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.
Comments
What’s the first thing you plan to do when Alpha Two servers go live? Share your game plan with us!
Getting a feel for the game pace and tone. I hope for a slow rythm, a humble beggining that inspires you makes progression on your character exciting.
What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play? If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them?
PvE content and professions I'd say. And I'll try everything of course. Another thing I love but I can't interact with because it doesn't usually exist is all the naval stuff. I hope it comes to A2 soon.
Now the feedback I wrote:
* ALL TIMESTAMPS REFER TO THE 4K VIDEO ON YOUTUBE.
IMMERSION / TONE / FEEL:
- I love the level 1 outfits, very humble and rudimentary like they should be.
- Exception: the cleric staff is a bit too fancy.
- I like that you start only with 1 ability at level 1. I could agree on 2 but not more.
- I don't like that you receive an uncommon and a rare item so early in your adventure, even if it's not gear and not really relevant. It sets a certain tone for the game that I don't like.
- NPCs talking to you from far away with those chat bubbles is cool.
- The fact that people can fall from the Lionhold bridge holes and players below could see it is amazing.
- A couple or three more NPCs in Lionhold doing their activities or walking around not paying attention to you would be nice.
- An example of that would be someone washing their clothes using the small flow of water in the middle of the town.
- Camps like 33:18 could be improved by not being empty.
GAMEPLAY:
- Aggro range still way too short / inexistent.
- I really dislike that you interact with things with a keybind instead of your mouse in tab-target mode. I think interacting with the mouse and having the cursor change depending on what you're hovering has a lot more benefits and feels better overall.
- Jokes apart, the jumping puzzle should be easier for a new player's spawn. Not the best moment to build silly frustration so early into the game.
- Very happy that the player is taught the various systems via quests/hints instead a more railroaded experience or a tutorial.
GRAPHICS / ANIMATIONS / ART:
- Both the ruins and Lionhold look amazing.
- There is way too much wind for an interior. Specially noticeable in NPCs' capes.
- The lightning transition when entering and exiting the ruins looks on point.
- In contrast to that, there is a high amount of lightning bugs and popping.
- Waterfalls look very good.
- The rocks the goblins are throwing in the distance at 15:20 have very weird trajectories sometimes.
- Multiple graphic artifacts on the floor from minute 15:20 onwards.
- Some goblins on the way down to Lionhold are floating when doing the crouch animation (17:59).
- Several shaking NPCs (examples at 23:45, 24:14, 27:30).
- Floating and freezing NPC at 27:05. Also a lightning bug.
UI:
- Nameplates of NPCs and Players should be differently colored. At the moment they are all green.
- The book icon above quest givers is enough information to notice them. The effect on their names I feel it's unnecessary and a bit too flashy.
- Health numbers on targets are not centered in the Y axis.
- Speech bubbles look clean.
- Commission board doesn't. A lot of stuff in little space.
- Last part of the storage hint 2/3 at 27:25 could be wrongly interpreted as "if I visit that node once, then the cargo in it is accesible from anywhere". Not a good thing for a new player to believe. I suggest finding a better wording. "Without first traveling" is the potentially confusing part.
AUDIO:
- The adaptative combat music is great but it keeps going ham for too long after the combat has ended.
- I'm okay with AI voiceovers. A bit worried about they sounding stupid in another languages. It's pretty common that non-english AI voices sound way worse.
Things that I plan to do in the launch of Alpha 2:
Thanks for keeping up with the monthly streams, and I look forward to playing the A2!
The thing iam forward to is experiencing the nodes.
Testing whether or not the Bard is for me. I never play support classes but the bard's mana utility being their unique feature speaks to me. But I cant tell how well they can do content alone (IE when my friends are offline) or how they would function in a game where a pure DPS looks at me funny and I cant do anything on it.
What’s something you’d like to see the community achieve together during Alpha Two testing?
Might sound weird but if the Devs put in a really hard boss like the old new world Bear boss that was there. Something that they put in and aren't going to tune but just say "have at it, we made it stupid hard for giggles" and watch the community game out how to kill it.
Which system stands out the most to you, and why?
Corruption. I might just be overthinking things but corruption and how it acts will decide my class choice come launch. If I cant run for more than an hour without someone trying to kill me and my class isnt designed well for dealing with that situation I wont role that class. I know balancing is around 8v8s and you should play with groups most of the time but sometimes you dont want to be around other people.
