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
ie Hollow circle above downward arrow crossed with a curlicued horn-shaped symbol and then a short bar, a stout middle with edges asunder.
Just sayin!
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Are you going to play as a container that holds a liquid or are you going to play modern armored unit , or are you going to play something else ?
Actually, if you go back through that thread, the first time I mention it is in a reply to another poster (who was quoted in said post). You and I were in a discussion about a different point (the fact that you will only be a "tank" by name for about 3% of your play time), and then you decided to jump ship from that debate you had no room left to move in, on to the discussion I was having with someone else that was about an aspect that you didn't care about - and had even said as much in the thread.
You specifically said you didn't see the issue of immersion being something worth arguing in that thread, yet others still did. I was in discussion with those others on that point that you specifically said you did not see as being worth arguing, when you came in and started arguing that point.
Again, for the third or fourth time now, learn to follow discussions, not just taking snippets out of context.
Or, if you want, you can keep on arguing a point you have already said you don't think is worth arguing, even if you said that long before you started arguing it.
I mean, I think the argument is over at this point. You are just foaming at the mouth and grasping for straws at this point.
I assume it has gone completely over your head that the modern armored unit was named after the container that holds a liquid.
This is the core of the argument as to why it *could* be the case in Ashes. This is what happened in World War One, when the British were developing Landships (as they then called them). Since it has happened in *our* world, there is no reason to assume it couldn't also happen in Sanctus.
Correction: I've said that whether Tank is immersion breaking or not is subjective, arguing about idiosyncratic preferences like that is pointless. That there is a large amount of people that do find the name to be immersion breaking on the other hand is an objective fact, and that is worth discussing.
Cool, let's discuss.
All Intrepid need to do to sate that crowd is provide an in-universe reason as to why that is the name of the archetype.
One possible way they could do this, if they want, is to essentially copy the way tanks (as in, vehicles used in war) were named that. Funny story that you may not know, those tanks were actually named after water tanks! If it can happen in real life, there is no option but to understand that it could happen in game!
No, because now you are trying to convince people who don't like the name for subjective idiosyncratic reasons that it's fine.
- I don't like strawberries.
- Strawberries are good for you, and if you buy them you will help local farmers, so you have plenty of reasons to like them!
- That's cool, I still don't like strawberries.
The best you can do if you want to keep the name, is just hope that it will grow on people over time. Or you can change the name from something that some people object to, to something that ~no people object to. We have 7 archetypes that everyone is fine with, it is not a hard problem, and the cost of change is trivial.
If you don't like the flavor of strawberries, try combining them with other things. Balsamic vinegar and a little sugar is an interesting combination.
If you don't like them because of the texture, try cooking them, or making a sauce out of them.
If you don't like them because of the color, get white strawberries.
Each of these is an appropriate solution to each specific complaint about strawberries, yet none of them are appropriate to any of the other complaints.
If you want immersion in a game, and the game provides you with an in game reason as to why a thing is the way it is, it is then on you to apply the suspension of disbelief and just run with it. This is the same basic principle of how and why we are able to accept magic in a fantasy setting.
If the game provides you with an explanation of a thing, and you are not happy with that explanation, then the issue is you, not the thing.
If you want to fix the issue, look to where the issue exists.
I'm really, honestly trying to understand you. None of those suggestions would change how a person feels about raw strawberries, right? The name "Tank" is what's on the menu, I can't change it or alter it in any way, only Intrepid can.
I've added emphasis to where our thinking diverts. I don't like "Tank" as a class/archetype name, not because I think it is wrong, but because I feel it is wrong for the setting. There is an excellent book by Jonathan Haidt - "The Elephant and the Rider" - that goes to great lengths in explaining, amongst other things, why rationalizing emotions is pretty much always bullshit, but even better is just this one quote from Dale Carnegie:
"A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still"
This is why this whole topic gets so heated while going nowhere.
In that case, are you able to give me a bit of background info in regards to the lore and history of Verra/Sanctus?
What's that? You can't, because Intrepid hasn't released any information on it?
Well, I'm not sure how you can have any "feelings" about what is right or wrong for a setting you literally know nothing about.
That feeling you have that it is wrong, that is a feeling that it is wrong for the assumption you have made about the setting Ashes is in. I am not trying to change your emotion, I am trying to point out to you that your assumption as to the setting is wrong.
