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.
Dev Discussion #76 - The New Tester Experience
Dev Discussions are an opportunity to join in on player discussions about topics that Intrepid Studios want to hear your thoughts on. This is less about asking us questions, and more about us asking YOU the questions! If you do have questions about Ashes of Creation, keep an eye our social media channels for our monthly Q&A thread, check out the Ashes of Creation community wiki, or try the #questions channel in Discord!
In this thread, we’ll be discussing:
Dev Discussion - The New Tester Experience
With the development of new zones, we look to refine the First-Time User Experience (FTUE). We want to be clear: the Riverlands FTUE was just this system's first, most basic iteration, and by no means a final representation of our intended quality. While we’re not aiming to develop this into a full-featured experience quite yet, we aim to make it more intuitive, informative, and enjoyable. With exciting developments happening on new zones, we want to improve the new-player experience. We have a few prompts below which you can answer to help us!
We’d love your thoughts on:
Don’t feel limited to the thought-starters above. Feel free to drop whatever feedback you have regarding your experiences with the FTUE of the Riverlands zone below 👇
In this thread, we’ll be discussing:
Dev Discussion - The New Tester Experience
With the development of new zones, we look to refine the First-Time User Experience (FTUE). We want to be clear: the Riverlands FTUE was just this system's first, most basic iteration, and by no means a final representation of our intended quality. While we’re not aiming to develop this into a full-featured experience quite yet, we aim to make it more intuitive, informative, and enjoyable. With exciting developments happening on new zones, we want to improve the new-player experience. We have a few prompts below which you can answer to help us!
We’d love your thoughts on:
- What did you enjoy most, or least, about your first-time user experience in the Riverlands?
- Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
- Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
- What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
- Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
- How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
- What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
- How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
- How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
- Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
Don’t feel limited to the thought-starters above. Feel free to drop whatever feedback you have regarding your experiences with the FTUE of the Riverlands zone below 👇
0
Comments
New players (below lvl40 out of 80lvls) could be invited to a special part of the guild. Once they leveled to 40 and did a profession quest (think classs acquisition in Ashes) they'd be auto-kicked from the guild and the guild would get some benefits. The earlier the player was invited - the bigger the benefit to the guild. This part of the guild would not be involved in guild wars, so these newbies were protected from that.
The member slots in this part of the guild were limited, so strong guilds would want those newbies to lvl up as soon as possible, so that the guild receives as many benefits as it can. This meant that the guild would give some gear to the newbies and even help with lowbie pvp, if they were bullied by someone.
This setup would usually lead to guilds almost fighting over newbie onboarding. Some would just try to invite any newbie they see. All would advertise their Academy by giving as much money/gear on invite as possible.
And this whole process would also accustom the newbies to the server's culture. Show them internal interactions of guilds. And fairly often would lead to those Academy alumni joining the guild later, if their vibes matched the guild's.
Imo this is an amazing system. And I know that we're supposed to get the mentorship program in Ashes, but from what has been discussed about it before, it seemed more of a personal 1-on-1 feature, rather than a guild-based thing.
In the context of testing itself, we all know that testing is easier in a group and even easier in a guild. I think a system like the one above would go a long way to help new testers integrate into the realm's life and test way more systems in a much better way.
Answer: What I most enjoyed was the feeling of progression every time I gained a level. Starting with one spell, it feels great to get the next few ones and see my power level grow as I get access to very cool combos. What I enjoyed least was the way that grinding was done. A game like WoW Classic feels much more fun in terms of fresh start, with lots of quests to run around and chase. But I'm aware that quest chains are not quite implemented yet, so I'm hoping to see improvement here.
2. Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
Answer: Yes. I wish there was a closer match to how fast you level alone when compared to in a group. I think in an ideal world, a group that is being efficient should be maybe 20-30% more efficient than a solo player. But the way it is now feels like group play is significantly better than that. But this could also be due to the fact (like question1) that quest chains are not quite where they need to be, and their XP rewards will be able to close this gap a bit.
3. Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
Answer: Best were feeling of progression, love the Rogue class, dropping loot (equipment) feels really good.
Worst was probably randomly being killed by guards if I looted someone (and turned purple). Happened more than once. It's intuitively very hard to know when you're safe to loot someone's body and when you're not.
4. What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
Answer: Not my first time playing, so very little was confusing. I'd say that for a new player, possibly the most confusing part would be something like "how do I flag for pvp". It's very unintuitive. Someone can attack you, you can't attack back. Makes very little sense. I've seen level 15+ players not know how to flag.
5. Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
Answer: Funny enough, probably the most enjoyable quest was the one where I can turn in multiple times goblin junk, as it's actually good xp. Quest lines right now feel horrible because the rewards in terms of xp simply suck.
6. How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
Answer: It's simply ok. Could be better. Also, not being new, it's meaningless, because again, the xp rewards are meaningless. Grinding is ridiculously superior, so who cares what they have to say.
