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Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place 5+ days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
Narc is a moron. He showed the one part of the desert that's baren. The stuff Steven in the desert updates. I have been to them. They are in the game. Same with all the other updates in the Riverlands. He took a parting swing at Steven. He needs a new hobby.
Why is it barren? Are you saying they did that showcase YEARS ago and didnt touch the desert up until now? I dont think this is a good thing.
Will just point out that 50,000 subs is an extremely low ball number, new world started with give or take 1 million? I would estimate the same if not more at launch
Presumably they're going to want us to get our non-Alpha friends involved, once the game goes live. Except they won't be able to play with us cos we'll already be levelled, so why would they bother?
I believe that new world had around 20 million box sales at an average of $27.00 due to promotions. So around $500m in revenue just in box sales. Estimated revenue is around $700m. New World did have a very successful marketing push and was Amazon's largest development to date. Unfortunately Intrepid won't have the luxury of the cash injection that Amazon had. WOW is estimated to have between 4-5 million subscribers & is not what we would consider a niche MMO like Ashes. As I said, if they can retain 100k+ players from their initial player base they will be doing well. I don't know if it's healthy to expect an active subscriber base of 1 million + a year after launch. New World posts sub 50k daily players and has done for years, with some months hitting as low as 5,000 a game with no monthly subscription fee.
The only way for us to be overlvled when our friends join is if they join during later stages of A2 or post-release.
Or did you mean that friends would just join way later after release and I just misunderstood?
All streamers are morons
It is a good thing they are leaving the game
Very true, I would argue though that the MMO crowd it's self is quite niche so marketing is not hugely nessicary, although I will agree it helps, most of the people interested in MMOs will hear about ashes from big streamers come closer to launch, asmon will be covering it etc, also I would guess that ashes will be quite successful with in game cosmetics on launch if they ever get around to designing any of them more than fan art
Yeah, if they're joining after go-live.
I don't agree. Many streamers are just gamers like you and me.
Streamers are leaving the game??
The people who are flagging up are all high level. They grief the lower level people who have zero recourse against them. The travel is excruciatingly slow so you can't even escape them unless you are a ranger or higher level. They kill you loot you and you are the one with giant xp debt and nothing to show for time played. That is not going to be a popular mechanic. Its predatory and modern games don't do it. Low level is so punishing that it simply isn't fun or rewarding in any way and I don't see it as the draw many others do.
Enough with this excuse. Feedback is necessary from all types of players not just cope from boosters.
The only people leaving the game are people who can't listen.
They got themselves excited for something Steven did not say and now are disappointed we don't and or won't have it
This includes streamers and YouTubers.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
It is a mistake to think this is Narcs hobby.
It is his job.
As far as game streamers who stream as a job, Narc is potentially the smartest. His recent comments are designed specifically so that he has a reason to not play Ashes once it goes live, without his viewer base complaining. He is the first streamer to realize that there will not be any money in streaming Ashes, so he crested an exit for himself.
Edit to add; I called it about a year ago that streamers that stream as a profession won't stick to Ashes for long. I am sticking by that statement.
Thor is the only streamer I can see sticking with the game for more than a few months post release - but even that is only a maybe.
It feels like you are giving Narc far too much credit here.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
I don't know Asmon and I was surprised he was supportive to Ashes. Talking about the "vertical slice" made sense and was clearly acting as an influencer, trying to support the game because he wants the game to succeed. I've not observed his chat. Maybe those people are really easy to influence?
Narc seems to be a negative youtuber, which likes to criticize to appear more trustworthy. I used to watch his videos before Alpha release without being subscribed to him because he was trying to amplify hype and that felt unnatural, in dissonance with his style. Then I learned that he was banned which fits his profile and personality.
My guess is that Narc was feeling uncomfortable now that the Alpha is alive and needs badly a change.
so he returned to be what he naturally wants to be and he did it in a way to create reactions.
The desert had plants and creatures also during wave 1, before the 3 nodes were present.
By presenting the desert in that place at the edge of the desert, without plants and animals, Narc tricked people to focus and react on that. If Narc expected a reaction from Steven, Steven reacted as predicted by Narc, showing the rivers and creatures without having time to address the rest of Narcs statements as Asmon did.
Honestly I don't like that snail looking mount and I hope it gets reworked before is added to the game.
There is one thing which resonates with me.
Asmon confirmed that the game needs a large amount of money. I don't know if that 30 mil he said Steven invested is an estimation or real data but is a very small amount, which surprisingly many people don't realize.
The fact that more money and work is needed combined with how we get the game gradually and questions if we like it, can lead to a minimum viable product. I want more but even if that "more" will come, it might come too slowly.
The whole drama stirred up by narc this time comes from a feeling of being mislead. This happened because the communication around showcases was, at least in my mind, portraying the showcase as the current progress of the development for the game.
The 2 main problem children of this are the desert and the freehold system. We were shown the showcases 2 years ago, and "freeholds/desert" are slated for the start of phase 2. They were given to us TESTERS (I really need to emphasize TESTERS here. its different from a new patch hitting a live game.) in a state that didn't live up to the expectations that their showcases set as the bare minimum with a 2 year gap of seemingly no development put into these features.
