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: [NA] Godforged | PvX | Semi-Hardcore | Community Driven
If your guild doesn't look like this every day, drop in some time ^^
Re: Launcher Issue
go into patching under the launcher options and set patching parallel operations as high as possible, see if that helps.
Doozer
1
Re: Feedback from a player that's stuck at level 8
The Feedback
1. The only people currently playing this game are people that have been playing this game. What I mean is it is impossible to find people to play with that are low level. I'm a level 8 Bard on all servers (lvl 9 on Lotharia) and I've been stuck at that level since January. Every weekend I log in at different times of day to spam the global chat for about 10 minutes then I log off because I can't find anybody.
2. No scroll wheel hotkeys is kinda weird. Maybe I'm alone on this one.
3. I've given feedback on a hotkey issue since the time I started playing around the beginning of January but its still not fixed. The issue is if you keybind a modifier + a mouse click or mouse button, and you use tab target mode, it breaks the game. You lose your ability of auto attacking even if you switch off tab target and back. Also you lose your ability to back pedal. There's lots of other random weird movement bugs I run into but I lost all hope they'd get fixed because I'm not part of the big clans that spam their problems.
4. The game is boring. All I do when I log on is try to find a group, fail, then kill goblins at the starter area. Wow.
5. Even though I think it'd be a good game if you always had people to play with, I guarantee the majority of people that try this game are going to be turned off within the first hour just like I was. I understand Steven's said many times he wants this to be a niche game, I just think its a weird business decision if that niche community is a little bit too niche.
6. This is a good point of feedback..... So the highest I ever got to was lvl 20 on Bard during Alpha 2 phase 1 in 2024. When I was playing at that time, I didn't have much else to do so I was able to disregard some life responsibilities so I could play, so I was able to group up with other no lifers. This made me realize the combat in this game is pretty good but the mobs at the time were pretty glitchy and the TTK was ridiculously long (maybe its better now, idk).
7. Back to the bad... Based on the previous point, this game seems like it requires too much investment of people to be able to enjoy. But again maybe thats the niche you want. MMORPG's aren't for everyone.
Suggestions
1. Make the game more solo-able at the start. Make some sort of starting questline that eventually culminates in groups being required to group up (maybe around lvl 10) as a means of introducing group play & how its so essential in this game.
2. Add quests in general. This game in its current state is so dull and empty and... boring. Nothing ever happens in the world, I don't see many people playing ever but this is probably because everyone is already at end game or doing whatever the gathering stuff is in this game.
3. Do better with introducing whatever the gathering stuff is. I haven't gone out of my way to learn any of it but I don't want to have to go out of my way for this stuff, and I'm sure plenty others share this sentiment. Make it easier to learn how to do whatever your gathering skills are.
4. Don't apply only to the hardcore gamers. I think lots of people that play these types of games are my age or older (I'm 28) and have lives outside of games. I think the best way of making the game more casual friendly is to make the game more enjoyable right outta the box. The current start of the game is: Kill goblins. Get Commission. Get loadstone or whatever they're called. Get Horse. Kill more goblins. zzz. If it were more like "HEY NEWBIES GATHER HERE FOR A QUEST!!! YOU ALL WILL HAVE TO GO TO KORRA LOCH!!!" or something like that, it would show the good sides of the game IMMEDIATELY to all new players because it wouldn't take such a huge time investment to see the good sides of the game that come with group play.
I think the game has potential and I understand "iTs aN aLFa" like I always hear, but its for that reason that I even took the time to write any of this. I see the potential but its current state is completely unenjoyable for me.
I came to a similar conclusion around new years. I don't want to spend the time grinding away in an alpha test. It's boring. I've leveled several characters to different levels mostly around 15-20 ish. The games hell levels which suck dingleberries. There's tons of loot deletion bugs. The gathering meta is fucked. People still playing are bored so they kill lowbies for sport. The attribute/stat imbalance is nuts. The attributes are more simple than a mobile game. The class trees are more simple than an ARPG. There's tons of missing/low yield materials preventing crafting. I could go on...
I can put up with all of that if there wasn't a grind. Yeah the game is in Alpha, but it's not fun to playtest. So don't, I don't, I just jump in on the weekends to check out some UI and storage stuff, kind of over /bug reporting though... Maybe they'll bring back a production test realm that has accelerated exp, drops, materials, ect that they wipe every month or something. I'd happily playtest on that and make reports as I seen them.
Volgaris
2
Re: Suggestion: Looking For Group
Songcaller wrote: »Old school method was taking proven combatants. Seems new school method is forced grouping. 🙄
So old school method was never playing with new players? Never playing with whoever happened to be online at the time and was willing to group? Doesnt sound very social.
Kind of.
The old school method was understanding there was a difference between a group where you wanted to get shit done, and a group where you weren't trying to get something specific done.
If you were trying to get something done, you took people you knew. If you weren't trying to get something done, you could mess around - and this is often when you would meet new people.
