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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
Post the quote where I literally state "People will not be playing this game."
I have not said anything like "Nobody will play this game."
In fact, I have stated numerous times that I expect people who love EvE Online, ArcheAge and Lineage II will also love playing Ashes. Also, those PvPers who loved NW before the PvP got nerfed.
And, sure, we could also add way older games, like Ultima Online and Shadowbane...
Although, I usually use Shadowbane as my prime example for PvP-centric MMORPGs failing.
It's hysterical to me that the Play To Crush folk moved on to make Wizard101 - which is way more successful.
Even Crowfall is struggling.
I'm pretty sure Steven will be ecstatic if he can maintain EvE Online and Lineage II population numbers for 10+ years.
You defending him assuming things on games he has not played and telling people who played games how it is? Also also defending him insulting as a means to dismiss people?
I'm still trying to find reasons. You don't have any attachments to a node. It's not a social thing, only guilds are. A node is just like a city, a group of people.
Maybe after playing 5 months in the same node, you might know a couple of hardcores, but are they going to be willing to help you?
Plus, if you own any property, it's probably going to be on the edges or low populated nodes, so I don't think you'll see much action. I don't think casuals will be able to afford citizenship
I'm going to think about the players as humans behind the screen.
And... it's the very fact that PvPers treat other players like pixels and NPCs rather than humans behind the screen that I prefer to play MMORPGs on servers that PvPers are not playing on.
Has nothing to do with fear.
We can lose stuff from mob attacks - losing stuff is not really the issue. Risk is not really the issue. We can have plenty of challenge and risk from mobs.
Hardcore players can afford that, casuals can't. A casual has 3 hours of gameplay, goes out to farm, they're not gonna be coming back to the node every 10 things mined, they will stay until bags are full. Casuals gets ganked. Casuals loses a lot of mats. Casual just lost 50% of time.
For a casual that's half the game time, for a hardcore it's just "a minor session". Rinse and repeat.
Eventually casuals is gonna say "I'm done wasting my time"
Then that’s your choice.
I understand that. We are still in the development stages. However I think this game might not be geared for many strictly pve characters. Maybe join a large guild and be the supreme crafter and such that never leaves the freehold. But unless the made a mirror server like UO's trammel it's prob not the place.
What I won't accept is being forced, by some other player, into PvP combat when I'm not in the mood for PvP.
You MIGHT be able to get me to play a game where I can always choose to punish the player who forces me into PvP with Corruption. But, I won't play a game with permanent zones that don't have something like the Corruption mechanic. Of course, even in the areas with Corruption... being forced into PvP would have to be exceedingly rare.
Once we get into the territory of auto-consent to PvP just be agreeing to play the game - I will refuse to play that game. Because I find the concept of auto-consent to PvP abhorrent.
Whether I win or lose the PvP encounter is irrelevant.
How much time I waste due to PvP could be an issue.
In general, even people with little time should be able to schedule in time for a Siege if they want to.
Even if you only have 20 minutes - doesn't hurt to spend the 20 minutes protecting your Node for as long as you can.
"Come join us as you wont like the taste of the Grapefruits we're throwing at our enemies."
"Never settle for what you think you know" - C. Krauthammer
Conflict in Ashes will be with both mobs and players. But you know this…
… and have decided accordingly. I don’t think the vast majority of folks - even here - have accepted this yet.
There will be other MMORPGs offering features similar to Ashes that are more casual friendly.
And... casuals are more likely to choose the easier route rather than the the more difficult one.
Yep. And this is will be an inflection point for a product being directed toward multiple segments or a targeted micro-segment.
Since NPCs and mobs actually are just pixels - I'm not sure conflict is the word I would use for any interactions with them.
@Liniker I usually agree with you... and hardly ever agree with @Noaani, but I think it is very possible both of you are correct from your perspectives and there is just not enough overlap in your two perspectives that you will ever see the others. You should join together to form a guild.
I vote for the Mayors.
I help choose what Services are available.
I help choose which Social Orgs are supported there.
And - I would expect to be quite social with the other players in that Node - since I will be progressing and defending the Node alongside them. Probably crafting and possibly trading with them, too.
As well as asking them to catch me up on the latest news while I've been offline.
Why would it take 5 months to know a couple of hardcores? And why would they not be willing to help you?
Ok.
There are four, just from this thread. @Dygz Please feel free to correct me if I have accidentally misquoted you.
