ArcheAge Chronicles is being launched on a buy-to-play, no-pay-to-win commitment, framed in direct response to the controversies that shaped the original ArcheAge's Western run. In the original game, publisher decisions about monetization, exploits that went unaddressed for months, and systems that favored paying players created ongoing friction between the community and Trion Worlds (later Gamigo). The events below are part of that prior-game history and inform what Chronicles is trying to avoid.
The Thunderstruck Tree Crash (2014)
Thunderstruck Trees were extremely rare crafting materials, approximately a 0.26% chance to proc from pine trees. They were needed to build siege weapons and high-end items. Shortly before the Conquest of Auroria update where siege weapons would be in high demand, Trion introduced cash shop boxes with a 10% chance at a Thunderstruck Tree, later increased to 50%.
The result was predictable. The market was flooded, prices crashed from around 800 gold each to near-worthless, and players who had spent weeks legitimately farming them lost a fortune. The trees were eventually removed from the cash shop, but the damage was done.
The APEX Exploit (2014)
APEX was an in-game item purchasable with real money that could be sold on the auction house for gold, similar to WoW Tokens or EVE's PLEX. In November 2014, a bug allowed players to gain the benefits of APEX without consuming the item. Trion CEO Scott Hartsman initially stated "there isn't a dupe bug," but later acknowledged the exploit.
A separate trade pack duplication exploit persisted for years. At peak times, reports suggested up to 50% of certain auction house materials came from duped items.
The Land Rush (September 2014)
The September 2014 headstart was chaotic. DDoS attacks hit servers. Patron players faced multi-hour queues. All desirable housing land was claimed before the game officially launched. Players who had played in alpha and beta knew exactly which plots to target, leaving newcomers locked out entirely.
"Housing barons" bought up property across multiple accounts and resold at inflated prices. The problem repeated when ArcheAge Unchained launched in October 2019, with massive Steam queues and land vanishing within hours.
The Patron Divide
The Patron subscription ($14.99/month) created a sharp divide. Free players could not own land, regenerated labor only while online, and had restricted auction house access. Since labor was required for virtually all economic activity and land ownership was Patron-exclusive, the game was widely criticized as pay-to-win despite being marketed as free-to-play. Trion compounded this by adding power-relevant items to the cash shop over time.
Legacy
These controversies are why ArcheAge Chronicles leads with its buy-to-play, no-pay-to-win commitment. The franchise's reputation was shaped by its systems design and by the monetization decisions layered on top of it. Whether Chronicles can rebuild trust remains the central question for returning veterans.