There are multiple reasons why this old school approach simply wouldn't work with Ashes design - including but not limited to the fact that the game doesn't facilitate people just messing around.
Noaani
1
Re: Why make everything so punishing??
I know the standard answer goes, '' Well this game isn't for everyone, so don't play it if you don't like the PVP/Lack of Fast Travel? Death Penalties/Lack of Solo Play, etc.
I say, Why not make it more appealing to more people though?[/b] As an MMO community, we've been hanging out for 'the next big thing' for quite a while now. A lot of us have supported development by buying into the Alphas and giving 'testing' a go. We are entitled to give our opinions. A lot of us are old-time MMO players, so we do have valid opinions. I for example, spent over $700 Aussie Dollars supporting the game, so don't say I haven't been supportive.
Why not tweak things so more players want to play? Why make everything super hard/super punishing? Many of us in RL have enough RL struggles; we just want to escape into a game and enjoy some playtime. We WANT to support a new game—a great game—one we can play for years! One we can solo OR group? Flag for PVP... or not. Quest OR grind.
I agree, don't make things too easy—maybe the difficulty level of say Classic WoW—which yes, is still popular because it's not 'too' easy, people can play PVP or PVE, they can make macros, quests, Spam Dungeons, Battlegrounds, and Multibox (yes, legally, it's ok; don't get your knickers in a knot.) Group or not group, etc.
I really don't get this whole non-fun, narrow-minded approach.
Because its an autistic PvP kids community and only what they say is good; they will never exept any other opinion; you spend money on an outdated project; there is no place for simple players; they will run game; they will have around 200 people playing it; and after die very fast and left only see how this kids will cry in reddit or other forums; 100% any mmo cannot stay alive if have no players
I'm pretty critical about this games direction with PvP, but it really seems like you guys just don't want to PvP at all. So why did you buy into Ashes? It's was very open about being a PvX game. No PvE servers. Nor are they trying to replace or even compete with games like WoW.
Personally I like RvR games, and it seems that Ashes is trying to make a dynamic RvR while still allowing infighting, which can be really awesome, but we'll see. Allowing PvP to be flagged off breaks basically everything. Could a PvE server work? Yeah, but then the game would be half of what its met to be.
I just don't understand the complaint against PvP though... it's a PvP game, if you don't like PvP why would you buy it?
Volgaris
4
Why make everything so punishing??
I know the standard answer goes '' Well this game isn't for everyone .. so don't play it if you don't like the PVP/Lack of Fast Travel?Death Penalities/ Lack of Solo Play etc etc.
I say, why not make it more appealing to more people though? As an MMO Community we are kind've hanging out for 'the next big thing' for quite a while now. A lot of us have supported development by buying into the Alphas and giving 'testing' a go. We are entitled to give our opinions. A lot of us are old time MMO Players so we do have valid opinions. I for example spent over $700 Aussie Dollars supporting the game, so don't say I haven't been suportive
Why not tweak things so more players want to play? Why make everything super hard/super punishing? Many of us in RL have enough RL struggles,, we just want to escape into a game enjoy some playtime. We WANT to support a new game, a great game, one we can play for years! One we can solo OR group? Flag for PVP.. or not. Quest OR grind.
I agree, don't make things toooo easy - maybe the difficulty level of say Classic WoW -- which yes is still popular because it's not 'too' easy, people can play PVP or PVE, they can make Macro's, Quest, Spam Dungeons, Battlegrounds, Multibox (yes.. legally is ok .. don't get your knickers in a knot..) Group or not group etc etc.
I really don't get this whole NON fun, narrow minded approach?
I say, why not make it more appealing to more people though? As an MMO Community we are kind've hanging out for 'the next big thing' for quite a while now. A lot of us have supported development by buying into the Alphas and giving 'testing' a go. We are entitled to give our opinions. A lot of us are old time MMO Players so we do have valid opinions. I for example spent over $700 Aussie Dollars supporting the game, so don't say I haven't been suportive
Why not tweak things so more players want to play? Why make everything super hard/super punishing? Many of us in RL have enough RL struggles,, we just want to escape into a game enjoy some playtime. We WANT to support a new game, a great game, one we can play for years! One we can solo OR group? Flag for PVP.. or not. Quest OR grind.
I agree, don't make things toooo easy - maybe the difficulty level of say Classic WoW -- which yes is still popular because it's not 'too' easy, people can play PVP or PVE, they can make Macro's, Quest, Spam Dungeons, Battlegrounds, Multibox (yes.. legally is ok .. don't get your knickers in a knot..) Group or not group etc etc.
I really don't get this whole NON fun, narrow minded approach?
Re: Why make everything so punishing??
