Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
How do you define a solo player?
For me is one who can group with randoms every day but just wants to avoid guilds.
People who really do not want to group at all need different kind of games.
I gave you a clear answer: I know that Intrepid makes mistakes and if you cant even filter that from 13 words, how are we to discuss complexer systems than that?
What are "those things"? You want to discuss this, be specific.
True, the system hasn't been tested yet, but this is not an issue for solo players, because they are not meant to be the focus group - groups and guilds are. If solo players are lucky, the system will provide them with opportunities to gruadually move into what the package of the game says: This is a group focused MMORPG.
The loss of resources has been present in games before and Steven is on record taking inspiration from games where stuff wasn't globally available through auction houses but instead have to be moved around. As for certain resources being available only during certain seasons: That doesn't seem to be a problem unless these resources are necessary for everyone to have and no alternatives exist. And if that were the case thats just an overall issue, not a single player issue.
And what makes the class system not fun? Do you think the Archetypes are badly designed? Do you doubt the meaningfulness of the augment system?
Again, because that is what I've been saying in my first comment: The timing is just odd. 7 years of archetype development and 8x8 class design plus a promise to make the system in the 8x8 pattern - If you want anyone to take this serious "It could be a problem" will not suffice, people will just shrug their shoulders and wait a few weeks until they can test the systems and provide ACTUAL feedback
Anyhow without stretching this discussion into the infinite: Yes there is a problem for solo players: They are trying to play a multiplayer game alone and Intrepid (rightfully) does not intend to cater to them at the cost of social group gameplay.
Your post is just suggesting that no solo-player is going to stay long enough to benefit from these avenues because they'll be too indignant about not having enough of an impact and not getting good enough rewards on their own to feel powerful.
But there we are talking about players who get frustrated at their own power while trying to force a playstyle onto a game that isn't meant to be successful in that game. If you give those players the power they demand, you're no longer just making the game enticing to them. You're changing the game into the game they want to play, so they'll stick around. And then, even if some of those players discover the joy of social gameplay as the default, you still don't have the game Intrepid wanted to make anymore, you just have WoW Light with some extra features. If that's what those players need, they should kick Blizzard (or insert themepark developer of your choice) to their asses to get it, not try to make Ashes something it isn't supposed to be.
Player characters who belong to Guilds can Solo.
Both definitions of "solo player" make some sense:
The one who doesn't want to be associated with a guild (they might even still be in one for practical sakes, but they certainly won't spend most of their game time with them or follow demanding guild policies) but is willing to play in ad-hoc groups of players consistently for 60+% of their game time if necessary (let's call them "liberty seekers");
And the one who may or may not join a guild, but spends 60%+ of their time not surrounded by other people of any affiliation, aside perhaps from enemies in 1v1s (let's call them misanthropes, antisocial "hermits/loners/introverts".)
CROW3's arguing specifically against hermits, because they're the only ones who really face the brunt of negative downsides of trying to play Ashes the way they want to, and being disappointed if the game's reward scheme doesn't cater to them.
Discussing the liberty seeker playstyle doesn't make a lot of sense, because they don't disagree much with Ashes's requirements in the first place.
Sure, there will be some advantages they won't have that active members of rigorously coordinated guilds will get, but they can still play the game and see the respectable fruit of their efforts.
I can't say I am surprised at all by this - though I didn't want to assume it to be the case.
Or
Do something similar to what GW1 did.
Everyone started solo. Then there was a 2 player quest. That moved into a small group skirmish (don't remember if it was 2v2 or 4v4). Then they moved players into larger groups organically.
This might have been the best mechanism in the game. The rest wasn't terrible but it helped new players acclimate to larger groups as they played the main story.
This was your "clear anwser"
First of all there are 113 words there not 13. Second of all the first 65 words are you making a reductio ad absurdum argument in direct reference to me asking you "Do you think the devs can make a mistake". That tells me you don't think the devs can make mistakes.
The next 35 words of that paragraph are you saying "Intrepid obviously is not perfect" which isn't what I asked about. I asked specifically "Do you think the devs can make a mistake?" If you think that was a "clear answer" then you are very wrong. You said "Intrepid" at no point did I refer to the entire studio
If you wanted to give a clear answer it should look something like this; "Yes I agree that the devs can make a mistake." Then after that say whatever else you want. Use the same language because it's possible for intrepid to not be perfect, and the devs to not make a mistake.
I don't know. In a game that touts Risk vs Reward as a "Pillar" then proceeds to give people bonuses for making decisions that are inherently less risky and gives nothing to people that are doing something more risky I would say that's a punishment.
They are literally breaking their own pillar by NOT giving solo players something for soloing in the game.
Old man yells at cloud
No because again this forces people to group, and you don't want to do that.
At this point you need to realize that Ashes fundamentally not for players like you who want to run it solo. You’ll need a group for efficient crafting, you’ll need one for raiding, for PvPing, and even for some areas of grinding.
To ask for solo-friendly content is to ask for a different game.
Make some friends and start a little guild or something, but you can’t be successful in a MMO on your own. That’s by design and how it should be.
Think of it like this. You want to build a new house in the real world. Are you going to do it solo? That would be extremely difficult and very time-consuming, not to mention weather and/or vandalism can and will most likely set you back. After you gather all the resources and even start building it will take you a minimum of months to complete that house not including the weather/vandalism damage. Are you then going to whine and complain that companies that use teams of people to do the same thing in a fraction of the time it’s taking you? Wait… Is your name Karen by chance?
Did you actually read either of those? The first one is there will be quests in the game, which yeah it's a fantasy game. The second is the section I linked in the OP literally says quests and "hunting grounds" which again yeah quests and areas where you don't need a group
No!
YOU don't want that. The majority of us do
No YOU don't want that. Because even if people are willing to group and you start forcing people to do things they aren't ready to do they will stop playing the game, and even if they do participate in whatever thing you want to they will be resentful.
Well done good sir.
This isn't a troll.
Do you want to grow the community? Of course you do, how do you do that? By making the game as accessible as possible and creating a place for people to integrate at their own pace. Not by forcing people to play the game the way you want to play it. That's how you piss people off.
---Steven Sharif
I mean the quickest i could give you is making solo players work that hard to get to max level and not give them an end game system to play with is a bit much. At most 20% of what end game offers but i don't know what that would entail at this point.
So.... Your complaint is that solo players are at a disadvantage in a game largely designed and intended to be played in groups... And your solution is to force everyone else to play the way you want to or accept you being some sort of OP solo-man? Somehow single handedly being able to compete with entire teams of other players? Are you catching the "you’re a bit touched in the head vibes" I’m sending here? I’m sending them pretty hard. I’m sorry, but if you think reworking the game like that and taking it so far from the original and promised vision, for a potential minority of players to get their feel goods about being OP then this isn’t going to be the game for you. Piece of advice, cut your losses now, move on.
Hate to break it to you, but that 20% of instanced content is at the end of PvX areas and are for groups, not for lone wolves.
The best you can hope for is if there end up being 1v1 arenas, which thus far we’ve only heard of 3v3 and up.
No.
The way you grow the community is by being honest.
This is what we are offering. There are tools to help people integrate into what we are offering. Then let the chips fall where they may.
Stop trying to force everyone to play solo and stop expecting what has always been promoted as an old school MMO that is centered on groups.
You want to play solo and mage tank everything. Great, hope you find what your looking for, but this was stated from the very beginning as not that.
Stop trying to force people to play solo.
Okay.