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Will the node system discourage exploration?

darthadendarthaden Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
in General Discussion
I'm sure this has been discussed already but I took quite a bit of time off from following the game. As the title state I'm curious if the node system will discourage exploration.
Example: I'm a resident of node A and want to help level it as much as I can. Over time I decide I want to check out the rest of the world. I start questing and gathering in node B. From what I understand of the node system by questing and gathering in node B I'd be helping level node B and thus making it more difficult to level my home node A. Please tell me I'm wrong, I would hate to be limited to only a small section of the world.

Comments

  • darthadendarthaden Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    One more question regarding nodes and levels. Is there any plan to eventually open access to all content for nodes even if they never reach metropolis level? Maybe after a certain amount of time a rotation of a week or so per node to unlock content no matter what stage the node is at? Seems like a waste of development time to make content for every node once they reach metropolis level if only a handful of nodes will ever reach that stage. I wouldn't expect the content to be up permanently at a city level but as stated above maybe for about a week and then move onto another city stage node otherwise theres a good chance a server will never see endgame content for 20+ zones
  • SoloriumSolorium Member
    Exploration will be a HUGE part of the game. Ashes of Creation isn't the type of MMO where resources are static. An example of static resources would be World of Warcraft, where you can map out the best routes to follow a trail of resources that respawn within minutes. The resources in Ashes of Creation are finite, and once they are gone, you will have to go out to other nodes and gather resources, be it the natural way or by interacting with the community of that node(I.E. buying iron ore from someone in a town or attacking a caravan on the road in hopes of getting resources).

    Additionally, you will need to explore and delve into the dungeons that encompass the world so that you can acquire new weapons, crafting ingredients, armor, all that stuff. If you haven't already, the ashes101 page and the ashes wiki page are a great resource to use! :)
  • unknownsystemerrorunknownsystemerror Member, Phoenix Initiative, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Anything you do that they consider worthy counts towards node progression. As nodes get "locked" due to the ZOI of stronger nodes, any actions you do will be feeding other nodes once the maintenance for "your" node is capped. You are not going to be able to see this going on in a trackable way beyond a few hints from what they have said. Worrying about your individual actions in a node is like going to the beach and throwing stones into the ocean. Sure, it makes a pretty splash, and you can see it, but it doesn't really do anything you can see. The ocean knows the new rock is there, but it doesn't really care with all the other rocks it has.

    As to your second question, while it is foolish to say "They will NEVER do this!" the stated plan is for people to determine their own story on a server and that actions have consequences. There will be content that a particular server and certain players never see. This is not a themepark mmo where everyone gets to go on Space Mountain just because they got in line. It would really remove the motivation of people to explore, fight other nodes, and conflict if everyone knew if they just waited long enough eventually that raid or dungeon would "pop" in their node. Put in the effort, struggle to be best, and you get the shinies. The node siege system and how content is generated and refreshed give you the option to remove troublesome neighbors who are blocking you from "your" content.
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  • Magic ManMagic Man Member
    - No you can explore whichever place you like but can be a citizen of one node only. You individually wouldn't change much by doing stuff in node B's zone of influence, same with node A's. If you want to explore, you won't stay in one place for so long, which is true for other explorers as well. So you don't have to worry about not being able to contribute to your node's XP.

    - All content is open to everyone, regardless of the node you are a citizen of. If you want pre metropolis content of that node specifically, you'd have to wait for that node to be destroyed (and actually help the siege somehow by either attacking during it or crafting siege equipment etc if you are more of a ''PvE only'' guy. Once it's sieged and destroyed, you'll be able to do all those contents from the beginning (level 0).
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  • darthadendarthaden Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Solorium wrote: »
    Additionally, you will need to explore and delve into the dungeons that encompass the world so that you can acquire new weapons, crafting ingredients, armor, all that stuff. If you haven't already, the ashes101 page and the ashes wiki page are a great resource to use! :)

    I'm for the most part aware of what they're planning my asking in this question is more about a unintentional consequence I could see arise. If I'm looking to unlock a specific dungeon wouldn't that discourage me from exploring other nodes?
  • darthadendarthaden Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    unknownsystemerror wrote: »

    As to your second question, while it is foolish to say "They will NEVER do this!" the stated plan is for people to determine their own story on a server and that actions have consequences. There will be content that a particular server and certain players never see. This is not a themepark mmo where everyone gets to go on Space Mountain just because they got in line. It would really remove the motivation of people to explore, fight other nodes, and conflict if everyone knew if they just waited long enough eventually that raid or dungeon would "pop" in their node. Put in the effort, struggle to be best, and you get the shinies. The node siege system and how content is generated and refreshed give you the option to remove troublesome neighbors who are blocking you from "your" content.

