[pathosgray]

I didn't have much time to translate them, but here is one. I am working on the second one. Right now, I am working from the least important to the most important (I know, naughty right? ;D) so it'll be a while before something actually noteworthy will come out. But at the same time, I'll also organize the information I've gathered as well as rumors.


Translations;
Warning: I Americanized the translation as it is hard to find certain expressions in English language that exists in Korean. Also it'd end up being a horrible run-on...


Overview of 4th CBT

Spoiler

The final test for Archeage has arrived.
This test is 4th Closed Beta test and is focused around the testers chosen by the XL Games and the previous testers. Also various new contents will be revealed, and as previous CBT for Archeage did, will present new challenges and features (could also be read as attempts).
With the 4th CBT ahead, Jake Song looks back on the challenges he had faced.
When the first generation MMORPG developer Jake Song; 2009: Kingdom of the wind, Lineage, and etc., declared that he would develop a new MMORPG, Korean game industry begin to react. They were expecting the new generation of MMORPG and the changes as well as challenges it would create.
Jake Song was always captivated by Steve Jobs’ mind set. It was probably because the change in IT industry’s trends and new future is something that Jake Song wanted to achieve in Korea’s online game industry.

But Jake Song did not just push for new change. He did add new contents with various possibilities that pushed for chance, but he said that his goal was to create a game that gamers who were used to previous MMORPG would be satisfied with. As such, Jake Song stressed repeatedly that Archeage is not a game that is completely new and different from previous MMORPGs. He explained that Archeage is a game that used the familiar MMORPG as a frame and put changes and challenges on it.
At 12/31/2009, XLGames first revealed screenshots of Archeage. It represented their goal of holding a test at 2010 and would begin a new challenge starting at 2010.

The market’s reaction was more then expected. Popular search engines begin to register Archeage and Jake Song in the most searched list as the ‘father of MMORPG’ has come back. Also the game scenario, which included both Western and Eastern fantasy elements, was created in-joint with Minhi (?) who wrote the popular series Children of the Rune which caused excitement.
The Archeage website, revealed later on, did not use flash and as the result, was accessible from multiple platforms. It also created a difference compared to other game homepages by following the widely spreading social networking trend and communicated closely with the gamers. It shows well of Jake Song’s will to create a game that included gamer’s thoughts as well.

Archeage’s first CBT was from 7/22/2010 to 7/25/2010. It was composed of only 200 testers and many gamers had high expectations and interest for the game. As the result, many gamers gathered to the homepage to join the CBT, especially those that enjoyed Jake Song’s previous games.

In the first CBT, Archeage presented housing system with ‘Labor Points’ system Incorporated into it. Labor Points is necessary for production and the more people working on it, the faster the housing is completed. As it requires teamwork, it is a system that shows well of melting community into MMORPG.

In the 2CBT, they added the boats on top of housing system and allowed the crafted boats to have a naval battle. Gamers questioned the meaning and the possibility of building boats and having naval battles in MMORPG. Jake Song built many systems that allowed gamers to do many things as possible within the Archeage world, the boat, traveling by boat to discover new land/island, and naval battles were just one example. Archeage does not place meaning in one action nor results but looks at the infinite possibilities created by the underlying ‘freedom’.
But as it is such, there were also many problems that rose. As the tests were different gamers who were used to previous online games begin to complain about the battle, quest, and etc. content’s in-completion. Jake tried to use CBT to present new contents and watch gamer’s reactions, but gamers who were more used to CBTs being used as a marketing strategy voiced that the contents lacked in completion.

As the result, 3CBT raised up the completion of many contents and tried new contents, but didn’t get such a favorable response from the gamers. The variety of new contents and the possibilities were agreed on, but the basis of MMORPG; battle and character movement, was lacking according to the gamers.

So Jake Song decided, based on gamer’s opinions, to push back the date for CBT. Archeage has declared that they would being 4CBT at fall and open beta at the end of the year, but they choose instead to add onto what was lacking and open the 4CBT at the end of the year.

