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Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place 5+ days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Be honest, what do you expect from AOC and how long are you willing to wait?
MybroViajero
Member, Alpha Two
I am seeing in various comments on U2, twitter, Reddit, etc, that you think that AOC must be the definitive WOW KILLER, the new MMO chosen by the gods and that should come out fast.
Calm down guys
AOC does not pretend to be the new WOW killer, AOC wants to be AOC working for its community, improving itself little by little and becoming what they and their community want it to be.
As Steve said, there will be many errors and that is the best of all, to improve something you have to go step by step seeing errors and improving it, nothing starts being the best and that is why they are working with their community, with the alpha players to give us in the future what their community and they want.
I hope they take time, I prefer an MMO with a very solid base to be able to work on it and improve over time than an MMO that comes out quickly but does not have a solid base.
In short, I would not care if AOC comes out in 2025 or 2026, I would wait for it, since seeing the effort they are making, the problems they have had (Jeff's departure), and the future problems they may have, I know very well that It is a LONG FIGHT to create from scratch a project that is thinking to give the MMO community the MMO they deserve.
Calm down guys
AOC does not pretend to be the new WOW killer, AOC wants to be AOC working for its community, improving itself little by little and becoming what they and their community want it to be.
As Steve said, there will be many errors and that is the best of all, to improve something you have to go step by step seeing errors and improving it, nothing starts being the best and that is why they are working with their community, with the alpha players to give us in the future what their community and they want.
I hope they take time, I prefer an MMO with a very solid base to be able to work on it and improve over time than an MMO that comes out quickly but does not have a solid base.
In short, I would not care if AOC comes out in 2025 or 2026, I would wait for it, since seeing the effort they are making, the problems they have had (Jeff's departure), and the future problems they may have, I know very well that It is a LONG FIGHT to create from scratch a project that is thinking to give the MMO community the MMO they deserve.
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Comments
I'd agree in principle, but heavily disagree in practice. Infinite dev time doesn't make an infinitely better game. Sometimes an extraordinarily long development time is indicative of incompetence or mismanagement. Just look at Star Citizen. Time frames matter, and in almost every case of a game taking that long to finish development (Think Duke Nukem Forever, Cyberpunk 2077, etc), technology ALWAYS outpaces development, forcing the team to scrap old parts of the game with newer, updating parts, resulting in rolling development resulting in a never-ending development cycle. We have to let go of the idea that the business aspect of creating a video game is just some extraneous afterthought to it's development. It's a balancing act between creating a good, finished product, and shipping a product in a reasonable timeframe. Deadlines are never a bad thing, and developers across the world have spoken out about how pressure from management forced them to scrap half-baked systems and stop creeping features and put more work into the core of the game to get a product shipped. Of course, management can pressure too hard (World of Warcraft), but it can also pressure far too little (Star Citizen). Marketing matters, hype matters, community perception matters, timeframes matter. If this game makes it to 2026 with no release, the hype will be dead, just like it is for star citizen. It'll become a meme.
That quote from Shigeru Miyamoto is nice on paper, but nowhere near the end-all be-all to game development.
As for how long I'm willing to wait. I don't see it as really a choice. the fact of the matter is this game could come out in 2022 or 2030 (an over exaggeration I know) and I would still play it. In my opinion the sooner it's done the better (Given that it's not rushed and the full game comes out as intended), but I'm not going to refuse to play the game just because it came out a year or two later than I expected.
No game is going to be the "WOW Killer" as that will always have a fanbase, but from what I've seen I feel like Ashes of Creation will have a pretty solid good community. I see more people expecting just a good game than I see people expecting a 10/10 best mmo ever. So hopefully if people going in expecting a 7/10 or 8/10 experience then the game won't fall victim to the hype train.
My own expectations are that I'll be able to enjoy an MMO with new mechanics and rules that will grab attention and make me want to both partake in the game and roleplay as well. I'm hopeful for the storybuilding possibilities being cited so far. If the game becomes more successful than WoW that's great, but it's not a priority. Often you see plenty of games that fit a wide audience well without necessarily being the top grossing product.
As for a time? Well, as long as I have can help proofread and test the game in the meantime it will keep me occupied with an active and responsive dev team like Intrepid's.
AoC isn't a WoW killer, that term is so funny. WoW and AoC are two very different types of games who will have very different types of people playing. It's like Escape from Tarkov and Call of Duty. Yeah they are both shooters, but it's very different types of people with different mindsets playing the games.
Either way I have other things to play while I wait, hope it's good.
We all just want Ashes to be good. It doesn't need to kill anything. The only people I have seen concerned about whether this is going to be a WoW killer, are WoW players (you, the kind that scream "Weeb game"/"Furries" at any MMO that isn't WoW)
That would be about 10 years of development instead of 2-3, which was originally pitched.
People just need to keep that in mind as they demand significant changes from what they experience in Alpha One.
Going longer increases the risk of either Steven needing to fund more (I'm not sure how much more he has) or finding additional investors.
If AoC ships with 70% of what it has committed and does it with good quality, then it will be a major success they can build on over time. There is a reason every successful software company has a "Minimum Viable Product" concept (and unsuccessful companies either over or under estimate the features and quality needed for the MVP). If IS tries to ship with 100% of features, but the quality is missing, then it's much less likely to succeed.
