Few Questions about the mmo game design of AOC

Hey all, Kickstarter backer and avid fantasy mmo fan. Been a bit since I checked up on the game, so I was curious about a few game design aspects that I view as very important. I doubt all of these questions have answers, but here we go.

Varying dungeon and raid difficulty - Is there such a thing? Personally, this is one of the aspects that I hate from games like WoW and that I believe negatively impacts the experience, making it more of a grind of the same content (like beating a dead horse level). I mean right now in WoW there are FOUR levels of difficulty to the same raid, one of which the game designers have publically admitted was a mistake to implement (LFR).

I am all for an extra challenge, but I believe this is too much. Instead, I would hope that AOC follows the examples of earlier MMOs, making the content itself a challenge and thus a true accomplishment rather than "let's farm this difficulty so we can farm the next, then we can try the hard stuff" I mean damn. Additionally, I believe "hard-modes" are the perfect next step up for those that seek an additional challenge that offers greater loot or even hidden bosses. Being able to complete a boss when enraged or in hard-mode just feels more rewarding and unique in my experience.

As for dungeons, are they doing varying difficulties as well? I currently despise the mythic+ system in wow, as I said before, it is way too repetitive and feels like beating a dead horse. I'd prefer normal dungeon difficulties for dungeons as you level that have a set level range in mind, with heroics when maxed for the added challenge and some replayability. As for a reason to go back in and do them, I also believe that the token system from games like The Burning Crusade would be beneficial. This allows people to not just hope for a reward, but save and have an actual goal in mind, giving them a real reason to repeat the content.

Will the game actually try to be an RPG? I find that most modern MMOs have lost that element and just want you to farm stuff over and over again, making it more like a damn facebook game. It has been really hard to get attached to the stories as of late or even feel truly invested in my characters. If every character gets the same legendary, the same story, or is forced to do the same actions, then it is more of a scripted narrative that is predetermined and not worth repeating. Especially with daily quests and such, how many times must I slay the same damn mob to make you happy? I just want a game I can get lost in the fantasy and not view as a chore.

Finally, how is pvp being pursued? Assuming there is some level of balance, is the gear for pvp actually going to come from pvp or pve content, or both? How will rated pvp work roughly? Will world pvp be encouraged to such a degree that it will remain alive and rewarding? Because it is dead in most games.

Also, please no damn yeti or fairy pajama xmogs.....come on, such an immersion breaker.

Holy crap I'm writing an essay....

Thank you and hugs.

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Talents

Dungeon/Raid difficulty - There isn't a difficulty system where you "set" the difficulty. 80% of the dungeons/raids in Ashes are open-world with the remaining 20% being instanced (but the instanced ones are mostly story based dungeons thus you won't be running them for your BiS/mats). The open-world dungeons difficulty changes based on how well your group clears the bosses. So if you destroy the first few bosses, the next bosses will get harder, but also drop better/more loot.

Legendaries will be rare, not something every player has. There is also a tier above legendaries called Legendary Uniques. These are very very rare pieces of equipment that only 1 person on the server will have. For example, maybe a Staff of the Ancients will appear, and only 1 person will be able to get this. So yeah, that will be rare af.

PvP is being balanced around group play, not 1v1s. The gear in PvP is the same as PvE gear. Now, obviously, there may be metas around which stats are better for which (one stat may be best in PvE but another may be best for PvP). PvP doesn't really reward much gear, the most gear you'd get from PvP is by killing a corrupted player and them maybe dropping a piece of their gear. Instanced PvP content like arenas may reward stuff like enchants for gear, but won't reward gear straight up. Now, maybe you could PvP by killing Caravan runners or one of the other PvP activities go get mats to upgrade/create new gear, but you won't get flat gear drops. Killing other players rewards you with a percentage of their gathered goods.

Vhaeyne

Talents summed it up most of the dungeon stuff pretty well.

When it comes to "Is the game actually trying to be a RPG?"
I would like to think so, but it depends on what you think a RPG is. When you say you don't want to farm stuff over and over. There might be a problem there. Open world dungeons and raid bosses are going to be the main source of high end mats. To get access to something like this you will need to be in a maxed out node. The nature of the node system makes it so that it could be extremely repetitive to farm gear if you can only get to one high end nodes raid bosses consistently. A server could theoretically be stagnant with the same dumb raid bosses for months.

The game is going to be less about fighting bosses that drop gear, and more about obtaining resources to make gear. One way to look at bosses is a competitive resource. I don't think you are going to ever get board of killing a boss because the thrill of securing it for your guild in a competitive landscape is going to be a factor. You may just be fighting something repetitively like "My nodes have fire caves, all I get to fight is fire dragons and elementals". It could very well mean that you just have access to a open world version of "Motlen Core".

Getting lost in the fantasy is going to be a big part of AOC. The Node system adds politics to the game. You are going to want yourself, your family, your guild, and your node to all be progressing. This is probably going to land you doing more than just fighting mobs in the open world. It is going to lead to a lot of resource protection and procuring. Using the caravan system to increase your access to resources. Everyone is going to need money. The way I see it, everyday is going to be an adventure, unless you hyper specialize into one activity. In which case I hope you pick one you really like. I think the game is going to be more of a fantasy world simulator than a set story that you ride though.

Hope any of that helped.

Wandering Mist

For me, a big part of being immersed into an RPG is being able to explore the world. There's nothing worse than an "RPG" where you are dragged from area to area along a linear path that you have no control over (looking at you Pokemon Sword/Shield).

Undead Canuck

https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Design_pillars might help you look at the core game design.

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