How do you feel now?

This question goes out to people who HAVEN'T participated in the alpha tests.

Now that the verbal NDA has lifted and you have heard the experiences from the alpha testers, how do you feel about the game? Has your opinion on the game changed at all?

Let me know, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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maouw

I'm a bit snowed under with work atm, so will read through it at the end of the week.
(and then join the alpha fun >:D )

Recluse74

Still excited if not more so now. It always speaks volumes to me when a majority of the people rave about a game that is in still in its alpha form.

Hearing the combat felt good so far and that the Node system was a joy to watch as it progressed makes me happy.

Enigmatic Sage

About the same from everything I understood about it

Tacualeon

My opinion about things are rarely swayed by third party stories and experiences.
Flow of combat is what interest me the most. The lift of a verbal NDA gives me nothing of substance in that area sadly.

Asgerr

I am mostly happy about the general consensus that the base systems are good and developing well.

I'm still observing the combat situation, as a number of people across different platforms described it as "not fun at all" and with some high discrepancies between skills. Seeing as the combat revamp wasn't implemented in this preview, I'm still optimistic.

One of the points I read about on reddit that really excited me, was about the size of one of the open worlds dungeons, that someone played with a group of 5.
Apparently it was the size of similar to something like Blackrock Depths in WoW. It took them some 30 to 40 minutes to run through half of it (before they ran into an obvious placeholder rock blocking the path forward).

Very happy to hear that the game already has a higher mob variety than, say, New World, and we're still in alpha.

SPEARS ARE GOOD AND AN ACTUAL THING! ... * clears throat * Apologies. Dragoon things you know?

Not quite sure about the vendor/node variety. Didn't seem like they were focusing on offering a vast difference between the node at this stage. I'll look forward to seeing if said differences spring up at higher developmental levels

daveywavey

Thanks for asking. It's been a pretty tough few weeks for me, so far. Work's been getting me down, and I've started to look for a new job, and......

Dygz

Asgerr wrote: »

Not quite sure about the vendor/node variety. Didn't seem like they were focusing on offering a vast difference between the node at this stage. I'll look forward to seeing if said differences spring up at higher developmental levels

There was no vendor Node variety. It's still core systems, so same vendors at all nodes for each Stage.
Stable Master is not available at Stage 1 or 2, but any Node at Stage 3 had the same Stable Master selling the same stuff.
Different Nodes had different quest NPCs and different quests.

nilv

For a game that was supposed to release before 2020, I did expect that the only interesting core mechanic which is the node system would be way further along than it actually is. I guess reading these experiences does change the opinion when we might see the game, now i’m not expecting it to be released before 2024.

In terms of my opinion about the game, nothing really changed. I still think the game looks amazing on paper, but gameplay wise it’s just way too early. The game will either live or die depending on combat and the node system. Apart from those 2 systems everything else is just kinda meh. I’m still looking forward to their reaction when the majority of people get their hands and eyes to the game, and we will have massive points of contention about everything PvP related. On a personal level this will be the ultimate deciding factor.

Dygz

Any game dev knew that Steven's gamer expectation of Ashes launching in 2018 was way off-base.
But, that's what comes with actual game dev experience. It's always fascinating to watch the transition from gamer optimism to gam dev reality when gamers become game devs - even moving from QA to Production.

It's early. It's a very ambitious design. The Node system is not a piece of cake. Siege development is not a piece of cake. But, it's great to be able to hop in and get a feel of what they've accomplished so far.
Rarely is this possible for MMORPG early Alphas.

George_Black

I feel good tu ru ruru ruru ruun

Yuyukoyay

I don't particularly care about the alpha. I care more about the beta. Since it will be a better experience to test overall. I can see more content that I want to see that I was curious about.

Testing the game too much can sometimes ruin the magic of playing the game for the first time. Even if all of the progress is wiped I kinda want to play the game pseudo blind.

Until then I'm fine throwing feedback on the forums.

Songcaller

I'm pleased I didn't buy into Alpha 1, the feedback makes me feel good about the choice. I decided a while ago everything I want to test is in Alpha 2 anyway. My Guild advised me not to buy into A1 a few months ago, and they said it wasn't anything special to worry about when I had A2 access instead.

In terms of what we've heard so far, I'm optimistic and believe A2 will be a beast when A2 arrives. I wish the combat revamps were in the A1 test but the A1 Month Long Test isn't until July anyway. At any time a combat revamp could be applied. I've been waiting on the Combat Revamp - either through tests or the Dev Diaries. Combat is the crunch point for me because of the death penalties. If I have to suffer weak combat and death penalties on top I probably won't play beyond my free game time after launch.

I love the adrenaline rush of being told straight when my theories aren't correct and I enjoy the lift of the verbal NDA, it means I can synergise better with the people in the know and theory craft a little better with more information. Still, a lot will change between now and launch. I'll keep my ear to the ground.

McShave

I have some indigestion right now, probably need more fiber in my diet. How are you feeling right now?

Smol

I'll have an opinion during Beta, right now AoC is just an skeleton.

Marcet

Im happy hearing that the game core mechanics are good and I expected to hear the combat to be not so amazing. I just hope for the future that they really get the movement smooth, fun and basically perfect, It has to feel very good.

Blackford

I'm pretty excited for the game... especially after the New World store fiasco.
This seems to be the only upcoming MMO that isn't going to have pay-to-win in it.

Ill be some kind of a tank, I think.
I really have to see what the options are first. I have an idea of the character I want to play (nature based high-hp mechanic soaking tank) but no idea if that's a viable option or even exists.

Sunboy

daveywavey wrote: »

Thanks for asking. It's been a pretty tough few weeks for me, so far. Work's been getting me down, and I've started to look for a new job, and......

I feel you. I got on sick leave 2 weeks ago for depression/anxiety or whatever you call it. Seeing a psychiatrist now to figure out what it is. Talking helps. ❤️

Still looking forward to the game.

mobtek

Well I think now after hearing from people in testing about this, it feels like a real alpha and not a marketing exercise we've seen from others in the past. So feels good man, very confident a really interesting game is going to come out of this foundational work of the devs and testers.

daveywavey

Sunboy wrote: »

daveywavey wrote: »

Thanks for asking. It's been a pretty tough few weeks for me, so far. Work's been getting me down, and I've started to look for a new job, and......

I feel you. I got on sick leave 2 weeks ago for depression/anxiety or whatever you call it. Seeing a psychiatrist now to figure out what it is. Talking helps. ❤️

Still looking forward to the game.

We're here for you! Shoot me a DM if you need.

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