7. What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
Answer: It feels pretty good I'd say. I think gathering needs tons of work though, in two separate categories:
a). It sucks that trees/rocks/etc. respawn at their previous rarity level (so people that find a legendary one just camp it, nobody knows it's legendary). Maybe this was fixed recently, I hope so.
b). It's impossible to know if someone is farming/getting high rarity gatherables, so it's literally never worth ganking someone in pvp and going corrupt to kill them, as you have no idea if they have anything on them. I'm a firm believer that games like Albion have it right, where you can see the rarity of the gatherable you're harvesting. It brings upon competition, and can even cause PvP to organically happen right around the source. This would especially be interesting if the time required to gather a legendary piece of wood/rock would be prolonged, so that there's time to engage and prevent someone from finishing the gathering, again, creating organic pvp.
8. How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
Answer: It's ok. But everything is relative. I'll say this over and over, it feels very bad that solo progression is so slow compared to group progression. Group progression (when being optimized for) should be maybe 30% faster than solo progression, at most. Right now it feels like it's 2x+ Again, maybe, with quest lines, this gap will be closer.
9. How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
Answer: Quest rewards? Only good one was probably the goblin random loot turn in, since the grinding of those mobs is actually decent xp, so the quests is a zero downside positive. Other than that, the random events can feel pretty nice. Normal quests, felt meh.
10. Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
Answer: This playtest specifically, I did not leave the Riverlands, I'm still a low level.
At the moment, this is the only thing I have to say, even though other topics have been suggested.
You don't need to have a questing system like wow or other MMOs, think more like Elden Ring.
Which forces you to face a difficult route at the start ( main boss / quest ), that you cant beat, which then motivates you to explore the world and do side quests that reward you greatly, you then are able to face the main boss again.
The current FTUE for me feels way too unsequencial. Its my first day of playing and Im doing everything I can to not mindlessly grind mobs, but also I still want to play the game at the max level to test end game content.
Things I dislike:
- Can't see all the quests on the map.
Feels like I'm losing out on a lot. Currently if I wanted to see it on the map I'd have to track, which means I'd have to check my logs but also I can only track 10 so for sure I'm missing out on a quest that I couldve done on the way to a new spot. Just put all the quests on the map and if I want to remove them give me the option to.
- Give the option to share quests ( doesnt have to include quests that you obtain from exploration, maybe just general quests )
- Give side quests great rewards and impact
- Handholding is fine, at the end of the day no one enjoys being slandered for not being a grindfest maniac
With that being said;
What did you enjoy most, or least, about your first-time user experience in the Riverlands?
Quests that felt clear and had a good reward were the most enjoyable. I'm a solo player and I didnt have any issues joining a group to finish a quest ( church quest ). Other quests like The Warhelm Curse, Proper Burial, Heartwood Beat, and the goblin ransack one felt the worst. They're too complicated, unclear, and by the time you even figure the game out youre out of there and theyre not worth doing anymore.
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
I wish quests were more clear, sequential, and clustered ( meaning a single quest can take you to a spot where there is a cluster of quests to complete. )
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
Best: Propably finishing the 2nd sword outpost side quest with the coins
Worst: The quests mentioned above and the events, still havent figured out how these events work and if theyre worth it
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
How to level up and crafting systems, regarding the quests I'd just be reiterating what I said earlier
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
Honestly any quest that has a single objective with a nice reward, even if extremly challenging, are the most enjoyable. But, the church quest was alright.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
Noticebly more immersive than the rest of the areas
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
it felt like when a math teacher gives you a simple multiplication in class then asks you to solve a quantom phyics equation in a drop quiz. ( tutorial was nice and simple, the real thing is nothing like the tutorial )
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
It felt alright, I wouldnt mind this rate for the rest of my leveling experience.
Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
A clear combat tutorial introduction. While its easy to get used to, its essential for newer and more casual players to have a proper introduction.
Your passion is oozing all over this game, it's really enjoyable. Good luck
Another thing that bothered me was the quest system. You pick up an item from the ground and the quest activates automatically, without any control. Moreover, quest items get stuck in your inventory and can’t be deleted. Even when you abandon the quest that was triggered by mistake, the items remain, occupying space. This clutters the bag and makes inventory management frustrating. These are small bugs or design choices that end up greatly affecting the quality of the experience.
I also found the game way too easy, especially in the early stages. Progression is too fast, with rewards that feel disproportionate to the effort required. This undermines the sense of challenge and achievement, which are essential in an MMORPG. In this sense, I believe the game should offer a more demanding journey, with a slower and more balanced progression pace.
New player experience philosophy
For me, the main thing the new player experience should do is hook the player. To do so, I think a few things should be taken into consideration:
Players are not invested enough to struggle through things right out of the gate. Players are more willing to suffer through some hardships once they are hooked and invested in the game. Therefore, the new player experience should be relatively smooth without struggles (Like death penalties, PvP, and overwhelming complex systems) and ramp up gradually. As some people might say, "the first hit is free". I like the new safezone and level 5 pvp-free solution. After level 10, players should be guided to nodes and introduced to some of the more complex systems in the game slowly. From level 15 onwards, death penalties should start ramping up. By level 20, the player should already be accustomed to the "real" pacing and vibe of the game.