And if the class I love has to use ever cooldown to kill someone 4 levels below you because it is built around groups not fighting one individual, AND corruption isnt enough of a deterrent to stop constant ganks, I will play a class that can handle corruption.
Might be a leap of logic on my hand, but if corruption doesnt stop players from constantly trying to kill me because corruption is a joke, I will play a class that will have to deal with the threat of players always attacking me.
What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play? If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them?
PVP and raiding. And yes I will try both.
Creating lawless zones like this will just turn these areas into "kill every player on sight" and completely ruin the risk versus reward gameplay you're going for.
I also fully intend to break the game as much as I can, in any and every way. Yeah, that sounds awful when I word it like that haha, but one of my absolute favorite things to do as a software developer is routinely test the ever-living hell out of software to find any unforeseen hiccups. Creatively thinking outside of the box in very unusual ways to discover dupes or any glitches possible so we can have a much cleaner road to launch is my goal.
Community wise, I do want to see how well players interact when it comes to raid-wide groups against world bosses, and also the PVP/caravan system.
Other than that, I want to have fun of course, and hopefully find a nice guild to settle down with while I pursue my own personal goals in-game. ^^
Click here to visit Snow elf's Twitch channel
Wanting to help balance the time/rewards ratios on getting local rewards, such as outfits. Will be looking for clipping and rewards set at too high of a cost.
Will look forward to giving input on how good/bad the inventory system turns out to be. It's a fairly unique idea thus far, just not sure how practical it'll turn out. There's always the bag-in-a-bag collection of bugs that often plague early-development MMOs.
Certainly going to poke at the communications-systems, as well. Will be sending some in-game mails and - if it's live for A2 - looking for how well the in-game voice will function.
Going to poke at commissions and the bulletin boards.
I want to GM Farming and Culinary. So more then likely anything to expand my storage and get money cause those are goldsinks
What’s something you’d like to see the community achieve together during Alpha Two testing?
Which system stands out the most to you, and why?
Getting a node to highest level. I like seeing communitys come together and working together for a common goal
What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play? If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them?
Crafting/gathering.
OH YEA!!!!
1. Code load and install times
2. Character configuration settings feedback (character selection issues, design thoughts, anomalies, etc)
3. Server access times and issues
4. User settings - ability to choose angles, motion sickness, audio selections, check for adequate customizable settings, etc
5. Realm issues, explore the realm and interact with everything.
6. Expecting a server load test somewhere in here
Most of my interaction with MMORPGs is in PVE...group activities, raids, dungeons. Also, the player experience and ecosystem in a game is important..NPC dialog, economy, environmental interaction, player-to-player communications. I plan to provide feedback in all of these areas if needed. I am very excited about the caravan capability where one can defend or raid a live caravan. I am hoping there are some aspects of being able to camouflage or use concealing tactics in caravan movement as a way to inject tracking techniques for the raid party...in other words, the ability to raid a caravan will depend on the ability to improve skills in tracking.
Very excited about alpha testing this game!
First is going to try and get on the same server as my friends so we can play together, because I won't be playing when I'm not able to play with my friends
From there the game plan is to play together, try most likely the Bard first and just test everything that we come across
For me I'm going to be focusing most on testing the classes and the gameplay, especially the hybrid combat mode (fingers crossed that we will be able to play it already)
What’s something you’d like to see the community achieve together during Alpha Two testing?
I'd like to see people help testing and improving the game the way that Intrepid is hoping for
And I'm hoping to see that people are not getting upset over an alpha being an alpha and not a finished game
Which system stands out the most to you, and why?
The different combat systems, classical tab-target and hybrid, simply because I personally love action combat and anything that feels less static and more like flowing, intuitive and engaging combat, I'mn conviced that a hybrid system can achieve that if executed well
What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play?
Classic PvE and PvP content in combination with a classic holy trinity. I just love playing together with other people to achieve something, while being part of - and filling a role in a group, so that it truly feels like everyone is adding to the experience
If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them?
Absolutely yes, since it's the backbone of MMORPGs for me to be able to make those experiences and create memories with others. So anything that falls into that category for me, whether it's dungeons, PvP, Caravans or all the others, I'm excited to try and test everything and see if I can get that feeling back that I've been missing the past few years
Once I load in I'll probably find the nearest shore and walk around the continent. I want to see it before it gets noded.
