I believe my previous posts have established that because of the nonconsensual PVP, ArcheAge isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Yes, you can level to max and hardly ever encounter PVP if you forgo seeing all of the content and focus on commerce in non-PVP enabled zones. However, game design makes it such that you may still be impacted financially, even when you escape direct combat.
Over the weekend a guild from the eastern continent successfully defeated the guild who had constructed the castle in Calmlands. Each region can only have a single castle and the owners of that castle control the property tax rates for that area. Nui World Order controlled the one in Calmlands, where I have my 16x16 house and farm.
I won’t go into the detail of the mechanics other than to say, it’s EVE like, in that a formal declaration is executed and a specific date and time for the encountered is provided. The region around the castle becomes a “war zone” and only players from the two guilds are allowed in the area. If you have property there too bad, you can’t access it during the actual encounter. They keep the immediate area clear of bystanders. If you’re not a direct participant in the conflict you receive a debuff that kills you.
Based on the live stream I watched of the encounter on Twitch, NWO was not prepared for what came knocking on their door. They appeared overwhelmed in a short period of time and weren’t able to make any headway in pushing back the invaders. Losing a castle amounts to a minimum of losing 3.5K in gold on the low side, for the construction alone. This doesn’t count upgrades they may have made or the lost property tax revenue.
NWO’s loss had an immediate impact on all Calmlands residents. The new caretakers immediately increased the property tax by 150%. OUCH! When and if you can’t pay your property tax, you will lose your house/farm. I’ve already discussed the issues with land scarcity and how it blocks your crafting progression, participation in commerce and ability to earn gold.
Our guess is that they are trying to drive all of us out of the region so that their members can lay claim to it. I pay into a local pirate run Home Owner’s Association that deters ganking of players while trying to tend their farms. I wonder what Outcry, the local pirate protection guild, will have to say about this change of hands and the crazy tax rate. Outcry members own a significant portion of the local property and are in the process of building community center of sorts to provide the amenities normally only available in the large cities.
The next few weeks will be interesting. I’m not going anywhere. I’m the stubborn sort and am prone to digging in my heels when being shoved. Acquiring that second property is what allowed me to reach critical mass in my farming production and start earning real gold. I’m not down for giving it up when finding another location is so difficult and fraught with uncertainty that it took partnering with pirates to get space in Calmlands. And now that I have a house, I have no intention of giving it up without a bloody brawl.
To date, I’ve only been attacked once in Calmlands even though it’s a fully enabled PVP zone. I think that may change, as the new kings of the castle, add local harassment to their attempts at driving us out of the region. I listened and laughed on voice chat while guild members were chased into their houses last night. Some slain inside their house, unable to lock the doors in time. Buffs on and combat pet out, the next several days in Calmlands are gonna be rocky.
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