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: Shields Block Chance is Fundamentally Breaking the Tank Archetype
Make tanks great again!!!
hoken
4
Shields Block Chance is Fundamentally Breaking the Tank Archetype
"Seriously, January 29th! That's when shield block rating went kaput, and we're still waiting for a fix, or even a peep of acknowledgement. My tank's turning into a health potion dispenser for mobs; I'm getting demolished. It's not a "minor issue," it's a core mechanic that's completely busted. The silence is deafening. Are we just screaming into the void? Fix it, acknowledge it, do something! This isn't a "quirk," it's a game-breaking problem, and the lack of response is infuriating." -Hamlet
This sentiment is being echoed amongst many of the tanks across our guild and the Ashes space. Nyce gaming is also well known for bringing up these issues.
Pre-Nerf Block Chance:
Post-Nerf Block Chance:
Essentially Block Chance has been nerfed by 13% chance(using Shield of Briamore), a 78% nerf, making tanks much, much less tanky. To the point almost every tank agrees that it is never worth using a shield. "Just use a great-sword and do more damage", is constantly told to me by the tanks I play with. Also statements like "We are just fighters now" and "Whats the point of my naming us tank, we aren't given any items that allow us to become one".
Many people don't know about how big of an impact this is going to make on leveling. Tanks weren't unkillable before the nerf, and after they feel like wet-tissue paper. Shields allowed tanks while leveling and during endgame to survive, at a great loss to damage. Now shields giving a very minor boost to defense at the same loss of damage.
Please intrepid fix this before P3 tank is already a thankless job don't make it even harder, and un-fun to play.
This sentiment is being echoed amongst many of the tanks across our guild and the Ashes space. Nyce gaming is also well known for bringing up these issues.
Pre-Nerf Block Chance:
Post-Nerf Block Chance:
Essentially Block Chance has been nerfed by 13% chance(using Shield of Briamore), a 78% nerf, making tanks much, much less tanky. To the point almost every tank agrees that it is never worth using a shield. "Just use a great-sword and do more damage", is constantly told to me by the tanks I play with. Also statements like "We are just fighters now" and "Whats the point of my naming us tank, we aren't given any items that allow us to become one".
Many people don't know about how big of an impact this is going to make on leveling. Tanks weren't unkillable before the nerf, and after they feel like wet-tissue paper. Shields allowed tanks while leveling and during endgame to survive, at a great loss to damage. Now shields giving a very minor boost to defense at the same loss of damage.
Please intrepid fix this before P3 tank is already a thankless job don't make it even harder, and un-fun to play.
greek
13
Just a thought for the future when it comes down to node architecture
You said the architecture in previous streams will be based on what race contributes the most to the node but i think there may be a better route here which is based the racial appearance on what resources are used to construct the node. you can do this by having each resource type provide a racial contribution bar or something aka some kind of value and what ever resource has the highest contribution value is what the town gets based on for example bricks.
For example nodes in the desert will provide vaelune bonus where riverland nodes would provide more Kaelar bonuses. this would make the nodes look more organic in nature aswell but still allow people the option to build a vaelune city in the swamp if they like. Since most cities will use resources in it local area to build it so sandstone acacia for desert nodes making a vaelune style city, where granite and oak would make more the kaelar style node we currently have.
I know your no where near doing the cosmetic side of things but figure i would suggest this while that side of things still in early phases so u can decide to take this route if u want or not.
For example nodes in the desert will provide vaelune bonus where riverland nodes would provide more Kaelar bonuses. this would make the nodes look more organic in nature aswell but still allow people the option to build a vaelune city in the swamp if they like. Since most cities will use resources in it local area to build it so sandstone acacia for desert nodes making a vaelune style city, where granite and oak would make more the kaelar style node we currently have.
I know your no where near doing the cosmetic side of things but figure i would suggest this while that side of things still in early phases so u can decide to take this route if u want or not.
Veeshan
1
Re: Fix pve content.
Enchanting power scaling issues is just a symptom of the wider problem. Intrepid hasn't done sufficient work around power balancing and it has been showing since Phase1.daveywavey wrote: »What I'm reading is that everybody wants a bigger nerf to Enchanting?
