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
According to the wiki bounty hunters will come from a military node, and they will have functional tracking abilities/maps to hunt down corrupted players on the map. I do entirely see bored max level players going in and maxing their bounty hunting level and tracking any player willing to risk corruption since they will receive the corrupted player's increased loot drop. At least in a military node the BH system could cause less corruption but we will have to wait and see if it plays out like that in the Alpha 2 test.
At best, it will be PvXers.
Basically what i also said. Take my Like.
I get allergic against this Crybaby-Mentality of some Folks here. "NOT PvP" my behind. People "WILL" freakin murderhobo* Others for their Stuff. People "WILL" either defend themselves or lose more Loot by being slaughtered as a "Green-flagged Player". Fighting back is ENCOURAGED. Everyone should know that.
What is up with this weird Mindset of some Folks ? They are acting like they got cyber-bullied into Oblivion for several Years straight. And now they are hyperventilating at the Thought of other Players coming at them as their Enemy.
Maybe i am overreacting, but what the hell is up with this insane Fear of PvP ?
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Currently no guild !! (o_o)
I hate non-consensual PvP as well. Just aware over here that the Gankers won't ask us for Consent.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Currently no guild !! (o_o)
I don't mean to be rude here but I am wondering, why are you so active on this forum if you definitely have no interest in the game whatsoever?
You've mentioned several absolute deal breakers for you (eg open waters), and it sounds like you'll only play to socialise with some friends, right? So you'll be using the chat feature primarily.
Nothing wrong with that, but I wonder why all the effort spent in discussing these points with us when you made your mind up long ago that this game isn't for you?
I don't like FPS at all, but for playing with some good friends I give CSGO a try, I know that game "IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH ME" but I also know that I can try it and improve too.
So, really FPS are not for me? I'm really so bad at FPS not to at least try to play them? FPS are not fun for me?
I had a lot of fun playing FPS with my good friends, I learned a lot of things, I improved my game level and I could say that I learned that I can play FPS if I try.
It's not that "this game is not for me" it's that "I need help from a group of people (my friends) who will help me to realize that I can play FPS games" .
Trying outweighs not trying.
But of course, what I say I say from my perspective and experience, other people are a world apart.
And when other say "the game is not for you", it's usually the same as telling someone that raw fish is not for them after hearing them say "I dislike slimy textures in my food".
I see very little recognition that Intrepid are at least attempting to find some kind of balance.
Ok it may not sound your ideal balance, but a) as @NiKr says, you've not tried it yet, you might like it. And b) the game's nowhere near release yet! So I think intent matters more than execution right now, and they've clearly shown intent to find some balance.
They're also clearly genuinely keen to hear our feedback.
I said I have no interest in PLAYING the game - other than to be social with my pals on these forums.
I have a great deal of interest in the development of the game - espcially since one of my gaming pals is a designer on the dev team. Not to mention having known Margaret for 10 years. And having Steven as a pal for 7 years.
I don't think I said anything about using the chat feature.
What I did fairly clearly state is that I will be pursuing the Ultimate Carebear Challenge.
The traditional Carebear Challenge is to reach Max Level with 0 kills.
My goal in Ashes will be to explore the entire map with the lowest Level possible and 0 kills.
I will not actively be pursuing any forms of progression and will be ignoring PvP combat and Risk v Reward as much as possible.
I'll hop in to hang out with other players - especially during social events - but when I want to truly play an MMORPG, I'll be playing other games.
Yeah fair enough, I'm just curious is all. Enjoying the debates !
It still seems a pretty uninvolved playstyle to want to be here discussing the finer points, when you're not intending to participate (much)? Then again your links with the Intrepid crew do kinda explain that.
It was probably all those "deal breaker" statements that had me wondering.
The game world does look turbo cool (and massive!) so I definitely get the 'explorer' appeal.
I get your Point, but ... ... ...
