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.
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.
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.
Comments
Well assuming it is, I think small parties are best. Solo play doesn't have as much depth as group play. Raids are too big and therefore hard to organize, and each player has a smaller role.
And I'll just take a wild guess as to what "emergent" is supposed to mean (starting solo but other people can join in?), and say that it's the absolute worst. There can't be any reliability or depth to emergent gameplay if you don't know how many people will show up for it. With an arbitrary number of strangers as your target audience, you can only make the vaguest and shallowest of designs.
Small group content tends to have the best balance of team-work, personal contribution, and deep gameplay.
-A big scary world where i'm just someone trying to make their way in it, not the up and coming renowned hero.
-Dungeons with secrets, keys, hidden events and items that contribute to your sense of progression, and not just be a 30 minute kill mobs and then the boss. A dungeon should feel like an adventure where exploration can be rewarding not just in loot, but the experience of doing it.
-Leveling that isn't just constantly gaining new abilities, but allowing me to work for them and feel like I've accomplished something whenever I buy or train a new spell or ability or trait.
-Make me think about pulling too many mobs, make me think carefully about my resources/mana/hp and my abilities available to me.
-Being excited for a rare drop that ACTUALLY makes an impact on my characters power and helps me level or perform in endgame content. But not being handed out on a silver platter, or worse....dailies. Dailies have their place but if theyre the main focus of your endgame, people get bored. Fast.
-Let the gameplay be its own reward.
- Exploration, that can be done both alone, or needs a group.
- Discovery quests with no Quest icon to follow are lots of fun, especially if there are few bits of information and quite a bit of obstacles to getting to the discovery.
- Rare and Dangerous monster hunting, really great in the open world, especially when you may need more than a normal party size to bring it down.
- Skill/Ability requirement hidden objectives, such as having to have XX level in Miner to discover that the Rock Boss at the end of a dungeon has a rare metal, or XX level of Rogue to find the hidden compartment on the last chest of a dungeon that contains additional rewards.
- Progressive/Building Content, such as starting out as a simple scout (done solo), then leading to a raid/attack, requiring multiple players.
- Random Open World events, not just this event happens every X minutes/hours/days so people can put it on a timer and wait, but things that are variable and happen at irregular intervals and/or in random zones. This makes it unique to discover, and for those that do, it can be quite the tale.
I don't prefer:
- MMOs that I can solo all content except the very end. Why make it MMO if I can do it alone? Why make me grind to end game if the end game is the real game?
- Content that is level locked just to create barriers of progression. If me and my friends want to do a dungeon at lower level or item power than what is "optimal" for the dungeon, we shouldn't be stopped. Now, I get putting a level/IP lock on party finding for the dungeon, but not for a premade.
New Dungeons with decent rewards. Its why I love Zelda, challenging dungeons everywhere that help you progress. BnS did also a great job with dungeons, most of them feel really unique, have unique mechanics and give you something to somehow further progression
Elsword is also all about dungeons and while I was playing actively it was really fun just running through those dungeons. It was all kinda skillbased back then, your own abilities as a player could make a huge diffrence. Not just plain stupid clicking through every room
But even your most basic HacknSlash, I really enjoyed dungeons there altough they were basically just EQ checks
I always loved running through dungeons, even grinding them as long as I somehow felt somewhat rewarded for it and couldnt "just whipe it 4Head" (Yea, AoC might be the wrong game for me.. from what Ive heard at least..)
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Also I love cosmetiques. Customes, reaching from highly erotic to noble, I want something from everything
So with the 500 times 500 scenerios coming there need t be a system in place to let players know were they are needed. I guess people will say toons should just use chat channel well people are to busy fighting to type out messages.
So maybe if you push a button means you need help and puts blinking icon on map.
Like most pvp content but as far as maps are concerned bigger is better.
I really enjoy dungeoun quests like find three hidden things or kill boss for me and bring me its head. I gives a meaning ful purpose to being in that dugeoun. Feels like a real quest not just well going around in circles in some zone.
As far solo content it is exploration. Sometimes the world creation team makes this fantastical zones that make you feel like you are in the game. So I end up doing all the quests in that zone just to do something in that zone then end up wishing I had more to do in that zone. Think Ashes of Creation solved this problem.
Bigger is Better for raids too just do not do them to much for logistical reasons. To be in a raiding group guesing 40 man would have to spend about 8 hours every week just raiding rather just pvp instead have more fun like the intensity of it.
40 man raids take longer but hey even if you had instant que you might still have to wait 2 hours for group to form. Just better to not to use instant que in that case.
My recommendation is to have about 3 40 mn raids one medium difficulty the other 2 larger and more complex. One fo them basically tailored for hardcore plalyers. If there a lot people that do not do those types that is fine. At least it gives them something to shoot for. I shoot for tournaments in pvp but if never make the cut.
