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kerrai wrote: »

As we saw with exploiting, Intrepid took a soft approach. That resulted in rot. More exploiting, more griefing.

What people NNED to understand - and only about 3 posters on these forums currently seem to - is that Intrepid are not after the same outcomes now as they would be when the game is live.

If Intrepud see behaviour that would be considered exploiting, or if they see RMT behavior, their first thought isn't and should not be "how do I stop this".

Rather, their first thought, last thought and every thought in between should be done only with the live game in mind. They should be looming st that RMT (and exploiting) and working out how they can best use this opportunity to make the live game the beet it can be.

With the would-be exploit, the key was to not ban the players that are finding the more obscure exploits. You want them testing the game now, because every exploit they find is one less exploit in the live game. Sure, some people may not vet that, may he passed off that they are still in the game and may leave the test or what ever - but at the end of the day that is swapping g one productive alpha tester for someone that is trying to play the game as opposed to testing it.

Same with RMT. Doing anything about it now is pointless - as pointless as buying from a third party website during an alpha phase that will have wipes. rather, the ONLY thing Intrepid should be doing is working out how they can use this opportunity to reduce RMT once the game goes live.

If a few people get upset that there is stuff for sale during this alpha test and leave, that is a price worth paying if Intrepid are able to lower the amount of RMT in the live game.

Noaani wrote: »

Different people have different ideas of what disrespecting one's time looks like, but no one likes it when they feel their time isn't respected.

This is the best statement here.

Some people see a long grind as disrespecting their time. Others, like me, think that gaining five levels in a single session is what truly makes my time feel wasted. Just to be clear, I’m not saying you personally want that kind of speed—I’m just using it as a general example to explain my perspective. When leveling happens too fast, it feels so insignificant that it might as well not exist as a system at all. The game could just start you at endgame, and nothing of value would be lost. I understand that different players have different tolerances for leveling speed, but so far, I don’t mind Ashes’ leveling curve—especially knowing that quests, story arcs, world events, and other features will continue to be added to enrich the process.

One of the biggest challenges in MMO design is balancing fun with efficiency. A really insightful article on this topic is Water Finds a Crack, which explores a key truth about player behavior: “Players will always optimize the fun out of a game if given the opportunity.” If a game allows for a more efficient but less engaging way to play, many players will default to it, even at the cost of their own enjoyment. This is why Ashes is designed to nudge players toward more meaningful, social, and immersive gameplay rather than the kind of fast-track systems that dominate modern MMOs. It’s not just about making things “harder for the sake of being hard”—it’s about creating an experience where taking the most rewarding path also happens to be the most enjoyable one.

For me, that’s where the “punishing” aspects of Ashes actually enhance the game. Having a penalty for death forces me to think twice before taking risks, which makes the world feel more dangerous and, in turn, more alive. It also encourages me to prepare for challenges rather than just running in blindly, which adds to the sense of adventure.

A death penalty also plays a crucial role in Ashes’ PvP ecosystem. In games without meaningful consequences, reckless and trollish behavior is rampant—because why not? If nothing is at stake, people will pick fights just for the hell of it. But when death has real consequences, most players will think before they act, making for a more rational, engaging, and strategic experience. Sure, higher-level players might still attack lower-level ones, but the corruption system is intended to curb that behavior (even if it still needs tuning in the alpha). Plus, once nodes are fully functional, I expect that players will form real communities within them, leading to a vested interest in keeping their local region safe. People leveling within a node’s ZOI is beneficial for its citizens. Successful caravans help everyone in the region. Of course, bad actors will still exist, but those players might find themselves blacklisted or actively hunted by the community.

Beyond just the mechanics, Ashes is trying to bring back the social nature of MMOs—something many of us miss. And I’m not saying that you don’t enjoy social play, but rather that modern MMOs have increasingly catered to solo players. When that option exists, people will naturally take it, even when it leads to a worse long-term experience. The best way to bring back the community-driven MMO experience is to design a game that encourages and rewards social play rather than making solo play viable.

That said, I can understand how some of the mechanics might feel harsher if you weren’t as deeply familiar with the game’s vision before jumping into the alpha. To be clear, I’m not saying you personally weren’t informed before buying in, but I’ve seen a lot of posts from people who seem to have a very different expectation of what Ashes was going to be. It just seems likely that many of them didn’t follow the game closely before purchasing an alpha key, which would naturally make some of these mechanics feel more punishing than intended. Right now, there are very few tutorials, intro questlines, or structured onboarding systems to ease players into the world, and a lot of the systems meant to balance the difficulty are still being built.

For me personally, though, Ashes is exactly the game I expected it to be. I’ve followed its development for over four years, watched every monthly livestream, and listened to nearly every developer interview. Everywhere that the game doesn’t quite feel right yet, it seems obvious to me that it’s simply due to the state of the alpha—systems are unfinished, missing, or buggy. But in terms of its core philosophy and design, it’s exactly what I signed up for.

I get that Ashes isn’t going to appeal to everyone, and that’s okay. Trying to make a game that pleases everyone usually results in something that doesn’t truly satisfy anyone. But for those of us who love the challenge, the weight of our decisions, and the social aspects of old-school MMOs, this game feels like a breath of fresh air. Steven, being part of this audience himself, just wants to make a game that those people can truly love.

Azherae wrote: »

I mean, this is what they 'want' to happen, not because they don't care, but because...

How will you test your RMT detection stuff if you make too much effort to completely prevent RMT?

And why would you actually do the banning part in the Alpha phase, particularly this Alpha phase, without being really sure of the targets?

Give the Anti-Cheat staff some time.

I respect this take. However, I think there’s actually something more important at stake here than perfecting RMT detection, and that’s changing the culture and making the community mindful of how Intrepid will run things. As we saw with exploiting, Intrepid took a soft approach. That resulted in rot. More exploiting, more griefing. Guilds on Vyra are still using the Fishing and Lumberjacking declarations to grief. No punishment handed out.

If RMT is handled the same way, it will flourish. So yeah, work on RMT detection, but you have to also be swift and take decisive action so that the community learns. It’s a careful balance for sure but if either side of it is neglected it’ll be bad for the game.

RMT has already started in the alpha. There are a number of players on Vyra alone who are there to farm and sell gold, mostly by taking advantage of static gathering respawns. If you check the major RMT services from other games you’ll see Ashes listed there.

It’s insane to me that MMO communities are so fundamentally broken that we’re here already. Obviously it’s alpha so who cares, but at the same time it’d be nice to see Intrepid sit up and take immediate notice and be heavyhanded about this. Your game population will never be smaller, so it should hopefully be easy to track this down and ban for it. If you don’t establish a strict code of conduct early it’s just going to get worse and quickly.