Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place five 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 five 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 Testing - Has a good foundation, is pretty.
Sephrinx
Member, Alpha Two
This is written early April of 2025.
The sound effects are good, the game for the most part looks visually very good as well. A lot of things have a sort of generic feel to them, nothing seems stylized or unique in terms of aesthetic or appearance.
There are really cool vistas and view points, PoI's are all cool that I've come across.
There is an entirety of 2 audio tracks in the game - In Combat and Not In Combat. It seems that most of the time the "In Combat" music would be playing, even though I was not in combat.
Enemy/Character sounds are really bad - like the grunts and gasps during combat.
Voice Acting is obviously placeholder AI, I'm sure it will be done at some point. I don't really like voice acting in video games, so I don't care either way really.
The level up animation/sound I think needs to be a bit more “powerful” if that makes sense. The visual is cool but it dissipates too fast.
Having both a weapon tree and class skill tree is cool. I just wish there was more too them and they had a bit more complexity to them. I’m hoping that this will just come with time.
There seems to be two "modes" of camera/character control. One with the little targeting reticle and one without. Character movement abilities seem to behave differently depending on which one was active and I could not figure out how to properly control myself based on which one was active at the time. I tried tinkering with settings to "enable during combat" for specific mode but it didn't seem to work or I could not find the right thing.
My goodness... where do I start. Why do I have to mash auto attack? Why can’t my character just… you know, attack? Without me spamming left click/Q 20 times per second? What purpose does this serve? It’s not engaging in any way and it’s not fun, there is no skill or timing or anything.
It looks like there is no Global Cooldown, or if there is it’s not indicated visually in an apparent manner. I use abilities and they just all instantly go off it or it doesn’t go off at all and it pretends like I didn’t press the button? I’m only level 8 but it’s really weird feeling. Nothing feels responsive, rewarding, or has any sort of impact or feedback when used.
Everything feels floaty and weightless, like I am piloting a ghost with swords for arms that flails in a direction. It feels like I’m a cosmetic doll with incoming and outgoing numbers scrolling around me.
I don’t feel like I’m using my abilities, as much as I am using “press button for damage.” When using Flurry or Feint on the rogue for example, Flurry is just instant with no feedback or indication that the ability has even gone off. Feint will some times launch me wildly into the air in random directions which is kinda hilarious – but also like still fix it haha.
Accidentally aggro a mob and it chases you across the entire node it feels like.
Some enemies are just crazy fast and patrol with a full-on sprint - there are a couple of these Elite Undead guys near the starting area on the tower that just Usain Bolt around the area and clap you in 3 hits. Feels bad.
Mobs do *** WAY *** too much damage. At level 4 I was 100-0 in one hit by a Crow. I had 440 maximum life, and it hit me for 488 damage. Just some random level 4 bird….
The combat is unbelievably bad.
A lot of quests were simply broken or did not function/bugged, had to abandon and restart them a few times for the quest states to update properly. The quest objectives feel very hard to understand. Such as “Speak to the townspeople of Lionhold to find out etc etc” when I will speak to every 12 times and nothing happens. I can’t tell if I’m just not finding the right person, or if the quest is bugged.
I killed at least 150-200 various types of goblins for the “Got Goblin Goods?” Quest. I killed so many that they were barely even giving me experience (like 45) when I killed them. I killed all types of them, at each area. The drop rate for quest items is completely heinous to the most absurd of degree. I got from level 4 to level 6 just by killing these goblins.
Quests don’t make sense and are impossibly difficult to complete at the level they are given. Kill a level 7 Elite for level 6 quest? IMPOSSIBLE. You die in 3 hits. Mobs respawn faster than you can clear them out to get to the quest mob.
Job Board jobs are awesome, love the idea of them and so far none of the ones I’ve done have been bugged or unclear. I like the idea that only certain mobs/resources spawn at night. Very cool.
Add a bit more clear objective information, either by some sort of sparkle or narrowed radius of the “Objective” marker.
