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
Also card/tile games, which I guess are just multiplayer puzzles.
And of course I agree with all the people talking about exploration. Running/jumping/climbing/flying around the world and finding neat stuff is always fun.
- interact with random people and create interesting or funny scenarios in the world. Could be by a macro text I call out people to gather for a race and the winner gets a reward, helping random people in need and socialize or just ask if they want to go on an adventure and do something very challenging (and sometimes attempt to access areas I'm not supposed to)
- I'm a collector, one of my favorite stuffs is to collect books in games with interesting lore (and never read them haha) or mounts
- I also like to decorate the house to tell a story and find unique objects that I can create meaning of in the buildings
I'm already planning to build a house in the outcast and travel and explore unique areas in this world and actually role-play and interact with players by giving them quest to travel to the city and buy things for me and stuffs and play this game more casual!
Best regards
Siljon
I remember that sometimes I visited places in mmorpgs because of their Lore-Relevance. Especially in WoW you have the HUGE background stuff of Lore not just from the world but also little secrets the devs had put somewhere. Mount Hyjal Pre-Cataclysm. A whole zone that was there but not accessible by normal means.
And aside from the world tree there was not much there but you still wondered what the thought process from the devs was.
Story is very important even in mmorpgs. Yes, questing is progression related but a good rpg gives me a reason why I do this. (Something even WoW lacked for a long time). A good story integrates me into the world. Gives my character context. Why do help every person with every little thing ? I very much am a story focused player. And having many of them that are meaningful separates the good RPG from the grindy one.
If the game has a "main" quest that explains why there are thousands of adventures running around and who my character is in all this then even better.
If I get to choose things that makes things really interesting.
The term "progression" is very broad and therefore it is easy to attach a lot of things one does to it. If I do meaningless achievements to get my epeen up is that progression ? Probably, even though it does not make my character stronger.
In there people would always find 10-15 other players for fair 1v1 or group vs group practise fights. 90% of the 1v1 videos in youtube were made in these past time arenas and a lot of people use to gather and watch and talk to each other about how to become better at their class (before build/guide videos were a thing).
Occassionally an annoying person would come in and interfere with duels but then that person would make new enemies in the open world.
I never liked BGs in mmorpgs because the team chat is always toxic. People blame their random team mates for loss. When you are randomly grouped for content for a small period of time, people dont care to know others and only show their worst side.
Those arenas in L2 were such a better environment. Real human interaction for a past time activity if you didnt feel like doing any progress.
Take ESO for example. You chose when to PvP and if you dont want it, you arent in danger.
When you PvP you dont win anything because there arent guilds in the real sense, and there isnt map domination or reason for war.
End game PvE is instanced but once you got the items you needed from a dungeon there isnt a reason to go there unless you want to tic off "no death run" etc for cosmetics.
So the end game of ESO is farming gear styles that dont affect your progress and other cosmetics.
For me if a game isnt challenging and making you feel rewarded by your character progression and gear craft, while guild rivalry and map domination is the drive for PvP isnt a good game.
It adds insult to injury if it is full of past time activities instead of real gameplay.
In addition, when the open world isnt a place in which questing, PvP (guild rivalry and aggressive players), champion mobs(high hp, strong atks, best xp and loot) farming, while fearing enemy atk,
I dislike it when crafting, enchanting, gathering, cooking, profession, profession, profession is complex with it's own skills and gear.
Ffxiv for example is full of side activities and no PvP or sense of adventure.
And finally I dislike casuals in mmorpg. Yes, sue me.
Right now I returned to uni at 29 studying games development. At this point in my life I have 0 time for gaming.
My best friends, inrl, play an mmorpg all together and I am not, because good mmorpgs need commitment.
I play dragon age inquisition at a very slow pace if I have the time.
People dont want to feel like they are left behind and that is why mmorpgs declined in gameplay quality, no mattet how much $$ they make from cosmetics and silly non progress solo activities that offer nothing but time sink to casuals.
Example ESO housing and furniture crafting. A side activity genersating a of $$$ for ZOS from casuals.
That's it. I guess I hate side activities in mmorpgs.
Personally I don't really have a favorite non-progression activity, because I don't usually spend much time on them and when I do its usually only once to experience all parts of a game. I could say story content, because I try to do the main story at least once in games I play, but the main story almost always gives rewards so I don't know if that counts. I explore to find what opportunities are in the game world and travel to where fun content is, but not for the sake of exploration itself. I might spend 15 minutes changing a characters appearance so I like it's look, but once I've done that the character will likely have the same look for months if not years. I don't roleplay, I don't do housing more than necessary. I don't do things like fishing or play farm simulator with plants and animals. I don't typically do nonessential unrewarding activities unless I find them fun. I won't say that I never stop to smell the roses, but usually I view my time as valuable and prefer to spend it on progression, focusing on what I need to have a stronger character and be a better player.
