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.
AoC is already launched...
Sargramor
Member
Let's be honest, AoC is already available..
It's just a question of price !
You want to play now? Pay 350 €
Rather Q3 2024 ? 250 €
More around Q2 2025 ? 150 !
For those who paid 75 € for a beta 2 (like me), don't even imagine a date...
And no comment for a real launch when they can milk players while selling the game at a such prices with the actual hype !
Since i have heard about A2 in Q3 2024, i asked for a refund of my Beta 2 subscription...
Why would they hurry while they sell a simple game at gold price?
And each step has differents prices ! Real merchants !
Personnaly, i find pathetic and greedy to ask so much money for a game described as not finished by the devs themself !
Before this cupid era, alphas and betas were free, you had to be selected !
And even early access on others projects offer a discount on the final price !
Why ? Because those players help the devs to finish the game, with suggestions, finding bugs, stressing servers etc... !
I can't even imagine the gap between people playing since 2023 (!!!!) and those beginning at the launch in 2025/26...
Sure, servers will be reset but you will compete again players knowing the game like pros while you re discovering everything 2 or 3 years later...
Cool to be able to spend so much in a mmo !
I'll be honest,: if the game is good at "launch", i'll play it if there is nothing else around but i hope so much it will collapse to find a better mmo and give my money tto decent people...
It's just a question of price !
You want to play now? Pay 350 €
Rather Q3 2024 ? 250 €
More around Q2 2025 ? 150 !
For those who paid 75 € for a beta 2 (like me), don't even imagine a date...
And no comment for a real launch when they can milk players while selling the game at a such prices with the actual hype !
Since i have heard about A2 in Q3 2024, i asked for a refund of my Beta 2 subscription...
Why would they hurry while they sell a simple game at gold price?
And each step has differents prices ! Real merchants !
Personnaly, i find pathetic and greedy to ask so much money for a game described as not finished by the devs themself !
Before this cupid era, alphas and betas were free, you had to be selected !
And even early access on others projects offer a discount on the final price !
Why ? Because those players help the devs to finish the game, with suggestions, finding bugs, stressing servers etc... !
I can't even imagine the gap between people playing since 2023 (!!!!) and those beginning at the launch in 2025/26...
Sure, servers will be reset but you will compete again players knowing the game like pros while you re discovering everything 2 or 3 years later...
Cool to be able to spend so much in a mmo !
I'll be honest,: if the game is good at "launch", i'll play it if there is nothing else around but i hope so much it will collapse to find a better mmo and give my money tto decent people...
1
Comments
Cool, i don't know, true surely...
The Alpha/Beta packages sold by Intrepid offer In-Game time and Virtual Currency when the official game launches. The Keys themselves are around 60-80$.
A1: 375$ with 9 months (135$): A1 price 240 $
A2: 250$ with 6 months (90$) A2 price: 160$
B1: 150 $ with 4 month ( 60$) B1 price 90$
So yeah you pay big prices for alphas and betas...
you arent forced to pay for it. launch costs 15% a month and thats it, you dont even have to buy the game lmao.
I don't want to play in 2026 while people paying big prices can play 2 or 3 years before !
Well all that must be normal in those days...Enjoy !
sucks to suck. get a side income?
anyways...not everything will be available in alpha 2...and game will change upon release. we all want to play for sure.
at least u can guarantee access to alpha or beta. back then you couldnt. it was like winning the lottery.
nobody says that companies must give this access for free. they arent mandated.
Not everything is in the game at launch, that's why patchs exist, to correct bugs and add content.
You'll just have bigger patch before the release...
I did not talk for free (while in past, companies thought it was great to thanks players who helped to finish a game with free closed alphas/betas )
150 an alpha and 90 a beta would have been more fair, in my view.
I can be wrong but i'm not negative to be negative...I'm negative because it's so expensive and time between each phases will be so long to push players to higher packages !
Fund a game in 2023 while it started in 2016 with a kickstarter in 2017?
