I don't understand why do you hope player population sticks around? I seen this being told about 6-8 months ago by a streamer who I guess streams only about this game. First I assumed he is concerned about his favorite topic as a streamer.
More recently I asked what he sees special about this game, why he wants it to succeed and the answer was the player impact onto the nodes, how those would evolve differently between different servers, based on player actions. I remember this being an argument years ago on the forum, but I don't see it really fascinating, even if multiple servers could run at the same time for a few years. Can be interesting for the developer or journalists but a player stuck on a server, what the other servers do is not important.
So, a more concrete reason to want players to stick around would be that the future of the game depends on it.
That could be the case if Intrepid Studios depend on selling cosmetics during Early Access or if they are genuinely unable to create the game without players testing and reporting bugs and saying if they like it or not.
Even if Steven ends up giving free access to the game, players will move on to other, already finished games.
Why would they keep grinding in an unfinished MMO which on it's store page states:
Players can expect:Frequent updates and realm wipes when needed as features are implemented and tunedUnstable builds, incomplete content, and ongoing balance adjustments
Players can expect:
Frequent updates and realm wipes when needed as features are implemented and tuned
Unstable builds, incomplete content, and ongoing balance adjustments
It's like you aren't even listening to me. Or are you just so much of a follower that you've never had any real input on the workings of a guild you were in, in your life?
It's kinda ironic because I'm only even still responding because that's my role in my guild.
Maybe it would go better if I prefaced every line with how much Ashes sucks in a particular way that agrees with you so that you feel validated enough to read what I actually said?
"Ashes of creation sucks because there will only ever be 60-80 Mayors and maybe 300 'government appointees/advisors' per server and therefore there isn't enough space for the thousands of players that really want to make world-changing decisions per server, even if we count the other 100-150 Mayoral Candidates that contest but don't win the elections and their 200-400 allies or friends."
If you think you can't manage to be one of those thousand people, but somehow want to, then I get it, sure.
If you want to play a game where 4000+ players are making 'grand scheme of things' Tier choices, and you don't want to count Voting or giving/withholding support, why would you even play this type of game? When a group of 15 Dwarves decides they are going to go build a new Village in the Wilderness because the bigger guilds are busy trying to build or hold a castle, how are you going to tell those people 'y'all are not experiencing real gameplay choices'.
Obviously you can say that right now when there is no opportunity for that, and obviously if the game never reaches that, then everyone will be able to say that, because there will be no opportunities. But right now you just come off as someone who has had so few opportunities in gaming or whatever that you genuinely don't have the ability to imagine a game where you would get any.
Obv in that case, my sympathy to you, there are a lot of 'zerg-only' games out there and Ashes is quickly shaping up to be one of them in implementation.
I hope the population grows really. I'd prefer to see Ashes a success, and a growing or even stable population is a good sign of that. That's really the only reason, I want the game to be a success. A mmorpg, no pay to win, brings back some old school feel and vibes, sub based, cosmetic only cash shop… I mean really we need more of these. Ashes success would be proof to the industry that a mmorpg monetized like this still has a consumer base. With all the mmorpgs shutting down shop… well this is kind of the last chance for the genre as we know it. The new age mmorpgs, that resemble more of a mobile game are gain popularity and success, the ones F2P, but loaded with P2W cheats are winning in both player count and revenue. A lot of good points have been made about the content once 25. I guess harbringers is that content void filler for now. Personally I don't see a mainstream mmorpg lasting without some type of instanced raiding. For the majority of players PvP gets boring, yeah there's hardcore pvp players that only do that, just not enough to support the server on their own. Just my opinions. If I had to bet money, I'd say 2 months most people will be max and running out of things to do. Some diehards will stick around and keep testing but probably not enough. My thoughts on the cash shop in EA. They've said since day one it'd be there. They need to test that too, that'll be a money maker for them. It could be a sign of empty coffers, it could just be a test to see how many start spending money, it could be potato for all me know. I
It's like you aren't even listening to me. Or are you just so much of a follower that you've never had any real input on the workings of a guild you were in, in your life?It's kinda ironic because I'm only even still responding because that's my role in my guild.
