Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
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.
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.
Comments
There is just always something to buy for a game that isn't going to be out for a while yet, and it's just... it comes of as slimey. I'm truly hope that's not their intentions, but it's just kind of starting to feel this way.
I'm hoping the persistent alpha (not this apocalypse thing), starts soon and i can bump this up to something more positive.
So far the gear we are able to see appears to be something i would expect at a new orleans drag show.
As for the equipment if it will look anything along the lines of the monthly cosmetics I won't complain 'w'
First, a heads up:
This is going to be a lonnnng reply, but you did ask for reasons. Sorry.
America and the UK, two nations divided by a common language .
I am English: so am aware that Americans may not understand nuances or any honest self deprecation of my reply, let alone anyone whose first language is not English.
I was also bought up in the north of the country, people there speak their minds which can, to those not used to it, come across as offensive or critical.
It is not meant as such, it is just my honest perspective. Many big businesses now attempt to take such contrary perspectives on-board and respond with positive changes where appropriate. Why? Because seeing where you've got bugs can help you fix them.
Please never assume I'm stupid just because I state I have brain damage, or that I'm intending anything other than kindness and the best outcome for the community.
Explaining will be difficult to do in full due to having signed a phoenix NDA.
Some of the reasons, but not all as to why have been disappointed so far:
Company communication - Having stated very clearly that they wanted to be closer to the community, having been players themselves who have sat through the game dev / launch process, they have failed to follow through (to date) on this stated goal.
After Yaviely and intrepid 'parted ways' , the community has been more than a year without a community manager as a method of official communication.
Player based forum moderators are as in the dark as anyone and just guessing at the actual response.
Any questions put directly to Intrepid via livestreams / discord etc, are very carefully cherry picked, often with the same topics being addressed rather than any new information.
(I'm still waiting to find out the details of the how the Kickstarter reward "phoenix initiative hang out in game with the dev team" will be actioned in game. Will it be via instance per server, because if so it's unlikely to ever have any dev's in it)
Email messages sent directly to the Intrepid team, don't even get the curtesy of a polite (but annoying) standard form reply such as:
"thank you for your interest in the game, due to the number of emails we receive we cannot respond directly, however as we understand how important your time and input is to us, we do ensure that all of the messages we receive are reviewed and actioned by the relevant team member"
Acknowledging the fact that people used their valuable time to go to the effort to contact them is just polite and courteous.
I have had a website project on hold for over a year now, that I am unable to proceed with until I can get some official answers, albeit that will no doubt come with the proviso: "it may change by the time Ashes comes out"
I would love to be assured that investing time on developing external content will be relevant, it not, then that's great for everyone!
If it is, as I greatly suspect it is, then I would like to know that my time contacting / paying for external freelancers isn't wasted. I, like most others, wish to set myself up for success rather than a massive mess and failure because what I make is inappropriate to the pathway that Intrepid are forging.
It annoys me that I can see that the team DO read all of their messages, just don't believe that showing acknowledgment to their player base, is important enough to warrant a response.
I am positive they read these because of:
A personal reply to one from Steven (more on that later).
Also an incident on a live stream, less than two days after sending a friendly request to the team, where Yaviely was called 'Genevieve', sure it could have just been coincidence, common name that it is, at a time when the community was much smaller and so close to me being in touch. Many people would be offended that the team appear to have been either sharing a mocking of their name or much more likely, of their input and comments. There isn't a company in the world who would openly accept that behavior like that as ether professional or acceptable.
At the time I was, an avid proponent and defender of 'understandable teething errors' of the new company on the forums. Frustrating as a supporter of the game.
What does it say about myself that I'm still here and still attempting to support the game?
The communications they do get out are often unclear or misleading.
Again I class this as unprofessional, and if intrepid were to ever go public (doubtful) this would lead to serious consequence.
Once was forgivable, but they've done this at least four times that I'm aware of, just like President Trump, they can announce things without fully considering the consequences, and so far have failed to learn from their own history.
They started with the Kickstarter 'mounts' that turned out to only be skins before apologising and repeating the same mistake on the 'summer campaign'
More recently was announced on discord:
Steven 10/07/2018 @here Glorious A0 players, I release you from not being able to discuss your A0 experience.
