Before Lost Ark launched in the US and EU territories, it was released in Korea in 2019 and previously featured some single-player content that allowed players to experience their origin stories. Lost Ark has undergone significant updates between its original and extended releases worldwide, but the current build doesn't include player origin stories. It's not uncommon for MMOs to remove content that locks fundamental mechanics or gameplay systems behind several hours, but completely removing character origins seems to be too hasty. As many players begin their journey in Lost Ark, now would be the perfect opportunity to reintroduce character origins and ensure players receive the most out of their time in the new MMO.
After nearly three years, Lost Ark has several DLC storylines for players to experience. Each campaign is divided into a chapter with The Dawning Age, Rule of Darkness, Eon of War, Epoch of Exploration, and Age of Innovation available to play now. Players can choose one of Lost Ark's five player classes, which offer a unique skill set and dozens of special subclasses to select. As players explore Arkesia and level up, new powers make themselves known, allowing them to defeat demonic and godly threats easily. Unfortunately, the beginning of the player's story is not as impressive as other options and prevents new players from experiencing a complete adventure.
As of the writing of this article, Lost Ark currently drops player characters into the deep end of its available content. After players complete their character creation and choose a class, they witness a slideshow presentation dictating the events of each character's origin. While the depicted events may seem exciting, it's not nearly as entertaining or rewarding as playing through character origins by one's self. As an MMO, it's likely many players are eager to jump into parties with their friends or guilds. Unfortunately, origin stories restricted gameplay to single-player for several hours, which led to its removal and resulted in the current systems. However, there are many reasons why Tripod Studio and Smilegate should consider reviving character origins for the game's secondary launch.
Lost Ark Character Origins Could Help Storytelling
Character origins in Lost Ark are the first significant piece of lore offered to players as they begin their adventures, but it's an unfortunately underwhelming experience. While some MMOs, like Star Wars: The Old Republic, have cinematic trailers or cutscenes that serve as a character's introduction to the world, Lost Ark offers a slideshow with a recap of what has already occurred. This storytelling method does the game a severe injustice, removing what was likely hundreds of hours of work from dedicated developers and creative writers. Since the content previously existed, there are a few reasons that Smilegate and Tripod Studio can't reintroduce the content in an updated format.
Lost Ark player characters are capable of impressive feats. While a large part of that competency depends on the player's skills, it's unfortunate that the trials they faced to reach that point have been omitted from the final product. Now that Smilegate removed several hours of quality gameplay from the formula, players are left to play as a character with flat lore and backstory, a drastic shift from the rest of the game. RPGs with fleshed-out origin stories act as the perfect prologue for players before jumping into a shared story between other inhabitants of their worlds (servers). Their removal creates a noticeable gap in the plotline and prevents a steady introduction to the rest of the game's campaign. Additionally, removing player origins ensures that each character and class can't experience a situation without sharing the glory with millions of other ''chosen ones.''
Lost Ark Character Origins Offer Players A Better Tutorial
After removing Lost Ark's character origins, players are dropped into social areas at Level 10 with a handful of abilities and guided through a slightly rocky experience while learning the basic gameplay systems. Unfortunately, this leaves many players without a comprehensible guide for their character builds and a feel for the world. While Lost Ark isn't very different from other popular MMOs and online games in the market, players experience severe learning curves to master their loadouts and subclasses. Additionally, there are several ways for players to learn how to defeat Lost Ark's many enemy types, but experience is the greatest teacher. Removing ten levels worth of gameplay and experience will influence how many players adapt to combat mechanics and other gameplay systems. Instead of eliminating origins, Smilegate could have abbreviated the levels to serve as a more forgiving tutorial than a trial by fire.
While online guides and video playthroughs provide players with more information than may not have previously been available, these methods aren't as understandable as tutorials designed by the developers. As gaming developers, Smilegate and Tripod Studio have far more information concerning Lost Ark and its intricate gameplay and combat. As a result, player origin stories likely became the first activity for players due to their tutorial-like nature and storytelling potential. Without it, it's likely many players could abandon the game altogether without a cohesive introductory level separated from a multiplayer environment. MMOs like New World and Star Wars: The Old Republic both provide players with starting areas and independent instances to hone skills and strategies, but Lost Ark's negligent removal of player origins is particularly worrying.
Lost Ark Could Benefit From Solo Play
The primary reason for Lost Ark's origins being removed from the game involved the several hours players would spend without interacting with other players. When each class featured an origin story, players were restricted from playing with friends until Level 10. While some might applaud this removal, others could have benefitted from a strictly solo activity to start the game. While playing with companions, it can be difficult to distinguish how effective a character build is, how competent each player is, and concentrate on the story when communicating with a party's Discord or in-game chat. Despite its initial barrier to social mechanics, character origins provide the perfect opportunity for players of all skill levels to experience single-player adventures in Lost Ark.
While neither Tripod Studio nor Smilegate have released any plans to reinstate player origins, the US and EU servers should have the opportunity to opt-in or out of these. Not only do character origins provide a crucial and thrilling backstory, but it prevents players from leaping into a pool of abilities and gameplay systems with little to no guidance. Since it's likely many players are embarking on single-player adventures anyway, this significant loss of content can only harm Lost Ark in the long run.
