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.
Change the artsyle before it's too late!
Iridianny
Member
I’ve been following Ashes of Creation for years, and as someone who’s played MMOs my whole life, I’m really excited about the mechanics and systems they’ve promised. But… it’s ugly. When I first saw the concept art and heard Steven’s promise that the game would look nearly identical to it, I was excited. The early artwork was full of life, creativity, and potential. Too bad he lied about that. People aren’t going to spend hundreds of hours and dollars on a game that looks this uninspired. At least, not enough people to make the game last in the long run.
The most successful games of all time are stylized — World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Breath of the Wild, Fortnite... These games stand out because their unique art styles give them character and make them recognizable.
Ashes of Creation already feels outdated with its attempt at ‘realistic’ art. It’s not even good realism.
It looks like a collection of generic fantasy assets. With several more years of development ahead, it’s only going to look worse by release if it stays on this path. Realism always ages quickly, leaving games looking unimmersive and boring. Shifting to a stylized art style now would give Ashes the personality and charm it needs to stay relevant for years. If they don’t pivot soon, the game risks getting lost in the sea of other fantasy games, struggling to attract and maintain the loyal audience that MMOs need to thrive.
The most successful games of all time are stylized — World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Breath of the Wild, Fortnite... These games stand out because their unique art styles give them character and make them recognizable.
Ashes of Creation already feels outdated with its attempt at ‘realistic’ art. It’s not even good realism.
It looks like a collection of generic fantasy assets. With several more years of development ahead, it’s only going to look worse by release if it stays on this path. Realism always ages quickly, leaving games looking unimmersive and boring. Shifting to a stylized art style now would give Ashes the personality and charm it needs to stay relevant for years. If they don’t pivot soon, the game risks getting lost in the sea of other fantasy games, struggling to attract and maintain the loyal audience that MMOs need to thrive. 4
Comments
Ashes is nowhere near its final look. Steven and the Intrepid team have been clear that they’ve temporarily lowered graphical fidelity to support stability during the early stages of Alpha 2 testing. The game servers we see in livestreams reflect the dev server’s best graphics, and even that is set for polish and optimization before launch.
A lot of realism-oriented games, such as Baldur’s Gate III and Dragon’s Dogma III, have pulled off incredible atmospheres by balancing realism with thoughtful world-building details. Ashes aims to create a world that feels more grounded than stylized titles like WoW or Fortnite but without sacrificing character. So while it’s more realistic, Intrepid’s approach is about balancing immersion with artistry, and from what we’ve seen, they’re putting a lot into capturing that feel.
Also, as you mentioned, stylized art can indeed have staying power, but so can a well-done realistic approach. With a few more years of polish and the power of Unreal Engine 5, Ashes could easily have the character and charm to stand out. I know it’s easy to feel discouraged when development is so public, and every test feels like a preview of the final game, but hang in there! There’s still a lot of time for Ashes to evolve, and I think it will surprise us with its beauty in the end.
That being said Ashes alpha test world looks a bit dated but I believe someone said it's because they toned down the graphics fidelity (wouldn't that be mostly a client side setting tho?).
My primary issue with the games look is character faces.
Right now with the current options available in the character customization. Everything looks ugly or severely malnourished.
There has been a trend of ugly character customization in games lately. Enshouded and Pax Dei come to mind.
I am hoping once we get all the options in I can make a better looking character. Otherwise I will ask for a client side option to put a generic helmet over everyone's head. Maybe a paper bag?
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
He said it would be nearly identical to concept art, and then it's not even close. He doesn't even address it and say 'it will look more like my promise later,' or 'we changed our mind on that promise.' So not sure what else to call it.
While they are early renditions. That elk side by side is like comparing a Mcdonalds burger to a gordan ramsey steak
Not at all. Concept art is an exaggerated idea/concept that will end up being toned down. When my team does key art for Universal/Paramount we shoot for the stars but land on the moon. It's quite normal. What @Hinotori posted is very accurate to concept art.
As of now I'll give it a pass for this stage in testing.
I hope to see more of a knob twist on fantasy shaders, I recall the alpha 1 testing environments to be more eye popping.
It all feels a bit rudimentary and bland on purpose as core systems get ironed out.
I think graphically we're looking at the paper bag face level before pulling out the graphical eye candy...
the character creator is sublevel and were only dealing with humans/humans with pointy ears and trolls...
I anticipate more grim fantasy to wash over in waves...
I do not want another toon/anime mmo. Minecraft voxels and breath of the wild cell shade ispired artstyles are not worth emulating.
Fortnite graphic aesthetics are hot garbage...
even blizzards wow artstyle is a dated empty bottle of polish.
GW2 DX9 environment art style was pretty close to perfect...I'd like something akin to that with more 70/80s dark age fantasy tropes.
AOC is looking promising.
I see YT comments comparing it to EQ2 and I've gone back and made the comparison and the people saying that are gaslighting...
I havent played WoW since classic released. And thats a 20 year old game. lmao. Dont snap at me like a child. Those 3d models are rough compared to the concept art. And its not surprising considering how early on it still is. Plenty of time for polish.
Check out the character model concept art.
Why going to an inferior Artstyle ? This Game has one of the newest Engines imaginable - has it not ?
To get the will-less WoW-Zombis and Junkies in Line ? Those who usually have brains as mushed down as me, or even worse ?
Those who " REFUSE " to quit the Game since BfA despite constantly saying how much they hate it ?