What I find fun is combat. Either challenging pve dungeons, world bosses, raids or fun pvp. However, usually anything combat related is progression in nature such as: to level up, unlock new skills or passives, farm gold or resources for gear and consumables, unlock content rewards and achievements, or just to practice and improve player skill.
Yet even after my character is capped out, min/maxed, and I feel I have a grasp on how to play it, I will still participate in a good pvp fight, even when there is no reward because its fun. In some mmos I'll return to certain pve content even after i have all the gear and achievements I want from it just to replay some fun mechanics, beat my previous score, or help a friend through it.
tl;dr: It may seem odd, but many times my favorite non-progression activities are actually progression activities that remain fun even after collecting all the rewards.
And mini games like cards or chess, etc, would be a lot of fun and a great way to add life to regular buildings! (With in game currency betting of course heh)
EQ2's collection quests - although they did provide experience, it was nominal, and were more about completing them for the sake of it than for getting any reward.
Books - having collecting books of stories, history and lore that can be put in your house in game and read is something I have always enjoyed.
Collecting titles - though this only applies if there are titles that are actually hard to acquire. Getting "Destroyer of Brownies" in EQ2 early on in Kunark, or "Friend of Giants" early on in Archeage was rare and somewhat unique as many players didn't even know those titles existed before I had them.
Mount collecting - I don't collect mounts that are paid for (though will occasionally buy the odd one if I like it), but having a collection of mounts has always been somewhat fun - this is especially true if different mounts have different purposes.
Archeage farming - aside from any experience or profit that may have been made, I always enjoyed the options you had at your disposal in Archeage for what you could do with your land. Beekeeping was an especially unique thing I enjoyed in that game.
Races - a few games I have played have had in game races. These usually only last for a few days or a week or so, but if done well can provide an interesting and
For me though, the biggest thing in an MMO that I enjoy other than progression/killing stuff/getting better items to kill harder stuff is the lore.
A good game, to me, is one that presents an amount of lore to all players, but then has a massive amount of depth to that lore available to players that just scratch a little deeper. Maybe a reference in a book directs you to a place that rewards you with another piece of lore, and you are eventually sent on a "treasure hunt" where the treasure is a greater understanding of the lore.
I've seen this applied in games where players have had to translate text, where a fresco on the ceiling of a ruined temple are actually clues to more aspects of the story - nothing in the quest journal, no hints towards anything, not even any material rewards for figuring it out - just simply knowledge, and the reassurance that the game world you are spending all of your time in has been well thought out and designed by the developers.
I believe most of us agree that exploration is general in content thats non-progression.
But even with all the fancy gameplay or beautiful graphics from current games, the method of discovery only shined the best in Skyrim. Since it was a single player game, with no boundaries to which you explored, it became a mecca of finding hidden and dead temples.
The idea that i have found something that no one has is missing within multi player games. Even if that something does not progress you within the game. I wish there was a way for players to activate a form of discovery mode from themselves, which would allow for non-progressive elements to activate within the mmo's map system (think of it as a lottery system for the map).
During this mode, the team could incorporate time-gated, very-hidden, only by chance of luck, places that activated for the player character by random (picture accidentally falling into a deep cavern, and exploring to accidentally activate a dark lord's slumber). This could open up discovery questlines, that depending on the player could introduce new metas, that change the world. Yes, this sounds like progression, but think of a Twitch streamer finding something hidden, and broadcasting that hidden addendum for the world to see. Saving the footage and broadcasting that into the world, via Twitch, YouTube, or a in-game personal history book for players, that other players can peer into.
We could all be historians. Now i know it sounds like an unfair system, but mmos should be a bit unfair; the more that you play, the more chances that you will have for discovery.
Personal History Books, need to come to Mmos, its a vital way that we can show that non-progression through stories and lore.
The reward for these types of questlines, can open a paths for cosmetic items that don't necessarily progress your character, but let other characters know visually, of your journeys (*cough* legendary items *cough*). Items that don't necessarily make you stronger, or better.
Lastly, i will say that board and card games in Ashes need to be revived. And they should consist of games that take minutes or hours to complete ... allah... D&D... wouldnt that be wonderful to incorporate a deep board or card game that requires Ashes for play. People would buy the game just for that over the top board game. Now you might say, " We could make a board game in this reality," but the difference is, now you can truly use magics and graphics within the board game to make it something truly imaginative.
A couple landmark locations spread throughout the world that players can visit for fun that have different activities.
