Sea Content

This game has a lot to offer, and I really want it to succeed. I am afraid that it is a little over-ambitious and might not make it through to release - does anyone else feel that way? I thought a good way to concentrate on some of the core mechanics and systems would be to release the sea content (i.e. ship warfare and exploration) for a later release after a full release of the land-based content. Has this ever been mentioned or discussed before - and is it a good or bad idea?

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Bricktop

The devs seem to think they can have it in the game for launch. Let's have a little faith in them.

Wandering Mist

Scope creep is definitely a problem that a lot of games struggle with, and hopefully Ashes doesn't fall into the same trap. Time will tell I guess.

Maezriel

You're not alone and Intrepid has mentioned a number of times on the streams that they're very aware that people are afraid of scope creep.

The main thing that's abated that for me is that they do seem to have a very clear idea of what they want and they haven't been afraid of scrapping things they think won't work. Take combat for example, Steven has said that they really think they can make the hybrid system work, but if throughout the Alphas and Betas that turns out to not be the case they're not afraid of scrapping and reworking it to ensure it's polished.

Intrepid seems to be wholly on board w/ the "ready when it's ready" mindset and taking into consideration that what we've seen so far on the streams is what most MMOs would release w/ I'm inclined to believe them.

Balrog21

Not to mention they do have a design document that the team has. Steven is fully aware of the potential of Scope Creep.

sunfrog

I feel the same, but it can't be bland or no one will take notice.
I thought this was about sea cucumbers.

Sokken

The ships are kinda vital for the whole game to function considering it's supposed to be two main continents and an undisclosed number of islands separated by an ocean. A system for people and goods to traverse the ocean is basically a requirement for the vision this game has. Leave it up to the judgement of the developers and give them the time they need to fulfill their vision. Suggestions are good and all, but I think scrapping the ocean content would be almost as devastating to the core of this game as scrapping the node system would be.

shadiss

@Sokken Good point, I didn't think how the geography could complicate a later release of the sea content with regards to trade routes. I was thinking that the world would be like an early Pangea, however, that could bottleneck all the trade-movement through one area of the game which would make it more desirable for people to control. Then, after releasing ships and all that content later, could disrupt the economy and territory control. My idea was that it would still be traversable with the sea mounts, but leave the naval warfare and main ocean content for a later time - but that wouldn't solve the trade issue above.

shadiss

@sunfrog sea cucumber mounts even?

Vhaeyne

I don't feel that this is a case of "over ambition" or "scope-creep". Water content is actually not that hard. A good example of a fairly basic MMO, (especially to todays standards) is Dark Fall Online. Which had amazing water content. It is easy, you give players the ability to craft destruct-able vessels and let them take them out on the water. Throw a few sea monsters in the world with timers in for good measure. You are golden.

What you will realize is that a lot of the "Sea-Content" is players destroying each other on the open waters. Its great, literally some of the best open world game play I have seen in my life. Just give players the tools to have fun, put some resources out there for them to fight over. Done.

The mistake that is often made is when MMOs try to over manage or over think these things. With cringe quest lines and water based story arcs, and dumb restrictions. There needs be no quests or NPCs related to the system at all.

Xenotor

Vhaeyne wrote: »

I don't feel that this is a case of "over ambition" or "scope-creep". Water content is actually not that hard. A good example of a fairly basic MMO, (especially to todays standards) is Dark Fall Online. Which had amazing water content. It is easy, you give players the ability to craft destruct-able vessels and let them take them out on the water. Throw a few sea monsters in the world with timers in for good measure. You are golden.

What you will realize is that a lot of the "Sea-Content" is players destroying each other on the open waters. Its great, literally some of the best open world game play I have seen in my life. Just give players the tools to have fun, put some resources out there for them to fight over. Done.

The mistake that is often made is when MMOs try to over manage or over think these things. With cringe quest lines and water based story arcs, and dumb restrictions. There needs be no quests or NPCs related to the system at all.

+1 this pretty much.

For example an open world dungeon that you have to fight with ships in.
A lot would come for the loot but limited space and spawns inside means a lot of Ship to ship pvp.

Hell i could even be a treasure chest that spawns at a set time but takes 30 seconds to open.
If it has anything useful inside, then people will come over and try to trash everyone else.

I just hope that all ships follow the caravan option. ( no corruption for attacking them)

Songcaller

They aren't designing from scratch, they will match Archeage's Naval Parameters. Archeage is a big inspiration for Ashes.

PlagueMonk

I would be a bit more worried about something like this IF we were closer to a release date but with roughly 2 years left there is still time. And they appear to have all the underwater basics already worked out so underwater content shouldn't be any more difficult than anything else.

Therealnightblade

Hopefully they add this before launch. Coming from an Atlas player I’m looking forward to being a near full time pirate whether it’s attacking a caravan or anyone I come across. I do hope they have an in-depth customizations for ship types/builds. I want ship components(ex: sails) to have varying stats so I can go faster, turn sharper, open/close sails faster, and carry more weight. @Steven Sharif you can make a masterpiece game if you get naval combat right.

HiddenDaggerInn

I think sea Combat will be great, that being said I don't want this to become the next Star Citizen, and have to wait many more years on end while they try and make the perfect game. I'm ok with a very solid core game and adding stuff as we go. I know Steven wants it just right, but will it ever be just right? Anymore than 2 years from the development they're now, and I will lose interest like I did with Statr Citizen and Camelot Unchained, the good thing however is that when Alpha 1 is released , no more NDA so we can see the progress.

Mamut

I think sea content is really important and with continents being separated by a sea it seems like naval transport plays a vital role in the game's economy. One of the things I absolutely loved about ArcheAge was the sea-faring aspect of the game although I do have some questions about it. For instance, does anyone know if the Caravan system will be extended to the naval portion of the game? This would incentivise the creation of both pirate and sea mercenary guilds which I bet many players would be really excited about

Warth

Mamut wrote: »

I think sea content is really important and with continents being separated by a sea it seems like naval transport plays a vital role in the game's economy. One of the things I absolutely loved about ArcheAge was the sea-faring aspect of the game although I do have some questions about it. For instance, does anyone know if the Caravan system will be extended to the naval portion of the game? This would incentivise the creation of both pirate and sea mercenary guilds which I bet many players would be really excited about

yes it does extend

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