ArchLord is a 3D fantasy MMORPG developed by NHN Games and Co demasters Online Gaming (COG). The game was released in March 2005 in Korea and October 2006 in North America and Europe, receiving poor reviews from the gaming press. On August 2007, ArchLord became free-to-play to coincide with the release of the first episodic expansion pack, Season of Siege. The seco nd expansion, Spirits Awakening, was released in August 2008.

ArchLord uses a crafting system, which allows pl ayers to upgrade items in a very unique way as we ll as allows players to carve, skin and ransack a ny defeated monster. The materials achieved usin g carving, skinning and ransacking skills are us ed in Alchemy and Cooking to create powerup item s. Alchemy creates metamorphosis potions which a llows a player to transform into monsters, where as cooking allows a player to create food which give statistic bonuses, eg. defense buff.

One of the features of ArchLord is the ability to compet e to become the ArchLord, the supreme ruler of the game world. Only one ArchLord can exist on each of the four s ervers (Brumhart, Cyripus, Gaiahon and Evengarda), reign ing for four weeks before he/she is challenged by other players for the position. The ArchLord has access to a c astle, a dragon mount and control of the weather.

ArchLord received poor ratings; GameSpot criticiz ed the repetitive and tedious gameplay, blurry gr aphics and lackluster audio, shallow quest and cr afting system, and the hours of repetitive combat required to get to Player versus player and high -level content. The reviewer`s only positive comm ent was that ArchLord offered familiar role-playi ng gameplay of "kill, loot, buy stuff", overall awarding a "terrible" rating of 2.7 out of 10. Eu rogamer awarded 4 out of 10, criticizing the lack of visual distinction between the power levels o f monsters, with trial and error required to prog ress; a lack of other players, with those present not offering any legible dialogue; atrocious con trols that caused the reviewer`s character to get stuck on scenery; interesting-sounding features (castle sieges, for example) being restricted to higher levels; and a user interface that`s "like using Windows 95 with a migraine." In contrast, MMOHUB gave a positive review which found the graphics to be a pleasing hybrid of 3 D realism and anime style, and highlighted the w ide variety of quests, the different tactics req uired as a player reaches higher levels, and the "cool toys" granted to the player with "Archlor d" status. Criticisms included the limited graphical customization, difficulty in earning g ame money early on, lack of character customizat options , outdated user interface and the occas ional bugs.