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.
AOC too ambitious? Chat with me!
Hello all,
My name is Tim, but the screen name I'll go by here is Taetra. I've played just about every MMO, besides a few obscure Russian/Asian ones, and that being said I've been looking for another game to really sink my teeth into - enter AOC. I'm super thrilled about this game and what it could hold for us players, but also fearful. I know I'm not alone when I say that I'm afraid that the end goal for AOC is too good. There are many GREAT and WONDERFUL things that the devs have outlined and are working towards giving us players, and I wonder if there are too many. I've seen games get too ambitious and have truly awesome visions in mind than just end up falling short as the devs start making sacrifices to create a "finished" product and push it to the players. I want more than anything right now for this game to succeed, getting as close as possible to this world that the devs and you (the community) have begun to paint. This concern of mine is dwarfed at the moment by the awesome, and consistent, support and activity that this community has. Let's keep it up!
My name is Tim, but the screen name I'll go by here is Taetra. I've played just about every MMO, besides a few obscure Russian/Asian ones, and that being said I've been looking for another game to really sink my teeth into - enter AOC. I'm super thrilled about this game and what it could hold for us players, but also fearful. I know I'm not alone when I say that I'm afraid that the end goal for AOC is too good. There are many GREAT and WONDERFUL things that the devs have outlined and are working towards giving us players, and I wonder if there are too many. I've seen games get too ambitious and have truly awesome visions in mind than just end up falling short as the devs start making sacrifices to create a "finished" product and push it to the players. I want more than anything right now for this game to succeed, getting as close as possible to this world that the devs and you (the community) have begun to paint. This concern of mine is dwarfed at the moment by the awesome, and consistent, support and activity that this community has. Let's keep it up!
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And then start pushing rest of goals as game updates, whenever they are done.
I understand concern about scope creep, but Ashes has not added any new goals for the game besides skins since the KS. I feel like Ashes is suffering from "wrong place, wrong time" b/c of games like NMS & SC.
To @Taetra and future posters with similar concerns, please post clear reasons why you feel they way you do. Taetra, thank you for this particular thread at this time. I, truly (not trolling) would like to hear everyone's actual concerns with "game is too good to be true" or if anyone is still fearful of "scope creep"
I think that so long as they do not compromise their core vision or the pillars of the game in a rush to reach completion, the released product would still meet the expectations of the community even if they had to delay some features in the worst case scenario.
- Every senior person in IS seems to have a passion for this genre, especially Steven; who seems to be uncommonly skilled at communicating his vision not only to his team, but to the wider community. Like you, I've been involved in many MMO developments in the past and am usually a die hard cynic when it comes to new titles, but I have never felt this passionate about a game before, which I still find quite baffling!
- A technology platform that enables rapid delivery. The use of UE4 as the basis for the game is a genius move. This is a huge cost saver that enables IS to use a mature platform that is highly optimized in pretty much every area of game development. Given this, the focus can shift toward game design, economy, security and networking infrastructure, which are the usual killers of new MMOs.
- We are watching this game unfold before our eyes! The project is actually pretty far along and the first alpha is due in a few months. Of course, this is a software project so there have been and will be delays and complications, but with the kind of transparency from IS we get to experience the process as warts and all. Inexperienced backers might see this as a negative. From my perspective as someone who has witnessed my funds disappear into a black hole with hardly a clue as to what is going on; this is a welcome approach.
- One of the most important details that is often overlooked about this project is the commitment to a subscription business model. Such a model as the primary source of revenue for IS, directly rewards them for fostering a healthy growing community. A business model that dually serves our interests as the community and in Intrepids as a company gives us the best of both worlds. This is definitely not short a term cash grab title like many we have seen in the past.
Having said all of that, I'm not so blinded by all of this to not understand that there are always risks in every investment. That's the part that everyone has to decide for themselves. For me: the great people I've met in this community and the inspiration I've drawn from the concept of Ashes has gone a long way to returning my investment alreadyIf you like the game design, back the game design so that the devs can hone their skills and be better equipped to build a similar game in the future... if this one doesn't make it.
If Ashes has sufficient funds, development should continue even after official release.
The paradigm for development, playable game and "release" has changed dramatically in the last few years.
If the team has the funds, they should be able to fulfill the game design.
We still have to see if it's as fun to play as we all hope.
TLDR: The way that IS has planned the project and provided dates that allow for timeshift for events allows them to meet the project goals without destroying the budget.
Over time they tweak, improve the game and to keep their audience interested they will build on it, no doubt.
It just comes down to expectations at release and if the game is supported enough to warrant continued investment by the developers there after.
Too ambitious? I don't personally believe so.
They set goals for the kickstarter with very reasonable dollar amounts to add them each individually. That's not to mention that the first goal of $1 million would certainly be overkill to simply add some games of chance, so a chunk of that money would obviously be fluff to split amongst the funding of other goals. This would allow them to hire a mix of full hire and freelancers for individual portions of game creation.
"Hey, I got a job for you. Guaranteed employment for 2 years, potential for full hire after that, depending on business needs."
The other benefit of how they are running things is that fact that there isn't a large publisher pushing them to release a game by a deadline, whether it's fully functional or not. They will decide when they feel it is ready for release, based on the state of the game and features they have yet to add. They obviously can't just push it back forever, but Intrepid will at least have a fair shot at only releasing once they are comfortable with the product they created.
What I can say is that IS came to us after they'd developed their base proof-of-concept. They came to use with a plan in place. They came to us and said "This is what we've done so far, and we'll build on what's in place. We want to do more, and so we're offering you the opportunity to take part in this."
It was understood from the beginning that if the KS campaign completely fizzled, they'd still go forward with building on what they've already created. The KS campaign was essentially a way of fleshing out on the base of what's already there.
In all, while there've been missteps along the way, I see a solidly developed business project with specific targets. I see a lot of passion on the team, and I see a fair amount of transparency. Seeing that was enough for my husband and I to get on board, and stay on board. Welcome, come in and join us!
Now for their design goals they are a bit ambitious but not enough for me to say that if they accomplish everything they want to that I won't feel the need to create a game of my own years down the road... but in all honesty I think that the industry needs to be revitalized before a game like that can really take hold. Which revitalizing the industry is one of the things I believe I.S. is trying to do with ashes