Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
I suppose my 'wand of many things and KS weapon backer glow effects' don't count. It's not like I paid for them directly or with Ember Credits mind you...and technically wasn't in the $tore, but using such items as reference as $tore content was a safe assessment and still relevant.
I backed the game with Stevens direct KS backer pledge in mind at the time...since then things have moved in some directions i hoped wouldn't have, I am voicing those directions.
@Irobot you must have been in all the threads not warranting attention and best ignored...much like trolls.
The reason this thread is not being ignored is that there is an element of truth behind it.
"next, about the cosmetics you were talking about. ok, so it masks your gear. great. now please explain how that is of any advantage. remember, you can equip any item in the game in any of the slots, including costume shots. so you'll never know if that 'rogue' is actually a rogue or a tank made to distract you."
A valid argument, we are yet to see how a profession silhouettes and behaves if at all. The lack of identity over saturated profession homogenization in your portrayal is just as concerning and another matter entirely.
I personally don't approve of costume slots used in combat, much for same reasons.
I was asked how can cosmetic item effect competitively, generally speaking I answered the question. How that relates to Ashes of creation is yet to be fully seen.
I clarified on multiple occasions how indeterminacy currencies are anti consumer in premise (the OP). I do not wish to consistently repeat myself every second post.
When you feel strongly about your opinion and some people say you are wrong, but proof can't be immediately given on either side, do you automatically change your mind? (note a statement is not proof, it's a promise, promises can be broken there's not some sort of magical bond holding you to one)
I don't want it to be true and I would LOVE to be able to take IS's word for it.
But there was a lot of double speak and miscommunication after the KS ended but before the Summer Fund Raiser ended. There were several threads about "you said mounts, not skins" and "you said exclusive, but here it is again."
Sure, a lot of people said they were not being misleading and they were not going back on their word. A lot of people thought they were and that they did. Who was right?
Honestly, IS has had some PR Gaff moments and there are threads that indicate IS's loss of, at least some, faith from the community. That doesn't mean people still don't respect them or love what they are trying to do. My parents have lied to me and I can still trust/respect them.
Again, I don't agree with where he thinks this will end, but he has as much right to speak his mind, respond to queries, and stand his ground as much as anyone posting a pic, calling troll, and hoping the thread ends.
Stop reading. Is that hard?
Who among us, besides mods, has the right to silence another's opinion?
Best real world solution for you to have peace of mind. Is go play a free to play game . Heard that BDO is some what pay to win but not that bad. And GW2 was ok until just recently maybe they learned their lesson. So while they might not be perfect ideal models that you want will not matter to much cause they will not see one red cent from you. Right? Since you will never support such games with money then you will not be a victim of a greedy company kind of like outsmarting the system.
If you play Ashes of Creation you might be financing a company that is making to much money. Easily said about any company that you give money to like burger king. Think about it if you play Ashes of Creation you will always have the knawing suspicion of being victimize by greed. Better just to accept a less the perfect busuness model and never financially support it in the first place.
But just out of curiousity if IS promised and to re-invest all the money from the cash shop in the game and have it personally managed by you to ensure no shady business was going on would that be ok. Would that give you the peace of mind you are looking for?
I just debunked the trolls and left. if they are going to see half-baked speculation, they might as well see the debunking before leaving. it's not worth anyone's time. I spent more time with haters.
'The reason this thread is not being ignored is that there is an element of truth behind it.'
wow. so if a kid and I were to argue about the existence of Santa Claus, that'd make him real?
I know analogies are weak, but that's all that point deserves.
Dude it's not ignored because it's based off ignorance, not truth. people are here because it's half-baked and they want to feel smart by knocking it down. go back to K.S days and see how far non-trolling posts went. those were fueled by speculation.
'we are yet to see how professional silhouettes are to be used'- doesn't this disprove you calling cosmetics P2W?
only element of truth here was the thing about removing the cash-based restrictions, but that isn't really anything major in my eyes. how that affects you, I have no clue.
'The lack of identity over saturated profession homogenization in your portrayal is just as concerning and another matter entirely.'- one day you use this as an argument, and the next you are ignoring it. for real dude, at least try not to be sloppy.
I also noticed a comment on one of your posts:'History tends to repeat itself'.
that's true, but it doesn't mean a couple of similarities makes something intact. Steven is a gamer, and he's faced all the woes we had to. I think he'll know where we are coming from, and so will build the game better than that.
think of something. If you said the sun revolved around the earth now, you'd be laughed at, but before Copernicus, the sun revolving around the earth was a fact. stuff changes.
and also, I don't think steven is going to sacrifice the uniqueness of this MMO to become just another obscure F2P game, and by doing so he's losing a lot of members.
