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FAQ's about Ashes of Creation

Hello community! In an effort to offer some insight to our design and gameplay mechanics, we are going to put out an official list of early FAQ’s. Please take into consideration that these answers are open to change as we are still in early production. We would also love any and all forms of input! We encourage you to participate in our discussions on the forums.


<strong>Q: What kind of game is Ashes of Creation?</strong>
<em>A: Ashes of Creation is an upcoming MMORPG, set in a high fantasy open world. We believe in choice, organic events, player narratives and massive communities. All of these come together in what we call our “Reactive World.” Players will shape the world we create through dynamic quests, castle sieges, our Node system, an economy that goes well beyond the auction house, and player housing (among many other systems). We’ll set up the initial state, you decide where it goes from there.</em>

<strong>
Q: How many playable races will there be in Ashes of Creation?</strong>
<em>A: Currently we intend to launch with 8 distinct races. As time goes on we will have in depth developer blogs that discuss the culture and identity of these unique races.</em>

<strong>
Q: Does my race choice influence my class? </strong>
<em>A: Yes, simply put. Races will affect your stats, and stats will affect your skills and abilities. In addition, races will give unique flavors to your class archetype skills. Classes will not be restricted to certain races.</em>


<strong>Q: Are there factions?</strong>
<em>A: No. This is a non-faction based game. Players are open to interact with anyone and everyone.</em>

<strong>
Q: How many classes are there?</strong>
<em>A: We have a unique and detailed class system, which we will discuss further in a developer’s blog. For now, I can say that we have 8 archetypes. You will choose an archetype as your primary class that you will level from starting level to max level. Along the way, you will choose a secondary class from the 8 archetypes. That secondary class will augment your primary class’ abilities and skills. In total, our class system will have 64 distinct classes, of which there will be a wide variety of customization in skills and abilities based on the player’s choices.</em>



<strong>
Q: What is the Node System?</strong>
<em>A: The Node System is one of the core systems that sets our game apart from every other game on the market, it’s a large topic that we can’t wait to explore further in our developer blogs but we’ll go into a little bit of detail here. Nodes are the mechanic by which npc settlements are developed, and how our world grows essentially. Our map is sectioned off into zones, playable areas with an environmental theme. These zones are then subsectioned off into smaller, invisibly defined areas we call “Nodes.”


These Nodes are listening all the time. Every player action within a Node, and every action associated with that Node (like quests that might require players to leave the Node) is tracked and scored. This includes any player action, like crafting, harvesting, killing a monster, or finding a point of interest. This ‘score’ abstracts and represents player participation within that Node. The more that players participate within a Node, the higher that score gets, and the closer that Node inches toward civilization. Upon reaching a certain participation score, the Node will develop into its first of six stages.


All of the Nodes within our world fit into one of four distinct types (Military, Divine, Economic and Scientific), each of which will define how players interact with them. Regardless of the Node type, these newly developed settlements can be player governed, fought over, and customized. Some Nodes can even unlock hidden aspects of the world. Again, this is a large topic and we look forward to explaining it in more detail with our developer blogs!</em>

<strong>
Q: Can I own land?</strong>
<em>A: Our land owning system has an integrated personal housing and farming system to allow players to claim land in the open world. This land is the same static size for all players. You may then acquire blueprints for structures to build on that land, such as a home, stables for animal husbandry, crafting stations and more. In addition to open world housing, you will also be able to own homes within a Node itself; these homes will grow as the Node does, from a small cottage to a sprawling mansion! Certain Nodes will also have instanced housing. </em>


<strong>

Q: How does PvP work in Ashes of Creation?</strong>
<em>A: PvP in Ashes of Creation is intended to be both organized and organic. We want to create an atmosphere where PvP is meaningful by utilizing different systems that create fluid PvP events including: Castle Sieges, City defense/assaults, Caravans, and a scenario-based Arena combat. For our open world, we have designed a flagging system that severely deters people from griefing other players. Much more will be explained in great detail, in our upcoming developer blogs.</em>

<strong>
Q: How will PvE work in Ashes of Creation?</strong>
<em> A: One of the main philosophical pillars behind our design was that PvE must be impactful and inclusive. We want solo players, small groups and large groups to all have a home within our system. With monsters throughout the world, challenging raid bosses, new dungeons spawning as your world develops, and scalable challenges, we know that each player will have a complete PvE experience. Our Node system allows the constant generation of new PvE content such as questlines, monsters, dungeons and even raid bosses as well!</em>


<strong>Q: Will there be pets and mounts?</strong>
<em>A:. Yes, and Yes.</em>


<strong>Q: The graphics look amazing! What engine are you using? How will I ever afford a computer that can play it?</strong>
<em>A: We are using the Unreal 4 engine for development. Most of the artwork of the game is optimized to play on mid-range hardware made within the last six years. Additionally, we are exposing many optional settings which will improve performance on lower-than-minimum-specification hardware. </em>


