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
A node at a river-delta could be awesome.
King's Landing, so there's the beach/Naval element to it.
Moria, a Node built into a mountain would be class.
Costal for sure. Cant beat the screaching of seaguls in the morning
What makes a node desirable to you?
That the node feels alive. Not static. Chaotic. Suprising.
An area to be traversed between zones with no way round, bountiful pve and a pvp choke point!
Some players that want a militaristic node will look for the most strategic locations on the map and want to be part of a strong and defensible node. Other nodes may be more vulnerable to sieges because of their location, but they may have more opportunities for trade and advancement within their religion or artisan skills.
For xp grind areas, I like villages, ruins, nests or distributed camps. Personally, I'd think only animals should be just wandering around the forest respawning frequently, and even then, there should be a den someplace nearby (mini dungeon with mini-boss?) if there are enough wolves wandering around to make a farm spot. For example, the placement of the mobs in the ranger video made no sense with minotaurs just standing around. However, in the fighter video you can make a case for stone golems spawning in a rocky cleft.
I'm not sure if ocean tides and weather are ever planned on being implemented but I think it would give the sea a much greater feeling of danger and excitement. Having to navigate a storm while chasing your quarry or escaping with your cargo through the swells of massive waves would create some incredible stories.
As far as actual nodes that can be grown, unsurprisingly, the node(s) I am looking forward to the most are basically anything on a coastline. Seeing a bustling port city develop from nothing is a pretty exciting prospect.
I'd like to live in a hilly forest (not Surprising for Py'Rai) with mountains nearby, beside a freshwater river that feeds into a brackish lake. That lake has access to the ocean through a couple other brackish rivers that flow from it. The node's settlement, defensively built into the side of a large hill, is very well defended geographically with the brackish lake and a wide fresh-water river protecting over 60% of its' outer wall (+25% protected by cliffs). With its' unlimited fresh water from the mountains, traders thrive in the abundance of herbs and crops from the long growing cycle, while the adventurers explore dangerous dungeons in the mountains and underwater.
Would be nice to place it at a crossroads between underground passages would make for nice trade hub :P
For me the biggest thing with nodes is having different landscape and defensive layouts and things to make node wars different, needing different stratergies to breach the city fighting through tunnels for example to push in, pushing up a ramp where knockbacks can push people off the ledges and things and so on the same strat shouldnt work on every node war due to layout or terrain
wtb zone where it rainining almost constantly
I prefer pleasant looking open areas with some elements of corruption, invasion, or something similar to turn it hostile and add level design elements that could help convey desperation, disgust, destruction, aggression, depression, or w/e fits the story behind the area, without making the whole area unpleasant to be in for extended periods of time.
For example - i did not enjoy staying for long in L2 Blazing Swamp or Forge of the Gods. Meanwhile Ketra and Varka Outposts i find to be some of the best designed areas in an MMO - pleasant to be in, large, fairly open, but still with plenty of structure to it, which made it great for PVP with multiple sub-areas, access points, and hot-spots (e.g. areas with Generals, where most competitive groups would collide, creating breathing room for peaceful players in less contested sub-sections). Among indoor areas - Cruma Tower stands out to me as the best, and something like Stakato Nest as the worst.
I don't think i actually have favorite biomes, it's just something sand/snow themed is more likely to be made dull.
TLDR: I think it comes down to high contrast. Beautiful area with splashes of ugly. Wide open segments separated by structures, elevation, claustrophobic corridors and tunnels. Dangerous, highly contested sections and chill areas well suited for solo players, or taking a break.
Changing - no, adjusting - sure.
I will try to pick the best node.
Tabletop mountains - Starts at the edge of a cliff with nearby plateau if it level to rank for it will connect via bridge to the nearby plateau and R4 will connect to another one T5 will expand to another one and T6 will expand do another (maybe connects back to other side at R6 so now u get a shortcut through a ravine or something along those lines if it hit R6. Pushing across these bridges in node wars wil be interesting and does allow for knockback to be used with deadly effect if you knock people off the bridge as they try pushing across.
Lavabiome - Would be nice to see a city on an island inbetween 2 lava flow like it forks appart and there a hill in the middle where the node is on with bridges going over the lava flow to get to the city, could be up agaist a mountain and you can have 2 bridges connecting to either side of the lava flow
Jungle or Pyrei biome, Tree city (kinda like kelethin in Evrquest) muiltipul platforms in the tree connecting via bridge to eachother
Mountain node - Build into a large underground cavern inside mineshaft's
underrealm would be nice having a node underground in a large open space connected via tunnels, would be interesting in node wars fighting by pushing through tunnels to get to the city could be a little maze/labrythn like aswel, resident would be familiar with the maze where attackers might not be could add interesting element in node wars.
For me personally, the Node that I would be most excited for is either of the extremes on the color pallet. I am an enjoyer of the dark and the light, the marble and the basalt. The beauty of a white sand coast with a marble castle and diorite walls. Or under the shadow of a volcano, can lie a node that is make of the very igneous rock it rests upon.
