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
I would recommend character creator options for players to make their dwarves beefier or fatter. Might even be a running player thing about some dwarves not having the stomach for it. Or those without the huge muscles might be referred to as soy-dwarves. Hurtling insults is another trait players have come to expect from dwarves.
Or maybe the intent is not to call them dwarves and just refer to them as Dunzenkell. Just more foreign to the standard dwarven archetype, but not so foreign to Middle Ages versions where dwarves were described anywhere from short old men with beards to small children of incredible strength.
We're around 45 at this time. I would like to have at least 100 votes, but perhaps someone can math me a reason why a lower vote count is sufficient.
I would say a 1000 to get the devs to listen
Well then everyone please share the poll with anyone you know who has an eye on the game.
The poll was also reposted to reddit in case people have an easier time accessing it through there
I think they should do their own thing.
We are all here for something different. Every time they show something different people rush here to start a thread about why different is bad and it needs to be just like every thing else.
Why should it look like Tolkien's dwarves?
Because Tolkien said so.
I say have the courage to do your own thing stop trying to be like every thing else.
Maybe the ears a little pointier.
I agree, little devils would be cooler than Dwarves.
We don't want nothing different, we want it like it was BEFORE.
Before, MMO's were good and dwarves were badass.
Not trying to be super disagreeable. Just voicing preferences and showing source images from intrepid to explain that the current state of Dwarfs are disappointing. Disappointed is a real emotion that me and other people are feeling. Not to the extent that I want the game delayed, but to the extent that I am going to be honest about it when people bring it up.
I feel like your main motivation here is that you don't want the game to be delayed over one race that is not even that popular to begin with. This is true. Dwarf is not a popular race in most games. Dwarf just does okay for itself. I don't want any delays over this. That would be a bigger disappointment.
I just have a hunch they might have some astonishing scaling tech we have not seen yet as part of their aim to have an industry-leading character creator. Assuming that they have such a thing, and they are using it for character models and humanoid NPCs. We could have at least one Dwarf race that is beefier and wide. Particularly the Dünir. Everyone who is for changing the race seems to agree that they want the Dünir to at least have more width and muscle mass.
I think we do agree that some slider tech will get us to a compromise as well. At least I think we are both hoping for that. I don't think you are against seeing the Dwarfs we are asking for.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Last I checked on the race you wanna main poll, Dünir were around the 3rd or 4th most voted one (behind Tulnar and elves)
That is impressive. At least we will have many of the "halflings" on our side with it comes time to cleanse the Tulnar from the world.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Because dwarfs right now doesn't look good or epic, and Tolkien, warhammer, WoW classic Dwarfs does.
But the selection choice was Dunir so that's what is to be assumed as the current design choice direction.
You don;t have to base the design from outside influences either just look at Intrepid's race flavour text and lore... the Dunir are 100% diggy diggy hole and by so are expected to adhere to such design expectations.
The flippy pygmies can be the Nikua and I'd totally applaud the variation of character design motivation.
No assets or development time would be lost only adapted and improved.
Win Win...
They should look like the singer from Wind Rose in the videoclip:
You write Marvel and complain they did Dwarfs wrong?
This is why we need better dwarfs. There is a lack of good dwarfs in recent times.
We all know how unrealistic of an expectation it is for Marvel to listen to its fans. Intrepid asks for our opinions.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
@Vhaeyne
My real motivation is to lower the expectation that it's likely we will see significant change - as in a much beefier or much wider base model that's similar to what's in the Warhammer video. Because it's way too late in development for that.
I do expect the devs to work towards making the in-game base model of Dwarves match the armor concept art you say is perfect. But, every time I say that you ignore it and continue to argue as if we disagree on that point.
The appearance of Dwarves covers a very wide spectrum. I really have no preference. I do not have a narrow-minded view of how Dwarves could look or how Dwarves must act. Same for Elves or Orcs. If WoW did not name their Elves Elves, I would assume they are some other humanoid. WoW Trolls do not look like what I expect Trolls to look like.
I don't care about the popularity of any race. I don't even necessarily care about the time it will to make the changes people are asking for. I think the devs won't change the base model so drastically that it looks like the Warhammer Dwarf because that will most likely cause delays in the schedule that they probably can't afford when they already delayed the Alpha another 2 months.
And if they do change the base model to that degree, people should expect even more delays.
I also think the devs are confident that the vast majority of Ashes fans will be fine with their EQ/EQ2 proportioned Dwarves just as thousands of players have been fine with EQ/EQ2 Dwarves for the last couple of decades.
If they scale the entire base model to be a bit larger but in the same proportions, that should take a considerably less amount of time and not cause inordinate delays. But that is not the same thing as making the base models beefier and wider.
So, again, I think we agree, but you continue to argue as if we disagree.
