Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Comments
Hi, Hello! How are you? Enjoy the like I gave you... yes.
I greatly dislike that gamers these days are incapable of understanding something. They scream and cry for realisticness but then something like darker nights and physically debilitating weather effects are added (all great time to add nice racial adaptions) and they go "OMG UNPLAYABLE" and have to find ways to tweak and ruin or just altogether remove core parts of what adds flavor and difficulty to a game.
If things got dark at night in such a way to hinder your vision or cloud your distant vision and you have to carry a torch or follow stars at night then that is part of the difficulty of the game. It gives you stories to tell and makes the world actually difficult. If you are a casual gamer, your 2 hours a day wasnt wasted because it takes you longer to travel. This is an MMORPG that is part of the world and the game and you should be enjoying every second of it.
it's all part of the experience and adventure which is lost on many these days. So many reasons with only so many fingers to point within the industry. It's why a developer literally cannot make a game for everyone. They will just end up disappointing many until it becomes just another game. Many cannot even distinguish what an MMO is vs an RPG lol. They think MMO's are RPG's... Just another term misused for marketing purposes and lack of consumer understanding. Many genre's and hybrid genre's are entering the MMO status now.
With advancements in the industry through engine capabilities, internet speeds and hardware, most features are relatively easier to implement now across the board. It really comes down to demographic appeal, world building, story and gameplay. The problem is most of the mainstream gamers all just want an improved version of their mainstream game such as wow gamers just looking for wow 2. Each new MMORPG just keeps adding in to the standardisation that mainstream games acquire. The node system in ashes is interesting but it's essentially the only thing we haven't really gotten in any MMORPG that I can currently think of. Other than that, AoC to me essentially checks most of the boxes for mainstream design.
Players seem to think easier game = fun, less friction = more fun, but that's exactly how mainstream gamers think lol.
I actually hated a couple streamers saying things like "we need fast travel, we need to be able to play with our friends without any friction, we need pvp to never inconvenience us"
They play 24/7 for a living, of course they want less friction and less things to stand in their way of streaming as they rush to explore everything for clicks and likes. Some of them just having a pov of someone who likes an entirely different type of game than AOC is trying to be and trying to pretend they speak for everybody or even the majority.
I'm the average gamer with 4-8 hours a day to play at best, I've gamed for 24 years and spent more than half of that on mmorpgs, I want to be challenged. I want difficulty, I want dark nights, I want harsh weather effects, I don't even like the fact all races can start next to eachother (save Tulnar) I want racial supremacy in certain regions where it makes SENSE. Wanna play with your friends? Get running and rent a boat/blimp. If you don't want a treacherous journey and you just wanna be spoon fed everything then go play something else.
I'm so tired of it, If i come home from work and its night time and theres a storm that slows my movement speed and encourages amphibious monsters to emerge and jump people on the roads and I need to spend 30 minutes just traveling to the next nearest node that is GREAT that is 30 minutes well spent!! Give me a reason to take potions and torches. Give me a reason to stick to the roads and not just auto run to my destination. If traveling is dangerous then that is part of the JOURNEY the JOURNEY is part of the game.
Some people want Lord Of The Rings but fast travel to the gates of mordor version with boosts and summons for your friends. Go play something else please!
Streamers are the worst for it. Agreed, they literally do it for content to maintain viewers for income as that is their job. Companies use them for promotions, shilling occurs, game gets catered to e-girls and what not. So many fingers to point lol.
You knows what weird about streamers and content creators...
You legally need a business licence/entrepreneur licence in order to retain money from subs, donations etc. Yet... they get away with verbal abuse to their viewers and what not. Last time I checked when I went to a business, they legally can not do that without risk of being sued... so how can streamers get away with it when it's technically a business regardless of partnership or not. It has nothing to do with freedom of speech.
Games stopped being a form of escape, exploration and fantasy for them. It became entirely a paycheck. So they think "ugh god I can't just fast travel? This game will die." "What? my friends cant just teleport to me? Lame. Lame game not gonna spend the time to travel to go meetup with them" Because when you do something you love for a living, you tend to stop loving what originally made it so fun and just get desensitized to what made it great in the first place. Not true for everybody but in the mainstream gaming streamers they just want a PvE game that never inconveniences them and they suffer little to no consequences so they can get through it as quickly as possible and push videos.
