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.
EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE
There’s something that I’d like to share. I have been following Ashes of Creation and the team’s progress since the kickstarter campaign. Amazing how far the team has come since then. And, since then, I’ve read, watched, and heard many opinions about the game’s state, both current and expected future.
I think this is where I am supposed to list my MMO playing resume and credentials to assert myself as an expert in the field. That’s not me. I am also not a math or theorycrafting whiz.
I get it. It’s early alpha and there’s no way we can know what the game will be able to achieve at launch. Within that uncertainty, there is a decision to be made. I think that decision -- the road we take here -- it speaks a great deal to who we are as gamers and as people and also affects the outcome we seek. It goes without saying that we all have our own opinions and I encourage everyone to share them, whether I agree with them or not.
Let’s talk about “Hope” for a start. I have heard so many times how people can’t or won’t “get on the Ashes of Creation hype train” because they have been burned too many times in the past. I understand it; you touch fire and get burned, and the smart among us would say to not touch the fire again lest we get burned a second time. They wouldn’t be wrong. They would however be missing out on Hope. Hope is worth a thousand burns and then some. Hope is the possibility that the future holds more than the past. Hope means we have not given up.
Let’s talk about the team’s “goals being too loft”. How ‘bout this one? “64 class combinations? Balance is not possible”. Have you heard this one before, “You can’t blend tab-target and action combat together and any instance in which it has been tried has failed, therefore, Ashes of Creation will fail”?
Why even bother trying? Or, as my son rationalized it when he was 8: Why take a bath anyways? I’m just gonna get dirty again (it was a good try on his part lol). Hope is why. We have never moved forward without lofty goals and way more failures than successes. Imagine those trying to achieve flight had listened to all the naysayers. <insert another wise example from human history here> /lazy
Feedback is important. Critical and constructive criticism is important. Making mistakes is important. Fixing them is important. And possibly most of all, lofty goals and Hope for the future are important.
I have jumped aboard the Ashes of Creation train because of the people behind the game, what they’ve been able to achieve in a short amount of time, their outlook on testing and how they are and plan to achieve their lofty goals, and, of course, Hope. Hope that MMO’s will move forward into a new generation.
The more support and feedback the team gets, the more (and most likely quicker) the team can gather data, make mistakes, find new or possibly better ideas, and figure out how to implement their lofty goals. I encourage everyone to get their friends involved!
The Phoenix is fitting. Through Ashes of Creation, my Hope is that the MMO genre is reborn.
P.S. Don’t ask where episodes I, II, and III are. They will come much later and be lackluster in comparison to this post. Thanks for reading!
Ali
Comments
and these annoying little sh!tes thinks its f!cking FINE ????!!!?!??!??!??!
So full of it.
The only other TRUE MMORPG being made is Pantheon ... and yet Modern MMO players complain about it being " too dated " ... ( such as Combat )
- so the f!ck what ??!!!
- I'd rather play an old dated game any day over ANY P2W trash that's promoted AND somehow viewed as " fine "
All of the negative commotion , and SOO much more ... only reveals a more dire, disheartening situation of the Entire MMORPG scene - " its take two to tango "- its the companies' fault for presenting P2W in the first place ...
- but then again, its the players fault for buying it, for indirectly promoting P2W too
- Both equally bad, but still players' choice
But then again .. Modern Gamers in general usually have terrible taste - they practically grew up thinking that Microtransactions & P2W were the normBack to the topic ...
most of those who join the hate train don't know nothing about Ashes of Creation - honestly ...can they NOT fathom the different kind of Devs-Experience that Intrepid brings to the table when compared to others ?!
- How many devs can boast that they worked on EQNext ?
