gameplay in ArcheAge's sandbox world: "In ArcheAge, for instance, you have your faction - unless you become a pirate, in which case you get evicted from your faction. You have your guild, where you can build and attack keeps, and defend others' keeps. You have your alliance - a group of guilds working together. And at the other end of the scale you have a small number of close friends that you can call your family. Those are all social constructs built into the game. Players who lean more towards PvE will want those, but PVP players will need them. [In EVE Online] there's a universe out there, and all of the stories and the drama come from what the players are doing to and with each other. We've seen that in our alpha. It took mere hours from the time the alpha started for players to start screwing each other over, with other players rushing to their defence."
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And what of the F2P "pay-to-win" worries some players might (rightfully) have?
"Nothing is required from our preorder stuff - you'll be able to come into the game and play it and have a fantastic experience. It's not nerfed, it's not downgraded. But if you're a supporter, you'll definitely have some extra things to play with. [And] that's OK!"
The interview also mentions that players will have a subscription option with "benefits every month, and in-game purchases."
If you're interested in signing up for the ArcheAge beta, or buy a Founder's Pack for immediate access, check out the official site.