EDIT: and one, i wont say names was picking on his viewers for liking open PVP and would definitely berate them. I wish he would pick me to have a conversation with because the simple answer is this mmorpg is not for you. WoW has PVE servers, you will be nice and safe sitting in your que waiting for the next dungeon.
It's quite true, the game already caters to their needs and wants with constant QoL changes, then they find those a hindrance so it can be easier for them to be corrected in the next QoL change and the "game is saved" hype bullshit starts lol. It's a horrible cycle companies and consumers have got themselves into especially with streamers being looked up to.
I honestly don't know how they can get away with it legally as a representative for their business and licence with or without an organisation. If a representative of a business talked like that to any of their patrons in the real world, they would probably be sued, fined and/or fired. They are legally liable at the end of the day lol I know YouTube demonetises you for certain language use with subjective categorisation and what not. Maybe people haven't realised it yet
Very well said, you may enjoy Embers Adrift. It's an entire $10, but it's a fun time. It's a very different game than Ashes of Creation. Ashes looks like a dream compared to Embers Adrift, but Ashes is not out yet and Embers Adrift is available for play.
I just checked it out from a 10 min video. It looks really good to be honest. Big turn off is the tab target combat but it generally seems quite interesting overall with its design philosophy.
Ashes if probably like 2 years away at least. Alpha 2 probably 12-18 months.. Maybe another 12 months for beta phase(s) assuming it all goes smoothly.
Yes, overall.. but just sometimes in a short length of ravine, forest or cave, a dimly lit area can create a great ambience, pvp opportunity, or pve risk .. just a little something to get the adrenaline going! Just a thought
just looked at it, it looks amazing but is missing some key parts for me. They nailed night time darkness imo and to people who hate that stuff in AOC if dealing with the dark is such a hinderance or game changer. Play a race that has adapted night vision. The devs can easily make this a solution.
I'm also in favor of weather effects like cold (Mana regenerates slower in snowy terrain)Dunir are immune to this effect.
muddy terrain (during a storm reduced movement speed) nikua are immune to this effect.
Desert heat (health regenerates slower in deserts) Human desert race immune to this effect.
I could go on and on this would also establish favorable areas for race specific nodes that id love to see
lol really pushing that Tulnar night vision racial agenda
I just think it's weird that the greatest single/co-op RPG games have dark caves, dark night cycles, require torches or magic spells to traverse safely... but it cant be recaptured for MMO versions of RPG's because the player base finds it a hindrance or inhibits gameplay. It's almost like the players are the problem in the genre lol.
I'm not asking for total blankets of darkness but it should have immersive light to shadow transitioning. It just feels like your character gets the moonlight filter removed from them and just step into darkness filter free. If the light is not illuminating you, why wouldn't the shadow engulf you somewhat.
Anyways, unfortunate in my opinion. But I can see why they're going that way based on design goals.
Yeah the racial boons could be an interesting touch. I was thinking of similar things a while ago about biome and racial boons and bane. Something like a homefield advantage vs visitor disadvantage. But this just lead me into thinking about racial augments essentially haha
I think home field advantage would be good since AOC against my personal wishes is letting most races start wherever they want. We need a reason for dwarves to live in the nodes in the snowy mountains. A reason for the desert acclimated humans to call the desert home and the Nikua to develop nodes in wetlands.
Small debuffs that dont make a huge difference to other races but something to say "this is X races territory these are the climates they are use to and where their nodes have a distinct advantage"
Well there is speculation and open ended mentions of dominant races and node progression for available racial augments which could potentially be linked to biomes as well. They're not just for architecture. So the racial quest lines could differ depending on biome quite significantly.
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Racial_augments
Can't have a light without a shadow. Contrast is a desired feature for AoC. It is a dimension the devs may or may not have spent much time with. The darker the night, the brighter the light you will need to guide you. The brighter the day, the darker the shadow will seem from the cloud that is passing over you.
Vera has two moons, this could provide extra moon light. That means the shadows at night should seem that much darker by contrast.
