The MMORPG genre is best known for their communities, raids, and of course their gameplay. The genre has seen plenty of entries come and go, with some even keeping relevancy decades after its release. However due to this, the MMORPG genre has become over-saturated, with many companies trying to compete with giants such as World of Warcraft.
Unfortunately with this over-saturation, there are hits and misses. One that has always stood out to me as a player with it’s raw potential, however, is a crowd-funded MMORPG called AdventureQuest 3D.
Now some of you who are reading this article may look at the name ‘AdventureQuest‘ and see something familiar. That’s because the same company developing this MMORPG, Artix Entertainment, is the same company that made the hit flash browser games such as AdventureQuest, DragonFable, and AdventureQuest Worlds, just to name a few.
AdventureQuest 3D is their most recent entry in the franchise, however it has been met with criticism from passionate fans. So where do the issues lie with this game?
Peoples Thoughts
Before I give my opinion on the game, I have asked current, and former players of the game for their insight on the state of the game:
“AQ3D as it stands currently, is not a game you should be playing 8 hours a day, everyday. I quickly learned that, and found my own goals in the game, and adjusted my expectations accordingly.” –Chub
“Honestly it needs new management, some of the changes need to be reverted, like the UI and the stats, and other stuff needs focus. its been in beta for way too long with no real add-ons but cosmetics. It’s becoming another AQW, Artix (Adam Bohn, CEO of Artix Entertainment) just isn’t a good game director.” –Anonymous
“I love that its cross platform, and that I can interact with the developers in game on a somewhat regular basis. The game is fun and well designed in some areas. However—the game is clunky, and I hate the pure RNG (Random Number Generator) that is paired with unreasonably low drop rates.
There is no balance among the classes, particularly when you see that warrior, a default class, is stronger than a concerning number of earn-able classes. I think the biggest change that needs to be made is to have Artix focus the majority of his resources on AQ3D, and not spread them out thin to his outdated 2D flash games or start new mini games that dont have, in my opinion, a justifiable reason to have been made in the first place.” –Shadowspire
“I like that its a place I can hang out with friends, there is also 4 years worth of content that I like to help new players through. I dislike, however, that there is a lack of trade skills, raids, and dungeons. I also don’t like the weekly updates. I feel like everything can improve, as we should never settle for what we have. Its an MMO, they grow and change as we do, and I feel that in 2019 we have seen content come to a stop with the Battle Concerts, but after that its on a high note with Maps, Armor Sets etc.” –CROSSxBONES
“I like a lot of things about the game, but the 4 major things would be, in order, the community, the ranking/class leveling aspect, the awesome armor sets and the story. I think there is a bit too many cosmetic updates. I’d like to see the small updates with more quests/content, and not have updates focused on cosmetics, but there needs to be more End game content. There needs to be more to do for those who have beaten every quest and got most the items. More challenges or ranks are needed.” –GOLD RAVEN
“The best thing about AQ3D is the fact that it’s a cross-platform game. Cosmetic slots and stuff like that are pretty cool. What they could improve on though is update times, and what exactly they’re updating. It seems like the direction they go with the game is always changing, and story releases are pretty random.” –Red
My Opinion
As for my opinion on the game, before I start, I want to mention that I have played this game myself for a few years, and have experienced bugs, glitches, all the sorts, but have since then quit the game.
Artix Entertainment has been a part of my life since I was young, and while I want to write the best things about this game, I can’t. I feel that the game has so much potential that Artix Entertainment isn’t tapping into. So many things that could be improved but are seemingly being ignored;
Compared to previous titles by the company, like DragonFable, AdventureQuest 3D’s story is an empty inconsistent husk in comparison, hardly offering any substantial impact to what you do in the game. The story is set up by having your character die, and then you meet death.
Death has lost his key to his lair so he names you his champion, basically making you have infinite lives, to kill the person who took it, Vain. Vain wipes the floor with you, and throws you across a valley until you land in the starting city of Battleon. After being absent for a good chunk of 2019, he has finally shown up in recent updates however.
The combat of the game plays it safe, sticking to the old school MMORPG tab-target combat, but it also does something good that a lot of MMORPGs do not, which is a multi-class system. This helps the combat where it is weak, sadly, the game is indeed clunky in its combat and movement. The class balance is poor, making PVP in the game almost pointless, because the lack of balance causes so many glass cannon classes, that it’s not fun to play.
The lack of a raiding class system (tank/healer/damage) makes raids and dungeons mediocre. Every dungeon/raid that is released can be soloed unless its scaled. What makes this frustrating is that the only scaled content the game has is seasonal or completely optional, making the majority of the game boring.
There is little to no need for interaction with other players (despite community being a big part of MMORPG’s) when everything can be done by yourself, and while there are Discord guilds for the game, there still is no legitimate guild system in game, so if you want to get involved in the community you have to either join one of the hundreds of communities/guilds for the game, otherwise most players ignore you.
Despite all the criticism however, the game has still improved. The art style has improved drastically, bugs that have been plaguing the game since the start of open beta (and alpha) are fixed, and the player-base is growing rapidly. Artix Entertainment does care about the game, it just seems that they have no true direction when it comes to the game, its just random update, after random update.
Have the changes that have been set in place been enough for a veteran player such as myself to go back and play religiously? No, not by a long shot, but I am able to give credit where credit is due, and say that the game is on a better course than it was before. Hopefully Artix Entertainment will be able to finally tap into that raw potential that is being ignored, and transform the game into what it can be, and not just let it stagnate in the state it’s currently in.
AdventureQuest 3D is available on Steam, iOS, and Android. You can keep up to date on gaming news and reviews at Informed Pixel. Want to speak to the team and interact with other gamers? You can do so over on the Informed Pixel Facebook page or on the Informed Pixel Twitter account.
