Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
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.
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.
Comments
I would've had 0 clue about the npc south of Miraleth. And even the Samia's npc with tokens could've been missed cause there's nothing leading you to it from the initial "welcome to verra" quest.
And I know that you want to keep the questing somewhat natural, but if you expect people to use these tokens as their main source of early gear (which they obviously are) - you should point people towards them. Otherwise you'll have a ton of complainers about the game's difficulty and the impossibility of getting gear.
I'd suggest just adding a step to the welcoming quest of "go speak to this npc, if you wanna get some gear". Yes, this is handholdy, yes some coolprosuperhardcore dudes will say that this is too casual and shouldn't be added, but they're simply gatekeeping the main source of early power.
The gearing system is brutal. After four days of grinding nearly 20 hours a day, I have almost nothing to show for it. Crafting is basically useless—it doesn’t provide anything that meaningfully impacts my stats. The only viable option is to camp named mobs, fight for the first tag every 20 minutes, and hope for a drop. Then repeat that an absurd number of times so your whole party might eventually get something usable. It’s exhausting, tedious, and frankly demoralizing. Do you need a reminder that games are supposed to be fun?
And if you decide to skip the gear grind and just collect mats to keep your sanity, good luck—because you won’t be able to craft anything with them for weeks. This is the first MMO I’ve seen that actually motivates players not to play at launch. That’s... a very original design choice.
Seriously—what were you thinking?
i liked the new quests getting players out into the world and introducing nodes a bit more. it would be important though, that those quest give you the choice which node you go to. otherwise some nodes will always lvl way faster bc of those quest chains.
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
the info on how to get secondary weapons is not there as well as theres still weapons missing like nergy focus spellbow etc. that should be made more intuitive so new players know that they can have one melee + and range weapon and can choose between all the options.
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
im not new
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
the npc movement
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
i like the surplus quests but i didnt enjoy them since it was too important too move away quickly. with dynamig gridding in soon pls! it will be better hopefully.
atm theres no time to read quests or stop when ur still close to the starting gate.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
didnt read see above.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
i think the sweat of the brow quest chain is decent at showing players whats possible while giving us the tools for it. after that its just still not a valid way to lvl xp wise. gathering procasseing and crafting should give atleast double the current xp. but also the recipes are too expensive. especially atm but also on p2 the lvl 0 stuff should cost less resources so people will craft them before they hit lvl 10.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
it was slow bc of lag and lots of players but thats fine. overall it could be a little faster but only when the artisanship is also faster to progress.
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
the 30% increase is decent. for the comission xp it could be maybe 10% more but its already way more of an option than before compared to just mob killing.
Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
i know we get the anvils starting area in august but in general i think there needs to be more incentive to go to all nodes. as example: before lvl 10 there very little reason to go into the tropics and no quests or comissions from lets say halcyon lead that way. for the less organized players it could be healpful to have those inputs to spread out all over verra.
as always:
thx for all your effort
Birqa
Agreed. While I think looking at it and giving it some attention in the direction they wanted would've been ok, they overkilled the direction x10 IMO.
Before, it took weeks to get a specific item you wanted most of the time that you were farming for. Now it will take months if you're lucky.
Enjoyed most: little pointers, flagging for PvP could be done right away, little walk to first "town".
Enjoyed least: too grand experience, area didnt feel unique or memorable, invisible walls didn't let me explore enough.
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
Make the area less grand, more humble, let us start as "no one". Give even less onboarding (don't let npcs wave at me and beckon me over, makes me feel like I "need" or "should" go there), maybe add little raid bosses here and there.
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
Best: getting new gear drops
Worst: loot is confusing (especially glint, crafting and harvesting resources felt bad due to lack of visual feedback like increasing numbers, being unable to gather due to too low level etc.)
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
Glint system and gathering bags, the starting town felt barren, lame and unintuitive (had difficulty finding anything, like vendors, crafting station etc.)
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
Quests? What quests? Not a fan of commission boards... I enjoyed getting new loot.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
Atm it's bad. Either get A+ voice dialogue or keep it out altogether and let us read in peace.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
Pretty bad, most of the time I couldn't find resources or even crafting stations.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
Not thrilled but I'm glad it was on the slower end.
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
No way in particular. Not great, not terrible.
Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
Feeling of being with tons of other new people, reasons for "older" players to come back and stick around (like recruiting for academies in L2)
Missed little mini-bosses one could challenge or take down in an area, plus lore to go with it.
I enjoy how smooth questing has become also I enjoy the small hidden quest that give a good reward especially since you took the time to go and see what the NPCs wanted when you saw them close by for example ( the guy who steals you pendant or the lady who asked you to get the parcels on the road)
The thing that I wish was explained a lot better would be how to fish by opening up you skill tab and adding the fishing icon to the hot keys, and more information about farming, that to me was just trial and error.
The lag would be the worst thing I experienced especially in windsted when there are a lot of players.
How farming works, I am still a bit confused about it.
The two "hidden" side quest that you find in Lionshold (the one that give you another big bag and the one that gives you a uncommon armor set)
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
I am mostly a solo player on Alpha 2 testing so the leveling has had a huge improvement for solo play styles which is truely appreciated. I took me only a few hours to get to level 6 and I was able to do that with 3 different characters just following the same starting quest and route I came up with. Unlike the very begining when it took me all of phase one just to hit level 10 a week before phase 2 started.
