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
The only thing that I do agree that isn't a good look.. is putting lore behind the paid line. Now I say this even though I get it for free, for life.
The rest, exp bonus, extra cosmetics etc. is perfectly fine under the Legendary Line... after all its still all going in service to earning cosmetics.
Don't worry about the lore. I'm sure someone will make a thread here on the forums about anything that's discovered. If not here then on the YouTube.
And espeaking of lore, the cosmetic store for December already has some. Some dude went on an expedition to the frigid north. Maybe we find his bones or something. Undead sled dog pet. Something. Then Jeffy said there were barbarians on Sanctus. What? Were there people living there already when we evacuated? Hmm... Mysteries!
I think the lore will be revealed like that. In tantalizing tidbits attached to the quest items. Urlog's Medallion, Urlog's Compass, etc...
Whatever you think of this idea, you cannot argue that a "quest" does not count as "content" in a video game. Quests are one of the oldest and most traditional forms of content available in video games.
The reason I voted "wait and see" is because I want to see just how far they separate Apocalypse from the MMO. If this is too closely tied to Ashes (for example, if you can transfer earned cosmetics between the two games) then that would mean I would be paying a subscription fee to the Ashes MMO while also being forced to pay microtransactions to access quest lines that affect my gameplay experience in the Ashes MMO.
My subscription should pay for 100% of the questing content that affects the Ashes of Creation MMO. Not 'most" of the questing content, not even 99.9%, but the full 100%. Anything less is unacceptable.
Also the Apocalypse won't have any influence over the mmo, the cosmetics are the only thing and as far as I am aware cosmetics (or should I say re-skins) are not crucial to the mmo itself since you can earn cosmetics there aswell and even then they have no affect on gameplay.
Your subscription does not entitle you to everything and everything that the Ashe's IP creates and makes.
In reading through the comments, I feel like some of the comparisons and justifications for Intrepid's monetization of Apocalypse are unfair. Comparing free to play games such as GW2 isn't the same. This game will be subscription based, like WoW. With subscription based games the content is paid for, by nature of the subscription.
The argument has been made that Apocalypse is not AoC, but rather a way for the developers to test combat and game functionality before release. If a company genuinely felt that pay to win mechanics were not part of their games monetization strategy, why would they include them in the early stages of the game development? Specifically, I'm looking at the +XP boosts in the legendary quest line. Locking content behind a pay wall in a beta is a new kind of cash grab that will only continue to be further exploited in the final product, should it prove to be successful.
By opting in to this paid content in the beta, we are setting a precedent that says its okay for the company to lock lore, quests, and other game content behind a pay wall. Imagine if you had to spend an extra $20 to unlock the pet battles in WoW, on top of your subscription. While we are able to play the beta for free, we are doing a service to the developer, helping them create a polished final product that will be paid for.
Quoting the email regarding the Apocalypse open beta:
"There will be an optional Legendary Path that players can purchase. Both paths provide daily quests and weekly quests for players to complete. These quests give lore that relates to the story of Verra during the Fall, thousands of years before the start of the MMORPG."
If these quest paths are the same, and the only difference is the reward, then my point is moot. Based on the wording, that doesn't seem to be the case. Perhaps someone from IS would like to weigh in?
Honestly it's best to wait for it to be released within the next few days instead of jumping to conclusions.
The only mistake I can probably see that IS may have made right now is the "branding" of Apocalypse, as they state, it is a testing ground for AoC but otherwise it is a standalone game that in no other way really impacts the MMO we all want except that it contains lore from the AoC world.
So in my eyes the only mistake they may have made is calling it "Ashes Of Creation: Apocalypse" .. this is because people refer to "Ashes Of Creation" as the MMO that has yet to be released, but now some people seem to see this name and think, wait a minute, AoC is supposed to be an MMO, why is it now labelled as a BR with a paywall, ect.. WTF?
I undertstand that Apoc is a part of the AoC universe and not sure how else to brand it, maybe just to refer to Ashes Of Creation only in it's abbreviated form? "AoC Apocalypse - the fall of Verra?" this provides some sort of divide from the MMO title?
All in all I am in complete support of anything that will make Ashes Of Creation a better game, and until I see actual proof that the MMO is suffering serious neglect or IS starts to abandon their principles then there is no need to rage or vent.
How can you win? It is a Battle Royale game. The only way you win is to be the last one standing.
Nothing in the rewards gives you an edge in the battle. And before anyone mentions the XP boosts, those are for Apocalypse, and only let you level there (looks like just in the lobby). Levels mean nothing in the battle. Only equipment affects your ability, and you have none until you are actually playing and find some.
It's a shame really, seems like you would meet the standard member criteria and be an excellent addition to the community.
I hope you can find a game that doesn't require the small sum of about $0.50/day to play.
Folks are getting access to a game APOC for FREE.
Folks who want to earn cosmetics and learn lore for the MMO now, can, but unless they've supported the game to a certain level already, will have to pay for that privilege.
But they'll still likely pay less for earning 80 cosmetics than they would pay in the mmo cash shop.
CHECK THIS OUT: http://www.cracked.com/blog/how-to-win-fight-against-twenty-children/
Embers unlock the Legendary path. Pretty sure we can earn embers in the Adventure path, but I need to double check once we can enter the lobby again.