Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about Phase II and Phase III testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about Phase II and Phase III testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Best Of
Re: [Issue] Griefing
Something to keep in mind, Intrepid studios only stands at just under 200 employees currently. To put that into perspective, Blizzard holds a robust 13,000+ employees in the last few years on record. I like to consider this when looking at the overall picture of how long it will take for action to actually roll out.
This is not an excuse. There are only 2 NA servers. I could single-handedly snuff out these players in 48 hours, and have done so when I ran servers in the past. All it takes is a singular person patrolling the these high traffic group areas.
If you have recording software such as OBS or otherwise, you can record your gameplay when testing out certain content and use that as evidence against players who commit to griefing. Intrepid is getting hundreds of tickets daily to weekly. Due to the low staff, it's going to take time for the wheels of justice to start moving.
Yes, it sucks that you have to use recording software to catch these foul players in the act, but I do believe that Intrepid will take action once they get to your ticket in due time.
Not everyone has this, and people don't just report singular people for no reason. I've brought this to the attention of community managers and was met with absolute silence. Catching them in the act is the best way to combat this.
Something to look forward to that I would suggest tuning into is Steven Sharif's interview with Pirate Software. I'm fairly confident that griefing will be addressed in this stream, as it's been an ongoing issue for some time now and the forums are packed full of griefing complaints by the playerbase. I've heard rumor of systems that are being worked on to deter players from griefing, such as unique mob aggro, but who knows.
I know that the mobs won't build hate on people outside the group in the future, but there are ways around this. Tanks AoE tank with their aura, so anything running through will be aggroed. It needs a lot more attention.
My one true hope is that Sharif eventually comes to the realization that you can still have PVP in a PVE-type server.
I understand both sides of this. I was a huge PvP player back in the days of UO, but that sort of game can't survive in today's market. Things/Culture has changed big time since then. It would be a shame to see all the art, animations, and mob behaviors go to waste due to PvE not being a focus. As cool as a non-instanced world is, it's no longer practical.
I think that Sharif's heart is in the right place when it comes to the corruption system, but it's a haphazard bandaid at best. If I were to be frank, I think it's actually a fucking terrible business model for pvp because it has only benefitted the perpetrator so far.
It's not so much the system as it is the players. If the game is not policed it stands no chance. It sucks that has to be the case but that is the world we live in. UO had GMs and actively did this, hence their success. People also had more respect back then, and that is very rarely present now.
Re: Let's talk about crafting in Ashes as it currently works.
My concise, constructive feedback on crafting is.... it sucks
Caww
3
Re: Players exploiting mobs in Oakenbane Keep against the wall
this is a problem with goblins that don't have weapons, goblins with swords get players and dogs get players too, there are many places where players can farm experience there. We need to change the behavior of monsters or make the attack radius like dogs and the problem will solve itself
Glavbuh
1
Re: AoC isn’t Punishing its Frustrating
I'd like to add that people want accomplishment. They want to feel that they can progress towards a goal. That's how a game is made fun. Penalizing players with EXP debt, loss of items, etc. is only frustrating and feels bad. We don't need penalizing mechanics to learn a mechanic. If we want to accomplish something, we will die over and over again until we get it, and that's what makes it fun. Punishing players is simply bad design because it is psychologically triggering and people don't like that most of the time. Humans want to take steps forward, not backward.
But even so it depends on the genre, and some genres require the player to set their own personal goals.
Those genres remain fun for the type of player they attract in spite of, and sometimes even because of the penalties they face.
The issue with MMOs is that the penalties are relative and semi-permanent, but MMOs can be designed better without removing the punishments/penalties that are there/needed for there to even be anything approaching 'gameplay' of the type they are supposed to deliver.
Competitive games such as Ashes, even if not in the same genre, have 'punish' as just part of their normal way of talking about scenarios. As long as you either had the necessary information and made the wrong decision, or 'could have had that information if you knew to look for it and therefore can improve by learning to look for it in future', then it's 'normal'.
Especially since the 'punish' is often your opponent's 'reward'.
Azherae
1
Re: Corruption Idea to stop the safety net of Friends
When the bounty hunter NPC is implemented, the corrupted players gear shouldn't drop. It should duplicated to the bounty hunter to either the contract holder or the person/people killing said corrupted player where they would collect the gear from the vendor.
I strongly disagree with this. Too easily abused and fraught with potential exploits. Also, let's just wait and see how the current system they have planned plays out first.
Pham
1
Re: [Feedback] Corruption
I feel like you don’t read. You keep repeating that “they can just give you your gear back” thing. You just did it two posts ago. That’s fixable. We explained how. I don’t think I need to continue the conversation.
kerrai
1
What drew You to Ashes?
We have a lot of new faces that have joined us since Alpha 2 has begun and there are so many more waiting to enter the gates to Verra coming later this year. What about Ashes are you most anticipating or most excited for?
