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.
Comments
Remember, even in LOTR Gandalf had his absurdly over the top fireworks. Let us not push the needle so far into pure realism that we forget people did know how to have fun, even in a high fantasy setting such as this.
But jokes aside giga you bring up a very valid fact that most people seem to have forgotten.
And honestly, I do find the community here very reasonable. We've discussed this issue in discord as well, and disagreement was had, but it was civil. Although I did learn that a few plan to murder me in game if they see the mount. But he's so cute that a few deaths is a small price to pay for all the joy he'll bring me.
I agree completely. I would much rather Intrepid take a more Tolkien like approach to world design. I am hoping that the bear's design in-game is adapted more towards the realistic side. That being said, I didn't buy the mount skin because it does not interest me and honestly I do not care about cosmetics all that much.
https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/38547/breaking-immersion/p1
Let's do the time warp again! Looks like you got relocated to where the action is.
/sighs
I dont want to sap the joy and fun out of the game either. I dont thing anybody really does. You need humour to break up the dark and foreboding when things get too intense. It just has to be handled with care. And to that point I will expand on what I am trying to get in regard the imaginary world feeling real.
For the force to be accepted in star wars, they knew they had to create a serious world, to have any chance of making it believable.
They had to make an alternate reality where disbelief could be totally suspended for just an hour or two.
The magic worked for years.
The franchise arguably becoming the most successful in the history of film making.
But the magic only worked because it was believable because it took itself seriously.
Then came the final film with the leader of the empires forces, turned into a clown.
Somehow this clown became leader of the most deadliest and ruthless force in the galaxy.
Or they decided to make someone who should have been the most deadliest and ruthless person a clown.
Either way, at that very moment, what was a serious subject matter became a parody.
The effect ....jarring.
At that very moment, the spell that was essential for the force to be believable, and the world to have value and meaning, was broken.
And so what was probably the most profitable IP in the world was trashed.
Merchandise just sat there on the shelves, bypassed by anyone and everyone.
Loyal fans of the franchise left speechless and stunned at how anyone could be so stupid and frivolous.
All because they wanted to poke fun at themselves and lighten the mood.
The same is happening with many film franchises.
It has become fashionable to take something serious and turn it into a parody.
Destroying the very thing that enabled it to be what it was.
Would superman have ever been accepted and successful, if it was portrayed as a parody in film, even though it was built on the impossible ?
There was even a time when the wow franchise was taken seriously.
But it became more and more of a parody.
More and more of a joke.
All they have now is the cash shop as ever more people turn their back on them.
A cash shop full of instant gratification offers is the only thing they now have to offer.
Even going as far as to build a whole expansion upon a fluffy cuddly wuddly bear.
They tried taking the franchise seriously again with the film, but you cant close pandoras box.
You cant turn back the clock. There is no delete. There is no undo.
ESO always portrayed the Khajit as the shiftiest beast folk you were ever likely to meet.
But one was an exception to the general rule that everyone loved. Razum Dar.
Probably one of only a handful of khajit driven by honour and integrity.
So when they decided to introduce the RNG boxes to scam people with.
Guess who they chose to deal the cards ?
Not only were the RNG boxes a complete betrayal of the playerbase, they actually used the most beloved character to ram it down the players throats with a pound or two of salt.
Thumbs up Bethesda. Loki would be proud.
TL;DR
If you want to be taken seriously, dont make a joke.
If you want to make a fantasy world believable, make sure you take it seriously.
WoW? Well it always did have a self deprecating quality to it I think. What is killing it our a myriad of problems, but pretty much my take on it is the company and team are too big to function smoothly. I do agree on the shop though. I got massive heat from calling tokens Pay to Win as they were announced. Today, you can buy max level items with the gold from those tokens, along with buying boosts to skip all leveling content.
I didn't play ESO pre-crown crates. If it had been dropped on me in the middle of my game I might have been more upset about it I suppose. From my understanding, Intrepid is deadset against them, and especially any pay to win.
In short, I don't think a single mount that is going to be very rare not long after launch will harm the immersion too much, especially if he's implemented well into the world. I dare say he has done more good than harm for Ashes. The controversy over him is how I found the game.
And honestly, I wouldn't mind more of a cute aesthetic as some pretty exclusive cosmetic skins, but after the backlash on this guy I'm not counting on it.
Going forward I expect to see other cosmetics which push the limit on what fits in the world, and we'll just have to trust Intrepid™ to implement them in such a way that the line into the ridiculous is never crossed. Crossing that line is my job!
Stuffers is plenty big enough to carry even the biggest of us besides, don't worry.
Hope we get some nudity then as well
Why do people risk their lives diving into caves, oceans, lakes?
Why do people run around in pink body suits and act ****?
Because we are strange creatures with a multitude of reasons that half the time don't make sense to anyone else.
You really question why someone would ride a stuffertoon in a made up world?
Heck I can think of a 100 things more ridiculous than that happening somewhere in our actual world right now.
http://legogenre.com/lord-rings-lothlorien-swan-ship-lego-ideas/
I for one welcome our new Teddy Bear overlords.