The rewards seemed fine the new coins are good for starter gear such as waist, hands, head, back and shoulders. Exp is also pretty decent, not to much and not little making questing and grinding together much more efficient as appose to only doing one or the other. However, I would like to see a bit of a increase on exp gained from the crafting like cooking for example it takes a lot of resources just for my percentage to go up by 3-5% is crazy, at that rate I will never be top chef.
I want more information. It's not clear where to go, what quests to do. It happened that on one of the first quests I was killed, part of the quest with the chopped down tree was completed, but I didn't have it because I died and lost it. I logged into the game the next day and couldn't understand why I couldn't complete the quest, even though the tree part of the quest had been completed. I also didn't know where requested trees were.
The level of mobs around is growing. But you still don't have any equipment. You are still very far from any crafting levels to create it (and you don't know how?). So without online guides and in-game tips, you can't figure out where to get equipment, where to go, and what to do.
In the first hours of the game, I ran into higher-level mobs, and I was confused that they were chasing me through the entire location and killing me.
I liked the quest the most, thanks to which I received tokens for which I bought equipment. I would have never found this quest if it weren't for the YouTube guides. The other quests don't make sense at all. There are almost no rewards, it makes more sense to grind this time than to run around doing the quest.
I would like to see more information in the quests at the beginning of the game, and that it (the most important information) is highlighted in bold so as not to miss it.
Craft seems completely incomprehensible.
You can't even figure out in theory what you can craft with each profession. When you pump crafting, you don't understand why you can't collect some resources. It says that you need a certificate. What kind of certificate, where and how can I get it? It's not clear if it's better to focus on one profession or to download them all at once. You need resources to create things, and it's not clear where to get them or how to create them. I noticed in some games that if you click on an item, you can see where you can get it, what it was made of (craft), and where it is used. That would be very useful.
The first few levels are really fast. But after level 5-6, you don't know what to do next. Quests don't give you any experience, and leveling up after 8-10 levels becomes a routine of standing in one place and killing mobs. There is very little experience in gathering or crafting, and there is nothing left but grinding. It gets boring very quickly.
What rewards? Were there any?
I didn't notice any awards except for the glint.
It seems to me that you need to introduce the player to the game a bit, and they should have at least some equipment at that point. Also, resources to restore health/mana would be very helpful.
Many things were missing:
Information on the combat system (including blocking, dodging, etc)
Where to get equipment? Where and how to get weapons and armor?
What locations to go to next and what to do next?
I see multiple nodes on the map, do I need to go there and why?
Which ship should I pump and will it give me anything? Why can't I get some resources? Should I just throw the mined ones away? Or what should I do with them? The bag is filling up fast.
These are the questions I had in the beginning.
I also had the understanding that this was just a test, so I could only ask other players and watch YouTube to find out what to do next
Thanks for your feedback!
My favorite part of the game so far is that progression has some real impact to it. Even going from Level 1 to Level 2 has a real, visible power increase and this continues across the board for everything from increasing a weapon to skill to getting a new piece of gear. The classes and power progression are really well designed here.
My least favorite part is the leveling process itself. The process is frustrating for several reasons. The first is that there's no real way to guess the strength of an enemy. This is because even amongst the same enemy type at the same level, they can vary wildly. This happens across the entire game and even in the area intended to be the newbie starting area. The goblins in that area vary wildly even amongst the same levels with several level 4 enemies having wildly different hp, resists, defense, and attack power. I think it's fine to have different types of enemies. Have a mage, an archer, and a melee. However, there's a definite problem if you have to second guess whether or not the non-elite mob at your same level will wipe the floor with you. Definitely needs to be some fine tuning on this front and not just from the perspective of the recent enemy buffs. Just in general this is a real problem that continues to exist. The second is there's no real rhyme or reason to the layout of mobs. Elite mobs spawn next to level 2 mobs, level 6 mobs spawn next to level 1 mobs. It's impossible to find a reasonable path to level because the spawns are just all over the place even within the newbie area.
Then there was one thing in the middle. I really came into this game and bought it looking forward to the crafting/gathering system and the city building node system. I've been summarily unimpressed by both for various reasons. The recent patch that increased resource requirements was definitely one reason, but I want to talk about a few others real quick too. First, if the intention is to have crafters provide gear at all levels of play then locking marketplace listings to level 10 is a very contentious decision. I imagine this was likely done to prevent spam or rmt on some level, but it only really hurts the games economy if it sits at level 10 which requires quite a bit of time to reach. Second, there's going to be a real issue further on with tying artisan progression to the community building out the tool chain. It likely won't be a long term issue once the game is established and the cities have been built out, but for anyone who joins at launch for that artisan experience, they're going to be very quickly slapped in the face with the reality that they can't actually craft until someone gets on top of the node and builds their tool chain out. There's not even a guarantee, for that matter, that a mayor would even bother to build out the tool chain. I think it would be better for long term progression if artisan stations were simply spread across the map as POIs based on local specialties. Allow guilds to fight over these. Then give the holding guild a discount on the cost to perform orders. This allows everyone to progress artisan without waiting on the community to build up a city, gives you another pvp avenue, and incentivizes guilds holding the station but not refusing access to others (Since they get the bonus regardless). But as long as artisan progression remains tied to node progression, this is going to be a huge bottleneck that is going to cause players to just stop playing the game.