It is known that 4CBT has made many improvements in character movements and battle. For this alone, famous developers were hired and the date for the test has also been pushed back. We expect that in this 4CBT there will be improvements from before as well as even more new contents.

Also for this CBT, information was released that there will be methods and challenges that were not tried in previous MMORPGs in which as the result, gamers are excited about.

A game expert in Korea stated, “Jake Song’s Archeage’s 4CBT will be held soon. From this test, we will be able to see the world Archeage is aiming for. Also as it is trying tests in methods that previous MMORPGs could not decide on, the industry too is interested in Archeage.”

Graphics and Etc.

Spoiler

Archeage created a stir from the beginning. Unlike other games that showed the character, world, and system, it merely showed a single screen shot. A so-called jack pot has went off.

There was also the name value of Jake Song, but the realistic picture-like graphic and spectasular effects led to a question of if it was an actual and accurate screenshot of Archeage. Time passed and now, after 3CBT, no users hold question about the graphic being real or not.

Thinking about it, Archeage’s interactive based background alone makes it different from other existing games. If Minhe made the world, then we met those that broughtforth this world into the ‘reality’. /ThisisGame reporter Jung, WoChul

- Graphics team that makes the world of Archeage

When Archage was first revealed, there was a lot of talk about the screenshot. There was a conflict between if it was actual game graphics or concept shot.

Yang, Jong Guen (YJG), leader of background graphics team: It was an actual screen shot in which effects from the art style we aimed for was applied to. Designing background and world according to game’s concept is creating a gigantic seamless world. Within the world, we focused on reality. We also used CryEngine to the fullest. CryEngine’s best aspect is the outdoor rendering. So it could also be said that it is also thanks to such powerful engine.

Archeage was developed in CryEngine2 but now it is being changed to CryEngine 3. There should be a lot of effect on graphics.

YJG: The changing of engines is an important problem. In the converting process, the graphic is definitely improving. But the essence is not changing. CryEngine 2 highlighted the visual picture, but CryEngine 3 puts more focus on optimization. In another words, right now the changing of engine is focused more on optimization rather then graphical improvement.

Looking at it now, there is a difference between the world and background parts. What is the difference exactly?

Ji, Hwa Baum (JHB), world parts team leader: Previous games didn’t have such large world so there was a single background team that did both creation of objects as well as decorating the world. But Archeage’s world is so large and there is also a lot of object resources. So we divided the teams to fit the need.
It’s easier to understand to think that world part team decorates a land that is finished otherwise. We arrange the resources created from the object team to create an ‘area’.

It feels as if there are certain areas in which careful attention is put into.

Seen, Choung Sik (SCS) Background team leader: In the beginning, we focused on creating a background that fit into the concept. Now that most of the world background has been designed, there is a decrease of objects we must put in for the sake of scenario. The concept Minhe has created also includes parts in which scenario part and level part controled and changed slightly.

YJG: Minhe does make the game scenario, but there are certain aspects that is hard to express during actual game making. We try to express most, but there are aspects where we just have to cut off because it is not possible.

In the process of making background, the team must consider the objects, such as housing and castles, that the users will add. This may cause cases in which there many not be uniformity and/or look good compared to environment...

YJG: If you look at the world scenario, there is a lot of various races and designs relating to their cultures. In the process of making these, we tie some parts together or decrease the parts where it does not fit in. Instead of chosing uniformity, we chose combining variety.

In Archeage, you can cut a tree or climb it. Is there a seperate work that must be done?

Sung, Gi Baum (SGB) Object part team leader: To be honest, a lot more needs to be done in comparison to other games. Using tree as an example, we make the seedling to fully grown tree, tree that has been cut, and the steps of cutting the tree. We even have to make the fruits separately.

