The first major content update for Lost Ark recently introduced the abyss raid Argos. While some players are excited about the new endgame content, there is also a lot of criticism. So players have to grind a lot to be able to play the raid at all.
You can find out what else is in the March update here:
more on the subject
Lost Ark: This is in the March update
The YouTuber and streamer Asmongold, known primarily for WoW, has now turned to the developers in a video, which he believes has addressed the biggest problems and immediately suggested a solution. Because he fears that the current course will permanently damage the game and its reputation.
Grind and Pay2Win?
In Lost Ark, you must also bow to the MMO laws and regularly improve your equipment to unlock new content that can only be played by players with a certain item level. Collected resources are used for an upgrade attempt, which is not always successful. The invested materials can therefore be lost without them being of any use to you and your invested time was wasted.
If you don’t want to invest that farming and grinding time, you can also use your wallet to improve your equipment or buy upgrade materials in the shop for real money. That alone might not be a problem in principle. Another classic MMO quirk comes into play when it comes to raiding: the higher your equipment level, the higher the probability that you will be taken on raids.
Asmongold therefore calls the current upgrade system in Lost Ark Pay2Win, because investing real money saves you time and possibly buys you a safer raid spot. The new Abyss Raid makes the whole problem even more drastic.
You can watch the streamer’s full video here:
link to YouTube content
If you don’t want to watch the video in its entirety, you can also read our summary below.
Argos has made the situation worse
Asmongold summarizes in three points what bothers him most since the new update:
- Argos came too soon, many characters are not strong enough: Therefore, players often felt compelled to accelerate their progress with real money in order to be able to access the new content at all.
- Lower chances of success when upgrading items: Apparently it’s a lot easier to level up items in the original Lost Ark. In the EU version, you need more resources on average to reach a certain item level.
- The western version lacks (other) content: Certain ones make it easier to get resources, for example in Korea and Russia. In Europe and North America, these options are no longer available and more grinding is therefore required. So players have to invest more time in collecting resources here and also need more resources overall to progress at all.
Therefore, Asmongold concludes, the gaming experience in the West differs significantly from that in Korea. This endangers the reputation of the game, which has become known for dealing fairly with the time of its players. But if Lost Ark doesn’t deliver on that promise, it could quickly go down the player base and end up something like New World
You can see what the Argos raid looks like in the trailer:
6:56
Lost Ark: This is how it looks in the first Abyss raid
Raid level is particularly difficult to achieve
The abyss raid Argos requires an item level of 1370 to play at all. However, the higher the character’s item level, the lower the chances of a successful upgrade.
Without using real money, this item level is very difficult to reach, because a lot of resources usually have to be used. And they don’t just lie around on the street, they have to be laboriously farmed in the right areas.
You can find out more about the requirements and rewards for the new raid here:
Lost Ark Argos Raid
A tough nut to crack, even for endgame veterans
Is there a class society?
Once your character has reached item level 1370, progression becomes easier again. Because now you have to invest new materials in an upgrade, but you have higher chances of success again. In addition, the Argos Raid also gives you new equipment that will make you even stronger.
Asmongold fears that this will divide the player base: On the one hand there are players who invest real money in Lost Ark or spend a lot of time to reach the appropriate item levels. On the other hand, there are those who get stuck at the lower levels and get stuck for a long time.
This also has concrete consequences for players with a lower level: They find it less easy to find other players, since (as already described above) higher-level characters are always preferred.
According to Asmongold, this is the solution:
The streamer fears that the current state of the game will permanently damage its reputation and believes that the problems should be solved immediately. That’s why Asmongold also proposes a few concrete solutions at the end of his video. In his opinion, publishers and developers should do the following:
Increase chances of success with upgrades: In order to make the gaming experience less frustrating for players who don’t spend money or invest a lot of time in Lost Ark, the progress should be accelerated.
Add content from the Korean version to the game: On the other hand, Heroic Guardian Raids and Abyss Raids also need to be added to the game ASAP. These allow players in Korea and Russia to get the resources they need faster without having to use additional characters.
An apology: Finally, Asmongold is also of the opinion that an apology and an acknowledgment of the current situation as an undesirable development would be appropriate. Because otherwise the impression of the first content patch could quickly solidify as an opinion on the entire game. Lost Ark could then be remembered as a free2play title only worth spending real money on.
more on the subject
Lost Ark reports successes with problems
In addition to Pay2Win allegations, Lost Ark is also struggling with other problems. After all, there should now be improvements in the queues and the bot plague, you can read more in the article above.
Do you think Lost Ark is a Pay2Win game in its current state? Or are you satisfied with the progression speed? Write your opinion in the comments!
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