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: Weekly Feedback - 01/20/2025
1. The inventory UI has dimentia. Basically, when gathering (not resource specific) you can only move so much stuff around before the database stops talking to the UI. There IS a stack of wood in that bag space, but the UI shows it as open, yet you can’t move anything to that spot in the grid. Oh, and my bags are full but the UI clearly has open space. The only fix is to relog. Then it happens again maybe 7-10 mins later. This is super annoying.
2. Node warehouse and bag inventory desync. This is very similar to number 1, except it happens at least 3x - literally - every time I am moving resource between the warehouse and my bag. Everyone hates plumbing issues, and there are some serious leaks in the system. As with number 1, the only fix is to relog.
3. Wingardium leviosa. My horse/wolf/bear are not flying mounts, but they cleary have ambitions because they float all the time. This is pretty easy to reproduce, just jump down from a minor ledge twice in a row. Boom. My mount is an enlightened being. The only fix is desummon / resummon.
2. Node warehouse and bag inventory desync. This is very similar to number 1, except it happens at least 3x - literally - every time I am moving resource between the warehouse and my bag. Everyone hates plumbing issues, and there are some serious leaks in the system. As with number 1, the only fix is to relog.
3. Wingardium leviosa. My horse/wolf/bear are not flying mounts, but they cleary have ambitions because they float all the time. This is pretty easy to reproduce, just jump down from a minor ledge twice in a row. Boom. My mount is an enlightened being. The only fix is desummon / resummon.
CROW3
4
Re: Live Streamer Grief-Pulling Mobs for Over a Week
Walmart Lover and VetsforShrooms train mobs on Vyra but in Highwayman Hills which to me is even worse. There's no legitimate reason for a high level to do this to a party of level 10s other than to get their jollies off griefing other players. If that's their idea of fun, they are sociopaths and should spend their alpha testing money on seeking professional help instead. Players should have to flag up if they want to contest an area. Training mobs is just cowardice and the game mechanics should not allow or reward it.
oddstero
1
Re: Live Streamer Grief-Pulling Mobs for Over a Week
They should (and will) fix the current bug associated with specifically spec'd tanks gaining hate on mobs that are currently chasing a character that they are on or near zero hate with, this much I agree.You're not necessarily wrong. But I will say that just because it likely wont go away, that shouldn't mean that Intrepid should stop trying to make it more and more difficult or punishing for players to do it.
However, that is all they should do.
Mob training should be a part of the game.
I honestly don’t understand. If you attack a mob, it should follow you and only you no matter what. If no one else attacks it, why would it attack them? They wouldn’t have aggro.
To allow mobs to attack ppl based on proximity is just lame.
Re: Why the endgame progression feels bad and what to do about it
well you have far more testing than i do in that case so i will take your word for it. Either way i think that if they are wanting to push that crafting to be the main way that people get gear there needs to be a way for the crafters to get the mats then need to make the gear before it becomes irreverent because people just grind out their set even if the drop rate is really low.
Re: Why the endgame progression feels bad and what to do about it
I haven't gotten very far in the crafting system yet, but from what I've seen so far, I'm seeing similar things to what is brought up here.
I've also been attempting to dive into being a scribe, but as the OP mentioned, it is just a huge gold sink for seemingly no reason.
Is crafting intended to put value into items? or is it intended as another grind to keep the economy moving?
If someone gets to the master artisan level, can they actually up charge for the items they make? or will the raw materials still be worth more?
I really want the artisan system to feel good at all levels, but so far it leaves a lot to be desired.
I've also been attempting to dive into being a scribe, but as the OP mentioned, it is just a huge gold sink for seemingly no reason.
Is crafting intended to put value into items? or is it intended as another grind to keep the economy moving?
If someone gets to the master artisan level, can they actually up charge for the items they make? or will the raw materials still be worth more?
I really want the artisan system to feel good at all levels, but so far it leaves a lot to be desired.
