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.

Dear Intrepid, you are unnecessarily killing a lot of people's desire to test the game for you.

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Comments

  • LaetitianLaetitian Member
    edited December 23
    Lucascp92 wrote: »
    I have a serious question: What are we supposed to be testing?
    • Scalability (Be online alongside other players regularly for a few hours here and there. Pass through zones often enough to provide input to the server mashing process, so take long-ish journeys and farming trips regularly.)
    • Crash reports with any potentially relevant information in case it's tough to tell from the technical report.
    • Feedback on existing quests, XP rewards for quests and mobs relative to their difficulty, general class balance, look & feel of areas and game progression (all loot and crafting rewards)
    • Feedback on PvE encounters, what mechanics are missing. (not so much number of encounters as that's expected to increase)
    • Starting phase 2, more minute reviews of your efforts in the economy and how the balance feels there.
    • Also, initiate node conflict, comment on roadblocks in making things happen, and parts that could be more interesting there.
    • Come phase 3 you can really start to dig into parts of the progression that feel unsatisfying, boring, unpolished, or unrewarding. Not enough quests, not enough encounters, encounters not fit for group size, encounter distribution around the map not challenging enough to make map exploration challenging and exciting. (Specific areas that need rebalancing or changes in how the world gets populated.)
    • Guild v Guild balance, map reward distribution, node progression fairness and incentives for players in both small and large nodes.

    Obviously bug reports throughout, just realise that there will be bugs in all kinds of areas, and some parts of the game will be reworked so thoroughly that there's no point in having that bug fixed directly.

    Which part of that do you struggle to be able to do, and why?
    The only one who can validate you for all the posts you didn't write is you.
  • OtrOtr Member, Alpha Two
    Sathrago wrote: »
    Unless they are holding back tons of already made content/systems, this game feels like it will take another 8 years to actually release with the promised content.

    They hired many developers over the last year or two.
    Steven have to use them efficiently now. I doubt he intends to keep them working 8 years until release.
    He will rather reduce node count, number of biomes, map size and will release the game with whatever quality is reached in 2 years.
    Then will start subscription and continue adding features.
  • OtrOtr Member, Alpha Two
    brita wrote: »
    Otr wrote: »
    But Ashes will need a healthy player base - e.g. causal players - because its vast open world and all the player-driven systems.
    Casual players don't complain 2 days after server launch.
    They let things settle and start a few weeks later.

    No, I'm pretty casual and was invited by my brother and friends, so I have no vested interest. But I'm still giving my feedback about how completely miserable it is. I think all feedback would be important, especially from the more casual solo/small group crowd.

    What do you expect as a casual player on the first days of a test server launch when you are surrounded by competitive players?
    You expected the quality level of an early access game on Steam, where studios might care for review rating?

    Steven and Margaret told players repeatedly during streams to wait for release if testing is not their cup of tea.

    Might be Steven's mistake, to give access to everyone. People will get bad experiences now and by the time the game is ready for release, they'll be playing other games, pulled away by their brothers and friends.
    Or maybe Steven has no choice but bring to an end this many year monthly streaming about a future game and deliver what he can.

    At least all these over-hyped non-testers supported the development with money. Many probably are fine with that.
  • VhaeyneVhaeyne Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I am currently having more fun in A2P2 than A2P1 or even A1.

    The massive amount of competition on the server is really bringing people out of their shells.

    I have flagged up more times in these last few days than all of A2P1.

    It truly is great. We are flagging up over basic one star mobs and gathering nodes.

    My only worry right now is with xp rates being so high. It feels like people will cap and be gone. There are already a bunch of level 25s out there.

    I am excited for node wars and the constant battles a "SAND-park" game can have, but I don't think the themepark MMO tourists will stay for all of this phase.

    The good news is with only three servers the populations should not get that low on any server.
    TVMenSP.png
    This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
  • nanfoodlenanfoodle Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited December 23
    Conflict over trash mobs is not meaningful conflict. Fighting over world bossed, Node wars, best is slot rare crafting resources, relics. Now that's meaningful conflict. When you have walked away and taken something good you can point at.
  • VhaeyneVhaeyne Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    nanfoodle wrote: »
    Conflict over trash mobs is not meaningful conflict. Fighting over world bossed, Node wars, best is slot rare crafting resources, relics. Now that's meaningful conflict. When you have walked away and taken something good you can point at.

    There cannot be an objective standard for "meaningful conflict." At best, it’s an aspirational concept.

    When I fight someone over a copper node, it feels meaningful enough to me.

