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AMA questions
Zargos
Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One
Hello from Japan, Ashes team! Braver of Worlds here with a few questions/suggestions! Feel free to use all, some, or none of my questions during the AMA! I rarely post or interject ideas because I feel it's been going really well without input. Just wanted to get some thought out. And even if they aren't used, would be nice to get thoughts from my fellow community members in the forums here 
1. Player offline NPC mode? EQ (sorry to reference another game) used to have the bazaar where you could turn your character turn into a shop and you could afk while going to work. Players could buy items from your bags that you set prices on beforehand. While that's a bit outdated, it would be neat to have your character turn into a shop mode at a store you own and then log out so your PC doesn't need to constantly be on. So if I open my bakery, I'd love to have my character essentially go into an NPC mode and sell confections while I'm offline.
2. Will we only be allowed one freehold slot? For instance, the ability to have both a home and a business freehold would be nice. One to live and farm on. One to have a tavern or shop on. Or the ability to simply expand your plot of land to accommodate more in your freehold. Paying gold to the node in order to expand your freehold. This would also increase the taxes you pay on your freehold to the node.
3. Chain stores (think worldwide like McDonald's or Ikea)? Chain stores that can expand to multiple nodes. A popular shop in one node could expand and hire player employees to run the shops while representing you and your shop's credibility. In turn, they could be disgruntled and harm your shop's standing in the world. You could gain a caravan bonus when sending goods from one shop to a subsidiary shop.
4. Fog of war element on the overworld map? Keep everything hidden until explored and mapped out by players! Create hundreds of small islands for pirates or sailors to find that are not shown on the main map of Verra. Make it feel like colonial times. A cartographer tradeskill would be neat. Give your node an edge over others who haven't properly sent out adventurers to explore and map out the world.
5. Corrupted leadership? Mayors, leaders, kings, or whoever should be able to be corrupted by greed. Theft of citizen taxes for personal gain. Citizens revolting against corrupt leadership. The citizens could ransack the tax coffers (redistribute the money back to citizens) during political unrest while lowering the node level due to the unrest would be amazing. Other nodes could use this system to undermine an enemy node from within. Spread rumors about leaders to get citizens upset enough to revolt. Espionage and saboteurs! This idea of corruption doesn't need to be just leaders. Corruption and greed should be able to exist everywhere within the game. If you run a blacksmith shop and you have another player working for you (it would be neat to have other players as employees in your shops), it would be an interesting twist for them to be able to steal money from the shop. Law enforcers in your town could be notified. Huge fines could be levied or the thief could be blacklisted from employment (jail would be a bit much since you take away from the player's time). In turn, the thief could also bribe the cops. Make them corruptable as well.
That's all I got for now! Alpha 1 was a blast. Been watching the live streams avidly. Can't wait for Alpha 2! Ashes has the potential to not only be a groundbreaking MMO, but also a real-life simulation at the same time if the right elements are put in. I am glad you've stuck to your morals and your goals concerning Ashes. Something I feel is very rare nowadays in the world of triple-A games. Stay happy, stay healthy, and take time to relax!
Cheers,
Zargos
1. Player offline NPC mode? EQ (sorry to reference another game) used to have the bazaar where you could turn your character turn into a shop and you could afk while going to work. Players could buy items from your bags that you set prices on beforehand. While that's a bit outdated, it would be neat to have your character turn into a shop mode at a store you own and then log out so your PC doesn't need to constantly be on. So if I open my bakery, I'd love to have my character essentially go into an NPC mode and sell confections while I'm offline.
2. Will we only be allowed one freehold slot? For instance, the ability to have both a home and a business freehold would be nice. One to live and farm on. One to have a tavern or shop on. Or the ability to simply expand your plot of land to accommodate more in your freehold. Paying gold to the node in order to expand your freehold. This would also increase the taxes you pay on your freehold to the node.
3. Chain stores (think worldwide like McDonald's or Ikea)? Chain stores that can expand to multiple nodes. A popular shop in one node could expand and hire player employees to run the shops while representing you and your shop's credibility. In turn, they could be disgruntled and harm your shop's standing in the world. You could gain a caravan bonus when sending goods from one shop to a subsidiary shop.
4. Fog of war element on the overworld map? Keep everything hidden until explored and mapped out by players! Create hundreds of small islands for pirates or sailors to find that are not shown on the main map of Verra. Make it feel like colonial times. A cartographer tradeskill would be neat. Give your node an edge over others who haven't properly sent out adventurers to explore and map out the world.
5. Corrupted leadership? Mayors, leaders, kings, or whoever should be able to be corrupted by greed. Theft of citizen taxes for personal gain. Citizens revolting against corrupt leadership. The citizens could ransack the tax coffers (redistribute the money back to citizens) during political unrest while lowering the node level due to the unrest would be amazing. Other nodes could use this system to undermine an enemy node from within. Spread rumors about leaders to get citizens upset enough to revolt. Espionage and saboteurs! This idea of corruption doesn't need to be just leaders. Corruption and greed should be able to exist everywhere within the game. If you run a blacksmith shop and you have another player working for you (it would be neat to have other players as employees in your shops), it would be an interesting twist for them to be able to steal money from the shop. Law enforcers in your town could be notified. Huge fines could be levied or the thief could be blacklisted from employment (jail would be a bit much since you take away from the player's time). In turn, the thief could also bribe the cops. Make them corruptable as well.
That's all I got for now! Alpha 1 was a blast. Been watching the live streams avidly. Can't wait for Alpha 2! Ashes has the potential to not only be a groundbreaking MMO, but also a real-life simulation at the same time if the right elements are put in. I am glad you've stuck to your morals and your goals concerning Ashes. Something I feel is very rare nowadays in the world of triple-A games. Stay happy, stay healthy, and take time to relax!
Cheers,
Zargos
Live Free Like A Pirate
Drifting Along Without Any Care At All
On The Sea Of Life
Drifting Along Without Any Care At All
On The Sea Of Life
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Comments
While I can't answer the questions, the first offline NPC questions seems super out of place, i believe marketplaces will be local to their region and offline NPC doesn't seem like it would mesh well with that. Also there was another player-made thread about corrupted leadership or something along the lines not too long ago, and it was not received well iirc.
And the world map will already start out covered in the fog of war and be unlocked by exploring, source is the wiki.