ArcheAge (Part Three)

Gameworld

As I've already mentioned previously, the world of ArcheAge basically comprises of three large continents, namely Nuia, Haranya and Auroria.

The Nuia continent houses races aligned with the Nuia Alliance (Nuian, Elf) while the Haranya continent is occupied by races aligned with the Haranya Alliance (Firran, Harani).

The last continent, Auroria, is supposedly the "original homeland" (according to the lore if I'm not wrong), but as of the purpose/meaning to us players...its merely an area of constant strife, where full out PVP occurs between the two alliances 24/7.

That is if you can find someone there...as I've just paid the continent a visit and it looked seemingly void of players...except for when during "castle sieges" (to claim ownership of the surrounding area and its taxes) I suspect.

Moving About
And because there's simply too huge an area for players to cover alone (especially on foot), the game actually differentiates and provides for two different methods of travel (one slow, one fast)...to facilitate movement between places.

For your slow version, the player has to physically traverse the terrain all by himself or herself. You can choose to walk or run, use a mount, drive some sort of vehicular contraption or just simply use the time-based public transports available.

However, be warned that this method of travel is not only time-consuming, but also potentially hazardous...as the lands (and seas) are always filled with monsters or even other hostile players looking to pk or rob you of your trade packs.

Yup...if your hauling trade packs, this will be your ONLY method of travel. You will need to physically transport those packs to your desired destination.

For your fast version, the player actually gets to warp from place to place, at the split of a second, via the opening of a portal or through some gateway.

What's the difference between the two?

Well...for one, portals can be opened by the player at any location and to any location...so long as the player had visited the location's "memory tome" before or had used a "memory ink" to memorize that spot on his or her "teleport book" (if it does not have one).

Additionally, the "memory tome" also acts as a "recall" point. Once you've saved yourself at a particular one, you can always use the "recall" skill to teleport yourself back to that place.

Though it has a 30 minute cooldown to reuse and you may only set yourself up for ONE location to recall to, its advantage is that you can warp yourself back to it no matter where you are at, for free. (Works even across continents.)

Gateways, on the other hand, are intercontinental portals built at preselected locations that allows the player to teleport to some other specific gateway, that it is linked to, that is on another continent, regardless of whether the player had visited that place before or not.

The second difference between the two is that...while portals can allow as many people to go through for as long as its still open, gateways only allow the person operating it to go through (if I'm not wrong).

The last difference that I know of is...portals are designed to be "one way" (enter from green ones and exit from orange ones), but gateways can work from both sides.

There are exceptions too of course. For instance, the one that sends you to Auroria apparently doesn't have a gateway on the other side.

And though convenient, usage of these do require some sort of consumable item called a "Hereafter Stone" (which can be crafted or bought from other players).

If your destination is on the same continent as you are, you will only use up 1 of such a stone. If, however, your destination lies on another continent, then 3 of these stones will be required.

While operating a gateway is a no-brainer, I've found that using a portal isn't. It actually requires you to have some prior knowledge of how it works or you may end up spending the "cost" (hereafter stones) and yet not being able to get to your destination...only to watch the portal close once its time is up.

Okay...so how does it work?

First, with the hereafter stones in your inventory, open up your "Teleport Book", select your destination and hit the "Open Worldgate" button (like as shown).

This teleport book should always be kept in your inventory. At all times. For without this book, I am not certain that the memory tomes that you've visited will be recorded on it.

Once the portal is open, walk towards it and make your character JUMP (once your at the portal).

Without this jumping motion, you can stand for as long as you want under the portal and you will never get yourself through the portal. EVER.

You should shortly see the loading screen and then turn up at your destination point.

Its also a decent idea to "hitch-hike" somebody else's portal so that you may collect "memory tome" points which you had yet to unlock. However, please make sure that you've properly assigned yourself a "recall" point...in case you end up somewhere "undesirable" or way beyond your current level's capabilities.

Zone Status
Remember that I've said that continents are sub-divided into smaller areas or zones? Well...there's something in particular that you will need to know about these zones. Specifically, their "Zone Status" that is.

Zones are generally divided into three types, "Safe Zones", "PVP Zones" and "Alternating Zones".

• Safe Zones
  Safe Zones are areas designed to offer players...a reasonable degree of "safety" against being pked or "interrupted" from their usual activities.
  

  Zones in this status typically include starting and low-level areas.

  When in these zones, if your of the opposing faction (not on your own continent), you are prevented from initiating an attack on other players of the opposing faction.
  

  If your being attacked first, then that's a different story and you may have the right to defend yourself.

  Similarly, if your on your own continent's safe zones, you are safeguarded from being ambushed by the opposing faction's players...unless you've started the fight first.
  
• PVP Zones
  PVP Zones are areas designed specifically for fights of course. Hence, there ARE no rules enforced and everyone's allowed to attack everyone else.
  

  Zones in this status typically include areas on Auroria and the open seas.

• Alternating Zones
  Alternating Zones are a tad bit trickier...but essentially, their zone status simply alternates between being in a "Safe Zone" state and a "PVP Zone" state.
  
  
  
  For these zones, the idea is that there is some sort of a "Tension Gauge" between the two factions in these zones. As more and more players get killed in the zone, the gauge slowly escalates through five different levels (Tension, Danger, Dispute, Unrest, Crisis).
  
  Eventually, the zone will be pushed into a state of war that lasts for a certain period of time (probably an hour or two), before settling in a "Peace" state that also lasts for a couple of hours. And once this state of peace ends, the zone will get back its tension gauge and everything starts all over again.
  

  When in "Peace", both sides may not attack each other in the zone. As such, this is often also the time whereby you will see players hauling trade packs...making their way into or across the zone.

However, as with everything in life, there's always an exception to this. Pirates.

These scallywags are affiliated with no-one and can literally attack anyone, anywhere. Be it on land or out at sea, safe zone or not. You'll never be safe from them.

But as far as I know, most of them would tend to avoid lingering on land (or too far inland)...as dying there would cause them some hefty jail time sentences...with their high infamy, crime points and all.

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Next: ArcheAge (Part Four)

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