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: Everything feels so unfriendly...
It's Alpha 2. Should be no surprise that there is a lack of info within the game.
Since we are testing the game... you could just run some tests to determine what 100 speed means to you.
Since we are testing the game... you could just run some tests to determine what 100 speed means to you.
Dygz
1
Clickability of UI Elements for Tracking/Untracking Quests
Hope everyone's well, just a quick bit of feedback. As you can see below, the UI 'Eye' elements which determine if a quest is tracked are rather small, precise, and difficult to click quickly.
I would recommend creating a full-row-height box behind them that is the actual button to improve clickability and reduce the precision required for quickly untracking all of the quests that a restart has once again tracked.
Also, it's been bugged, but the Track/Untrack button is inverted from what it should display.
I would recommend creating a full-row-height box behind them that is the actual button to improve clickability and reduce the precision required for quickly untracking all of the quests that a restart has once again tracked.
Also, it's been bugged, but the Track/Untrack button is inverted from what it should display.
Wars, Nodes and Scarcity of Materials
My fellow gamers and developers,
tis to you I write this appeal. It's simple. It is a request to lock 2 zones to level 1. The end.
Here's why...
When nodes level up so does everything else right? In a state where the wars work we could level down a node. Unfortunately this is not the case. In turn the materials continue to spawn as harvested but also have a chance to spawn a higher level node. With this happening no one can mine that higher lvl material yet thus locking it in place and cause scarcity of t-1 materials... until there's none left. I'm a filthy casual. I'm a father and a husband and I can only play maybe 12 hours a week at best which means I'll get 5 hours on a Friday and an hour here and there when I pop in. Combing the entire map for 2 hours only to come up with 10 copper ore is a serious problem. While we've added the small chance to get ore from granite and basalt, I've only gotten maybe 3 zinc out of 200 basalt nodes. There is a location out of lionhold that spawns basalt pretty quickly and I was able to mine....and mine...and got next to nothing.
Locking these nodes isn't just so casuals can get after some tier 1 materials. But so it also doesn't Narrow down or completely wipe out the market. The demand for copper becomes so high that the price gets super expensive. Until potentially it locks out everyone else but the sweats and dupers or Ultimately there are no more copper nodes and what's left is what's left.
Maybe this can be a temporary fix or a long term fix until wars and more nodes are added in.
tis to you I write this appeal. It's simple. It is a request to lock 2 zones to level 1. The end.
Here's why...
When nodes level up so does everything else right? In a state where the wars work we could level down a node. Unfortunately this is not the case. In turn the materials continue to spawn as harvested but also have a chance to spawn a higher level node. With this happening no one can mine that higher lvl material yet thus locking it in place and cause scarcity of t-1 materials... until there's none left. I'm a filthy casual. I'm a father and a husband and I can only play maybe 12 hours a week at best which means I'll get 5 hours on a Friday and an hour here and there when I pop in. Combing the entire map for 2 hours only to come up with 10 copper ore is a serious problem. While we've added the small chance to get ore from granite and basalt, I've only gotten maybe 3 zinc out of 200 basalt nodes. There is a location out of lionhold that spawns basalt pretty quickly and I was able to mine....and mine...and got next to nothing.
Locking these nodes isn't just so casuals can get after some tier 1 materials. But so it also doesn't Narrow down or completely wipe out the market. The demand for copper becomes so high that the price gets super expensive. Until potentially it locks out everyone else but the sweats and dupers or Ultimately there are no more copper nodes and what's left is what's left.
Maybe this can be a temporary fix or a long term fix until wars and more nodes are added in.
Rumplez
2
Re: Solutions for Steven - Identify Problem, then give solution
This is such a warped perspective.I always wonder how the PVP only folks think they will be provided for without the PVE element.The problem is, these things are literally what the game has always been. They can't really reduce the number of systems the game has, because it has been sold to players as having all of those systems, and players have made purchasing decisions based on them.
Same with the notion of solo play and PvE - the game has always been based on group play, and PvP has always been at the forefront of them games design.