Its just a basic truth that hardcore players get what they want -first- anywhere you go.
The angsty going around the forums in several threads right now, is that instead of -first-, the systems seem to be orienting themselves to -only-, as in, to exclude casual (or more clearly spoken, NORMAL players, as in the majority of players, almost all of us) from content.
This created a controversy which we can see by all the debate and discussion.
So if the system is hardcore -only- can do all the actually important things, what is there left for normal players to make this game fun. What is left to draw the rest of us into logging in to this game instead of other games, if normal players can't have any realistically achievable goals.
Even in grindlord games like bdo where hardcore players (or those with big bank accounts
In ashes, it seems that is impossible for a normal player to ever reach the desired pinnacle content without riding the coattails of a mega guild or group of sweaty players.
I'm not defending him, I just understand where he's coming from, because of my experience of interacting with you on these forums
Because i called you out on the concept that you will be able to do everything, so you should have no reason to complain about freeholds based on your words in your own post
Are you trying to argue that all people will play Ashes.
Steven even says that Ashes is not designed for everyone - so... I don't understand your concern.
There literally will be people who refuse to play Ashes.
People who love hardcore PvP will probably love Ashes - since that is the target audience.
I expect those people to have tons of fun playing - and I hope they do.
But, I predict that casual PvEers will mostly choose not to play Ashes. After Ashes launches - we'll see how accurate my prediction is.
Actually, it has no relevance at all.
I played BDO for a while.
My impression of its PvP was formed before I had engaged in PvP with anyone. Engaging in PvP later on simply backed up the opinion that I had already formed as being accurate. Others I have talked to on these forums have backed up that opinion as being valid and accurate.
I will happily talk about the general nature of that game (not with you, however). I wont get in to the details of classes, builds and gear, because THAT is what you need to have put significant time in to understand.
However, the general nature of PvP can be determined in minutes - before even engaging in PvP.
That is what I said where you quoted me.
Keep in mind what my original comment in this regard was. I didn't say PvP in MMO's shouldn't exist, I didn't say Ashes should drop PvP - what I said was "There are far better genres for PvP gameplay than MMO's."
This is an objective fact. No one with a brain would argue against this point.
The miltiple hundreds of millions of MOBA, BR and FPS combined gamers simply don't compare to the few million MMO PvP players. If the MMORPG genre was indeed the best genre for PvP, then those hundreds of millions of players would be playing PvP based MMORPG's.
However, lets take your comment above, but still keep it within the context of me saying there are better genres for PvP than MMORPG's.
You are talking about the major battles of large groups going up against large groups. The absolute undisputed king of this kind of gameplay - I think most would agree - is EVE.
The thing is, after every major battle in EVE, the games population drops. Sometimes by a double digit percentage.
Now, you are arguing that this is a good thing. I am saying that it is this very fact (among other things) that points to MMORPG's not being the best genre for PvP.
lol. nope. i am saying you are subtly (not as much as you think) trying to change Steven's mind about pvp.
i will see you in hello kitty island before that happens.
honestly, if you guys did peyote together, this would be moot.
If I wanted to try to change his mind, I would just straight up tell him he should change his mind.
I would also clearly state that here in the Forums.
I don't want Steven to change his mind.
they are the exact thing you said you did not say. lol. i cannot support you any longer if you do not recognize this fact @dygz feedback required.
No that's not it, but you've proven my point in a way.
You just keep making assumptions about people and their arguments, even when replying to a post, you completely make up an argument that doesn't exist in the post at all, kinda like putting words in people's mouth, as you've said. You're just projecting. You accuse him of doing the exact stuff that you are actually doing. Not to mention the constant derailing of arguments, and focusing on moot points.
And it's not the first time. As I've said, I had a fair share of those interactions with you previously a few months back. You just kept making weird and false assumptions about me, and the stuff I said or believed in, just based on the fact that I disagreed with you on a certain topic, and argued in favor of the thing you didn't seem to like that much (if I remember correctly it was about combat systems and tab vs action).
Whenever you don't do those sort of things, you actually can make a valid point, but that's very rare.
You stated I said, "People will not be playing this game."
I never said that.
Rather, what I said, very specifically is: If you have poor reading comprehension and cannot properly grasp context, that is your own battle to fight.
I can't help you with that.
I very clearly stated that there will be people who love playing Ashes.
Your paraphrase of what I actually wrote is ludicrous.
If you can't see that...