<strong>Q: Does Unreal Engine work well with large scale users and MMOs?</strong>
<em>A: Unreal Engine 4 is designed to create small, fully-functional projects right out of the box. Since an MMO is a literal culmination of every extreme in game design, one might, quite understandably, balk at the idea of using UE4 for such a project. Fortunately, UE4 is easily modified at a source code level to allow for custom or extensive divergences from the default, small project functionality. We have identified what we need to change - most notably, the network communication and level loading code - in order to get the gaming experience that is expected of a modern MMO.</em>


<strong>Q: Who does your Team consist of? </strong>
<em>A: Our studio was founded by a gamer. Someone who spent many years of his gaming career settling for lesser MMO’s. He pulled together a team of veterans and fresh talent to create the foundation for what we know will be the next big (and finally done right) MMORPG. Our team comes from many different studios and projects like; Star Wars Galaxies, Everquest 1, Everquest 2, Everquest Next, Vanguard, Bioshock, Gears of War, Planetside 1 and Planetside 2, Call of Duty, X-Com. There will be a Team page in the About tab shortly.</em>




<strong>Q: When will we know more about your game, and when can we play!?</strong>
<em>A: Great question! We know everyone is interested in finding out all they can about our game, and that’s incredibly exciting! We’ll be releasing a steady stream of information through developer blogs, forum posts, and social media going forward. We’re currently in pre-production, and have a long way to go. We’re committed to transparency, we want to launch when we’re absolutely ready in order to give you the product you want. We’ll be consistently offering a look into our milestone markers so you can always have a feel for where we’re at.</em>

<strong>Q: Can I actually make money by referring people to play the game?</strong>
<em>A: Yes. We want to be able to give back to our community, especially leaders in our community who bring other players to our game. We feel the larger we get, the more fun everyone will have. So we have designed a referral program that allows our players to receive actual cashback. By using our referral system, players can share links to the game on social media, forums, or simply with their friends. If a person visits our game from your referral link, they will be identified by our system as your referral, and when they register an account with us, you will receive 15% of anything they spend (subscription, credits, crowd sourcing) as either; in-game credits, payment towards your own subscription, or choose to receive actual cash. As far as we know, this is the first system of it's kind for a video game, and we feel pretty good about it. </em>
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Comments

  • Good stuff here, I'll be linking all of my friends to this page when they ask what the game is about.
  • This is a great FAQ that sums up a lot of things I have had to repeat about a dozen times already. I'm going to subscribe to this topic, and I hope Sorcerer will keep updating it as we go forward.

    Along with sticky'ing the thread if possible.
  • **Drools** woot thanks guys :) cant wait for more information on the combat/classes/races or lore!
  • Thanks Steve, I'll put this to good use soon.
  • proud to be here :)
  • "The Node System is one of the core systems that sets our game apart from every other game on the market"

    Errrrrm. I guess the devil is in the detail, but it sounds so similar to Elite Dangerous and the Background Simulator that's there on first reading. I could go in to more detail as to why I think that, but perhaps you have already had that comparison made and are able to demonstrate why it's unfair?

    The cash referral thing is very strange to read, but I can see why it would work give key-influencers a stake in the game that should help with the PR and Marketing.



    One question you might want to address that I'm sure is in a lot of seasoned-MMO fans' minds... "We've heard it all before. What makes Ashes of Creation any different?". Cynical, I know, but there's no way I'm jumping on a hype train again. The lesson has been learned. It is possible to remain interested without pinning too many hopes and dreams on your creation.

    Generally though, sounds good. Certainly appearances so far give Ashes, above other titles, some merit and suggest your project is worth keeping a critical eye on.
  • I have seen some concerns that PVP will be nonconsensual, at least in part, is that correct?
  • I love the PvP system. Reminds me of Ultima Online.
  • [quote quote=658]I love the PvP system. Reminds me of Ultima Online.

    [/quote]Just out of curiosity, how does it remind you of UO? I see people already complaining about non-consensual pvp on other sites and have seen anything to back up that pvp will be non-consensual, at least in part. There is almost no info on it beyond the FAQ answer. Are you talking about the flagging system, arenas, champion spawns, world pvp (at least in Felucca).
  • [quote quote=659]<blockquote><div class="d4p-bbt-quote-title"><a href="https://www.ashesofcreation.com/forums/topic/faqs-about-ashes-of-creation/#post-658" rel="nofollow">Aggelos wrote:</a></div>
    I love the PvP system. Reminds me of Ultima Online.

    </blockquote>
    Just out of curiosity, how does it remind you of UO? I see people already complaining about non-consensual pvp on other sites and have seen anything to back up that pvp will be non-consensual, at least in part. There is almost no info on it beyond the FAQ answer. Are you talking about the flagging system, arenas, champion spawns, world pvp (at least in Felucca).