So Did not make it to the Olympics no big deal.
A lot of people just do not have the time to prepare for a 40 raid which could be more time than the actaul time it takes do the raid or have the ability to dedcate two raid nights a week after week to do them.
So as far as time is concerned that should make the meat of your content smaller raids and dungeouns. You could in theory divide up a good sized raid into dungeouns
But the main factor is time so when you are making those dungeouns you have to consider how long it takes to complete.
Some short small content should be just to learn how to raid.
Just as an example Runescape questing is extremely good but do not spend to much questing and pick short quests Cause well one quest in runescape could easily take over 2 hours sometimes 4 hours if you get stuck in a puzzle and do not want to look it up. They are really fun but time is a factor. I am guessing people that played Runescape first go and play other mmos and are left wondering were the questing is in that game.
Content: Solo Questing: Again, in The Repopulation, NPC Vendors and Quest Givers remember your name when you interact with them. You can use diplomacy to sway them for answers about the surrounding area or haggle to get a better price. They also remember how you treated them depending on which answers you selected in the conversation with them.
Content: Solo Exploration: I loved in Star Wars Galaxies that you had to go looking for areas where a specific creature (and their babies) was to be found. Discovering a rare creature for animal husbandry or a special location where certain plants are more plentiful than others would be a great. Puzzles and hidden cairns I know are popular. In TR, in engagements, if mobs in a certain area are not kept down, they multiply making it harder to gather from the harvestable nodes in that area. Though not my favorite, it makes for a good cooperative group experience. I like discovering artifacts that can be turned in to NPC's for furniture pieces or objects to decorate your freehold. I like the idea of hidden grottos or special areas off the beaten path that are beautiful and maybe a pleasant place to chop wood or gather plants. The sound of running water, birds chirping, etc.
Content: Solo Gathering: I like the idea of having a few zones or areas where you are not bothered by mobs while you gather in that area except for low level ones that you may run across. It's nice to take a break and just gather supplies, maybe even a pvp free zone. I like the idea of having a one time use, camouflaged costume for me and a camouflaged mule skin that can only be used when the mule is out, in case a group comes near me when I am gathering. Something in the cash shop or hard to attain in game, so it is not abused. I like the idea of being able to find seeds in the world that I can bring back and plant in my Freehold.
Content: For groups, raids, etc I rely on the other fine comments in the previous posts.
For instance GATHERING like you guys have stated when a vein dries up people will need to look around for a new one.
Have some elite dungeons lets say of a God who doesn't want to be found move his Dungeon enterance around in the world. Where it will never be in the same place. And if you are fortunate to find it it may or not be there where you come back with your guild.
Random encounters with unique creatures that are not in any library.
The importance is not Solo > Group or > Raid. The importance is the uniqueness. These unique EXPLORATION encounters could happen when you are in any of those group dynamics.
Lets say you are raiding this Boss Dungeon for the 10th time yes we've all been there dodge this, look out for that, etc. Unique meaning lets say it starts to rain outside and you had to go deep underground to get to this dungeon. Now the goal is not to get to the End Boss, its about getting out before the whole party drowns.
This is what you guys need to focus on Exploration, unique encounters, randomness.
What I love about you guys is that you already seem to be going that way.
Keep the great work up guys.
I personally love smaller group activities, especially when there isn't a required number, nor a set number of players who can be in the group. Fighting a boss that we haven't worked out the mechanics yet is the most fun I've had in an MMO. There is nothing like the sigh of relief and satisfaction when you see that boss you've been working on for days, maybe even weeks, finally come crashing down.
As for solo gameplay, I've always used the "down" time to work on my crafting, even though most current games have a crappy system (Yes, I know some are good and I left it open for them, chill.)
The one thing that has me excited for Ashes, above them all, is being part of the community through my artisan class. Maybe my tavern is where most raid groups like to come either before or after a night of wipes. Perhaps my mounts are the fastest, strongest, or best looking in all the region. Or, I could be minding my own business in town when a player comes up and asks if I'm the one who can craft a special potion they need. Doubtful any of that would happen, but the fantasy is real and keeps my hype alive.
I've seen too many games where players come up with ways to harass others in game, find ways of completing content that should be considered exploiting or had content that was bugged and not able to be completed that developers have all dropped in to the "emergent gameplay" category.
The idea of a sandbox game where the developers give players tools that interact with each other in various ways, and then leave it up to players to find gameplay within that is good, but I don't see it as a replcemnt for actual content. To me, the ultimate MMO is a sandbox game that contains a themepark within it.
As to what content I like the most, that is simple - raid content.