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
There is no indication, at any point, while doing what counts as the introductory quest line, as short as it is - up to attuning to an embershard, that you should be seeking out parties to more efficiently level. So the game makes you think you can solo level. You can't really do that though. Sure, you could do it. You could spend literal days kiting one enemy at a time for hours on end, but that's not realistic nor is it very fun to do. I don't really know how you solve this and it's partially compounded by the issues listed above, but if you want this to be a game played only through groups you should make that more upfront. If not, then you should look at the efficiency of solo leveling. In comparison, In the tests before this one I only solo leveled. It took me a few days of spamming commission board contracts for a bit of extra XP to even get to five. I tried my first group over at Korra and was able to jump from four to seven in just a few hours.
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
The game itself is pretty fun overall and it does have a good feeling of progression. It's just marred by these other things that make it hard to get to the good parts.
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
Theoretically this should be better later, but one of the biggest issues is that the tutorial quest line doesn't go over how to get new gear. I had to do some digging and find that out myself. Now that the drop rates have been reduced with the intention of moving all in on crafting, the tutorial really needs to explain marketplaces and how to get gear. Additionally, the tutorial area probably needs a marketplace too if the intention is for crafters to provide gear at all levels. Otherwise, new players have to try to rush to one of the city nodes.
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
The only quests I got to work reliably were commission board quests and the introductory questline for crafting and the game. Nothing else worked reliably for me. Some quests wouldn't complete. Some wouldn't spawn the mob. So I just gave up on questing.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
It's fine but it doesn't really add anything to the game.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
You really need to explain that the crafting tutorial is not equivalent to regular crafting. People come out of it thinking they can use those stations to craft, but that's not actually true. You have to move to other stations of differing levels. The crafting tutorial never explains nodes, differing levels of crafting, or anything of the sort. It's barely an introduction to crafting. All it really touches on is the UI.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
It's bad. Even once I broke down and grouped up with players it 's still bad. I don't think I've broken level 10 yet in any of the beta phases.
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
The only rewards that really mattered were the horse and the starting artisan tools.
Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
Assuming you mean riverlands as the first continent area, then I haven't left that.
Random additional tidbit. Why are the prices on Gerald Belford so high? He sells the Ambitious Academic's Garb for 10 silver, but you can just trounce over to the textile mill at Avon's End and buy it from the vendor for 4 Silver.
- Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
I wish there was an immediate introduction to the node conflicts that are supposed to form the spine of AoC's gameplay. I found myself doing a bunch of kill 10 rats quests and bounties for too long, wondering when the good part starts. Even if the beginning quests are still NPC-driven, I'd like them to provide a taste of what's special about the node system.- What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
The character interfaces for setting up your build. They work fine, but need tutorials.- How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
Slow and lacking in variety. So far I've dropped out around level 10-12 because progression gets too boring.I Loved how open the world is in Vyra. So many options to go explore, So many different areas to see. Different mobs at different levels all react differently! Very cool
I disliked the fact that anywhere I went, My mount was dead in two hits, so I had to walk everywhere no matter the case. I understand the Segway to animal husbandry, but I feel like before a Node is developed and we don't have those abilities, that's a pretty horrible argument.
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
So firstly, The gear, or lack there of, IS a problem. Not only doesn't it feel good to grind, But it feels a lot worse when you're playing an important group role. (Cleric, Tank). As it stands, grinding mobs in a group felt horrible as nobody had anyway to mitigate the damage coming in, nor heal any damage done. We went after easier mobs, But the work needed to get any significant experience in the lower levels felt like a lot. Gear drops were VERY rare, and most spots were contested to a point of it not being worth sitting there.
Something to think about is the availability of seeing how many players are in a given area & leveling information about the area before running all the way there. Without fast travel, any travel in this game requires informed decision making before running seeing as it takes absolutely forever to get anywhere, Especially on a horse that dies in two hits and has a 10 minute respawn timer. (Which is a topic all in of itself)
I do wish there was an incentive to put a full party together, maybe a full party bonus of XP per kill, maybe a higher drop rate, etc. This is an MMO after all, But for the most part I felt hindered with more people rather than helped. As I moved up in level, This got worse. People wouldn't move unless we had that 8th slot filled, no matter the role. Kinda horrible if you ask me.
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
I enjoyed the idea of going to multiple places to get experience. Finding out what drops, Finding different things about the area, and some of the conflict along the way, whether from other parties or just the pve in general.
It's been a week, I've gotten some artisans to apprentice, I've been able to do some things. I'm just closing in on level 22, And I only just got my first drop last night. I can't craft any gear because I need so many materials to make one piece of anything, And can't find it anywhere in the world, or it's simply to expensive on the market. Thankfully today I was able to craft a apprentice LJ axe, But it does me no good considering Weeping Willow is non existent now that everyone has an axe. I can't craft gear, I can't get drops, I can't farm anything, and I'm basically locked at this point besides trying to grind slowly to 25, Hoping maybe I get another drop or two. As a Cleric, This feels horrible, Especially when we can't pump XP because my heals do basically nothing.
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
The question of "Workload paralysis" Crossed my mind enough that I had to stop quite a bit and narrow down what I should do based on the time of day that I'm playing. Prime hours I would want to grind vs gather. However, due to performance issues of Server workers that had to be put off as well. The "FOMO" of not getting a group can really be enough to force your hand one way or another regarding things to do in this game.
