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: Economy in Ashes (Solving MMORPG Inflation)
Gear should be fixable only x amount of time before it permanently breaks. Mounts should have maximum number of deaths, before they permanently die. Gatherable resource rates should be adjusted upwards to compensate. There is no MMORPG inflation problem anymore.
Re: How to fix the EXTREME server drop off we are experiencing.
It's my bad for equating the two, but that first one is what I'm talking about. Push newbies towards guilds, while guilds themselves benefit from it as well. Newbies get to learn the game in a community, while guilds want to provide that community cause it's beneficial for them as well.I would have to assume there is a system, mechanic or some such other than a mentor program that encourages guilds to hunt new players out to see if they would like to join. I don't see it as a direct result of a mentor system.
That's what I want from the mentor system.
I agree that a system that accomplishes this would be great, I just don't know what that system looks like.
To me, if EQ2 players were doing this before the game had a mentor system, and Archeage players were never doing this despite having one, it isn't the mentor system you need to look at.
Perhaps it is more to do with the over all player culture than any one system - though right now, I really don't know.
Edit; thinking on this some more, I think it comes down to basic respect - but respect that the game shows it's players.
EQ2 treated it's players with a level of respect, and it's players treated each other with a level of respect as a result. Archeage never treated it's players with any respect.
I don't see a lot of respect for players in Ashes so far.
Noaani
1
Re: How to fix the EXTREME server drop off we are experiencing.
The thing is that I'm talking about the very lowest beginner levels of social gaming skill.
"The ability to understand your role, communicate, and have enough control over your emotions to reach a small goal after a setback."
Many veterans think of those who lack these things as 'weak people who should be weeded out' (not saying you do, since your 'weed out the weak or at least don't reward them' is much more sensibly targeted), and this causes issues, or rather, it would...
If most of those players weren't out there frothing at the mouth and ragequitting over pings in Pred/SMITE/LoL.
It's a skill one has to learn (not everyone does) when under frustrating pressure, and it's a skill that is actually easier to learn in MOBAs because you don't have to deal with the fallout of 'losing your temper at your team and it making things awkward for a week for you to even log into the game'.
Sure, there's the bad side to this, that some people 'never learn and get to keep being terrible at it' if the game doesn't penalize them (i.e. the thing that serious devs are referring to when they talk about managing toxicity) but in short, yeah...
NOOB level teamwork and emotional control in groups with unknowns/strangers used to be an MMO thing, now it's a Battle Arena Shooter/MOBA thing ('tactical' shooters less so because sometimes the low TTK means that a single player can absolutely stomp an entire enemy team).
The thing is that it actually isn't that well known/understood outside of studios that make these games simply because the 'average rando' doesn't ever 'finish the Teamwork 101 course' in MMORPGs now.
"YouTube the fight to know what you should do, assume everyone else did that too, yell at/kick whoever didn't, requeue."
The most popular MMORPGs right now don't even require you to clear anything that would ask for a 'passing grade' in that 'class' to actually do most of their content. So you get this weird split of 'people who don't have those skills' and 'people who have them, but didn't get them from MMOs and therefore probably enter the MMO with a gaming friend group who they know also has them'.
It's really rough on designers right now because of this. Those who like challenge don't come to MMOs to make new friends to face challenges with, and those who 'like MMOs' don't necessarily like challenges.
"The ability to understand your role, communicate, and have enough control over your emotions to reach a small goal after a setback."
Many veterans think of those who lack these things as 'weak people who should be weeded out' (not saying you do, since your 'weed out the weak or at least don't reward them' is much more sensibly targeted), and this causes issues, or rather, it would...
If most of those players weren't out there frothing at the mouth and ragequitting over pings in Pred/SMITE/LoL.
It's a skill one has to learn (not everyone does) when under frustrating pressure, and it's a skill that is actually easier to learn in MOBAs because you don't have to deal with the fallout of 'losing your temper at your team and it making things awkward for a week for you to even log into the game'.
Sure, there's the bad side to this, that some people 'never learn and get to keep being terrible at it' if the game doesn't penalize them (i.e. the thing that serious devs are referring to when they talk about managing toxicity) but in short, yeah...
NOOB level teamwork and emotional control in groups with unknowns/strangers used to be an MMO thing, now it's a Battle Arena Shooter/MOBA thing ('tactical' shooters less so because sometimes the low TTK means that a single player can absolutely stomp an entire enemy team).
The thing is that it actually isn't that well known/understood outside of studios that make these games simply because the 'average rando' doesn't ever 'finish the Teamwork 101 course' in MMORPGs now.
"YouTube the fight to know what you should do, assume everyone else did that too, yell at/kick whoever didn't, requeue."
The most popular MMORPGs right now don't even require you to clear anything that would ask for a 'passing grade' in that 'class' to actually do most of their content. So you get this weird split of 'people who don't have those skills' and 'people who have them, but didn't get them from MMOs and therefore probably enter the MMO with a gaming friend group who they know also has them'.
It's really rough on designers right now because of this. Those who like challenge don't come to MMOs to make new friends to face challenges with, and those who 'like MMOs' don't necessarily like challenges.
Azherae
1
Broken Quests As I Come Across Them
Proper Burial cannot be completed and does not grant rewards even when you accept the rewards from the quest completion screen
arszavet
2
Re: Exploitation Action Promises
It makes little sense to attempt to explain to someone how exploiting has a negative impact on testing parameters and data in an alpha when they volunteer the fact that exploiting makes no difference to them.The conversation does not appear genuine or productive.