To me, an MMO is mostly about having a group of people that you meet up with several times a week to run specific, challenging content. There are other things in MMO's that I like (including both group and solo play, as well as crafting and engaging in lore), but to me, it is raiding that holds me in one specific game.
Personally, though I like group content I want the game to allow for opportunities for strangers to also have good teamwork rather than just established groups to do teamwork. This allows for people whose friends aren't online atm to enjoy the content while also not making established groups too overpowered.
Allow tool for strangers to be able to coordinate their attacks and work as a team. Battlefield has a squad leader system which can allow for coordination between total strangers. I reckon systems should be allowed in AOC for teams of strangers to also be able to coordinate and adjust their composition rather than each player being clueless on what the team wants and going their own way.
Chat is a good tool for coordination but there should be a variety of other tools too. Pings, markers etc to allow for fast and effective communication between strangers in group assignments. In castle sieges, a team of 50 or 100 will have an impossible time communicating and coordinating if there are strangers, Allowing options to break into a hierarchy of squad and commands and make the game much more interesting and enjoyable for everyone while making established teams not too overpowered. You can then add incentives for following objectives assigned by the squad leader.
Totally like what you say, plus I like when lore is everywhere in game even if it's just big rock
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/27043/emergent-gameplay
https://www.gamecrate.com/gaming-literacy-what-emergent-gameplay/18252
Formerly T-Elf
Неужели так сложно вспомнить, что заставляло людей приходить день за днём в Lineage II и проводить там свой досуг часами?! Может всё просто?! Это живое общение и неизбежность командной работы для достижения глобальных целей!!! Сделайте всё примитивно, как когда-то сделали Innova, проработайте достаточно баланс классов, сделайте ИГРОКА, ядром игры, чтобы он был волен в выборе направления в котором двигаться, пусть будет возможность у игрока добиться максимального уровня, поднять собственную экономику в одиночку, но при этом, если он хочет быть в сотне \ тысяче лучших, у него не будет возможности не скооперироваться с другими игроками, а количество участников в этой кооперации должно определяться степенью глобальности поставленной цели. К примеру, чтобы защитить караван, достаточно 16 человек, чтобы защитить нод, 160 и так далее.
По поводу взаимодействия, всегда найдутся те, кто просто захотят сидеть и не контактируя ни с кем без большой надобности играть с свою игру, но как и в жизни, я считаю, что у таких людей никогда не получится сделать то, что может большой коллектив, хотя и многое, но далеко не всё. Опять же количество людей для повседневных похождений должно быть примерно равно 1-2 группам, а группа в свою очередь должна вмещать примерно столько персонажей, сколько чистых классов вы планируете (то есть если у вас 8x8, то группа должна быть примерно 8 человек). На мой взгляд это будет удобно как для тех, кто хочет иметь в своих рядах представителей каждого класса, так и для тех, кто будет комбинировать различные сочетания схожих классов. А что касаемо количества в 2 группы, я полагаю, что это то количество людей которое можно максимально комфортно координировать одному человеку и не очень сложно набрать для повседневной игры с учётом ролей в этом мини-рейде.
P.S. Я не говорю что с мнением игроков не нужно считаться, но сделайте для начала, то что изначально хотели сами, но обязательно с хорошей оптимизацией под железо примерно за 1 000$ (системный блок). А после того, уже можно будет учитывать пожелания игроков и добавлять правки дополнениями в угоду игрокам, но уже делать это не на скорую руку, а взвешенно и обдуманно.
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Translation from google below.
Comrades from Intrepid, may be enough to rely on about the opinions of the players? Maybe I think strangely, but still ... How many players did not understand you when you started to show achievements in the very early stages ?! How many took the launch of BR Apocalipse as an indicator of your idleness, because you see there is not the graphics, physics, and so on. I bring all this to bring one simple thought. Not the players should dictate the rules of the game to you, but you should offer them these rules, that’s why your project initially interested millions of players, because it was very ambitious and original, and not because it was the same as a bunch of other games released into the light.
Is it really so hard to remember what made people come to Lineage II day after day and spend their leisure time there ?! Maybe everything is simple ?! This is live communication and the inevitability of teamwork to achieve global goals !!! Make everything primitive, as Innova did once, work out a sufficient balance of classes, make the PLAYER, the core of the game, so that he is free to choose the direction in which to move, let the player have the opportunity to achieve the maximum level, to raise his own economy alone, but This, if he wants to be in the hundred / thousand of the best, he will not have the opportunity not to cooperate with other players, and the number of participants in this cooperation should be determined by the degree of globality of the goal. For example, to protect a caravan, 16 people are enough to protect a node, 160, and so on.
