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Ashes of Creation and eSports
How many of you would like to see Ashes of Creation become popular in the eSports scene and do you think Ashes of Creation has any place in the world of eSports?
Personally, I believe Ashes has the potential to compete with the likes of League of Legends, DOTA, and CS:GO when it comes to eSports if handled correctly. MMORPG's are about a sense of community, and not involving the community in the eSports scene would just lead to failure.
Most games right now put everyone on an "equal playing field" and the gear you own doesn't matter too much when it comes to Arena. One possible solution would be to ban certain items, gear, and abilities which would be considered overpowered in arena, but otherwise allow players freedom.
Then, create a franchised league similar to what LCS is now for League of Legends, but for Ashes of Creation. Teams could consist of 6-8 players, and make each match split into many games. For example, one match between Team A and Team B could consist of two 1v1's, one 2v2, and a 5v5, with each kill counting as a point. The need to gear up their characters would lead to these franchised orgs forming guilds in game, which would just increase competition and lead to an overall healthier game where not one guild is just dominating everything.
While there would be some barrier to entry for new players into the eSports scene, they could make a name for themselves in game and get picked up by a team, or join one of these guilds and rise up the ranks.
Since gear and abilities acquired in game would be relevant to the success of these organizations, the actions of the players in game would have a direct effect on the eSports scene, giving players and viewers an opportunity to feel involved.
In addition, in order to keep things interesting, various arena types that affect the way the mechanics of the game could be added as well. For example an underwater arena where moving is more difficult and fire based damage is not as effective, a low gravity arena, an arena with lots of obstacles, buildings, and places to hide. Doing so would cause each team to think which characters they will field in each of the matches (1v1, 2v2, 5v5). Ashes has to be fun to watch for it to be a popular eSport, and mixing in features such as these would definitely help.
As Ashes is updated, the power rankings of each organization could change as well based on the content released through expansions or finding in-game content the others are not aware of yet.
However, there are a few problems involved. One would be the fact it would be much more difficult for smaller guilds not sponsored by these franchises to grow in-game unless there is some way for them to enter the league later on without throwing money at Intrepid. One possibility is that franchising and not allowing any more people to join could lead to the only guilds on the server belonging to the 8-10 organizations which are participating in the league.
Another major problem would be real money trading. These franchises would care about increasing their popularity and view spending money on in-game items or currency as an investment. Ashes needs to stay far far away from being a P2W system, but even if Intrepid doesn't introduce legal ways to P2W, these organizations would still be tempted to buy items or currency from third party sellers. The "simple" solution would just be to make getting caught RMTing carry a heavy penalty and discourage people from participating in it, however sometimes RMT can be very hard to detect and players will always find a way to bypass an automated monitoring system. A solution may be to allow RMT to a certain extent but regulate it. Create a function in game to allow RMT, but take a % cut and only allow up to $50 worth per month or something similar.
If you've made it this far through my wall of text, I look forward to hearing your input on if you think Ashes would be fun to watch as an eSport and viable ways for it to be popular.
Personally, I believe Ashes has the potential to compete with the likes of League of Legends, DOTA, and CS:GO when it comes to eSports if handled correctly. MMORPG's are about a sense of community, and not involving the community in the eSports scene would just lead to failure.
Most games right now put everyone on an "equal playing field" and the gear you own doesn't matter too much when it comes to Arena. One possible solution would be to ban certain items, gear, and abilities which would be considered overpowered in arena, but otherwise allow players freedom.
Then, create a franchised league similar to what LCS is now for League of Legends, but for Ashes of Creation. Teams could consist of 6-8 players, and make each match split into many games. For example, one match between Team A and Team B could consist of two 1v1's, one 2v2, and a 5v5, with each kill counting as a point. The need to gear up their characters would lead to these franchised orgs forming guilds in game, which would just increase competition and lead to an overall healthier game where not one guild is just dominating everything.
While there would be some barrier to entry for new players into the eSports scene, they could make a name for themselves in game and get picked up by a team, or join one of these guilds and rise up the ranks.
Since gear and abilities acquired in game would be relevant to the success of these organizations, the actions of the players in game would have a direct effect on the eSports scene, giving players and viewers an opportunity to feel involved.
In addition, in order to keep things interesting, various arena types that affect the way the mechanics of the game could be added as well. For example an underwater arena where moving is more difficult and fire based damage is not as effective, a low gravity arena, an arena with lots of obstacles, buildings, and places to hide. Doing so would cause each team to think which characters they will field in each of the matches (1v1, 2v2, 5v5). Ashes has to be fun to watch for it to be a popular eSport, and mixing in features such as these would definitely help.
As Ashes is updated, the power rankings of each organization could change as well based on the content released through expansions or finding in-game content the others are not aware of yet.
However, there are a few problems involved. One would be the fact it would be much more difficult for smaller guilds not sponsored by these franchises to grow in-game unless there is some way for them to enter the league later on without throwing money at Intrepid. One possibility is that franchising and not allowing any more people to join could lead to the only guilds on the server belonging to the 8-10 organizations which are participating in the league.
Another major problem would be real money trading. These franchises would care about increasing their popularity and view spending money on in-game items or currency as an investment. Ashes needs to stay far far away from being a P2W system, but even if Intrepid doesn't introduce legal ways to P2W, these organizations would still be tempted to buy items or currency from third party sellers. The "simple" solution would just be to make getting caught RMTing carry a heavy penalty and discourage people from participating in it, however sometimes RMT can be very hard to detect and players will always find a way to bypass an automated monitoring system. A solution may be to allow RMT to a certain extent but regulate it. Create a function in game to allow RMT, but take a % cut and only allow up to $50 worth per month or something similar.
If you've made it this far through my wall of text, I look forward to hearing your input on if you think Ashes would be fun to watch as an eSport and viable ways for it to be popular.
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Comments
Sorry that sounds dismissive, but I really don't think an MMO is the right match for an esport. I just don't see them going hand in hand.
Any attempt would lead to balance issues, which we have seen in other games, especially as Intrepid have said they will balance on 8v8 and nothing less.
These balance issues then destroy other aspects of the game and we soon have something much less desirable all in the attempt to fit a round peg in a square hole.
https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/comment/46172#Comment_46172
It is still early though and I can't wait to see some combat revisions.