Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Comments
I have said this was most likely going to be the case just saying
Agree with this, pve players are thinking the game is pvp suddenly because it has more pvp. All it needs to have is both Pve and pvp working together and the content between both being decent. Being able to flag or freely pk someone doesn't mean its a pvp game when it has clear pve elements as well.
How things play out needs to be tested and seen before you can fully judge one way or another. People are simply assuming the worst when it it only relates to sea content and most likely will not include underground but we will see.
Ironically, I think the server most likely to have a dominating mega alliance is the community designated "unofficial" pve server. Woe to the random player looking for an authentic Ashes experience who unknowingly ends up on that communist hellhole of a server.
That said, I do agree in general mega alliances could be a problem for other servers. It's up to Intrepid to design systems to make it not possible. Scarcity and friction is a must, and I think Steven knows that based on things he's said.
It's merely over the threshold for my playstyle.
Ashes now has zones that are auto-flagged Combatant, free-for-all PvP zones.
That's not the kind of MMORPG I want to play.
That is a prime example of looking for solutions for problems that shouldn't exist in the first place. Even before the removal of corruption from the open sea, there was probably going to be enough motivation for alliances to try to control parts of the ocean. And even before the removal of corruption from the open sea, I wish Intrepid would do nothing about, because that's what a sandbox game is about: the developer only tries to intervene and balance something if they absolutely must.
Now something that was already likely to happen will surely happen in many servers, and now they'll need to find solutions to a problem that shouldn't have been introduced by them. Lemme break your legs and look for crutches for you.
Only if one travels further out, does one transition to a pvp zone.
Will I partake in forced PvP? No, prolly not. But if I have goods that need to be transported across the sea you bet your tail I'll be hiring Mercs to help transport it for me.
you dont see me posting in games that I dont want to play. Anyways.
It’s simply a PvP zone. There’s less system risk (no corruption) and less PvE reward. There’e more pvp risk from open players.
I just see this as a zone mimicking any other game’s open world pvp zone. Again - I love pvp - so I’m ultimately fine, but I think it erodes the commitment to PvX.
yes its interdependant, if there wasnt any PvE Content to do on the open ocean, then there wouldnt be anyone to kill for the pirates because (close to nobody) would even venture out to the sea if it was content-barren.
Im not sure why the possibility of getting killed suddenly invalidates all the PvE Content that exist within the game for you. Just feels like a strange notion to me. If the possibility of getting killed incites the loss of all interest to you, then Im not sure what to tell you except, the fact, that this certainly will be part of the game.
You will didnt elaborate how it erodes the commitment to PvX.
PvE and PvP is intertwined. You cant just do PvE without the threat of being interrupted by PvP.
You wont do much PvP if there wasnt any (PVE) reason for people to travel into the open ocean in the first place.
One guy with opposite views to the design philosophy wont make a difference.
Dygz, I feel for you and other players that are more pve bias than the masses.
Coming from L2 where it was full loot drop on death in pve or pvp in the early after beta, I was very much risk adverse. I could not run an afk shop to buy and sell and make money. So making money was always a choice between do I pve today or do I stay in town to make money..
But in all honesty, whilst I died a few times and lost gear and mats here and there, as the game matured past beta and the player culture established, dying became rarer and rarer and L2 really was a hardcore pve game with very, very occasional encounters.
But as the game matured, so did the difficulty of doing pve solo or in PUGs, so players started joining guilds.
Guilds then determined your status in the world. The L2 pve guilds were largely left alone but had to sometimes play with an understanding that by not participating in pvp meant that on some occasions they may need to concede what they can do at times if a pvp guild was present. but most time not.. the pvp clans really only wanted the challenge of pvp clans.. AoC will have the issue of drops from players but with no fast travel that benefit will soon be stifled.
Clearly, you don't see...because there is already the possibility of getting killed with the normal Corruption-flagging PvP.
Really has nothing to do with the possibility of getting killed and everything to do with Corruption no longer acting to minimize instances of unwanted PvP combat. No one said that it "invalidates all the PvE content".
What it does is disenfranchises players who do not enjoy free-for-all PvP combat.
In addition to all the other forms of objective-based, opt-in PvP combat available in the game - Ashes now has a designated auto-flag, free-for-all PvP zone - with unique NPCs and unique treasure-finding opportunities.
That's the same thing as a PvP-centric game. Especially in a game with no safe zones.
Same difference as EvE Online and ArcheAge.
It's OK for it to certainly be a part of the game.
It's also OK for me to not play it.
That you have to contend with PvP when you do PvE is not and was never the issue (at least for me). That was always part of the design of AoC. Moving goods across the open sea for example was always going to be a risk, since caravans and I assume merchant ships as well were always open for PvP (like caravans on land).
The problem is the other stuff that is now possible as well (i.e. griefing in its variaous form) because the griefers have no longer anything thats holding them back.
So people who want to grief move into a completely optional area of the map rather than the zones where the general population spends a majority of their tine ? Sounds indeed like a huge loss for the part of the community, that is very PvP averse. /s
We don't know if it's 'completely optional' yet. It could be a requirement for end game crafting and gear. We'll just have to wait for them to clarify that part of the design change. Most games that do this type of pvp zone tend to also gate top mats for crafting and gear in such zones. So without further clarification I expect a lot of people to assume that it will for now.
But there is going to be a point where too many PvP zones, auto flag areas, etc. will kind of tilt the PvX balance to a more PVP feeling game... And I hope they don't.
in my opinion at least
Why are you acting like the Open sea is an fucking arena, where you can't Run? Is AN OPEN GIANT SEA, Build an fast ship and go and explore, you can see other players in miles just avoid, and believe me, no one Will follow you on Open sea if you start avoiding from a far distance, even more if they see you are not an caravan, they Will just lose time and never reach you.
You never player sea of thieves or archeage? This is even worst for gankers because now they can't Stay in the sea afk waiting for caravan other ganker Will kill then...
I can almost guarantee there's going to be something in the open ocean that is valuable or required for some part of the game/progression. It's still optional whether you go there or not. The game is an open marketplace, and virtually an economic simulator. Not everyone is supposed to be able to complete every piece of content. You trade for or buy the things you want/need.
A: If Endgame mats are exclusively obtained there, then its indeed PvX and the entire argument they brought (it not being PvX crumbles).
B: Its still completely optional even with rare endgame materials dropping there as you can still just make money otherwise and buy what you need.
Ah yes, from all those people who will grant you access to those high level materials before they and their group have farmed it to the point where they have nearly absolute control because they need the money for something other than the best materials in the game which they already have.
Economics 101.
To be fair, even in the unlikely event the ocean exclusively held items required to craft BiS gear or anything “required” to “complete” the game, I imagine based on things Steven said in the past that it would not be Bind on Pickup and you could just buy it.