Maybe a labyrinth that is instanced (maybe?) and randomly generated from time to time and players can enter with their friends to see who can reach the end first or together if the system is designed more cooperatively. So you would show up to these giant walls with a single entrance, and could enter at will. Maybe prizes of some sort up to you for reaching the end.
Mazes could be more than just walls, but also have obstacles, hidden doors, monster rooms and so on. This could be a cooperative experience to simply survive to the end, or a single player maze competing with friends to be first, or a completely open world experience where all players trying to complete a single mysterious maze first. Could have just fun unique rewards toys, cosmetic or what ever what ever you decide to do for that.
If travel and keeping people near nodes and all that is a problem, you could have the entrance paved brick area in front of the maze and a teleport crystal in the center that players that have visited before can teleport to, but if they do teleport using that method, they would be returned to their original spot after leaving the maze or the paved entrance area so that it cannot be abused for transportation. Like a little stone trinket to tele to, and would force tele back.
I have plenty of ideas, even for different types of mazes if you want multiple maze locations with their own purpose and function that go beyond the basic maze concept. If you actually like the general Idea, I can do a more detailed a specific description. Kinda just rushed this all out. You could completely make the labyrinths into their own historical mystery and why they have all of them.
I would love to see activities like this out in the world to have fun with friends doing. Things that are out of the ordinary and magical, and really change up what players do in a mmorpg. You guys are going for the next big thing basically, I think things like this would be a good step.
Different locations with different activities or mini game options. Festivals, and so on would all be extremely appreciated. They would also give a opportunity to flesh out the world more and feed into the culture of the world if done properly and just make it feel more alive with fun activities other than just the traditional mmorpg gameplay features.
I am realizing that it was probably not a good idea for me to type this at night when I am tired... Rambling, and it is not all too clear. I apologize. If I remember, I will try and make it more clear when I get back up.
In EQ1, one of my favorite things was to tackle this or that area, even if the exp was terrible. I'd remake characters to tackle other areas. I made 12 warriors to master the art of tanking and learn a myriad of different areas. I had 35-40 utility items on my Enchanter for all sorts of different situations and that list continued to grow as I expanded my knowledge. Knowing multiple classes to an extremely in-depth degree enabled me to better lead parties as well.
I didn't care about the gear. I cared about continuing to expand my options to see more interesting combinations in both my own character and in party compositions to counter content. I spend ALL of my free time doing that. I've never been interested in the raiding scene. I've only been interested in journeying to craft perfect parties for various areas with the right gear = ). I used to even do bots on the live servers and program them to see how perfect I could make the parties to clear areas, lol.
I don't really consider this progression related because I didn't do it for progression. I did it to break personal records =P. I play MMORPGs VERY differently from most people, and that's why MMORPGs that just focus on endgame or raids or dungeons just don't do it for me = ). One linear path, simple dungeons that just focus on numbers or one-shot mechanics... boring : P. If I can clear a duo of boss mobs, one level 22 and the other at level 24, in a room filled with level 10 adds, with a party of naked level 6's using sheer skill and strategy, that's a win
In some groups we did challenges so difficult that people actually lost exp over time. That is to say, we made absolutely no progression. Nobody ever left my parties though because they were always a BLAST = D. We'd eventually overcome every challenge no matter how brutal : D.
I don't do ANYTHING else in MMORPGs and I don't care about anything else. Crafting, gathering, socializing, chilling... screw that all = P. This is all I care about ^)^. EQ1 trilogy is still the only released MMORPG for me right now lol.
I'd only spend time getting droppable gear or searching for gear in markets in order to try out my next ideas or see if I could achieve some new combos.
My main complaint about MMOs is the world doesn't feel alive unless there are things I can do that have NOTHING to do with progressing my character. There are things in current games that are like that but, nothing that I find interesting. I don't care about pet collecting, or grinding for costumes etc (thats a whole other topic/rant) But I really REALLY want some good Tavern games in Ashes of Creation! Games like Darts, horse shoes, Liars Dice, Poker, Black Jack, Roulette, Craps! How much fun would it be to go to a Tavern and see a mess of players crowded around a craps table, with proximity VoIP chat, all playing a game of craps together? I think the key to any of these tavern games will be how players can interact with each other.
If I'm playing poker with some people, and someone calls me a cheater I want the option to escalate the situation to a 1v1 duel and If I win I take their chips. If I'm playing darts, and we're playing a game of HORSE, and we want it to be a drinking game, we need the option to interact with a tankard of ale when ever we want. And that ale needs to affect the players aim.