I admit it would be kinda hilarious to use a similar Art-Style, just to snatch more WoW-Junkies away from WoW and take the absolute p°°° on Activision Blizzard and seeing them seethe and rage.
Would be kinda worth it.
But Verra is beautiful. Why would it need to change ?
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
You don’t have to copy WoW to achieve great stylized art, and saying it’s inferior to realism is ignorant of the skill and artistry involved. Picasso started with realism before moving to more stylized work—but you rarely see his realistic pieces in galleries, nor would you likely recognize them as a Picasso. There are plenty of artists with unique, stylized approaches, and they each bring something distinctive. Which is what Ashes needs. Distinction. Moving toward stylization, rather than making yet another attempt at realism, makes sense because realism ages quickly.
For MMOs, where longevity and player engagement are essential, the art style needs to be appealing to a majority of players. Whether or not you personally prefer it, WoW has proven itself as the most popular MMO ever, partly because of its distinct, stylized look. If Verra’s realistic approach doesn’t resonate with enough people, it could struggle to maintain a player base large enough to support an MMO. WoW's lasting success shows that stylization has broader appeal, and that’s a big reason it remains relevant and beloved by so many.
I personally prefer a more realistic look even knowing that soon that "realistic" wont look as so compared to whatever latest and greatest new gen game that gets released. Too many people are focused on graphics these days. Since I started gaming on a SEGA master-system, I have long known that gameplay trumps graphics all the time. The recent resurgance of titles using pixle art and such (as referanced by the OP) just confirms it. If gameplay is good enough, the majority wont care what it looks like.
The post does however bring to mind a slightly intersting (at least to me) question.
In robotics there is a phenomenon which I can't remember the technical term of right now (and CBF looking it up) but basically it is an apparently validated thing (I hesitate to use the word law though it might apply) that basically says;
When making a robot or other machine that takes human form, up to a certain point, the closer it is to what a human actually looks like the more aesthically pleasing it is.
However once it gets too close to being indisdinguisable from a "real" human the more abhorant most people find it.
Basically, if it looks a bit like us, we like it and find it cute. If looks identical to us we instinctively feel it's an abomination that should be destroyed.
Do in game avatars/npcs etc need to follow this principle? I mean they are unliving representaions of us (in the case of avatars) or basically virtual robots (in the case of npcs). As graphics continously improve research into if this is the case or not seems to be something game developers might need to pay attention to.
Okay, I did. Has this been confirmed to be the final version of design for Ashes to go live with? I thought that they dialed down the creator options and quality of graphics a lot for the Phase 1 test to primarily focus on net work stability and such.
Has there something been released by Intrepid to inform us that the formerly indicated variety has been scrapped?
I haven’t followed every update perfectly, but there was a livestream where Steven promised it would "look nearly identical to the concept art." That just hasn’t translated to the character models or the overall art style, which looks lifeless.
I also expected most people on this forum to disagree and unable to be reasoned with on this, as many are already invested hundreds or even thousands of dollars into the game. But Intrepid needs more than a handful of investors on board to sustain an MMO long-term. If they want Ashes to thrive for years, they’ll need broader appeal and fresh perspectives beyond those who are already committed.
Steven wanted to make a game and was prepared to self fund it...
The community is the the investors...
The reason the the community invested into Steven and Intrepid is because we don't want a handful of corporate bodies dictating the long-term viability... Which has nothing to do with player sustainability and everything to do with generating profit.
The community is the 'fresh perspective'
Why would you risk offending those who are 'already committed' to your project.
The game looks perfectly fine for an Alpha 2 test and is well within the concept art
I do find the art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard to be more inspiring, but... that is a finished game.
Looks just a bit better than Sony/Concord.
I will agree the current character creator is underwhelming...but I am letting it pass as an Alpha 2 and that it has boob sliders...
Whatever art style they choose it doesn't matter, because they have design problem.
Characters are ugly. Especially the one who are suppose to be most beautiful, like Empyrean. Which currently look like drug addicts with their elongated face and sunken cheeks. Also, there are like 3 variants of mouth shapes that are present in 3 races, which is odd af.
Heavy armor has seen some improvement compared to several years ago because they actually listen to some feedback about how full plate actually works and looks. Helms have seen some love, but we are still not there that you can call it perfect.
Tank illustration was the first time I actually seen something that can be called a helm. Loved that.
Light armor is still glued to players model with no room to breathe and with no movable cloth parts which is pretty much present in new MMOS. See for example, wizard in BDO and how cloth reacts to its casting and movement.
Every AOC's cloth set is tucked into the belt and every wrist/glove is visible and they are afraid to cover them with robe sleeves which just limits their design and makes them all look the same. Blizzard, for example, doesn't give a flying ****. They cover their players leggings, boots and wrists with their chest slot (robes). Why? Because chest, head and shoulder slot alters players look the most.
https://x.com/AshesofCreation/status/1829878209778692373
Look at this travesty. M shaped Asmongold's hairline skullcap with plastered 2d flat texture of burning face of Jack-o'-lantern with white (???) framing? WHO APPROVED THIS?!
It seems fairly tame western fantasy style to me...
Could textures and design elements be better...Sure.
But this isn't a Korean glitter fart fantasy game. with sunglasses and shoulder pads holding a pink baseball bat.
For example just compare WoW alpha to 1.12classic for context about what we're actually testing now and how fleshed out it actually is...