Regarding the interaction, there will always be those who just want to sit and not contacting anyone without a great need to play with their game, but like in life, I believe that such people will never succeed in doing what a large team can do, although much, but not all. Again, the number of people for everyday adventures should be approximately equal to 1-2 groups, and the group in turn should contain approximately as many characters as pure classes you plan (that is, if you have 8x8, then the group should be about 8 people). In my opinion, it will be convenient both for those who want to have representatives of each class in their ranks, and for those who will combine various combinations of similar classes. And with regards to the number in 2 groups, I believe that this is the number of people that can be most comfortably coordinated by one person and is not very difficult to recruit for everyday play, taking into account the roles in this mini-raid.
P.S. I don’t say that players ’opinions shouldn’t be reckoned with, but do to start with what they themselves initially wanted, but with good optimization for about $ 1,000 (system unit). And after that, it will be possible to take into account the wishes of the players and add edits to the players, but this should not be done in haste, but carefully and thoughtfully.
Они как раз таки и делают то что хотят они, а у игроков спрашивают что бы какие-то коррективы ввести
1.) Solo play - I feel this should be the bread and butter of every MMO. If your friends aren't on, you've capped a raid for the week/don't have enough guild members on/they started the raid without you, you should still have plenty of things to do. I like to farm, craft, solo dungeons/world bosses/events, etc. as long as a game has a high "mastery" limit on player potential, then about anything "could" be soloable with enough skill, short of big raids/world bosses.
2.) Group play - This is the start of fun and rewarding social experiences, it should be at least somewhat challenging, but something a few irl friends could do for fun, and still reward decent progression. I can't tell you how many dungeons I've ran with my friends across MMOs, but we tended to drop each game when we ran out of content a group our size could complete and replayability ran out on what was there.
3.) Raids - They've always been the defacto primo content in games, with generally the best gear. I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with that, but the raids of old feel like dead content, and new raids don't seem to cater enough to the hardcores, so they feel like a dying game mode.
4.) Emergent - I'm guessing this refers to the Node system or event systems like in Rift or GW2 where activities culminate into something huge. I have to say I really love these, and I feel GW2 has done it best so far, at least at the start. If you go to a map like Queensdale, each event can branch based on the outcome, such as bandits attacking the water supply. If you fail, the fields will have poisonous slimes come out of the sprinkler system, and if you succeed then elsewhere in the map you might have bandits take on another target, leading up to a siege on their holdout. The end game maps, such as those in the Heart of Thorns expansion, your participation is just as important in the "meta" event as it would be in a 25 man raid in other games. The scale of these events are a huge draw, even though the good rewards are as rare as a loot box grand prize, so I feel like that speaks volumes. I think another big draw to their particular system though, is that it doesn't depend on a "party", you don't have to add someone to group for it to work, which could be a big hangup on the success for it if AoC doesn't get that functionality.
I love a great raid and some pvp, but I also love RP and how people can bring a game to life.
Open world chaotic group vs group vs content with contested raid and group targets would be the type of environment I enjoy. On EverQuest 1, people got really territorial. Necromancers would wipe out encroaching parties with feign death bomb trains. Soloing monks would wipe out parties coming in on their territory. Raids would wipe out each other. Parties would cancel magic on each other's summons to try and wipe each other out to take over a camp. Perfectly soloable highly rare spawns would end up with giant armies of mages ready to out DPS the other army in order to claim the spawn. I loved the competition and I loved the challenging content. I even ran through Karnor's Castle Basement solo as a Warrior to get flagged for Veeshan's Peak. Was like a stealth game and it was a lot of fun. Was it meant to be stealth'd? No. I did it though.
For PvP, I enjoy all forms of group content. Arena, Instanced Battlegrounds, large scale sieges or GvG. Also, I love open world PvP that is rewarded or with purpose. For this reason I absolutely love the concept of Caravan PvP being proposed in this game. I hope it really goes well as that is what I am looking forward to most in this game.
Also If lets say you put a lot of time and effort in making solo content just plain awesome just as fun as group content then you will most likely get a lot of lonewolves. And maybe not so much grouping and vice versa. Somewhat related to a term called enabling behaviour.
Also, people cannot defend against monster coin attacks and hordes alone.
There will be plenty of content requiring multiple players...
That doesn't necessarily mean they will have to formally join a group.
So for me, I have always played as a gatherer, administrator, gold farmer, and support type for the guilds in the MMOs I have played. I love all types of the traditional pvp and pve content, I was never the best in either (not bad either though), but I made myself essential by providing support for everything we did. Me and my friend ran co-cooperatively ran a guild together.
If I had to say what outlet I liked the most, it was going to war with other guilds/factions and world pvping it out. it required everything I loved about MMOs. A strong economic support, player intrigue and politics, scouting, organizing......ahh good times