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
The game is designed around risk vs reward. Its also about maximising profit by travelling long distances. I don't like all the play it safe suggestions. Why do you play an MMO to be in a little bubble? Local chat channels are little bubbles. Useful when you want to blow bubbles but not conducive to the grander scheme. I really don't want to stagnate and if I'm stuck with the same players for the game span I won't enjoy the experience. I like to talk to enemies, neutrals and allies. I have my guild for closed communication and my friends for free communication. How will I identify the Master Crafters in a Science Metro if I can't use global chat or the local node citizen chat? I want to live in a Divine Node but I'm not sure I want to live in a Metro. I can rely on my Guild Crafters but getting resources to them will require more than local trading.
You can still go to those regions and communicate. Build networks and play the social aspect of the game. Maybe they'll even advertise them through things like a posting board or a guild board. Explore the game. Sitting at your node and relying on a global chat is playing in a bubble. It implies you don't want to explore the world.
As someone also pointed out, they will just end up being filled with spam. As I've said, go to the postings and look or use the nodes local chat to find groups or crafters. There is no need to reduce the social dynamic because players don't want to leave their nodes into the unknown. Who knows, maybe you'll find a node that you enjoy more by doing so, or even a guild.
I have a guild. If you think local node chat won't be spammy I don't know what to say. Except, it will become more toxic because you live, fight and die next to those same people. Your local reputation can be made or broken by a foolish mistake when you're new and you'll never live it down. Global breaks players free of these issues, broadens help to players, broadens trade between players and broadens social interaction between players. The only reason Steven might not want Global Chat is due to moderator costs but how much would it cost to employ moderators to cover 105 local channels?
Spam will exist I acknowledge that.
Sorry, I'm just not convinced with your reasoning for it. Nothing personal
So, you are happy to have your way and wish to deny the other side? I don't know why you think people don't explore the MMO World due to Global Chat. I think being stuck at a bulletin board and trading locally for life is the least explorative method of playing the game. I do not understand the restrictive nature of Node Citizen Chat. Node Chat is all well and good but the constant exclusion of players from the social spheres will kill the social dynamics of the server. You will become so disconnected from Node Life it will be painful. Its like you believe a Node will never fall and you'll be with the same people for the game's life span. What use is no contact with other local populations when you have to decide where to move to after a defeated siege?
deny? You can reiterate it all you want, be my guest
Why would I care about crafters on the other side of the games world when I can just find local ones that can do the same thing? I can make connections with them as part of my node or vassals as i explore the world. Considering how many players can do various crafting skills etc. it also doesn't seem logical from your reasonings provided other than to globally self promote on top of local self promotions.
The worlds design from biomes, resources and node/vassal systems is to promote local trading through supply chains and in the event supply sieges and wars.
any who
You cannot have both sides.
The game has to create micro communities at node level. To achieve that, it must not facilitate global communication. Players will do that and that will be their community and alliance of communities.
Solo players will isolate themselves if they remain solo but that's their choice. The real communication happens in the real community which is the bond between the players. Is not meant to happen in game.
You can only do max processing on a freehold. You can only do max crafting in a Science Node. Guilds will require resources from all sources and thus will have to travel long distances. There will be logistics of course and there will be manoeuvres of course. Local trading won't even be trading because all the resources will be the same in the local region. Unless someone ventures further out and brings in fresh supplies. Furthermore, unless you are trading local resources for gold - not even the best method, its completely a waste of time to try and trade to players in the local vicinity.
We had Global Chat in A1 and it didn't destroy anything. It was a massive assistance. It performed perfectly and it was very respectful and not spammy at all except for the DDOS attack. There was also Global Announcements in A1. I suspect the global nature of the game has been understated thus far and the vocal minority against the global chat use any means possible to discredit the global chat. Global chat was not an issue for A1 testers.
Also, The global chat as listed in the wiki is only meant for testing purposes even before considering how small the zone in comparison to the entire world map.
Sorry, just don't see the point in global chat for what you seem to want it for.
Why would you make an alliance with a Node that is going to end up in the same zoi? I envision node alliances to span great distances - possibly across each continent. Caravans will also travel to and from castles. These caravans will be full of taxes which are ripe to be taken by force.
Also, there's a list of chat channels not confirmed by the devs - global chat is not in the list but trade chat is. Basically, your arguing for the removal of global chat and changing it to node citizen chat. I'm arguing for the continuation of global chat and no node citizen chat.
It destroyed by not allowing micro communites.
You just don't know as you did not care to test the game's ability to create micro communites.
Seems like you're advocating for more than that from the multiple replies and reiterations
Yup, nodes and vassal networks will expand and change with or without trades involved. Still don't see why we need a global chat to cover the entire game world. Chats should lean to be more localised/distance drawn and that includes postings from nodes and vassal networks. Nothing is stopping people from making friends and connections as they explore the world. Global chat just doesn't seem like an essential chat feature.
anyways, said my piece on it.