- Only a handful of Devs have worked on Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, SWG, Original EQ, EQ2 ... and other titles that actually deal with ONLINE functionality ... like PlanetSide 1 & PlanetSide 2 ... and each Project those handful of Devs are working on .. are turning out to be good
- SOOO many times i ask myself, " ... why did this Game not get a sh!t-ton more funding compare to the likes of Star Citizen ?! " ... Star Citizen doesn't even have any MMORPG experience , yet still get funded ... . And only NOW, the idea of Star Citizen going P2W is gradually creeping-up on them over the years?! Honestly ... the more & more information Star Citizen releases, i just want to throw my PC across the room
- .. and i never even backed the Game and I'm still pissed-off just listening to the P2W bullcrap they're trying to pull
- ... " and its fine " ... ( duly note the sarcasm here )
- Intrepid are Western Developers ... NOT Eastern Developers who try to sneak in P2W inevitably ( except FFXIV , Square Enix is rad )
Its cringe all-around - just a bunch of clueless saps- Tell me why Bless Online somehow still had players ?!
- Tell me why idiots expect anything great from CrowFall .. when most of the Devs who are working on CrowFall are from SWTOR ? ( i know SWTOR's issues run deep .. but its mostly EA's Bioware Fault for neglecting it ... so its not really the Devs fault ) . But i know what to expect from SWTOR. As such, it influenced my impression of CrowFall long beforehand
- Tell me why some people STILL can't differentiate MOBAs, Online ARPGs and Online Lobby-based Games ... from REAL MMORPGs ?
- Tell me why P2W is being supported so f!cking much ? When we know what happens when this crap happens ?
- Tell me why WildStar is getting shut-down BEFORE Bless Online ?! ... i mean sh!t ... at least WildStar tried whereas Bless Online can't do anything. Oh gee, don't even get me started on Bless Unleashed ... its a kick in the teeth ...
- Tell me why the Gaming Scene as a whole is turning itself inside-out ?
- ( I could've added alot more to this ... but it was at this point, when i realized how long this post was getting ... )
( i didn't back Bless Online either ... just reading-up on it is messed-up when looking at the big picture ... needless to say, called it )As far as I'm concerned .. they DESERVED to get burned ... get burned until there's nothing left ... because they should know the difference of Intrepid Devs Experience from the get-go compared to others.
Speaking of which ... this doesn't change anything about the My.Com ordeal ...
- My.Com + Pre-Established Cash Shop ( albeit Cosmetic-Only ... ugh ) is always a bad sign - and its something that's going to always be a stigma floating around
- BUT, if the Contract is still to where Intrepid currently has & maintains 100% Complete Total Control - then alrighty then
- Although, I still suspect Sub-Count will ultimately determine this MMO's fate ...we'll unfortunately have to wait and see
- yeah, i still don't like Cash Shops in generally - don't care if its Cosmetics or not
Needless to say, Pantheon coming-in strong - with no Cash Shop.We'll just wait and see ... because i'm basically still neutral about the whole Ashes' Scene.
I am well-aware of the additional security measures ... its just .. something like that can't be dismissed through sheer words - gotta show'em
i swear t- ... if anyone calls me cancerous ... ffs, just look at how many Players thinks P2W FIIINNNEE .... ugh ... How can you call ME cancerous when P2W is practically a widespread-plague ... thats slowly becoming the norm ??!??!?!?!??!?!!
EndGame " = Online Lobby-based Game mode
( it was kinda funny seeing newer players finding out the hard-way the difficulty some of the Dungeons were at )
Intrepid's 1st approach sounds like a good start
- https://youtu.be/ZnoHtzaQeMs?t=2359 ( ends at 44:20 )
- Its a long one, but the closest answer you'll get
- " Rock, Papers Scissors Column " Style ... just in case if you missed it
If they don't try to balance the 64 Archetype Combinations ... Ashes of Creation might suffer a similar fate like WarHammer Onlineto finish everything up ... i personally thought the Phoenix was a symbol of EQNext being reborn to something better ... but yeah, i guess you're interpretation is even better : 3
A lot remains to be seen! Despite the current state, I have hope for the future!
Therefore, trust in the Force, Luke.