https://archeage.playkakaogames.com/news/
Some of the information regarding the account transfer process replicates the information previously provided by Gamigo. It also covers the actual application process (time sensitive for at least the next several months until an actual end date is announced), and provides a FAQ (similar to the one that Gamigo posted). The following covers Unchained since legacy is left mostly as is with its free-to-play business model, with an optional Patron subscription.
This news article however covers more details about the subscription, as well as the changes being made to the ArchePass (and the items and their associated Manastorm Crystal costs). The buy to play purchase goes away completely. You can only play your account with this subscription. At base minimum, anyone who previously purchased the game will get the first 90 days for free (there seems to be no adjustment for the three different tiers of packs). With the two DLC purchases, that means up to 180 days for free. The 30 extra days is because every old and new account has 30 days worth of free trial period.
If new accounts are not labor limited in any way, that is going to be a huge mess for the fresh start server because it amounts to free labor. Additionally, Kakao is making the same mistake as Gamigo by not requiring an actual new account for the fresh start server. There is the issue of total character slots; right now, we’re at 4 max total which means they’ll need to increase it to 5 (I believe the client is currently capped at 6 slots).
UPDATE: Per an addendum to the FAQ, character slots WILL NOT BE INCREASED.
This isn’t an issue for me since I’m not going to play on the fresh start anyway. But it’s a decision that reveals how Kakao’s staff aren’t close to being dialed in to the game. Not increasing the slots means those who already have all existing slots filled, will need to delete a character. Deletion time scales with character level; a character below level 10 takes 10 minutes to be removed as an example. A character level 30 and higher however takes 7 days. This was done to prevent collecting some of the rewards during that journey, deleting a character, and then immediately repeating this process.
A table shows the type of items (and costs) that can be purchased with Manastorm Crystals. Most of the costs are comparable to what they were in Diligence (some cheaper, some more expensive, some around the same). Some items also have a purchase limit (like costume, instrument, furniture, music chests, and some housing designs).
The biggest issue that Unchained will face however is the lack of new content that justifies a monthly subscription. XLGAMES priority is ArcheAge 2 (ArcheAge and Unchained literally have a skeleton crew devoted to it by XL). Everyone will have the first 90-180 days to determine if they will continue paying after their free time expires. That means Kakao Games will be under a microscope to deliver a mostly positive experience on a large variety of fronts. That honestly is going to be rough for them because ArcheAge in general no longer has a large player population. A community manager also mentioned they’ll be evaluating that situation (probably sending out player surveys to gather feedback). The way they haven’t really thought out the fresh start (right from the get go with even new accounts getting 30 days free trial that don’t seem to be labor limited in any way), I can see this turning into some pretty bad feedback once the initial fun of the fresh start is over (which happens within the first 60-90 days).
Basically, this is a franchise that has “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” written all over it mainly because of how badly Trion Worlds (the original NA/EU publisher) handled it. And even though Gamigo ended acquiring Trion’s assets, the same key personnel who managed the game at Trion (like Khrolan and Tinen), were retained by Gamigo; effectively the status quo. That is why it felt like “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” where I said this exact thing when Unchained was first announced, and waffled until the very end of the pre-order to give money to Gamigo (knowing even back then how bad they were). This time around, none of those Trion holdovers are associated with the ArcheAge franchise for NA/EU (unless they decide to try and move over to Kakao; at which point, that would be a clear red flag warning to not fall for it again).
Kakao and XL are pushing to make a single global client (on par with the KR release). That right there is a red flag because some stuff really does need to be adjusted for the western audience. Another thing is that content updates are already sparse for the Korean version. That means they can no longer do the “drag out the content” tactic that normally accompanies these western cash grabs. Let’s be brutally frank; XL’s main thing is to milk AA as much as possible while developing AA2. They aren’t going to gain an epiphany and start throwing more resources at AA and AAU. Kakao Games as majority stakeholder in XL has the same motive, and is one filler for having lost BDO to its developer, Pearl Abyss (Elyon is their other filler that lost its earning potential by being a bland, generic, uninspiring title after being excised of most of the original aerial and steampunk design).
So this is how I am going into this: I’ll effectively have 90 days of free time (I didn’t buy either DLC). My main thing in AAU has been primarily about properties and 3D farmville. Essentially, it’s not the combat side of the game. My main account has a ton of decor while my second account has far less since I never bought any credits on it. That 2nd account was made for additional honor, vocation, labor, and land. With buy to play, it was a very low cost win. But I’m definitely not going to sub that account after my free time expires (it doesn’t make any sense).
As for my main account, extending the sub will depend on how well Kakao (and XL) handles the game. And I’ve already preemptively telegraphed that it likely won’t be much different. The per month cost is still low for the level of entertainment I get from just tending to a set of properties (which will be much smaller without the other account). But that’s not the main point. If that portion of the game I do enjoy, becomes less enjoyable, why stick around? That aspect is going to be the main driver and will depend on what I can get back on just my main account with the land rush (which will be a mess given three existing servers merging into one). If that ends up being a shit show (high probability it will since every nook and cranny will be filled with 8×8 tents), it will make it really easy to tap out (no sunk cost fallacy for me).
That’s the issue Kakao Games will be running into by going down the path of fresh starts (which will quickly depopulate after 90 days) and the eventual mergers; the constantly annoying upheaval with properties. That’s why it is better to just eliminate fresh starts, and give those folks who enjoy the early game play progression, seasonal servers instead (where they aren’t merged back to the existing server). The player receives a set of rewards depending on their progression, which they can claim back on the main server, and can on occasion, have that character transferred back to the main server (so long as they have enough slots). That’s a reason why the game has a player retention problem where each version of the game in both NA/EU have been distilled down to a single “integrated” server. For Unchained, the sub only aspect will likely turn into an issue down the road if they lose a good fraction of players after the free period ends. Because I know I am not the only one who will simply walk away at that point.
