Why Is Lost Ark Popular? (Will It Stay Popular?)
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The release of Lost Ark has launched the gaming community into an absolute frenzy, quickly gaining a ton of attention and new players. But, we’ve seen plenty of MMORPGs in the past – so, what makes Lost Ark so popular?
Lost Ark has gained popularity for its balanced use of both MMO and ARPG elements, making it appealing to players from different gaming communities. Its most notable strengths include its visuals, customizable characters, unique powers and abilities, exciting activities, and its spread of awesome enemies.
Although Lost Ark may seem to be another typical MMORPG, there are quite a few unique qualities and special attributes that its fans adore. Stick around to find out why Lost Ark is so popular and why you should consider embarking on the fantastical adventures that await throughout Arkesia!
Lost Ark Overview
Fans had been patiently waiting for its release for quite a while, and some even purchased Founder’s Packs just to get their hands on the game a bit earlier. While the hype for Lost Ark’s release was undeniably overwhelming for the entire gaming community, the aftermath of its release was staggering.
This game actually reached a peak of 1.3 million users, making it the highest played MMO on Steam ever by concurrent player counts. Its player count also made it the second-highest played game overall, according to the same metric.
In fact, Lost Ark became so popular that its servers simply couldn’t handle the heat. Literally, thousands of players have ended up queuing to get into immensely overpopulated servers.
But, while its sudden dominance may seem baffling, this climax has actually been building for a very long time. With all the hype from longtime fans and hard work from Lost Ark’s game devs, its astounding popularity is really no surprise.
Lost Ark Origins
Lost Ark is an MMORPG that has been around for quite some time. It was originally released in Korea a few years ago and was released in the West after its notable success in Asia.
It also saw some staggered releases in regions such as Russia and Japan and had a lengthy pre-release history as well. The game had actually been under development since 2011, but it ran under the codename ‘Project T’.
The first news of Lost Ark came in the form of a post on the Unreal Engine website, topped with some epic visuals, sneak peeks of Arkesia, glimpses of iconic characters, and much more. The devs provided some details over time, but it didn’t launch until 2018.
It drew approximately 350,000 concurrent players after its debut in Korea. But, as with most MMOs, this figure dropped significantly over the following years. Still, Lost Ark saw a resurgence of players in 2021 – resulting from numerous factors at the time.
Why Is Lost Ark So Popular?
It’s important to note that, while the Western world may only be noticing everything that Lost Ark has to offer now, its popularity has been fairly consistent for many years. The popularity of Lost Ark, as well as the reasons for it, will be subjective for each player, as there’s plenty to love about this game.
MMORPG players could agree that, once you write off a game that you once loved, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll return later down the line – unless, there’s something truly special calling you back. The fact that the game saw a dip in players followed by the return of many old players in 2021 says quite a lot.
Western Lost Ark vs. Korean Lost Ark
According to gamers who have been playing Lost Ark for years, the new release is not the same as its initial version. This is by no means a negative, as this is purely based on preference.
For example, each character class in the original Lost Ark had a unique ‘Dragon Age’ style introduction, topped with origin stories for each class. The progress experience from level 10 to 50 was also much slower, and more focused on questing.
These factors have been altered with the Western release, but the devs may have had great reasons for these changes. In all fairness, the gaming community is different in various regions, and these adaptations may have made Lost Ark more appealing in Europe and the US.
Most Popular Aspects In Lost Ark
Every Lost Ark player has a ton of things that they adore about the game, as well as a few aspects that they wish were different. But, below is a list of some of the things players love most about Lost Ark:
- Spectacular Combat
- Creative Character Powers
- Customizable Character Appearances
- Exciting Dungeons
- Thrilling Central Adventures and Main Storyline
- Enjoyable Daily and Weekly Tasks
- Unique and Powerful Bosses
While Lost Ark’s story isn’t embodied by grade-A storytelling, the overall storyline takes players on a wild journey of mass discovery. Its quests send players to countless unique locations throughout Arkesia, which many adventurous gamers find incredibly captivating.
Balance Between MMO and ARPG
Lost Ark has struck a beautiful balance between providing the classic expectations of an MMO and the wonderful elements of an ARPG. They’ve managed to expand their fanbase by catering to gamers from different communities – and, bringing them together.
Gamers who love MMOs will get everything they’re hoping to see and feel, topped with a ton of extra fun and adventure. Players who love ARPGs will get to experience a range of legendary abilities, powers, fantastical aspects, and much more.
In addition, while the gaming world has seen quite a few MMO releases over the last few years, most of them haven’t really scratched the surface of ARPG elements. This means that the ARPG community has been mostly left to their own devices, and the release of Lost Ark may have managed to fill this void.
Of course, the blend between MMO and ARPG is not always equal or symbiotic – there may be times when one element is far more prominent than the other. But, overall, its inclusion of both MMO and ARPG elements offers more than enough to keep most gamers happy.
Will Lost Ark Stay Popular?
While Lost Ark has seen some technical issues since its release, avid fans still seem as hyped as ever. The game devs seem incredibly devoted to maintaining and improving the gaming experience for Lost Ark players, and still have a ton of fun lined up for the future.
Seeing that this game has been around for years and is more popular than ever before, it’s safe to say that it looks like Lost Ark is here to stay. But, as with all MMORPGs, fast hypes and steady declines are nothing new to this community – only time will tell.
That being said, not knowing if a game will stay popular is no reason to neglect it. Regardless of whether or not Lost Ark will stay popular, it’s undeniably popular right now and offers countless adventures for its players.
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