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Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest news on Alpha Two.
Check out general Announcements here to see the latest news on Ashes of Creation & Intrepid Studios.
To get the quickest updates regarding Alpha Two, connect your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Comments
I think this is actually my main reason I am strongly against racial skins. They took really cool possible expansion races. Races that could have fully fleshed out character creators. Races that could have generated future new character creation. Races that many would be highly interested even post launch. And went 'thats too much work, we need money NOW. Let's fish for some early whale money.' This bad decision is definitely going to hamstring them down the road and create plenty of design headaches. Much like their other pseudo p2confuse-if-not-outright-win transmog idea.
I think races need some difference in stats, but I think it should only 'matter' in making a 'niche' class combination work well, rather than restricting most class builds to a race for min maxing.
Which leads back to the main point. Appearance is a part of the rp in rpg. It effects how other people initially react to you and their assumptions about what it might mean. So I actually support there being stats behind the whole thing because it forces the 'I dont see appearance only stats' type people to still have preconceptions. Creates some immersive moments. The problem is when those stats start limiting freedom of build or the game is badly balanced in a way that forces the optimization to make things work in a PvP game.
A race should have to look thematic (I wanted to say good but thats offensive to all the people who want to play ugly) and bring something unique to the table. I just think Nikua do exactly that, even if we take my previous 'promise' argument off the table.
Not only are they a unique take on dwarf, but slippery pirate dwarves Vhaeyne! I for one want to play a dwarf that doesn't realistically sink like a rock in the water and has a physique that accompanies that. I'd rather not feel at risk of drowning when after my loot.
Not only that but think of all the disappointed gnomes that don't have a slot. It's hard to make a gnome race when the four main races were already chosen and gnomes tend to be an inbetween spot in the first place. They don't bring more to the table than Polynesian dwarfs by a mile. Yet they are a decently popular race in DnD. At least anecdotally I have run into quite a few in various scenes over the long years. I don't think Nikua look like gnomes by any stretch but they can probably get close enough to make gnome enthusiasts feel at ease without dedicating an entire race to them.
I think I would agree with you a lot more if racial skins and full body cosmetics were not a thing. I liked the importance of appearance for RP as an argument a lot, but cosmetics are such a hard counter to it. Not just the racial skins, but the normal cosmetics. To use your example, I think someone in a full plate cosmetic would swim just fine.
As you know, I have not exactly been a strong ally to the RP community when it comes to using MMORPGs as a vessel for RP. Still, I have seen people RP in Mortal Online 2, so there is no way there will not be RPers in Ashes. That said, I think anyone who is RPing is responsible for their own outfit making sense for RP. I don't think it goes against RP for Ashes to give us more tools for customization. I think the RP community should just be better about policing itself. If you want to be a respected RPer maybe use cosmetics in a way that makes your character's appearance more credible. I am not saying it can't go wrong.
To use what @McMackMuck does not like as an example. If someone has neon wings, I think it's safe to assume you are not going to get any RP out of them and if you do, I don't think you want it.
I also don't think it's right to lock appearance down for the sake of RP. It kinda limits everyone else's fun. As much as I don't like the Santa cosmetic for a few reasons. @Hailee in the other thread is right, if my opinion was the only one taken into consideration it would ruin the mounts and cosmetics they think is fun.
I think I understand where you are coming from, though. I think if Ashes was more RP focused, I would be less interested in the project, but I would concede that your opinion is more in line with the goals of Ashes. Without bringing the target audience debate back, I would like to think that having appearance not be restricted by gameplay is at least the move the most people would get enjoyment out of.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
I think we are on the same conclusion but your missing some of what I am saying.
So in order of your response:
I think their approach to full body cosmetics has huge gaping flaws that if not addressed will lead to a fairly bad reputation. And this isn't just from an immersion stand point. If you attack me with something that looks like a dagger but is actually a great axe... Your expectations are violated in a nonsensical manner tgat possibly give you an advantage in decision making. A dwarf in full plate swimming makes no sense physics wise but mildly forgivable otoh you should at least expect that they have a high defense stat right? I understand the desire for freedom in outer appearance but there are some nuances IS seems to be throwing out in favor of monetization creating gameplay problems in the process. It is just that this also negatively effects immersion because form and function meet somewhere in the middle in a good rp system.
