Lost Ark is a smashing success, and it’s looking to keep that going. Western publisher Amazon Games already created a new European region server and banned over one million bots, but there’s still more work to be done.
Namely, the MMO’s gender-locked classes will change. Presently, only the Martial Artist and Gunner are available to both in-game genders. Warrior is male-only; Mage and Assassin are female-only. You can probably already see the problem with this, and Amazon does too.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Amazon Games lead producer Soomin Park addressed the issue. “Smilegate is actively working on this,” Park stated. “In the future, Smilegate RPG will be creating more counterparts for classes that are still gender-locked, and we will bring these to Arkesia in time.” Park explained that creating classes for both genders takes “more work than just making a differently gendered model available,” but the team is putting in the work nonetheless. The female Berserker will be the first counterpart added to the game in Korea.
This relates to another concern: the skimpy armor most female classes are stuck with. “We are making adjustments so that the more revealing options won’t be front and center in places like marketing or the initial character creation screen,” Park explained. “We are also including new outfit options that are not quite as revealing, but these are an addition and not a replacement.” The old outfits aren’t going away, but players will have more options for covering more of their character’s body — like protective armor ought to.
These are good steps for Smilegate and Amazon to take. Lost Ark has 20 million players in the West, and it’s only right to provide classes and armor that make everyone more comfortable.
