Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Phase III testing has begun! During this phase, our realms will be open every day, and we'll only have downtime for updates and maintenance. We'll keep everyone up-to-date about downtimes in Discord.
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 Phase III testing has begun! During this phase, our realms will be open every day, and we'll only have downtime for updates and maintenance. We'll keep everyone up-to-date about downtimes in Discord.
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: Can we just get rid of boss/monster drops altogether?
I strongly disagree with removing boss and monster drops entirely.
Ashes is aiming for a balance where crafting is essential and meaningful, but removing all gear drops would strip away a huge part of the excitement in PvE content. Looting a powerful weapon or rare item from a tough boss is part of what makes MMOs fun and memorable, it’s a reward for risk and effort, not just a gear treadmill.
Crafting in Ashes will already play a major role in best-in-slot and progression systems, especially with how augments, enchantments, and enhancements work. But forcing everyone into professions by making leveling unbearable? That would feel punishing and take away player agency. Some people enjoy crafting, others enjoy hunting bosses, the game should support both.
Balance, not restriction, is the key here.
Ashes is aiming for a balance where crafting is essential and meaningful, but removing all gear drops would strip away a huge part of the excitement in PvE content. Looting a powerful weapon or rare item from a tough boss is part of what makes MMOs fun and memorable, it’s a reward for risk and effort, not just a gear treadmill.
Crafting in Ashes will already play a major role in best-in-slot and progression systems, especially with how augments, enchantments, and enhancements work. But forcing everyone into professions by making leveling unbearable? That would feel punishing and take away player agency. Some people enjoy crafting, others enjoy hunting bosses, the game should support both.
Balance, not restriction, is the key here.
REHOC
1
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion #77 - Let’s Talk Quests! ❗
"On a scale of 1–5, how would you rate the current quest rewards in Alpha Two? (1 = Very poor, 5 = Excellent)"
I'd give this a 2, I don't think all the quest rewards are bad, but I do feel like a lot of the quests that are available now are not completely worth doing in their current state.
"How would you describe the current quest rewards in Alpha Two? What’s working well, and what could be improved?"
I think there needs to be a deeper focus on making sure the quests are functional (I usually spend most of my time each phase reporting questing bugs) and the work vs reward from quests. Some of the early quests feel better tuned these days, but at level 10, there's no point in me running half way across the current world for 1-2 green glint and 3k XP when soloing mobs would net me way more xp and rewards in less time.
"In your opinion, what makes for engaging and fair quest rewards in a game like Ashes of Creation that features an economy-driven PvX system?"
I think that there needs to be a heavy XP incentive. The glint rewards are fine, but if you want players to commit to quests, at least make them more worth while than the alternative, which is just grinding. I WANT to quest more and care about the lore of Verra. But at bare minimum, I need the XP reward to be much fatter than it is now to get me to do that. If quests gave way more XP, players would feel better leveled/equipped to go out and defend themselves as needed when they do the crafting/gathering/life skilling to make their currency/contribute to the economy.
"Roughly what percentage of your leveling experience do you feel should come from questing compared to other activities (e.g., grinding, gathering, events)?
Less than 25%, 25–49%, 50–74%, 75% or more
Why did you choose that percentage?
What helps you feel connected to a game world, and what could Ashes of Creation do to feel more immersive and dynamic?"
I think if you really want to encourage players to do the quests and care about the questing, 50% would get the PvE players that don't mind questing to buy in and somewhere in the ballpark of 80% to get the players that don't care about questing and would rather grind. The character level XP from crafting/gathering is pretty abysmal, so I wouldn't consider that a viable method of leveling (the artisan levels are grindy enough).
I can appreciate if quests are going to send me across the world to see the sights and come across events on my travels, but the main reason I'm doing the quests is so I can level and not have to grind the same level 7 zone for 8 hours so I can go move to a level 11 zone for another 14 hours. Questing to level allows me to do the quests, unlock more of my abilities, become stronger, so then I can feel more confident joining in the immersive and dynamic events that are happening. Currently, I stick to a grind spot and if I do decide to do a quest, I purposely ignore a lot of things on my way there and back because I'm most likely alone and I know I'm just going to get killed and lose XP and items.
I'd give this a 2, I don't think all the quest rewards are bad, but I do feel like a lot of the quests that are available now are not completely worth doing in their current state.
"How would you describe the current quest rewards in Alpha Two? What’s working well, and what could be improved?"
I think there needs to be a deeper focus on making sure the quests are functional (I usually spend most of my time each phase reporting questing bugs) and the work vs reward from quests. Some of the early quests feel better tuned these days, but at level 10, there's no point in me running half way across the current world for 1-2 green glint and 3k XP when soloing mobs would net me way more xp and rewards in less time.
"In your opinion, what makes for engaging and fair quest rewards in a game like Ashes of Creation that features an economy-driven PvX system?"