So to your next point I agree that rpers should practice what they preach. I just also think there is some value in making function decipherable at a glance. It's just that said glance should be based on the tools that create your function, rather than the specifics of that appearance. Giving players tools that mask that ability to decipher breaks information availability as well as immersion.
Therefore to the rest of your post, yeah I don't want racial appearance to hinder function. We agree here. I just think good game design can manage to give a small stat distinction without making the racial stats mandatory. I fully support costumes that heavily alter appearance. I just think good game design requires you wear an item of the type of gear you are emulating in order to use it. Transmogs should habe very loose boundaries, but still some.
Where do racial skins fall in this? Nowhere as they aren't a significant dampener on function tells (yet.) But I think given your proclivities you should feel cheated at cookie cutter demon options when we could have had a fully customizable demon race as a hype expansion race. If they do put in said race later I think it will dampen the amount of new characters that would otherwise have been created and kept those people interested that much longer in the game to sub.
Ps.I consider you an ally to rpers just not necessarily the type people would think of at first. We need peeps advocating for tools for player driven story and freedom in appearance choice.
They all got a little too curious about Afghanistan in the early 2000's. "Stealing" is a relative term - but you should still probably have at least 1 hand left, when leaving a country.
I got to meet Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman at a book-signing in Utah, once. Nice folks, and the inventors/partial inventors of both Kender and Draconians (it's arguable that draconians *are* lizardmen, just with odd blood and death effects - but I mean Draconians as a people). Kender are arguably the better invention though, per the specifics and depth of their culture. Book-read D&D was often too magic-rule-y, for my tastes, though it's made for a really fun game setting, over the past 30+ years.
Races beyond what's already established for launch should be saved as work for any expansions - and given both the speed of output and sheer amounts of customizations, gear, mounts, etc that Intrepid has been able to produce? I'm not worried in the least that we'll somehow end up short nor with a less-than-satisfying number of races at launch.
Just remember this. Be it for Aesthetics, Lore, or stats, typically the same kind of people pick a particular race. If its due to Aesthetics or Lore, they will probably band together to get more of those aesthetics. With over 100 nodes, if 1% of the player base flocks together, they will be able to make that node their aesthetics. Further more, People who like the Nikua for example, would like a coastal Polynesian vibe. They'll probably migrate towards a coastline with suitable natual looks. That fact makes it more likely that there will be Nikua orientated nodes on the coast. The same fact as some people play elves want to be in woods, Dunir players in mountains, Vaelune players in deserts etc. The lore and aesthetics of those races, will naturally flock those people towards that type of environment, making it more plausible that the archetypical node for that race actually does get developed there.
One thing worth mentioning. In the game we';ve already seen area's and dungeons formed by the remnants of old races. A dunir dungeon for example. So if your afraid that the assets will never be used, don't be. Those asets will be used in Dungeons and locations, regardless of which race builds up the node.
I'll just point out if they made Nikua gnome I would both be less interested (it skews the body type out of the direction I want) and think it brought less to the table in terms of being a unique take on a race.
Given their usual easy going somewhat migratory depictions and less location based population density in most settings with them, beach bum gnomes are definitely not as strange/unique as a traditionally mountain dwelling smith focused race adapting to a completely different civ style and mode of operation.
I think they will go back to a situation where you look like what you are.
There are a lot of people out there that want this (look no further than people here complaining about a lack of "gear progression").
However, I see this happening in a game where crafted gear is king, and where players can apply a specific look to a crafted item (similar to ESO).
The way I see it playing out is that the material you use would be set (if you are wearing leather made from a cow, it looks like it is made from a cow - if it is from a dragon, it looks like it is from a dragon). However, both can be made in the same shape, with the same threading and stitching, same studs even, all of which can be selected by players.
Same with metals - steel looks like steel, cobalt looks like cobalt etc.
This gives players some agency on appearance, but makes it so that they will always look like what they are. If you are a Wood Elf in leather armor, you will look like a Wood Elf with leather armor. If you do jot wish to look like a Wood Elf in leather armor, do not roll a Wood Elf that will wear leather armor.
