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.
Beginner type servers/groups
zylonian2
Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
Hi i am part of what the AOC team members would consider the new young mmorpg community rather than older people who played the more intense type of mmorpgs. I am on the same page with how everyone wants to see a more community driven hardcore mmorpg but i am wondering if there will be some sort of separation in hardcore verterans and young people interested in getting involved in more intense mmorpgs. I bring this up because i have played games where beginners are thrown to the side or bullied out because theyre still trying to figure out how these things work as well as may just not have the same type of time to commit to something like this so i am wondering if there will be more casual type servers or anything of the sort. I love the game ideals and am looking forward to trying it out just wanted to put these concerns out there.
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Comments
But seriously.. Lack of experience for sure can be anoying when starting a new game; as example its the reason i personally never got into WoW because at the time WoW was released i played a different game and never switched all those years. (Chinese clone that is suprisingly still up and running lol) Feld like i would miss to much info to even try it out.
But that is why this is the perfect game to get into mmos. You will have the same info as everybody else !
However, I will be interested to see what measures Intrepid implements to assist new players entering a long standing server with large nodes and lots of history.
Addon Developer
OG Backer
In my experience, it will not be so “smooth” as in launch beginners simply become hardcore, and the rest is not just going to land on “seeing what measures intrepid implements to assist new players entering”.
Intrepid will have little involvement in assisting that, hopefully. It will happen organically. There is always casual/beginner, intermediate, and hardcore guilds and communities. There is also flexibility in the intermediate and beyond.
To zylonian, there will be guilds that fit or welcome your experience level and you will have a good time. I’m sure long down the road there will be more casual guild models. but I would recommend at some point being part of guild commitments and progression even if that beginner side makes it intimidating because if you are in the right place, they will help you and it can be quite rewarding.
In most MMO's today there is always a closed beta in which early subscribers are allowed access to the MMO before it is released to the public. So even though the game starts off as a blank slate their will be a disparity of skill levels right from the beginning. AoC has already opened an Alpha One test an Alpha Two test and Beta Test to the Kickstarters, and the Beta to those who purchase one of their monthly packages - so everyone will not be on the same knowledge level at the official launch of the game. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing as I have observed that many of these Alpha and Beta testers tend to be the most open to answering questions about how certain features of the game works - with some even forming groups to specifically help out those new to the game. Still, there are always going to be those who seek gain every advantage possible in a game and these people tend to be ruthless with new players if it will help them advance their in-game goal.
So, with all this being said it is always helpful for a new player to gather as much information about the game, and the role they want to play in it before dropping in with their character. Then take time to learn the basics, and be prepared for many setbacks in the learning process, as you begin your journey in to the game. Do not be afraid to ask questions . . . even the Alpha and Beta testers will be learning new things as the MMO develops and new players may just find that in time they are the ones answering questions as they learn features of the game not previously revealed during the tests.
MMORPG veterans:
I hear there's bullying in Fortnite because newbies don't have cool skins etc....just don't see that happening in AoC because a player is represented by more than a skin and score; they're represented by their personality, which persists in the game world (i.e. the greater community remembers how you treat people).
The other side to it is about finding the right people you click with. That's the key to an enjoyable collaboration and is something you'd have to do whether it's a normal or casual server.
I wouldn't worry about it much.
TL;DR - don't let a bully make you feel like you need to move elsewhere; the greater MMO community watches how players treat each other and bullies tend to damage their own reputation more in the end
All I saw there was clean wipe and grinder.
Have I been here too long?
What I am looking forward to is all of the people in the beta test asking if their progression will be kept for official launch. Then the special snowflakes that will rage when they find out its going to be a clean wipe and they will loose all of the grinding they did.
With closed servers reputations will have some meaning, people will reap what they sow. There is good and bad in every MMO community.
I remember the beta start of guild wars 2, where people could play a week or so before the official startand then keep their progression xD
Previously though, wasn’t there confirmation of the opposite? Alpha/Beta testing keeping earnings upon official release? Maybe they meant the APOC reward lines
There has been lots of discussion on how to bridge the gap between all communities in some manner, not just casual/hardcore, but PvE/PvP, Economy/War, etc.
To just expect these bridges to form organically is fairy tale, but game systems can be put in place to help facilitate and encourage communities to interact with each other. There really hasn't been an MMO to make this work and I doubt Intrepid will get it on their first try, but they have a long history to look at of what not to do.
A very simple example of what NOT to do when WoW made ilvl requirements for dungeons, but then made PvP gear a higher ilvl than PvE gear. Fresh characters would simply farm honor points, because it was faster and easier than normal dungeons. Suddenly you had an influx of PvE players in a PvP setting that probably didn't want to be there in the first place.
I know PR doesn't like Steven drawing comparisons from other MMO's, but it is comforting knowing that the Creative Director and others are/have analyzed systems from other MMO's. There are games, such as Anthem, where the lead did not allow the team to compare or draw inspiration from other games. Which led to a bunch of old issues that had already been tested and failed in other games. There are a lot of systems in Ashes that are not in other games, but it seems a lot of systems are inspiration from those that have been successful in other MMO's.
Addon Developer
OG Backer
I am part of the "older" generation of gamers but I didn't start MMO's until about 8 years ago, so I am in your court of gaming a bit. I never played WoW or other MMO's, so I have no clue what people talk about when they mention the "golden age".
That said, you will be surprised to find there is a majority of gamers in any community who actually aren't d***ks and genuinely want to help out newer gamers or players to that game.
You will just have to navigate the waters a bit and find where you fit in. Once you do, you'll see it wasn't so bad like some have made it out to be in the past.
That is indeed the case. Any cosmetic rewards earned in APOC will be available for use in the MMO(since those are the only types of rewards said to be earned). Any specific rewards earned during testing, for example, the windmill boss house knick-knack that was promised to participants in A0. What is not going to be kept is currency, level, and all the other regular gameplay acquisitions.
I forgot all about that windmill boss