What I want is a game which advertises itself as a sandbox experience with a lot of pvx content, which is accessible to everyone who plays it, and not just 1% of the rejects who will literally live in the game. There is plenty of us who are interested in the game, and realise that a lot of its content is build around player conflict. Sadly as I see it atm, most of the game content is gatekept behind a wall of pve grind. This isn't early 2000s Intrepid.
Too many of my past sandbox MMOs with open and semi-open pvp have failed because the game studios behind them disregarded concerns about pvp balance and grind, and few moths up to a year after the launch lost majority of their playerbase.
I'm fine with slower progression, but gear grind AND massive power gap between geared and ungeared players at the same time is a formula for a dead game. Most of the potential players will quickly lose interest if this trend continues. Most of us have lives outside the game. If the game allows for a massive power gap between players, the pvx nature of the game content will prevent people from progressing and participating in the core gameplay mechanics. I don't see people paying a sub to get steamrolled. Balance the pvp fundamentals intrepid.
Re: Linux Tips, Tweaks and Troubleshooting Thread
Ive followed the procedure in the OP. I put my dxkv.conf in Documents/Ashes/drive_c/Program Files/Intrepid Studios/Launcher/, I added the urlmon library override in legacy wine tools. I can launch the game from steam, but Im getting stuck at an error code 407 followed by error code 31. I'm at a loss for whats even going wrong, or what I need to do to get it fixed. The game crashes to desktop after error 407 and then error 31.
Additionally, Im getting that popup window about graphics drivers every time I launch.
Ive followed the procedure in the OP. I put my dxkv.conf in Documents/Ashes/drive_c/Program Files/Intrepid Studios/Launcher/, I added the urlmon library override in legacy wine tools. I can launch the game from steam, but Im getting stuck at an error code 407 followed by error code 31. I'm at a loss for whats even going wrong, or what I need to do to get it fixed. The game crashes to desktop after error 407 and then error 31.
Additionally, Im getting that popup window about graphics drivers every time I launch.
If I launch AOCClient through bottles instead of through steam, I instead just get error code 33. I'm not sure why there is a difference.
Ive managed to resolve most of my issues. In my case, I was running bottles and steam under different users without realizing which is what was causing the errors. I can get into the actual game. However, the performance is so bad it doesnt really even matter. I suspect that it might be because its not getting ahold of my GPU, and no matter what I do I just end up with this popup:
I can't seem to break ~13 FPS, despite having a 7900xt graphics card. I'm at a complete loss of how to proceed and I'd really appreciate some help.
gwibbles
1
Re: [NA] Suspect | Mercenary | PvX | Competitive & Social | 18+ | Alpha/Beta/Launch
Hyped about next update. Can't wait for the dev stream on Friday.
Re: Some art complaints are missplaced
I write this post because I see many complaints about art in Ashes of Creation. I also feel worried about some parts of the game’s art direction. However, when people address these problems, they mostly speak about environmental assets and world style. I think the real issues are in other areas, and I want to explain that in this post.
Intrepid showed they are able do very nice environment. The weather showcase environment is awesome.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhvQEPuexjg
Compared to that, the current environment feels weaker. Even areas that look good have problems, like low-quality textures, poor lighting, or not enough different assets.
I believe if they fix shaders, improve lighting, update some textures and particles, and add more variety in tree shapes, the environment could become really great. Concerns about world style are easier to solve, as Steven mentioned in his recent interview with TheLazyPeon. He said they plan to add more assets to PoIs and other quirks that make the world of Verra unique. So, I am not that worried because Intrepid proved they can deliver high-fidelity worlds—like in the weather showcase. Even winter parts of it look good. I don’t see strong reason to worry about environment style yet.
What I do worry about is character models and NPCs. It’s difficult to create models that fit nicely in a beautiful world. Right now, the player models and NPCs look terrible—like they’re all clownish or drugged. With games like Concord, I hope Intrepid tries very hard to make appealing models that match the environment’s quality. Even if they produce high-quality models, they must ensure the style is not simply unattractive. Concord had good quality models, but they were still ugly and unappealing.
I have similar concerns about Ashes of Creation armors. I do believe Intrepid will make high-fidelity armors, but since they want a more realistic style, I fear it might end up like New World’s armors: high quality, but ugly or boring in style.