I need nothing in terms of proof for this other than the fact that your assumptions as to the setting for this game leads you to feel that a class named "tank" is out of place, yet the setting does indeed have a class called tank. Ergo, without any real scope for debate, your assumption as to the setting for this game is wrong.
Assuming your "feeling" is that the name is wrong for the setting, if you change your assumption of what the setting is (since it is obviously wrong), then your "feeling" as to whether the name is right or wrong for the setting is required to change.
The only way your "feeling" about it wouldn't change if you change your assumption about the setting is if you have allowed your "feeling" about the name to be purely and solely about the name, independent of the setting.
Again, I don't much care about your "feeling" on the matter. I am trying to alter your assumption as to the setting. If the setting Ashes is in has a reason for the class name to be as it is, then your feeling simply can't exist, unless it is disassociated from the setting entirely - but you are claiming it is attached to that setting. Again, it totally depends on WHY the person doesn't like strawberries. People don't just not like things for no reason, there is always something about it that they don't like. Texture is most common, then smell, flavor and appearance. Most foods that people dislike are due to exactly one of these, and if you take a food that someone doesn't like due to one of these factors and remove that aspect of the item in question, many people will find that they really enjoy other aspects of that food item.
While you may not have the choice of changing the name tank (for the dozen or so hours you play until you have leveled past it), if you find out WHY you don't like it and work through that, then you should be fine.
Again though, that is on you. Intrepid should not need to change their game because you don't like strawberries.
Yeah well he had to beat you to near death with his words because you were not understanding the point...
We have previous experience with names and connect that name with a curtain person or thing. And because of that we like or dislike a curtain name.
People whi do not like the name tank as an archetype/class name (me included), are people that connects the name to a totally different setting or role.
I wouldn't say I have "strong connects", the first thing I think about when I hear the word "tank" is, a person doing a specific action within a game. And that action is not limited to any class or archetype, but rather who is holding aggro and can survive the best.
And I understand that the archetype Tank is meant to be that person, which is why I don't necessarily hate the name, but I have in many occasions seen "non-tanks" taking the role of a tank.
I hate to bring up wow again but here I go xD
In wow classic for example, the raid AQ40 there is a boss where the best tank for the job is a warlock. No one would call a warlock a tank archetype, but for that boss they are a tank.
I've tried to discourage a similar disposition in Ashes. I would consider the contestation to require the best team one can muster. It does no good to be wiped every time because a team is outnumbered in PvP. The contestation parameters and 40% 60% damage split is a difficult concept to balance already. We don't want roles to be so blurry. So far, The Devs have stated Tank Archetype is the Tank and haven't iterated any other mechanism or deviation from The Holy Trinity. It is rather ironic that a Warlock is a disruption to The Holy Trinity in my opinion lol.
Edit: Holy Trinity is Tank, DPS and Support. I understand Bards are a deviation from Tank, DPS and Healer.
Howabout "Armsman"?
It's general enough to be an archetype, and kindof suggests tankiness?
DPS is a role
Healer is a role
Tank is not a class in the same way that DPS and Healer are not classes. Tank/DPS/Healer define the specific role of other classes given the situation the solo player or group is in but they are not classes themselves.
Not sure why this is so difficult for folks to grasp lol.
Placing our ideas of what a word HAS to mean onto how a foreign culture we barley understand usually has very negative consequences.
To me, this point of yours reinforces why the name is appropriate.
Looking at the primary archetype names again and seeing them as archetypes and not classes, I noticed that most of the names are very broad, maybe except the cleric which is oddly very specific.
So seeing it as a archetype name (which it is xD), then I will actually agree with you that the name is fitting.
I guess I have had a hard time not seeing it as a class, since in most games you choose your class first and then a path within that class. While in ashes you take a broad archetype first and then you choose your class after lvl 10 (I think xD).
So next topic, let's change the name of the cleric to a more broader name.
The cleric is a broad name. They draw power from a god. We dont know the specifics but this essentially allows you to do anything with the cleric. If anything it's too broad if the original intent was for it to be the "healer" archetype.
Then again, this could be explained away with lore. Perhaps divine magic is the only type of magic that can heal. We don't know yet.
This is basically the way I see it as well.
As to cleric, most of my MMO experience has been in a game with two cleric classes, so I am used to there being various different types of cleric in a game.
Isn't cleric a priest that is heavily connect to holy power or the light. So all other healing powers that exist will not be used, meaning that cleric is, from my understanding of the word (english is not my first language), pretty narrow when it comes to magic usages.