Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
Yep, thats why I referenced a "representation" of the item, so they can still use the item, but if the "power source" or whatever lore explanation for said "representation" is stolen, then so is the rights to the item itself
That is what i suggested, but people want to be the only one to have it forever deep down and trying to argue it. No one here is most likely getting it unless they are in a hardcore guild and in the top of the guild lmao.
Depending on the server and what other guilds are there as well.
-Even Sauron lost the one ring, you aren't the main character, and you most likely wont end up in a guild that can obtain it.
2. People expect the item to be powerful and those players want to have a leg up on everyone forever or as long as possible.
-if the legendary is just a reskin and gear required to beat such creatures was better in the first place. It will be dead content they don't care about.
If you don't want someone to get a unique legendary then I suggest you all band together and contest the bosses that drop them.
And just as we all won't be the ones to get the item if it's a forever thing, nor we or you would be the ones to get the item even if it is on a bi-weekly reset. So what exactly is the difference between the two?
The chances are, the item will be used by several people from that top guild, because there might be times when it fits another player better than the og owner. I've seen this happen with Epic Jewelry in L2 and was myself a GL who lent out my EJ to other guildies to use during important fights (usually in pvp arena).
Respect 🙏
When did i say my idea was for the whole guild to use it?
The fact that every 2 weeks there would be a new one up means:
1. constant content to compete over
2. Ensures more elements of chasing different types of gear / buffs
3. Not just the high end guilds that no life at the start of the game can hold into it first / forever
4. With all of the above there is a chance it is more reasonable for them to have it as a special gameplay loop (meaning there is a design reason for them to make more. And not spending like over 100 man hours for 1 person to use it over using those hours to create more content in in the game for all players to enjoy.)
The only way to communize the hell out of Uniques is to literally prohibit the same guilds from even participating in the farm of the boss. And not just once, but for, like, months. Because if you don't - they'll just monopolize the boss. Obviously there'll be fights for it, and probably someone will beat the top guild through whatever means, but the Unique item would have nothing to do with it either way.
I feel like you imagine the Unique item's boss to be a completely its own thing with the Unique being the only thing that drops and only on the first farm of the boss. Because that's the only way the item would take 100 man hours. Though I'm not a 3d modeler, so I'm not sure how long the design and development of a single item takes, so maybe it's always 100 man hours, but at that point it wouldn't be any different from any lowbie unknown item from a shitty set, that literally never gets used by anyone (L2 had a few of those iirc).
I'm sure there will be other loot as well, doesn't change the fact that this item if thre is only one of it it means less loot is available. Yes top guilds will still farm it, but as time goes on more guilds will be able to challenge that later on as more people get to that bar of gear to fight. So the start might have 1% of players at that gear point, and down the road you will have 40% of players at the point of having the gear to do it.
Creating a very basic item compared to how they described legendary will not the same time to make items. And will definitely be a lot more picky on internal review.
Regardless again people consume content and there will be prios in development. When you have things you need done and start looking at your list on what to cut with a item only one person can use and then it is dead content. You start to get picky on what you cut.
I can kinda understand your point about dev time spent on an item that's gonna be in the hands of a single person, but at that point it's on Intrepid to decide what they wanna do with their time/money. But the "it will remove content for people" argument is definitely way too weak for me.
Either way, we just have too differing of an opinion on this. I want those items to be a game's story, while you want them to be smth that goes from person to person (which to me makes the item not unique in any way and so much less desirable and awe-inspiring).
To me it is still one less interesting item to get and i just see more potential with it imo to build excitement for these kinds of items. Or rp wise you can view it as a different history of what people do with it for those that want to look at it from a rp angle.
Yup it is 100% is on them, but i don't try to see just short term i look at the long term cycle. A lot of games have random things in it then they end up axing content or it is kind of there as a meme. Like having 3 unique in the game you never see and devs having no interest in making more. And instead use the resources to try to make content for everything, so I try to view it in a way that gives again a reason for them to keep that excitement (around those types of gear / drops).
Is the one ring now awe inspiring because multiple people get it? In any story you see legendary items passed around and it becomes a big deal in those settings. Look at anakin's lightsaber as well with different people obtaining it.
