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.
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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.
To clarify things about My.com (EU)
First, I would like to say that I was also extremely disappointed by the decision of having my.com as our EU publisher. But after the Q&A and looking for a few reliable information, I can only say this: What are you guys really worried about?
I'll tackle all the topics I've encountered on both Reddit and discord:
-"My.com will make the game p2w": From what Steven said, this is not their intention and they are bound by contract to follow the guidelines of Intrepid developers. So this following statement is either just some mild babyrage or unfounded words like we're used to here.
-"My.com has bad servers.": Once again, Steven was clear about this and said that the standards of their servers needed to abide by Intrepid's standards. So if the servers are shit at release, it meant that Intrepid was okay with this quality. So you either trust Intrepid on this or you don't.
-"My.com has security issues.": Now this is the fun part. As My.com will be the holder and those in charge of all of EU playerbase's data, they have to abide by EU Laws AKA the GDPR laws. https://www.eugdpr.org/gdpr-faqs.html
Here is a link to what it is. But for those too lazy to click, it states that not only any breach of our data will be sanctioned but they also have to compensate every concerned user in case of any problem. This 2018 not 2016 revelation online. Since a few months ago, like any companies dealing with our data in EU, you have to improve your security measures because you won't like what happens next if anything is breached.
-"My.com has a bad launcher": I can't say anything about that since I have not used it in ages, but I guess they will make it better? I don't know.
-"My.com has banning issues.": Once again I'll quote Steven on this. He said that there will be in-game features for anything related to botting and stuff. And the feedback sent by players will be dealt with by human beings, not bots. For bans related to payment (risk of fraud), he also stated that Intrepid will work together with My.com in dealing with tickets sent to the Support service.
All in all, I am trusting Steven a lot in this not only because my.com is bound by contract but also by laws. I am not saying that all our problems are solved, but the one people are complaining about is just butthurt people who can't seem to accept reality and try to see the details around the matter.
Intrepid has nothing to gain by associating with my.com unless they can keep what took them this far: our trust. Some may say they lost the moment they accepted my.com as the EU publisher, I just say that you should take your chill pills and trust in Intrepid and, for once, in the laws in this case.
Damn it's been a while since I last made a post o.o
I'll tackle all the topics I've encountered on both Reddit and discord:
-"My.com will make the game p2w": From what Steven said, this is not their intention and they are bound by contract to follow the guidelines of Intrepid developers. So this following statement is either just some mild babyrage or unfounded words like we're used to here.
-"My.com has bad servers.": Once again, Steven was clear about this and said that the standards of their servers needed to abide by Intrepid's standards. So if the servers are shit at release, it meant that Intrepid was okay with this quality. So you either trust Intrepid on this or you don't.
-"My.com has security issues.": Now this is the fun part. As My.com will be the holder and those in charge of all of EU playerbase's data, they have to abide by EU Laws AKA the GDPR laws. https://www.eugdpr.org/gdpr-faqs.html
Here is a link to what it is. But for those too lazy to click, it states that not only any breach of our data will be sanctioned but they also have to compensate every concerned user in case of any problem. This 2018 not 2016 revelation online. Since a few months ago, like any companies dealing with our data in EU, you have to improve your security measures because you won't like what happens next if anything is breached.
-"My.com has a bad launcher": I can't say anything about that since I have not used it in ages, but I guess they will make it better? I don't know.
-"My.com has banning issues.": Once again I'll quote Steven on this. He said that there will be in-game features for anything related to botting and stuff. And the feedback sent by players will be dealt with by human beings, not bots. For bans related to payment (risk of fraud), he also stated that Intrepid will work together with My.com in dealing with tickets sent to the Support service.
All in all, I am trusting Steven a lot in this not only because my.com is bound by contract but also by laws. I am not saying that all our problems are solved, but the one people are complaining about is just butthurt people who can't seem to accept reality and try to see the details around the matter.
Intrepid has nothing to gain by associating with my.com unless they can keep what took them this far: our trust. Some may say they lost the moment they accepted my.com as the EU publisher, I just say that you should take your chill pills and trust in Intrepid and, for once, in the laws in this case.
Damn it's been a while since I last made a post o.o
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Comments
Do people think everything can go their way at all times? Even Blizzard had a security breach and no one is losing their mind about it now do they?
People just can't seem to understand what Steven tried to do from a game developer standpoint. For them, having a third party publishing their game is THAT much of work off their shoulders and more time to focus on the game since they PROMISED a release before 2020. And now people are saying they are ok if they go back on their words... It doesn't work like that though.
In your opinion things might be okay, but you have no evidence to suggest that it will, against mountains and years of evidence that have piled against my.com/mail.ru.
I understand your desire to defend something you believe in, but it adds nothing to the conversation except for fanning the flames of (justifiably so) upset players, and to accuse them of 'babyrage' and that their concerns are 'unfounded' is frankly BS.