Re: PvP Experience is a big minus - I don't understand the design goals there
My general sense is that Ashes suffered a fate that seems common among kickstarted projects: the vision that you/we invested in changed during the course of development. When I saw the kickstarter and read about the node progression feature, I saw the game as an incredible UO- or SWG-style sandbox where questing, PvE, and a player-driven economy could lead to unique and emergent stories. It sounded like a PvE sandbox the likes of which we haven't seen in decades with, yes, some PvP-specific content woven in. Caravans, guild wars, and node wars.
At some point, it seems the development vision changed. Gameplay is not just challenging but punishing. The PvE and Economy elements all seem to exist in furtherance of PvP, which seems to have dominated the design goals ... both directly and indirectly via open corpse looting. Instead of a PvE sandbox, it feels more like the devs want to focus on a cutthroat PvP world in the vein of EVE Online and pre-Trammel UO. They're enamored with the idea of political intrigue and macro-guild drama, but in doing so, exactly as the original poster suggests, they will result in a very niche crowd. I don't remember any of those vibes from the kickstarter ... and for someone who has no interest in PvP whatsoever, it seems like the current state of the game looks to me and says, "This game is not for you. Look elsewhere."
At some point, it seems the development vision changed. Gameplay is not just challenging but punishing. The PvE and Economy elements all seem to exist in furtherance of PvP, which seems to have dominated the design goals ... both directly and indirectly via open corpse looting. Instead of a PvE sandbox, it feels more like the devs want to focus on a cutthroat PvP world in the vein of EVE Online and pre-Trammel UO. They're enamored with the idea of political intrigue and macro-guild drama, but in doing so, exactly as the original poster suggests, they will result in a very niche crowd. I don't remember any of those vibes from the kickstarter ... and for someone who has no interest in PvP whatsoever, it seems like the current state of the game looks to me and says, "This game is not for you. Look elsewhere."
Arkazon
1
Re: [Feedback] Why Ashes is currently destined to fail...
No it doesn't.
If you are having an issue that is appeased by it being acknowledged, you really don't have an issue.
What an ignorant thing to say lol the developers acknowledging an issue tends to put people at ease, even if the issue isn't actually fixed immediately. It shows that the developers are aware and paying attention to their userbase, and will generally lead to some level of trust from said userbase.
One of the absolute worst things you can do is not communicate with your users, and ignoring widespread and/or serious issues that have been reported is a very quick way to alienate your userbase and lose trust and confidence.
Re: Sol Deus Lotharia Griefing Sephillon/ Ruining the experience of players every day
lukedawuke wrote: »"s-s-mile y-you are r-r-ecorded"
☝🏻 Another toxic player
We need to talk about PirateSoftware’s interview.
I'm thoroughly disappointed with this interview.
The interviewer barely touched on what SHOULD be added during phase two - content we still haven't seen - and instead focused mainly on features for mega-guilds that few players actually care about.
What's more concerning is that Steven, instead of standing firm on his vision, seemed to be tailoring his answers to meet Pirate's expectations. Once again, he acted more like a salesperson than a creative director.
So Steven, let me be clear: we don't need you to keep selling us future features that only heaven knows when we'll see. What we need is honesty and transparency.
Focus on delivering FEWER features but actually releasing them, rather than constantly discussing 100 new features when you haven't even released 90% of what was promised for phase 2.
The interviewer barely touched on what SHOULD be added during phase two - content we still haven't seen - and instead focused mainly on features for mega-guilds that few players actually care about.
What's more concerning is that Steven, instead of standing firm on his vision, seemed to be tailoring his answers to meet Pirate's expectations. Once again, he acted more like a salesperson than a creative director.
So Steven, let me be clear: we don't need you to keep selling us future features that only heaven knows when we'll see. What we need is honesty and transparency.
Focus on delivering FEWER features but actually releasing them, rather than constantly discussing 100 new features when you haven't even released 90% of what was promised for phase 2.