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
I thought a lot of the quests so far have been tedious, buggy/broken. I've stayed away for better or worse besides the ones to get the sanctious tokens, And even then they broke.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
Didn't notice it.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
The quests themselves are basic enough to develop an understanding of the UI regarding crafting, However it doesn't go over the pipeline of how things are gathered, Processed and crafted. I've encountered a lot of people asking this question specifically, and just not quite understand what all goes into crafting an item.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
Progression didn't feel great as I went through. We couldn't craft gear, We couldn't progress until the nodes progressed, We couldn't make moves until the game allowed us to. That felt horrible. Right now, Crafting and processing feels almost impossible seeing as the materials needed for crafting are virtually nonexistent. With the amount of materials required, it almost feels like you NEED a zerg guild and that's what's required to be successful in this game. If you're trying to be all "Anti zerg" not allowing fast travel, Then be anti zerg with everything else, including requirements to do anything in this game.
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
a mount with 9 hp and some coins for some common gear?
Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
So really, As a new player, How am I supposed to know where and where not to go? There's nothing that hints one way or another toward progression or "This is something to focus on". As it stands, You're basically given a bunch of things and told "Now go" with no one thing to do.
To summarize. Let me first and foremost say I do enjoy Ashes. There are plenty of things I do love about this game. However, Right now, If I were a new player, I would have uninstalled if this fresh start was my only taste of the game. This is the most Frustrating experience I've ever had playing a video game. The worst part of this is I Feel the problems have only just begun. With the lack of recipe drops, The horrible drops of gear, and no sense of urgency for progressing artisans due to node progression, The problem comes to be that the new player will simply not be on par with those that have experience in any phase of this game. There will be players that think "I can just buy end game gear", And you can. Just make sure you bank every bit of glint you get so you can run uncontested caravans for weeks upon weeks as the market continues to inflate. People are already selling Broodling mounts for 100g. If or when they do decide they wanna get involved in a craft, Lets say armorsmithing - They're going to need to make so many pieces of gear, Most of which will be repeats after repeats because they need to power level to JM, So they'll make 2nd division boots at 1 grem skin, 1 basalt armormold, and 16 (Yes sixteen) Zinc Fragments each. (Mind you the entire set of Novice level armorsmithing is 130 zinc, believe me I checked). And if that's not off putting enough, Lets also remind ourselves that they're going to constantly contest for 3-4 mob pulls for XP, The random PVP, The frustrating travel between multiple different POI's as some groups work, some don't, and some just simply run their course. If this is what is intended, by all means you're doing a great job. However, I don't see longevity in it's current state. I'm not looking for something to hold my hand, I figured out what I needed to do. The issue I see is regarding the player that didn't have the lucky social interactions that I did. Beyond tribal knowledge, There's gotta be something that explains
The Visuals look great. The sky looks kinda meh in terms of...definition? clarity? Would love be able to just immerse myself in the environment in the sights and sounds.
I dont find my self having much of a goal other than the standard of leveling up or progressing a skill so i dont have an idea of where to go or should go so im wandering aimlessly until i get a better idea of how the world of AoC is.
With a Sandbox style and also trying to figure out what is and isnt possible there needs to be a bit more of a guide to get a sense of the world of AoC.
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
The mobs placement, how they move, interact feels very static like if you took a piece of paper and drew dots on it. it doesn't feel dynamic or "fluid" with some environments.
For example, the goblin camps have goblins around them..great, but if it where more "realistic" the goblins might be brawling with themselves or cooking a dish or hunting wildlife. Compared to this example the mobs are just placed there and it feels dull.
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
The worst thing so far is that its very bland in the sense of you get a quest kill a thing and repeat, go to A then B then C its very bland. AoC is following a standard that had been set by the other major MMOs an MMO standard if you will.
I think the advantage that AoC has is the dynamic structure with a.... Sandbox?Sandpark? That will allow for anything and everything (potentially). Sure you still want the linear standards like get a quest, kill a thing, go here and gather a thing but imagine if you view it as a world without linear experiences (that MMO standard) You could branch the concept of Gathering and crafting into all other aspects of a world.
Ways in which the Skills of AoC can be used outside the norm.
With the Monster token system you could take the concept of players as monsters and evolve it into the idea of players being able to play a different role that can affect the world. Imagine being able to enchant or imbue a tree or forest with energy and therefore create friendly or hostile mobs.
Imagine if with a high enough wood cutting level you could also damage in world structures like bridges. That could pair well with the bounty system so for players that want to play that "bandit", can. You can also balance this in a DYNAMIC way by having either node or player respond by either having guards patrol or other players repairing.
If you break free from the standards, biases, and expectations, the professions, crafting, gathering, events etc can truly be a sandbox experience.
What makes an MMO exciting, is the possibilities that can or may exist. If you view an MMO as a world or its own universe that you can never really predict what will happen almost like a rogue lite than you break free from the predictable standards of an MMO.
