Ashes Artemis Program

Nerror

Inspired by the Artemis program, which aims to have humans living on the moon in this decade, I would absolutely LOVE to see some similar extra-planetary expansion content in Ashes of creation.

EDIT: Just to be clear, I am not suggesting actual space rockets or anything like that. The already established AoC lore-based way of space-travel is through portals.

Setting and Lore
Verra has multiple moons. The Harbingers are comet-like celestial bodies that landed on Verra and acted as bridges for the Ancients to essentially teleport from The Void to Verra. This started the apocalypse. We also know the divine gateways can transport people between planets.

What's to say some of these Harbingers didn't land on one or more of the moons? The Ancients certainly could have colonies there, plotting evil deeds against Verra. This requires some brave Verran adventurers to stop them.


Expansion Idea

The basic idea here really is to have this new threat of one or more Ancient moon colonies become known to the people of Verra. The moon colonies could have been fairly dormant for centuries, but upon the return of people to Verra they've been reawakened and are now used as staging points for new Ancient invasions. Perhaps the ultimate plan of the Ancients is to hurl giant rocks from the moon to destroy all sentient life on Verra again. I am sure all you clever people can come up with more possible plots.

To stop this, new divine gateways to the moon is opened so the players can stop the Ancients. Alternately, adventurers could perhaps use harbingers on Verra to portal to a Harbinger on the moon.

What we'd get is one or more completely new biomes with new stuff. New plants and wildlife, perhaps corrupted, and new crafting materials. New augments perhaps. If they are brave they might even play around with the gravity settings.

This could predominantly be high level content for one of the planned level cap increases, but I would like to see something for the mid-level players as well.

I don't think we should have the node system on the moon as-is, but perhaps some sort of outpost system for the players to build up would be nice. Something to fight for and over without replacing the importance of nodes home on Verra. In fact, it should tie into the overall node system somehow I think: new Moon Relics for the Reliquary, new materials for node defense and offense. Something that Kings and Mayors will want to fight for.

If the expansion could somehow coincide with a major milestone of the actual Artemis program that would be the cherry on top IMO, but I think the expansion idea is solid on it's own.

Thoughts?

Edit: From the November livestream today, we got a nice shot of a destroyed moon! This certainly looks like the work of the Ancients. We need to either protect the two other moons, or stop the Ancients from hurling those big chunks of the moon down on Verra.

Noaani

The original EQ had an expansion on one of it's moons fairly early on. EQ2 had one as well.

It's as valid an idea for an expansion as any - and can also go some way to solving the issue Ashes will have if it tries to add new land - since all land in the game is supposed to be within the node system, more land means more nodes which means players are more spread out which defeats at least one aspect of the reason for the node system existing in the first place.

Strevi

To imagine what expansion would feel good I have to imagine that I am bored by the life on Vera and close to stop playing.

If I am not bored, I need no expansion on other planets, just improvements on the planet itself which could have been part of the initial release but need time.

My problem with new areas is that they reduce population density on old zones.

Jhoren

I like it.

I can see this as a dual expansion even. First a small one, where small meteors start raining down on Verra, perhaps with lower tier ancients inside and some new mineral not seen before. After a while the players discover the meteors originate from a moon, and that the small meteors are just small tests prior to the big rocks, and they have to figure out a way to build a portal to it to stop the meteors from destroying the planet.

The next bigger expansion could roughly be done as in OP.

As for reducing the population on Verra, it all really depends doesn't it? How big is the moon area? How healthy is the server population? It might not be possible to stay in the moon area for extended periods of time. It could be time-limited excursions. There are many options to do it right I think.

Not ever allowing new areas to open up in the game is probably worse for retention and player-loss than *maybe* spreading the playerbase a bit more thinly, I think

TheDarkSorcerer

Maybe this should be something that is explored 10 years in. But would feel very odd to right away be able to travel to other planets. There's so much to explore already with the world of Verra. That's enough for all players to be honest.

And if we were to be able to travel to some far away planet, the travel should be done the way Bifrost opens a path way between midgard and asgard or similar. Not through some spaceship or vehicle.

Nerror

TheDarkSorcerer wrote: »

Maybe this should be something that is explored 10 years in. But would feel very odd to right away be able to travel to other planets. There's so much to explore already with the world of Verra. That's enough for all players to be honest.