I can understand concern and skepticism but I just can't wrap my head around you getting disappointed with something without even trying it.
last, I never said you should be censored. I was just pointing out that you were behaving like a troll. behaving like a troll doesn't make you a troll. and also censorship should only be used when the censored behavior hurts someone. no one is getting hurt, so it doesn't deserve censorship.
if you envelope your point in a wall of text, I may( and mostly will) miss it. be a little more concise, will ya? thanks.
one last thing, I don't think any game had this much of a base to begin with, there are 40k+ members here last I heard. that would mean 40*15-15%=$51,000 to $60,000 per month.
that's only with the current numbers. I'm pretty sure there are many more people who will join ashes via youtube/facebook/friends. sure, some people will also leave, but I think Steven would have to be a complete idiot to drop all of that. money isn't going to be a problem, as far as I can see.
anyways, what will give you peace of mind, and trust ashes again?
AGAIN:
Ember Credits are an intermediary currency though more appropriately a pseudo fiat currency and by adopting this medium of exchange you the consumer a forfeiting consumer protection and regulations that are attributed to direct $ purchases. (Anti-consumer FACT)
With indirect purchasing whatever value is not only arbitrary but a loophole bypassing and existing in a grey area of goods. services, retail law and regulations. ( I am not a lawyer) but I like to know my rights and when I am losing them.
The only thing you are actually purchasing is the currency*, it is indirectly not a cash shop any more but a Ember credit store front and how they are relative to the contents of the store are typically also associated with anti consumer rates of exchange.
Though it may liberate Intrepid ability to sell* products this way in the games current industry consensus there is an element of shame involved, which diminishes quality, confidence and also
may give the impression of a cash grab. As it is placing yourself among the competitors that adopt this same system and by doing so it is inheriting associated flaws, more than any benefits, very few if any of the alternatives have subscriptions and if they do are generally to big to fail.
There are risks to adopting the intermediary currency system, the subscription fail safe just being 1 of many.
I am fairly certain I have already said and answered all this before and then some.
I had 3years in gw2 bought deluxe version of the expansions and even bought GEMS* on some occasions but it does not have a subscription so i was ok with it. Quit after the first week of the latest expansion due to being cosmetically overly reliant to the point of a game with no depth. Got bored moved on as I felt my money went into shop content at the expense of the actual core game.
Like i said before Intrepid could sell cash shop items with CA$H and make money and be financially supported for all those who feel the need to get something for their support....
It's not a money making issue as I stated before, I am not denying income is that clear.
But I want to know that my subscription is not second fiddle, taken for granted or will default to some EmberCredit loyalty shop incentive program. Why do some seem to be blind to the fact that a subscription generates income....Because admitting that it is secondary risks its actually credibility and existence at all. Hence the OP....
As far as i am aware the game was fully funded prior to the KS with the crowd funding more a form of awareness generation with the bonus of fleshing out intended game features earlier than planned. It was part of the sales pitch to encourage backers at that time, Hence why I backed.
TLDR don't be lazy and appreciate the ability to read.
WoW and FFXIV both are the most successful MMOs on the market and they utilize a cash shop like this. Pooka has to agree that there is no reason for us to have to buy these Embers at all, they literally serve no purpose other than to introduce a middleman to force you to spend more money on a cosmetic than you need to.
They had to make that shit pile twice, and it's still borked. I doubt they've even broken even yet considering.
Personally I like ffxiv, combat is slow and targeting is a little clunky but over all it's a good game. My opinion aside FFXIV is behind only wow in active subs and players.
Back on topic both games used in recent posts have their own currency as well as cash. FFXIV currency (Crysta) can be used for security tokens, game time and cosmetics and more recently job boosts. WoWs currency (WoW token) can be used for and bought for in game gold, sub time, transferred to battle.n et balance for use on anything battle net including in game services like race changes or character boosts.
here's an ACTUAL TL;DR:
The embers act like a middleman, so raise your expenses, as well as forfeiting your rights as far as the cash shop is concerned. therefore I am upset.
took you 10 paragraphs to put forward a single point. seriously. I could have adressed 15 points in the same space.
basic points aside next to nothing has been said about the embers, so yeah we cannot jump into conclusions. however, this is the most we have
This was a dead giveaway that they had an intermediary currency planned, so right back at ya, don't be lazy.
