Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
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.
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.
Considering joining the alpha, A few questions.
blank0666
Member
I would like to preface this with that:
I rarely look at good reviews for a game. I look at the negative ones because they tell a more complete story.
While I love the idea of most of the systems, I have a question about the combat itself.
I come from WoW, a "expansion" player. that is, once an expansion comes out, I'd probably wait a month or two for the game to settle down from the hype, then buy the expansion, play for probably 1-2 months, reach mythic (I'm a slow player xD) get bored with the instanced roulette for gear (stat sticks) and decide I'm done with the game until a really big patch comes out or the next expansion. this, is suffering for me.
I really like open world leveling, meeting random players and joining together to defeat a boss. then returning to the quest giver with a feeling of "wow, that was really cool, everyone are strugglin like me and we joined together to do this really hard quest".
on the other hand, I DESPISE the dynamic scaling of mobs to make content streamlined for every level in current WoW, it feels arcade, disjointed and on some cases... like I'm exploiting the game somehow. not in a "I found a cool thing in the game" but like I somehow hacked the game to thinking I'm more powerfull then my current level. this completly breaks the point of progression for me.
I understand this is now 3 1/2 paragrapsh about WoW, but like I said... I judge a game by the negatives, not the positives.
so after this background, here are my question:
1. will there ever be a "instant teleport" to dungeons by means of group creation? like the LFG system in WoW?
2. What is the vision for combat in AoC? from what I seen it's really fast paced, and abilities work off of one another which is really cool. I'd love to see a slower more methodical class in terms of combat. maybe a caster that needs more time to channel spells? I didn't play the game I'm just going off of what I seen.
3. the open world and traveling is a great design, I'm curious what are the exceptions to the "no fast travel" choice, for example in WoW you had flight paths but only to major hubs in each zone, I wouldn't mind not having them at all. but how strict will those traveling options be?
4. While the vision for an entire world driven by player economy is cool, there are countless "hard points" for players to wrap their head around which would require introductions and thematic tutorials(I assume), how will a new player, get into the game and learn these?
5. one of the things I don't like about current WoW is the hyproptimization of classes, I don't mind getting good, but what's the point of a skill tree if there is only 1 way of playing it? Will this be a major point of consideration for developing classes?
sorry for the long post, there is no TL;DR because TL;DR is stupid.
I rarely look at good reviews for a game. I look at the negative ones because they tell a more complete story.
While I love the idea of most of the systems, I have a question about the combat itself.
I come from WoW, a "expansion" player. that is, once an expansion comes out, I'd probably wait a month or two for the game to settle down from the hype, then buy the expansion, play for probably 1-2 months, reach mythic (I'm a slow player xD) get bored with the instanced roulette for gear (stat sticks) and decide I'm done with the game until a really big patch comes out or the next expansion. this, is suffering for me.
I really like open world leveling, meeting random players and joining together to defeat a boss. then returning to the quest giver with a feeling of "wow, that was really cool, everyone are strugglin like me and we joined together to do this really hard quest".
on the other hand, I DESPISE the dynamic scaling of mobs to make content streamlined for every level in current WoW, it feels arcade, disjointed and on some cases... like I'm exploiting the game somehow. not in a "I found a cool thing in the game" but like I somehow hacked the game to thinking I'm more powerfull then my current level. this completly breaks the point of progression for me.
I understand this is now 3 1/2 paragrapsh about WoW, but like I said... I judge a game by the negatives, not the positives.
so after this background, here are my question:
1. will there ever be a "instant teleport" to dungeons by means of group creation? like the LFG system in WoW?
2. What is the vision for combat in AoC? from what I seen it's really fast paced, and abilities work off of one another which is really cool. I'd love to see a slower more methodical class in terms of combat. maybe a caster that needs more time to channel spells? I didn't play the game I'm just going off of what I seen.
3. the open world and traveling is a great design, I'm curious what are the exceptions to the "no fast travel" choice, for example in WoW you had flight paths but only to major hubs in each zone, I wouldn't mind not having them at all. but how strict will those traveling options be?
4. While the vision for an entire world driven by player economy is cool, there are countless "hard points" for players to wrap their head around which would require introductions and thematic tutorials(I assume), how will a new player, get into the game and learn these?