In short: Don't overwhelm the player and make them struggle from the starting gate. Let them slowly learn the game and get used to some of the more "hardcore" features.
Properly testing the new player experience
I think it's incredibly hard to properly test new player experience when balance, performance, content, and uptime are so different from what is expected of launch. Some of this stuff is inevitable, as they are not ready yet. But when we end up with a few completely broken spots that allow players to bypass the entire leveling process (places giving ridiculous exp on easy mobs, like it happened this phase in the tropics), the entire data set is going to be tainted.
So I'll plead with intrepid: If you are to actually test the new player experience in Phase 3, please make sure that we don't have any of these broken spots, mobs disappearing, non-responsive, and the like.
Experience gain and action effort
This goes for questing, grinding, and anything that would give exp to players. Experience should be balanced to be proportional to the effort/difficulty of the scenario.
Currently, some low IQ mobs in the tropics are the best XP/hour in the game, while POIs like Carphin or Forge, with more complex encounters, are completely inefficient. The same goes for questing. We have quests that require 3 PhDs and a lot of time and effort, just to give 10k XP and glint, while some other quests that involve passing by a POI give almost that.
I am all for non-handholdy quests, quests that require reading the dialogue, exploration and mysteries and secrets, and puzzles. But those quests should be highly rewarding, way more than simple kill and collect quests.
The game has a risk vs reward philosophy. I propose an effort vs reward philosophy when it comes to content reward. The more complex a quest, the more difficult the grind on a POI, the more rewarding it should be on things like exp, glint, and material drops.
Lastly, on the experience topic, I think professions should give more experience than it does now. It should be the least rewarding on the experience side, as it is a "low effort" endeavor, and it gives some decent financial rewards already, but it should be enough that players at least feel like they are indeed gaining experience while doing professions.
Questing
I won't write my quest feedback here, as I already did before, and it's way too long, so I am going to leave a link to it:
https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/66959/sieges-ships-and-quests
Player/mob density, friction, and PvP
I started a week late for P1, so I can't talk about it, but for P2 and P3, the player density was completely unhealthy for the game. There were probably more players than mobs in the world. Every single place worth farming was occupied. A lot of players were relegated to places you couldn't even call a grind spot. This is really bad for the game IMO. This allows for the more dedicated players to completely lock the more casual players from content.
I am not saying that locking out content shouldn't be possible or even undesirable. I am saying, even guilds and players are acting to lock out content (which will happen), players should always have a place to farm/level/grind. There should be more places than players are able to lock out. Instead, players should be fighting to lock out the more rewarding spots (like the tower of Carphin), while casual players farm in less efficient spots, but still fun and valid spots.
Right now, every grindspot in the game creates friction and is a hotbed for pvp/mob training/griefing. I personally think the best scenario for the player density is where we have high-density zones (like Carphin) and almost deserted zones (places you barely even see a player). For instance, metros and their general region are completely packed, while it should be hard to find other players in wilderness nodes.
Solo/casual gameplay
Currently, we have very few non-elite grind spots, especially on higher levels. Players who like to enjoy some solo grind, players who are behind or starting late, and can't find a level-appropriate party, should have places to grind. Doesn't need to be as efficient as a group farm, but it should exist.
Another QoL implementation for solo players is that quests that require a group (for stuff like killing an elite 3* mob) should warn players beforehand. It sucks starting a quest, doing 30 minutes of a questline to find out you can't finish because you don't have a group.
Rested exp is a system implemented to help players with less time be able to keep up relatively with the more dedicated players. I know Intrepid plans to have this with beds, but I'd like to propose an implementation because I've seen other games mess this up. Rested exp should be proportional to the time you spend logged off. It should be something like "For every hour you stay logged off, you get double XP for x% of XP gained". It shouldn't be a simple buff "Sleep for X hours and get double XP for 1 hour" or something like that.
In one, if you go a day without logging in, you get a lot of rested XP, and you don't waste it on downtime. On the other, if you sleep for X hours or X+100 hours, you get the same 1 hour of double XP, which is spent on stuff like travel time. Please choose the first option.
Steven also commented on rested XP being better based on the quality of the bed you have. That is a really bad idea, as the purpose of rested XP is to bridge the gap between more casual and more dedicated players. Giving more dedicated players better beds and therefore better rested XP just completely breaks the purpose of the system.
Another thing that I think is problematic for low-level players/players starting late/casual players is the idea that accuracy is decreased with the level gap in PvP. If I am level 15 and can't hit a level 20 because he is 5 levels higher and I keep missing, then this just makes that "rush to max level" mentality more prominent and doesn't allow the player to take their time and enjoy the game in the leveling process. The gear and level power difference and dedication should be enough advantage for the higher-level player.
Ashes is a heavily group-focused MMO. Players that fall behind on the level curve, whether because they are playing more casually, or they started late, or took a break and had to go on a trip, or something, are going to have difficulties forming groups. What happens when a player starts 6 months late on a server and the initial/low-level zones are deserted?