So, because I don't want to join a guild I must therefore be a follower? Logic is definitely not your strong suit.
It would go better if you used logic and spent some time actually thinking about the systems rather then rattling off a bunch like I didn't ask which systems allow for impactful decisions.
If you think you can't manage to be one of those thousand people, but somehow want to, then I get it, sure. If you want to play a game where 4000+ players are making 'grand scheme of things' Tier choices, and you don't want to count Voting or giving/withholding support, why would you even play this type of game? When a group of 15 Dwarves decides they are going to go build a new Village in the Wilderness because the bigger guilds are busy trying to build or hold a castle, how are you going to tell those people 'y'all are not experiencing real gameplay choices'.
Yes, because if a person doesn't like what you like, how you like it, when you like it, well they must be having fun wrong.
I can say that because this game has failed to deliver at almost every turn. The concepts are exceptionally poorly thought out. The "game design" is just a bunch of systems that Steven liked in that one game so he's putting it in his game. If they was any level of reasonableness to the scope this game is planning to implement then I might give it the benefit of the doubt.
Yeah, I give up. Waste of time from the start. I wasn't saying you were having fun wrong, I was wondering why you were trying to have fun HERE.
I'll accept that whatever logic you are using, I can't keep up with it.
I would say you not wanting to join a guild makes you not even close to Ashes intended audience, rather than a follower.
At its core, this game is one about control over other players. People think it's a PvP game at its core, but that is only one method by which players can exhert that control over others. Players will fall in to one of three categories - those controlling others, those willingly being controlled, and those unwillingly being controlled.
If you are not running a guild, you are not in the first group. That means you are either willingly or unwillingly being controlled by others.
I agree.
The node system is really interesting from a game design perspective, but means nothing at all from the perspective of a single player.
It is a shitload of additional development time for something that the actual paying, playing population just won't care all that much about.
I think all games get the reviews they deserve, even if you do t agree, every person in the game has the right to leave feedback they deem right.
Think this review bombing comments, is just another smokescreen.
Been waiting for AoC since the Kickstarter 2017 cant waite
It's Not a waste of time if you actually put forth some effort.
Im here because most of this game sounds fun, the problem is the designers have decided to take multiple mechanics that people don't find fun and bolt them onto the game and force people to use them rather then making them an option.
As for what I find intresting, or fun. Most of the game. Its like saying your are serving vanilla ice cream then insisting everyone have raw anchovies and grilled jalapeños on them and refuse to serve anyone that doesn't want that. Rather then just going oh doing that is a terrible buisness model.
The designers have reneged on most of the things they said they were going to do because they want to do bare minimum development.
I am watching them sacrafice the game designs integrity for all the wrong reasons. Rather then maintaining what they promised people.
For example they said there were going to be racial abilities that had an impact. They have since changed that, to no racial abilities, instead opting for backgrounds. Which is aggressively non-old school. They have already sped up the leveling to almost equal to most modern MMOs.
The game keeps changing in a way to make it not old school at all.
You Know what you're right. Im gonna say something.
I played this game well over a year ago and left. Having the game linked to Steam, brought me back! That said - I see the work done since last year, but I also see allot of the same issues that caused me to leave. Steam reviews are not kind to unpolished games - Take Quinfall for example. This game has potential, and yes releasing on Steam will bring new and old players to the game - but the risk in doing so is very great and could harm the games future. Personally, I think Steve should have waited to 2nd Beta before release on Steam - not Alpha!
Smokescreen for what? What could I be trying to hide or distract you or anyone from? The reviews on Steam and the player count are going to show publicly the interest the mainstream has in the game. The games target isn't for the mainstream, but the design requires it. So Intrepid HAS to appeal to the mainstream MMORPG player. Doing so with a EA release on Steam in Alpha in it's current state is a gamble. In the Stream Steven said he see "Mixed" as a successful metric. And I kind of agree with him, it's better than what I expected. The question now comes down to, why did they release on EA? Best case, they needed more testers, worst case, they're out of money. Only time will tell.