While it is true to say some people really care how they look, the bulk of players are happy with anything that looks OK.
However, there are a LOT of players that want what they see in front of them to actually mean something - which is why I think this is the way MMO's will go.
I think I may have been speaking too broadly, with "the appearance should not affect game mechanics." I was specking specifically about races.
You, @JustVine, and many others will be relived to learn that I don't think a caster should be able to wear "full plate" and run around as if they were in cloths. I have always been a fan of only being able to use cosmetics in your armor type. [Light, medium, heavy] or [cloth, leather, chain, plate] any system like that works for me and is good. If only plate cosmetics worked on plate, that is not something I consider to be regressive.
I was talking about racial abilities and differences. I would like to use D&D as an example again because I think many people see D&D to be a gold standard in the RPG genre for how things should be. In D&D, it is 100% possible for nearly any race to have any stat or learn how to do anything. If I am rolling an elven Paladin who is going to wear full plate. I may take DEX as my dump stat and just use the plus 2(racial) to bring a 8 up to 10. Then go max STR. In 5e everything caps at 20 anyway, so with high level characters and gear the stat differences are none existent assuming you built your character around a class. Even in older editions, it's possible for the most brilliant and powerful wizard in the world to be an orc. Race has never prevented anybody from doing anything in D&D. This is the sort of thing I am specifically talking about.
It's harder to balance MMORPGs around race. WOW got it so wrong that raiding on Alliance was wiped out. That's why I just said, put the race stuff in "backgrounds" anyone can select. It puts everyone on an equal playing field. There are some things from D&D that don't translate to MMORPGs at all. Rolling stats for instance... It would just become a game of people re-rolling until they got all 18s... So we use fixed stats or point buy in MMORPGs.
It's things like, this class can't be this race or this race can't be this alignment that I think is regressive. WOW, could have solved its faction imbalance years ago by adding a quest that lets you defect to the other side (with some sort of timer limitation, of course). Something I don't think anyone would argue is possible. I think, for the same reason I think having factions is stupid, I think having stats and abilities tied to race is stupid.
I hope this clears things up.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
2nd edition had race restrictions on some classes (I’m looking at you, Paladin), but these were more like guidelines - and became the root of some interesting (now iconic) characters that broke those rules (as shown by RA Salvatore).
A big burly [insert race here] or small nimble [insert other race here] running at you should have a similar level/depth of meaning to it as the items they are wearing.
If you are a small race that barely comes up past my knees, if I hit you square on with a two handed hammer, there is no sane (non-magical) reason as to why you wouldn't be knocked back, or knocked flying even. However, you have a damn good chance of just stepping out of the way of me swinging that two handed hammer.
On the other hand, if you are that big burly race, you could deflect or block that hit with my two handed hammer just fine. What you wouldn't be able to do, however, is get out of the way in time.
I am not a fan of telling players they absolutely can not play the class they want with the race they want. Players should be able to do that, for sure. However, that doesn't mean a small race playing a tank should play and feel exactly the same as a large race playing that same tank class.
Players should be able to look at a character and discern some aspects about their capabilities from their gear, but also some aspects of their capabilities from their race and/or size.
Again it is more about people wanting to be able to understand the world by just looking at it. That really is something people should be able to do, yet MMO's refuse to let players do that simple thing.
The only thing I would add to that is any alignment to any race. Paladins should still need to be lawful, but unless something is literally made of out of chaos, then it should be able to be lawful. The same applies for good and evil. I see no reason why a sentient creature made of flesh could not have any alignment.
This is not true for most MMORPGs. People tank or do big melee DPS on the smallest races just as hard as they do on the largest races. They do it with one handers and two handers. The only game that is not really like this is Mortal Online 2. If you want that type of immersion, try MO2. It's good.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Indeed it is not true for most MMO's.
It used to be, generally speaking.
Going back to the 90's and early 2000's, races that made good tanks were three or four times the size as the races that were not good tanks. Races that were nimble looked like they were. You could tell a lot about a character just by their size.
Again, it is this notion of seeing the world in front of you and being able to actually take viable information from what you see.
It may have used to be that way, but I don't think it's something worth wanting or expecting.
Here is another point on why it's ridiculous to expect the size of a race to matter.