This also applies to the housing system. We have to make each process of constructing and also of destruction. Again for the trees, there was one person who made the trees for an entire year so we called her Mrs. Tree. Ah... The castle that was shown recently in the video was created by Mrs. Tree. She is not making something other then trees. (Laugh)

YJG: There is a lot of resources that must be within a single object, so it’s hard to increase the types. We must think about how users will enjoy the game while developing. In case of housing, ‘how must customizing do we give to the user’s so that they will be able to distinguish themselves?’ is the thought that we think and worry about the most.

I heard that there was a lot of cases when CEO Jake Song requests things suddenly and out of nowhere. What was the request that was the most troubling? Such as the request for escaping prison with a spoon?

YJG: The idea for digging out of prison by using spoon came from another person, not CEO Jake Song. The way ideas are thrown and chosen to be made is similar to other developers as well. If we agree on it, then we make it no matter how hard it is.

Though the process might be hard, if the result is satisfying then we have fun while working. There is a lot of elements like such being readied and will be applied soon. There is also different things other then spoon waiting in prison.

Areas are expressed by the weather and geographical features. For example, in ocean there is expressive environment effect such as sun set and rain, but on land there is only change of night and day.

YJG: Actually, the environmental effect is applied on both the land and ocean. It both has the same speed of time. But the effects gets covered by other effects in various areas. For example, in the mountains, the time flow is the same but it feels as if the sun sets much more quickly compared to other places.

It is because at ocean, there is no objects covering anything so it is easier to see sunset, but at mountainous areas sunset gets covered by the mountain’s shadows and etc. That is why it cannot be seen.


-New continent, the third continent is a place of fantasy.


It is now time for the third continent to appear. It is a large area compared to the two existing continents, is there objects and environments that can only be seen in the third continent?


SCS: If possible, we want to show the something new. In the other two continents, there are familiar environments such as desert. This is because we tried to make something special based on the weather and environment.

But the third continent, unlike the other original concept, is being created to fit into the fantasy environment. We are trying to make it so that it can hold many game systems, such as exploring and siege.

So is it safe to view the third continent’s concept as a fantasy world?

YJG: The third continent is located between Nuia and Harihara continent and we are following Minhe’s concepts.

The novel describes it as the main stage of events that took place 2000 years ago. The 2000 years have passed and because of some reason, the third continent has changed and been damaged.

Because of this state of damaged and etc. we decided it as an area where user’s can declare land ownership and siege. There is a factor that the land becomes purified as the result, but we don’t really know how it will be displayed in visual.

We are trying to show the reason for the world’s creation, and reactions to actions in a strange world. We want to show the world changing.

SCS: The largest event took place in the third continent and it starts during the age in which discoveries of gods and soul makes known as the races living on the continent becomes extinct. Then 2000 years later the survivors move onto live on Harihara and Nuia continent and forget about the third continent. Then they find the continent again by chance and see the source of power in there.

Right now, the concept is that users explore the area and advance it. We put in concept of this is my land and that is another’s land in order to encourage siege.

Looking back, there are also steam punk elements, such as goggles, flying ships, etc., along side the typical fantasy concept. What is the time of the concept?

YJG: Archeage’s concept for time varies. I remember when we held a concept meeting with a world map in front of us. We discussed certain location’s culture and the likes. So you can say that Archeage’s cultures originate from our Earth.

In another worlds, you can see it as a small mini version of Earth. Far East, Middle East, Polar area, they all have different cultures that fit their environment. Nui contienent, which Nuians have take over, have a lot of middle age European details. In Harihara, due to influence from Hariharans, there is more focus on Asian cultures.

But one thing for sure is that it is definitely not steam punk. We tried to take the steampunk factor out of various mounts, flying ships, carriage, and etc. For the gliders, we used Leonardo Da Vinci’s sketch as an example and tried to make it so that is could possibly work in real life as well.

There is no difference in boats and housing yet. In the contents that are to be added, castles, gliders, clothes, weapons, and etc. do you plan on putting the cultural difference?

YJG: It is a process that is constantly being adjusted. This is because not all systems in Archeage has been complete.

So as the system advances, there may be a lot of change. But in essence, there will be a style difference between Nuia and Harihara continents.

