Is Lost Art Dead? - Yeah

And I think it should.

I mostly played on the KR server, sometimes on the Global server through Steam, and Koreans are somewhat aware that the game is dying. They casually say, 'Yeah, it is!' The game is even declining in Korea; many bluntly say it's becoming worse. The previous director ran away to avoid harsh reviews after a shining debut on the Global server.

It seems to be reviving a bit after the release of a new character, usually assessed by how much in-game gold can be sold for actual money since people farm real money from LostArk. The game is famous for that, no doubt. The in-game gold value went up slightly recently after the release of the female berserker.

Many characters were censored during the export process, such as adding more colored skin NPCs or reducing the exposure of women's bodies in clothing. Not only does Lostark itself have sexism, but the company, SmilegateRPG, is known for showing inequality in gender issues. They are infamous for firing women workers who got married and pregnant because they don't want to pay for them, even if there exists a law to give them parental leave. They refuse to, just fire them. They also hired someone who left a company after being caught sexually harassing a female colleague. They cut their collaboration immediately with a freelancer who said, 'We all should be feminists' on Twitter.

Smilegate's harsh firing of female workers was reported on a TV program as well, to which they did not react. No wonder they have a misogynistic culture, and female gamers in Korea boycott Smilegate's newly released mobile game targeting the female market. And yes, that one died so fast, as it should.

I used to enjoy the game a lot. Now I've quit for some time; it doesn't attract me in any way. Later, I read they had sexism inside and outside the game, just everywhere. I'm glad it is dying. There should be better games made by better people. Let it go away.