    More importantly, I’m having way more fun now.

    That’s what Ashes is all about: "Vhaeyne's fun."

    TVMenSP.png
    This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
  • TycondraesTycondraes Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    This is an Alpha, not one of the "Early Access" games that you see on Steam.
    The whole point of a testing in Alpha is to test the systems they are working on and give feedback so they can fix and improve things.

    Saying there is a "Content Drought" in an Alpha game is asinine. They have been very clear about what the Alpha is and what to expect at each stage. It is not early access to a basically finished game. It is access to help TEST a game that is still HEAVILY under development.
    47736734272_2bdb0cc0c9_m.jpg

    Necromancy is when you raise the dead. Necrophilia is when the dead raise you.
  • NerrorNerror Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited December 23
    Tycondraes wrote: »
    This is an Alpha, not one of the "Early Access" games that you see on Steam.
    The whole point of a testing in Alpha is to test the systems they are working on and give feedback so they can fix and improve things.

    Saying there is a "Content Drought" in an Alpha game is asinine. They have been very clear about what the Alpha is and what to expect at each stage. It is not early access to a basically finished game. It is access to help TEST a game that is still HEAVILY under development.

    Yeah, that's all obvious stuff and not the point of this thread. :)
  • ThevoicestHeVoIcEsThevoicestHeVoIcEs Member, Alpha Two
    edited December 23
    I really don't understand how Intrepid thinks that the current state of mining is acceptable. In this phase I saw literally ONE copper node.
    • metal nodes (copper, zink, tin, iron etc) are too small, this makes finding them a pain a world full of detail and terrible viewing distances for many objects
    • I would like to see what is their respawn timer atm, but I suspect they are way too short
    • I have seen one copper node and dozens iron and tin nodes. I get it copper is the only node which is likely gatherable atm, but maybe its time to rethink the approach to how resource nodes work?
    Coming from games like GW2 and especially New World I genuinely enjoyed going out to gather resources there. In New World gathering felt just right and I felt like I'm making progress. In GW2 crafting was also satisfying. Here I feel I'm getting robbed of my time and just do not want to interact with those systems.

    How are we expected to test the economy and crafting and actually ENJOY those systems? People have personal life outside the game and limited free time. I'm not wasting hours of my time on a wild goose chase and attempting to compete with dupers.
    • increase the size of metal nodes. They should be at least 2 meters high. All of them. Make them darker and easier to spot from distance
    • substantially decrease their respawn timers

    Learn how to respect free time of your testers and soon players/customers Intrepid, or they will become as rare as copper.
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    Blown past falling sands…
  • SathragoSathrago Member, Alpha Two
    I really don't understand how Intrepid thinks that the current state of mining is acceptable. In this phase I saw literally ONE copper node.
    • metal nodes (copper, zink, tin, iron etc) are too small, this makes finding them a pain a world full of detail and terrible viewing distances for many objects
    • I would like to see what is their respawn timer atm, but I suspect they are way too short
    • I have seen one copper node and dozens iron and tin nodes. I get it copper is the only node which is likely gatherable atm, but maybe its time to rethink the approach to how resource nodes work?
    Coming from games like GW2 and especially New World I genuinely enjoyed going out to gather resources there. In New World gathering felt just right and I felt like I'm making progress. In GW2 crafting was also satisfying. Here I feel I'm getting robbed of my time and just do not want to interact with those systems.

    How are we expected to test the economy and crafting and actually ENJOY those systems? People have personal life outside the game and limited free time. I'm not wasting hours of my time on a wild goose chase and attempting to compete with dupers.
    • increase the size of metal nodes. They should be at least 2 meters high. All of them. Make them darker and easier to spot from distance
    • substantially decrease their respawn timers

    Learn how to respect free time of your testers and soon players/customers Intrepid, or they will become as rare as copper.

    I really think that one major factor in gathering right now, especially for copper nodes, is the mayors having access to the flying mounts. They should honestly be downgraded to gliding mounts for now. Its really just not balanced for these mounts yet. One guy flying around with a mining setup can gather a large amount of copper in a very short amount of time and I bet you anything this is one of the bigger reasons for the shortage for players, but "acceptable storages full of copper" that steven and team were seeing.
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  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    edited December 24
    Vhaeyne wrote: »
    nanfoodle wrote: »
    Conflict over trash mobs is not meaningful conflict. Fighting over world bossed, Node wars, best is slot rare crafting resources, relics. Now that's meaningful conflict. When you have walked away and taken something good you can point at.