-World with difference, but harmonious in details.

Race’s different contents, such as Nuan is Western and Hariharan is Eastern, is important, but it is also important that is does not conflict with each other. Is there anything you are thinking of?

YJG: It’s the part I worry about the most. If the details conflict too much, then it feels as if it is not a single game. The difference architectures of different races have their own color, but should the players advance as play patterns are led to, then they can come in contact with these cultures naturally.

For example, in certain areas of Harihara, one can see Nuian’s architectural style as Nuians live there. We are trying to create harmony by doing this. But as the world is large, a lot of changes occure during developement.

You can’t fill a large paper in a single stroke. Right now, we are trying to create a whole.

Is there special mounts and WIP unrevealed monsters?

YJG: Types of boats, siege weaponry, new weapons, and more will appear. We are also preparing for systems that will allow the siege weaponry to work by cooperation. In case of areas that are not revealed, there will be trains with rails, tram, flying ships, etc in which will match into the background as well as functional.

How was the pirate island’s concept formed?

YJG: We revealed the island since the 2CBT. We needed an area where the two continents could swim out and meet. There was also the Dokdo incident during the time, so we put it in there for fun. We are going add in more things for the ocean, there are lots of ideas.

Is there anything you’d like to say to user’s who dream of background developement?

SCS: If background was once used for making the character stand out, I think that right now the background has come back to its original meaning. Meaning that character is also a part of the background and lives within the game. As hardware improves, engines improve and as of such there is hardly anything that the background cannot contain.

We tried to put in what we think. So we have more fun compared to other game graphic designing. Some parts have much more work and we all have different aspects of work. Archeage’s background design has a different approach and I believe that you’ll have more fun.

JHB: Looking at it from point of view of world parts, when we first begin it wasn’t fun because we made zones by boxes and textures. But now it is different. Right now I feel like the movie ‘Inception’s architect. As the tools advance, this category becomes more and more seducting.

YJG: If we just want to make the background pretty, we can do it in another method. But the world of Archeage reacts with actions and user’s can do a lot. There is also hidden aspects and systems so it encourages adventure that is hidden and visuals reflect that.

As engines advance, scenes become more and more like reality. The rendering and quality is kept so that you could almost feel the land. I think that this is more fun then making movies. This is the charm of Archeage background team.

Interview with Jake Song from inven. There are images and videos on the original site.

Spoiler

I didn’t translate the prologue as it was more less a repeat of the first article. Or a summary version of it anyways.
This interview is with Jake Song. No one else.

Every time Archeage held CBT, it had a concept behind it. In 4CBT what content is added and what is the concept?We prepared a lot of things. We fixed the contents from 1~3 CBT and there are also some that are just now revealed. The most important thing is, part of the third continent is going to be revealed. Users can take out a boat and go onto the third continent. There they can enjoy many contents that hold many possibilities. We are going to add siege and also there will be an addition of another race.

Instead of chosing just a single content, a lot of new contents were added. Gliders, in which you could use to glide from cliffs, new types of boats, donkeys that carry packages were added (Laugh), female characters got prettier, and if you go to the sea, there are gigantic monsters. So a lot of things were added overall.

It was said that you could take ownership of land, does this specifically mean siege?
Ultimately contents for taking over the land in the third continent, building castles on it, having a siege or a war, taking it and/or destroying it will be revealed. But it won’t be in the beginning of December but a bit later and with an update. But as we have to watch how the test will hold, siege might not be revealed during 4CBT.

The CBT will last for 3 months, what is the plan for updates?
We plan on updating every week no matter what it is. I really want to keep that promise. The test will go on for 80 days but the server won’t be open for full time and there will be testing time when the server will open. Also there will be a break once every week.

Is there a restriction on level and/or contents?
I am thinking about it. We want to see the time it takes for users to consume the contents. So right now, it would be either there won’t be level restrictions or a small restriction might be added. We haven’t decided it. But if we do add the restriction on levels, it’ll be higher then 3CBT’s maximum level, which was lv. 25.

