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
Interestingly I wonder if Military nodes will end up reasonably democratic, at least more so than Economic (blind bid) and Divine (rep).
true but that wasn't what xeeg was talking about. he means if you are just walking from a to b, no gathering, no pvp, no events, how to make that traveling more interesting ( I also get distracted with gathering which annoys me cuz I just wanna get to my destination ahahahha) although those are things to make traveling interesting. but he is asking for a way to make holding w from a to b more interesting than just holding w, without the additional activities of gathering, PVP, etc.
I think we are probably good Depraved. I looked up the page on mounts and it seems to describe a bunch of cool mounts with cool abilities which could be fun to move around in. So this thread is might be obsolete. It's just that I had recent experience in a game with no fast travel and that was my biggest problem with the game, so i came on here to rant lol.
We still haven't seen anything other than mount models in the monthly updates, but it will probably be something we see and test in Alpha 2.
A zerg vs zerg vote seems democratic enough
We may also see external interference into the election process...
And then you'll wander into a field and they'll say "Where'd the dwarf go?"
Aha, hadn't crossed my mind.. ! This game has a ridiculous amount of potential.
Yeah direct interference or even indirect; warring nodes/guilds could choose election week to attack, spreading forces thin. This is gonna get spicy.
Tbh even without external influence, it sounds pretty interesting; pledging your combat contributions rather than a mere vote. Candidates will be recruiting not just numbers but competing for skilled players.
Me too. I can imagine the more enthusiastic Ashes fans (inc those on this forum) will be more likely to have specific biomes/nodes in mind and head straight for those, whereas those newer to the game might be more likely to go where the path takes them, IE: to local nodes.
Same.
Tbh also just to keep the world big. It's an obvious point but also amazes me how often it's overlooked; "let's build a huge world.. and then zip around it at 100mph making it small again". Pointless.
100%. Alan Watts makes almost the exact point with air travel (back in the 60s), but it could be said for today as well. When can arrive at foreign lands in almost no time, it has a reductive impact on the world's scale and wonder.
So if you could instantly teleport from your place to Tokyo buy some street food, teleport to Dublin for a pint, then teleport home, the world wouldn't feel smaller?
Indeed, I would appreciate it more because I actually get to experience more of the world, rather than being stuck in the same locale.
This is especially true with a dynamic world, rather than a static world.
And even more true if it has the beauty of UE5 environments.
But... I view RPGs from the eyes of an artist first. Rather than through the eyes of a gamer first.
I don't have a lack of wonder regarding scale just because I can take an elevator to the top of the Empire State Building, rather than grappling to the top as I build it.
Totally. I love the variety too as Dygz suggests but there's something in the journey.. and in the vastness itself, somehow.
To the extent that I will always look for alternatives to flying if I have the time and an interesting route to explore.
I am a bit of a map geek tbh (hence the multiple threads about biomes etc!).
Huh - interesting. I feel the opposite, but for kind of the same reasons. Being on top of Mt. Whitney is breathtaking and awesome, but part of the reason is that I spent 8 days walking a hundred miles to enjoy the view. My gut tells me I'd appreciate it less and feel like it's much closer to me if I could just teleport there, chill for 10 min, then teleport to Costco to run errands.
Brains seem to measure distance in 'number of points of interest', not travel time or actual distance in any way. Any two trips that provide the same number of PoI (this is personal to the traveler) are mentally stored as the same, with a general preference for shorter time ones.
People I know seem to vary in terms of how often they want to have a PoI brought to their attention while traveling, but the range is 33-60 seconds, so I generally tune for around 44.
Due to this, I now have a huge bias for this value and notice it really easily when a game chooses not to use anything near that value, either as a positive (to make an area feel large, e.g. BDO) or a negative (miscalibration due to other design constraints, e.g. specific parts of Throne and Liberty).
The way people often take relatively little interest in the wonders near their own home, whereas others from the other side of the world will pay a fortune for the trip of their lifetime to see what you have around the corner.
Funny old world eh.
Although in this example the scale can be appreciated visually in the moment, unlike the sense of scale that you have after travelling for a period of time across the globe.
In that latter case, there's no real frame of reference so the experience feels diminished.
Whereas travelling over time builds that sense cumulatively.
It's not just time though. Slight deviation here but; there is nothing like travelling broad distances over land.
Eg W Europe to Asia, feeling the geography & climate change gradually, watching as architectural styles slowly blend into one another. It is a real experience.
Teleportation (which going to an airport near home then emerging from an airport on the other side may as well be) is incredibly bland and forgettable by comparison.
Also, 2+ alts re-explore the entire map the long way.
But there are times when fast travel is desirable - especially when you're trying to reach buddies halfway across the map.
Fast Travel is great for non-competitive, cooperative PvE gameplay.
Fast Travel can be very disruptive for competitive PvP (or competitive PvE) gameplay.
From my perspective, it's not the Fast Travel that makes a gameworld seem small, rather it's static content and static locations that can be outleveled.
Even in static gameworlds, with the first 2 or 3 characters - it's fun to explore the world from the eyes of a different gender or different Race/Culture or different Class or different Profession. Especially wearing different Gear.