For all that is holy in this land…. The base storage for Gatherable Materials needs to be increased at least 3-4 times what it currently is. You can gather for like 15 minutes at a time before your entire inventory is full. I probably left 400 Granite on the ground because I simply did not have any bag space to loot it. The inventory tetris thing could be interesting, but more than anything it just is annoying to deal with and doesn’t really serve any purpose. It’s better than having a “Weight” system though, so there’s that.
Gathering nodes need to be more noticeable and have some sort of mouseover tooltip. A small white square/circle is simply inadequate.
There are multiple rarities of the same crafting reagent… why? Even more inventory nightmare. I’ve never liked this concept in any game I’ve ever played. Iron Ore should be Iron Ore. Herb Type should be Herb Type That’s it.
I’m trying to craft a leather piece of armor for my rogue, and I feel like I’m going on the quest to acquire the god damn Quel’Serrar or Atiesh in World of Warcraft for this 2 silver item I can just buy from a vendor.
You need leather – in order to get the leather you need to “hunt” (pet) – this is placeholder currently, not a big deal however it is kind of funny how petting an animal butchers them - animals to harvest them. Once you’ve gathered enough Beast Carcasses, you go to a crafting station and process them. Each one takes AN ENTIRE MINUTE to do, and requires 1 “Fuel” (which seems very arbitrary and needless) and you can only do ONE CRAFT at a time. It’s completely heinous. Should be like 10 seconds at the most, and let me queue up 30 different crafts at once if I want. Once you’ve got the Leather, then you need the “Cotton Thread” – so I go gathering looking for Cotton. I get about 40 Flax and something else low tier, can’t remember the name of it. After an hour of looking around I ask where to find Cotton, I’m flamed in chat for 10 minutes before someone informs me it needs to be grown. So once I’ve now found the Cotton Seeds, I need to plant the cotton seeds in a farm. EACH SEED for ONE cotton takes AN ENTIRE MINUTE. You need 1 seed, one water, one poop, and one “Fuel” – FOUR items just for a single cotton. Guess what? The Cotton Thread also takes one fuel and one Cotton and one entire minute. This is completely insane. I love crafting in games, and this is so far from enjoyable it’s indescribable.
I finally acquired the materials to create the “River Stalker’s Garb” and I was expecting a 4 minute craft or something, but it was like 3 seconds. This. Please. More of this. 3 seconds is the right speed. Not 20 times that for 1 item….
So assuming it’s like other thread, each piece of thread takes 1 “Fuel” (which is most burnable resources – except for wood which is odd) and one minute of real life time. Overall I have spend probably an hour and a half just trying to get this one single item made, and I still don’t have it.
Crafting is completely and utterly ludicrous. I am a no life neck beard grind game enjoyer, but even for me this is just outrageously over doing it.
No means of fast travel or a “Hearthstone” type item?? Had to kill myself and respawn in order to get back to where I was, or I guess just use Horse and run for 11 minutes in a direction.
Community is a cesspool of toxicity. Like, the worst community it’s unreal how much of ass holes these people are.
For example when I got one shot by that raven, I was like “Wow wtf I just got 100-0 by some random level 4 bird?” and then the next 6 minutes of chat were people calling me a **** and telling me to use the dodgeroll button or asking if I’ve ever heard of blocking (which seems useless so far - At no point did it feel like Blocking was even DOING ANYTHING) and that I should have known that I was going to get globaled by some random level 4 mob. Like, god damn. I’ve played the game for 50 minutes, chill.
No Market place/Auction House? There is node specific “Boards” where you can put up a few items… but that’s it? Maybe I missed something.
Market Place is … diabolical.
Player collision is annoying.
Looting “Glint” then turning the Glint into Glint But Better and then Glint But Even More Better is odd. Why do you have to do this, and why does this resource take up space?
I will still support AoC and keep checking on the games progress, tuning in to the live streams and keeping up on the videos and updates and what not. But for now, I'll just chill and let it cook.
Cheers.
Audio/Video
The sound effects are good, the game for the most part looks visually very good as well. A lot of things have a sort of generic feel to them, nothing seems stylized or unique in terms of aesthetic or appearance.