It’s possible to add props or adjust lighting, but some things are not so easy to change later. For example, I don’t see them redoing entire landscapes now. That’s why I bring up these concerns before many sets are already made. It’s okay for level 25 sets to be a bit plain, but lots of players want unique, interesting fantasy armor at level 50. We should remember that “fantasy” doesn’t have to mean “cartoony.”
I also want to mention two small things. One is the current Riverlands landscape. I think it might be too late to change it. Another is how nodes fit in the world. For both, I refer to screenshots from Crimson Desert:
When you look at Crimson Desert’s landscape, it feels geologically logical, giving strong immersion. In Ashes of Creation, the terrain seems kind of random, like a designer just placing hills without thinking. Making terrain that feels natural in real life is very underrated. Unfortunately, like I said, it might be too late to fix that now.
Finally about nodes. Intrepid is not yet at the stage of node footprint development, but Steven mentioned current footprints are internally called Winstead and Miraleth. I want to highlight how a city can look great if there is building variety, good scale, and it blends into the environment, like the screenshot above. I’m sure we will eventually get very interesting, non-flat node layouts. Right now, it’s just a flat village with some artificial high ground for the town hall, but I assume that will change in future.
On a contrary, I think character design/art is horrible, not environments. Same reused noses and Kardashian lips, weak looking orcs with weird face proportions, Tulnar (especially females) look like something out f*rry pr0n, Empyreans with sunken faces that look like drug addicts...
There is no badass factor in designs. It's just weak.
If it doesn't improve, this will be only the game I won't give a shot because of design/art.
This is coming from someone who gives a chance to 30+ year old games.
I would have added armor design into complaints, but I wont because they actually improved on that front.
Inspection of other players
I am not sure if being able to inspect other players has been considered. i would like to bring other player inspection as a topic for consideration if it has not been. i have always liked to be able to show off my equipment to other players it adds another level of personal pride in effort that has been put in on development. allowing other friends and guildmembers to see how my gear has developed.
another reason being able to inspect other players to see what gear they have equipped is exploration on equipment goals seeing what other players are using for future improvements one can make on their champion. possible discovery of unique equipment drops off Named Mobs maybe overlooked that could be hunted for.
it could also be interesting comparing equipment of other players to see how you stack up against each other in PVP. It may offer you insight as to how your champion may not be set to be as effective as you believe, rather than just going up against someone and losing without being able to see where your deficiencies might be.
Another thing that would be cool to add in along these lines of inspecting others is creating Bazaars or a personal market for sales. i could see that this could put a target on ones back where carried inventory could be put up for sale. seeing what they are carrying would allow thieves to target peoples carried resources. with this in mind i think setting up another area of storage where things put in there must be put up for sale and taxes are charged to do so when put in there they are protected from being looted and can't be lost when death penalty is calculated because the tax was paid to protect it. tax could be and inflated rate and could be a way to remove currency from the game to help balance a growing economy where currency in the market may be inflated. bazaars could offer players an area to sell things for cheaper than the market without crashing the sales in the market from undercutting.
another reason being able to inspect other players to see what gear they have equipped is exploration on equipment goals seeing what other players are using for future improvements one can make on their champion. possible discovery of unique equipment drops off Named Mobs maybe overlooked that could be hunted for.
it could also be interesting comparing equipment of other players to see how you stack up against each other in PVP. It may offer you insight as to how your champion may not be set to be as effective as you believe, rather than just going up against someone and losing without being able to see where your deficiencies might be.
Another thing that would be cool to add in along these lines of inspecting others is creating Bazaars or a personal market for sales. i could see that this could put a target on ones back where carried inventory could be put up for sale. seeing what they are carrying would allow thieves to target peoples carried resources. with this in mind i think setting up another area of storage where things put in there must be put up for sale and taxes are charged to do so when put in there they are protected from being looted and can't be lost when death penalty is calculated because the tax was paid to protect it. tax could be and inflated rate and could be a way to remove currency from the game to help balance a growing economy where currency in the market may be inflated. bazaars could offer players an area to sell things for cheaper than the market without crashing the sales in the market from undercutting.
Holytank
1
Re: Inspection of other players
I asked this a long time ago in a live stream.
Steven agreed with me and said "No. You will not be able to inspect others gear."
Steven agreed with me and said "No. You will not be able to inspect others gear."
