Will players that join Ashes of Creation after the launch miss out on the begining game?

ArchivedUser

Will late comers still be able to participate in construction of cities, be able to experience the beginning world content, etc.

ArchivedUser

There will probably be unpopular nodes that players can always go to develop from scratch. After a server has been developed then there is no going back (at least all the way back) so unless they role on a fresh server, they probably wont be able to experience a fresh new world.

ArchivedUser

Nodes will be leveled up and de-leveled for the entire life cycle of the game. If you come in to the game several years after it is released, you will still be able to help a node build itself up.

However, the beginning of the game will be unique in terms of *all* nodes will be at level 0, and so all villages, towns cities and metropoles will need to be built up from scratch.

This is a situation that could only happen when a server is new.

There is no way of knowing right now whether Intrepid will open new servers after launch or not.

ArchivedUser

There will be multitudes of nodes in the game so late joining players might not be there for Metropolis construction unless one of them falls but otherwise they can start fresh somewhere else.

ArchivedUser

The beautiful part is if you started late, played for a year, and then someone else started they would be in the same situation as you. Over a year you will, hopefully, see nodes rise and fall and potentially rise again. They, hopefully, will have that same experience.

As for feeling like one of the new colonist back home before any major structures were built, I don't know if new players will ever be able to experience that. Like in most MMO's, the longer you wait to play the more things you miss out on.

ArchivedUser

Looking at the map, I notice that there is a lot of potential for expansion. I can only assume that future AoC expansions will broaden the map and allow for colonization of new zones.

If so, this will allow future players to experience the initial colonization phase, and allow veterans to relive the experience as well.

Has the issue future expansion of the map already been addressed by the devs?

ArchivedUser

The map that is currently circulating around is a player made creation. The actual map/node availability for A1 and other testing phases may be smaller than at launch. Since nodes rise and fall, and some areas will degrade back to node level 0 over time of being ignored, it will always be possible for those new to the game to try and carve out their own "initial colonization phase" So when you say "Looking at the map" realize that is just someone who is speculating based off of what they have seen in videos.  

ArchivedUser

According to the wiki:

"480 km2 (square kilometers) is closer to the expected world size. This is not confirmed.[6]"

Of course, this too seems to be speculative.

Most MMOs tend to start with smaller playable areas at launch, and add more territory during expansions. I wonder if that will be the case for AoC as well.

ArchivedUser

There is a certain threshold where the node system will just not function if they make it any smaller. From the quotes and information released about their restrictions on number of metro level nodes and how nodes zoi begins to affect neighboring nodes, they need all of that space to make the math work. So for release, it will be 480 km2. That is the size of Rhode Island or 30x Skyrims if those help with a frame of reference. Could they release with a lower amount of nodes? Not likely, because anything introduced after the fact for territory would screw with the player built economies, trade routes, zones of control, and too many other things to mention. Will they be able to add territory in the future? Of course. Undiscovered islands, 10,000 years of people being gone from Verra caused a portion of the Underrealm to become the surface and the the top section to swap. They have endless permutations they can add down the line.
But here is the problem with expansions. They then have to add a sufficient number of concurrent slots available to the population. If your models are all based on 8-10k concurrent players on a server to make the node system work, and you introduce say 50 new nodes, you need the people to fill them. Basically it comes down to the limit of their custom built backend of multiplayer UE4 to see if they could handle the load. Would be great if there are a 1000 nodes, but if we average that out, then there are only 10 people per node to support and feed them resources and experience.(extreme example) leading to no one advancing beyond node level 3 unless they then leave huge swathes of the game map to be unused. Which would defeat the purpose of the expansion in the first place.

ArchivedUser

@UnknownSystemError, Their models are for 8-10k per server but they stated that they could adjust what's needed to lvl nodes based on the population of a server.  So in case of a low population the resources needed to advance nodes would be less.  I would think this could also be used in expansions as well. If they expanded on the nodes they could adjust the amount needed instead of increasing the player base.  However, I think they will just let swatches of the map being unused, because I think that will happen anyways with the original map. They do need a decent number per node on average but I assume huge clumping will take place no matter what, leaving unused space.  

ArchivedUser

Nibiru97 said:

They do need a decent number per node on average but I assume huge clumping will take place no matter what, leaving unused space.  

Makes sense.

Guild will likely stick together at one node. And those involved in gathering and crafting will need to gravitate towards sizeable population centres in order to sell their products.

The only issues I see with larger expanded worlds is server stress and distance (though perhaps having far flung regions would add an exotic element to the world, and be a net positive).

ArchivedUser

There will always be players unhappy with the government, or tired of staying in the same place, or called to explore, or that just have the desire to start a new node and see how far it will go.

I think there will likely be some nodes that are less populated, but I think those will rotate between all nodes not attached to a Level 4 node or higher. I don't see a single area going more than a few months without at least a handful of players trying to get it to level 3 (unless the server(s) are way underpopulated).

Unlike usual MMO's where you have to gravitate to the only existing large cities to do anything, Ashes encourages building cities, so I think the usual "flocking" dynamic will be altered. I'm sure it will still exist, but I think it won't be at the same level.

ArchivedUser

Azathoth said:

Unlike usual MMO's where you have to gravitate to the only existing large cities to do anything, Ashes encourages building cities, so I think the usual "flocking" dynamic will be altered. I'm sure it will still exist, but I think it won't be at the same level.

Yep. If it works as well as intended - as in creating a dynamic world with shifting populations and goals - then it will add a wealth of replayability and longevity to the game.

ArchivedUser

My take on the whole "missing out" is that yes you will miss out. This is kind of tongue in cheek though. The game will have a constant and evolving narrative. A fresh server will never happen again. That bad boy keep won't get taken down again in the same way. That giant node battle wont happen the exact same twice. 

This is the same for the beginning game as it will be to any point of the game though. It is an ever changing world. There will be future things that will be awesome to do too though. I doubt you will ever have that sense that you missed those past events and will be looking forward to new ones instead.

Also, why would you want to miss any part of the game? Play 24/7 quit your job and move in with family ftw. /endsarcasm

ArchivedUser

In short no since the world is ever changing there is always new things happening and since most nodes are time gated it will take time so new players will always get to experience new things with veteran players because the things that are happening will also be new for those veteran players as well thats the beauty of a dynamic world.