In all honest perhaps PVE should just be random bots of certain towns going out and farming so the PVP only gang can hunt and grief them all they like. Like a more focused Mob. Then what you loot from them goes into your guild's coffers and that allows certain gear to spawn for you in the guild store, thus eliminating the whole need for any pve players and it can simply be non stop pvp.
1) PvP-only folks aren't playing Ashes, PvP-only folks are playing Eve, and survival games (Ark, Rust)
2) Players who enjoy PvP-centric ("PvX") MMOs like Ashes
(PvP-centric doesn't mean no PvE or bad PvE, it just means the PvE doesn't need to be the game's primary source of excitement or player attraction.)
don't need "PvE players to gank." Ganking isn't what PvP-centric MMOs are about. It's a meaningless side effect.PvP players need other PvP players to compete with. And some amount of PvE content to compete around.
All the meaningful, objective-based PvP content can prosper and engage players without a single PvE-only player. Territory sieges, guild wars, caravan raids, PvX world bosses, PvX dungeons, node politics in general; these things are all exciting without a single PvE-preferring player in the playerbase.
Don't get me wrong, it's *nice* if there are also PvE-preferring players in the community. It adds to the variety and makes the politics and the decisionmaking more colourful.
But you don't need to dilute what the game is trying to be, in order to lure in PvE players as prey for the PvP predators; that's completely backwards for everyone involved.
What you call success is the reason the genre's industry is in the dire, soul-less spot it's in. ESO, FFXIV, GW2, and similar cases to various degrees all became commercial "successes" by copying the WoW-themeparks-but-with-more-options system, the way you're suggesting. They fall in line and appease the mainstream in order to make sure they don't flop.1970merlin wrote: »Vhaeyne, name a recent game that has succeeded by ignoring the market and feedback during development. No game has succeeded in pivoting to meet the desires of the players after release. It must be done early in development. Steven need to be number le now not later. He needs to have a track for PvE now, quests now, adaptation to the market now. Don't sacrifice all the systems and PvP, just add to the game. Subtract nothing.
But in the process they lose the chance at adding anything to the market that gives players something that addresses the lack of any good title for players with niche preferences. Such game concepts are inhibited by mindless participation trophy hunting of dailies, LfG dungeons, meaningless economies where everyone does everything, and inconsequential PvP.
And by not giving players with those preferences a place to thrive, you're also killing the opportunity for the industry to try out new approaches.
If you want innovation, you can't rely on backup plans that copy everything that's worked so far.
If you don't want innovation, you get a dying genre because the WoW treadmill can only breed sad neckbeards for so long before the rest of the world decides the genre isn't worth their time and kids just play MOBAs and single-player games instead.
I've played PvP-centric MMOs. They're fantastic. Players group up to achieve difficult things, the gameplay-loop is player-driven and the realm's story gets written by community goals, instead of being predetermined and mindlessly consumed. People know their opponents and care about their territory.
I've also seen what happens when games try to do both. The PvP becomes an empty shell that might as well not exist, while the playerbase is just a PvE carebear crowd lost in a game that happens to have PvP gameplay systems somewhere forgotten in the background. It's nothing but a counterproductive distractive chore that leads the game away from realising its vision. So the game ultimately ends up disappointing every player type, because there's no coherent identity to the game.
You don't believe in the vision because the only ways you've ever seen PvP play out is mindless ganking or zerging. Because that's all that exists when PvP is a gimmick instead of a challenge central to the gameplay loop. But if you want the game design industry to add something more engaging and community-connecting than the WoW treadmill, you'll have to trust the process of experimenting with something that's different, and the people who have seen something better.
If you're disinterested in territory sieges, guild wars, and caravan raids, that's totally cool, there are 5 highly successful titles for you to go play right now. Surely you must love them, considering how confidently you're advocating for Ashes to copy their success story. You don't need to hold this sermon on the unviability of niche games in order to just go play those successful games.
