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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.
Post launch content concerns
Phoenix77
Member
I know what I’m discussing here is years away of being relevant but I would like to have my concerns heard now that we are still in development and the team can create things with having some of the following in mind.What kind of content can the team release post launch that doesn’t disturb the balance of the game? To clarify, a common addition of expansions is to add:
1) new zones which makes the world feel emptier and emptier, look at wow for example, 70% of the world or more nobody visits, it’s just a forgotten land of an old expansion barren and lifeless.
2)new classes which disrupts the balance of roles and the 8v8 party balance the game was designed upon. For example if the 9th class is a dps now there is lack of healers.
3)new level cap makes previous gear accomplishments irrelevant, messes up with intended time to level to max and creates inflation of numbers, look wow for example at some point a single hit would do hundreds of thousands of dmg which is silly.
4)new systems I can’t see any problem with that if they are evergreen systems and not placeholders for an expansion
5)new race no problem here but prolly a lot of development time? Maybe with the rise of the ai systems not a big deal? I don’t know.
6) something I haven’t thought(maybe you have?let me know)
Possible solutions:
1) release new zone while simultaneously destroy equal amount of zones but because this will make a lot of ppl upset another way to do it would be to have a rotation where not all zones are playable and at all times the maximum amount of playable zones remains the same. How that would work with the in game narrative? I don’t know maybe a zone is occupied by void forces and another one takes its place
2)this is basically a math problem that if taken into consideration before release it would be easier to tackle later. Also check the statistics if parties are struggling to find healers release a healing class etc.
3) to be honest I can’t think of a way an increase to level cap won’t create problems in the long run but feel free to tell me if you have a solution.
Anything else you can think of in terms of content post launch and a way to integrate it to the game without disrupting its balance please enlighten me!
1) new zones which makes the world feel emptier and emptier, look at wow for example, 70% of the world or more nobody visits, it’s just a forgotten land of an old expansion barren and lifeless.
2)new classes which disrupts the balance of roles and the 8v8 party balance the game was designed upon. For example if the 9th class is a dps now there is lack of healers.
3)new level cap makes previous gear accomplishments irrelevant, messes up with intended time to level to max and creates inflation of numbers, look wow for example at some point a single hit would do hundreds of thousands of dmg which is silly.
4)new systems I can’t see any problem with that if they are evergreen systems and not placeholders for an expansion
5)new race no problem here but prolly a lot of development time? Maybe with the rise of the ai systems not a big deal? I don’t know.
6) something I haven’t thought(maybe you have?let me know)
Possible solutions:
1) release new zone while simultaneously destroy equal amount of zones but because this will make a lot of ppl upset another way to do it would be to have a rotation where not all zones are playable and at all times the maximum amount of playable zones remains the same. How that would work with the in game narrative? I don’t know maybe a zone is occupied by void forces and another one takes its place
2)this is basically a math problem that if taken into consideration before release it would be easier to tackle later. Also check the statistics if parties are struggling to find healers release a healing class etc.
3) to be honest I can’t think of a way an increase to level cap won’t create problems in the long run but feel free to tell me if you have a solution.
Anything else you can think of in terms of content post launch and a way to integrate it to the game without disrupting its balance please enlighten me!
0
Comments
These are exactly the kinds of concerns Intrepid should be thinking about now, and from what we’ve seen, they actually are.
1. World Bloat & Forgotten Zones
You nailed it. One of the biggest issues in other MMOs (WoW cough) is that the world becomes bloated and disjointed with every expansion.
But Ashes already has a built-in system to fight this: nodes. Since the world evolves based on player activity, zones will naturally shift in relevance depending on politics, economy, and events.
This means even “older” zones can become critical again, depending on what’s happening in the world. That kind of organic recycling is a genius way to keep the world alive long term without relying on artificial rotations.
2. New Classes & Role Disruption
Adding new archetypes later could be tricky, for sure. But with the current 8 base classes and 64 combinations, the system is already extremely deep.
What I hope (and expect) Intrepid to do is focus more on expanding the depth of existing archetypes (new augments, new questlines, horizontal systems) rather than adding new full classes post-launch.
And if they ever do add one—it should be with clear intent and stat tracking, like you mentioned (healer shortage? Add something support-oriented).
3. Raising Level Caps
Agreed—this is the most dangerous one. Level squishes, stat bloat, invalidating gear... we've all seen it.
The good news is Steven has said that they’re considering horizontal progression as a primary path post-launch. That could mean adding things like class mastery quests, skill augments, social progression, or even territory-based perks without having to increase the level cap.
It’s tricky, but it can be done if handled carefully.
4. Evergreen Systems
Couldn’t agree more. If they do add systems post-launch, they need to be meaningful and lasting—not expansion gimmicks that disappear a patch later.
5. New Races
Definitely a cool thing for the long-term future. Yeah, it takes dev time, but if the game is healthy, and tech like AI helps streamline some of that work—it could be a great way to keep things fresh without breaking balance.
Final Thought
What I love about Ashes is that, unlike many MMOs, it’s designed from the ground up to be dynamic. Zones rise and fall, economies shift, politics evolve.
That kind of system, if maintained properly, allows for long-term content growth without needing constant power resets or stat inflation.
Your concerns are totally valid, and the fact that you’re thinking this far ahead tells me you’re exactly the kind of player this game needs.
I kinda don't want to drop the data flow.
Haha fair point! Yeah, I can definitely tone down the em dashes
Still, I felt that info was worth sharing, but if it's too much to read or not your thing, feel free to skip it, no hard feelings at all, the appreciation stays the same either way.
Nah, nothing like that.
I have a sentiment parser for these forums, but the em dashes mess with it because it's trained to recognize heavy use of them as a sign of AI text and change some weightings.
So, if you're not using an AI assistant, it will get better ideas of your stuff if there's less of it, and if you are using an AI assistant, you're using it well enough that I would like to get the data anyway.
If 'you' are almost entirely a generative AI 'yourself' that's fine too and my request should be ignored, because the right thing would be happening. And if 'you are' and need a filter, try WordRake or something.
Either way, all good with me, thanks for actually answering.
There is what is considered "core features to launch" and stuff that is not. You can bet that once they have that "core" to whatever standard Steven has set, then it will be given a "live launch date."
Haha I get that question a lot xD I’m very human, just love the game, the forums, and writing clear replies to help others. If I were AI, I’d probably have less caffeine and redbull in my system.