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
WoW has a cash shop, box and expansion prices and a sub. FFXIV has a box price, expansion price, a sub and a shop. ESO has an optional sub and cosmetic shop, but also has a box and expansion prices.
Ashes only requiring a sub and having a non P2W shop makes it one of the least monetized games I have had any involvement with. Stuffertons is a small price to pay for getting the game for free. Without him and cosmetics like him, we'd have a box price. I Guarantee it.
Show me anything that approaches a stuffed teddy bear as a mount.
The only cute... is kitten and puppies. Living realistic things.
And these are not mounts.....they are pets.
The dawnbreaker is the only thing that approaches a cute teddy concept and thats a hyrbid. Steven was even asking about mixing animal types a long long time ago.
And no you cant turn off someone else riding a mount or ignore them because they exist in the same virtual world as you. I could of course cover my eyes when playing...but that kind of makes playing a 'visual' game difficult.
Like you said, WoW is a world where technology slowly advances in real time. It's also a world full of ancient magi-tech. It makes perfect sense to see motorcycles, battleships, helecopters etc. In WoW, I never get the sense that something doesn't belong, no matter how wacky it may be. It fits within the world they've established.
You can have a world that's silly, crazy, whimsical, and divorced from our own perception of reality, while still remaining relatable and immersive. If anything, that's the ultimate challenge of a fantasy world. Give me something crazy, and make me believe it.
As long as AoC accomplishes this, then everything else is a matter of taste. Personally, I'm tired of "gritty, realistic" fantasy. It's one of the main reasons I finally gave up on The Elder Scrolls. Give me something weird, zany, and strange. I want my fantasy to feel fantastic.
Edit: Also, just gotta say how cool it is to see developers engaging with the fans. Coming from ESO and SWTOR this is basically unheard of. Thanks @GMSteven!