For this, I'd like to suggest a grouping system. Let's say I am level 25 and want to group with my level 10 friend who just started the game. Right now, I can't help him because he won't get exp if we group. But if we had a system that made your stats power down to a level 10 threshold, then suddenly I could group with my friend without any issues, and without power boosting him. The threshold for stats can be something simple. Let's say the power cap is 10 * level. That means that if I group with my level 10 friend, my power would be capped at 100 (numbers are just examples, it can be calculated however, but it is tied to the level you are powering down to). You could even give special rewards for players who group up with starting players (something that doesn't make the meta be creating alt accounts to get rewards ofc).
Economy, gear, and professions
Let me start by saying I totally agree with the decision to reduce gear drops. I have proposed something similar on various occasions, and won't elaborate in here because of space, but I'll leave a link to an expanded explanation of my suggestion:
https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/66523/how-to-make-crafters-mvps-and-stop-the-endgame-rush-mentality
TLDR of that link:
Removing gear drops from mobs and soft-locking gear progression through crafting progression makes crafting valuable at all tiers, and decreases the power gap between casuals and hardcore players, mitigating the "rush to max level" mentality, while allowing these hardcore players to keep progressing inside these tiers with stuff like enchanting/gems/tempering/ascension
However, I think the way it was introduced was lacking/not enough.
These material drops should be really valuable, as valuable as a gear drop was before, or even more, since drops can come with bad stats while mat drops allow you to craft your desired gear. Also, the material system should work in a way that makes materials relevant across a wide range of levels. If players are 25 and the desired place for them to grind is Carphin, but the crafting progression is locked to level 10 items, Carphin should be dropping materials to craft level 10 gear. Level 20 material drops would be useless (for now) in this scenario, and Carphin would not be the desired top hotspot in the world (level 20 materials would be cheaper than level 10 materials until level 20 benches unlock).
PvE encounters
I have posted feedback on this that is still relevant, so I won't repeat myself:
https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/63848/feedback-on-pve-encounter-design
To this feedback, I'll add a few words. While playing mostly solo this phase, unlike the other phases, I found myself enjoying the pve more. I have to be aware of mechanics, how to deal with them, move and dodge, create a grind rotation, and properly use my kit to be effective. Once you group up tho, most of that goes away. You literally stand still for hours in a spot, pressing whatever buttons do damage while your tank pulls mobs and your healer takes care of any damage a mechanic does, if eventually one reaches another player aside from the tank. The PvE becomes static, low complexity, and quite frankly boring.
The issues I have from solo grinding come mostly from the lack of spots and mobs, and the lack of available sustain sources. Currently, as a non-sustain class (like bard or healer), I have to stop and rest between almost every single mob. I wish we had better options to keep the grinding going solo (pots, combat regen food buffs, better off combat regen, etc), so the rest is not every mob but maybe every couple of rotations. In this case, I think group pve encounters have a better balance.
Also, the animation of sitting and then starting the ration and then the animation to get up, it's all very time-consuming. I think sitting and resting can be kept the way as is, but if you are using a ration, it should be quicker (maybe no need to sit, maybe you could move at walking speed, maybe smaller duration and buffed regen).
If group pve encounters can be aligned with the vibes of solo pve encounter dynamics, while improving the sustain issues of solo pve encounters to be more in line with group pve encounters, I think Ashes has the potential to have one of the best open-world pve encounters in the genre.
World introduction
Last but not least, I think players should get a brief introduction to the world and the context of why we are going through the gate before we start. Something to get players more invested and more situated before starting the game. This could be done through some introduction cinematics, like most old-school games do (and more recently, BG3 is a good example). Nothing beats a good hype trailer before you start playing a new game.
On the other hand, commisions, and quests (near lionhold) were a bit annoying since there were so many people there and the spawnrates of mobs wasn't high enough. I have no clue if upping these will be an actual solution or not. Because it could cause other uninted problems. But i did enjoy the fact that there are quests that arent obvious like the curse one in lionhold.
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
Now i know questing isn't that fleshed out yet but i really enjoy questing and i can see that there are efforts to make more "hidden" quests and not just kill 5 wolves quests (they do exist but that isn't necesseraly bad).
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
I had a bug where i couldnt interact with some NPC's (and reported it). The ai voices are a bit jarring but i think overall are nice to have, since they add a bit of character to the npc.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
Crafting was introduced fine, it isnt a complicated crafting system but i also only did the "tutorial" crafting quest so can't really speak on the potential complexities it could have since I have no clue how developed the system is at this point.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
I took it really slow to really get my bearings so I dont really have an opinion on this.
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
I find it a bit odd that you dont really get gear in the intro area from quests. The gear doesnt have to be good but now youre stuck with the basic gear. You could maybe tie it to a quest introducing leathorworking and smithing for example.
also it would be great to introduce ppl little deeper into gathering/crafting system like a mini questline to gether x meterial and craft something usefull.. as a new player is very confusing what can i even gather and if item is even usefull maybe an aditional window next to logging/mining/etc to see all the mats u can get and their tier
maybe POI could have avrage LVL of the mobs in the area next to it soo ppl have idea where should they stick around.. now i have to type my LVL in chat to get invited just soo i have to run halfway across the map to get to a farming spot thats good for my LVL.. i know alot of ppl will find that weird and maybe lazy from me but i just think new players will find that really helpfull
This will be combo feedback on gathering, crafting and gear drops.