@Gigibytes Most players are craving something not like current MMOs. WoW classic was a big hit right, but when WoW launched it was a "carebear" game. It streamlined players to end game with quest hubs and a perfect path to follow to reach cap with the most efficiency. Relaxed death penalties, high drop reward rates, in general high "feel good" hit rate. Compare this to EQ, Ultima, FFXI, MUD/s and so on. WoW was extremely carebear. Every game after WoW copied it and put in "QoL" features that made the game easier, even WoW did it, like the removing of skills, all these games got more simple, easy, and accessible. And successful for quite a few.. Avoid the red squares on the ground, stack your gear with the highest gear rating points, everyone can tank, dps, heal, ect, ect, ect.
You also probably didn't look up Stevens vision enough before buying. ( I didn't... ). The game isn't made to be solo'd. You can get to cap solo. You can get pretty decent gear if you buy it. But so you do get to cap and get some gear, what then? Everything in the game is based off group content at level cap. If you allow PvP flagging than you have a completely different game way off target from the goal. Open PvP is going to keep alot of people away, and will make a lot more quit.
I've come the conclusion this game is more like a survival/crafting game. Yeah you got some simple rpg systems, but they're so basic they hardly matter, just stack your magic or physical power. No in class diversity, all 25 mages have all the same skills, ect. Only your gear matters when it comes to your 'build', and gear can be handed down from guildies, so there's no gear progression if it can be skipped. All these things remind me of something like Ark or Valheim, sure you got a level, but after a week or two everyone will be at cap, so you're basically just your gear and a lot of players won't "earn" it they'll be fed gear to pump the numbers for their Groups pvp goals. Some people may love this, fair, but it's not what I was looking for.
I think a lot of people were wanting something that was a throw back to the late 90s/early 2000s but innovated on, large, smoother, depth, meaningful content/story, rewarding challenges and punishing defeat systems. Wrapped up in an open world open PvP game it'd be awesome.
You also probably didn't look up Stevens vision enough before buying. ( I didn't... ). The game isn't made to be solo'd. You can get to cap solo. You can get pretty decent gear if you buy it. But so you do get to cap and get some gear, what then? Everything in the game is based off group content at level cap. If you allow PvP flagging than you have a completely different game way off target from the goal. Open PvP is going to keep alot of people away, and will make a lot more quit.
I've come the conclusion this game is more like a survival/crafting game. Yeah you got some simple rpg systems, but they're so basic they hardly matter, just stack your magic or physical power. No in class diversity, all 25 mages have all the same skills, ect. Only your gear matters when it comes to your 'build', and gear can be handed down from guildies, so there's no gear progression if it can be skipped. All these things remind me of something like Ark or Valheim, sure you got a level, but after a week or two everyone will be at cap, so you're basically just your gear and a lot of players won't "earn" it they'll be fed gear to pump the numbers for their Groups pvp goals. Some people may love this, fair, but it's not what I was looking for.
I think a lot of people were wanting something that was a throw back to the late 90s/early 2000s but innovated on, large, smoother, depth, meaningful content/story, rewarding challenges and punishing defeat systems. Wrapped up in an open world open PvP game it'd be awesome.
Volgaris
6
Re: 🌼👋 Dev Discussion: Gatherable Spawning System
Hey friends!
Going to be making an official thread on this topic very soon. I'll merge this thread into the official one when it's posted
Going to be making an official thread on this topic very soon. I'll merge this thread into the official one when it's posted
Vaknar
9
Re: Why The Game Needs Fast Travel
I know it's been said that the game will not have point-to=point fast travel.
However, I feel like this is a mistake. The points of not having fast travel are o encourage world exploration and open world PvP. Given that there are PvP areas, large scale wars, and a node spawn system that is dynamic, these reasons are already covered. We will have plenty of reason to go exploring the world.
There's simply no point in making us take 20 minutes or more just to cross the map. This is further exacerbated by all the different leveling areas being very spread out and not having any kind of combined storage. If you add in the fact that the map is nowhere near completed, and you'll have players spending the bulk of their time just to get from point A to point B.
Case in point was making a group for Oakenhold tonight. We invited a cleric who was in the upper left of the map - it literally took him 25 minutes just to get over to us. That's a lot of wasting 7 other peoples' time.
At the very least, we need what EverQuest had - classes with the ability to create portals and gates to other locations. Druids and Wizards both had the ability to travel around, and at later levels they could do so for groups.
Many of your players are going to be people with limited time. We're going to want to spend the time we have doing what we want to do, not auto running and staring at your mount's backside.
So, please, consider throwing us a bone or two here.
Disagree completely. You seem to want to do everything, all the time, quickly. What about the entire idea of an adventure? Needing to travel to a far away land and explore. You will have plenty of things to do but dont expect instant gratifications, we have plenty of those games, we dont need another.
The idea of AoC is that you wont be travelling from the top of the map to bottom every day. That will be a journey days if not weeks in the making. And its good, we will get living breathing world with literally empires on opposite sides of the map.
NO FAST TRAVEL.
Tahiti02
3