**Why Arcane Odyssey Shouldn’t Have Removed Cargo EXP**

[FridgeUchiha]

@Darkzoul1234

“thoe”

my friend had always spelt it like this since we were kids and i just decided to always spell it like that lol

[Darkzoul1234]

tbh i kinda like that spelling, im not really going to use it thoe

[Modehunter]

@Tempastus

One of its early systems—cargo trading with EXP rewards—played a vital role in the gameplay loop.

Wrong.

@Tempastus

Role of Cargo EXP in Early Progression

Also wrong.

@Tempastus

Accessibility for Non-Combat Players

So are most other exp gain methods?

@Tempastus

By incentivizing players to sail to distant islands with cargo, the EXP system naturally encouraged exploration.

You wanna know what else does this? Literally any other exp method.

@Tempastus

adding immersion by making players feel like actual merchants.

Maybe? But I feel like any immersion is quickly depleted by how slow and frustrating it is.

@Tempastus

Cargo trading wasn’t risk-free. Pirates, rogue players, and sea monsters threatened your cargo.

Pirates and sea monsters don’t do anything most of the time. Players will only attack you if they’re feeling extra evil.

@Tempastus

Players began forming trading guilds and communities around cargo runs.

There’s no way anyone actually did this… Merchant clans do exist but they’re more thematic merchants rather than practical merchants

@Tempastus

Without cargo EXP, players are forced into repetitive combat grinding.

Treasure charts and quests? Never heard of those..!

@Tempastus

The removal of cargo EXP stripped merchant-focused players of their identity.

Scammingpla- I mean Marketplace… and trading still exists.

@Tempastus

When cargo provided EXP, it encouraged players to do a little bit of everything—combat, trading, exploration, shipbuilding.

Cargo forced you to avoid combat, ignore trading, ignore exploration and prevented you from getting new ship parts.

@Tempastus

Removing cargo EXP pushes all players toward questlines for leveling, creating bottlenecks and competition for specific areas or enemies

More people realizing how bad cargo is? Good! Finally they’ll level up and play the game!

@Tempastus

Casual or time-constrained players could previously log in, run a few cargo deliveries, and still progress meaningfully. Without cargo EXP, these players are now disadvantaged.

There are much better ways to gain exp than doing cargo.

@Tempastus

Good games provide choices.

Good games also remove bad features!

@Tempastus

the spiritual predecessor of Arcane Odyssey, were praised for allowing players to level in different ways.

From what I can remember, AA was just spamming skills and chests to level up….

@Tempastus

Impact on New Player Retention
New players benefit from low-risk activities. Cargo EXP let them dip their toes into game systems without throwing them into difficult combat scenarios from the start.

This is one of the main reasons cargo is being removed, it’s such a boring feature and newbies are getting baited into doing it, so they just think the game is boring and grindy and just end up quitting.

@Tempastus

Merchant-style classes

I don’t remember there being a capitalism stat in the game but ok…

@Tempastus

Trading created a satisfying feedback loop: buy cargo, explore, trade, level up. Removing EXP broke that loop, leaving cargo with only monetary value, which is already abundant through other means.

Might be the most true thing on this list, but there are so many other ways to level up that are much more fun.

@Tempastus

Without EXP, traders no longer feel rewarded beyond gold.

The main purpose was to get money. Also gold is not a currency in AO…

@Tempastus

with distinct islands perfect for trading routes.

There was only one viable trading route, that being ravenna-redwake.

@Tempastus

Removing incentives for ship-based activities like cargo transport undercuts the game’s naval emphasis.

I thought cargo glazers hated ship pvp?

@Tempastus

there’s less player motivation to engage with regional economies

You wanna know what’s the best way to engage with the economy? Scamm- I mean trading!

@Tempastus

Why engage in this system at all when combat farming or quests are faster and more rewarding?

Exactly right! Even ChatGPT knows that cargo sucks.

@Tempastus

players might take dangerous sea routes or enter conflict zones to complete cargo runs for high EXP

The whole point of cargo runs was to take as few risks as possible to not lose hours worth of galleons and time.

@Tempastus

Negative Psychological Impact

You wanna know what else is a negative psychological impact? Bad and boring gameplay!

@Tempastus

The cargo system still exists, but without EXP, its purpose becomes unclear.

Yes, but atleast they won’t get tricked into falling for a noob trap.

@Tempastus

Players invested in cargo runs might spend Robux on faster ships, cargo boosts

P2W arcane odyssey is real

@Tempastus

Traders, explorers, and support-role players now have fewer ways to meaningfully contribute to group or guild dynamics, weakening community cohesion.

Traders will just continue scamming. Explorers (the real chads) will continue using the best and most proven leveling method! (charting) And support players, wait wtf do you mean support players?

@Tempastus

Arcane Odyssey prides itself on freedom, exploration

Yes exactly, freedom and exploration, not grinding and doing the exact same leveling method every single run.

@Tempastus

Conclusion

In conclusion, this post was obviously made entirely with AI (except the screenshot it was real), it’s full of empty and nonsensical arguments and has things that literally do not exist in the game…

Cargo exp being removed does not mean that cargo itself has been removed. You can still do it if you really want to! (although I don’t know why you would)

Also cargo exp was primarily removed cause of the reasons in the trello post, people tricked new players that it was the best exp method while it was one of the worst and most boring ones.

Also sorry for this yap post but as the #1 Cargo Hater, I need to strike down these lazy cargo glazers…

[alexthecat]

@Modehunter

Cargo forced you to avoid combat, ignore trading, ignore exploration and prevented you from getting new ship parts.

@Modehunter

More people realizing how bad cargo is? Good! Finally they’ll level up and play the game!

@Modehunter

Good games also remove bad features!

@Modehunter

This is one of the main reasons cargo is being removed, it’s such a boring feature and newbies are getting baited into doing it, so they just think the game is boring and grindy and just end up quitting.

@Modehunter

Also sorry for this yap post but as the #1 Cargo Hater, I need to strike down these lazy cargo glazers…

i cannot wrap my head about this egotistical holier than thou attitude about..cargo?

if players want to use cargo why stop them? seems like such a weird thing to hate on considering it has 0 effect on you.

levelling up is just boring. treasure charts, diving, cargo, etc., are all boring (especially once you try levelling up multiple files). levelling up in of itself is not fun at all, trying out the new features you unlock from leveling up is

[Modehunter]

clearly you don’t know the joys of treasure hunting

[JustAVoidOrb]

Hey can i take this entire text and modify it so it’s no longer AI

[Crystalys]

@Modehunter

I don’t remember there being a capitalism stat in the game but ok…

Erhm actually the AO world is not capitalist. It is more accurately described as mercantile