First, love the idea to make gear even more rare to focus on crafting. Prior play through you didn't need to craft as drops were more than sufficient. However gathering and stations are not supportive of crafting in leveling this far resulting in the following:
Players are creating alts and just repeating the quests that offer tokens for armor and gear. These items are strong and cover most slots. Gear solved.
As for crafting, how could you craft?! Resources are so scant with everyone gathering in the same area. On top of that resource variety is overly basic with Ruby being a rare sight, imagine that lol. Total count of available resource nodes seems much lower, probably coinciding with node level, which in theory makes sense but it doesn't work to support any meaningful progression in gathering and crafting. Also stations don't exist so even if you do manage to get resources you can't craft.
As is, early grinders will skip crafting level 0 and as progression is playing out players are skipping level 10 as well. Those joining later will likely be able to take advantage of crafting after resources become more abundant and stations come on online. It just seems like early adopters are getting shafted when they don't need to be.
Please refine this new system as I think it's a winner. It's just that it needs some major tuning in my opinion. Thanks for reading my feedback!
OP
— 5/1/2025 2:51 PM Let me say this be care full what you ask for. I have started playing this game with wave 2 with few log in issues till this new server launch and wipe.
Server launch. I got into the game and was able to create two characters. Went to launch. I have had code 33, then code 53 five times. I got in. as you patched, I crashed out. Got code 33 twice. Finished the goblin quest. Got to the medallion polisher quest. I crashed out the two times I got in to talk to him. Now all I get is code 28 error when I try to log that character back in. I am so glad I took my birthday off to do this testing for you. Right now I give this launch a D-. I just tried to go back in. I got another code 28 and 33. At this rate by the end of the day I should know what all the codes are. lol. I finally got to log in and play at about 7pm that evening. My partner in the game my wife kept getting code 33 and could not get in the first day. It felt like the server was alive again. I went out to the grem newbie area. Mobs grem and ravens were not coming up like last week. If something did come up it was killed very fast. It was a very contested area. It would have been a glorious pvp area had that been your design. I went down to the otters and worked on the splinter quest. I was able to find enough splinters to get this quest done. I came back in and turned this quest in. My wife was finally able to get into the game for about 2 hours till we logged out. What we noticed was very few mobs and resources to harvest compared to last weeks server. I will have more to say. I am currently suffering from a code 34 wipe and possible loss of my last two days progress.
What did you enjoy most, or least, about your first-time user experience in the Riverlands?
- Fluidity of gameplay, skills and graphics, music and sound effects are also spot on (10/10).
- Tutorial is almost non-existent (probably because of alpha stage), but I had a lot of difficulty setting my brain on how gathering and crafting professions work (still learning it).
- Also idk why every screen i open is set bottom left cornet (not much but enough that I want it to move to center).
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
- Quests. I don't have issue reading quest and I find that part most interesting, to learn the story/history of the area, but if you don't plan to create quest system like World of Warcraft, please I beg of you more descriptive text where is the area of quest objective. Also map location of quests are buggy (not giving you correct location).
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
- Best part is combat, design classes, music and ambience. Absolutely 11/10
- Worst part is questing. Described in upper paragraph and to add that please change icon of quest givers or at least don't overlap that with other interactive NPC-s since it bugging the mini map out
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
- The most I would say in my opinion is gathering and crafting professions. It's really not intuitive and would like to see more work on that.
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
- That quest for collecting bags on the road is frustrating because of does not say where at least or on map where potentially would find it. Also Safe,Something,Something is also badly designed.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
- Honestly pretty good ngl.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
- Crafting is hard. Not intuitive. Would rather like some line of questing where would game introduce you into complexity of crafting/gathering. These few quests that are in game are not really doing it right. Good start but it could be much better
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
- Decent. Would not change it. Liking it actually.
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
- Could be better. When I get piece of loot as a reward or drop couple of time I opened inventory and was like...."wait when did I get that?!".
Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
- Can't comment on it right now.
disagree, we don't like super loot everywhere
New-player experience
I think a crucial part of the new-player experience is getting players invested early on. Players should instantly have the desire to progress and dive into the various systems, which I think stems for a curiosity about the mysteries the various systems hold, as well as observing a given fantasy and wanting to achieve and experience that fantasy for themselves. If these things are done well, it could really get players hooked early on, and these things are very strong motivators that a lot of classic games have done very well, and it would be a shame not to leverage these different types of gameplay and design techniques.
1. Introducing mystery and sparking curiosity
This video talks about how to make a compelling mystery through sparking curiosity and investment into whatever type of mystery it is (Basically ingraining any kind of long-term mystery within any given system within the game; be it related to having an "information gap" in the lore, the world, the rules/mechanics, in progession, etc.). These could provide alternative progression paths early on for players to solve these mysteries in different ways through using different skill sets (like inductive/deductive reasoning, knowledge-acquistion, exploration, observation, experimentation, or even just persistently playing the game to eventually discover what will happen, etc.). The new player experience would be a prime opportunity for introducing these mysteries across different systems, and tutorializing players on various ways of solving mysteries using different types of player skillsets to both spark interest and to provide impactful choices early on.