It was absolutely dope though, when i played "modded (PC) Skyrim" with Mods,
that actually FORCED me at times, to use all the Spells and Items to shoot Lightscources into the Darkness.
When You get forced to "use" actually a Spell that casts a glowing Mana-Lightball on the nearest Walls,
or to use a Staff that did the same - just as a magic Item with limited Uses how often you could do that,
plus the third Spell which did send a small Light around yourself.
It was awesome. It was cool.
And at Night, you needed in the free Open World to keep being on Roads to see Lanterns and so on - when the Moonlight wasn't there to illuminate the Night for You.
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)
It’s a game. So folks are going to game the game. This doesn’t sound like cheating, but poor testing and/or failure to adjust accordingly.
I’m a fan of dark nights, but not pitch nights. If you light a torch to see better, I want it to be a risk as it gives your position away to other players (and mobs) to come get you.
This would also need to be tested and adjusted for gamma settings.
I agree about the torch thing that's the whole point of it lighting and giving away position assuming the abilities don't give you away first with all that flare.
But from a competitive perspective, being able to adjust the games visuals to such a visual advantage outside of the norm is ridiculous to me. The "it's a game" is one of the worst excuses players have been groomed to believe. Sure, demographics and player issues can vary but that doesn't mean the game has to be victim of it. Next people will tell me it's ok for developers to half ass their games optimisation because raytracing and frame generation will pick up their slack at the expense of players performance and wallet.
Gamer's have gotten so weird with things being "unplayable" due to lack of personalisation of the UI etc. I never heard those excuses when I was younger.
Yes if name tags are turned on in the options menu they could turn name tags into a cosmetic item and add textures and dimensions to them. Give the nametag some lore, non-magic users would have to ask a mage to craft one for them and they could give it buoyancy and the right amount of gravity for adherence. This would all have to be done before you reach level 25 of course. You can't choose your class without a name picked out for your character.
I'm happy to share that after hearing all of the feedback regarding the darkness of night, we made some changes! You can see those reflected in the gameplay section of the livestream which released today!
Edgelords rejoice! \o/
This is also fantastic news!! I am a huge fan of a realistic day/night cycle that encourages players to adapt, I think most players will enjoy this aspect as a breath of fresh air in this type of mmorpg. I would also like to see maybe little flavor things added (ive mentioned before) like racial traits for tulnar and dunir that allow them to see in the dark better then other races, this way players who for whatever reason want brighter nights can choose one of these races with a passive that can be toggled on and off.
the changes are good some feedback however on the changes is that towns need a bit more lighting dotted around the place just to lighten up the area a bit for nodes but other than that it looks good
I kindly disagree, I thought they did an impeccable job with the night shadows in town and in the forest.
edit: not sure if I understood your point, my apologies.
I think towns and cities with npc guards should definitely have a night watch (maybe something the mayor can invest in) that wield a sword and torch and patrol the perimeter and within the city. So places in darker areas can have the option for the mayor to invest taxes into hiring a nightwatch
I'm not particularly happy with this change, I will have people doing this in A2 and sending in feedback to prove the point, but basically, by making the scenes darker and more "spooky" Intrepid introduced a mandatory "meta" for a open-world PvP game to play with high gama or use monitor filters/settings at night,
There are spots where you can not be seen by other players because its too dark now, this gives you a huge disadvantage, and just like in ARK and other similar games with open-world PvP, competitive players will have to play with shitty settings that makes your game washed out, to be able to see people in the dark now,
It doesn't look to be THAT big of a deal. Yes there are some shady areas where something may get the jump on you if you aren't paying attention but the night still isn't that dark. It's like full moon level dark where you can still see but you can also still tell it's night time. I find it hard to commit to rpgs that don't have an appropriate night and day cycle. Night time isn't suppose to be daytime but -1 brightness and throw some stars in the sky.
I don't see their current system impacting pvp in any way shape or form that isn't overthinking. But what are we to do except overthink things right now I guess? If someone takes this small matter that seriously is why I recommended some races have night vision. So they can have a solution to this personal issue.
You're looking at it purely from a PvP perspective. Allow me to shed some light on the more co-operative side of things, get it shed some light.
You know what kind of people turn their brightness up in their TV or monitor when playing Call of Duty on a dark level instead of using night vision? The losers.