The node system, sieges, caravans, classes/augments, combat, and crafting/gear/economic systems are probably the most important aspects to get right at launch.
For example, I'm excited for naval combat, but happy to wait till a year after release (or two) if it means the other systems are polished at launch and the product isn't delayed and extra year for it.
Raid bosses and dungeons could start with 30% of the number intended spread throughout the world and then add 15-20% each quarter to get up to that 100% within a year post launch.
Arena could start without a rating system at launch and then add one 6 months down the road (I'd still do the non-rated arena system in Alpha as it can be a critical testing ground for class balance, especially 3v3 and 8v8).
Of course, what will be important with an approach like this is: (1) quality/fun in what they deliver and (2) clear communication from IS on what the vision is and what they are currently working on to add or grow each system.
Hi Asger
I say it more than anything because there are many people who have that mentality, that WOW has to be overcome to be a good game, I read it in forums, I read it in comments on u2 or reddit. Not that I want to make that point known.
And yes, I understand your point, but you have to know the different points of view of others to know a general thought.
Source: "Dude, trust me"
Just ignore him, Dygz frequently has some of the most unintelligent, shortsighted, and simply ridiculous commentary on this forum. Not worth engaging with.
Edit: forgot how much I loved asking the same questions and rehashing arguments so I added that.
I am not the one who suggested 2025 or 2026.
My current estimate is 2023/2024.
But, 2025 or 2026 is also likely.
For the UE5 thing - Possibly. Depending on how it works with their current designs etc.
We currently don't have DPS meters because Steven doesn't like them and thinks they breed toxicity.
There IS instanced PvE - instanced dungeons are a thing thought they most likely will be reserved for specific raids or story related content.
I expect item crafts to require effort, time, group gameplay, instead of repetitive instanced dungeon runs.
I hope for good Fighter abilities and I hope Dual Wield will be on par with Two Handed and Sword/Shield.
I would like the development to take at least 4 years from now so that I can get to EU back in time to play with my inrl friends.
Hahaha /s means satire. Tbh I thought I didn't even need to clarify since my post was dripping of it.
Of course the details are what will really make or break it: endgame progression should ideally be fleshed out and challenging at higher levels with some rewards and not designed to be too pug friendly to give guilds a reason to form up well and keep striving for something long term, quests should be more exciting than just kill x of y, I'm hoping ability rotations are varied and mentally interesting rather than the couple button gw2/lol approaches so you aren't just hitting the same macro sequence over and over, etc....
I'm willing to wait to be fair, and of course it doesn't exactly have to be my vision of things, I'm willing to forgive a bit, but I'm hoping its at least mostly on target...
it will remain populated with the dedicated open world PvP MMO fans (all 6 of them), but the rest of the MMO market, let alone the wider PC gaming market - will forget the game.
Basically, it will be the next in the live from L2, through Darkfall, Archeage, and BDO, a succession of games that has EVE, Wildstar and Albion on it's periphery.
To be clear, this isn't what I *want* for or from the game, it is what I expect. I expect it because I see nothing at all in this game so far that would keep someone that isn't interested in the above games from playing and staying in Ashes
Sry AoC :P
If AoC will release in 2-3 years I am going to give it a try,(and crank the fuck out of it xD) if not I am done with the genre.
long story short: My Expectations are high, high as they should have been for a long time.
The truth is we're all just waiting for that next great (or good) MMO that will pull us in. There's an obvious waiting game to this as games get developed, and people will continue to wait until they find what they want. Simple as that.
Read the comic here!
I think I agree with this, I'm not sure anything can be a WoW killer until it finally burns out on its own. WoW is not really a game running on merit at this point, its less a game in the traditional sense and more nostalgia for built up content and social connections that formed years ago when it released at the at the right time/climate... that all kind of feeds itself.
I don't think anyone is saying it's a WoW killer. Steven has explicitly stated that is not his objective. However, WoW is ripe for significant attrition and it would be wise for IS to capitalize on this by introducing a "new" type of dynamic open world focused MMO to these players. This game needs to appeal to both the current base as well as new to truly succeed. It's too ambitious of a project to not require attracting a large user base to keep it funded long term.
Regardless, it needs to be good/fun and it needs to move the MMO ecosystem fundamentally forward by taking the best elements from past MMOs and adding new innovative/fun experiences. If it cannot do this within about 2 years it will probably be as @Noaani is predicting. I think it has potential to achieve this goal if the quality is there, the node/siege systems turn out to be as exciting as they look, and the game isn't too punishing/grindy (I don't think there are enough players out there who enjoy the highly punishing grind games. It doesn't need to be as soft as casual WoW either... The risk/reward needs to be balanced and moving character progression forward at a good pace).
This game cannot just be Lineage 3 (or another super hardcore/PvP only MMO) or it won't survive more than a few years. It cannot be just nostalgia. It needs to be innovative.
Oh, and the class name "Tank" needs to change to something like "Warrior" or "Guardian" (tank/tank can be renamed to something like "Eternal Guardian"). The augments + gear need to be strong/meaningful enough with tradeoffs that allows a single character to change roles and be fully viable (or to be a hybrid between two roles, but master of neither if augments are only partially applied). This greatly enhances the long term playability of a character, which is increasingly important the more time it takes to level up a character.