*** In the end, the "social climate" killed it for me. Yet it was still a great adventure. Top 100 World, Top 20 NA Home Server, Top 10 in class home server when we quit. ~ Sinfulness & Celystial ***

I believe this game deserves more well rounded and objective reviews (good or bad). There are quite a bit of over exaggerated "reviews" of issues that people claim the game has. Many of these have been resolved, and or are really more so personal issues for individuals lack of understanding, or inability to understand the game in itself. I rarely leave reviews, and I will update this as time goes on. It will be a snippet for now.

Let me start by first expressing that I was on the fence about buying and playing for numerous reasons, past playtime with AA, reviews, evaluating the steam and discord communities, so forth. I decided after the first month of release I'd jump in. I'm glad I waited, and I'm glad I am now playing with a small handful of real life friends casually and hardcore. That's something I want to stress. You can play this game on an ever changing playstyle spectrum, as an individual and as a team. If you want a deep, complex I certainly enjoy AA:U, I was an original founder for AA (Beta) into release, and I watched the game fall firsthand into the P2W cash shop that is now AA:Legacy. AA:U is a throwback of sorts to the AA (Beta) time period, with many of the additions added into AA:Legcay, WITHOUT the P2W cash shop. However, even with or without a cash shop, AA in general is an absolutely amazing game. It is a game that you as an individual, or with a group of friends can play casually or hardcore on a competition level. I recommend playing the game somewhere in between casual and hardcore and moving up or down as your mood, playstyle, and life allow.

The game offers a very large amount of theme-box content. Expansive crafting system, trading system that hooks into crafting, PvPvE in the form of open world AND instanced land,naval, underwater, and even very limited albeit clunky aerial combat via hang gliders. You can choose to play the game strictly as a trader, crafter, gatherer. Character progression is not just about reaching max level, but also leveling your gear via a gear leveling/upgrading system. I must stress ArcheAge in many ways does NOT stick to certain traditional MMO paths. Such as picking up and equipping gear you find from monsters while leveling. AA:U provides you with gear in the beginning of the game that you will keep and upgrade all the way from 1-55, and from there onward. Any weapons/armor you find along the way pre 55 is primarily to help you make extra coins, occasionally it may be a replacement temporarily until you upgrade your provided gear. You really have to let go of certain traditional thoughts when it comes to AA:U gameplay and treat it as a new system or game in many ways.

I recommend this game to anyone looking for a wonderful theme-sandbox. You can enjoy this game solo, or in a group. However, the game is absolutely tailored to be played with a group (3 player min), and has numerous group only activities (3 player min). Albeit you can play the mass majority of the game solo with higher risks with the same rewards. Still enjoyable none the less.


In the end for $25 it's been well worth 25 hours of my personal time, friends included.
More later. I'd rather be playing than writing.

*** Still going strong and playing daily 12/4/19

For myself and the group of friends I play with, our key to enjoying the game has been to ignore, and avoid the in game chat system. Additionally avoiding any and all interactions with players or groups we feel are negative individuals or entities. Let's face it negativity is infectious. This game is about YOU finding happiness in the game for yourself by your own merits, NOT what someone else deems as fun or happiness for themselves. A lot of people in this game want to project their feelings onto others, and in all honesty if you get caught up in all of that you will absolutely more than likely fall victim to the same negativity many others have fallen into.

The real kicker here is a lot of the issues people are bringing up as negative are exagerated, artificial, and or personal preference or distaste. AA:U is a good, solid systems game. It is only unbalanced by the drive of players, bending rules, and whatever other means people will stretch themselves to in competitive environments. Does this mean that MY gametime is hindered or affected by other players? Absolutely not, unless I want to believe that.

Don't get caught up in the idea of "catch up" or "gear score" or whatever else you see disgruntled individuals griping about. Play this game for you, for yourself. Set your own goals and follow them for your own self enjoyment. If you want to get into this game to socially validate yourself, I recommend you take your time, and money and invest in a good therapist first. I do not mean that to be rude, but rather to address the problems that plague online video games as a whole, which is US the users.

