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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.
Ditch 'Sweat of your Brow'
ShivaFang
Member, Alpha Two
Sweat of Your brow is currently a bad implementation, as every single player as to spam 'f' for several minutes hoping to get a tree in order to eventually get a mount.
Each profession should have their own quests, and players should only have to do the quests they want to engage in.
Each profession should have their own quests, and players should only have to do the quests they want to engage in.
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One thing that would help though is if people paid attention to the fact that you only need one of each item and the others cannot be used or sold in any way, and you get no skill xp for collecting more than one. I saw one person chop the same tree ten times, collecting wood, but this does not raise your skill and you cannot use the result, so collect one and move on.
Na leave it the way it is. Just be patient.
Make the crafting an into quest that is guided on your tracker from the start so new players are aware of it and don’t miss it.
Take away the mount relative part of the quest and set that to the stablemaster where you can just talk to him and get the horse. That will allow players to get in the game, get a horse, then get the fk out of the starting zone if it’s too populating and stressing the area.
offer the quest in all nodes at an NPC near that station.
same... I walked around for hours trying to see if I was missing something for the turn in.
The quest itself is solid, but I think it needs to return to its original form, where players had to explore the world and naturally learn how to gather materials. This newer approach feels too much like hand-holding, and it diminishes the sense of discovery and skill-building that makes a game rewarding. If certain resources are hard to find, that's a good thing! It forces players to engage with the world, develop strategies, and improve over time. Easy mechanics might feel satisfying in the short term, but they erode the depth and challenge that make a game truly enjoyable in the long run. Just look at what happened to World of Warcraft—it went from being a rich, challenging game to something more simplistic and 'on rails' to appeal to a broader audience, earning it the nickname 'Dummies of Warcraft.' We should strive to avoid that.
The tutorial being straightforward is fine, honestly. New players aren't equipped to venture out into the lvl5+ world to gather wood for their rank0 crafting tutorial.
(Requiring a group for what is implicitly a beginner's tutorial is also somewhat off-putting)
Saying as much, I'd rather the process be even more obviously a tutorial, as in the materials you gather in spitting distance are only interactable during the respective step in the quest, and sell for 0 currency.
'Here is how you gather, process, and craft, now go deliver this bundle of supplies for me on your brand new horse.'
Toss in some more specific artisans to speak to regarding how progression works for specific crafts. The factor of integration and interdependence is one that should be noted in the quest somewhere to emphasize player-to-player trading and selling of materials.
3000 max players find 5 nodes of granite. That's 15,000 nodes minimum, not including making up for loses.
Say there is 500 granite nodes that spawn every 30 minutes. 15000(needed)/500(exist) * 30(minutes to spawn) /60(minutes/hour) = 15 hours at max efficiency for everyone to get a mount. Meaning it would take two to three weeks if not a month to complete this quest for a 10k pop server.
**Max Efficiency. As soon as the granite node exists it is mined. Travel Time to mining nodes not included in calculation. Nor are any other granite sinks included in this calculation.
Your calculation assumes all 3,000 players would be farming the same resource simultaneously at peak efficiency, which is highly unlikely. Player progression will vary, and not everyone will focus on granite gathering at the same time. Moreover, scarcity fosters cooperation, trade, and the development of player-driven economies—key aspects of an immersive MMO experience.
Additionally, you’re overlooking key gameplay elements like PvP. Since this is a PvX game, resources act as the lifeblood for progression. Players will naturally engage in PvP over resource control, with some opting to quest first while others focus on gathering. If someone is farming in my area, I’ll PvP to gain control of those resources.
If resources were easier to obtain, the game would lose depth and challenge. Players are supposed to face obstacles, strategize, and work together. That’s what creates long-term engagement and satisfaction.
Uh... try again. You didn't look hard enough.
If you know the intended NPC and location to share, that would be helpful for narrowing down where and how the bug is occurring, but it's definitely a bug. I'd assumed the 'father' farmer NPC would be the go-to, or one of the two official looking guards on the outskirts, but no luck. And then all other interactable NPCs were in the same boat having no options for further dialogue.
i also realised and can't deny it was nice Training for my Baloney Brain. Which has suffered greatly regarding Concentration during the last +12 Years of so of playing Quests and Questchains in Worst of Warcraft after the Game got easier and easier and easier to play - so that nearly a Monkey could have played it.
I refuse to say this is solely because i get older and so on. This is what happens when People don't get challenged and encouraged to use their Brains.
They end up like. And believe me, (lol!) you don't want to end up like me. You want to be more fit regarding Quests and Quest-Chains.
I hope Ashes will stay like this. Everything needs clearly more polishing before Release -> pointing at the Worldmap. But there were some Indicators where to go. It was just not as "easy" as in Worst of Warcraft.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
Now access to specific mounts via quests? Most definitely.
I’d like to see them implement a passenger caravan system where you can let people and their gear travel to their destination node. For example, level up in Lionhold, get your resources built up and then pay for the service to another player willing to bring you and others and your stuff to the node. Each node can/should offer this new settlers mayoral commission for node currency reward. This “mini” caravan system could offer slightly faster travel than the current horse (150%?), but be at risk of attack.
This does a few things. Gets players used to the idea that it’s a big, dangerous world so you better group up. It introduces them to caravans. You could have staged events along the way. And it offers risk/reward. Do you pay one fee to travel nonstop to your destination or do you travel in multiple hops? Do you check out each node along the way, offering opportunities to stay at local inns and taverns? Any social/mini-games in the caravan during travel? Mail delivery? What else?
Just think the experience to travel and get that first mount could be so much more meaningful.
Snowdrop bundle is turned in at the Tradesrep either location on the quest. While the marker isn't "exact" both NPCs are within eyeshot of the marker.
Good to know that the NPC should be spawning near the indicator. There wasn't any tradesrep at the location during the day and a half I played it, but hopefully with the server updates and general improvements coming this weekend, that will be fixed the next time Alpha 2 is accessible.
The first area was right there obvious on arrival, which made the second 'optional' (except not really) location a headache when the NPC was a no-show.
I would welcome it. The Movement Speed from the first Weekend-Test was ATROCIOUS.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
crafting mount are faster :P although there not much faster atm maybe next crafting level up it be better but i dunno im not there yet and leveling mount crafted is crazy expensive.
seems like its gonna take 100-200g at current rate to hit lvl 10 in animal husbandry :P