Consider the largest player race in any MMO you like. Then consider the largest boss...
Some of these raid bosses are so damn big, they would be able to throw you like a soft ball across the region. Raid bosses also have to be big. It is a space problem most people don't think about. You need to be able to fit all the melee near the bosses hitbox. To make the hitbox big you have to make the boss big. Most raid bosses are at least twice the height of a player character...
It doesn't matter if your character is 7 feet tall or 3 feet tall in this case. A hit from something that is 14ft tall with a proportional sized weapon is going to destroy you.
Then when it comes to NPC raid bosses most devs never explain why these know races are magically like 15-20 feet tall when you fight them... For the sake of good and balanced gameplay, we just let the bosses and hitbox be what ever size it takes to make the fight better.
Like, I have never seen anyone complain that a human raid boss is 18ft tall when you fight them... I have also never seen one cast "enlarge self" before battle. Which would make sense, but I have never seen it once.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
This realization will have many repercussions, including as I have mentioned in relation to race and gear.
In terms of raid bosses, this isn't an issue.
It's one of those things that you need to understand the history of. Raid bosses are generally oversized because that is what players expect. Players expect raid bosses to be oversized because that is what they are used to seeing. Players are used to seeing oversized raid bosses because developers developers make them extremely large. Developers started making them so large because they needed the raid boss to be seen in a mass of several hundred players.
That last point that we got to is the key. Raid bosses are the size they are because original EQ raid bosses needed to be oversized, because raids in that game (the game that all raiding in MMO's is directly descended from) were several hundred players large for the games first few years.
All raid bosses have just been made that size because that is the size raid bosses are.
So, in the above game that I expect to see at some stage, it is perfectly feasible that raid bosses will be roughly the same size as player characters.
As to your point about not having seen players cast "enlarge self" before battle, several games have buffs that enlarge the target as a visual representation of the buff. The buff isn't specifically an enlarge buff, but that is the representation that is given to players as opposed to some particle effect or some such.
I think you are kind of missing the point a little though. You are saying "you have never seen" these things, when I am saying they are what I expect to happen in the future.
Do you disagree that there are many, many players out there that want to be able to understand the game world by looking at that game world? Do you think this is a valid thing for people to want in an MMO?
Wishful thinking at best.
You do remember the game plan is to just show a player's real gear type and grade with a buff with you target them right? It don't sound to me like we are going to get that at all.
The humanoid raid bosses from races that are not normally big are to solve the problem of not being able to fit all the melee players around the boss without them literally being inside one another. Not because of player expectations. That would be a minor reason at best. The major reason is to give players plenty of room around the boss. Otherwise, it looks more silly having 16 dudes on top of the boss. Even if players can move though each other.
Again, this is wishful thinking.
Not players casting "enlarge self" that would not solve anything. I said the bosses could have access to such magic if you wanted to fluff in a lore reason for bosses to be being.
I don't think they do. I think players just want fun content. People are willing to put up with a lot of stupid shit if the content is fun. Look at Tera, FFXIV, WOW... everything about those game worlds is nutty compared to something like Mortal Online 2.
I also think "Developers make bosses big because players expect it" is the most hand wavy argument I have every seen you use. It does not address the point at all.
If bosses size don't give you any information about them, why would players? Bet there is going to be a Treant mob that is like 20 ft tall that can be soloed by a single little Nikua.
I am pretty sure that frog ass race in EQ2 can be a tank and tank shit like 10 times its size. I am skeptical that you have ever played a MMORPG where your desire on this topic is the reality of the game.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
The melee aspect of it was not a factor for well over a decade - as games didn't have character collision back then. Players being inside one another was not only not really a concern, it was a required aspect of the only strategy to defeat a small number of bosses in early MMO's.
Saying they made raid bosses big to avoid a thing they specifically designed in to some bosses is kind of odd, don't you think?
They were big because early EQ raids were basically a zerg. If you couldn't see the boss above the mass of players around you, you could spend 10 minutes trying to find it (targeting was messy back then).
But that wasn't my argument.
It's actually kind of like you didn't read it. I was filling in each step along the way, in order to prevent the need for follow up questions.