*** In the end, the "social climate" killed it for me. Yet it was still a great adventure. Top 100 World, Top 20 NA Home Server, Top 10 in class home server when we quit. ~ Sinfulness & Celystial *** I believe this game deserves more well rounded and objective reviews (good or bad). There are quite a bit of over exaggerated "reviews" of issues that people claim the game has. Many of these have been resolved, and or are really more so personal issues for individuals lack of understanding, or inability to understand the game in itself. I rarely leave reviews, and I will update this as time goes on. It will be a snippet for now. Let me start by first expressing that I was on the fence about buying and playing for numerous reasons, past playtime with AA, reviews, evaluating the steam and discord communities, so forth. I decided after the first month of release I'd jump in. I'm glad I waited, and I'm glad I am now playing with a small handful of real life friends casually and hardcore. That's something I want to stress. You can play this game on an ever changing playstyle spectrum, as an individual and as a team. If you want a deep, complex I certainly enjoy AA:U, I was an original founder for AA (Beta) into release, and I watched the game fall firsthand into the P2W cash shop that is now AA:Legacy. AA:U is a throwback of sorts to the AA (Beta) time period, with many of the additions added into AA:Legcay, WITHOUT the P2W cash shop. However, even with or without a cash shop, AA in general is an absolutely amazing game. It is a game that you as an individual, or with a group of friends can play casually or hardcore on a competition level. I recommend playing the game somewhere in between casual and hardcore and moving up or down as your mood, playstyle, and life allow. The game offers a very large amount of theme-box content. Expansive crafting system, trading system that hooks into crafting, PvPvE in the form of open world AND instanced land,naval, underwater, and even very limited albeit clunky aerial combat via hang gliders. You can choose to play the game strictly as a trader, crafter, gatherer. Character progression is not just about reaching max level, but also leveling your gear via a gear leveling/upgrading system. I must stress ArcheAge in many ways does NOT stick to certain traditional MMO paths. Such as picking up and equipping gear you find from monsters while leveling. AA:U provides you with gear in the beginning of the game that you will keep and upgrade all the way from 1-55, and from there onward. Any weapons/armor you find along the way pre 55 is primarily to help you make extra coins, occasionally it may be a replacement temporarily until you upgrade your provided gear. You really have to let go of certain traditional thoughts when it comes to AA:U gameplay and treat it as a new system or game in many ways. I recommend this game to anyone looking for a wonderful theme-sandbox. You can enjoy this game solo, or in a group. However, the game is absolutely tailored to be played with a group (3 player min), and has numerous group only activities (3 player min). Albeit you can play the mass majority of the game solo with higher risks with the same rewards. Still enjoyable none the less. In the end for $25 it's been well worth 25 hours of my personal time, friends included. More later. I'd rather be playing than writing. *** Still going strong and playing daily 12/4/19 For myself and the group of friends I play with, our key to enjoying the game has been to ignore, and avoid the in game chat system. Additionally avoiding any and all interactions with players or groups we feel are negative individuals or entities. Let's face it negativity is infectious. This game is about YOU finding happiness in the game for yourself by your own merits, NOT what someone else deems as fun or happiness for themselves. A lot of people in this game want to project their feelings onto others, and in all honesty if you get caught up in all of that you will absolutely more than likely fall victim to the same negativity many others have fallen into. The real kicker here is a lot of the issues people are bringing up as negative are exagerated, artificial, and or personal preference or distaste. AA:U is a good, solid systems game. It is only unbalanced by the drive of players, bending rules, and whatever other means people will stretch themselves to in competitive environments. Does this mean that MY gametime is hindered or affected by other players? Absolutely not, unless I want to believe that. Don't get caught up in the idea of "catch up" or "gear score" or whatever else you see disgruntled individuals griping about. Play this game for you, for yourself. Set your own goals and follow them for your own self enjoyment. If you want to get into this game to socially validate yourself, I recommend you take your time, and money and invest in a good therapist first. I do not mean that to be rude, but rather to address the problems that plague online video games as a whole, which is US the users.