Re: Weekly Feedback - 01/20/2025
Top 3-5 Most Important Bugs:
1. Crashing seems to happen quite a lot. With an especially punishing death mechanic, this can get quite exhausting.
2. Trying to do the introductory Caravan quest for the first time, another melee player about 6 levels higher was able to murder us in the driver seat in just a few swings. I was led to believe that the driver could not be targeted, but if this isn't a bug, it sure seems like a bizarre design choice.
3. Named commission enemies not spawning or taking a tremendously long time to spawn.
Top 3-5 Most Important Feedback Topics:
1. Showing a friend the ropes, by around level 8, he asked me, "So is this it? Is this the game?" All I could tell him was that it's Alpha and all the systems aren't in yet, but from his perspective it seemed like the only things to do are (1) gather and craft, (2) get into a farm group and grind for experience, or (3) PvP. And frankly, I couldn't say he was wrong. It might be helpful to know what is coming down the pipeline, what still needs to be implemented, and how it opens up the list of "what I can do ingame today."
2. Similar to Point #1, if a person has no interest in PvP whatsoever, this game does not feel like it has a place for them. When I backed the kickstarter, the emphasis was on the node system ... a living, evolving world where players' actions affected the unfolding narrative. This felt like a PvE Sandbox world. But at present, the PvE and crafting systems feel like they exist just in service of PvP, not alongside or as an alternative. Many design decisions feel like they are intentionally punishing: player death, grinding for levels, struggling to make money to keep up with repairs let alone buy new gear. There are minimal (if any) consequences for looting other players' bodies, so a string of bad luck can completely wipe out all the gains you've made.
3. As a result of 1 and 2, the game in its current state (and what feels like its current design direction) feels focused on an incredibly niche market: the EVE Online style PvP crowd. This emphasis on guild politics and drama and player conflict bears no resemblance to the vision of the kickstarter. Caravans, Node Wars, and Guild Wars are all major systems that are pretty well closed off to non-PvPers. And it feels like the game was never tested with griefers in mind, people who don't care about reward or consequences but just enjoy being complete jerks.
1. Crashing seems to happen quite a lot. With an especially punishing death mechanic, this can get quite exhausting.
2. Trying to do the introductory Caravan quest for the first time, another melee player about 6 levels higher was able to murder us in the driver seat in just a few swings. I was led to believe that the driver could not be targeted, but if this isn't a bug, it sure seems like a bizarre design choice.
3. Named commission enemies not spawning or taking a tremendously long time to spawn.
Top 3-5 Most Important Feedback Topics:
1. Showing a friend the ropes, by around level 8, he asked me, "So is this it? Is this the game?" All I could tell him was that it's Alpha and all the systems aren't in yet, but from his perspective it seemed like the only things to do are (1) gather and craft, (2) get into a farm group and grind for experience, or (3) PvP. And frankly, I couldn't say he was wrong. It might be helpful to know what is coming down the pipeline, what still needs to be implemented, and how it opens up the list of "what I can do ingame today."
2. Similar to Point #1, if a person has no interest in PvP whatsoever, this game does not feel like it has a place for them. When I backed the kickstarter, the emphasis was on the node system ... a living, evolving world where players' actions affected the unfolding narrative. This felt like a PvE Sandbox world. But at present, the PvE and crafting systems feel like they exist just in service of PvP, not alongside or as an alternative. Many design decisions feel like they are intentionally punishing: player death, grinding for levels, struggling to make money to keep up with repairs let alone buy new gear. There are minimal (if any) consequences for looting other players' bodies, so a string of bad luck can completely wipe out all the gains you've made.
3. As a result of 1 and 2, the game in its current state (and what feels like its current design direction) feels focused on an incredibly niche market: the EVE Online style PvP crowd. This emphasis on guild politics and drama and player conflict bears no resemblance to the vision of the kickstarter. Caravans, Node Wars, and Guild Wars are all major systems that are pretty well closed off to non-PvPers. And it feels like the game was never tested with griefers in mind, people who don't care about reward or consequences but just enjoy being complete jerks.
Arkazon
2