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: I dont see myself subscribing, if the current trend of grind and character power continues
That's me frfrnot interested in TL because they can't run around as a Dwarf and chop every tree they can see while watching out for constant danger from the back of their mount
Ludullu
2
Re: What is GPH and why should you care about it?
Sign our petition to reduce Grit's duration to 1.5 seconds so we can really measure peak sigma tanks.
Don't listen to Dr. Fauci, certified beta male and peddler of tanking conspiracies! 1.5 seconds is a joke, we all know that true Chads like myself want grit to be a held ability, so that we must actively clench our asses during every single second of every single play session. Everyone should sign MY petition to require tanks to hold down an active skill that if we stop using it for longer than one second we simply die. If you want anything less you should admit you would rather re roll as a Ranger.
Fippy
1
Feedback after getting to 25 twice now and been running content as tank main.
So I'm just gonna list off random things I would change about the tank here.
I don't mind the change to grit but the 10 second timer is cancer. you need to have situational awareness and there's already plenty of CD to keep an eye on. I would change it to a 30 second duration with a 20 second cool down allowing for around a 10 second stack to be thrown into rotations, This won't be necessary for typical farm parties but can be optimized into rotations for bigger fights and oh shit moments. Also you should fix the tooltip, it gives 5% not 10%
I love using reflect as much as possible but sense before Phase 1 the skills proc window doesn't match up with it's animation. The animation lasts for about 4 seconds where the window for the trip, knockdown and restore MP only takes effect in about the first 1.5 seconds of activating the skill.
With the way your enemy mechanics work like a lot of charges, links and awkward back peddles as well as melee that ranged if they're at a certain distance. the tank could really use an AoE draw-in ability. this would also help balance it out for PvP sense it sucks so bad at 1v1 make it a powerful specialist in group combat.
Tank wall should LoS mobs a lot more efficiently.
I find myself using both intercept and absorption field for myself more than anything on rotation as extra damage mitigation. I personally would like to keep this but change it a little and just make 2 skills the first one would replace Intercept and would put a shield on you like intercept would but it also does it to anyone in a very small aoe around you. I would make absorption field do the same thing instead with a larger aoe and shield around the tank
I would also give grapple two augments that a skill point can be spent on to, the first is make it so grapple replaces the mechanic of intercept by pulling you to an ally and shielding them, the other would give grapple a charge.
The stun on vengeance is kinda hard to weave into anything it's more just rng when it comes to making a useful stun. I would rather make it consume all courage and do something based on how much was consumed like a damage bonus at 25% stagger at 50% trip at 75% and the stun when all courage is used to allow more control over the tanks CC capabilities.
Aegis is a good way to get yourself killed, I suggest tanks should more auras and aegis does a buff around the tank depending on the aura he has on, main tank can run iron while an off tank has a damage aura and aegis boosts that aura instead.
Wouldn't mind seeing more mechanics which uses an off tank for more than something like just encase the main dies to raid boss or something. Tanks should have a skill to transfer some of its agro away to someone else and set up situations where the tanks going to get overwhelmed with wound debuffs and will have swap out periodically and stuff like that, kinda like what FFXIV does but less gimmicky.
Slam is kinda a waste of Courage to try and boost your dps a little bit I would overhaul both slam and inciting strikes. First make slam MP based and do it's knock back instead of trying to be DPS/threat gen, Make it a swipe too a frontal cone with a knock back and add a feature in where it knock backs harder if you're using a 2h
for inciting strikes I would make it the DPS focus that eats up your courage, this will be used to boost attack speed and finisher proc rate for tanks that like to pop skills like swordmaster's aura or inspiring bullseye
I don't mind the change to grit but the 10 second timer is cancer. you need to have situational awareness and there's already plenty of CD to keep an eye on. I would change it to a 30 second duration with a 20 second cool down allowing for around a 10 second stack to be thrown into rotations, This won't be necessary for typical farm parties but can be optimized into rotations for bigger fights and oh shit moments. Also you should fix the tooltip, it gives 5% not 10%
I love using reflect as much as possible but sense before Phase 1 the skills proc window doesn't match up with it's animation. The animation lasts for about 4 seconds where the window for the trip, knockdown and restore MP only takes effect in about the first 1.5 seconds of activating the skill.
With the way your enemy mechanics work like a lot of charges, links and awkward back peddles as well as melee that ranged if they're at a certain distance. the tank could really use an AoE draw-in ability. this would also help balance it out for PvP sense it sucks so bad at 1v1 make it a powerful specialist in group combat.
Tank wall should LoS mobs a lot more efficiently.
I find myself using both intercept and absorption field for myself more than anything on rotation as extra damage mitigation. I personally would like to keep this but change it a little and just make 2 skills the first one would replace Intercept and would put a shield on you like intercept would but it also does it to anyone in a very small aoe around you. I would make absorption field do the same thing instead with a larger aoe and shield around the tank
I would also give grapple two augments that a skill point can be spent on to, the first is make it so grapple replaces the mechanic of intercept by pulling you to an ally and shielding them, the other would give grapple a charge.
