Best Of

every single game is "not for everyone". The difference is ashes actually tells you so.

Stephen absolutely overpromised and some buy-ins absolutely overestimated how realistic the timelines were

At the end of the day, the cosmetic aspects are not a priority for getting the game running and don't even matter at this point. If the biomes are producing unique resources, updating location on the back end correctly, etc, they're working. Visual distinction can be done later.

I do think the lack of progress with the secondary class is the one concerning thing listed in this post and it should be upped in priority. There doesn't need to be a massive expanse of ability changes based on it, just enough to demonstrate how it works and smooth out wrinkles in the process that'll be used later down the line.

They've explained why APOC and UE5 change happened. APOC was a test for their initial combat design and made them realize that this design would not work for their goals. I wasn't following the game at the time of APOC, but afaik the stuff that you were getting for playing it is supposed to be transferable to the mmo as well, so it's not like you would've lost something if you played and paid for that mode.

There were also supposed to be several other modes (sieges being one of them iirc), which got scrapped exactly because development on the game took precedence.

The UE5 change was explained as a means for faster development, because UE5 has better tools for that. The visuals of UE5 will also help the game seem more appealing in the long run (though this is a fools errand, considering that biggest mmos on the market are old as fuck and look like shit, visuals-wise).

The change to UE5 pretty much shifted the game's development from 8 years overall to more like 4, at this time, cause it definitely seems that barely anything from A1 got transferred over in any meaningful way.

Everything is placeholder because it kinda has to be, while all the connected systems are being built up, and with one of those systems being dynamic gridding (which is one of the most complex systems Intrepid are trying to implement) - everything is on a slower pace of release than what it probably could've been.

All the vertical slice presentations are pretty much the standard in the industry. You can look at nearly every game presentation in history and see that majority of those do not match even the FINAL product, let alone pre-release builds. Making a vertical slice in a vacuum is way easier than trying to replicate the same fidelity in a live client. Especially when it comes to the kind of mmos that Intrepid are trying to make.

Summoner is being delayed because it'll be the, technically, most difficult-to-code archetype. You need proper mob AI, proper pathing, proper server/client response, proper player controls, proper mob interactions (effects/aggro/etc) - all of which are connected to server meshing, which is connected to dynamic gridding, which is not done yet (though PTR does seem to show some promise in that regard).

Rogue and Bard are the examples of what the devs are capable of, when it comes to archetype design, so rebalancing/design of other archetypes is simply a matter of time (yes, I know that this is an ironic thing to say under a post complaining about said "time").

All races looking "the same" is not really about fidelity or dev work or anything else. That's simply the design Steven went with. I'm fairly sure thsi has been known from the start. We have humans, humans with long ears, short humans, green (previously yellowy-reddish) humans, tree-deer humans, shrimped humans, grey humans and the furry/scaley beasts. Obviously those last ones are the most difficult to create, especially considering the promise that we're supposed to be able to combo their traits however we want.

I agree that the cosmetics thing is dumb as fuck. I also think that rebalancing of things like archetypes, stats and gear is also dumb, at this moment in time. I think that working on FTUE right now is dumb as fuck too. And obviously all the constant delays are annoying beyond belief.

But considering the current state of the industry, it's a fucking miracle that this game is even still alive and is being developed. Half the games that were announced in the past 5-10 years have been cancelled. The other half have come out in more than unfinished states or in Early Access ones. And anything that's been released, or was released waaay back in the day, is full of the most predatory practices imaginable. In other words, everybody knows shit's fucked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImMxcUQrBCs

And while none of that stuff excuses Intrepid's prolonged development or Steven's love to overpromise LITERALLY THE ENTIRE WORLD - I do think that the game is in a better state than most of the industry rn. The only problem here is that we see a fair part of how the sausage is made and only a few of us are ok with seeing that process w/o flipping out at its insanity.

I'd recommend forgetting about the game for now and simply checking gaming news from time to time, cause if the game does release - you'll hear about it one way or the other.

Except the fact that when it comes to modern story telling, you are still quite literally 'making shit up.' In Final Fantasy XI orcs, elvaan, and various deities like Odin look nothing like their mythological counterparts, or have the same sharp European limits. You can respect where something comes from while still making it your own. Or should we be striking down Square Enix for cultural appropriation due to their asian/darker skinned elves and portraying Odin as a samurai? That'd be nonsense right?

Hell even elves are an evolution. Most of the time they were depicted as short, then got conflated with 'fey in general' (on purpose because Tokien thought it more interesting) and we therefore now general think of elves as tall, largely due to the Tolkien popularization by dnd. Which also added their own components and so on.

Ashes is currently in the process of 'making shit up.' I respect people who want to 'keep source material as is.' I will even fight for you. I will reject, however, limitations on making new things for the sake of 'being more pure to the source material.'

Its the developer's creative vision let them envision their world, if you don't like it make a new game yourself with whatever character settings you like. Why does everyone have to impose their view on others.

If you don't like how others do something do it yourself.

So if you don't like how developers see their game lore and characters make your own game and lore

Skin-free play makes for some pretty ugly mis-matched toons....