1. Interact with the community and creating a guild will be very important for myself.
2. Complete all the quests and objectives
3. Max out my skills in Alchemy, cooking ect
What’s something you’d like to see the community achieve together during Alpha Two testing?
Collaborate on a boss or mission where guilds have to come together to conquer
Which system stands out the most to you, and why?
The levelling experience, this is the part of the games that brings you in. After that the world is your oyster.
What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play? If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them?
The guild system is the part I will be interacting with a lot. The hardest part is keeping the solo player and the group player engaged with guild mechanics.
I signed on 4 years ago and its finally almost here... Look forward to seeing you all in Verra soon!!
Amar
New-player experience
I think a crucial part of the new-player experience is getting players invested early on. Players should instantly have the desire to progress and dive into the various systems, which I think stems for a curiosity about the mysteries the various systems hold, as well as observing a given fantasy and wanting to achieve and experience that fantasy for themselves. If these things are done well, it could really get players hooked early on, and these things are very strong motivators that a lot of classic games have done very well, and it would be a shame not to leverage these different types of gameplay and design techniques.
1. Introducing mystery and sparking curiosity
This video talks about how to make a compelling mystery through sparking curiosity and investment into whatever type of mystery it is (Be it related to lore, the world, or even the mystery of how to attain more skill/mastery over a particular system like combat or crafting in order to achieve that fantasy. Basically setting up any kind of long term mystery ingrained accrossed any of the systems within the game); of which could provide alternative paths early on for players to solve these mysteries in different ways using different skill sets (like observation, knowledge, deduction, exploration, etc.). The new player experience would be a prime opportunity for introducing these mysteries accrossed different systems, and tutorializing players on various ways of solving mysteries using different types of player skillsets to both spark interest and to provide impactful choices early on.
- one example already in Ashes (not sure if its intended or not) is the curiosity that some of the environments spark. A good example was from the seasons update:
I really liked at 14:26 you can see some mysterious structures. You look at the face-shaped rock and think "hm, I wonder what caused that, what secrets it holds, or what it can tell me about the past and thus how it can inform me about the potential future of the world?" And you can see the floating structure and think "hm, I wonder if I can get up there and I wonder when the last time someone was there or if there is anything important still there?"
- This can be done for any of the systems very early on during the new player experience, such as the environment sparking curiosity for exploration, or some observation or dialogue that sparks curiosity to learn more about the story/lore, or some teased fight scenes that spark curiosity in the full potential of the combat system or class potential, etc.
Here is another look into how to introduce mystery/spark curiosity into the lore and world
2. Establishing aspirations and fantasies
In Destiny, it was also very cool to know that there were other vendors who were hidden.
Yes, this was fun to try and find them and reach them from a skill perspective of course, but there was also something about this that added to that endgame-fantasy and mystery aspects as well, because you feel like there is this "extra layer" to the world that not everyone has access to or knows about, like some kind of underground organization or network or something, which really makes you feel like the world actually has a lot of depth to it where only the most clever and capable can survive and you have must be willing to do anything you can to stand out and gain an edge over the competition. I think its ultimately the fantasy that drives you to uncover secrets such as this, but its the challenge and mysterious elements that make you feel like you really earned that fantasy when you achieve it, as you compete against others in reaching your full potential and realizing a fantasy that they might not have access to, to gain that competitive edge within the world and to stand out as a player within a world full of people and characters vying for the top spot. Something as simple as some hidden vendors in the new player hub managed to capture that feeling for me very early on which I think is a powerful thing for a new player to experience (which is the more important takeaway, more than the individual example).
These aren't really new ideas, but the way Destiny 1 handled it was very captivating to me for some reason, and its also just kind of important to remember to do these types of things and to consider some of the more minor details that contribute to this as well.
- These aspects are also even better if these lore characters feel like they are a living and breathing part if the world, and interact with the world and the story elements.
- Another key aspect of the fantasy and creating those aspirations, is to give the player a taste of what that end-game fantasy will feel like. Some of the coolest "new player experiences" I can remember, involve being teased very early on in the playthrough.