For Virtek and Myself, there are a few things.
Overall, Ashes revealed itself as a unique take on MMORPGs, it also has beautiful graphics and intricate systems that weave together to make the world feel like it is really alive.
We may not see that in its fullest extent currently, but the signs are there.
For Virtek and Myself, there are a few things.
Overall, Ashes revealed itself as a unique take on MMORPGs, it also has beautiful graphics and intricate systems that weave together to make the world feel like it is really alive.
We may not see that in its fullest extent currently, but the signs are there.
Re: What drew You to Ashes?
Saw one of the AoC streams like 2.5 years ago. Before that I had only heard of AoC but kind of dismissed it entirely.
The stream was recommended by a friend c:
The stream was recommended by a friend c:
Exploitation Action Promises
I have been suggesting for weeks that we need to give the devs time to handle the exploits but honestly at this point, the lack of both action and communication on the devs part is beginning to feel like they are just putting time between the exploit and any action they might be taking to lessen the public outrage against inaction or weak action on their part. This feeling seems to be building within the community as I have heard it from quite a few testers.
The last time Steven addressed exploits on Discord was on Wed Jan 8th. He stated at this time that they would have exploit actions ready before the next week and there has been complete silence, not even an update to say they are still working on this after they passed their promised deadline of action.
In the meantime, the biggest guild exploiting the war dec system on Vyra (which absorbed players from a guild that was also involved in the duping exploit) has been setting up their defense campaign in discord claiming not to know it was an exploit while simultaneously leveling new character and rebranding under the guild name ‘Waiting’.
I think it is a bit odd to plead not guilty while taking a lot of measures to hide your guilt. I wonder how many new accounts were purchased during this time to funnel gold and materials to as they seem to be pretty proactive with limiting any possible penalty while crying about their innocence?
When this guild discovered that they could spam war decs cheaply against other guilds and do little to nothing to gain fast xp, gold and rewards, their pattern of behavior changed suddenly with declaring war against the entire server. The fact that most of the playerbase was screaming that this was an exploit and did not follow suit, points to this being an exploit and the excessive spamming of war decs (100+? ) in this short period of time, points to their lack of innocence.
There are a fair number of us that watched the exploitation over Christmas that have spent little time in test since this, waiting to see how Steven handles the newest exploits, including the war dec situation.
The lack of participation is not about leverage or anger, it is about the desire to back a developer that demonstrates that they care about exploitation in the game they are developing and will actively handle it. Far too many games have suffered permanent damage from exploits after launch where developers were lax throughout test.
This wait and see approach has now turned into weeks and sadly, some have already moved on to other games to test or play. While this game certainly does not need every tester, the developer does need the faith of his community and that appears to be beginning to wane with the lack of action and passage of a promised action deadline without any communication update.
Will Steven keep the promises that he made to us last November when he warned players to report anything that they feel might be a bug that could be exploited and not partake in it and that he would deal with exploiters harshly? Or will Steven allow the offenders to hide behind the ‘we didn’t know it was an exploit’ when the exploit was obvious to the overwhelming majority of his players declared it an exploit, reporting it as one, and refrained from the using the same thing to gain an unfair advantage in xp, gold and other rewards over others just as Steven requested in Nov.
Also of importance, will Steven continue with his pattern of transparency and provide numbers and figures and action taken or will he hide and give a generic ‘we dealt with some people’ answer since it has been several weeks and this cooldown period might minimize outrage toward inaction or weak action on his part?
I think the latter would be a big mistake on the Stevens's part as he would be mistaking trust and patience in him doing the right thing with tolerance, and not a lot of testers will tolerate those that intentionally exploit, even in testing.
Setting aside all the other suggested exploiting taking place since Dec 20 including another dupe, I understand that this guild is putting pressure on Steven suggesting they are not guilty of exploiting because there was no timer. If Steven allows this, it will be a punch in the gut to all his ethical testers that did what he asked, reported the issue and refrained from partaking in the situation and trusted Steven to handle this appropriately.
I get that some of these guilds have a relationship with the devs and some of the players in these guilds have spent $2500 on their Phoenix Initiative package but if treatment on exploitation is based on who you know, this will be worse PR than the Narc situation.
I hope that Steven provides an update soon and even more importantly, that he and the rest of the dev team do what is right and stand by the promises they made to this community and handle exploiters harshly and not brush them or their actions under the rug.
The last time Steven addressed exploits on Discord was on Wed Jan 8th. He stated at this time that they would have exploit actions ready before the next week and there has been complete silence, not even an update to say they are still working on this after they passed their promised deadline of action.