Damn...Stop sell those high prices packages and just launch it !
You are wrong, the Voyager Plus Pre-Order Pack adds just cosmetics but gets access to Alpha 2 at the same time with Voyager Pre-Order Package.
Also the prices are in $ not €.
Damn you're right ! I read A1 in voyager plus, so for 375, you don't even play A1....Insane...
This change almost nothing about the way i see it, you pay big prices, you play before others...
I respect everyone opinion and i just wanted to give mine.
Have fun for those who can afford it, time from me to leave from here.
I'm sorry for you.
But don't worry, it will be full of bugs, not balanced well, no story... I bet many who have access will also wait until release.
90 for a beta? 90 to play for a week or 2? really?xD
anyways, a2 is basically 60, if u remove all the other goodies you are getting.
If your not being negative to be negative. Why you not switching tracks to talk about development time? MMOs can take up to 10 years to make. Ashes is 1200 square miles. WoW launch in 2004 was about 200 square miles. My guess we have 2 to 3 years before we see launch. That upsets you. Go play other games.
The Alphas and Betas aren't the game; it's content for testing. Your thread sickens me, as you've been looped in by the models that the AAA companies have always given you: pay extra, play the game early; This isn't the model IS is using - and if you think it is, you've severely under-read about/under-followed the development.
Wipe all the ranch from your multiple jumbo breakfast burritos off your face, and maybe you'll be able to see a little clearer, kiddo. The classes aren't finished, the combat abilities aren't balanced/ready for balancing, and more than half of the game world hasn't been constructed, yet.
You call that a playable game? Even for those of us who bought the Alpha-testing access, there is presently no public access to the development server; No matter what package you have, you wouldn't be able to log in, atm.
Now to my point... Intrepid started out as a kickstarter project. It has always had a huge amount of crowd founding involved in their company-structure, and I cannot stress enough how good a thing this is for the player base! When money comes from a fanbase it creates freedom. Freedom to listen to your playerbase - and to listen to yourself. These money doesn't create the same shackles as a 10 million capital input from a big-corp does... they will demand a say, there will be shareholders who wants a piece of the decission making, deadlines will be forced and so on... The money we put into them will ultimately help them to make a better game. Sure, it is "greedy" to ask your playerbase to found the creation of a game instead of big-corps who actually does that for a living, but it gives a much better outcome in the end.
I can understand your feelings to a certain degree - this isn't the world we originate from, but goddamnit have I played alot of betas and alphas where nothing I ever said or pointed out ever made any sort of difference... we were there to test the server capacity and bugs; nothing more. Here, you get a chance to help Intrepid develop a game that you would want to spend your time on, and to me that is worth more than 275 euros
For World of Warcraft. The most famous and now infamous MMO of our time.
And I too would rather like to see this "singe long testingphase before release" model return.
Times change yeahyeah and Intrepit's circumstances are something an outsider like myself could never comprehend of course.
So they will have their reasons as to why it is so closed off instead.
Still I cannot help but to feel these Alphas or Betas, however you wanna call them really, pre-release testingphases, feel much more gatekept and secretive.
Have not even seen any footage for anything yet cause... I was busy.
And now I have a rich friend who even wanted to buy me an The Unseen Order pack for free a few months ago, out of the blue.
Which I declined.
Too expensive for my taste, even if he is rich and it wouldn't even be my money.
Oh yeah and I am not a bone loving edgelord.
Dunno about prices but I hope to see a long, constantly open testingphase at least for the last 8 months before the game's release, at least in closed off sections of the game world.
So that not the whole of Verra gets spoilered... if that is what Intrepit wants to avoid... but so that they can gather data's to optimize servers.
I do believe Ashes will be great no matter what happens.
But that does not mean we need a Day1 with HORRIBLE queue's, disconnects, lag and servercrashes.
Please no.
Nobody is gonna argue that these packages are cheap... but it's like my dentist said - you want teeth or not?
