Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
The Question of Alts
Ahh alts. Don't we love them? One of the best things about MMORPGs is that there are so many different personas that we can take on, fight with, RP with if we so choose, and so on. Some of the more modern MMOs, AoC included, are expanding the character class structure even further with modularity: the ability to "build" classes from sub-class components, or skill trees.
MMORPGs, especially modern ones with a little more sand-box and a little less theme park (but some of both to be sure) are also increasingly dependent on the player's persona in the game. We can own land and even castles, engage in politics and espionage, and even marry other players. This concept is not limited to those who choose to "RP" in game; even those of us who prefer to play these games in a more "hard core" way are still playing a role, whether it's a guild leader, the lynchpin in a mercantile empire, a merciless ganker, or a dungeon delver. As the roles we are able to play become bigger, bolder, and more impactful, our in-game notoriety becomes more important as well. Today, a player can "make a name for themselves", in the literal sense, more than ever before.
I doubt that anyone reading this post thinks that either of these two points are to the detriment of the genre. Unfortunately, there is a problem. That problem is altoholism: the word I made up just now to describe the need for players to make many alternate characters to experience other ways to play the game. Why is this a problem? It's a problem because it fractures the player's persona as described in point number 2. It means that if I want to try out a different play style, I have to make an entirely new persona. Now this can be a good thing; sometimes you just want to play the game and get away from guild chat for a while. But what happens if you wind up liking your new class? Now you have a problem. The class you want to play is different for the class that is tied to your in-game persona. Also, lets not forget the how annoying it is to invite someone into your guild only to find out that that character was just someone else's alt, or worse, that they want to pollute your guild with *their* 7 alts.
It is for these reasons and more that I hope the developers of Ashes of Creation will endeavor to minimize player incentives to create alt characters. Most importantly, let us level each of the 8 skill trees separately, and include class changes at some reasonable but non-negligible cost. Please help us curb the plague of altoholism!! :)
Doubts? Disagreements? Obviously this is my personal opinion piece. In the interest of constructive conversation, please keep the follow up conversation of this topic civil. I'd love to hear what the community thinks about this paradigm.
MMORPGs, especially modern ones with a little more sand-box and a little less theme park (but some of both to be sure) are also increasingly dependent on the player's persona in the game. We can own land and even castles, engage in politics and espionage, and even marry other players. This concept is not limited to those who choose to "RP" in game; even those of us who prefer to play these games in a more "hard core" way are still playing a role, whether it's a guild leader, the lynchpin in a mercantile empire, a merciless ganker, or a dungeon delver. As the roles we are able to play become bigger, bolder, and more impactful, our in-game notoriety becomes more important as well. Today, a player can "make a name for themselves", in the literal sense, more than ever before.
I doubt that anyone reading this post thinks that either of these two points are to the detriment of the genre. Unfortunately, there is a problem. That problem is altoholism: the word I made up just now to describe the need for players to make many alternate characters to experience other ways to play the game. Why is this a problem? It's a problem because it fractures the player's persona as described in point number 2. It means that if I want to try out a different play style, I have to make an entirely new persona. Now this can be a good thing; sometimes you just want to play the game and get away from guild chat for a while. But what happens if you wind up liking your new class? Now you have a problem. The class you want to play is different for the class that is tied to your in-game persona. Also, lets not forget the how annoying it is to invite someone into your guild only to find out that that character was just someone else's alt, or worse, that they want to pollute your guild with *their* 7 alts.
It is for these reasons and more that I hope the developers of Ashes of Creation will endeavor to minimize player incentives to create alt characters. Most importantly, let us level each of the 8 skill trees separately, and include class changes at some reasonable but non-negligible cost. Please help us curb the plague of altoholism!! :)
Doubts? Disagreements? Obviously this is my personal opinion piece. In the interest of constructive conversation, please keep the follow up conversation of this topic civil. I'd love to hear what the community thinks about this paradigm.
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