Parts of the third continent is being revealed for the first time. How do you get there, can you get there by swimming?
Basically, you have to take a boat. You can swim across it, but there will be mobs in the ocean, so it won’t be easy. (Laugh)

From the video, Kraken was pretty big and had lots of various actions (animation). Is it event monster or is it a part of ocean content like a ocean raid?
In 3CBT, there was something lacking because there was only boats. It was fun with just that, but it was also true that it was lacking and not satisfying. So we developed it in kind of a raid mindset where monster appears and users get prizes for killing it. It’s not an event monster, it’d more of a type of field monster.

The ocean is too large. How are the users going to discover the Kraken?
I can’t say it in detail because the user has to find it themselves (Laugh). But we are not just going to say look for it without any clues, we will give clues as to it appeared.

A new race has been added, what is its concept?
Right now there are three races; Elf, Nuian, and Ferre. With the 4th addition, Hariharan, the 4CBT will have four races total. Hariharan in its essence is human race. There is already Nuian as human, but Nuians are more like Westerners. Hariharans have more Asian feel and look to it.

The 4CBT will last for over 80 days. Won’t open beta be held back because of this long test schedule?
Actually, we are doing this to pull the open beta test to be held earlier then intended. There is also parts where we are doing for the sake of developement alone but opinions of users and involvement of users act as an energy source and helps us along. So as the result, we are holding this test over such an amount of time so that development team can get driving power to the OBT. (Not sure how I should have translated this one. But Jake is saying that 4CBT is long because they are trying to pull OBT to an earlier date. It also helps motivate the development team.)

Archeage is a high-end game and the system is complicated. I am surprised that China is taking such a high interest.
Korea also preferred simple and repeating (grinding) game, like Lineage which is 100% grinding... (Laugh) I can diss this game cause I made it (Laugh). Anyways, such grinding games were popular and preferred. “We are all together and we can chat and attack.” There wasn’t such games back then it was something new. Then Lineage2 came, WOW came, Aion came and so the games advanced. So the opinion that China is poor so they prefer grinding games is a very incorrect sterotype. China is still advancing and Archeage came out during the right time of Chinese user’s advancement and so I think that is why it’s attracting so much attention.

How many people will be chosen for the 4CBT?
There will be around 5000 people, so it’s not different from previous tests. If it has a favorable reaction, we’ll add more people.

Character design was changed, worked on, and re-worked on since 1CBT but there are still user’s who have complaints regarding to it.
Ultimately, we want character customizing in which user’s can create whatever face they want. This update may come up during 4CBT or next test.

On behalf of the arts team, I am a mission-oriented (Not sure what this word meant. But in context it’s more of a strict mindset.) person and I told them from the beginning that “let’s not sell sex for our game.” This affected the character designs and I think that is why there aren’t any ‘sexy’ characters (Laugh). We got a lot of feed backs saying that characters were not pretty every single test, but it’s not that it’s not pretty. It’s just that it’s lacking to be something desirable in a sexual sense.

Did your thoughts change now?
Since user’s wanted it, I also changed my mind. But the way organization is that it has an inertia. So after going in a single direction for so long, it’s hard to change directions. So it isn’t something that happens immediately, it takes time. It takes even longer if the organization is older. So we are going to change it slowly and one step at a time. Changing design is the easiest part. People talk about sex appeal, but characters don’t get sexy by taking their clothes off. We want to give a more luxurious and refined look even if they lack cloth on their clothes.

That’s true. Just because it’s half naked does not mean that it is sexy.
5 years ago, when we first begin this project, I told my staffs; “When I play this game with my son, don’t make me feel embarrassed.” This thought still hasn’t changed.

What contents do you wish user’s looked at in detail?
There aren’t any specific contents that I wish that user’s take detailed note of. I want them to experience things in overall. And since it is a test, I wish that they wouldn’t focus too much on leveling alone. So just think of it as a testing server that is resetted every three months. I wish that they enjoy every aspect of the game instead of just leveling.