While i don't want to doubt your Thoughts in any unnecessary or negative way,
i must say that these are some B~OOOOOOLLLD WORDS,
to call the Game basically finished enough already, that it is playable as if it would be a fully finished Game.
- Models, Characters, Races, Items, NPC's, Mechanics, ingame Buildings, Work-Stations, Variety, Textures and Codings are still being worked on. Not finished at all.
You can safely assume that from for Example everything i just mentioned -> maybe 10% to 30% from all Items, Ressources, Ingredients and Gear and Immersion-thingies(lol) are put into the Game from what the Developer Team has planned.
I also heard the whole " Game World " is not yet finished, as well. Not all Biomes. Not all Planes, Mountains, Deserts etc.
The " Oceans/Sea's " between all Land Masses probably not as well. Same goes for Quests, Rewards, countless Steps of the Mechanic between Nodes from the tiny Camp-Stage up to an Metropolis Stage,
things were it sounds plausible that " Tests " must still get run in the Alpha Two - Nodes and Freeholds involved. Dungeons and Raids involved.
PvP of all kinds involved. Caravan-Play probably still being in need of some Test Runs with certain Amounts of Player-Numbers as well.
Bold Words to claim, that Sir Steven and his mighty Crew could basically " release " the Game just now - without it still failing big in some to many Expectations the Developers and Players have right now.
Also - wouldn't it make Sense that if Sir Steve could " release " the Game right now already - why woul he hesitate to do so, when he could then demand the Monthly Subsciption right away from Everyone who wants to play the Game - since it would definitely earn the Game a noticeable monthly Income ?
It makes Sense to believe, that the Game is still not ready. ( Even if it looks absolutely gorgeous already. )
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
My Comment vanished ?
Is there a Delete Option somewhere and i accidentally clicked on it ?
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
if you start a gofundme or something, I bet you could get the funds. I would recommend on focusing on just how hurt your privates are. You say you think it is pathetic for the studio to "ask people to pay" such a steep price for a game that is not yet a game... but YOU willingly paid it. LOL.
If you got your refund... what were you planning on spending the money on?
I am positive that is going to be an interesting answer. why else would you be so mad at a company, that, by your admission admitted it is not a finished game, but accepted your money. and they are now following their (very clearly ) stated return policy.
Imagine the gall.
TBH, Your mad at you... I think this is a big problem today.
I know it is an assumption that A2 and the Betas will only last a year, though many folks estimate they will be longer. How many hours will you play a day? Personally, I hope to average maybe 2 hours a day, more if I can. So, if the A2 + Betas go for just a year and you get two months after release, how many hours are you getting? (365 days in a year x 2 hours a day) + (2 free months x 2 hours a day) = 790 hours for $250 which comes out to what...about .32 cents an hour? Can you go to a movie for .32 cents an hour, or pay for gas to drive your car for .32 cents an hour, or take a nice lady out for an evening for .32 cents an hour?
Sounds to me like you are getting a darn good deal on the Alpha purchase. Of course, the more you play the game, the cheaper it gets per hour. Four hours a day drive it down to .16 cents an hour if you are hardcore. This doesn't even consider the knowledge you gain in A2 and Betas that will advance you faster in the game after release.
I was thinking, if I invite a pretty lady out for an evening, what am I going to pay? I'm not a teenager, so I won't go to McDonalds, I admit. Cocktails, split an appetizer, a couple nice steaks with a bottle of decent wine and a dessert, then maybe hit a comedy club with some more drinks there. I could easily drop $300 on that which is going to come close to $100 an hour and I'll likely get my face slapped at the end of the evening!
You see my point now, I trust, that what we are paying for access to Ashes of Creation is TRIVIAL compared to the pleasure we will get from it. So, quit complaining about paying a bit or I will start telling them they need to change the price to make it higher.
I hope you're enjoying your soup.
The stranger's eyes lifted to the blood red cloud on the horizon.
'We have to move. It's not safe here.'