I will simply attach the comment that the Developer of Ashes of Creation made regarding the exploitation that took place last November in test:
I will simply attach the comment that the Developer of Ashes of Creation made regarding the exploitation that took place last November in test:
Its_Me
1
Re: Death mechanics improvement suggestions
You state you are okay with harsh consequences and then proceed to suggest soft penalties such as only receiving 'some' penalties, not immediately dropping materials ect.
Steven has stated that he intends for death penalties to be punishing, even super punishing and that the death penalty is equitable for pvp and pve players which I agree, it is.
Steven has also repeatedly stated that one of his core philosophies in this game is to have death penalties where people really feel failure when they fail opposed to many games where players do not feel shit when they fail.
I personally do not have any issue with the death penalties as they are nor do I feel that the death penalty is extremely punishing with the exception of the intentionally overtuned corruptions penalties but this (corruption) will change.
Yeah, "harsh" is subjective, and there's a whole spectrum of possible negative effects going from nothing and permanent death or something. My personal opinion (obviously not necessarily correct or better) is that currently the punishment is too harsh and not well balanced, Steven and others might have their own opinions, and the current systems are not final and still being developed in any case, hence my ideas/suggestions. Then of course things can be discussed
shiy
1
Death mechanics improvement suggestions
So, there various consequences when you character dies, the main ones I wanted to talk about are:
- EXP debt
- Stats decrease
- Material loss
- Time loss (go back to place of death)
- Gear damage
- Gear loss (corrupted players)
First of all, having quite harsh consequences for dying is fine in my opinion (subject to some fine-tuning) and this game is meant to have these in place. However, I feel that currently the combination of these mechanics, together also with other unavoidable player griefing behaviour results in quite detrimental and frustrating situations that don't really add to the challenge and enjoyability of the game, and could be in my opinion improved via some simple additions/changes to make death still punishing in a fairer way.
My envisioned updated system would look as follows...
- When you die (actually on resurrect) you receive stacks of some "Death Consequences" debuff.
- You might receive more/less stacks depending on attacking mob level or attacking player level/corruption or your own corruption.
- These debuff stacks decrease extremely slowly over time (think hours/days), or can be removed much more quickly by gaining experience (or getting back to your "ashes", see later).
- The consequences of dying depend on your "Death Consequences" stack: at low stacks, you actually will receive less of an EXP debt, stats decrease and material loss than current numbers; at higher stacks, you might even receive more negative consequences.
- You don't immediately drop materials on death (unless you are corrupted), if you are resurrected by a cleric, you automatically keep everything, if you are not resurrected and respawn at an emberspring, your "ashes" stay at your place of death and cannot be looted by anyone except you for X minutes (decreasing depending on "Death consequences" stack).
- If you can get back to your "ashes" in time, or are resurrected by a cleric, your EXP debt, stats decrease and "Death Consequences" are reduced
- Looting other players' ashes becomes a long channeled ability (think 10s or so), the looting player immediately becomes a flagged combatant at the start of it in any case and could potentially get interrupted by other players
- Clerics might get natural slightly reduced death penalties for themselves
- Gear damage and gear loss mechanics would stay pretty much unchanged
Note: this also relates to player griefing via mob pulling behaviour, and fixes/changes to mob behaviour to address this should also be put in place, but are not the main topic here.
- EXP debt
- Stats decrease
- Material loss
- Time loss (go back to place of death)
- Gear damage
- Gear loss (corrupted players)
First of all, having quite harsh consequences for dying is fine in my opinion (subject to some fine-tuning) and this game is meant to have these in place. However, I feel that currently the combination of these mechanics, together also with other unavoidable player griefing behaviour results in quite detrimental and frustrating situations that don't really add to the challenge and enjoyability of the game, and could be in my opinion improved via some simple additions/changes to make death still punishing in a fairer way.
My envisioned updated system would look as follows...
- When you die (actually on resurrect) you receive stacks of some "Death Consequences" debuff.
- You might receive more/less stacks depending on attacking mob level or attacking player level/corruption or your own corruption.
- These debuff stacks decrease extremely slowly over time (think hours/days), or can be removed much more quickly by gaining experience (or getting back to your "ashes", see later).
- The consequences of dying depend on your "Death Consequences" stack: at low stacks, you actually will receive less of an EXP debt, stats decrease and material loss than current numbers; at higher stacks, you might even receive more negative consequences.
- You don't immediately drop materials on death (unless you are corrupted), if you are resurrected by a cleric, you automatically keep everything, if you are not resurrected and respawn at an emberspring, your "ashes" stay at your place of death and cannot be looted by anyone except you for X minutes (decreasing depending on "Death consequences" stack).
- If you can get back to your "ashes" in time, or are resurrected by a cleric, your EXP debt, stats decrease and "Death Consequences" are reduced
- Looting other players' ashes becomes a long channeled ability (think 10s or so), the looting player immediately becomes a flagged combatant at the start of it in any case and could potentially get interrupted by other players
- Clerics might get natural slightly reduced death penalties for themselves
- Gear damage and gear loss mechanics would stay pretty much unchanged
Note: this also relates to player griefing via mob pulling behaviour, and fixes/changes to mob behaviour to address this should also be put in place, but are not the main topic here.
shiy
1