ArcheAge

Now that we know ArcheAge is in fact heading West at some point, I no longer feel bad about discussing the game at every opportunity. Prior to E3, any mention of XL's sandbox and its ginormous feature list felt a little like twisting the knife, you know?

Happily, though, that's no longer the case, and I've spent the last couple of days gorging myself on some of the best ArcheAge footage the web has to offer. Some of these clips you may have seen already; some may be new to you. All are worth a(nother) look, though, if only to see just how much gameplay is coming your way courtesy of the genre's most exciting new sandbox.

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For sandbox fans in the Western part of the globe, watching the development of ArcheAge is a bittersweet experience: sweet that a game with so many coveted features is being developed, but bitter that the game is only launching in the East for now. But XL Games has indicated that a Western launch is not so much an "if" as a "when." To that end, the studio is seeking information on North American and European demographics through a short survey posted on Facebook.

The information garnered from responses may be used to shape decisions concerning ArcheAge in the NA and EU markets. Fans can also give their email address to receive information about the game in the future.

[Thanks to Halldorr for the tip!]

Fan site ArcheAge Source has unearthed a new interview with ArcheAge creator Jake Song. The translation from the original Korean is a little rough, but there are still plenty of fascinating nuggets awaiting the patient reader.

The forthcoming beta phase will see the existing game world "complemented by huge expanses of ocean." This isn't just for show, as Song says that eventually "oceans will allow players to find new employment, for example extraction, preparation, and delivery of seafood." Sea battles are also mentioned, as are "player-built maritime residences." How this relates to the previously announced underwater gameplay isn't clear, nor is it a given that we'll see all of this in CBT5, but ArcheAge's sprawling open world certainly looks to be putting the "massively" back into massively multiplayer.

There's more to the interview, including bits on action combat and a clarification on Song's previous remarks regarding console games. Hit the link below for the full translation.

[Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]

Massively Speaking Episode 204 seeks to put a cap on the whole E3 2012 experience. It was a wild week full of news and reveals both big and small, and Massively was on hand for it all. To help us conduct a proper post-mortem, we brought back Jef to give us his first-hand analysis of the entire experience.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!

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Read below the cut for the full show notes.

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This is one of those good news/bad news ArcheAge articles. The good news is that XLGAMES' sandpark title is absolutely coming to the West. The bad news, though, is that we still don't know exactly when.

XL didn't have an official presence at this year's E3, but the firm was kind enough to set up a private interview with COO Suk Woo Choi away from the hustle and bustle of convention ground zero. We talked at length about CBT4, game systems, and the challenges inherent in localizing ArcheAge for Europe and America.

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Although the publishing agreement with GameOn for the service of ArcheAge in Japan was actually signed in 2009 (according to February 25th's press release about Simplygon), details of the company's plans for the game just recently became clear: GameOn's parent company, NeoWiz, aims to distribute and support ArcheAge using a revived social gaming platform called Pmang combined with GameOn.

It's not exactly the announcement Western ArcheAge fans want to hear most, but the news that the game will be published in Japan is definitely a step in the right direction; adding yet another country gives hope that the market will continue to expand, perhaps finally to North America and Europe. Also fanning the flames of hope is talk that NeoWiz may take the platform worldwide. We have our fingers crossed!

[Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]

ArcheAge's CBT4 ended a couple months ago, and XLGAMES has been busy putting the information gathered to use. To showcase changes and improvements made during the break between CBT4 and CBT5, the studio has planned a series of videos. The first video in this series highlights the transformation of one starting area, Rainbow Fields; once described as empty and flat, this region is now populated with more buildings, has a more diverse landscape, and sports improved weather effects.

Although there is still no official word on ArcheAge being released to the western market, sandbox hopefuls can check out the latest improvements after the break.

[Thanks to Sandboxer for the tip!]

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Tencent Games has released a new ArcheAge trailer that's one of the more enthralling clips we've seen in a while. It runs for just under two minutes and it features a plethora of fly-through landscape shots, boss monsters, a wee bit of combat, and a stirring soundtrack.

Why Tencent Games instead of XLGAMES? Because Tencent is publishing the fantasy sandbox in China, and the aforementioned trailer is meant to endear the game to the huge number of MMO players that make up the Chinese market. European and American release plans for ArcheAge are still unknown, so commiserate with us by gazing wistfully at the full clip after the cut.

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Well, the bad news is that there's still no sign of ArcheAge coming to the western market anytime soon. The good news is that you can now treat your ears to a portion of the fantasy sandpark's soundtrack.