I think that there needs to be a heavy XP incentive. The glint rewards are fine, but if you want players to commit to quests, at least make them more worth while than the alternative, which is just grinding. I WANT to quest more and care about the lore of Verra. But at bare minimum, I need the XP reward to be much fatter than it is now to get me to do that. If quests gave way more XP, players would feel better leveled/equipped to go out and defend themselves as needed when they do the crafting/gathering/life skilling to make their currency/contribute to the economy.
"Roughly what percentage of your leveling experience do you feel should come from questing compared to other activities (e.g., grinding, gathering, events)?
Less than 25%, 25–49%, 50–74%, 75% or more
Why did you choose that percentage?
What helps you feel connected to a game world, and what could Ashes of Creation do to feel more immersive and dynamic?"
I think if you really want to encourage players to do the quests and care about the questing, 50% would get the PvE players that don't mind questing to buy in and somewhere in the ballpark of 80% to get the players that don't care about questing and would rather grind. The character level XP from crafting/gathering is pretty abysmal, so I wouldn't consider that a viable method of leveling (the artisan levels are grindy enough).
I can appreciate if quests are going to send me across the world to see the sights and come across events on my travels, but the main reason I'm doing the quests is so I can level and not have to grind the same level 7 zone for 8 hours so I can go move to a level 11 zone for another 14 hours. Questing to level allows me to do the quests, unlock more of my abilities, become stronger, so then I can feel more confident joining in the immersive and dynamic events that are happening. Currently, I stick to a grind spot and if I do decide to do a quest, I purposely ignore a lot of things on my way there and back because I'm most likely alone and I know I'm just going to get killed and lose XP and items.
Re: why are you putting the cart before the horse?
First off, thank you all for the detailed, passionate, and thoughtful feedback. Posts like these are exactly why we love this community. You're not just pointing out issues—you’re helping us pressure-test systems from all angles, and that’s invaluable in an Alpha environment.
@KrystalKitten, huge shoutout to you for laying out your experiences as a gatherer and crafter with such clarity. From apprentice bread woes to caravan chaos to spreadsheets on cooking—your love for the game (and for seeing it improve) is shining through. We know some of the current tuning feels rough, and yes, power-leveling and drop pacing are still under review. Testing the foundation of crafting and gathering while progression systems are still in flux is messy, but it's part of getting this right long-term.
We’ve reported folks' feedback on early game itemization, quest polish, artisan balance, and yearning for more testing direction. These are absolutely things we want to refine as we move forward. Your point about timing—especially when different systems come online—is well-taken.
To keep the conversation going:
If you could change one thing about early-game crafting that would make it feel more rewarding right now, what would it be?
@KrystalKitten, huge shoutout to you for laying out your experiences as a gatherer and crafter with such clarity. From apprentice bread woes to caravan chaos to spreadsheets on cooking—your love for the game (and for seeing it improve) is shining through. We know some of the current tuning feels rough, and yes, power-leveling and drop pacing are still under review. Testing the foundation of crafting and gathering while progression systems are still in flux is messy, but it's part of getting this right long-term.
We’ve reported folks' feedback on early game itemization, quest polish, artisan balance, and yearning for more testing direction. These are absolutely things we want to refine as we move forward. Your point about timing—especially when different systems come online—is well-taken.
To keep the conversation going:
If you could change one thing about early-game crafting that would make it feel more rewarding right now, what would it be?
Re: Make PvP Viable
So, I just asked someone that would be capable of implementing a system like this (not saying which game they are working on now other than to say it is an MMORPG).Yep, this was the thing I was referencing with the SoT-like comment. I'd love that, but I dunno how difficult it is to implement in a massive mmo.Then you create a boarding system (and a means of defending against it) that opens up PvP at an individual scale within the platform, and you have your system for naval corruption.
They said that there is no reason to assume this whole system would be harder to implement than creating a part of the world that is exempt from a system like corruption.
Noaani
1
Re: Range feels terrible in most scenarios with the current TTK situation
Yeah rangers not the greatest with their skill kits atm
They should be the reverse of rogues to a degree, rogues are mostly melee with some range skills ranger should be mostly ranged with some melee skills, there need to be some more combo within there kit for example disengage makes next snipe half the cast speed or something.
im playing a rogue atm in 2.5 and playing it as a ranger it actually feel so much better than the actually ranger right now imo, better mobility and kiting, better utility and scouting and better single target dmg and sustain. It just lacking AoE that ranger have atm
They should be the reverse of rogues to a degree, rogues are mostly melee with some range skills ranger should be mostly ranged with some melee skills, there need to be some more combo within there kit for example disengage makes next snipe half the cast speed or something.
im playing a rogue atm in 2.5 and playing it as a ranger it actually feel so much better than the actually ranger right now imo, better mobility and kiting, better utility and scouting and better single target dmg and sustain. It just lacking AoE that ranger have atm
Veeshan
2
Re: Steven, Please Rethink “Not for Everyone”
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/PvX
This is good for read or reread. I think it really shows that the game is NOT for everyone. They are aiming for a specific audience.