-1. Shame.
Now the community finds out the a 3rd party source mind you because "we are 100% transparent with our community" that it will not be self published outside of America.
That many EU publishers were approached and this was the best outcome....
So "trust" i have been told to trust and trust and trust with every folly and questionable design decision and now backroom contracts behind their total transparency approach
It just another major kick in the nuts.
I even purchased skins in the cash shop after the latest combat demo, and i fkn hate cash shops...
Shilling hype and cashing in on hope.
disappointed.
I mean Steven has a history with Trion in the NA and he pulls this one over the EU base, seriously.
I believe Intrepid could actually pull this off, but asking me to believe that they will be able to not only revolutionize the MMO genre BUT ALSO change the very rotten and predatory nature of the likes of My.Scam is too much to ask. If they eventually manage to do so i will be damned. It's just a matter of trying the game 1 year after the release if the EU community feedback is positive anyway (since i did not spend any money on this so far). So time will tell i guess.
Intrepid had planned to Launch Ashes of Creation Globally all on the same day ... EU has Legal issues ... that would (supposedly ) be very costly for Intrepid & delay the Release for EU because it will also take some time.
Hope i did not miss anything
This regulation will greatly impact data-driven businesses in Europe and across the Globe. The 28-state European Union is the world’s second-largest economy, an economy that companies with a digital presence can’t help but interact with. These are the companies that capture our interest as 30 Under 30 observers. As these startup founders grapple with the implications of the GDPR, many hesitate moving forward until they 1. understand, and 2. can comply with these regulations in a cost-effective way....
....The GDPR has broad sweeping requirements that impact companies across the world. US Fortune 500 companies have put billions toward compliance – and in some cases that has not been enough to avoid lawsuit filings – while some smaller firms have closed operations or shut down entirely until they better understand the implications of these new regulations. The rising cost of doing business, stifling data-driven enterprises, and increasing the barriers to entry for entrepreneurship is the other side of the coin for these data-protection regulations.
The GDPR has made Europe a hostile environment for data-driven business (or any business that handles the provate information of its clients). It may very well be that Steven does not want to expose IS to extreme liability in the EU, and has to rely on a publisher to maneuver the legal minefield that the EU has become.
Hopefully we get a more complete explanation soon.
I don't think you can accuratly just write off ALL the concerns. Sure, some are people reacting emotionally and overreacting, but there are valid concerns in there.
The most common I've found is that my.com's customer service and localization is terrible. This will literally be their job on Ashes.
OP seems to write this off by saying Intrepid will be working with them on this. Ok, but then why not just self publish then? It's pretty naive to expect that my.com won't be doing a huge majority of this work for EU. Intrepid isn't going to get involved in every single support ticket where Gary's subscription didn't renew or Dave's Embers don't show up.
Your entire argument is that "it will be different this time because of Intrepid."
But most of the upset people have been told or believed this before with other games, then watched as it was found to be so far from the truth. I can understand their skepticism.
You dont assume a dog's not going to bite you this time if he's bitten you 3-4 times before simply because he's in a new yard.
So, don't just write off these concerns because "faith". That's how you get bit.
Sorry I have to write this...but you...and Steven are wearing pink glasses in this case.
I was able to experience it up close myself at the armored warfare game...how My.com deals with its partners.
At the beginning such promises were made as here now
Not quite 2 years " My.com urged its partner Obsidian....and took over the further development itself.
Afterwards the game went / goes steeply downhill
And that's how it's gonna happen here sooner or later.
I won't play this game with My.com here again....and applied for my refund at the support.
Whether this is approved...........let's see
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
Was the decision made without regard to reputation? Obviously, yes, My.com and mail.ru are one of the most reviled companies out there among gamers. But we must not misconstrue putting the bottom line before good will towards the game's backers as malicious. That would be silly.
The reality is that it would result in more money in the pockets of those who are the venture backing of the project than if they self published. Really that's the end of the story, more money mean decision made. If it would have been more profitable to self publish they would have.
The real problem as I see it is that the reputation of Intrepid has been damaged with those who are aware of how bad a company my.com is. My.com are simply just bad people who do bad things to wring as much money out of you as they can. They don't care about positive image. They don't care about having happy customers or good reviews. They just prey on the fact that if you want to play a game they publish then you have to pay them. In this day and age that means they have valuable information on you to sell to whomever they can. Sure there are laws in the EU that are supposed to protect you. Guess what my.com doesn't care. Its cheaper for them to pay any fines that they actually get forced to pay than it is to be above board and follow the rules. Most of the time they will just get away with. There isn't much you do to a bunch of crooks in Russia.
They are trash. Self-publishing is what we all hoped for, but people need to know how the world works and things can't be perfect every time.
Sure they said that they have turned away from their evil nature, but ... how should I put this...
if you give a drogaddict some medical marijuana because he promised he won't use it... well, you can guess what will happen...