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Office Hours: Village Node Discussion - Tues, Sept 19, 2023 at 11AM PDT
Office Hours is an opportunity to join the player discussion on topics we're actively collecting feedback on. Join @Roshen and @Vaknar over in the Ashes of Creation Discord for a voice chat during our next Community Office Hours on Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 11AM PDT (convert to your local time). This event should last about one hour.
This is not a Q&A session. For this session, we will be using Discord Stage. Every 8 minutes, we’ll be bringing up small groups of players to participate in one of the discussion prompts on this topic.
DISCUSSION TOPIC
The Node system, based on what we shared during the August 2023 Development Update Livestream, will be our main focus this time. The forum feedback thread for this topic is here.
In this session, we’ll break each of the 8 minute segments up to focus on one of these conversations:
- General Node Discussion - How do you feel about the Village Node Update so far? Is there anything in particular you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown with the Village Node Update?
- Village Node Visuals - What are your thoughts about the visual fidelity of what was shown with the Village Node Update?
- Mayoral Activities - How do you feel about the responsibilities of a Node’s mayor? Examples include setting up Buy Orders, responsibility for Service Building Expansions, and setting taxes.
- Service Building Progression - How do you feel about Nodes choosing which Service Buildings to have, and the building skill tree to specialize and expansion buildings? How do you feel about the process for constructing these buildings?
- Dream Nodes - When it comes to choosing a Node for where you’ll become a citizen in the world of Verra, what makes Node locations desirable to you?
Thanks again! We look forward to chatting with you all soon!
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NOTE: This thread is for conversations about the Office Hours program. If you have Node feedback, please share that in the forum thread here.
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Comments
**Bergund**
Excited by mandates and the internal/external node tension (provides a sense of "checks and balances"). Concerned by limited building sites and the need for players to work together instead of seeing "others" as threats in a PvX game across the server's biomes
**Dorayla**
Excited by vassal nodes working with parent nodes and not able to battle them outright - creates dynamic designs for broader player interaction, by design it encourages working together instead of volatile expressions. Desires to see the actual functionality of the node system and the nuanced interconnection between them
**Levish**
Excited by the geographical layout of the node (no longer just flat, and incorporates the land into its design). Concerned that players won't pay attention to the lay of the land / specialization of neighboring nodes (therefor not taking advantage of capitalizing on a market, and in doing so, limits the server/biome to only x type of goods), especially considering the limited building sites
**Saljourn**
Will seasons limit resources available / will players have to stock up on [corn] for instance, to save for the winter, and for those players that do stock up, will they be able to capitalize on their stockpile since other players may not have thought to take stock?
**Bergund**
LOVED the fidelity and the geography of the node and how its all interconnected. VERY human looking node and the details were very well represented, keep heading in that direction (racial specific details)! Maybe a node-specific mini map to assist visitors?
**Dorayla**
Looks solid. Art team keep it going! Tudor style architecture is beautiful, and would like to make a home at some point like that. Giving most nodes an iconic *something*, to make it unique for its area! Dwarf nodes should require taller races to use the /crouch function as it adds flavor to nodes!
**Levish**
Enjoyed that the node felt ALIVE- npcs walking around doing their tasks and not just standing still, waiting for players to interact with them. Hopes that as a node levels up (possibly influenced by different majority races as it levels) that it represents the history of that node, by adding to the history of what races were involved in leveling the node up over time, not replacing the racially dominant architecture with the "new" dominant race visual
**Bergund**
Hopes to see a diversity in how the different node types are experienced as a Mayor due to the dominant race's effects on a node (military nodes could feel different, as Mayor, if its a dwarven military node compared to a Vek military node). Loved seeing the player agency node mayors will have and how those systems can be supported and/or conflicted with its citizens through mandates.
**Dorayla**
Mayor doesnt seem too labor / playtime intensive, and doesn't think it should be. However, imagines HC/sweaty players being the ones seeking the position... for IC/OOC clout. Hopes to feel the tension between those players and the communities around them to prevent overly-dominant Mayors. On paper, everything seems fine, getting to experience it in game will be an opportunity to really give more substantial feedback on this prompt. Would LOVE to see Mayor's have a choice in Node colors/banners/icon representation and placement (maybe as simple as a dye color scheme choice, while the devs may have control of how/where those colors would be represented - backpack banners?) - the intention here is to promote node identity for players to use as expression.
Buy Orders: hopes to see diminishing returns for "resource hoarders" fulfilling buy orders due to their individual efforts alone, and instead allowing the node's community at large to take part in the Mayor's buy orders, therefore supporting that node's specific node-currency economy
**Saljourn**
Likes that there is a "buy-in" requirement to become a node Mayor (as Mayors need to be citizens of said node to be elected - they themselves will have investment in the node themselves)
**Levish**
Doesn't like how the Mayor has access to a VETO, but understands the necessity (emergency mandates etc). Likes that the Mayor doesn't have full control, players have a chance to thwart political "corruption".