The end result of it is that EQ developers made raid bosses big because there were several hundred people on their raids, and further raid developers made raid bosses big because that is all anyone knew. If you are making a game (WoW) that has the sole intent of pulling raiders from EQ, then you make your raids similar to the raids in EQ. If the raids in EQ are very large, then the raids in your game (WoW) are very large. Since it isn't Blizzards modus operandi to understand the things they are ripping off, they just made them big because that is what they were copying.
Interestingly, many early EQ2 raids (made by the same developers that made EQ raids, but in a game where raids were capped at 24) were much smaller - at times they were the same size as player characters. This is because there was literally no need to make them bigger.
In a raid of 20 players, there is literally no reason at all for the boss to need to be any bigger than a player character.
In a raid of 500, there is. Once again, I am saying what I expect to see - not in Ashes, but likely in the generation of games that starts development after Ashes launches. While I do not know the specifics of what it would mean (and thus specifics are speculation), what I fully expect to see is a full in game representation of the game world in the game world.
You can be as skeptical of something I have not said as you like.
I also have a preference for an accurate visual representation (unfortunately that won't be Ashes).
I would love to play an MMORPG where huge player races like Ogres fight alongside and against regular Humans, Dwarves and Elves.
I looked at rock-paper-scissors game mechanics that could make this possible. Attacks that are larger than you are easier to dodge, but parrying is less effective. Attacks that are smaller than you are more difficult to dodge, easier to parry or just take them on your armor. I play-tested it. Large characters beat Medium, Medium beat Small, Small beat Large. There would be a lot to flesh out in greater detail, but I took it as a promising indication that it could be made to work.
Now all I need is a substantial lottery win to turn it into a game.
It is amusing to me that someone would consider the idea of a game world being represented in that game world to be an odd notion. To me, that seemed to be the aim of all RPG games of the 90's and 2000's. It is a fairly recent thing that developers seem to have given up on it in favor of cosmetic option - which came at just the time where it would have been possible to actually pull off that full representation.
This is why I think it will be the next thing that MMO's go for. For the first time, the technology is basically there for it to be done. The amount of work it would take to do it is on par with the amount of work that is currently expected for a AAA game. Basically, it is feasible now for the first time.
Fortunately, this means you likely won't need to win a lottery to make this happen.
Ok, I thought you were trying to say it because the developers do it people expect it. Debating why they do it is kinda pointless, and I think we mostly agree.
My point is that "Accurate visual representation" is already lost in Ashes and most MMORPGs. The best you get is being locked out of being able to use plate cosmetics on cloth, but even that is being eroded.
For Ashes specifically, I don't expect much(if any) accurate visual representation because they have already sold us the opposite with cosmetics. I offred up the size of raid bosses as another example of how the accurate visual representation is lost.
I would also like to offer up the idea that stats do not change your physical appearance. A person with 1 str and 500 str look the same in every game.
@McMackMuck @Noaani
As long as you don't have these expectations for Ashes I hope you get what you want. Mortal Online 2 is that MMORPG, but it's also a lot of other niche stuff that I don't think the average player wants. It would be refreshing to see an MMORPG where accurate visuals are important.
For Ashes, they never really shown that to be the case. They have tried to say it sort of, but their actions contradict anything they have ever said about building a cohesive world that makes sense. Racial skins being in the Kickstarter is all the evidence I need to see to know accurate visual representation is essential to Ashes.
Going forward. WOW,FFXIV, and to a lesser extent GW and ESO have all popularized playing dress up. I think it's only a matter of time before the expectation is that it extends to race too. Fashion in MMORPGs is just too popular and too profitable to have the accurate visual representation you want. It takes a niche indy game like MO2 to stick its middle finger out to it to make it happen. Even then, its only happening on a small scale.
I hate achievements and mount collecting, but that stuff ain't going anywhere anytime soon. I'll give you guys a bonus hot take. "Mounts should not drop off bosses outside their feature patch." Meaning once new gear comes out and power creep makes fights easy. People should not be able to go back and farm mounts. They should at minimum get a lesser faded version of it or something.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Sounds like we are on the same page then.
It was worse than simply race limitation, even on the classes available to your race, only human were not limited in levels !