- one example already in Ashes (not sure if its intended or not) is the curiosity that some of the environments spark. A good example was from the seasons update:
I really liked at 14:26 you can see some mysterious structures. You look at the face-shaped rock and think "hm, I wonder what caused that, what secrets it holds, or what it can tell me about the past and thus how it can inform me about the potential future of the world?" And you can see the floating structure and think "hm, I wonder if I can get up there and I wonder when the last time someone was there or if there is anything important still there?"
- This can be done for any of the systems very early on during the new player experience, such as the environment sparking curiosity for exploration, or some observation or dialogue that sparks curiosity to learn more about the story/lore, or some teased fight scenes that spark curiosity in the full potential of the combat system or class potential, etc.
Here is another look into how to introduce mystery/spark curiosity into the lore and world
2. Establishing aspirations and fantasies
In Destiny, it was also very cool to know that there were other vendors who were hidden.
Yes, this was fun to try and find them and reach them from a skill perspective of course, but there was also something about this that added to that endgame-fantasy and mystery aspects as well, because you feel like there is this "extra layer" to the world that not everyone has access to or knows about, like some kind of underground organization or network or something, which really makes you feel like the world actually has a lot of depth to it where only the most clever and capable can survive and you have must be willing to do anything you can to stand out and gain an edge over the competition. I think its ultimately the fantasy that drives you to uncover secrets such as this, but its the challenge and mysterious elements that make you feel like you really earned that fantasy when you achieve it, as you compete against others in reaching your full potential and realizing a fantasy that they might not have access to, to gain that competitive edge within the world and to stand out as a player within a world full of people and characters vying for the top spot. Something as simple as some hidden vendors in the new player hub managed to capture that feeling for me very early on which I think is a powerful thing for a new player to experience (which is the more important takeaway, more than the individual example).
These aren't really new ideas, but the way Destiny 1 handled it was very captivating to me for some reason, and its also just kind of important to remember to do these types of things and to consider some of the more minor details that contribute to this as well.
- These aspects are also even better if these lore characters feel like they are a living and breathing part if the world, and interact with the world and the story elements.
- Another key aspect of the fantasy and creating those aspirations, is to give the player a taste of what that end-game fantasy will feel like. Some of the coolest "new player experiences" I can remember, involve being teased very early on in the playthrough.
This could be something like seeing the most powerful lore character for a given class (like the strongest npc tank in the lore, for example) fight with someone early on near the start of the experience. This would be pretty cool if you are a tank and are seeing that happen, and puts context of where you are now vs. what you might now want to be later on. Its that anticipation and sense of progression and earning that fantasy that can hook players early on. Its also really fun when you get a quick tease of being able to actually play and feel what it would be like at max progression. Things like having temporary access to all your skills at the beginning of the game, before they get stripped away from for for story reasons or whatever. Or being able temporarily take control of a very strong lore character. Things like that which allow you to feel what it would be like at max progression can be very fun teases that get players hooked early on, and can apply to a variety of systems.
Just make sure its only a taste though, as you want players to still have that curiosity, mystery, amd sense of wonder about what that fantasy holds for them.
3. Set the scene for adventure
- Introduce characters/personalities
- Choosing personal gameplay style
- Establishing clear goals relating to player's preferred content types
4. Tutorialization
This is a great video showing the organic and subtle ways of introducing the player to the fantasy, and to the different underlying mechanics.
This video talks about ways to make tutorials feel more organic, immersive, and interactive
This video talks about ways to introduce very complex systems in a more approachable manner
These methods are very good for guiding the player without holding their hand, and while still being interactive and engaging even from the start before players fully grasp the systems. I think these could be useful teaching tools within some dedicated tutorial questlines.
A: Absolutely — especially if you're into dynamic world-building and player-driven economies. The world feels alive, with the node system giving real weight to player choice. However, be prepared to do a bit of research on your own, especially when it comes to skill trees and leveling paths — the game doesn’t hold your hand much in that department.
Q: How’s the combat system in Ashes of Creation?
A: The combat is flexible, blending tab-targeting and action elements for a hybrid style that caters to different preferences. Customization through skill trees adds a lot of depth. That said, new players might feel overwhelmed at first, since the game doesn't do the best job of explaining how these trees interact or which paths complement your class fantasy.
Q: How does leveling feel in Ashes of Creation?
A: Leveling is immersive and rewarding, especially since progression is tied to real changes in the world around you. Quests matter, zones evolve, and your actions have impact. But again, there’s a learning curve. The lack of guided explanation for optimal leveling routes or class synergy can leave players feeling a bit lost early on.
Q: What’s the community like?
A: Surprisingly welcoming for a PvP-friendly game! Most players are eager to group up, share insights, and help each other navigate the ever-shifting world. That said, community guides often have to fill in the gaps the game itself doesn’t explain — especially when it comes to things like skill point investment or build diversity.