I feel the idea that story sudden becomes self centered on a player, than pushing the actual story of the server. Ie one person gets it, then when it resets a month later someone else gets the drop and rather than bringing good and protecting a node they are one of the groups trying to take them all out.
The story rather than be self centered on a character becomes a story around the server with those impactful artifacts.
To me, that ONE person would be exactly the one whose name would be used when talking about the item (one ring doesn't quite fit this, but I hope you get my point). But you want the post-legend story w/o the legend itself. Would one ring really be cool if it was taken from sauron before he properly used its power? Would anakin's saber be all that cool and meaningful if it was taken from him before he became Vader (let alone did all the cool shit)?
Imo they wouldn't be, because they wouldn't have garnered the legendary status yet. Yes, the game calls them legendary be default, because that's how games work currently, but to me sandbox (or sandpark in AoC's case) games are about player-made stories. And there can be no real story if the item keeps changing hands every so often.
In L2 there'd sometimes be these hugely OEd items, that would be widely known because they'd stand out from the crowd of enemies (due to their bright glow). And most of the time they'd stay on one player and that player's name would be synonymous with their weapon's strength. And due to the short-lived nature of some private servers, that player would leave the server soon enough. And there'd usually be 2 ways of leaving: you either OE your stuff till you burn it or you give it away. The former was always a spectacle because it'd be done publicly in the most popular town, while the latter would obviously transfer the power to a new player. But that power would still be known as the original owner's rather than that new player's.
And what I personally want for Ashes is to have the same interaction, but on a much longer timescale. If Intrepid are successful with their content release pace, I'd imagine we'll keep getting at least one new Unique every 6-12 months. I'd love to see a lore-connected "event", where old Uniques get repossessed every year. If the owner has stopped playing - it'd be just a "lost legendary" that was found by the boss' minions, so you can farm it again (but it now has the owners name on it or smth).
And if the owner is still playing then their node gets attacked with everstronger ways of mobs until they manage to kill the owner, at which point the item would drop. There could may even be some BH quest that marks him as Red on the map, in case the owner decides to hide from the mobs.
In other words, I want the timescale of these items to be way longer than a few weeks, because I've played with several-week scales and I disliked it
I don't view any one player as legendary, the artifacts will have their own history and legend, not the players. So Sauron would be the one the players beat and eventually get his item. So the legend is already established, players are not that one creating for those items.
I don't think i'll ever agree with you on players having legendary gear for a year. That is just eating up life time of the game so the people that no lifed and pick them up all the gear at the start.
But I'm interested why you don't like people having special gear that is timed for 2 weeks?
That's barely enough time for a non-'no-lifer' to actually enjoy their gear.
We shouldn't ruin the experience of those who manage to get this despite their limits in order to 'hold back' the ones that have less limits.
Lower chances of getting something but then getting to actually use that something is better to me. I don't enjoy 'higher chance to get something that you then feel obligated to try to get to use'. Especially in a game where using it is supposed to be strategic.
The big downside to it is that you still need to have items for and look out for upgrades to that item slot.
This makes it far less satisfying to get, and kind of means the item in question needs to be even more powerful than if it were permanent.
To me it should feel powerful, make it exciting but again just imo. Thinking gear needs to be held half a year to a year or more will always be silly to me. I'm mostly expecting it to be meme gear though if that will be the case.
Having a discussion has nothing to do when they are in game and how players will see them. I'm having this discussion so they aren't viewed as such.
What does me talking about them decide how players view them in game?
That is not true, it means if it is a strong item you are going to be more pressured to do content with it even more so when it comes to pvp when i have a powerful piece of gear. You can't compare those together.
Any point in a game if you get a strong piece of gear people want to use it and see what they can do. If it is a strong item people are going to take it very seriously it isn't a seasonal event.
Though if a legendary item is weaker than the gear used to obtain it and only one person has it, i agree no one is going to take it seriously and not care about it. Moment that is the view point of the community that type of content will be dead and have huge less incentive for more of it to be made.
Steven has said dropped gear will not be bis so the liklihood a unique legendary will be more powerful than a crafted piece is unlikely. The fact a top end raider also wants timers tells you all you need to know.
In my mind, unique legendaries will bridge the gap between those who have and those who have not. Thus, it is imperative they remain permanent until they can naturally be replaced.