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.
ON EXPECTATIONS: FINITENESS AND PRAGMATISM IN THE SECOND ASHES OF CREATION (AoC) ALPHA
SarahCo
Member, Alpha Two
ON EXPECTATIONS: FINITENESS AND PRAGMATISM IN THE SECOND ASHES OF CREATION (AoC) ALPHA
By: Sarheys [Apotheosis]
About the Author
Sarheys [Apotheosis] is an Alpha/Beta key holder for Ashes of Creation and has followed the AoC project since 2020. She has over a decade of experience playing MMOs including ArcheAge, ArcheAge: Classic, Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy 14 Online, Perfect World International, Runes of Magic, Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft and New World. While she loves all aspects of MMOs, Sarheys is an avid PvPer who usually plays tank, healer and support roles. IRL, Sarheys is a trained econometrician who specializes in economic policy modeling and computation statistics.
Background on Alpha 2
The second alpha is intended to provide a space to test core features of the game (Steven Sharif, 2023), not to test content. Consider this as similar to building a house. At the core of a house is the structure, plumbing, electrical work and other key features of a house. A house becomes a home once the content is installed; the flooring, furniture, wall color, and decor. Alpha 2 is set to release sometime in Q3-2024, which means there could be, theoretically, five months between now and the release of the second Alpha.
The Midnight Magic Preview
On April 30th, 2024, the Intrepid Studios team hosted their monthly livestream, this time titled “Midnight Magic Preview.” The April 30th livestream was characteristic of a lot of smaller updates, as Steven Sharif noted that the May livestream is going to have a larger singular update.
Setting Expectations
During the Midnight Magic Preview livestream, Steven Sharif spent some time discussing expectations on the second alpha and what it would deliver. Perhaps most notable was his strong reference to the second alpha being a “true alpha.” The reality is that the second alpha is going to be about testing key features of the game, such as the node system.
Perspective on Narc
As the second alpha approaches, many content creators have given opinions about what the second alpha might hold. Narc, who I genuinely believe is a gentle soul desperate for a good MMO, has spent some time theorizing. In April 2024, Narc published a video about how many biomes would be available for the second alpha. In that video, Narc responded to what seemed to be one of his viewers commenting on the likelihood of only one biome being present during the second alpha – and that it was going to be boring or limited. Later (May, 2024), Narc would go on to publish another video where he concedes that it will be likely that we only have the riverlands and maybe (big maybe) the desert.
Finiteness and Pragmatism
I think that Narc is correct that we will have the riverlands and maybe the desert, but that is all – and I think that is a good thing. From a pragmatic perspective, I would rather the infrastructure and code surrounding key game features be finalized, edited, solid and clean for one of the biomes before constructing the other biomes. If the Intrepid Studio team constructs 7 biomes for the second alpha, and all 7 have loads of issues, that is far more work and less efficient than perfecting one biome and transferring that knowledge and infrastructure to other biomes.
I think the Alpha 2 should only showcase the riverlands, and fellow testers should focus on helping Intrepid Studios perfect that one biome so we may seamlessly progress to a ready-for-launch game.
By: Sarheys [Apotheosis]
About the Author
Sarheys [Apotheosis] is an Alpha/Beta key holder for Ashes of Creation and has followed the AoC project since 2020. She has over a decade of experience playing MMOs including ArcheAge, ArcheAge: Classic, Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy 14 Online, Perfect World International, Runes of Magic, Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft and New World. While she loves all aspects of MMOs, Sarheys is an avid PvPer who usually plays tank, healer and support roles. IRL, Sarheys is a trained econometrician who specializes in economic policy modeling and computation statistics.
Background on Alpha 2
The second alpha is intended to provide a space to test core features of the game (Steven Sharif, 2023), not to test content. Consider this as similar to building a house. At the core of a house is the structure, plumbing, electrical work and other key features of a house. A house becomes a home once the content is installed; the flooring, furniture, wall color, and decor. Alpha 2 is set to release sometime in Q3-2024, which means there could be, theoretically, five months between now and the release of the second Alpha.
The Midnight Magic Preview
On April 30th, 2024, the Intrepid Studios team hosted their monthly livestream, this time titled “Midnight Magic Preview.” The April 30th livestream was characteristic of a lot of smaller updates, as Steven Sharif noted that the May livestream is going to have a larger singular update.
Setting Expectations
During the Midnight Magic Preview livestream, Steven Sharif spent some time discussing expectations on the second alpha and what it would deliver. Perhaps most notable was his strong reference to the second alpha being a “true alpha.” The reality is that the second alpha is going to be about testing key features of the game, such as the node system.
Perspective on Narc
As the second alpha approaches, many content creators have given opinions about what the second alpha might hold. Narc, who I genuinely believe is a gentle soul desperate for a good MMO, has spent some time theorizing. In April 2024, Narc published a video about how many biomes would be available for the second alpha. In that video, Narc responded to what seemed to be one of his viewers commenting on the likelihood of only one biome being present during the second alpha – and that it was going to be boring or limited. Later (May, 2024), Narc would go on to publish another video where he concedes that it will be likely that we only have the riverlands and maybe (big maybe) the desert.
Finiteness and Pragmatism
I think that Narc is correct that we will have the riverlands and maybe the desert, but that is all – and I think that is a good thing. From a pragmatic perspective, I would rather the infrastructure and code surrounding key game features be finalized, edited, solid and clean for one of the biomes before constructing the other biomes. If the Intrepid Studio team constructs 7 biomes for the second alpha, and all 7 have loads of issues, that is far more work and less efficient than perfecting one biome and transferring that knowledge and infrastructure to other biomes.
I think the Alpha 2 should only showcase the riverlands, and fellow testers should focus on helping Intrepid Studios perfect that one biome so we may seamlessly progress to a ready-for-launch game.
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Comments
ok jokes aside, we wont see everything in a2, already confirmed. story spoilers etc. you can pretty much test all the systems in one biome anyway