That explains why people are mad, but the root fault is intrepid not being clear that these specific things were not as far a long as the showcases, we got to hear reasoning finally from a pissed off Steven last night, but that stuff should have been said to the people that are paying to test the alpha for intrepid. Its an open development game and this sort of thing seems reasonable and needed to be articulated.
The showcases over the years have never been described as "vertical slices" or "proof of concept". It was always, "hey this is what we have now, tell us what you like and dislike." I am para-phrasing here.
Now I know the other side of this issue thinks its not a big deal and people are too emotional, yeah well you just have a different thinking process and you cannot deny what I have laid out. There are too many people that took those showcases as "current progress" when they were shown and this DID influence their decision to purchase a key as well as singing the praises of Intrepid's seemingly rapid-fire development.
So in conclusion I would like more communication when big features like this are going to come out in states that do not represent the original showcase of said features. Tell us why it has to be rolled out in pieces like the freehold. Tell us why the desert needed to release with nothing but mobs and nodes pasted in it for testing purposes. You don't need to give dates for when the rest comes out, just explain why it needs to be torn apart and put back together as you introduce it into phase 2.
People need to hear this reasoning otherwise they will look back at those previous showcases and future ones with extreme skepticism.
I always shake my head when I see posts like this, people that see/watch one thing and treat it gospel and then run around spewing the misinformation to others. 🤦♀️The desert is not baren, you simply watched a disgruntled streamer that was not catered to by the Devs that decided to start a smear campaign on his way out while capitalizing on the drama with a subathon.
For some enlightenment, check out this video where a more unbiased (and much more popular) streamer literally sheds light on Narc's lies and intentional misleading. The streamer is Asmon and he conducts interviews with both Narc, Steven and another popular streamer, Thor, who actually has hundreds of hours in this test and has spent time in the desert.
Have you even been to the desert or is drinking the Kool-Aid enough for you? I spent time there yesterday and the flora and fauna is gorgeous and I spent quite a bit of time farming ore and crystal, fighting mobs and visiting active nodes to use storage and the market ect.
if you read my post you would know whether I went to the desert. Also, my mind has been changed as new evidence came out. At the time I didn't see a reason for narc to flat out lie about what he was showing and I still agree with the underlying cause of this entire issue as detailed in the post above yours.
Narc was wrong to make that video. That does not mean that the cause of this is not there.
He didn't appear so smart in Asmon's interview where Asmon shed light on his lies and misleading and handed him a rope to hang himself and he literally did just that.
Narc was contradicting himself repeatedly in that interview to the point that I honesty felt sorry for the guy, it felt like watching a puppy being kicked.
At one point in the interview, Asmon mentioned that it is unfair to expect for an alpha to have all the features in it to which Narc immediately replied that the devs DID deliver on their features to which Asmon then had to remind him his complaint was that they had not delivered on some of the features.
When asked if he was going to keep playing the game at all, Narc's immediate answer was "I think I have to right?" and he then quickly switched that answer to stating he has a whole community that loves the game so he will keep up with the game progress through them.
It appears the guy is so used to misleading and untruths that he has to continually backtrack on all his answers and it felt cringy even watching.
Nah, there is a reason that streamers like Asmon and Thor have subscriptions in the millions and Narc has under 200k.
I do agree with the suggestion that Narc is using the negative drama to gather viewers and subs (numbers were giving on viewers once drama started) and will also capitalize down the road again with his 'Return to Ashes tour'
That was my point, you have not even been to the desert and came here to spread the propaganda that the desert is baren.
Someone attempted to explain to you how this was inaccurate and you refused to see the point and focus on the desert still being baren (which it is not) stating: 'this is not a good thing'.
Narc was not wrong to make the video, he was wrong for lying and misleading in the video. Claiming Steven stated that he should quit his job was a lie, stating Steven said that he and his followers had mental issues was a lie. The guy stooped to a new level of low during his exit tantrum.
You are drawing away from the core issue that started this all. The important part is the bad communication on intrepids side. I and many others wouldn't have had anything to react to if narc was not, and those around him, under the impression that they were mislead by intrepids communication.
Narc did not handle this well at all. it was a dumpster fire and he couldn't argue the point that needed to be argued when speaking to asmongold. I don't know what's wrong with narc and why he acted this way. He has been a good source of reliable information on ashes since he started and to act like its my fault for trusting that take when the underlying issue we agreed on exists, is just silly.
But you are going to keep harping on the reactions to the reaction right? Or will you actually engage with the core issue that started everything? The milk is spilt and at this point cleaned up. We should figure out who tipped it in the first place and how to make sure it doesn't happen again.
I never played or followed Factorio but I heard people liked their weekly blog
I went and selected one at random
https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-329
then a 2nd one amazingly shows me the expression "vertical slice". This day is strange.
https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-417
Do you want updates with such a level of detail?
I switched from reading the wiki and expecting monthly streams to reading patch updates, and for me is more valuable to know what changed rather than what will come in the next update or when a certain feature will be implemented.
What I like is that we got some information out of this interview with Asmon, specifically the maximum number of players on a server and number of players overall.