Dwarves could be cleric (max level 10), fighter (max level 15) or thief (max level 12). Halflings had access to the same classes as dwarves but the level limits were 8, 9 and 15. Max level cleric at 8 ! Ha !
Aside from human and half-elf bard, no race could level past level 15. Image an MMO trying to implement these kind of restrictions
Raiding isn't about showing off, and any game that puts items as drops on raid bosses that are just for showing off clearly doesn't know what they are doing.
Sure, players like it, but that is only because that game has implicitly invited people to raid who don't enjoy raiding for the act of raiding, but rather enjoy it for the showing off it allows them to do.
When you have people participating in an activity for reasons other than pure enjoyment of that activity, you start to get people complain about how monotonous that activity is. When this happens, developers make pathetic attempts to make that activity less monotonous to the people that don't actually enjoy it, which just pisses off the people that do enjoy the activity itself.
Case in point for all of the above, and I am sure comes as no surprise to anyone at all, is WoW.
Indeed it is. This is why in all the threads where people complain about the visual progression of items being lost in this game, I tell them that if that is the most important thing to them, this is not the game for them. Or to people asking for the ability to turn cosmetics off in Ashes, I reply telling them it won't happen.
I mean, I want it to happen, I argued for it to happen, but it won't happen in this game.
However, this game is just adding more fuel to the fire of MMO players wanting a game where the game world is accurately represented inside the game world.
I can see someone with the money playing Ashes and getting just as frustrated with this game as Steven did with Archeage.
Not being able to believe what you are literally being shown on screen will do that to a person.
You seriously belive that most people that want to give this game a go/is going to play this game, visits the forums or participated on those polls?
And i don't care if a very small percentage, wants to play them. They said they are part of the races, so they should be there at release. But then again, i'm not some selfish manchild that only thinks about myself.
Plus some might change their oppinion on what they want to play when racials are in/at release
Rofl - whatever points you argued were lost with this. 😆
The bonus "hot take" is a hot take. Maybe I should have left it out.
The sentiment just comes from a similar place. I would like to play a game where "What you see is what you get" other than tabletop warhammer... I don't see the trend. More often, I encounter people who want/expect the opposite.
The mount thing feels the same. The consensus I get from other players is different from what I want. They just want to "collect" and show off. I don't mount farm in MMORPGs. I normally end up with a handful of mounts that I value more personally because I got them as natural drops when the content was relevant. To me, they are proof that I did the thing when it was fun. If everyone has the thing now because they farmed it a year or two later. It's no longer that proof.
Most people I encounter just want to go and collect them and are more than happy to wait for the content to be solved and easy. Just like most people don't care about lore as long as they can look cool.
I also mostly encounter people who expect to be able to just make their character look how they want. I have warmed up to this in the cases of games where there is no expectation of accurate visual representation. Like Ashes. If we were talking about Mortal Online 2 I would say hell no. The expectation in MO2 is that if something looks like it's made of bone, It's going to act like it is, compared to wood or steel. If someone is fat, they are slow. I would not argue any of the things I am arguing for MO2 because they don't make sense for MO2.
Ashes has put customization out there as a thing to expect. They have already sold things to me based on the expectation that my house mount can be a giant snail that runs fast. So I just go to the next obvious conclusion. Why have any unpopular races? Why make some races better at some things if a horse can be almost anything? These are Ashes specific questions.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
I addressed that already. I said the polls are not the ground truth. They just show a trend that I have seen. I also have only seen 1-2 people on this forum excited about nikua. One of them admitted to liking them because they are: "the underdogs". I also said I could be crazy, post one. A hot take is not meant to be a scientific white paper. It's my take based on what I have seen.
We had that discussion and I agreed. Go read one of Justvines posts in this thread. I don't think Ashes should change anything because of promises and sales made. I am just asking the general question... Why put all of this work into something that is not going to be valued as much as say.. Tulnar.
We also discussed racials a lot. Which is why the discussion has been about accurate visual representation for a while now. Because, in the case of Ashes, having racials is kind of stupid when you can use a cosmetic to put a paper bag on any race whos face you don't like. Which is why I think for Ashes you might as well just have "backgrounds" you pick from that are separate from race appearance. I don't think it will happen, but it makes more sense.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.