5. one of the things I don't like about current WoW is the hyproptimization of classes, I don't mind getting good, but what's the point of a skill tree if there is only 1 way of playing it? Will this be a major point of consideration for developing classes?
sorry for the long post, there is no TL;DR because TL;DR is stupid.
0
Comments
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Inspiration
From a noob's perspective:
1. No
2. Fluid and fast?...you can dodge with your stamina....
3. https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Fast_travel
4. There is some basic tutorial about artisanship, the rest you need to figurate it out by yourself or asking people, which is good.
5. https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Classes
intresting... I don't like the family system i read about, that sort of stuff never felt right in an MMO. at least not thematicly. maybe as a "band" system, but marriage? guess I'm old and don't watch anime enough :P
The combat being fast is a big downfall for me, i understand the pressure for fast paced combat because that looks good, and hell I liked overwatch when it just came out too. but part of why I like the GCD system is that it gives "turns" to players to react, you need to make quick decisions based on a short time period. dunno if there is a long GCD in AoC. just spitting words ig.
active dodge was never my favorite, just a personal pet peave of mine ig.
what I'm mostly intresting is crafting, gathering. then sitting back seeing people use the gear I used to win the game. I don't believe in being the main hero in mmos... if everyone are special, no one is, etc etc...
in a way I rather have NPC's be the center of the story, but that's just up to the story.
Fair enough,
No. A Sceintific Node will have some form of instant travel. "Families" may be able to summon. Fast travel will break tons of stuff in the game, same as flying mounts.
2. What is the vision for combat in AoC? from what I seen it's really fast paced, and abilities work off of one another which is really cool. I'd love to see a slower more methodical class in terms of combat. maybe a caster that needs more time to channel spells? I didn't play the game I'm just going off of what I seen.
Think dark souls light like. it's not dark souls, but you can dodge attacks if you watch the tells. It's fun. Some classes have more mobility than others. There's an action play mode and tab target play mode.
3. the open world and traveling is a great design, I'm curious what are the exceptions to the "no fast travel" choice, for example in WoW you had flight paths but only to major hubs in each zone, I wouldn't mind not having them at all. but how strict will those traveling options be?
Your mount is your primary mode of travel. Again the game is really built around moving caravans and trade. The only two 'fast travel' talked about by Steven are the Science Node and Family Summoning. You should look into both of those to see if you like it. They are on the official wiki.
4. While the vision for an entire world driven by player economy is cool, there are countless "hard points" for players to wrap their head around which would require introductions and thematic tutorials(I assume), how will a new player, get into the game and learn these?
Mostly no right now. There is a beginner quest that kind of introduces into the gathering, crafting, and process systems. Then some commissions introduce you to Node mechanics. And a quest for caravans. But it's Alpha, it's just enough to get people through it it's not smoothed out or complete, nor is that their focus right now. If you want something like this don't join the Alpha. But it's not really needed.
5. one of the things I don't like about current WoW is the hyproptimization of classes, I don't mind getting good, but what's the point of a skill tree if there is only 1 way of playing it? Will this be a major point of consideration for developing classes?
Unknown really right now in the current alpha phase you can only get to 25 and only get to pick your starting class. Classes are pretty barebones in my opinion, there is skill selection and you get to choose but really you'll end put getting everything by the time your 25. I assume classes are fleshed out enough to make them function as they are supposed to. So a Tank is a tank, when you want to pick your "tree branch" to go down that's really picking your second class. So a Tank/Cleric is a Paladin, ect ect. How this will be done exactly has not be shown, so I'm just speculating.
My two cents. If you got the money and want to support MMO games get an Alpha key. But manage your expectations. Look up what Alpha testing is. This is an Alpha 'play test'. You'll get to 'play' a test not a game. Treat it like a game and you'll be frustrated. I've enjoyed my time play testing, no regrets.
Thank for the long response, really appriciated!
so if I was to join in right now, I would play test the game, I understand that. part of the fun will be seeing the game develope over time. I understand it's not for most. but play testing sounds intresting to me.
however... that is still a time investment. and this is still an MMO, I would love to be part of the development of the game. even if just play testing and suggesting things.
I wounder if solo play is an inteded option in the alpha? I don't want to join pirate software or any other group specificly, I feel like being a travaling potion marchent could be fun
Therefore, I recommend not entering the Alpha, if that is the case, wait for the Beta
In the release, yes, could be solo friendly. Right now it is not, at all.
fair enough.