Re: Towns need to be combat free
Keep in mind that at this juncture crafting is so tedious and time consuming that in order to make anything you have to spend a lot of time in town. There will be a revolt is you get interrupted in the middle of building some stupidly involved item and get your mats stolen.
blktauna
1
Re: So Disappointed
i can promise you one thing i do not watch streamers or content creators or fan boy over any one i may watch the occasional video from no one in particular but i never take anything any of these people do or say as gospel till ive seen or experienced it for myself then i make my own judgment and opinion. This is my own opinion as it clearly states at the end if you disagree then that's fine.
But please don't think im a fan boy of any steamer or content creator i make my own mind up and express my own opinion and im happy to read your responses and opinions without bias and without reacting by labelling you.
Also i agree steven did need to respond to alot of what was said but my problem is he responded in MY OPINION like a 12 year old who did not like what he was hearing. you feel different that's fine but don't think because you disagree with me it makes me a minion of some kind to some content creator your miles away from the truth there i cant stand them . their fickle and only loyal when things go how they want them to go . their opinions change on a weekly basis they think because they open their mouths everyone should listen so yeh your miles off it there with the "sounds like another streamer minion" comment.
you know there are some of us out there who can actually engage our brains and make our own opinions and decisions without influence.
But please don't think im a fan boy of any steamer or content creator i make my own mind up and express my own opinion and im happy to read your responses and opinions without bias and without reacting by labelling you.
Also i agree steven did need to respond to alot of what was said but my problem is he responded in MY OPINION like a 12 year old who did not like what he was hearing. you feel different that's fine but don't think because you disagree with me it makes me a minion of some kind to some content creator your miles away from the truth there i cant stand them . their fickle and only loyal when things go how they want them to go . their opinions change on a weekly basis they think because they open their mouths everyone should listen so yeh your miles off it there with the "sounds like another streamer minion" comment.
you know there are some of us out there who can actually engage our brains and make our own opinions and decisions without influence.
Xzanobia
3
Re: Eliminate these reason to quit
Solo leveling.
Ashes is in desperate need of mobs that can be grinded by solo players. Currently the only way to level efficiently is by getting a party and attacking 1-3 star mobs. As a solo player there is no option. Maybe killing thousands of bears but even then its mind numbing.
Death penalty.
Please chose either losing the materials or the xp penalty. The combination is enough to make anyone quit. Especially if it happens more than once and that can be common as dying is easy. To make things worse when you can only level with a group, that means at any moment you are without a healer you can be killed by 1-3 star mobs in seconds. And killed again trying to get back to your body.
The current players have payed $100+ to be here and its been enough for some to quit. Imagine a person with no cost to join.. they dont have to justify staying when something like that happens. They just say adios.
Death penalty makes every moment the edge of the seat feeling. It's not for everyone. My only problem is sanctioned PvP should have no death penalties.
Solo play is in the game. Find some nice one star light blue mobs and kill 1-3 at a time. Or take a field of non star mobs and grind away. More content is coming and more ways to play solo but that is also not this games focus.
They have also paid $100 to test a game not play a game. People who can't hack it can come back later in Phase 2 or some time I phase 3 when it becomes closer to a real game.
IMO if you want this game to be the best it can be. Keep testing and keep giving feedback. Just know there is a vision here that is solid. If death penalties are something you never want to deal with, you maybe in the wrong game.
Re: Replace "Slumber"
novercalis wrote: »dont look at slumber as a form of CC, look at it as a form of interrupt.
NPC casting a bad spell, say corrupt sacrifice, mino whirlwind, black lung, then slumber it to interrupt the spell cast.
You see a enemy cleric rezzing, slumber. You see a Ranger charging up? slumber. you see a bard, barding, slumber.
It's a 2 second cast, most big spells you want to interrupt are also 2 seconds casts like the Firestarter's Flame Throw ability. It's rarely a good interrupt unless it's on a channeled effect like the Flayer's whirlwind.
riecheck
1
Re: Antisocial mechanic for partying
-It encourages meeting and working with new people. This is, after all, a social game.
I do want to be social, with the friends I've made waiting for testing to begin.
I'm not saying that scaling is the answer, just that it's shit to have a design that prevents you from playing with your friends, or from inviting in new people once the game is already established.