Now I am 100% confident that Steven doesn't mean what he seems to be saying here.
It seems to be giving us permission to fully discuss my own personal experience of the Alpha 1. Great eh?
But I'm positive that he does not wish that 'experience' to include anything outside of the actual gameplay, such as setting up accounts etc.
After all, then I could disclose what it was about my experience of Alpha zero that ended up with me requesting a refund.
I would be happy to be wrong, but I don't believe that he means to include everything whether or not it was part of my personal "A0 experience"
Whist I'm not planning on pushing Intrepids button, this to me is just another example of misleading statements, and yes, it was because of my refund request that Steven got in touch.
I was / am more than aware that refunds under kickstarter aren't normally allowed, but after all, Steven made a comment at the time of the 'summer kickstarter" extension, that those that were unhappy with the situation could apply for a refund. Implying that a refund is possible at Intrepids discretion.
Simply put, I was very unhappy a situation. Steven disagreed in his response. I clarified the reasons why I stand behind my original view.... and that's been it.... ignored from then on.
No response, no second refusal, just a very impolite silence.
So once again, I am left to feel that I have no value as a backer to Intrepid.
And what was it that I was unhappy with... well, it could all have been solved by ensuring that the correct and consistent language were used in what was being communicated.
This is already not the game I was 'sold'
When the game was announced a big deal was made of ensuring that the game was going to be great no matter what play style you had.
And, yes whilst the example I'm going to give is roleplay, you can find other examples about many other play styles if you think about it : ie, Do you love the team dynamics of small groups? Steven bluntly said that you should go and play a Moba instead.
There is only one person who this game is being built for, at the moment I feel strongly that regardless of the promotion to push initial funding, that when the game that comes out won't be as inclusive as most people expect it to be. It's Stevens way or the highway, God forbid if you wish to play the game another way. (see misleading communications)
Now there is nothing wrong with that, after all, without him there wouldn't have even been an Intrepid to grumble about, but I wish that they could at least be a bit more honest about that.
Roleplay to me is the reason I play mmorpg's. The game itself is ok. But the rush of having personal plot lines and character interactions that are made all the more meaningful because What I do, makes an actual difference to someone elses character and enhances their story and thus their gameplay.
It's like writing in real time and getting instant reader feedback. I have spent so much time laughing my head off at roleplay because there is really no way to predict how some people will react to you.
Heavy hardcore roleplay is generally looked down on by many, most of who have just never given it a try themselves.
But then when did D+D become mainstream? It wasn't so long ago that that was all for 'nerds and dweebs', the same is true for most niche past times. I'm don't ever see myself taking part in larping, but running around a field throwing things about sounds as much fun as being a kid again, my ex was a collector of prop memorabilia and looked down on by one of my brothers as 'playing with dolls'
There not only appears to be no attempts to break down the barriers between heavy roleplay and make it more embraceable by all, but actually seem to be doing their best to ignore and sideline those players.
They say, no rp servers to not divide community, but set up apocalypse that will do just that.
They say that they want rp players to feel part of the community, so they will have taverns as rp hubs, but fail to take into account the trolling that heavy rpers can be subject to when they then make taverns the hubs of all players social activity.
This isn't the only thing that makes me believe that any changes and integration of 'heavy' roleplay into Ashes will be unlikely to be generated by Intrepid.
As things stand, if I wish see a game where the heavy roleplay style is accepted without question, I'm going to have to put the effort in myself to nudge that 'social' change.
I don't mind doing that..... I started a year ago, but until Intrepid gets around to talking, answering relevant questions, or simply brainstorming how EASY making such a change could potentially be, then how can change can even begin?
Put simply, it feels very much as a backer, that if your play style doesn't meet Steven's ideal, it's not on the 'official Intrepid' cards.
I also need to explain, that whilst I'm disappointed, I'm also still very much defending and supporting the company, attributes that I don't feel that Intrepid right now is aware of the positive value of. I may have had my opinions dismissed and treated as worthless by Intrepid, I may have even been mocked (who knows) but just because Intrepid can't see my worth, it doesn't prevent my personal experiences from being just as valid as anyone elses.I am also aware that my brain looks a lot like this and is full of brown gloop (plaque):