ArcheAge Founders Packs on Steam give beta access

If you’re desperate to pay quite a lot of money for four days of a beta, ArcheAge has you covered on Steam.

The free-to-play MMO – described as a “fantasy-sandbox MMORPG freed from predefined paths and progression” – is hosting a second closed beta event next week, from 30 July to 4 August. If you want in on this and all future closed beta events, you can get guaranteed access by buying a Founders Pack! Which start at £36.99. Which seems a bit steep for a game that will be free-to-play on launch.

The cheapest Founders Pack available for ArcheAge is the Silver one, which costs £36.99 and offers beta access, a four-day pre-launch headstart, a “Founder” title that gives +1 to all stats, an “Experimental Glider”, 2500 in-game credits, and 30 days of Patron status. The credits are valued at $20, and the Patron status is valued at $15, which comes out to about £20. I guess the beta access/title/glider/headstart are worth about £17, then.

Next up is the Gold Founders Pack, which costs hahahaha £75.99. I’m sorry, I started laughing halfway through typing that. This nets you a Traveler title (+2 to all stats), an “Exclusive Glass Phoenix Glider”, an “Exclusive Desert Assassin Plate Costume”, 10 Evenstones, 10 Hereafter Stones, 7500 in-game credits, 60 days of Patron status, plus beta access and four days’ headstart. This time, the credits and Patron status are cumulatively valued at about £47, which means the rest of it is about £29.

If you have more money than sense and really want to drop a huge amount of cash on a free-to-play game that isn’t actually out yet, the £114.99 Archeum Founders Pack is for you! Also, I have a bridge I’d like to sell you. This gets you beta access, four-day pre-launch headstart, the Exclusive Glass Phoenix Glider, the Desert Assassin Plate Costume, 10 Evenstones, 10 Hereafter Stones, aaaaand… alpha access, the +3-to-all-stats Trailblazer title, the customisable Founder’s Cloak (+3 to all stats), “Reagents to put your own crest in-game”, six Daru Chests that may or may not contain a mount, 10 Pet Healing Potions, 11250 in-game credits, and 90 days of Patron status. Playing the valuation game again, the credits and Patron status are apparently worth around £70, so we’re talking £45 for the rest of it.

There will almost certainly be other beta events, so if you do buy in you’ll almost certainly be getting more than just four days of access, but I’m still not convinced that these ArcheAge Founders Packs are a fantastic deal. Still, it’s your money.