The stun on vengeance is kinda hard to weave into anything it's more just rng when it comes to making a useful stun. I would rather make it consume all courage and do something based on how much was consumed like a damage bonus at 25% stagger at 50% trip at 75% and the stun when all courage is used to allow more control over the tanks CC capabilities.
Aegis is a good way to get yourself killed, I suggest tanks should more auras and aegis does a buff around the tank depending on the aura he has on, main tank can run iron while an off tank has a damage aura and aegis boosts that aura instead.
Wouldn't mind seeing more mechanics which uses an off tank for more than something like just encase the main dies to raid boss or something. Tanks should have a skill to transfer some of its agro away to someone else and set up situations where the tanks going to get overwhelmed with wound debuffs and will have swap out periodically and stuff like that, kinda like what FFXIV does but less gimmicky.
Slam is kinda a waste of Courage to try and boost your dps a little bit I would overhaul both slam and inciting strikes. First make slam MP based and do it's knock back instead of trying to be DPS/threat gen, Make it a swipe too a frontal cone with a knock back and add a feature in where it knock backs harder if you're using a 2h
for inciting strikes I would make it the DPS focus that eats up your courage, this will be used to boost attack speed and finisher proc rate for tanks that like to pop skills like swordmaster's aura or inspiring bullseye
Apok
1
Re: Consensual PvP System in Ashes of Creation
People will protest against this, of course, because they know a PVE server will absolutely kill the PVP servers - because all their "walking content" will switch there, leaving them alone on the PVP servers with the other antisocials.
PVE servers will die when people hit 25 because there is no PVE left. The only reason to get gear after 25 is to PVP with.
Xeeg
1
Re: 🌼👋 Dev Discussion: Gatherable Spawning System
1) gameplay loop is not fun
- fixed timers means players either create alts to farm to the second, or players limit their game experience by making sure to hit specific nodes at specific times. People didn't explore new content when released because they felt obligated to guard leg nodes also resulting in less effective testing of new content.
2) there is no 'contesting' over them
- people can't contest what they don't know about and doesn't exist for more than 1 second
- can also be camped by invisible rangers making it even harder to know
- even if can be contested, advantage goes to a few classes essentially limiting a major gameplay loop
3) incalculable advantage goes to a very small few
- those who can log in immediately on server up find the leg nodes; odds of finding a leg node of any major interest (Braidwood for example), is essentially zero for everyone else
- major guilds who have players on all the time can thus 'soft-lock' progression by simply hoarding all the resources necessary for gear upgrades
Simplest fix until long-term vision in place: set the 'move high-rarity-location timer from w/e it is now to just 1 or maybe 2 respawns'. Changing one number and impact is minimal since same resource-generation rate is maintained.
Edit: even though I'm not a fan of only having coal available randomly, having it as a random chance while hitting other stones is actually good in my opinion. Having high rarity only available this way would be great if you can manage a similar intro rate as current.
- fixed timers means players either create alts to farm to the second, or players limit their game experience by making sure to hit specific nodes at specific times. People didn't explore new content when released because they felt obligated to guard leg nodes also resulting in less effective testing of new content.
2) there is no 'contesting' over them
- people can't contest what they don't know about and doesn't exist for more than 1 second
- can also be camped by invisible rangers making it even harder to know
- even if can be contested, advantage goes to a few classes essentially limiting a major gameplay loop
3) incalculable advantage goes to a very small few
- those who can log in immediately on server up find the leg nodes; odds of finding a leg node of any major interest (Braidwood for example), is essentially zero for everyone else
- major guilds who have players on all the time can thus 'soft-lock' progression by simply hoarding all the resources necessary for gear upgrades
Simplest fix until long-term vision in place: set the 'move high-rarity-location timer from w/e it is now to just 1 or maybe 2 respawns'. Changing one number and impact is minimal since same resource-generation rate is maintained.
Edit: even though I'm not a fan of only having coal available randomly, having it as a random chance while hitting other stones is actually good in my opinion. Having high rarity only available this way would be great if you can manage a similar intro rate as current.
Siendel
6
Re: I dont see myself subscribing, if the current trend of grind and character power continues
It is because the games are 'different' that this would happen.
The type of player who wants to be able to spend money to keep up, or wants other players to be able to spend money to keep up, will generally prefer TL anyway.
The type of player who prefers Ashes now will generally be quite upset that any form of 'Pay to Anything' was introduced.
As for the other part of your post... that's what the TL Battle Pass functionally is.
There will always be people who are 'not interested in TL because they can't run around as a Dwarf and chop every tree they can see while watching out for constant danger from the back of their mount'. Honestly though, I guess there's no benefit to me or anyone else to try to make the 'argument' that they're not different enough in financial terms, beyond the above.
I look forward to learning about the nuances of MMO player demographics in the next 5 years.