And if we were to be able to travel to some far away planet, the travel should be done the way Bifrost opens a path way between midgard and asgard or similar. Not through some spaceship or vehicle.

We arrive on Verra at the start of the game from another planet (Sanctus) already, through a divine gateway. The whole interplanetary travel thing is the first thing you experience as a player. So it's completely lore appropriate to do the same to travel to a moon, but we'd likely need some help from one or more of the gods.

10 years is unnecessarily far out in the future I think. I mean, sure, they can do other expansions first if they like, but I would certainly like to see new areas in the game before 10 years are up, whether they are on Verra or a moon or a different plane of existence.

maouw

I like this idea, but I think it's a gem that's better suited to an expansion further down the line - coz an entire new planet is a totally new canvas (((((new race))))), and I think there's more to explore first expanding the current world map in the first new expansion - really building out the node system.

Or maybe expanding to a new moon first would give them more inspiration for expansions on Verra?

Arya_Yeshe

I would not follow such path even if it is fine lore-wise and I will tell you why

If I am the one who gets to choose I would add more islands to Verra and maybe even gipsy nodes that spawn in different places everyday being water or air

I would make Verra richer instead of creating disconnected new areas that can be only accessed through a gate, otherwise we will end up in the same situation the wormsholes in EVE Online are.

In EVE the wormholes are disconnected like that and it is super lonely in there in general, in general it has many abandoned player structures from people who abandoned the game or never came back to maintain the structures

I am in for a richer Verra without diconnected areas from the main map, there's more gain investing in Verra

Voxtrium

I feel like an easy way to introduce new content through expansions will be introducing the land locked behind a node. Like node 54 has to reach level 6 for this expansion area to unlock, then once unlocked the land of verra perma changes to the expansion, not sure how i feel about adding territory though, probably prefer just changing the landscape, maybe add land through volcano explosions and take land at the same time through earthquakes, new content + new land + same players/sqmile

Dolyem

Not a fan of adding a sci-fi feel to fantasy unless its immediately established as a common thing from the start. Portals to other planes? Sure. Space travel? Nah. Just my opinion.

Dygz

Everyone just recently came from Sanctus.

Strevi

Except the Tulnar

Arya_Yeshe

I will add that I would not like having extra maps over expanding or investing in the Verra map, because in the long run it will happen the same thing with other MMOs, the consequence is having many areas empty of people

It's best adding stuff to Verra and havin it well populated

Noaani

Arya_Yeshe wrote: »

I will add that I would not like having extra maps over expanding or investing in the Verra map, because in the long run it will happen the same thing with other MMOs, the consequence is having many areas empty of people

It's best adding stuff to Verra and havin it well populated

I kind of agree here, but there are exceptions.

If you have a game that gives players a solid reason to be in town, a solid reason to be in their open world property, and a solid reason to be out in open world content, then they cant go wrong.

Games start to feel empty when all the facilities players used to use in town are instead replicated closer to the new content, and when that content is most mly instanced.

Seeing a few less players in a lower level dungeon isnt really going to be an issue (and indeed may be preferred). There will never be a lack of people in level cap content, unless it is instanced. If a game developer doesnt instance too much content, manages to keep players in cities and on their land, the game will feel populated.

Nerror

Just to be abundantly clear (based on a couple of the comments), I am not advocating for space rockets here. That would be silly The Artemis program is about putting people on the moon. In Ashes that would happen through a portal. This could even be through a Harbinger on Verra, connected to the moon's Harbinger.

Jhoren

Nerror wrote: »

This could even be through a Harbinger on Verra, connected to the moon's Harbinger.

This makes the most sense actually. Fight through some ancients by the Harbingers to access the portal both ways.

I would even like an attunement process for this. A questline to get access through the portal.

Dolyem

Nerror wrote: »

Just to be abundantly clear (based on a couple of the comments), I am not advocating for space rockets here. That would be silly The Artemis program is about putting people on the moon. In Ashes that would happen through a portal. This could even be through a Harbinger on Verra, connected to the moon's Harbinger.

As long as there's no spaceships -cough- Exodar in WoW -cough-

Nerror

From the November livestream today we got a nice shot of a destroyed moon! This certainly looks like the work of the Ancients. We need to either protect the two other moons, or stop the Ancients from hurling those big chunks of the moon down on Verra.