Instruments....Instruments are very VERY important in any MMO. I wouldn't say you had to go the extreme route of making a system where people can program their own songs in. But if someone starts playing a song, anyone else who brings out an instrument needs to just sync up with that. Take a look at Sea of Thieves. As soon as one person starts a tune, anyone else that whips out an instrument they start playing along to the same tune. Its horrid in ESO when people are waiting for a boss spawn, so i take out my lute and jam a random tune. Then someone pulls out a flute, and someone else pulls out the drum...and we're all playing 3 different songs. Garbage! horrible on the ears. I don't know what has to happen on the back end to sync up peoples instruments but, its a very needed feature IMO.
I think the syncing of players with interactive objects, and appropriate animations will go a long LONG way to people having fun inside the game world while not exactly playing the game. And I guess really what it boils down to is RolePlaying. AoC has a big chance here to snag all the RP players by having the most indepth nutso RP systems in the game. I'm talking about consented emotes where players interact. Better animations for simple things like sitting in a chair. WHen I sit in a chair I want to SIT IN THE CHAIR! I don't want to hover over it. I don't want to clip through it. I don't want it to be pulled out so damn far from the table that I can't even put my drink on it. And please for the love of all things holy...put in some idle animations for that stuff! How sad is it to be sitting around a table of 6 ppl, all trying to have a great RP moment...and everyones avatar is just sitting static in a chair with their hands on their laps. WHo sits like that? haha I know steven is a big RP fan and loves that stuff so I'm hopeful some very interactive things happen in terms of player animations.
I also love random NPC content. As an example, Red Dead Redemption 2. Pretty much anything that happened in Saint Dennis. But especially going to the theatre in Saint Dennis. Freaking awesome content! Put that sort of thing on in the game as a limited event like every evening from 5-10 pm you can buy tickets to the show to go see an acting troupe. Produce the hell out of it, make the animations and story something worth watching and people will watch it! More than once! Don't you dare charge real world money for it though lol. Thats a bad slippery slope. But lets say you wanted to watch the show with your guild or party of like 10 ppl. A player could buy 10 tickets for a specific show time like a movie theater, ahead of time. When the show started, everyone would be locked into their seats so ppl wouldn't run around like idiots but could still do emotes from their chair. /cheer, /laugh, /sob, etc. I think that would be an amazing piece of content that could span the entire life cycle of the game. Every 3 months or what ever a new segment of the story line would come out. In this day and age everyone records that stuff and puts it on youtube so, you wouldn't have to repeat content like that in game. They can catch up on the tube if they gotta. Main catch there would be making the in game venue the proper size as to not have too many players in there at one time. That all depends on server stuff, you can figure it out
I have more to write but I'm sleepy! I'll try to come back later and give out more thoughts
Me too like explore every corners
Personally, playing minigames with others inside a Tavern or other activities like puzzles work. Maybe small, simple competitions work—for example, a boxing ring -surrounded by players- where stats don't matter. Three hits and you're out. Stuff like that is a good time sink. Activities like these will encourage the community to set events around this, and both new and veteran players can have fun. Stuff like this where the community can engage, will bring the best out of the game and play to the strengths of an MMO.
I once found on the mountaintop of the highest mountain in the game (Rift before it went free2play) a treasurechest, which was really the best thing ever
Would be nice to have that in AOC. Best would be to have it bound to world-progression, and make it really unique so there can't exist guides on how and where to find it. Maybe give hints in hidden in the Lore.
I even think this is probably the most important part of a good RPG-experience.
Of course it's besides the progression in different ways (character, freehold, artisan, etc.). But just as important.
Stopping to smell the flowers is something I do when im out really exploring.
For instance, in ESO there are museums in new updated towns that have a quest-line. you explore and find artifacts, or trinkets, or pieces to an ancient puzzle. that reward you with cosmetics when completed.
quests are typically excruciating to me, and normally just grindy and exp based. but when you can throw in some very interesting things like this, I'll leave the war-front for it
Please if you add them, add them at different levels. Easy and fun, Hard and rewarding. Everquest 2 had a ton of great easter eggs that were deep and rewarding. Little caves were hidden under the water, there was this fence for trading hidden down through a crack in the ground. Only the elite knew about him. Then there was a walk-through curtain that leads down to a hidden room.
World of Warcraft had some but they were not as deep and exciting.
I would also say things like random fairs and events are fun. Make some really rare, or require times of day or weather.
Another thing I would say is toys. World of Warcraft had some fun toys like foam swords to fight friends with or remote race cars.
Also, another thing. Everquest 2 had these "Shinies". These were glowing dots that you picked up and you would get a piece of a collection. Mostly, you would get a copy of some you had, but if you completed the set then you would get stuff for your house or cool custom stuff.