Q: Any advice for new players?
A: Join a guild early — seriously. It’s the best way to learn the ropes, especially with how intricate systems like augments and class combos can be. The in-game tutorials are pretty surface-level, so connecting with experienced players or checking community wikis is almost essential if you want to optimize your build.
Have not been able to paricipate in any capacity due to the fact it will not update or install correctly. Pretty agitating to be honest.
Most - finally a new mmo world after quiting wow and warhammer online ages ago.
Least - capacity to understand basic stuff without asking around/researching internet. Rogues having to go away from players/mobs/horses in order to stealth..
-Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
I have elaborated this in the last question.
-Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
Worst thing that happened was the game glitching, crashes and pc being bricked on the second of May.
I had to reinstall windows in order to log on again.
Best thing was, i finally got to enjoy something vagely familiar to my mmorpg senses...something that smells like a mixture of warhammer online, age of conan and vannila-WoW.
-What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
Map, map icons, objectives.
I did not want to investigate before entering the game for the first time and i wanted to experience everything myself.
It was pretty hard to follow up on some quests, i skipped the mount one until i had 3 chars level 4 - i had to ask around and then even watch a video. Accepting the quest doesnt actually stick the quest name in your head, and what you need to do.
You have to find it in the quest log, then potentially mark it to be tracked.
-Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
I havent enjoyed any quests to be honest - it takes horrendous time to find a mob that a quest requires with all of these people playing.
-How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
Maybe a re-design of this section? It doesnt look like its leading me to want to read/listen all of it.
Ill go back to wow for this example, but imagine being in the beginning of Trisfal Glades (Deathknell) and getting out of that little house, talking to the first quest giver- with all that iconic music. It gives you a super sense of something is getting done and you are the hero in that story. Here i feel like im one of a milion and my actions make no difference.
-What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
N/A - havent tried.
-How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
Stagnation/confusion - not sure if a individual should follow standard quests or keep doing commisions/grind mobs to advance? Maybe storyline quests are yet to be implemented? I dont feel like i am in one.
-How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
No specific rewards, not sure what any item is for.
-Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
I like this question:
It should not be wokened like the current WoW is and i know this is not the final product but as someone who is reviewing:
There is not much self intuition on many of the game components.
When i press stealth, why cant i just turn it off? I cant debuff myself, i cannot remove anything unwanted.
Whats a glint? What is it for? Who should i sell it to? Where? Should i just vendor it or would i make a mistake?
At lvl 4, i was unable to collect wood since my inventory was full- can i have more space? Where do i buy bags? Are there different bags for different sections for items/materials / quest items? Should i just vendor-sell everything i currently have?
There is no 'IT' feel when it comes to the game making a powerfull long lasting impression that keeps you awake/lusting for more. It can be pretty quick before you just call it a night and decide to continue tomorrow.
I feel better ingame music should/would add more character, like it did to warhammer online / wow and you would definitely know which game you are currently on.
Other than that, polish polish and polish of the movement/actioning - The character im controlling should feel easy and ultra responsive, at times i feel like i am controlling a big heavy lagging object.
Chat should also receive a some sort of re-design IMO since i think its not so eye friendly.
The downloader needs some rework as well, it slows everything else being done on PC.
All this being said i LOVE the game but i wanted to put my criticism and make it even better if anyone is looking
- The best thing thus far has been the feeling of wonder in the environments. Combat feels good to me and visuals are really nice.
"Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?"
- Server launch was a bit iffy but I can understand why.
"Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!"
- Everything is new for both. The amount of information I needed to absorb at times gave me headache.
"What confused you most during your first few hours of play?"
- Probably the flagging system, especially when it comes to looting random bodies on the ground. I've been following ashes since the kickstarter and a know a fair bit about the systems, but it still took me multiple hours to understand why some people were purple color and how my friend was dying to pvp (cos they accidentally flagged by looting a body). Another thing that confused me was storage and how to access it. I knew the game has a bank system but I couldn't figure out in-game where to access it. This is thus far the only thing I've had to check outside of the game. The crafting system seems really in depth, but a lot of it didn't get explained like tools, material rarity etc. or it was touched on so lightly I forgot instantly.
Questgivers also confused me a bit. They retain the quest icon even after you completed the quest and you can't see them on the map. I don't really mind exploring to find quests, but in the future there should be at least some sort of hints where quests might be. I don't think commissions were explained at all? I just did them and assumed they are like quests. I also mixed up the map icon to questgiver icon multiple times.
"Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?"
- Im only level 6 so im not that far into the game yet, but grouping up with my friend and doing quests around lionhold has been so much fun.
"How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?"
- Seems functional. Just kind of annoying you can't talk to people while riding a normal mount like a horse.
"What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?"
- Introduction was functional but minimal. The crafting system is pretty in-depth and I feel like a lot of things could be explained a bit more in detail. I think it's a good idea to have the introduction as a quest or questline. Maybe it could be a tad bit longer to explain more of the details.
"How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?"
- Progression thus far seems ok. I like levelling being on the slower side, but the game definitely could use more quests. I think the starting zone has a pretty ok amount if you combine with the commissions.