There were many that pointed out the lack of shortup to the interface. Did any special changes take on UI?
There was a lot of parts that were lacking and incomplete. But a lot of it was added and fixed on 4CBT. It’s not complete yet, but it’s improved.

Was there anything changed or improved housing wise? In previous tests, there were cases where user’s begin to build the house but didn’t and left it be.
There was a lot of worry about that. We don’t know if we should make limits on how many houses a user may own or make it more expensive.

Will the next beta be an Open beta or will it be another Closed beta?
First, we have to see the reaction. If we need to fix more, then it’ll be another closed beta. If the responce is favorable then it’ll be open beta.

The interest of user’s in Archeage is undoubtedly high. But as it is such a large project, it feels as if the interest is dropping. “This is a game that I like, but it’s not yet time to be published” kind of reactions are common.
I had the same worry. Did I start something too big (laugh). So now we are going to chose and focus on contents that users can enjoy and open faster. MMORPG is a genre that gets improved and closer to completion as contents are added in. In this test, we are going to focus more on completion.

Incomplete
In detail of what you could/should expect from CBT4

Spoiler

What is the reason for holding CBT4 over such a long period of time? This test will start from December 8th and will be held over 80 days. It's like 'going around the world in 80 days' concept. It's not like grand opening in which other games held in which all users could join as users will be selected.
We developed Archeage thinking that the end contents should be created first. During the previous tests, it was hard to see the cycle of these end contents. So this time, we held the closed beta over 80 days as we wanted to see a full cycle of this at least once. Also as we are publishing this game as well as developing it, we also needed test for maintaining it and for GM experience.
Of course, the contents won't stay the same entire time. There will be updates. During the testing time, we suspect that there might be difference in what we think and what users think. So we chose 80 days so that we could adjust accordingly.

What contents will you show on 4 CBT? Well, there will be the addition of the third continent. This continent is the point where all contents come together, so you can say that it's the final station for end contents. We also upgraded the completion of contents as well as the flow. 
 We made battle, so we made production. Then siege. It's been created at once, so it's hard to connect it. But we developed it as if we were to conduct orchestra. To user's eyes, it could be 'is this it for the contents?' but not all contents from 3CBT are where it once was. It'd feel that there was an overall improvement. How large (vast?) is the 4 CBT?
You can experience 15 zones out of 27. You could raise levels up to 25~30, but we are not planning on stopping you from going further. But since there aren't any high leveled mobs, you may feel restricted in getting higher levels. (A translator's note done with translator's powers; this has changed with the addition of kraken.)
 We prepared up to parts where the third continent will be revealed somewhat. Housing system and siege system will also be in place. You could experience some contents that could only be experienced in the third continent, and the small details will be added later on. As leveling and/or growing your character will take time, there won't be much lacking in contents.

In the trailer released from China, there were gliders, siege, and sea monster. Can you experience these in this CBT? 

You can experience the gliders. There will be a bit of a flight, but it's more like falling in an angle. There may be sky contents. You could also experience large sea monsters, but there aren't any under water dungeons. We are thinking of doing more after this.

What was the most common feed back after 3CBT?

We got lots of feed backs for lots of different areas. In the beginning of the test when it was held over 1~2 days, we got bitter feed backs of 'where is the sandbox (freedom)?'. But as time went and there were more tests, we got better and better feed backs. In the beginning of the game, there were lots of feed backs on guide and freedom. It's true that it did lack guides and was slightly difficult as we focused more on making contents. Now it has been considerably improved with addition of parts in which can help understand the game and the game world.
Also we never said that we are going for complete freedom. I think that there was some miscommunication and misunderstanding. Compared to theme park games from before, it's just an addition of more choices. There is a system where you could kill users of the same team and it's just thinking about 'should I kill him/her?' or 'is it okay to kill him/her?'. It's not to the point of Ultima Online or Minecraft. Archeage aims for something other then infinite freedom. So at this stage, it's hard to create something like Ultima Online. We do feel sorry and so we did put in some 'freedome'. I can't say in detail, but there is a plan for an update. It's a place somewhere on the ocean and you could decorate it to the point of Ultima Online.
There are also parodies and some contents that are for fun and gives users more choices. It's kind of like Minecraft. 