Here's a couple things that stood out to me.
Ashes is a PvX game; and so in that regard, your ability to wholesale disconnect from the PvP elements of the game are likely not going to be entirely successful.
So, not everybody is going to like that and we accept that; and we're not trying to build a game that everybody is going to like,
A defining principle of Ashes of Creation as a PvX game is that PvE builds the world, and PvP changes the world
PvX players are the core audience of Ashes of Creation.[
What PvX will actually look like in Ashes won't be seen until later, probably late beta. We're still missing Religion, Vassals, and other systems. These will effect the actual PvP in the game quite a bit. I think those come in P3, well all features should be in before alpha is over.
For the game killer will be if my progress can be stopped by other players and I have no other viable, compelling, fun, way to continue my progress. If a large multi guild is just steam rolling Nodes stopping and regressing players progress for their leveling, gearing, Node leveling, gathering, ect. I just see a LOT of people quitting. People won't want a massive grind with a massive potential of loss, and if you drop the loss you lose people, if you drop the grind you lose people. It's like mixing oil and water... Seeing your efforts get wiped out from something you have no ability to stop isn't going to be fun. Steam rolling a Node 40 to 1 isn't going to fun. IMO this is Ashes greatest challenge second only to exploits, cheats, and RMT. If they nail it, they'll have created something amazing. If they go to far towards pvp it'll fail (in the ROI sense), if they go too far toward pve it won't be very unique, but it'll have more chances to actually succeed of hitting an ROI.
So even at this point I don't know if Ashes will be a game for me. Too much is unknown. Something might look good or bad on paper but in practice is the opposite.
This is good for read or reread. I think it really shows that the game is NOT for everyone. They are aiming for a specific audience.
Here's a couple things that stood out to me.
Ashes is a PvX game; and so in that regard, your ability to wholesale disconnect from the PvP elements of the game are likely not going to be entirely successful.
So, not everybody is going to like that and we accept that; and we're not trying to build a game that everybody is going to like,
A defining principle of Ashes of Creation as a PvX game is that PvE builds the world, and PvP changes the world
PvX players are the core audience of Ashes of Creation.[
What PvX will actually look like in Ashes won't be seen until later, probably late beta. We're still missing Religion, Vassals, and other systems. These will effect the actual PvP in the game quite a bit. I think those come in P3, well all features should be in before alpha is over.
For the game killer will be if my progress can be stopped by other players and I have no other viable, compelling, fun, way to continue my progress. If a large multi guild is just steam rolling Nodes stopping and regressing players progress for their leveling, gearing, Node leveling, gathering, ect. I just see a LOT of people quitting. People won't want a massive grind with a massive potential of loss, and if you drop the loss you lose people, if you drop the grind you lose people. It's like mixing oil and water... Seeing your efforts get wiped out from something you have no ability to stop isn't going to be fun. Steam rolling a Node 40 to 1 isn't going to fun. IMO this is Ashes greatest challenge second only to exploits, cheats, and RMT. If they nail it, they'll have created something amazing. If they go to far towards pvp it'll fail (in the ROI sense), if they go too far toward pve it won't be very unique, but it'll have more chances to actually succeed of hitting an ROI.
So even at this point I don't know if Ashes will be a game for me. Too much is unknown. Something might look good or bad on paper but in practice is the opposite.
Volgaris
1
Re: Why Summoner should be a melee Archetype
I don't understand what this would mean because your main weapon is what determines your range.
Do you want to force Summoners to not use Wands or Focii? Because even tanks can do that. Wand Tanks dancing around slow enemies is an entire specific way of gaining exp.
Do you want to force Summoners to not use Wands or Focii? Because even tanks can do that. Wand Tanks dancing around slow enemies is an entire specific way of gaining exp.
Azherae
1
Re: Modern clothes and themed clothing like Xmas Easter etc in MMOs
Too late. They have sold irl themed cosmetics in the past. They handed out a slew of Christmas hats in A2 directly from Steven, and now you can pick them up during testing from a vendor. The cosmetics were sold without some blurb of "can only be worn between X and X date." as just a couple examples. 
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion #77 - Let’s Talk Quests! ❗
I’m legally blind and currently struggling to engage with the game due to the lack of accessibility features. Specifically, the quest text is unreadable for me as there’s no option to increase the font size or enable screen reader support.
With over 295 million people worldwide living with moderate to severe vision impairment, accessibility isn’t a niche concern—it’s essential. Adding scalable UI text and screen reader compatibility would go a long way in making your game more inclusive and enjoyable for a broader audience.
With over 295 million people worldwide living with moderate to severe vision impairment, accessibility isn’t a niche concern—it’s essential. Adding scalable UI text and screen reader compatibility would go a long way in making your game more inclusive and enjoyable for a broader audience.
donlols
2