"How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?"
- Rewards and drops are highly lacking. Usually you get all sorts of loot at the start to get you excited but thus far I have literally got nothing. Even if it was crappy levelling stuff from quests I could still have the feeling of equipping something new but there is nothing except glint, which doesn't mean anything to me as it was not explained.
When it is time to really start honing in the new player experience, a recent video from Josh Strife Hayes reminded me again how well he understands this sort of thing. I think it would be really cool to get feedback from him as he kind of does MMORPG onboarding as a job in his MMORPG series.
It was obvious that quests only existed in Phase 1 & 2 for the purpose of functional testing. (I'm glad y'all have been fixing those bugs, at least.)
I can hardly comment on anything else, like tutorials, because most of my info comes from the streams or the community, not from the game itself. I blasted through half of the "FTUE" because of that.
I guess it would be nice to have more clear rules/indicators about droprates and exp in the game. I was never sure if droprates were being crippled because of my group's wide level range, or if we were just getting unlucky. Especially because the rules changed a few times in the patches.
Instead, I think the goal should be to have the 1-10 crafting experience focus on crafting the comments that would go into level 10 gear, so that by the time you’ve leveled to 10 if you’ve been engaging in the crafting gameplay loop, you can reward yourself with gear.
My experience on Shol is fucking shite compared to the Lotharia one. Very very disappointed indeed.
finding grps looks not bad its even easyer then FINDing decent place to lvl UP . 150 people fighting for some Mobs in HH our at church are even at starting place.
I did had fun befor this merge
as old EQ player i can say grps of 8 PEOPLE ARE WAY TO BIG . You should reduce them to 6 so this mindless no need brain killing 3 stars would stop .Today I killed 3 star Mobs it was so Borring that logged off after i got 2 lvls in like 2 hours .
You told us that geting to lvl would feel like geting somwhere I can say you it doesent At all it only will make You Feel as mindless Zonbie After killing 200 3star mobs with .
What did you enjoy most, or least, about your first-time user experience in the Riverlands?
I like the fact that as a mage i can play with a shield and a sword without to feel blocked by areas on my level.
The game don't force me to play only on a simple way. On an other hand i consider that any new player should not feel blocked about the english language. In 2025 with IA it is not so complicated/expensive to translate texts of a game. This Alpha should be accessible to more players from all around the world.
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
I would like more cac spells for my mage to get a gameplay more flexible. And i was expecting graphics better for expensive 4K config. For now only the lights are wonderfull. Not yet textures. I don't see any 4K textures.
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
The system for fishing and hunting are the are the worst i played in a MMO. Fishing can't be an action completly static. Need to incorpore a kind a mini funny game with randomization skills. Hunting should permit to see the animals doing there life in the world, walking and running when we try to kill them. Something very challenging and fun. I propose this idea : first step for hunting is to put an arrow in the target. Then appear prints of blood. The creature run and disapear in the world in the area and we have a timer following the blood prints to find the body and cutting him with a knife in second part to take the loot.
The best thing of my experience was the inventory system old school with some cases. It is perfect like this. Also the combos you can make with effects of partners.
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
The quests systems is not good and the tutorial at the beginning to learn crafting is not enough. Need step by step quests. Impossible to pack 8 lumber in the same time but only 5 or 10 is bad. The system of fuel is not explicated.
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
I prefer Event Quests but it should appear on a different colour circle, as red for exemple not same yellow than other quests. Worst quests are all the quests for exemple where you have to kill crow but the crow does not appears in the yellow circle indicated but 200m around.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
For me all quests should integrate a cut scene field to field as cinema for dynamic dialogues and good facial animations. I think in 2025 that is a minimum to do for a MMO.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
It is not enough. It is really necessary to think as if the player is stupid. Something more as a complete tutorial could be better. And of course crafting should be incorporated in a quest with narration.
All job has to be integrated in a story line with various quests. I like when a small event in the game push me to experimente something.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
Farming solo get a ridiculous XP. I understand that it is not a risky activity to cut trees and of course fighting have to get more XP than farming but mayble a better balance can be experimented about that. Because some players play in group of 10 and in this case they are full XP, fight is easy too for them. The XP for groups of players should be reduced.
So why someone who play solo because he did not find someone to play with should feel penalized a lot about his XP experience ?
On an other hand it is not normal that a player killing a moob at 51% life take all the XP of a kill. If i come to finish a moob i should get 5% of the total XP or something but not zero ! This system is not fair.
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
In 8 levels i did not loot anything during fighting but for me it is OK. And don't want to loot all the time like other MMO. I prefer the idea to force me to interact with other to get my experience better in some way.
Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player? At the beginning i did not understand the system and the locations of storage. I lost few rare items. I would like a quests explaining the storage system. Also I would like a MMO playable with a controller.
Disagree. Again, we are many to refuse a too much casual MMO like all others with super loot everywhere all the time. The fun is to keep the loot RARE. To get some good loot faster well the game force us to communicate with others and it is a very good idea. You loot a 5 gold lamb but you are not interested ? Then go to ask if someone want an exchange for exemple to give you a better sword...