The type of player who wants to be able to spend money to keep up, or wants other players to be able to spend money to keep up, will generally prefer TL anyway.
The type of player who prefers Ashes now will generally be quite upset that any form of 'Pay to Anything' was introduced.
As for the other part of your post... that's what the TL Battle Pass functionally is.
There will always be people who are 'not interested in TL because they can't run around as a Dwarf and chop every tree they can see while watching out for constant danger from the back of their mount'. Honestly though, I guess there's no benefit to me or anyone else to try to make the 'argument' that they're not different enough in financial terms, beyond the above.
I look forward to learning about the nuances of MMO player demographics in the next 5 years.
Azherae
2
Re: CRITICAL FEEDBACK: Intrepid Please fix PvP - TTK test video demonstration
Above poster making me need those 'Dev Team Demographics'...
(it's not just me, right? It's a tl;dr style rebuttal?)
(it's not just me, right? It's a tl;dr style rebuttal?)
Azherae
1
Re: I dont see myself subscribing, if the current trend of grind and character power continues
Pay to compete could be something that makes casuals with jobs and familie able to catch up, but seems like intrepit and others don´t understand difference beetween p2w and pay to compete. Ofc there will be players that can´t pay and only can play casual, but it will still make more players able to be competetive if they can buy gold direct from intrepit to buy gear to grind faster. Selling gold can be set up in a controlled system, so no one can buy insane ammount of gold.
Albion online have a no limitation system to buy gold, back when i played that game it was still the most skilled players who won, no matter, that some ppl had cash to buy gold.
I know its for some are a controversial statement, but let´s be honest, some ppl have to pay the salery for the ppl that are needed to keep the game beeing developed after release. As stated previous, most of those players wont stay if they are just meat for no lifers, and then it wont take long before AOC is just another faliure.
People who are okay with this model have a modern PvX game to play already.
If Ashes goes 'P2KU' to 'attract the players with less time', on top of having a sub model, it will lose to TL.
We should be thinking about how to give Ashes its own space to stand in, not 'trying to figure out how to have a shoving match with NCSoft'. And this issue in particular is very precisely the place where Intrepid cannot do it.
Azherae
1
Re: Denial of gameplay as a "strategy?"
That's such a sad world view, sorry. You want the game to give you the illusion that you matter instead of just working towards actually mattering. That's how afraid of failure and setbacks you are.
There are several caveats here.
The impact needs to be meaningful risk versus reward for both sides, not just bullying for bullying's sake.
Nor indefinite power concentration to the first group that became big.
And smaller groups need to have ways to engage in realistically accessible diplomacy to participate in getting their share of the cake.
That isn't my worldview, that's my experience with what players generally want, shaped after watching bully guilds bully, and toxic people be toxic, for ~20 years. I don't care about setbacks, losing in game items, etc. The people we play the game with are more important than the game itself, and the way that my server is currently is egregious.
None of the caveats that you mentioned are in place *right now*. Yes, they may be there in the future, but *right now*, the design rewards forcing players to quit, and that's my largest concern. I know there's changes coming down the pipeline, but over the last week, it seems like there are no repercussions for people griefing.
We have a mayor that is declaring node wars constantly to "punish" other testers for "not playing the way they want." Members of these guilds have come into my fellow guild members' streams and harassed them. I'm not asking Intrepid to litigate things outside of their game; this is just one small example of the type of jaw-droppingly unprofessional behavior I've seen.
Again, I'm not asking to "do whatever I want," because that's unrealistic.
Re: Disgusted by the team already and I haven´t played the game yet.
Redberet76 wrote: »I am disgusted to see the audacity to ask high amounts of money to play a test phase. It reeks like milking the product and clients to the max. Besides that, it takes ages to finish this game and there are already many customers like me who have pre-paid the game and they are completely neglected by this company.
Not a good sign!
1. If it was a high amount of money for you, you should not paid in. Not trying to be mean, but pre-ordering is a gamble. Don't gamble if you're going to be sad when you lose. Games have been 60 USD since the 90s. Asking 100 USD or more for a game that is good wouldn't bother me. I'd gladly pay 120 USD for a full release, feature rich game, like BG3 or KCD1/2, there needs to be more games like these that raise the bar.
2. Pre-sales funded asset creation. Each package that was sold gave the buyer access to the skins that were created for in-game assets. At no point was it required to fund the development, only enhance the game with more visual content. Artist don't work for free, even the starving ones.
3. This is an Alpha, not a pre-release, early access, or head start. Semantics aside, it's still early in development, and won't be release for another two years at the earliest.
4. How are you neglected? You pre-paid, and are in Alpha 2, go download the client and check it out. What more were you expecting? A red carpet, a handie jay from Steven?
I think they're doing testing wrong (but who cares what i think). I don't play-test. I'm not spending my time grinding away only to lose more time to bugs and incomplete systems. It's boring to test, it's more boring to play-test, but damn I'm glad so of you out there are doing it! (lol suckers)... jk, kinda...
Volgaris
2