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
Still figuring out paths/Goals. Obviously get gear and progress but like the when and how to. Should i get a house first? if so how do i get there? do i want gear first? if so how do i get there. Figuring the pathways to these different goals
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
The quests are bland and more of a chore; the difference between a task to do and a story to follow. The gathering commissions are a task and feel as they should but so do the quests. If this is the intent you could add more involved Quests or Events. Stories that evolve over real time in game or on a personal level
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
NPCs voices feel bland, some of the AI or VA is monotone. All of the NPCs feel the same like there isnt any personality difference
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
I think you could treat the crafting intro more like an MSQ where it goes longer so that players get an overall feel of how the progression works, up to building caravans, running supplies or whatever else crafting/gathering evolves into.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
Progressions feels fine but figuring out goals and the pathways to the goals are something im figuring out.
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
theyre bland. giving crafting mats to lowbies that cant craft anything right away is a non reward unless you plan to store and horde for later. rewards need more variety outside of materials and armor/weapons (potions, throwables, toys, pets, access to locations or vendors.)
Discovering the skill tree, first combat and the world (visual and music)
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
I wish I could see more clearly that the game offered me all kind of weapons from the start.
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
Worst : lags, mob desync, minimap very confusing, quest markers (NPC) still appearing when they have nothing more to say to me.
Best : combat, ennemies behaviours, discovering the class.
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
Minimap, quest markers on it (NPC, overlapping quests markers). Skillbook design UI
In the Journal, quests have a number on each (quest level), then the same kind of numbers appear on the right of the screen, I thought there were a link but they are just the quest list number in the order you click it to appear from your journal. Would be nice too to be able to show/hide the details on the quest track by clicking on the quest name instead of a long scrolling list.
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
"Scouting the the zone" quest maybe? Warhelm Curse, but stryuggle to end it.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
I read at first, then it become too long after the 7th dialogue and i skip it, maybe voice acting would change that.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
It's a good idea, jsut somehow it's difficult to keep track of the current step, I have to dig info in the Journal and it doesn't come easly.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
Very good, up to level 6/7
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
XP reward is good, maybe at least one or two items could help the reward feeling, instead of buying it with glint from quests, give it as quest reward.
Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
An introduction on how nodes work, a hook to the player to make a choice between the different zones after the starting area. I did it at random I think, different quests to different zones could have help me make a real choice.
-I’d say what I enjoy the most is the game world and the map. What I like the least is the leveling system.
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
-The quest system could have been different — quests could’ve directed me to different parts of the map and helped me understand the game’s story better.
-The auction house system could be a bit easy. Specifically, when I search for an item, I end up seeing everything except the item I actually want. For example, when I search for basalt, I get a lot of items made from basalt, but also unrelated items that I didn’t search for.
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
Best Experience:
-Exploring the world felt genuinely rewarding. The map design is beautiful and invites exploration.
-The skill-based combat feels impactful and responsive — landing abilities is satisfying.
-I actually appreciated that leveling is challenging; it adds a sense of achievement.
-The game runs smoothly, and overall gameplay flow feels polished.
-There’s a wide variety of content to engage with, no matter where you are in the world — that’s a huge plus.
Worst Experience:
-In the early stages, I often felt lost. Quests weren’t always clear or informative, some weren’t visible on the map, and there was little guidance. I had to rely heavily on external sources like YouTube or fan websites just to understand what to do. I believe some of that guidance should come from the game itself, especially for new players like me.
-While traveling through the map, mobs would aggro very easily and chase me for very long distances — sometimes it felt like they followed me all the way to Narnia. It became frustrating and led to frequent deaths, which slowed down my progression and reduced my enjoyment. Several of my friends (4–5 people) actually stopped playing because of this issue.
-While I love the scale of the world, I found it difficult that reaching quest or farming areas sometimes required riding for 25–30 minutes. For players like me who don’t have a lot of daily playtime, this kind of time sink can feel discouraging.
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
-One of the most confusing aspects for me was figuring out where to get quests, what the quest actually wanted me to do, why I was doing it, and where I was supposed to go after completing it. That lack of clarity made it hard to stay immersed and often broke the flow of gameplay.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
-To be honest, I wasn’t very impressed with the quest dialogues. They could have done a better job of conveying the game’s world and helping me understand my purpose or role within the story.
-I think NPC responsiveness is good overall but having to face them directly in order to interact feels a bit clunky. It would be nice if this requirement could be improved.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
-The introduction to the crafting system felt very weak. Crafting in the game is quite complex — even after trying to research it online, I still struggled to fully understand how it all works. It’s clearly a well-thought-out system, but I think it could be introduced in a much more accessible way, especially for new players.
-Having "crafting quests" that gradually explain why we craft certain items, what they’re used for, and how different systems connect would really help make the system easier to grasp. I hope it becomes a bit more user-friendly or at least easier to understand in the future.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
-I really enjoyed the feeling of gradually progressing my character, both in terms of gear and leveling — it felt rewarding. However, the game could do a better job of explaining why I should focus on upgrading certain things and what benefits those upgrades bring. A bit more guidance in this area would really help players make informed decisions.
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
-To be honest, quest rewards didn’t feel very satisfying. I think this definitely needs improvement — especially when it comes to EXP rewards.
-One thing I think the game should do early on is provide players with a basic starter gear set. Since I wasn’t familiar with the game, I ended up doing quests and grinding levels all the way to level 9–10 with pretty much no gear at all. Even though I leveled up, I didn’t feel any stronger, and that made progression feel underwhelming.
I really enjoy the game. I’m sure that with some improvements in the future, it will become an even more amazing. I’m certain I’ll be playing it for many years to come, enjoying it thoroughly.