Especially since I did not state the devs should not make the Dwarves wider - rather I said don't expect them to make the Dwarves much wider than what's in the Dwarven armor concept art you say is perfect. So to truly be disagreeing with me, you would have to be asserting that the devs need to make the base models much beefier and much wider than they currently are in the Dwarven armor .
But, I don't think you are actually asserting that because you say that the concept art for the Dünir armor that on posted on the first page is perfect - but those Dwarves are not beefy and wide. And they are not much beefier and wider than what is currently in the Alpha One character creator.
I didn't notice you point out where we actually disagree. You just continue to write as if there are points where we disagree. The minute disagreement we seem to have is that you stated that the Ashes Dünir armor concept art is perfect, while I think it's not perfect, but it's good enough to remain the goal the devs are shooting for.
As far as I can tell, we agree in most places. You just don't want to acknowledge that, for some reason.
Where I clearly disagree with the "Warhammer Dwarf" fans is that they look at the Ashes Dünir armor you say is perfect and then proclaim that looks like a Gnome or a Halfling - not like a Dwarf - and that the devs must change the base model to look like Warhammer Dwarves or nobody will want to play an Ashes Dwarf.
Seems like people just can't tell the differences between Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings.
Dude... stop trying to find anything to hold onto, to find a leg for your argument to stand on.
Just vote your opinion, let everyone else vote their opinion, and once we have enough votes to get a representative read on the general opinion, we'll reconvene on the matter.
Where most everyone disagrees with you:
I apologize to @Vhaeyne for answering in his stead, I hope he will find commonalities with my answer.
I think you think I am arguing or trying to argue with you when I am not. Maybe we were arguing a little at the start of one of these three threads, but for the last few exchanges I have been trying to find common ground on this.
I explain that I am disappointed and why, and you disagree. I think we both know where we agree and disagree by now. We also both know that the game is pretty outstanding so far. If I don't like the final dwarfs that is fine. I know there is so much more I like about the game already.
I still play FFXIV with these abominations of dwarfs:
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
I have stated that Ashes Dwarves are not from Middle Earth so citing what Dwarves from Middle Earth don't do is meaningless. The problem is that you take flavor text for Ashes Dwarves that cite some similar traits to Middle Earth Dwarves and then jump to the false conclusion that Ashes Dwarves are intended to be 100% Middle Earth Dwarves. And I didn't then state, thus they should stay as they are, rather I said it's OK for them to stay as they are.
I think what we see in the current Dünir armor concept art looks good and does not need to be changed.
I think the Dwarves we currently see in the Alpha are surprisingly small but are not skinny and do not look like Gnomes or Halflings. They look like diminutive Dwarves.
I do think the Dwarves in the Dünir armor concept art look similar to EQ/EQ2 Dwarves so, they are OK.
I also think there are thousands of EQ/EQ2 fans following Ashes who feel the Dwarves in the Dünir armor concept art look OK.
And, I'm pretty sure the Ashes devs are confident enough that those thousands of EQ/EQ2 followers are enough to not be worried about changing the base Dünir to look like beefy and wide Warhammer Dwarves, so it's unlikely we will see that drastic of a change - even with whatever poll numbers you garner, so, I hope you won't be overly irate if they ignore your poll and the base model looks like the Dünir armor concept art.
Steven wants feedback on everything. We don't disagree.
But, Steven also said that the game would release 2018. It's now 2021.
Steven is still learning about the negative impacts of being too transparent, too early.
At some point, concepts have to be locked down enough that you aren't causing severe delays in the sedule by rethinking and revamping features and assets that were implemented a while ago. Otherwise, there is a strong likelihood of the game becoming vaporware.
So... what I said is don't expect the base models to become much wider. Do not expect them to become as wide as the Warhammer Dwarves in the video Nerror posted. And, if they do make that drastic of a change, expect a severe delay in release. Vhaeyne and I agree. You and I do not agree.
When you say "In the concept art, they clearly look like a lot of other dwarves from x or y mythology/series" I don't know which concept art your referring to.
I have repeatedly stated, "expect the Dünir to look like the Dwarves in the Ashes concept art, especially the most recent concept art. And when I say that people respond with, 'No. In that concept art they look like Gnomes; not Dwarves!"
If you think the Dwarves in the Dünir armor concept art that Vhaeyne said is perfect clearly look like a lot of other Dwarves from other franchises and mythologies, we agree. If you think that concept art looks like a Halfling/Gnome rather than a Dwarf, we disagree.
We don't know what most people following Ashes feel about how the Dwarves currently look in the character creator. We also don't know what most people following Ashes feel about the concept art Vhayene said is perfect. You are just making an unsubstantiated assertion.
But, Steve and the devs probably know better than we do. And if they felt most people didn't like the concept art that Vhaeyne says is perfect, we would already be seeing concept art that looks like the Warhammer Dwarves (in the video that Nerrod says he's partial to).