There are really cool vistas and view points, PoI's are all cool that I've come across.
There is an entirety of 2 audio tracks in the game - In Combat and Not In Combat. It seems that most of the time the "In Combat" music would be playing, even though I was not in combat.
Enemy/Character sounds are really bad - like the grunts and gasps during combat.
Voice Acting is obviously placeholder AI, I'm sure it will be done at some point. I don't really like voice acting in video games, so I don't care either way really.
Leveling
The level up animation/sound I think needs to be a bit more “powerful” if that makes sense. The visual is cool but it dissipates too fast.
Having both a weapon tree and class skill tree is cool. I just wish there was more too them and they had a bit more complexity to them. I’m hoping that this will just come with time.
Combat
There seems to be two "modes" of camera/character control. One with the little targeting reticle and one without. Character movement abilities seem to behave differently depending on which one was active and I could not figure out how to properly control myself based on which one was active at the time. I tried tinkering with settings to "enable during combat" for specific mode but it didn't seem to work or I could not find the right thing.
My goodness... where do I start. Why do I have to mash auto attack? Why can’t my character just… you know, attack? Without me spamming left click/Q 20 times per second? What purpose does this serve? It’s not engaging in any way and it’s not fun, there is no skill or timing or anything.
It looks like there is no Global Cooldown, or if there is it’s not indicated visually in an apparent manner. I use abilities and they just all instantly go off it or it doesn’t go off at all and it pretends like I didn’t press the button? I’m only level 8 but it’s really weird feeling. Nothing feels responsive, rewarding, or has any sort of impact or feedback when used.
Everything feels floaty and weightless, like I am piloting a ghost with swords for arms that flails in a direction. It feels like I’m a cosmetic doll with incoming and outgoing numbers scrolling around me.
I don’t feel like I’m using my abilities, as much as I am using “press button for damage.” When using Flurry or Feint on the rogue for example, Flurry is just instant with no feedback or indication that the ability has even gone off. Feint will some times launch me wildly into the air in random directions which is kinda hilarious – but also like still fix it haha.
Accidentally aggro a mob and it chases you across the entire node it feels like.
Some enemies are just crazy fast and patrol with a full-on sprint - there are a couple of these Elite Undead guys near the starting area on the tower that just Usain Bolt around the area and clap you in 3 hits. Feels bad.
Mobs do *** WAY *** too much damage. At level 4 I was 100-0 in one hit by a Crow. I had 440 maximum life, and it hit me for 488 damage. Just some random level 4 bird….
The combat is unbelievably bad.
Questing
A lot of quests were simply broken or did not function/bugged, had to abandon and restart them a few times for the quest states to update properly. The quest objectives feel very hard to understand. Such as “Speak to the townspeople of Lionhold to find out etc etc” when I will speak to every 12 times and nothing happens. I can’t tell if I’m just not finding the right person, or if the quest is bugged.
I killed at least 150-200 various types of goblins for the “Got Goblin Goods?” Quest. I killed so many that they were barely even giving me experience (like 45) when I killed them. I killed all types of them, at each area. The drop rate for quest items is completely heinous to the most absurd of degree. I got from level 4 to level 6 just by killing these goblins.
Quests don’t make sense and are impossibly difficult to complete at the level they are given. Kill a level 7 Elite for level 6 quest? IMPOSSIBLE. You die in 3 hits. Mobs respawn faster than you can clear them out to get to the quest mob.
Job Board jobs are awesome, love the idea of them and so far none of the ones I’ve done have been bugged or unclear. I like the idea that only certain mobs/resources spawn at night. Very cool.
Add a bit more clear objective information, either by some sort of sparkle or narrowed radius of the “Objective” marker.
Crafting
For all that is holy in this land…. The base storage for Gatherable Materials needs to be increased at least 3-4 times what it currently is. You can gather for like 15 minutes at a time before your entire inventory is full. I probably left 400 Granite on the ground because I simply did not have any bag space to loot it. The inventory tetris thing could be interesting, but more than anything it just is annoying to deal with and doesn’t really serve any purpose. It’s better than having a “Weight” system though, so there’s that.