    I wouldn't expect or want this from day one but after a year or two. It just seems like a huge waste of development time if they make a dungeon that never gets unlocked on any server because it happens to be in a unpopular node.
  • JamationJamation Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    darthaden wrote: »
    I wouldn't expect or want this from day one but after a year or two. It just seems like a huge waste of development time if they make a dungeon that never gets unlocked on any server because it happens to be in a unpopular node.

    Considering the world will develop based off how the players decide to play I could see (down the line) depending on how quickly new content is introduced vs how quickly players develop the world, a server developing various regions for the purpose of discovering new things. Is this likely? Probably not, but it is possible if enough time passes and players are looking for new content/zones to explore. It could also be the case that as the game develops the creators will look at the data and say "hey, no one ever develops this node because of XYZ, perhaps we could add some more resources/mob types/etc in order to entice people to visit this zone more". However, based on how they're talking I don't think there will ever be a completely dead zone, I think many of the metropolis' will be developed in roughly similar areas across servers from how players naturally expand and explore, but I think for the most part every node will at least get some exposure. But making a living world like this there is always the risk that content may never be unlocked, but that's a part of what makes this game so unique. Every server will have a unique story, we the players, just have to decide how we tell it.
  • VarkunVarkun Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Steven and Jeff have stated a number of times that it may take years for some content to be discovered on any server and they are fine with that. No two servers will be alike and personally I find that quite exciting, hidden content may well come to light on one server yet because of the way server 2 developed that same content may never see the light of day.
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  • Undead CanuckUndead Canuck Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    If certain content is that important to you, you can always roll up an alt on the server that has unlocked it.
  • MakinojiMakinoji Member, Warrior of Old, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Not exploring will actually hurt you as a player. Think of all the cool dungeons or points of interest you'll be hearing about on forums or from other players but you're too worried about exploring outside of your own node.

  • RavudhaRavudha Member
    edited April 2020
    darthaden wrote: »
    I'm sure this has been discussed already but I took quite a bit of time off from following the game. As the title state I'm curious if the node system will discourage exploration.
    Example: I'm a resident of node A and want to help level it as much as I can. Over time I decide I want to check out the rest of the world. I start questing and gathering in node B. From what I understand of the node system by questing and gathering in node B I'd be helping level node B and thus making it more difficult to level my home node A. Please tell me I'm wrong, I would hate to be limited to only a small section of the world.

    If node A is a master node, and B its vassal, then doing enough stuff in B will give excess xp back to A after B's quota is filled. So you can adventure around while still helping your home node.

    Another thing is that to best level up your home node (A), you might decide you need better gathering gear, weapons, consumables, mounts, etc., and to obtain them you might need to travel to explore different marketplaces, do dungeons, or transport goods to some crafter's home far away.

    Finally, I'm going to assume there'll be quests granted in node A might take you all over the place but still end up giving node A a good chunk of xp.
  • JahlonJahlon Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Yes if you venture outside of your node's ZOI (Zone of Influence) you are helping it level. It doesn't matter if you are farming trash mobs, gathering herbs, mining, fishing, crafting, anything you do to earn XP inside a ZOI helps the Node Grow.

    The Node system is pretty complicated. There are a lot of times where nodes are going to be growth stunted due to being locked out by a neighboring node or when a node becomes part of the vassal system.
    darthaden wrote: »
    One more question regarding nodes and levels. Is there any plan to eventually open access to all content for nodes even if they never reach metropolis level? Maybe after a certain amount of time a rotation of a week or so per node to unlock content no matter what stage the node is at? Seems like a waste of development time to make content for every node once they reach metropolis level if only a handful of nodes will ever reach that stage. I wouldn't expect the content to be up permanently at a city level but as stated above maybe for about a week and then move onto another city stage node otherwise theres a good chance a server will never see endgame content for 20+ zones

    No. The purpose of the node system is to lock content behind the node level. If you want your local area to have the services, benefits, etc of a Metro, then you need to shape the world to get a metro in your local area.
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  • torkel56torkel56 Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Varkun wrote: »
    Steven and Jeff have stated a number of times that it may take years for some content to be discovered on any server and they are fine with that. No two servers will be alike and personally I find that quite exciting, hidden content may well come to light on one server yet because of the way server 2 developed that same content may never see the light of day.

    With Youtube and Google, nothing will be hidden ever again!
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    torkel56 wrote: »
    Varkun wrote: »
    Steven and Jeff have stated a number of times that it may take years for some content to be discovered on any server and they are fine with that. No two servers will be alike and personally I find that quite exciting, hidden content may well come to light on one server yet because of the way server 2 developed that same content may never see the light of day.

    With Youtube and Google, nothing will be hidden ever again!

    Except things can only be put on YouTube, or show up on Google, if someone has found them.

    It is entirely possible no one on any server will find specific pieces of content for years - thus no way for it to be on Google or YouTube.
  • RexEasilyRexEasily Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Not going to progress the node very fast without it.
  • thorgar runemasterthorgar runemaster Member
    Ya need to explore lad if ya want the node to go up fast.
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