Closed communities are all well and good but restrictive measures kill societies. So far, all you have proposed are machinations that the devs haven't mentioned or plan not to add. I don't know what you imply when you state 'multiple replies and reiterations'. You need to quote actual quotes or the aim is hopeless. I've merely been involved in a to and fro debate about the topics in question. I've never been for citizen only chat, node chat I can get behind. Though, being divine node I'd prefer Religion Chat. Either way, it creates artificial factions in a factionless game. Social constructs should be far more complex than who I can or can't type to and who I can or can't travel to and who I can and can't trade with. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
You are making really solid points but they are deflecting because they just don't want people to talk to others lol. Wish they argue the points you were bringing up than ignoring them.
Their point is I don't care about other people, but i care about you talking to other people. So backwards.
huh?
There is a difference between an opinion out of selfishness and one backed by more logic. If you are sure of your own challenge the points he brings up. I don't see that at all, i see I don't want you to have access to chatting with others for little to no reason.
Based on my perspective it seems like you're more focused on convincing people that don't agree by posting responses like that to trigger the continuation of the back and forth. Feel free to explain how my opinion is selfish vs one backed by logic when I've clearly explained the games design goals around the topic in several posts and its direct detrimental effects to the social dynamic of the game.
You aren't actually acknowledging his points, while saying you don't understand why we need global chat.....You could refute his exact points based on your thoughts if there is a counter to what he is saying. Instead your post read as if you just don't care..
This talk about chats is not about him you or I. It is about everyone and what leads to a better game and mmorpg with social networks. A personal preference not caring about other certain people isn't a valid rebuttal to his point.
The original post is about LFG systems and in-game interfaces in the form of nodes such as posting boards. It's why socially it encourages players to explore the game opposed to bypassing the feature. I've already explained all this. This directly relates to chat systems for the current design goals of the games for communities working similarly. I don't see why you would assume it's a me vs them thing. Just because different people want different things doesn't mean the game design should have both either. For all I know, you could be someone who favours mainstream theme park games and are trying to promote that sort of detrimental design into a game that is intended to not be a theme park?
Maybe re-read the conversation? about all I can suggest
You are bringing up boards again when I'm talking about the entire conversation that hit all the marks. I can tell a fake smile when I see one you have been using quite a bit knowing full well boards is a meme, and not about connecting with people across the server.
Honestly if you aren't here to bring actual points with discussion and your points are so weak you can't defend them you should have just said that. Would make things a lot easier just being honest that you don't care lol and can't actually rebuttal the points he has been bringing up.
If you change your mind and get serious about wanting a disccusion and sit down point by point I'll be happy to read.
Seems like you're trying to take this to a personal level and trying to deflect this to me.
Have fun!
I think the main point to take away is that I don't want bulletin boards to be removed. I also don't want global chat to be removed. The goal posts have been all over the place because the thread is about LFG Chat. Though, I am not the only one who has gone off topic. The points still stand. There is a difference of opinion on what MMO means, what social interactions mean and what server wide access means.
The detractors want little pockets of access to social constructs rather than a full experience of social constructs. This desire was then masked as social superiority when the opposite is true. There has been a tendancy to game the stated systems and subvert other stated systems. Even proof of concept has not been enough to broaden the intellectual paradigms.
No issue, you had asked me what matters more, close range contacts locally or far range ones. Both matter. The guys that live next to me will be my good friends, but just like my guild, I doubt they will constantly be available. When I log in, I want to get in to something, and ashes is a MMO meant to be played with others.
Guilds tend to operate on a schedule to do content.
Friends should be around to fill the gaps between scheduling, but arent always there.
For the rest, there is chat channels and LFG.
@Neurath constantly talks about not having global would be too restrictive but I would say it's too open for the type of game Ashes is trying to be. It wants small and large communities to form and cause friction and wars as its meant to be part of the servers gameplay loop. In fact I would like to ask @Neurath a question.
What is the point of Global Chat, given the world size, if we don't have access to Fast Travel?
10,000 people wont be talking on the same chat at the same time, kind of annoying people keep trying to bring up unrealistic points when i had already explained it.
You mean this post that doesn't make any point at all other than to make it out to be an extreme position. Which I did address, although to be fair I edited it in shortly after posting but before seeing this. I said that it doesn't need to be all 10,000 talking, just enough for it to be impossible to read.
That still won't be happening so ill just repeat again you divide the regions and give people access to them globally splitting the player base, you add a form of cost so people can't do it infinitely, you can add cooldowns on how often you can post.
You have multiple channels LFG, Trade to help organize them (which can also be based off regions you select). Not everyone will care about posting, some people will ignore chat all together.
You personally not liking chat does not mean you need to care or use it. Allow people to connect, chat and see what is going on for who wants it.