Then again, there is something very valid about a classic Anglo-Saxon castle/village design. as you spend more and more time in a node, visiting it for many hours a day, every single day... nodes with aggressive appearance and a heavy amount of uniquity can ware on your eyes. Eventually you'd desire the ability to feel like you have a choice of the environment around you. If you build a house that's made entirely of beach wood and granite, you'll look completely out of place in a dark and brooding castle.
My hope as well is that the creativity and the ownership of your node doesn't stop there. When you take ownership and have love for the place you live.. you want to take it everywhere you go. Having the option to wear a banner that matches your node, having titles associated with your position in them. Those kinds of options are what allow you to immerse yourself into the place you live. The more that you love the place that you visit every day, the more that you'll love logging into the game.
Ultimately, if I can get satisfaction simply by sitting on a public bench looking around at the node and adoring it's beauty.. you've locked in a massive amount of satisfaction in the game as a whole. Let's hope we can get there.
Stay Creative, Stay Patient, and put your best foot forwards,
Added some follow up questions to the OP
An undersea node.
A node on one of the moons.
A extra dimensional node that is only accessible periodically.
An anti-magic node.
A wild magic node.
Believe you already brought up the idea of underground nodes, which I assume are already in the cards.
I want to have easy access to the deep ocean because there I estimate my guild will play more often (if they play). However do not add fast roads or teleportation.
I am somewhat surprised that there is no swamp biome. But maybe swamps are just areas inside biomes? Anyway don't delay entering Alpha 2 just to add one more biome.
[*] Do you plan on changing the way you play, based on your node?
Sure. But that will happen with each new alt I create. And I will visit and live in all biomes eventually. Which alt I will play more often I cannot tell you now, just like you cannot tell me when you start Alpha 2 or release the game.
[*] Do you want the node you choose to determine how you play the game, or based on the way you play the game will you choose whatever node is best for you at the moment?
I will chose the node based on what play-style I chose when I level a new alt, after my old node is destroyed in a siege. If get bored from my play-style sooner than the node is destroyed, I might relocate myself to a new node, if that brings me an advantage (fast access without much rent increase for apartment or potential freehold). However if I will get lucky to own a freehold, most likely I will not relocate or move away from it.
I do not regret buying a freehold cosmetic shortly after the freehold change Steven made, but I will take my revenge on you later during Alpha 2.
In terms of strategic aspect, I would spend most of my time in a node that was constantly under siege from npc invaders if it was offered. Ideally, the siege would be somewhat dynamic with more difficult raid monsters showing up during peak hours while lesser mobs that I can either solo or kill with a small group being more prominent during non-peak hours. That way, I can still make a meaningful contribution to defending the node, even when its 2AM, and most of my guildies are asleep.
So, if I had a choice I’d rather be in a certain biome as I plan on being a gatherer (so I’d like better access to the resources I care about). However, I’m sure my guild will try for a strategic location in terms of location as well as nearby resources (regardless if it’s the resources I specifically would need). So I personally don't care as long as I can play with my friends.
Once we settle a node the only thing I’d change about the way I play would be how I hunted monsters/farmed experience. But it’s all going to be the same overall. Farm experience to level up my adventure class, gather as much as possible of HQ ingredients for my guild, and participate in the raids when I can. The differences in playstyle would only be superficial in that regards.
So if I was a solo player I would pick the node that is best for me at the moment. But as someone who plans on playing with a group I’d rather have roots in a node where I could potentially be one of the first people in the housing market (I’m willing to PK my fellow guild members if I don’t get a mansion spot
I do not want nodes to change and force play-styles I don't want upon me, (to try to actively prevent me to move away looking for something new) because that could actually force me to log into an alt located in a different place to avoid doing the content I don't want to do at that moment.
I want to know that in certain places I find the players who I can rely on: the crafters, the tamers, the pvp-ers...
And that I can be found in places where my main play-style is. That means when I am not with the guild I will play using a different alt than the one which I use when I play with the guild. Also I might want to create an alt which travels a lot and changes location often, if you create a profession which can do it's job while exploring.
I will probably not feel attached to a node unless I have a freehold there, which I doubt will happen. I will help all nodes to defend themselves if they belong to my metro, or if they are neutral buffer nodes.
That being said, even if I have multiple alts, I want the game to make it so that only one main alt exists, not only because I use it more often but also to exist a "main" property for the account. So that I can eventually identify other players I interact with as having a certain specialization rather than being self sufficient multi-alt players who can do everything.
Edit: if you increase level cap to 365, reachable in one year (4-6 h/day), it is more likely that I would play as the node tells me to play and I would make low level alts only if they would become useful to defeat high level players. Then I would welcome node special PvP and PvE events to break the monotony.
but to be Serious i love the nodes that have the most players whatever the biome is.
And what is that node ?
Mostly in the middle of the map node or very low tax node.