With more resources, the gaming experience would be great. Unfortunately, crafting is once again becoming a specialized discipline for individuals. A guild gathers everything, allowing a single player to craft everything for a select few. Instead of everyone being able to tackle basic supplies themselves, and only high-quality products being handled by specialists. I think both systems have a place alongside each other. Of course, gathering shouldn't become a guild without a living. Perhaps higher-level resources (rare, heroic, legendary, ...) need to become rarer?
The game would have ideal conditions for crafters to close this gap and provide all players with equipment. Why are so many people running around without equipment when everyone can craft equipment? So nothing would need to be changed except to ensure that crafters can craft things that aren't yet available in dungeons. This would be the first game where anyone who enjoys it can learn a meaningful profession.
It's not about high-end gear. Not everyone needs to find rare or legendary items. But level 15 players should have access to common items from levels 1 to 9, and level 25 players should have access to items from levels 11 to 19. Then the gap would be filled with a meaningful task.
The system works to prevent players from easily acquiring high-quality gear, but it doesn't work where players can't get any gear at all. That's a shame, because it causes players to skip some intermediate levels that add variety and enjoyment. It shouldn't become the norm for the first item in a slot to be a rare item.
I've gotten the impression that it's harder for casters to get their gear than for melees. This starts with the fact that the most important locations, especially RoS, seem to drop more gear for melees, but also in Steelbloom, groups gather around NPCs that don't have any gear for casters (bears). And it ends at the marketplace, where mostly melees gear is available, and the caster is also getting more expensive.
Maybe it's just the players chasing the tank. However, the tank determines where he goes based on his role and his rarity, depending on what he needs.
2.The tidy and clear UI
3. the beautiful movements of the characters
4. very well fitting sounds and a harmonious sound track
5. Unfortunately for beginners, quest tracking quickly becomes confusing and you sometimes find yourself lost
6. Quests that can be reached quickly by acquiring the mount very quickly, but the enemies in the target area are so strong that you almost can't complete them alone.
5. Quest items that are in an area where there are enemies who almost one hit you because you are simply too weak despite everything.
6. PvP is nice in AoC, but the fact that low lvl characters get a quest where they have to protect a caravan and then are literally executed by lvl 20 players shouldn't be the case either because that dampens the fun of the low lvl game
7. Player gear should also be able to be dropped by opponents because you can't get money that quickly, especially at the beginning
That was all for now. I'm looking forward to further alpha testing and will continue to report bugs.
(hoping that you manage to dethrone WoW
I'm enjoying not only the visuals when entering the area, but the surrounding ZOI's of lion hold as well are great. I am hoping Steven, doesn't drift anymore to more hand holding themepark style. He has already shifted some towards more handholding since A0 and A1, but I'm hoping Intrepid stays true to their original design. I do think its smart to have goals revealed to players, but maybe not straight up, through good designed quests and commissions you can have them interact with other Events or triggers or even other NPC's giving quests within pocket dungeons or pvp. Something intriguing but not straight up guiding them handholding.
This is to be expected right now since its an Alpha test, so Its not really a complaint, but I can't wait to see much more quests and events triggered, but again its fine since its alpha and more will come online as more Nodes level.
Worst experience so far was being PK'd camped at a Ember springs over and over. But i had some sort of "defender" bug on. Steven was nearby at the time and didnt really do anything but its alright. Testing is for this reason.
Best experiences: Not really any particular ones stand out, but I really am enjoying many groups for dungeons, and POI's Exploration.
I have tested numerous times before A2, so I didnt really get confused on where to go at first, however it was a bit confusing for the skeleton commission which is on ruins above lionhold. The map was hard to see it.
At first there were many broken quests so I didn't enjoy any of the ones that were broken.
I do enjoy the quest chains that bring you to multiple locations the most.
- How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
I have no feedback on this. NPC dialog seemed fine to me for the most part, although aside from the bugs they had with them, sometimes the Voice acting seemed a bit robotic to me. Other than that it was fine. For release I'd expect them to be alot more active and have pathing and such.Mob NPC's definitely need some work in the future on pathing and showing some sort of interaction with the world around them. More humanoid ones than animals though, i've seen a lot of the animal NPC's interact and hunt/chase other animals. The humanoid mobs need more interaction as we get closer to release.
- What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
I was hoping for more a minigame type for crafting, however, I do really enjoy the variety of rarities needed or can be used to craft a particular outcome. The changes they have made and continuing to make for crafting has been a big improvement, I hated being gated to specific quantities before and only having one up at a time. Im glad to see shift in that and of course more recipes is always great.- How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
At the moment player level progression feels good. One of the main reasons I originally backed Ashes, is due to the old school type of gameplay feel Steven had in mind from the start (well after the table top transitioned into mmo ;P ). I really enjoy the Party xp rate and I think the solo leveling Rate should be way less, which is where it is about now. I'm really enjoying the "camping" spots and have designated tanks and pullers again.The questing right now feels bad, but thats because its not fully implemented. But I'd like to see alot more party based difficulty quests as well as ones you can solo of course, and the rewards need to be much better for long quest chains.
