Bizarre Lost Ark Ability Feeds On Spam

Even though many predicted that "Lost Ark" would blow fans away in 2022, no one expected the game to take over Steam in the process. Against all odds, "Lost Ark" is having an exciting rise to the top of the MMO charts, but there's somewhat of a disparity between players who have enjoyed the game for a couple of years (thanks to its Korean, Russian, and Japanese release) and those that are just picking it up for the first time. Sometimes, that means that older players will already be knowledgeable about exploits in the game, leaving new players confused about the attacks and spells they're seeing. One workaround in "Lost Ark" has fans particularly perplexed as to why they're seeing so many exclamation points in the chat window.

One Redditor named Tim shared this discovery in a post shortly after "Lost Ark" released, explaining that while some users that span the chat might just be annoying, it's also likely that they're just buffing their stats. Tim explained that he found an item that contained "Sight Focus," a skill that claimed that it would provide a boost to offensive damage, but only if the player inputted exclamation points into the chat. Tim explained that he felt confused by the description, and wondered if there had been an error in localization. However, he was incorrect, and many others verified that they'd seen the strange exclamation points, too.

Tim explained that players can use any phrase to boost their damage, as long as they include the exclamation points at the end. While he suggested using phrases to cause "maximum cringe," anything would work. Tim noted that others had called him out for spamming the chat and, frankly, getting on the party's nerves. However, he insisted that the mechanic is built into the game, so he technically did nothing wrong.

Other users quickly commented on their own experiences with chat spam. One posted, "What if all the people saying 'SKIP!!!!!' are actually just using this engraving" and not trying to bypass cutscenes. Many gamers took the opportunity to share their own catchphrases for spamming the chat, some specially themed to their character's class.

Amidst the funny spam suggestions, there were some players who worried that they'd be reported for their enthusiasm in chat. One user suggested explaining the mechanic in the spam text itself, hopefully avoiding any misdirected ire. Others wondered if players would actually report another gamer for using a spammy message, but it turns out that gamers will report each other for far less.

Regardless of how wild the chat gets in "Lost Ark," it's always good to show some kindness and consider that the game includes mechanics encouraging players to spam the chat. That being said, the skill has a 30 second cooldown period, so hopefully it won't be too much of a nuisance.