In the meantime, the biggest guild exploiting the war dec system on Vyra (which absorbed players from a guild that was also involved in the duping exploit) has been setting up their defense campaign in discord claiming not to know it was an exploit while simultaneously leveling new character and rebranding under the guild name ‘Waiting’.
I think it is a bit odd to plead not guilty while taking a lot of measures to hide your guilt. I wonder how many new accounts were purchased during this time to funnel gold and materials to as they seem to be pretty proactive with limiting any possible penalty while crying about their innocence?
When this guild discovered that they could spam war decs cheaply against other guilds and do little to nothing to gain fast xp, gold and rewards, their pattern of behavior changed suddenly with declaring war against the entire server. The fact that most of the playerbase was screaming that this was an exploit and did not follow suit, points to this being an exploit and the excessive spamming of war decs (100+? ) in this short period of time, points to their lack of innocence.
There are a fair number of us that watched the exploitation over Christmas that have spent little time in test since this, waiting to see how Steven handles the newest exploits, including the war dec situation.
The lack of participation is not about leverage or anger, it is about the desire to back a developer that demonstrates that they care about exploitation in the game they are developing and will actively handle it. Far too many games have suffered permanent damage from exploits after launch where developers were lax throughout test.
This wait and see approach has now turned into weeks and sadly, some have already moved on to other games to test or play. While this game certainly does not need every tester, the developer does need the faith of his community and that appears to be beginning to wane with the lack of action and passage of a promised action deadline without any communication update.
Will Steven keep the promises that he made to us last November when he warned players to report anything that they feel might be a bug that could be exploited and not partake in it and that he would deal with exploiters harshly? Or will Steven allow the offenders to hide behind the ‘we didn’t know it was an exploit’ when the exploit was obvious to the overwhelming majority of his players declared it an exploit, reporting it as one, and refrained from the using the same thing to gain an unfair advantage in xp, gold and other rewards over others just as Steven requested in Nov.
Also of importance, will Steven continue with his pattern of transparency and provide numbers and figures and action taken or will he hide and give a generic ‘we dealt with some people’ answer since it has been several weeks and this cooldown period might minimize outrage toward inaction or weak action on his part?
I think the latter would be a big mistake on the Stevens's part as he would be mistaking trust and patience in him doing the right thing with tolerance, and not a lot of testers will tolerate those that intentionally exploit, even in testing.
Setting aside all the other suggested exploiting taking place since Dec 20 including another dupe, I understand that this guild is putting pressure on Steven suggesting they are not guilty of exploiting because there was no timer. If Steven allows this, it will be a punch in the gut to all his ethical testers that did what he asked, reported the issue and refrained from partaking in the situation and trusted Steven to handle this appropriately.
I get that some of these guilds have a relationship with the devs and some of the players in these guilds have spent $2500 on their Phoenix Initiative package but if treatment on exploitation is based on who you know, this will be worse PR than the Narc situation.
I hope that Steven provides an update soon and even more importantly, that he and the rest of the dev team do what is right and stand by the promises they made to this community and handle exploiters harshly and not brush them or their actions under the rug.
Its_Me
3
Re: [Feedback] Corruption
I am curious, when you say you have not attacked a single player, are you referring to attacking a non-combatant that does not wish to pvp or anyone, even a flagged player?
Neither. Mainly because most of my testing involves gathering / crafting. So when I'm out on a resource run, I don't want to risk losing a chunk of my gatherables (which typically has at least a few purple / orange). It's all downside for me, and "fun pvp" isn't part of the equation. It's also pretty rare to see a flagged player where I'm gathering as well - so initiating combat would be 95% on greens.
Ah okay this makes sense. I see a lot of flagged players and have no issue flagging up for combat but it makes sense you would not see as much if you are out gathering or crafting. It also makes sense that you are not intentionally flagging as you do not want to lose resources so you are using the overtuned corruption system to prevent deaths. The fact that you have only experienced one death, shows that the system is working as Steven intended for alpha, even if friends and/or guildies can assist corrupted players with retrieving lost gear and working off the corruption.
The system is currently overtuned and in your favor right now. Steven wants to minimize people killing players that have no desire to pvp (for whatever reason) and is trying to balance his PVP and PVE playerbase.
Currently, PVP players are complaining that it is overtuned (we know it is and it is intended) and about the bugs and issues that result in consensual pvp (two players flagged) ending up in corruption and harsh penalties. Although I do not think there is a big shortage of pvp for people that enjoy it and look for it, I do think there is definitely less PKing of non-combatants. I believe that once some of the bugs are worked out that result in corruption outside of intentionally engaging and killing a non-combatant, open world consensual pvp will definitely rise.
My biggest concern is that because it is so overtuned right now for alpha, the PVE playerbase will have difficulty once the system is worked on and bugs and issues are removed and players no longer go red after one non-combatant kill so more non-consensual interaction between PVE and PVP players will be taking place.
Its_Me
1