- How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
The rewards need to be improved and a bit more. Im fine with anything above common equipment scarcity, but I think some quests should give common equipment or at least materials for crafting them. I love the heavy focus on crafting system. Having players communicate more for trading and such will be big improvement when we having systems in place to make it easier for logistics.Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
More quests and Events, and I would like to see more lower lvl pocket dungeons in riverlands. More NPC dialogue related to story of coming from Sanctus.
Common gear should indeed be common
I know you all are working on gear
I understand you are attempting to focus more on crafting but resources are also obsolete. We shouldnt have to run 30 mins from our Citizen Node just to find 1 to 4 specific nodes and another 30 mins running around for random spawns.
I think we need to figure out Force PVPing. Streessing or griefing is not enjoyable. So a player that has 5+ levels on the lowbies should not be able to engage them at all. Unless its a Caravan or an event that is focused around pvp period. But to just be a totatl tool and take resource nodes from them bc they can, and they also gets the drops from their bag is a bit overboard.
Thank you
For all the work you do
1) Caravans are killing fields for new players. Level 20's come in and massacre everyone. Wow. That was fun.
2) Mobs should disengage from players once inside a city/town. I've lost track of how many times I've died at a vendor/storage/marketplace NPC from someone's 3-star mob they trained into the town.
3) Mounts aren't fast enough. I can almost walk as fast, and if I sprint to 50% stamina and then run, I can do almost the same speed as my starter horse. This is silly.
4) Players under level 10 shouldn't lose XP or items upon death. Make this game more noob friendly by doing this. Most MMOs do this.
5) Do a ping check on players when they connect. If their ping >200 then don't allow them to join the server. Some players have horrible latency and cause rubberbanding for everyone nearby.
6) Mobs should stay away from roads. Similar to the trains that get players killed in town while interacting with storage, etc. (see above), people routinely train mobs out onto roads, which often then re-engage other new players traveling and slaughter them. When a mob disengages, it should return to it’s spawn point without reaggroing unless it is attacked.
7) Crafting is horrible. No copper. Copper, once purchased from the Marketplace (cuz, there's none anywhere else to be had) only gives one fragment. Not fragment(s)? As a new tester, the current crafting experience leaves new players feeling frustrated and defeated. No incentive at this point to even want to explore the rest of the crafting system. Also, reward crafters for their effort, not punish them. It's easier to farm gold and buy people's drops from the marketplace. Crafting is currently for no-lifers who can spend/waste the time to do so.
8) Why is there often no storage near crafting locations? For example, right out of the starter areas you have multiple crafting places but have to journey 5 minutes out of your way to retrieve materials from storage or stash your crafts. This is yet another obstacle that the budding crafter is inconvenienced by. Please ensure there’s always some storage vendor nearby for “quality of life” of your crafters.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
I feel progression is at the correct pace; crafting excluded of course (see above)
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
When you exit the portal area there’s little in the way of direction. The two directions north and south take the player to completely different starting experiences. Best experience would be to block the way northward and funnel the new player to/through Lionhold. That is a far more interesting area than the other route.
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
The Aela curse quest was a pain hunting down random NPCs to talk to. They need to be more obvious to the player so you don’t spend 20-30 minutes running around in a frustrating search for them. What a bore that was…
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different?
At leats temporarly put more Novice materials in the map, there is plenty of T3, T2 taking their spots
Tell us about the worst and best things you experienced as a new tester!
[*] The worst - XP depth, especially for TANK its must be painfull
What confused you most during your first few hours of play?
Quests, where to go? What should I start doing? Should I farm mob or should I do every quest in city?
Which quests or sections did you enjoy the most and least as a fresh tester?
I liked the new Sculture tokens quests, but rest of the quest are boring because there are no clues so I did not even test many of them.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area?
Text of their speech could be bigger, for me its too small so I am bit annoyed to read it.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced?
Description is Alright, but there could be EXTRA quest which will advise player to try to make some gear in order to better farm mobs. Most of the people just finish first quest and then dont touch crafting until they are at least lvl 15-20.
How did you feel about your rate of progression throughout the Riverlands intro area?
I feel progression is fine, maybe bit faster so craft does not mean that much, but not bad.,
How did you feel about the rewards you received in the Riverlands intro area?
Horse fine, rest nothing much to say about it, I dont feel I got anything. Some few health potion on beginning would help.
Assuming you’ve tested past the Riverlands intro area, is there anything you feel was missing from your time there as a new player?
Some potions for really big beginners so they can survive a bit more.
Now, about the things I liked the least:
Items that auto-trigger quests when dropped by mobs: this is quite frustrating. You end up with a bunch of quest items stuck in your bag that you can’t discard. It would be much better if there was a confirmation before a quest was activated or if quest items were handled through a separate system.
The requirement to complete the tools quest before getting the mount: this doesn’t make much sense. These quests should be separate. Sometimes you just want to grab your mount and start exploring the world, leaving crafting and gathering for later—or skipping them entirely. Locking the mount behind a crafting-related quest limits early player freedom.
About the crafting system:
I found it too easy. Being able to pick two professions to max out is interesting, but I think it would be more challenging and engaging if each player could only specialize in one gathering and one crafting profession. That would encourage more trade, interdependence, and a more complex player-driven economy. Also, crafting recipes could require materials from multiple sources to add more depth.
About progression and rewards:
Progression feels smooth and well-paced.
Rewards are solid, especially from mob drops and farming. No complaints there.