    There cannot be an objective standard for "meaningful conflict." At best, it’s an aspirational concept.

    When I fight someone over a copper node, it feels meaningful enough to me.

    More importantly, I’m having way more fun now.

    That’s what Ashes is all about: "Vhaeyne's fun."

    While it is true that fun is subjective (which is basically what you are saying), you have a major issue here.

    Your fun is PvP related. This means you need other players in the game, and the game needs to be fun for everyone, not just for you.

    If a game is only fun for Vhaeyne, then only Vhaeyne will play it. I don't think that game will remain fun for Vhaeyne for very long after that.

    With game design, the more people your design requires to function, the broader you need to make its appeal.

    If fighting over basic gameplay is considered meaningful, that will turn most players away. You may enjoy that fight over basic gameplay, but you will stop enjoying that fight when the people you would have fought over have gone off to play another game.

    This is what I don't get about so many people thst want Ashes to have these niche systems. Ashes needs masses of players to be the game these people want it to be more than it needs these niche systems.
  • LaetitianLaetitian Member
    edited December 24
    Noaani wrote: »
    Vhaeyne wrote: »
    nanfoodle wrote: »
    Conflict over trash mobs is not meaningful conflict. Fighting over world bossed, Node wars, best is slot rare crafting resources, relics. Now that's meaningful conflict. When you have walked away and taken something good you can point at.

    There cannot be an objective standard for "meaningful conflict." At best, it’s an aspirational concept.

    When I fight someone over a copper node, it feels meaningful enough to me.

    More importantly, I’m having way more fun now.

    That’s what Ashes is all about: "Vhaeyne's fun."
    If fighting over basic gameplay is considered meaningful, that will turn most players away. You may enjoy that fight over basic gameplay, but you will stop enjoying that fight when the people you would have fought over have gone off to play another game.

    This is what I don't get about so many people thst want Ashes to have these niche systems. Ashes needs masses of players to be the game these people want it to be more than it needs these niche systems.
    So how much PvP is justified for a mainstream-adequate PvX system? Caravans plus one boss a week with PvP competition, and one siege and war a month, rest neatly separated?
    The only one who can validate you for all the posts you didn't write is you.
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Laetitian wrote: »
    Noaani wrote: »
    Vhaeyne wrote: »
    nanfoodle wrote: »
    Conflict over trash mobs is not meaningful conflict. Fighting over world bossed, Node wars, best is slot rare crafting resources, relics. Now that's meaningful conflict. When you have walked away and taken something good you can point at.

    There cannot be an objective standard for "meaningful conflict." At best, it’s an aspirational concept.

    When I fight someone over a copper node, it feels meaningful enough to me.

    More importantly, I’m having way more fun now.

    That’s what Ashes is all about: "Vhaeyne's fun."
    If fighting over basic gameplay is considered meaningful, that will turn most players away. You may enjoy that fight over basic gameplay, but you will stop enjoying that fight when the people you would have fought over have gone off to play another game.

    This is what I don't get about so many people thst want Ashes to have these niche systems. Ashes needs masses of players to be the game these people want it to be more than it needs these niche systems.
    So how much PvP is justified for a mainstream-adequate PvX system? Caravans plus one boss a week with PvP competition, and one siege and war a month, rest neatly separated?

    That isn't a question I would want to answer.

    I can say when something is completely off (such as needing to fight over basic content), but I wouldn't want to attempt to define the correct answer.
  • EndowedEndowed Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    brita wrote: »
    I've dropped the game for the time being. The massive contesting for resources, mobs or other stuff is draining, especially with people flagging to kill others who "crowd" their spots.

    This is the intended design. Stated from the very start.
    Scarcity and meaningful conflict.

    15000 server cap for 100 nodes and the sea is the design.
    The current ratio is atrocious. But its good for stress testing. But you will lose testers and players.
  • foxstalvindfoxstalvind Member, Alpha Two
    brita wrote: »
    I've dropped the game for the time being. The massive contesting for resources, mobs or other stuff is draining, especially with people flagging to kill others who "crowd" their spots.

    This is the intended design. Stated from the very start.
    Scarcity and meaningful conflict.

    It's not meaningful. I have never been flagged on, and pvped over a spot. What I have had are groups mass pull mobs, and use threat dropping mechanics to dump enemies on us. That is not meaningful pvp, or at least, not what is generally considered meaningful pvp. In most MMOs that is considered griefing and is bannable. What I think is the flagging/corruption mechanic is too severe, and needs to be toned down, so we can wild west the mob spawns, instead of just doing this coward type stuff.
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