That aside, I'd have to guess you can buy a sub both using embers and IRL cash.
In many talks,Steven told us that one of the main reasons he chose a sub model so that he'll have a steady source of cash to maintain servers as well as develop new content. if he's going to rely on something as unstable as a cosmetics only cash shop... eh idk what to say.
the other of course, is to avoid bots or anything of that sort.
Subscription revenue - $974 million[132] 2013 to March 2014: ¥20 billion ($251 million) April 2014 to March 2015: ¥23.3 billion ($221 million) April 2015 to March 2016: ¥31.6 billion ($292 million) April 2016 to March 2017: ¥22.7 billion ($209.5 million) This is just Subs since the Relaunch. In fact, because of the Relaunch, it brought SE out of severe debt and helped its stocks skyrocket.Here are the sales of just the game itself; Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Sales - 10.3 million units = $693.1 million Steam sales: 755,000 units at $19.99[131] = $15.1 million Other sales: 9.545 million units at $71 (average price) = $678 million So with the amount of accounts, it's surpassed 10 million accounts, so Pooka highly doubts that it isn't one of the best.
Doesn't mean I'm going to assume meth is good now.
I think the quote posted by @Irobot;
- You will receive 15% of their account purchases back in our Intrepid Bucks, which then can be used for either; reducing your subscription cost (even to zero), buying unique cosmetics in-game, or even cash rewards.
Refers to the referral system, not Embers. I could be wrong, but this seems reminiscent of the lingo used during the KS. In this case I think the "Intrepid Bucks" would be equivalent to store credit.Imo allowing people to earn Embers in game and then use Embers to pay for the sub would make this a F2P/P2W system. IS would be shooting themselves in the foot allowing people to play the game for free (they would be paying the player to play).
So without a cash shop, if subs dropped because Play2Pay, IS would be losing money. Which would encourage a cash shop and so on about things this thread is reportedly not for.
since we already know it can be used to buy subscription(or that seems to have been the original plan) then it's not earnable. hopefully.
well only time will tell. I guess now is that part where we sit tight and hope IS doesn't do something stupid.
there is also another possibility, but I think it's quite unlikely. maybe embers won't be purchasable or Intrepid Bucks would be another currency which can buy both embers and sub time. just sayin.
whatever. I'd rather wait for them to announce rather than lose hope on unconfirmed fact
WoW had to do the wow token (play to pay can be bought with gold) to solve the gold sellers problem. Goldsellers were responsible for many hacked accounts. So embercoins could be used in such a manner. Unfortunately they found out how much money they could make and were selling loot boxes in the Seasonal event WinterVeil. So I understand your concerns. That is loot boxes in a subscription based game.
I was wacthing
TheLazyPeon Q&A 2017-05-15 (bold and font got imported sorry)
At the 50 minute mark(52 min mark at the one in AoC WIKI) Steve Describes the cash shop from what he said he is aware of the exploits that are possible. Do not know if you watched it or not. That is all we have right now. He does not mention Embercoins but gives us an idea on how the cash shop is going to be run.It all comes down to what Steve is going to do. So basically you are bringing Steves Business Ethics into question. So right now you are like it looks like he could do this and look it looks like he could do that. Over and Over again. Thing is you do not have any ember coins but I could still say Whocando can do this and Whocando can do that. Kind of like lawyers do.
I think you have crossed the line from stating a concern to making false accusations.
I am pretty sure IS knows how to manipulate the cash shop to make millions. I am pretty sure that IS knows it will be hurting its players base if it does that. So the question is weather they are going to do it or not.
There is nothing so far that lends itself to IS being greedy. There is no way you could rightfully say IS is being greedy or manipulative at this time. Seeing as I am an objective person rather than a suspicious person. I will just say that IS is doing a great job so far.
Yeah you can type here all day long in a very intelligent manner IS could be greedy and manipulative but it does not hold any water. How has IS been greedy and manipulative?
Correct answer to that is: Well they have not actually done anything yet. But look Embercoins look awfully suspicious. You are pre-judging IS.
you used FFXIV as an example.
I could use ESO as an example.
The quotes you referred to are not even in the same context as the OP.
I basically got a Steven fall back PR response to a topic that it wasn't applicable to.
hence the irony at that point of discussion.
Thanks for bumping a dead thread though.