Overall, the Riverlands FTUE is heading in a good direction, but with a few tweaks like those mentioned above, the new player experience could become truly outstanding.
What I enjoy the most is the combat, and how flashy the spells are for mage and cleric, it really makes you feel like a force of nature. As for least, honestly, even with the help archives, its still very difficult to learn your way around the game and how to progress in a way that feels meaningful, and not completely random.
Personally, I feel like having a map toggle for leveling zones, and names of areas would greatly improve the experience for those of us that dont want to waste out time trying to figure out where to go or having to look up guides. Simply having a place on the map "riverlands" would be great when a quest tells you to slay monsters or find resources in that location. Or simply if Im looking to level, where the best area for my current level would be.
The worst thing again, I would say would be the sense of being completely clueless. Its honestly frustrating when you want to do a gathering quest, but have no idea where to go (unless you look up where the places are) to get said items. I thought at least if I got a combat commission from a node, it would show me on the map like in lionkeep, but nope, same "you can find them at [location]" but I have no clue where that is. And its one thing traveling where you know to go, and wandering aimlessly, getting double tapped by higher level mobs and being sent all the way back to lionkeep, or the portal. I can already safely say that majority of players will quit if they can't easily understand what to do, when the game launches.
My biggest confusion was getting to certain locations like above lionkeep, or where the Griffins are, its not really easy to figure out that there is a stairway, I thought there was a path in the village, or in the mountains. Another is figuring out how to repair items at vendors or where I can find certain vendors. Gathering is also confusing, mainly finding the resources you want to gather, I would say especially for mining, since its hard to figure out what is slate, or granite. Or having 90% or ore be Iron, and only ever finding one copper ore since my few hours of playing. I dont really understand why mining ore is randomly a few gems, mixed with other ores, when miraleth has basalt in groups around the settlement, I feel like ores should be in groups like that scattered around the world, especially so it doesnt make trying to find a particular ore hard.
Honestly, its confusing why some people have book icons even after you do their quests, and some that have no quests at all. It makes it difficult to find new quests outside of commissions. Also having like a dialog GUI like in wizard101 (its the first MMO to pop up in my head) where you can look back at the conversation to figure out what you need to do, incase you skipped it or needed to read it again.
I enjoyed the voice acting and conversations, though many of the NPCs feel like machines when they patrol or guard areas, or dont respond at all to any kind of threats.
Honestly, the tradesman quest is probably my favorite, because it walks you through the Gathering and crafting process, giving you enough information on how to figure it out from there. Though I dont quite understand how you upgrade your profession.
It feels crowded even in certain areas of the world, making it somewhat hard to complete slay quests when everyone is hunting the same thing as you, and I notice that even when you engage a man enemy shortly after someone else or if you started the fight, you dont get credit for the kill on your quest. Also, the starting area is good up to I would argue lvl 5, but you still have a gap between lvl 10 when you can apply for citizenship and start working towards node commissions, which I feel like is the make or break point for new players.
Its alright. Being able to use glint to sell and upgrade from your starting gear is fine.
A sense of direction as to where to go next. As mentioned before, the intro area is good up to lvl 5-6 but you have to get to lvl 10 to become a citizen, and since their is no map toggle for leveling areas to suggest where you might want to go from the starting area, its hard figuring out how to bridge the gap to lvl 10. And while going to a node even before you are lvl 10 could help, not knowing where to find the mobs you need to slay on the commissions makes it hard to continue your journey without looking up guides and locations on separate sites.
If you haven’t chimed in yet, we’d love to hear from you! Whether you’re a brand-new adventurer or a seasoned tester returning for another look, your perspective matters deeply to us. The intro experience is something we’re continuing to refine, and the more voices we hear, the better we can make it for future testers (and eventually, new players at launch).
Let us know what worked, what didn’t, and what left you scratching your head—or smiling ear to ear. Every bit of feedback brings us closer to creating a world that feels alive from the very first moment you step into Verra.
📝 Drop your thoughts in the thread. We're reading!
Is there anything about your first-time experience that you wish were different? My friend and I frequently had the same feeling: "Ok, what are we 'supposed' to be doing? Is this all there is?" At present, leveling up consists of doing board missions to start and then joining a "camp and kill" group at different level brackets. It's not altogether clear or obvious to new players who may just wander off into the hillside, fight some enemies, dodge some higher level enemies, and ask themselves, "Is this what the game is?"
What confused you most during your first few hours of play? The design layout of the ruined castle was a bit tricky. The mission board, which we assumed was what we were supposed to do to more effectively level up, sometimes sent us to a place where the enemies weren't spawning, or we had no idea how to get to the mission objective.
How do you feel about the NPC dialog and their responsiveness in the starting area? Dialogue is fine, though one quest has you bouncing around aimlessly trying to gather a bunch of "clues" from townsfolk. There was no indication who you were supposed to talk to, so of course you have to try to canvas the whole village talking to everyone. Then you get to the point where you can't find the one last clue and have no idea which NPC you missed. At that point, easier and more efficient to just abandon the quest and move on.
What did you think of how crafting is introduced? Is there anything you wish were different regarding how crafting is introduced? Crafting is introduced well enough, but early on the only way to make money seemed to be to go mining or lumberjacking and just sell the raw materials to a vendor. A slow, punishing way to upgrade your gear ... but because enemies at that level did not drop gear, it felt like the only choice.