There was a talk of AOS war content being added.  

We do have plans, but it'll most likely be the last thing we'd add. It won't be just for earning fame points and PK, but a war that's fun to play in. The genre that is best at this is AOS genre and we want to put this kind of element into the game. The test will run for 80 days and it's almost the end of the game world at 60th day. So we think it'll be fun to have field wars and other instant contents and so we are planning on it. 

What is the meaning of the new continent in the game?

'Final station' feel is definitely there. You'll see different beginning cut scenes compared to previous tests and there will be a feel that an arrow is definitely pointing at the new continent. Every story and end of events, many contents will combine and you'll see that 'oh, so this is how it'll be' in the third continent.

The story Minhe wrote took place 2000 years ago in the third continent. So when you go there, that is when conflicts will begin and story advances. To know the question and truth is the reason why users must go there. (translator's note; the word 'must' is a correct translation but with wrong feel. In Korean version, it feels less forceful.)

Could you know the story of 2000 years ago if you go to the third continent during the 4 CBT?

No. We are suspecting that user's will not be able to know the story. User will see the current third continent conflict. So the user's will actually feel 'we can go to the third continent again' and so they will see reason for it. This will take place during this test, but I think it's too early to say the reason.

When looking at feed backs for stories and quests, although developers understood the story after seeing it for so long, it feels that user's had hard time understanding this 'strange' story during the test time. So we arranged it so that in the beginning, it'd raise understanding of the game. Then the user may enjoy the story later on.


Since the testing period is so long, would it not be favorable for OBT and official publishing since all the contents will have been experienced?

It's better to experience it early on then later. (Laugh) Although we say 80 days, the actual play time will be a bit less then 2 months. To tell the truth, content consumption rate is also an important data. It's not like development just falls from the sky and into our laps, so we have to confirm the user's content consumption speed compared to developer's developing speed. Compared to recent games, I feel that current contents might last us a while, but we'll know soon enough.

Information/rumors; warning; Not all of them are confirmed.
Rumors have (?) next to it.
These are only info regarding CBT4. Not OBT, not the final product.

Dungeons;
There will be no instant dungeons.

Labor Points;
If multiple characters, it will no longer regenerate at the same time. It'll only regenerate one character at a time.
A system is implemented to 'buy' these labor points.
No item will be created that increases labor points in any way. (?)

Housing;
Small, middle, and large.
There is a very large and expensive 2~3 floor house.
If you fail to pay tax, it will be sent to your mail box.

Prison;
Spoon item will allow you to escape.
There is a soccer system implemented. However the scores must be changed manually and players use 'kick' action to kick around the ball.
It is also possible to escape by killing a guard or bribing a guard. (?)

Package;
Refined items and certain drops from monsters.
Cannot be stored in inventory.
If dropped from monsters, NPCs will give you lots of money for it.
Cannot run with the package on the back. This also applies to mounts. But it does not apply to public transportation; ex: carriage.
Cannot use warp/teleport/etc. while the package is on the back.
When killed or logged out, the package will drop and another player may take possession of it.

Cores;
Created by refining Akium.
Treated as a 'package'.
Needed to purify 3rd continent and ownership of land.
Castle walls can be built only on the 100m area around the core.

3rd Continent;
There will be no NPCs there. (?)
There will be no way to refine Akium until the continent advances.
There may be hidden areas where cores can be inputted. (?)
The lowest level mob will be around 45.
It is possible to swim there.

Sea;
There is a full sized adult Kraken roaming around.
It is most likely that there will only be one full sized adult Kraken and it will be obvious.

Kraken;
It can destroy a boat. (?)

[Zil]

pathosgray, on 04 December 2011 - 03:49 PM, said:

There will be a soccer system, but the scores will have to change manually. Meaning that there is a system for it, but it is not automatic.