... ... ... will not EVERY Server be a PvP-Server, in Ashes ? Regarding the Possibility of being attacked everywhere ? Or attacking other People - everywhere ? (ô_Ô)
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Currently no guild !! (o_o)
When I first began having these PvPer vs PvEer discussions on the EQNext Forums 10 years ago - EQ fans who typically play on PvE-Only servers were trying to understand how it could possibly work having all of the diverse playstyles playing together on just one server type.
At the time, I felt like all PvPers are gankers who just want more fodder to gank.
Those were full-on, rage-fest debates that quickly and frequently resulted in temporary bans as each playstyle shared suggestions about which rulesets could work as a viable compromise.
The PvPers would be instantly offended and outraged by the PvEer and RPer suggestions.
The PvEers and RPers would be instantly offended and outraged by the PvPer suggestions.
After several months, I realized that I actually liked and respected many of the gamers in the PvPer camp as good people (rather than assholes) and it seemed like I would like to hang out in-game with, I guess, the Forum personalities.
I still wondered how the devs were going to get the diverse playstyles to happily play on the same servers together. EQNext became vaporware before we learned what the dev solution was supposed to be.
The Intro trailer included on the Ashes of Creation Kickstarter page sounds like a successor of many of the EQNext designs.
In that Intro trailer, the 2nd Design Pillar is Meaningful Conflict.
Meaningful Conflict refers to the Sieges and Caravan battles that cause Nodes to rise and fall.
The kind of PvP I enjoy is Objective Defense. Where I'm actually focused on defending objectives - even though I still mostly ignore the direct PvP combat.
So.... the Ashes design seemed like it might actually be able to have me enjoy playing on the same servers as PvP - if Corruption sufficiently curtailed non-consensual PvP well enough for me to feel comfortable - which I would have to test during Alpha.
In our very first interview with Steven on The Ashen Forge podcast, my first question for Steven asked him to compare Ashes PvP with ArcheAge PvP and EvE PvP - two MMORPGs that I consider to be too PvP-centric for me to play. Steven stated that the primary difference is that Ashes only has one PvP ruleset - Corruption flagging across the entire map. Rather than having permanent zones with different PvP rulesets.
The addition of The Open Seas in 2022 - a large, permanent region of the map that auto-flags for PvP - places Ashes in the same category as ArcheAge and EvE. Too PvP-centric for me to want to play.
But, I have a bunch of people in the Forums who want to play with me.
My Bartle score is Explorer 87%; Socializer 73% ; Achiever 47%; Killer 0%
I enjoy socializing with other players - so I tried to find a way for me to be okay with hanging out in the game and not be bothered by the PvP ruleset.
And the answer came to me to just ignore all progression and all PvP and all Risk v Reward.
Just explore as much of the world as possible with as low a Level as possible (to maximize Corruption for those who kill me) and have 0 kills. The Ultimate Carebear Challenge.
I'm still very curious to see how many MMORPG fans who refuse to play WoW and EQ on PvP servers will choose to spend a lot time playing Ashes. I think Ashes is not designed for those players, so few of those players will be playing Ashes regularly.
Rather, the Ashes population will be comprised of fans who loved the PvP in Lineage II, ArcheAge and EvE.
(And will also include ShadowBane fans and gamers who play EQ and WoW on PvP servers.)
It's a fascinating experiment.
I am eager to see the actual results.
Even though it's not a ruleset I desire to play.
TL;DR
These discussions eventually provide more details about why the different playstyles like to play the way they play. And that's always fun to learn.
"A fascinating experiment" for sure. A tonne of variables but I have faith in what I've seen (in terms of thoughtfulness & capability) from this team so far.
"PvPers" is so broad, I think it's a broader category than "PvEer".
IE: some really do seem to see nothing wrong with 1 shotting as many greys as possible, or massively outnumbering people, then running from a fair fight. And they give the rest of us a bad name.
Personally, me and the people I play with enjoy it for the sport. Go looking for 1v2 opportunities etc.
I'm far more likely to help someone I see struggling with mobs... and then potentially signal for a duel once they've healed up.