**Bergund**
Both excited and concerned with limited space for a village node's building sites. I'm reminded of board games that have similar designs of 'you can do anything, but you can't do everything', which I love in experiences that last a couple hours, like in board games. The amount of tension it builds, and the opportunity for "board game replay-ability" keeps me coming back for more ("what if I tried *that* strategy next game"). My concern comes when thinking of it in an mmo, where the decision could last much longer due to node politics, alongside the limitations on resources from geographical node placement/competition... I'm curious if it will be too much tension and not enough enjoyment, as a player experience, to only have four building slots outside of the standard node building sites. Will various crafters feel pushed out because their service buildings dont support their profession? Since you need passive buildings to expand active service buildings, the current amount of building site space may be too tight for player enjoyment in an mmo like Ashes.
**Dorayla**
I love the idea of smaller nodes specializing in specific trades with their limited slots. While it looks like they cap out at tier 4 and the menu looks like the building has space to continue to expand and develop in the tech tree. If there are planned higher tech trees, my biggest two pennies I have is this:
If the village is in the zone of influence under a higher tier node that has unlocked that level of tech, that in my opinion should "unlock" the higher tiers the service building has. In other words, if the Metropolis has the highest tier blacksmith that specializes in the XYZ section of blacksmithing, that knowledge should be researchable by the lower tiers to provide that same service with their limited space. This would allow the large region to have a number of hubs players can access so the focus isn't purely on the metropolis but instead can be farmed out to the vassal nodes. If the metro is de-leveled, then the "supply chain" of knowledge is broken and would be inaccessible until that line is redeveloped. I absolutely love the idea for limited space in lower tiered nodes, the forced specialization gives each of the villages and towns its own flavor. Some D&D villages may have a blacksmith, but they might not have an alchemist's shop or vice versa. Allowing smaller nodes to be these niche but important crafter hubs ensures mobility isn't just centered around the highest tier.
For example, in WoW, players tend to congregate within 3 capital cities despite there being more; these are the capitals for the 2 major factions, and then the hub city for the current expansion. The world outside these cities feels like a single player game. Movement back and forth for players breathes life and interaction into the game.
Unknown if it's planned but it would be terrific to make use of the Academy as the primary station where service buildings get their upgrade capability. I wonder how the player base would react to the idea that you have to fund the Academy with research supplies and knowledge (world event rewards? dungeon drops? other sources of lost knowledge?) to unlock the ability to upgrade your blacksmiths from using steel to mithril or Ashes' equivalent of Magical Fantasy Cool Metal.
**Levish**
Hoping players can achieve crafting service buildings that specialize in more than one final specialization (possibly once the node reaches city/metropolis), to broaden access for their expression and civilian access. Allow players to share the research between two weaponsmithies?
**Madamos**
I think the Dwarven mythos and culture is a huge draw for me, so I would love to be in an underground node. Fighting off the monsters of the underneath. Since we would be exploring the surface, just seeing the biomes they've shown us so far would be great as well.
**Torinn**
I want to make sure there's some unique vista for each node. Having the beauty of the world shine through the place you'll be spending most of your time is going to be important.
**Saljourn**
I want a subterranean river where our docks are positioned inside a cave. To access the cave, you have to go under a big waterfall. Also, the cave has a walkway access underground with room for a caravan leading up to the surface over looking the cave
**Bergund**
one of my dwarven dream nodes is to have it imbedded into the tabletop mountain topography, with extreme height differences (some structures at the bottom of the mountains, and interesting ways to get to the tops of the plateaus, where there are other structures and service buildings. in a node like that, there could be entrances to the underrealm, and verrrry lucrative choke points due to the mountains themselves, not to mention incredible views, and points where guards can protect with lots line of sight
**Dorayla**
I'm a sucker for large, dark forests with tall trees that lead into mountains with navigable rivers.
Also a fan of something more Nordic in nature, cliffs, rocky landscape, and a dark cold ocean that meets the stony shore and a blanket of misty mountain forests in the background.
**Grukhith**
I definitely have been interested in the underground portions. Maybe a node where it is at the mouth of the entrance of the depths. Locks of rocks. Cool bioluminescence everywhere.
**And with that, the Dünir dwarves of Dünhold return to the mountain, to await the next requests from the esteemed Intrepid Studios**
I appreciate you getting some of the dwarves together, to share a few more perspectives on these discussion topics! 🍻
That was one element I found missing from a visual standpoint. What made the village feel so empty and lifeless was tge absence of children NPCs running around, playing, fighting, idling, etc.
Also, NPCs need to interact with both the environment and other NPCs more. Even if it is a scripted interaction, it makes things feel more real.
Actually,
i just notice only by now that i also didn't saw any "tiny People" in all the Representation Videos by now in the Nodes. Maybe they will add some Children later on.
As long as they also evacuate when a huge Dragon, Wyvern, whatever, or Group of Enemy Troops attack the Node, then okay. Would be a bit to dark to see Children Corpses lying around while everything is burning and Havok is being wrecked.
But then i read(?) this can't happen to City Population NPC's ? The only NPC's that can "die" are Guards who defend the Cities ?
What i saw until now in the latest Videos looked very good already, though. Feels very alive, the Village Node.
Espaniol ? ^.^;"