ArcheAge's official Korean website has made nine tracks available for your downloading pleasure, including several of the game's racial themes as well as the music from a few different in-game locales. A helpful chap on the ArcheAge Source forums has posted translations for all the track titles, and while this certainly isn't all of the music available in XLGAMES' sprawling fantasy epic, it may just tide you over for a bit.

XLGAMES' new fantasy sandbox is a big deal in its native Korea, of course, but it's also looking to turn a few heads in the Chinese market. ArcheAge has a strong presence at this week's Tencent media event, and XL has revealed that its devs are working on a new "main city" that features Chinese culture and architecture inspirations.

Additional Chinese-themed content is coming in the "near future," according to MMO Culture, and it will include costumes, dungeons, maps, and events. ArcheAge recently closed the book on its fourth Korean closed beta test; XL's upcoming CBT5 phase will coincide with the first Chinese beta.

After 95 days of intense testing, ArcheAge has put an end to the game's fourth closed beta and is evaluating the results in preparation for the next round. XLGAME's Jake Song said to the press that over 2,000 pieces of feedback were gathered from the event and most all of them were directly addressed by the team.

ArcheAge's fourth closed beta test expanded the game significantly. Three land regions, four sea zones, siege warfare, pirates, an auction house, the Kraken, and the new Hariharan race were added for players to try out. The team also improved the look of the Ferre race and clarity during character creation. During the event, XLGAMES incorporated a Footprint system into the game that would "mark" a trespasser who attempted to steal another player's resources, such as cutting down trees.

One new feature was removed, however. The team had a combustible liquor barrel in the game but yanked it when griefers threw it into the middle of a wedding ceremony and killed everyone.

As the devs put a wrap on closed beta four, Jake Song says that they're hard at work preparing for the fifth test. Before that happens, however, the team will attempt to fix many of the bugs that popped up during the last test, improve client downloading speeds, and incorporate instant dungeons and housing improvements.

ArcheAge's fourth Korean closed beta test is officially in the books, and XLGAMES has released a few noteworthy numbers from the three-month event. The test began on December 8th (that's a whopping 95 days ago if you're counting at home) and saw the creation of 173 guilds, the building of 3,400 houses, and the planting of 2,200,000 trees.

Players also bought (and sold) 130,000 livestock, 750,000 pine trees, and 660,000 strawberries, according to Korean news site ThisIsGame. CBT4 featured over 40 patches that introduced several new systems to the ArcheAge client, among them siege warfare, the family system, the pirate system, and aquaculture.

"We deeply appreciate the testers who participated [in] the long test of [an] incomplete game," said XL's Yong-Gon Kim. "Later schedule[s] [will] be announced as soon as we finish reviewing the test." Western fans are hoping these upcoming announcements will include some sort of English-speaking beta but thus far XL has been silent on the matter.

Who would have thought that something as mundane as tractors could get us so excited? And yet ArcheAge does exactly that, as a new video from the closed beta shows off the latest model of drivable tractors, useful in both field irrigation and cargo hauling. Players are shown spraying down fields with a forward-facing nozzle, resulting in the quick growth of plants.

In addition to the zen and art of tractor pulling, this video briefly highlights several other aspects of this gorgeous game. It illuminates the creation and use of a trebuchet in castle sieges, underwater exploration, housing decorations, and painstakingly animated dragon-lion mounts.

While the video may not be in English, it's still a drop of cool water in the mouths of fans thirsty for this upcoming MMO. You can check out all of the lush goodness after the break.

[Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]

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Fancy being a pirate in the fantasy world of ArcheAge? You can, and all it takes is a ship and a crew of your best mates.

A new player-made video shows off the game's naval combat potential, and the clip is basically three minutes of jaw-dropping PvP action. There's plenty of carnage courtesy of player-manned ship cannons and destructible hulls, and we can also see combatants crossing swords on the decks of enemy ships (if you look closely you'll catch a glimpse of a player using a hang-glider to travel from one ship to the next).

The video also gives us a good look at ArcheAge's functional ship rigging, and you can see players unfurling sails, interacting with various ship controls, and even climbing a mast to the crow's nest. Check it out after the break.

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XLGAMES continues to roll out the interesting video clips for ArcheAge, and the latest such features a look at the sandpark title's underwater environments. While the game's oceans and waterways are quite beautiful when viewed from the deck of a ship, there's a whole new playfield that awaits gamers under the sea.

The video shows off shipwrecks, resource gathering, and underwater fishing, and we're betting there are plenty of nautical monsters to hunt as well. Did we mention the retro dive helmets and scuba gear? See for yourself after the cut.

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