I'm trying to have the experiences of the protagonist in a Fantasy novel and/or the comaraderie of co-op TT RPG parties. The MMO part just means it's very likely for me to find other players online at the same time I am for co-op play with at least minimal RP/character-acting.
I don't play RPGs for "sport".
My primary definition of PvPer in relation to MMORPGs is a gamer who tenjoys playing MMORPGs on a PvP server. And PvEer is a player who prefers to play MMORPGs on a PvE-Only server.
I could be fine with someone who one-shots me and runs away. As long as it only takes me 5-10 minutes to return my game session goals and that happens only once or twice during an 8-hour play session.
Stealing 10 minutes from my play session goals is OK - especially if I can punish them with Corruption. Stealing 20+ minutes from my play session goals is not OK.
wait how did u meet steven? he plays pvp games and you don't. not sure what Margaret plays tho xD
now I'm curious ;3
I first met Margaret at SOE LIVE 2014.
holy shit look what ive found. (love the piercings and the hair btw) slaayy queen ;3
Players get to meet with the devs and attend seminars about games in development, sometimes tour the studio(s) and play a bunch of games - sometimes cosplay contests... and also party afterwards (dinner, maybe dancing and/or drinking).
Should i be worried and concerned ? Sony Online Entertainment BUTCHERED Planetside II with the "Lattice" System and effectively killed the Game by making it a Pay-to-Win Meatgrinder with it.
Yes i know. People can argue with me if that is right or not. But i can not even use the "whole Map" anymore when i returned a few Months for a Week to look into the Game again. Not enough Players. Whole Area's stay grey. No one can capture them.
Buildable Bases between Bases ? Didn't help the Game.
Orbital Strike put into the Game ? Didn't help the Game.
Colossal Tanks (REALLY COOL) with Railguns ? Didn't help the Game.
"Bastion" (Guild/Outfit) Ships ? Basically Mini-Star Destroyers ? Didn't help the Game.
And i shouldn't even get started what for a missed Opportunity the "BFR" (Battle Frame Robotic)-Mecch would have been. But Sony Online Scamtertainment refused obstinately to put it into the Game til the very End.
But everything has it's bright Side i bet.
WHO KNOWS - how many People were scammed between late 2012 and early 2013 to invest around +180 €uros or Dollars into the Game ?
And then the Game was changed to the Degree of " under false pretenses " with the Lattice System, turning a first very fun Game into a Meatgrinder,
so that in long Story short - > THOUSANDS if not "Millions" of Players hopefully had an "Aha!"-Moment and never trust Sony Online Entertainment anymore. And be wary of such Games in the Future. I mean it's not like we "poop Money". Not everyone one of us is a Millionaire or above and can afford being scammed and swindled at all their Life and constantly lose Money to greedy and corrupt Developers.
Sony Online Entertainment ? Good to hear that Miss Margaret is away from there. I see that Company as similar as Activision Lizzard. Just not as in lesser bad.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Currently no guild !! (o_o)
As it stands, with the lattice system, it still had almost 200k average monthly users in 2020 (the last time factual figures were made available).
It will be nothing short of a miracle if Ashes has 200k monthly users 8 years after launch.
SoE (then Daybreak, now EG7) made many mistakes. However, when looking at subjective aspects of games - especially if we are talking years later - the only measure of whether they were good or bad additions to a game is if the game is still around.
Planetside 2 is still around, thus objectively the additions they made to the game were a good thing. You may subjectively not like them (just as I did not like something they did in EQ2 - which is why I no longer play it), however the fact that both of these games are still around years later (a decate later), means that you and I have subjective opinions on these matters that simply do not match up to the objective reality.
My PC at the time couldn't run it, so I wouldn't know if she really had any bad influence on it or not, cause I wasn't in that community then.
But she's also not a game designer in Ashes, so the worst you can be afraid of is some cosmetic/mob designs, but I've personally liked the stuff she said she worked on so far.
And... we know nothing about Bill Trost's personal vision for the development of Ashes or what his influence on Steven's vision might be.
We've got nicer things since Trost came.