Not exactly sure what you mean by this.

pathosgray, on 04 December 2011 - 03:49 PM, said:

There is a full sized adult Kraken roaming around.

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!

[Amaterasu]

Oooh, nice work there. +1 fame point for you!

By the way wouldn't Arkum/Archum be a better translation for 아키움 ?

[pathosgray]

@Zil; It's still a work in progress. I'll get to polishing after I finish putting all the things down. : )

@Amaterasu; I don't know... I just typed it as how it sounds as; 아 A 키 ki 움 um I think it's easier for me that way for now since there isn't an official English word for it yet.
And thankies.

[Amaterasu]

pathosgray, on 04 December 2011 - 06:47 PM, said:

@Amaterasu; I don't know... I just typed it as how it sounds as; 아 A 키 ki 움 um I think it's easier for me that way for now since there isn't an official English word for it yet.
And thankies.

True true, i was just thinking, since ArcheAge=아a 키ki 에e 이i 지ji , that maybe they wanted to have a name similar for such a vital item. But doesn't matter anyway. Again, kudos for the hard work of translating!

[pathosgray]

Amaterasu, on 04 December 2011 - 06:58 PM, said:

True true, i was just thinking, since ArcheAge=아a 키ki 에e 이i 지ji , that maybe they wanted to have a name similar for such a vital item. But doesn't matter anyway. Again, kudos for the hard work of translating!

I guess that makes sense.
But I am still going to change it when Archeage announces the English name for it officially.
Why?
I am kind of lazy. -3-"

And again, thankies~!

And now that the second interview is done, I am going away. I'll work on the third interview tomorrow. The third interview will be the one with Jake Song expanding on what to expect for the 4CBT.

[PsychoPigeon]

the greatest mmorpg.. ever made...EVER.

[ArcheAdmin]

Moved the thread because it was worthy of the Articles and Guides curated forum.

Good work!

PsychoPigeon, on 04 December 2011 - 09:39 PM, said:

the greatest mmorpg.. ever made...EVER.

Don't get carried away, bro.

[Amaterasu]

PsychoPigeon, on 04 December 2011 - 09:39 PM, said:

the greatest mmorpg.. ever made...EVER.

I just stumbled upon an old video of Aion on youtube, and you did the very same comment about it back then! What happened??? (It actually made me 'lol' pretty hard).

[ArcheAdmin]

He's done the same for TERA as well. I think we might have a semi-sentient web bot on our hands...

[dengar]

Good stuff coming in lately, Pathos. Keep it coming!

[Entaro]

Cool! Thanks again so much for these translations Pathos! You're a big help to the Western community that is craving more information on this game!

pathosgray, on 04 December 2011 - 03:49 PM, said:

Dungeons;
There will be no instant dungeons.

I definitely went inside one instanced dungeon in the desert area of the Nuian lands in CBT3 (the one with all the dwarves and golems in it). Any idea if they removed this one or made it part of the open world?

[Eligor]

I believe they mentioned Archeage will have instanced dungeons as well as open world bosses (the bigass ones roaming around an area raping elves and whatnot). Considering Jake Song wants his game to appeal to WoW players and old school mmorpg players alike I think that kinda makes a wee bit of sense there.

[pathosgray]

I don't remember exactly where, but there was a mention of no instant dungeons this CBT. I think it might be included with one of interviews with Jake Song. I think that it will be included in OBT but not sure. All I know is that there will be no instant dungeons in the 4CBT.

[Prodigy]

Sounds great thanks for the info!

[Aspira]

Again Pathosgray, thanks for these translations.

You deserve some cake for this.

[Valadhiel]

Lots of info. Thanks, Pathos. Good job.

[pepejames]

thanks pathos, awesome job lots of information in there.

[SlickMajestic]

Awesome find and translation. Very good read.

[pathosgray]

Sorry, I am kinda trying to a certain level atm because of my guildies. ^^"
So I'll update this as I find time. ^^"""