This could be something like seeing the most powerful lore character for a given class (like the strongest npc tank in the lore, for example) fight with someone early on near the start of the experience. This would be pretty cool if you are a tank and are seeing that happen, and puts context of where you are now vs. what you might now want to be later on. Its that anticipation and sense of progression and earning that fantasy that can hook players early on. Its also really fun when you get a quick tease of being able to actually play and feel what it would be like at max progression. Things like having temporary access to all your skills at the beginning of the game, before they get stripped away from for for story reasons or whatever. Or being able temporarily take control of a very strong lore character. Things like that which allow you to feel what it would be like at max progression can be very fun teases that get players hooked early on, and can apply to a variety of systems.
Just make sure its only a taste though, as you want players to still have that curiosity, mystery, amd sense of wonder about what that fantasy holds for them.
3. Set the scene for adventure
- Introduce characters/personalities
- Choosing personal gameplay style
- Establishing clear goals relating to player's preferred content types
4. Tutorialization
This is a great video showing the organic and subtle ways of introducing the player to the fantasy, and to the different underlying mechanics.
This video talks about ways to make tutorials feel more organic, immersive, and interactive
This video talks about ways to introduce very complex systems in a more approachable manner
These methods are very good for guiding the player without holding their hand, and while still being interactive and engaging even from the start before players fully grasp the systems. I think these could be useful teaching tools within some dedicated tutorial questlines.
Ill also probably explore as much as i can and see how well i can work the terrain and what will allow me to traverse hard spots or what with make me clash. speaking of Terrain.. There is a 100% chance I'm gonna jump off that bridge in Lion Hold..you know..for testing..purposes..
What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play? If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them?
- With the way that i usually play MMO's i dont jump right into professions unless i have to until about midway through the leveling process. That being said i know that the dev team has put some real work into making this a long lasting MMO so mid way leveling would take quite a long time. since this is an alpha phase ill will most likely jump into professions almost the moment i am able, to be able to get a good feel for it and hopefully provide good feedback if I can.
- I also do not remember if we will be getting freeholds or houses during the alpha(i have a TBI due to some spicy road in Iraq) so ill have to check again. but if we do then theres a 100% chance ill delve into that pretty hard and try and figure out what works best and where and of course, decorating is top priority right lol
all in all im just super excited to finally get my hands on a game that ive been waiting for for 4 years in the capacity of being able to help make it better and generally experience it.
I know crafting isn't ready, I just want to get an early taste.
I also know that group play is encouraged, and I want to do that. But group play will sort itself out with a good team.
Solo is either do-able or it's not, or it only works for certain types of builds. It has to be tested by individuals of all types to see.
Well, I say "tested." Intrepid just needs to farm the data that we're giving them by playing.
The Combat Team has done some amazing work (as seen in the monthly streams). Now it's time to get our hands on it and give feedback (good and bad).
I'm going to run off into the middle of nowhere and see what I can find. My intent is to see what the "solo" player experience is like. It's important for player retention for the game to be able to satisfy players who aren't currently hanging out with others, after all.
What’s something you’d like to see the community achieve together during Alpha Two testing?
I'd love to see how impressive we can make a big battle. Either a node battle, or just a damn big pvp fight.
Which system stands out the most to you, and why?
The caravan and node systems. They're what originally drew me to Ashes more than anything else; the concept of trundling a long path down to somewhere to sell my goods after farming in another location holds a kind of appeal I struggle to articulate, and the nodes are designed ground-up to support that kind of thing.
What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play? If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them?
I used to play around with the trade system in Black Desert, which was an incredibly anemic version of the caravan system in Ashes. It was relaxing to be able to do it, but required more. As such, I'll be playing around with caravans a lot, both from a trade perspective and a pvp perspective. I'm hoping it has the oomph I'm looking for in that regard.
-- What’s the first thing you plan to do when Alpha Two servers go live? Share your game plan with us!
So, after the hours long que to get in?
Very first is pick a character and class. I like healing and buffing, so leaning Bard and Cleric (not so much afan of holy religious magic since I prefer more knowledge like FFXIV's Scholar and Sage or nature like WoW's Druid, but I may try it anyway). I will probably want to try both and then Summoner (in a later Alpha cycle) to see how good of a healer it is. Basically, get a feel for how all three work and test them with others and alone.
Once I get in the game, I will probably start by looking around, killing some things, spot healing other players (god I miss healing a really open world game sandbox with emergent chance interactions with people), raising dead people if needed/my class can do so, seeing if there's anyone who wants to party and do things together.
