Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about Phase II and Phase III 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 testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about Phase II and Phase III 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.
Boats, sailing and the sea.
danownspoker
Member, Alpha Two
Good morning, citizens of Verra! After a few dozens of hours sailing around in the Alpha 2, I decided to write a few words of feedback.
First of all, a few disclaimers:
- I understand that this is an Alpha and that the current boat system is the first version of whatever their final goal is.
- I'm currently enjoying the sailing experience A LOT, but I do think it could be improved.
- This is my opinion, and should only be taken as that, but I'd love to discuss further with anyone that wants to do so.
I am a very passionate sea person, have always been. I've fished in every game I've played since I was 3 years old, especially in MMOs, and had boats in every game that allowed me to do so. In ArcheAge, I had a fully upgraded fishing boat and a pretty strong Galleon that I sailed with my Pirate Guild; I also played Sea of Thieves for over 2 years, sailing almost daily, and most of my experience comes from that.
Of course, I'd love to have a fully immersive sailing system in Ashes, where you control sail height, rudder turning is persistent and you have to close holes on the hull, throw out water with a bucket while dealing with all sorts of things. While I do understand that in a MMO that might not fit and it might be better to have a more "vehicle" system, where you turn your boat and move it forward/backwards on command with WASD, I do think there are some improvements that could be done, especially in two things: steering and speed control.
It would be much more immersive and interesting if the turning of the rudder was persistent, where you can set it to turn, leave the rudder and it would still be turning. This would allow for much more skill expression and control for experienced players. Also, speed should work similarly. Maybe some sort of "progress bar" indicator, where you can control how fast the ship is going with W and S, increasing or decreasing speed. With that, a small crew could take on bigger threats by having a good navigator/sailor man both the rudder and a weapon in combat.
I think the cannon system currently works pretty well for what it is supposed to be, but I would prefer a more aim focused system instead of "click where you want to shoot". The damage numbers make sense if there is to be an upgrade system for the weaponry. If not, they seem a bit to low when compared to what a geared mage or ranger can do if they simply attack. Also, there should be some sort of consumable or action to heal ships, be it using material (wood timber or planks) or maybe even glint.
According to the Wiki, there is gonna be a system to allow other people to steer you ship, and I know that is not yet implemented, but it's pretty detrimental to not be able to have other people steer it for you, so I'd propose that, as a placeholder, only people in your group can steer your ship, and maybe add a skill to the owner to kick out drivers.
I have no words other than amazement about the beauty of the tropics and the sea. I did not expect us to have sailing on this soon, with such a rich biome and interesting isles, and especially considering that there is much more to come since this is just one zone, I can't wait to have an entire ocean to sail around, swim on and dive in.
Overall, I really enjoy the direction that sailing is going towards, and if the game released with the system as is (with sailing permissions and some kind of way to heal the ship) it would be good enough for me, but I think there's a lot of potential for an even better system that would allow a lot of content and memorable moments.
These are a couple of screenshots I took while sailing. The ambience is great and the whole journey was very immersive. Also, thanks a lot for lowering the cost of the ship, been seeing many more people sailing around since that.
Thanks for giving me this opportunity to test a system that I love so much and have so many expectations for. Can't wait to see what comes next.
First of all, a few disclaimers:
- I understand that this is an Alpha and that the current boat system is the first version of whatever their final goal is.
- I'm currently enjoying the sailing experience A LOT, but I do think it could be improved.
- This is my opinion, and should only be taken as that, but I'd love to discuss further with anyone that wants to do so.
I am a very passionate sea person, have always been. I've fished in every game I've played since I was 3 years old, especially in MMOs, and had boats in every game that allowed me to do so. In ArcheAge, I had a fully upgraded fishing boat and a pretty strong Galleon that I sailed with my Pirate Guild; I also played Sea of Thieves for over 2 years, sailing almost daily, and most of my experience comes from that.
Of course, I'd love to have a fully immersive sailing system in Ashes, where you control sail height, rudder turning is persistent and you have to close holes on the hull, throw out water with a bucket while dealing with all sorts of things. While I do understand that in a MMO that might not fit and it might be better to have a more "vehicle" system, where you turn your boat and move it forward/backwards on command with WASD, I do think there are some improvements that could be done, especially in two things: steering and speed control.
It would be much more immersive and interesting if the turning of the rudder was persistent, where you can set it to turn, leave the rudder and it would still be turning. This would allow for much more skill expression and control for experienced players. Also, speed should work similarly. Maybe some sort of "progress bar" indicator, where you can control how fast the ship is going with W and S, increasing or decreasing speed. With that, a small crew could take on bigger threats by having a good navigator/sailor man both the rudder and a weapon in combat.
I think the cannon system currently works pretty well for what it is supposed to be, but I would prefer a more aim focused system instead of "click where you want to shoot". The damage numbers make sense if there is to be an upgrade system for the weaponry. If not, they seem a bit to low when compared to what a geared mage or ranger can do if they simply attack. Also, there should be some sort of consumable or action to heal ships, be it using material (wood timber or planks) or maybe even glint.
According to the Wiki, there is gonna be a system to allow other people to steer you ship, and I know that is not yet implemented, but it's pretty detrimental to not be able to have other people steer it for you, so I'd propose that, as a placeholder, only people in your group can steer your ship, and maybe add a skill to the owner to kick out drivers.
I have no words other than amazement about the beauty of the tropics and the sea. I did not expect us to have sailing on this soon, with such a rich biome and interesting isles, and especially considering that there is much more to come since this is just one zone, I can't wait to have an entire ocean to sail around, swim on and dive in.
Overall, I really enjoy the direction that sailing is going towards, and if the game released with the system as is (with sailing permissions and some kind of way to heal the ship) it would be good enough for me, but I think there's a lot of potential for an even better system that would allow a lot of content and memorable moments.
These are a couple of screenshots I took while sailing. The ambience is great and the whole journey was very immersive. Also, thanks a lot for lowering the cost of the ship, been seeing many more people sailing around since that.
Thanks for giving me this opportunity to test a system that I love so much and have so many expectations for. Can't wait to see what comes next.
1