The Star Citizen Effect
Agann
Member, Founder, Kickstarter
So I am going to preface this by saying I Kickstarted this game WAY back when. I have Alpha2 access that I have been patiently waiting for since then. However, I fear this game is starting to follow the same feature creep problems Star Citizen has in terms of extending development. Not to mention the crazy amount of MTX bundles (some with pretty big price tags) to pay for those features.
From what I have seen the game on the surface seems to be promising (much like Star Citizen was early on). But I am a bit worried they are focusing too much on MTX bundles and not on releasing the game.
I am not trying to bash the game at all, I am VERY excited to play this game. But the direction they are going feels all too similar to Star Citizen(another game I kickstarted) that really hasn't panned out and that worries me.
From what I have seen the game on the surface seems to be promising (much like Star Citizen was early on). But I am a bit worried they are focusing too much on MTX bundles and not on releasing the game.
I am not trying to bash the game at all, I am VERY excited to play this game. But the direction they are going feels all too similar to Star Citizen(another game I kickstarted) that really hasn't panned out and that worries me.
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The cosmetics don't create scope creep since they need to create the models for the cosmetics anyway since they will be mobs/buildings/ships/etc. in-game anyway, so they may as well sell them in the shop for some extra money if they're gonna make them anyway.
Here is all 21people plus Steven that worked there in October 2017.
As Talents has said they they haven't added new features but have cut a few.
Project for people thinking this is taking to long. Go come up with an idea , design and build it. Come back and let us all know how long it takes.(Basic bird houses and such don't count)
(im kidding get rid of elves instead)
I understand the concern, but it really is unwarranted here. They don't suffer from scope creep. The project was just very ambitious from the start, so development takes time.
As for the packs they differ crucially from SC. In SC you are actually buying ships. In Ashes you are only buying skins for stuff you have to earn ingame. The packs aren't cheap, but they are also meant to be support for the game's development, not just a pure cosmetic skin transaction.
They are still messing with hybrid combat and need to get that right.
They seem to be still messing with Orcs - enough so that they weren't in Alpha One.
I think we haven't seen new Tulnar concept art since the kickstarter/2017.
We can't even get Religious Node and Military Node articles because those are subject to change. (The last one was May 2019)
And we don't have a Lead Designer on the horizon.
Significantly changing features and systems due to player feedback is scope creep - it's going to significantly impact release dates (not that we have any public release dates right now).
This is also an aspect of Risk v Reward.
But, that should be OK.
What we want is a quality game - not a quick and dirty, crappy game.
The devs are going to need time to create the quality.
The "before 2020" date that Steven used to spout before Margaret was hired was always unrealistic.
MMORPGs typically take about 5 years... Ashes is ambitious enough in design that we should expect a few more years beyond that. If a quality game can be released in 6 or 7 years, that's a bonus.
Lol.
The elves are typically at the root and cause of many problems in many games/stories. I bet the corruption of Verra is somehow linked to them causing the planets races to flee the planet.
Even if it's not. We can blame them anyway.
Bwhahahahahaha! 🤣
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/edit KOS list:
/add Sathrago
/save
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Sure are! I'm playing Skyrim again (only played 204hrs first time) and see the dirty work of those filthy Thalmor everywhere!
I'm not sure, but its the only thing that pops into my head as possible feature creep.
I'm also a SC backer, and I really don't see a comparison. They have lost their selves in the minutia: a monthly dev report had a team working for a month on the way eggs jiggled or some crap like that.
Last one I bothered reading. Seeya in 6 years, SC.
This is basically confirmed in the lore: Atrax ruled the Toren empire. Torens are half-human/half-elven.
I blame the human side.
Same thing kinda happened to Star Wars Galaxies which caused a huge influx of players who weren't going to like that game. Which caused a lot of the changes that the core playerbase ended up disliking.