Gathering nodes need to be more noticeable and have some sort of mouseover tooltip. A small white square/circle is simply inadequate.
There are multiple rarities of the same crafting reagent… why? Even more inventory nightmare. I’ve never liked this concept in any game I’ve ever played. Iron Ore should be Iron Ore. Herb Type should be Herb Type That’s it.
I’m trying to craft a leather piece of armor for my rogue, and I feel like I’m going on the quest to acquire the god damn Quel’Serrar or Atiesh in World of Warcraft for this 2 silver item I can just buy from a vendor.
You need leather – in order to get the leather you need to “hunt” (pet) – this is placeholder currently, not a big deal however it is kind of funny how petting an animal butchers them - animals to harvest them. Once you’ve gathered enough Beast Carcasses, you go to a crafting station and process them. Each one takes AN ENTIRE MINUTE to do, and requires 1 “Fuel” (which seems very arbitrary and needless) and you can only do ONE CRAFT at a time. It’s completely heinous. Should be like 10 seconds at the most, and let me queue up 30 different crafts at once if I want. Once you’ve got the Leather, then you need the “Cotton Thread” – so I go gathering looking for Cotton. I get about 40 Flax and something else low tier, can’t remember the name of it. After an hour of looking around I ask where to find Cotton, I’m flamed in chat for 10 minutes before someone informs me it needs to be grown. So once I’ve now found the Cotton Seeds, I need to plant the cotton seeds in a farm. EACH SEED for ONE cotton takes AN ENTIRE MINUTE. You need 1 seed, one water, one poop, and one “Fuel” – FOUR items just for a single cotton. Guess what? The Cotton Thread also takes one fuel and one Cotton and one entire minute. This is completely insane. I love crafting in games, and this is so far from enjoyable it’s indescribable.
I finally acquired the materials to create the “River Stalker’s Garb” and I was expecting a 4 minute craft or something, but it was like 3 seconds. This. Please. More of this. 3 seconds is the right speed. Not 20 times that for 1 item….
So assuming it’s like other thread, each piece of thread takes 1 “Fuel” (which is most burnable resources – except for wood which is odd) and one minute of real life time. Overall I have spend probably an hour and a half just trying to get this one single item made, and I still don’t have it.
Crafting is completely and utterly ludicrous. I am a no life neck beard grind game enjoyer, but even for me this is just outrageously over doing it.
Other
No means of fast travel or a “Hearthstone” type item?? Had to kill myself and respawn in order to get back to where I was, or I guess just use Horse and run for 11 minutes in a direction.
Community is a cesspool of toxicity. Like, the worst community it’s unreal how much of ass holes these people are.
For example when I got one shot by that raven, I was like “Wow wtf I just got 100-0 by some random level 4 bird?” and then the next 6 minutes of chat were people calling me a **** and telling me to use the dodgeroll button or asking if I’ve ever heard of blocking (which seems useless so far - At no point did it feel like Blocking was even DOING ANYTHING) and that I should have known that I was going to get globaled by some random level 4 mob. Like, god damn. I’ve played the game for 50 minutes, chill.
No Market place/Auction House? There is node specific “Boards” where you can put up a few items… but that’s it? Maybe I missed something.
Market Place is … diabolical.
Player collision is annoying.
Looting “Glint” then turning the Glint into Glint But Better and then Glint But Even More Better is odd. Why do you have to do this, and why does this resource take up space?
I know it’s alpha, that’s why I am leaving feedback. Hopefully in a year or two it improves, there is a lot of room for growth and improvement so I hope that it can be executed. Overall I would say that I am regrettably very disappointed with what the game is in its current state. I don’t think there was really anything that was enjoyable or anything that made me want to continue to play the game... as much as it pains me and I hate to say it. I will probably wait for a year or so and come back and see what’s improved and how the game feels to play then. I just want AoC to be great.
I will still support AoC and keep checking on the games progress, tuning in to the live streams and keeping up on the videos and updates and what not. But for now, I'll just chill and let it cook.
Cheers.
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