I don't really care about Teleporting to different Zones/Nodes, but I do like being able to hop on Gryphons and/or Blimps. And it's especially fun when you are close enough to other players that you can recognize them as they fly in front of you or when you can recognize players running across the ground below you.
Even more fun with shapeshifting.
If gamers are focused on using Fast Travel to "beat the game" as quickly as possible or reach "the real game" as quickly as possible or lock content away from other gamers - yeah... Fast Travel is going to be problematic.
Ultimately depends on the Target Audience and the specific (MMO)RPG playstyles the game intends to support.
I'm fine with riding in a plane for 14 hours to get from DC to Tokyo.
I'm fine with riding in a plane for 12 hours to get from LA to Moscow.
I'm perfectly content with riding in plane for 2 hours to get from LA to Denver.
And, it's always fun to look down and marvel over the diversity of landscapes and biomes.
I am ecstatic that I don't have to travel weeks over the sea by ship to visit Tokyo or Moscow.
Or by mule or horse to visit Denver.
I have no interest in arduous travel - just like I have no interest in personally engaging in extreme sports.
In a game world - once I've walked up to the top of Mt. Hyjal 2 or 3 times, it doesn't give me any sense of wonder to walk up there a 4th or 5th time. Especially not with the same character.
If I had to do that in the real world, I just wouldn't travel.
I dunno why everyone is so focused on Teleportation as the only method of Fast Travel, but...
Instant teleportation is inherently forgetable in a game where we have no physical sensation.
But, after I already have the memories of traversing the land by foot or Mount in a static game, Slow Travel is just a tedious time sink. It's the Slow Travel that becomes bland because my character will have already been there done that.
Of course, that being said... Ashes is not a static game.
So... it should be fun to Slow Travel across Verra several times and marvel at what has changed since the last time you made that trek.
And Ashes is a competitive PvP that has a valid concern about facilitating Zergs.
And there are plenty of gamers concerned about how FAst Travel would impact Economic Warfare.
Ultimately... depends on the Target Audience and the specific (MMO)RPG playstyles the game intends to support.
I love the wonder of shapeshifting to flight-form and flying through the trees or shapeshifting to water-form and swimming under the sea.
My main in WoW, Catya, is a Druid cat who typically Stealths or races across terrain in her natural form and then shapeshifts to Tauren -form when she needs to speak to Humanoids.
WoW never feels small to me. If I want the world of Azeroth to feel dangerous, I know how to make it feel dangerous for me.
I run out of a sense of wonder after 2+ alts have uncovered the entire map and they have no more quests available at Max Level.
Walking a hundred miles would add nothing to the beauty of any mountain - for me.
I would just be highly annoyed by the discomfort every second.
And I never have the feeling that discomfort or effort makes the goal a better experience.
And, yeah, if all you do is teleport and spend 10 minutes at the location - the location is obviously not particularly interesting.
If I spend 8 days of travel, I hope to spend at least 8 days marveling at the diversity associated with the specific location.
If I take a plane to Tokyo, I'm hoping to spend more than a day marveling at how different it is there. Probably hoping I can spend more than a couple weeks there.
Taking an 8 day trip by ship is not going to make the experience more fun - for me. Especially not if I travel to and from Tokyo from LA mulitple times.
But, this why Steven's obsession with Risk v Reward acts as anti-hype for me.
And also why Risk v Reward for the Open Seas is a deal-breaker for me.
Adding more difficulty or Risk or even Reward... doesn't add more enjoyment for me.
If it's a hassle - I'd rather just avoid it and do something else that is not so arduous.
I prefer to play; rather than game.
but you are an explorer
Also, your enemies! =D
Maybe your guildies spot an enemy tank a few nodes away and you know that they can't come interfere with your dungeon run planned.
Creates another reason for good spy networks... Alt characters in different towns keeping track of the comings and goings of various players. Maybe some players become notorious in the game and are tracked by many guilds. Maybe they have to grind out secret spots just to get by in the busy hours. =D
Since they can't fast travel, knowing an enemy team's location is actually pretty huge in planning a safe caravan run, or a boss fight.
I do this with my kid in dragonflight. We have a couple dracthyrs who aren't ready to reveal our true forms to humanoids so we always change back to human form before entering towns or interacting with NPCS. At least until we trust them. Our current story arc is trying to find our lost parents/family.
Made our characters when dragonflight came out and we have only gained 5 levels lol. We have fun just role playing and picking random side quests we find interesting, like helping the dragon whelp daycare in Valdrakken. =D
That’s cute. I did something similar with my daughters when they were young. We pretended that a spell had been cast over Azeroth that prevented a number of beasts from getting any sleep. So in all of our adventures we helped put the monsters back to “sleep.” 🤗
I am an Explorer 1st and a Socializer 2nd.
Which is why I uncover the entire map via Slow Travel first, for several different characters.
And then rely on Fast Travel - especially when I'm trying to meet up with other players for social events.
Gathering is irrelevant when I want to quickly arrive at a social event.
Restricted to always walking long distances can sometimes be highly annoying.
LMAOOO. "dad look, that car just helped that kitten sleep!"
😭💀
The point of a large world is for it to have more content. The only way to have a lot of content in a small world is to instance it.
The notion that the point of a large world is so that it takes longer to get to content is just flat out wrong.
Or to move away from mostly 2 dimensional worlds to 3 dimensional. (up or down)