Ashes of Creation has so much clear cut direction that it is impossible to predict what is going to pop out in the end. I can't put blind faith into someones first game with absolutely no doubt. However, there are a lot of similarities with this game's development that WoW also had. WoW was one of the rockiest developments a game ever got. The game was on the verge of failure from the day it released. However, it didn't end up failing because they made the changes the game needed to keep going.
This isn't going to be some magic mmo with no flaws in it. However, the team behind this game may be able to make the changes this game needs to also keep going. This is also by far the most ambitious mmo ever created. I mean their goal is to fix core problems behind every mmo that came before it. Along with adding unique game modes no modern mmo currently has and has had since Lineage 2.
This level of ambition along with clear signs of improvement are something Star Citizen never had. It's also a good sign that whenever we get developer videos on their channel we often get drastically changing concepts of existing ideas into potentially better designs.
It's clear to see a failure when you know what to look for. Generally it's when the developers talk about things that do not matter or are not core mechanics in a good game. There were times when this development team even might have made some of those mistakes. The development ashes has now is pretty good though. So I'll give them until they start trying to sell me character boosts at least. xD
U.S. East
This game actually has progress, Star Citizen will never be released.
The only time this game was looking like SC was when they made APOC, but that came and went quickly. If this game was SC, then APOC would still be in development, and they’d have created another spin off game like a flying gryphon flight simulator combat game.
Alpha 1 was much closer to a real game than Star Citizen has gotten in their demos. And SC has been in development for twice as long. There’s really no comparison.
It's like chalk and cheese.
Well they’ve done that. They have experienced developers from other games. Jeff Bard, the original lead designer, worked on EQ2 for a half decade. Michael Bacon, who develops environments also came from EQ2 and also worked on Saints Row 1 and 2 back in the day. Lead Producer Bryan Langford was at Blizzard for more than a decade and NCSOFT (maker of the Lineage MMOs) for 4 years. And so on. They already have what you think they need.
LOL - they were some examples, they weren't the only examples...
Well, for starters, here's the link to the wiki's list of staff: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Intrepid_Studios#Staff
Some of them have their previous games mentioned. Others will likely have worked on other projects that just aren't listed there. I'm absolutely not going to go through them all listing out the games they've worked on, cos you seem like the kind of person who just wouldn't believe me anyway.
They don't "need" more, they just want them to make the development go faster. They'd still be able to finish the game with what they have. With more, however, it'll simply get completed quicker. Your suggestion that there were only 3 experienced staff is still just as ridiculous as it was before you carried on digging your hole.
In other news: You've made the Ignore List! You've been here a day... Congratulations!
Haha! Blame it all on the Elves....
At least the feature creep that has become characteristic of Star Citizen can't (directly) be blamed on Elves!
Yours truly had heard about Star Citizen quite awhile before hearing about Ashes of Creation. Both were titles that guildies had mentioned at one point or another. While they both spark a lot of imagination and possibility, I'd have to say that Ashes has managed expectations far better, and has a much better path towards reveals and development updates.
I'd have to agree with the general consensus of the responders to the OP: I've yet to see anything in Ashes of Creations' updates that would indicate any kind of feature creep.
We could blame the creation of Tulnar on the Elves too. All this hate towards Tulnar should be directed at the true problem... The elves! Evil King Atrax creating hybrids with tainted elven blood lines.
Death to the Elves!!!
Vulcan's are just space elves. If nothing else we can blame them.
Your argument is highly illogical.
I was going to say this until I read this comment! I have been following Star Citizen as well hoping that one day it will release. Though, I agree. They continuously alter and add to their roadmap. Another game I play that is doing this, though not to the same extent is Escape From Tarkov. I do hope these games release one day!
Ashes has had a consistent roadmap that hasn't been altered much at all for years.
The only things they’ve added are cosmetics and that’s just fluff. Imagine if all Star Citizen added was ship skins and space suit cosmetics. The game would probably be out years ago.