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
7. some people are tired
I think you might be new here if you think the community is ok with intrepid missing road map deadlines. Many people are pretty mad (although they almost always deny it) Intrepid have not talked about things fast enough that they never even agreed to give us in the first place, e.g. end game pve details.
You dont like the game. Not sure any roadmap, other than the road to a pve server, would satisfy you... and others.
Im not new here but i dont understand how people cant grasp what im saying, a to do list is not a roadmap of release dates its a listthat states
Before X is released we need to finish X, X,X and X and whem each of these is finishd we can tick it off
If the game releases some day with Nodes working according to the original game design, I will be satisfied - regardless of whether I play after launch.
Also, I don't think I have said or would say that I don't like the game.
im not sure where he got that, i dont agree with everything you have said about the game but you are also one of the reasons i got into the game in the first place and probably one of the oldest community members so not sure where this info comes from
side note, i hope it launches with everything that it has been hyped up to be too
If it makes you feel better: Asking for it.
Now maybe address the actual content of my comment so we can discuss why or why not it might not be such an important thing to have a timeline.
Will you not play Alpha 2?
facepalm
We've grown accustomed to this as MMO players. At this stage in a corporate produced MMO, we would more likely than not have a development roadmap or dates. Things feel off right now because this development path is different.
We're in an MMO hole right now where nothing worthwhile has released in a bit. As Steven said, Ashes has a window of relevancy. It feels like that window is now, but not sure on when it'll close.
Dev teams have learned over the past 5+ years that it's best not share those publicly during the Alpha stage.
If they start the Alpha 2 sooner, then it will be longer.
I think they want to have the Alpha 2 not only for testing purpose but also as a good experience.
The purpose of the pinned thread ( Dev Discussion #54 - In-Game Content ) might be to find out what to prioritize for Alpha 2, as not everything might be ready when it starts.
I think Alpha 2 will start in 1-2 years and will be released in 3-4 years.
I am patient because I have games to play and I enjoy them. I am even worried that I might not get enough time for AoC.
People who say they will drop everything to play Alpha 2 constantly, believe the game will be better than anything else. Or they are burned out of whatever games they have and put too much hope into AoC.
Alpha 2 needs a constant population on the servers, to be able to balance things.
pretty much most u can hope for is a check list when they tick things off as theycomplete them with no time line for things just a tick when there done and when everything ticked off its A2 time but u prob wont get that either
I'd love to quit other games and play the alpha 2 tomorrow but I'd rather it presented when ready. There's just too much room for misinformation and negativity if they have to push back a project.
We've already seen what happens with bad releases. It leaves a black eye on the project that is hard to remove.
- "let him cook", "takes time", are all well and good BUT till when needs to be asked. Why? Because I doubt all the chefs in here would say the same thing if the game ended up cooking for 10 more years.
I bought a PC specifically in late 2021 because AoC was estimated to be released by late 2022 or early 2023. That didn't happen. I was disappointed but didn't really mind cuz - let him cook, takes time - but I had hoped that it would be released by 2025 latest. I mean 2 years is a long time to catch up, even including the time delay due to moving the game to UE5.
I doubt we would having A2 anytime this year. Consequently, the game release feels further away than it did when I came across this game 2 years back.
At the end of the day, I feel many of AoCs early followers and well wishers would not get to or be able to enjoy the experience regardless of their patience.
So basically what @Dygz said but in more words. I think.
Since Landmark?EQNext, I've been waiting to play an MMOPRG where I can work together with other players to build a village and possibly defend it from threats. (And to be able to have Dwarves/Elves/Halflings who have a Polynesian/African/Native American/Asian/Indian ethnic facial features and skin-tones.)
A release date of "Before 2020" made it seem as though Ashes would be the first MMORPG to provide that experience - so I might have to accept the compromise of Corruption if I wanted to be able to play an MMORPG with those features....
But... now there are other MMORPGs in development with those features... and some of them will have less of a focuson PvP and competition... where I would not have to deal with the compromise of Corruption.
(Also, P2W is not a dealbreaker for me...)
And some of them may release before Ashes of Creation...
But, at this point... yeah...
Take the necessary time to make Ashes a game that its target audience will love and play for more than a decade.
This is not a reason not to have a roadmap. This is a reason to not have A2 at all. Since that's a breach of what they've promised, this still comes in as a reason to delay A2 for as long as possible.
Right now we have some vague guidelines as to what needs to happen before A2. IE, we have some A2 goalposts that can be moved around as much as they like, and also the ball is somewhere between midfield and the A2 goalposts, but we don't really know where it is.
I don't want A2 to be delayed so far that closed beta is just a few months after A2. Because that's what A2 next year...sometime....looks like. This is why I have not yet bought the $250 pack.
To be honest, you will only stress yourself out needlessly worrying about time tables at this stage. Too early.
Watching the clock makes it go slower. Just enjoy other games, and check back as the months go by, would be my advise.
After Alpha 2 start or after Alpha 2 end?
There might be no much difference between them. Just a stage to bring even more players to test.
I agree with the OP. The small dozen of noisy active members totalling more than 10,000 posts on this forum will tell you to take your time, don't rush things and stay in the dark as Steven is cooking now.
But a Road Map doesn't preclude meticulous work. Asking for a road map doesn't mean you have to go faster, and it certainly doesn't mean you have to come up with a job that's a mess.
Let's not forget the silent majority who follow the game without giving their opinion every 5 minutes. A road map isn't just for those super fans who read the Wiki every night before going to sleep and keep a notebook of Steven's quotes.
A road map would attract the attention of those who waiting the game but don't have the time to read and analyze all the content already available on the game's development.
So for my part, yes, I'm in favor of a road map as soon as possible.