    [/quote]

    It seems a little premature for the carebear community to be up in arms, especially considering that PvP sounds fairly limited.
  • i think we need more information before people start making conclusions on what the pvp is going to be/not be.
  • Considering how 90% of the features are going to be subject to heavy changes kinda hard to say how it well end up, but i assume carebears are refering to "Gathered goods can be looted off other players bodies" which was in the unoffical features list. Personally i like this stuff but carebears generally have an issue with anything that causes them to "lose" anything. Wether that be PvP, Items, Upgrading gear and it failing..... generally anything that causes them to meet harsh realities with often cause them distress, and will
    complain about it. Question is who do you design the game for? Usually its the majority and the majority are usually carebears. Tough call for any developer to pick.
  • Exactly, i was trying to have informed discourse with other people on a couple of other sites about their PVP concerns and how they coming to the conclusion that PVP was non-consensual with the limited amount of information provided. It's way too early to get up in arms up about it.
  • Hello,

    The Unreal Engine is an multi plateform engine, it's possible to see this game on the Xbox One for example?
  • [quote quote=672]The Unreal Engine is an multi plateform engine, it’s possible to see this game on the Xbox One for example?[/quote]


    Making an MMO for a console is a difficult undertaking. I am open to the idea for future development, but at the moment, the team is focused on targeting Windows in particular. That said, we are specifically writing code to be cross-platform-capable, with Windows-specific functionality being modularly loaded at compile time, that way if we do decide to build for XBOne, PS4, or any of the other platforms that UE4 supports, we will have significantly less code that needs to be refactored to support building for the new target platform.
  • The PvP system (i.e. flagging) sounds similar to Lineage 2 (five years on Lionna) which means it should work well. You attack someone, you're flagged and anyone else can attack you. You kill someone that isn't flagged and you become a murderer. Knowing the consequences of that, in this game, is of great interest and I'm sure they'll dig more into that over time.

    While more of a PvE guy myself, it's nice to have a system that allows PvP when you're looking for it, and penalizes those who force it upon others. Let's hope this is their path anyway.

    Now, I'll be in EVE if anyone needs me.
  • Thank you for your anwser :)

    "PC first" it's fine too :)
  • After reading the FAQ, this thing sounds pretty awesome...stoked to see how it comes together...
  • I dig that we're in an era where tools and tech have now advanced enough that it allows indie developers to truly have a shot at creating a a great new take. MMORPGs have stagnated for too long, and virtual worlds are long overdue for advancement!

    Everything sounds great, guys and gals... godspeed!
  • So how big will the world be in km²?
    I for one love BIG world, I don't mind if there are places that are quite barren but with this owning land and housing system I would be very happy camper if it takes hours to travel from one end to the other.
  • Will the housing/land owning system be simular to that of lets say "Archeage"?
    Because it sounds like it will.

    Which also means that it is unattackable by other players, but it will "decay" when the player is inactive.

    I'd love to get a house with seasight again!
  • Sounds good.
  • Hi!!!!

    Congrats for AoC, I subscribeb to your new news and updates...

    So, I would like to know if AoC will be translated to spanish /hispanish for this community gamers?

    In last years this community has been fotgotten by a lot of developers. And a lot of gamers lost hype for a good games by languages...

    Thanks for your attention, and sorry for my english...

    Kind regards, JaPeMo
  • I'm also wondering about 'open world' pvp. I think many players prefer the ability to opt-out of pvp, but I'm guessing this is way early to determine exactly how it's going to look at Launch.
  • [quote quote=820]I’m also wondering about ‘open world’ pvp. I think many players prefer the ability to opt-out of pvp, but I’m guessing this is way early to determine exactly how it’s going to look at Launch.

    [/quote] I doubt there will be an opt-out option, however it sounds like Steve is going to try and keep the griefing under control i.e. flagging system. I think most of the PvP will be resigned to events such as castle sieges, caravans, scenarios, etc.
  • "Q: Can I own land?
    A: Our land owning system has an integrated personal housing and farming system to allow players to claim land in the open world. This land is the same static size for all players. You may then acquire blueprints for structures to build on that land, such as a home, stables for animal husbandry, crafting stations and more. In addition to open world housing, you will also be able to own homes within a Node itself; these homes will grow as the Node does, from a small cottage to a sprawling mansion! Certain Nodes will also have instanced housing. "

    Will these blueprints be customizable? Say a player wants his/her second floor stair case to be in a different spot/room, or a they want to make the first floor of the house a player shop, and the second floor for sleeping quarters. Was telling a friend about this game, and that was his question.

    Thanks
  • I agree. I love big worlds that require some time to travel across. And require running, until you level enough to earn a mount or learn to 'port.
  • Will there be a priest/healer archetype? This is a main selling point for if I want to pick it up or not. Looks phenomenal from what I've seen
  • EQ was my first gaming experience, I started the week it launched, and stayed for 8 years. I played EQ2 but quit early and came back later. I alpha/beta'd Vanguard, and cried when it went down. I've been in Landmark since Alpha day 1. All in all, I likely know, or know of, a good many of this team.
    Any chance of getting some names? or where I can read more about them?
    I will be watching A of C closely. It sounds as though it is going to be fine.
    The graphics in the trailer are beautiful. I think I see Landmark and VG influences there. :)
  • Hi ashes!!!

    Do you know how work a guild system? A guild will have a castle or settlement?

    thanks!!!!
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