I also will want to pick up professions and try some gathering and crafting out, things I always like to see the mechanics of and I'm always a fan of a good profession system.
I also tend to dabble in off-specs like tanking and (ranged/caster) DPSing in games when my class can do those things. I don't THINK AoC does that, like there's no Druid that can be a tank or a caster or healer by changing spec, you'd have to level up a different character with a different archetype (the Tank/Cleric won't be able to be a healer, for example), but who knows. Maybe I'll dabble with Tank a little - you guys REALLY need to change that name to literally anything else, though. XD
...time permitting, of course.
-- What’s something you’d like to see the community achieve together during Alpha Two testing?
I think it would be neat to see people explore and for us all to manage to get some nodes built up into mid-sized towns we can hang out in and listen to the hustle and bustle of trade carts and people coming and going. AoC makes me think of Eve crossed with Age of Empires, and I like the idea of seeing communities form and come together and thrive.
-- Which system stands out the most to you, and why?
The node system, probably, but it's unfortunately what the least people can engage with. It's like FC houses in FFXIV or system ownership in Eve; only the select few leading big guilds actually get to do anything, everyone else just hangs out in them. I still think it will be a really neat system, and maybe smaller groups going far afield can find nodes to themselves.
Aside from that, the class system. I suspect it will end up being "8 classes each of which have 8 specs that still mostly play the same and share 90% of their abilities and traits with the base class" instead of "64 classes", though I'm game to be proven wrong. I am psyched to see some new graphics and character models and stuff - again, feels like ages.
-- What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play? If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them?
Healing as a healer main.
Occasionally playing caster DPS or tank.
Gathering.
Crafting.
Exploring.
And the gear grind/relic grind/solo challenges/etc. We'll see how much of all this is in Alpha, but what's there, I'd like to test and offer what feedback I can.
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So that's my plan at the moment. : )
First I intend to give the character creator a good once over. New world has a cool feature where you can upload a picture of yourself and it makes a character based on that picture. I would love to see something like that.
Which system stands out the most to you, and why? I look forward to seeing the large scale pvp.
I never fell in love with it in other games but i also dont feel like it was done well, so I look forward to AOC's take on it.
What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play? If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them?
I plan to try and test crafting because its something I really enjoy in most games. The idea that crafting matters here in AOC is very exciting to me!
Summoner... but that's not in yet, soooo rogue? which is also not in yet... Ah, cleric? Bard maybe, idk. Am a little curious about water physics. Oh, and server tech.
What’s something you’d like to see the community achieve together during Alpha Two testing?
Putting the server tech through its paces. That the transition to different zones is seamless, so it truly feels like a single connected world. Its a make or break feature.
Which system stands out the most to you, and why?
Server tech mostly, but do think the node system is very interesting.
What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play? If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them? I'm an fan of good old class quest chains, but I don't expect them to be in Alpha Two. That's content not systems. System wise, I think level progression is important to test, as it can make a world of difference to game feel. Besides that, the archetype/augment systems.
Too many MMOs already have cliques form long before the game opens, and typically these are made to dominate the game, rather that for fun/enjoyment.
I hope the game provides a more dynamic social environment, making node citizenship more significant than some sort of corporate-type guild membership in the social order.
I appreciate the keyword there "some". I think it pushes players to interact with one another. I'm not sure if those items are bound on pickup or if its something you can hire someone to obtain / buy from people. But nonetheless I think its best that way.
Honestly as a solo player I'm quite nervous. I don't know if there is much I can accomplish alone. Best case scenario: I go where the wind takes me and explore as much as possible and I would hope to make some friends. I really want to provide valuable feedback from the perspective of an average solo player.
What’s something you’d like to see the community achieve together during Alpha Two testing?
I really hope the community can come together and help shape AOC into the greatest MMORPG that has ever existed.
Which system stands out the most to you, and why?
I am really interested to see the hybrid (action/tab) combat. while I understand the pros and cons for both, I am someone who really prefers the engaging action combat over "spamming buttons on my keyboard". I hope to really test these things while trying out different classes to see what feels good and what doesn't.
What systems do you interact with most in other MMORPGs that you play? If those systems are present in the launch of Alpha Two, will you be testing them?
Honestly all of the different systems within AOC seem to have their own twist to them and I'm going to try to dive into all of them if possible.