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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.
Adding rifts for quick 10 minute adventures
Nerror
Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
The MMORPG playerbase is aging, and people have families and jobs that keep them from playing for several hours every day. Sometimes they only have 10-15 minute time slots here and there to play. Intrepid will still need to have something worthwhile for these people to do.
It would be cool to see Rifts that players can enter from their node or freehold, that teleports them into a little time pocket full of corrupted monsters from the time after the Apocalypse. We can call them Rifts of Old, or Olden Rifts perhaps. The end boss should be an Ancient that can drop cool loot and materials for crafting and enchanting, and perhaps even cosmetics. I think a very low chance of getting legendary drops is fair, but with a pity system so that after many runs players are guaranteed a legendary.
In order to limit this, so players don't just only run the Olden Rifts, I think they need to be limited to 1 free run per day. After that players have to pay a progressively increasing amount of gold per run, or a certain amount of Embers. In the spirit of risk vs. reward that this game is built around, it makes sense that the more gold or Embers the players risk per run, the higher the chance of legendary loot as reward. At the highest levels there should be a chance to drop enchanted legendary items too, like a +5 legendary sword. Or perhaps special enchanting gems that can be used to upgrade items without failing.
In a world where time is money, this evens out the playing field between the haves (those that can no-life the game) and the have-nots (those with jobs and families). It's only fair that everyone can participate in getting high-end loot, and this system evens the playing field while still providing both the haves and the have-nots with a sense of pride and accomplishment for time and money spent.
It would be cool to see Rifts that players can enter from their node or freehold, that teleports them into a little time pocket full of corrupted monsters from the time after the Apocalypse. We can call them Rifts of Old, or Olden Rifts perhaps. The end boss should be an Ancient that can drop cool loot and materials for crafting and enchanting, and perhaps even cosmetics. I think a very low chance of getting legendary drops is fair, but with a pity system so that after many runs players are guaranteed a legendary.
In order to limit this, so players don't just only run the Olden Rifts, I think they need to be limited to 1 free run per day. After that players have to pay a progressively increasing amount of gold per run, or a certain amount of Embers. In the spirit of risk vs. reward that this game is built around, it makes sense that the more gold or Embers the players risk per run, the higher the chance of legendary loot as reward. At the highest levels there should be a chance to drop enchanted legendary items too, like a +5 legendary sword. Or perhaps special enchanting gems that can be used to upgrade items without failing.
In a world where time is money, this evens out the playing field between the haves (those that can no-life the game) and the have-nots (those with jobs and families). It's only fair that everyone can participate in getting high-end loot, and this system evens the playing field while still providing both the haves and the have-nots with a sense of pride and accomplishment for time and money spent.
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Comments
And if that dad of 20 kids, 10 dogs and 5 wives misses a day of a free chance to get great loot, he'll complain even more than he would've if there wasn't such a system in the first place, because the existence of such system means that the game is trying to appeal to him, which makes him feel entitled to things. And entitlement leads to complains.
You play for 15 mins a day - you're a casual with casual gear and casual gameplay. That's it.
Daily gimmick...
Fruitless coding, wasting resources.
People that have only a couple of hours shouldnt play mmos.
Mmos shouldnt change for those ppl. You got it mixed up in there. Every suggestion that begins with "casuals cant..." should just stop there.
There are no shortcuts in any other aspect of time.
But, there should be stuff people can complete in 30-40 minutes.
Some instanced raids. And that's it. That aint news.
I'm saying this as an "aging MMORPG player" with a job and other commitments, but....
Maybe MMORPGs just aren't made for you anymore.
If I haven't already lost you to "what a fucking horrible thing to say, I matter, fuck you Karthos" then let me explain why I say this.
One of the reasons P2W became so popular is that it was touted as a way to stay competitive even if you had limited time. Systems like "fatigue" were added to MMOs, to try and limit the time disparity. Daily Quests were added to help time limited players make money. So many companies have attempted to remedy this, and for the most part, they all devalue the experience of the game for most people. The genre has never benefited from trying to make these changes. Why? Because MMORPGs are not made for people with limited time. They are designed ON PURPOSE to take time, to require maximum engagement with the world and community. It's one of the keystone pieces of what makes them what they are.
I have friends in this same situation and we've talked about this alot. We carve out the time to play the games we want, and we drop the games we don't. It's just part of life. You never really will be able to have your cake and eat it too.
Plus I thought we were passed dailies and instanced crap. The base idea of a quick and dirty adventure I am ok with. NO money NO resources NO crafting materials. Keep all that stuff in the open world. I would not even want to see basic noob starting gear level cosmetics come from this.
This and other mmorpgs are no 15min quickie-games like any lootshooter or moba-like game (and even these need more).
If you want to just play 15min, just go play chess or a SP Game you can save and resume later if you have time.
No offense, but Ashes don t need this mentality at all. This +i don t have time but want to achieve everything guys with more time can+ alrdy destroyed other mmo's totally.
I hope you will find a game that suits you even with your very small time.
However, personal instances seem unlikely. From what I've gleaned by watching dev updates, it feels like they're trying to avoid instances. The open world is an important part of their vision.
We're trying to get back to the roots of hardcore MMOs, not "get with the times" into the the age of daily missions, convoluted specialty currencies, and catering to casuals. Sorry that you're getting too old to play an old school MMO. Perhaps your days are behind you but lets not ruin it for the next generation just so you can get your daily rift runs in.
Have they ever given a ballpark estimate of how difficult/expensive it will be to get a freehold? I'm not saying you're wrong, but it might be relatively easy to get a freehold in a remote village.
You'll also have to pay property tax and who knows how much that will be, so 15min/d would most likely not be enough to support a freehold even if you do manage to get one. Though obviously we'll have to test this all out and see what Intrepid decides to do with casual property ownership.
Or at least that's how I understand the system right now.
"Sometimes" is a key word.
Intrepid do not need to cater to every single second of free time you have.
Wait, people still pay attention to new Blizzard games?
What's wrong with these people?
Lol yeah that was my first thought too. That "sense of pride and accomplishment" at the end convinced me.
Diablo Immortal has taken that to the extreme, with players having to dump over $100,000 into the game to max their gear, or play every day for a decade for a chance to do the same.
I was watching a streamer spend thousands of dollars 'for science' on diablo immortal, and read up on the INSANE P2W systems. Super small chance of 5 star gems, and more needed to upgrade them. $25 per friggin' rift for the best chance.
It's fucking ridiculous and I hate it, and this post was a way of venting a little without turning super negative.
So you're telling me I was made a polite and reserved post to spare your feelings when I could have just opened fully up on you?
What a wasted opportunity.
Life lesson number one, never hold back.