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Some Concerns
August 2017 in Ashes Of Creation General Discussion
I'd like to preface this by saying that this game looks super interesting, and I'd love to see it do well.
That said, this is a very similar concept (to me at least) to some other games. Specifically, I'm thinking of Everquest Next, which like this was in development for a while, and looked super interesting. However, they released some preliminary modules, the gameplay ended up being entirely un-fun, and the project got cancelled after two whole years of development and a lot of people investing time and money into it. I'm not really worried about this stealing from EQN, but it does concern me that this is an "Open world game with factions and you can influence stuff and it's super cool". It's a great concept, I'm just seeing a lot of similar wording to stuff I've seen in other games that have flopped on release.
I guess what I'm wondering is this: where does this game set itself out to be different from other freeform games? Better engine that works more smoothly? Better focus on multiplayer? A more interesting potential for story lines that justifies maybe some small questionable gameplay choices? Does it follow less of a traditional MMO combat idea and follow something more unique and skill based, like For Honor (but with working servers, what a waste of a great game)?
Anyone who wanted to elaborate here, that would be great
Some info that you might find useful
Great things come from small beginnings. In games, it often starts with vision. From years of being involved in the MMO genre, playing games such as Lineage 2, World of Warcraft, and Final Fantasy 14 (among many others) there always seemed to be something lacking. Sometimes PvP was masterfully incorporated into the game, others had dungeons so fun you forgot what PvP even stood for, while a few had great new ideas that were like a breath of fresh air. The problem always seemed to come with the trade you made in order to enjoy a certain aspect. Our vision is to tie all of these elements together, to make a complete game that specializes not in one category, but rather aims for the ultimate goal of perfection. We know: that's a tall order.
So we wanted to take a step back, to check ourselves before we wrecked ourselves; to really dive into what makes MMOs so addictive, and why we kept coming back to them. The primary question is: What makes an MMO fun, at its core? Well, it's got to be the thing that makes an MMO an MMO, right? What separates an MMO from all the fantastic Mass Effects and Dragon Ages and Witchers? It's the MASSIVENESS. It's the community and the forums and the competition and the people who you'd never meet in real life. It's that Massively Multiplayer promise. It's the people that make an MMO what it is. Not a hotbar or a raid boss or a fetch quest. Those are mechanics, those aren't the genre.
And there was our answer, and there was our game. We decided to focus on mechanics that bring the idea of community to the forefront. To get people to interact with each other meaningfully – not just to conquer a raid boss, or to get some coin from a faceless auction house, but to maybe save a city. A city that all the local residents had a stake in. A city that the players had spent weeks or months developing; the defense of that city, the attack on that city! Or building a world together as a community choosing our own fate with our friends. We believe that's going to be a story far more memorable and far more meaningful to players than just about anything we can come up with.
So that's our design philosophy in a nutshell. Give players reasons to interact, and make those interactions meaningful. And make both of those things feel cool and appropriately epic.
In enters our new MMO in development, Ashes of Creation. As you've probably guessed by now, we're creating an MMO based on our core principles as designers; 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.
Ashes of Creation is a unique take on the MMO experience. Our world structure is dynamic and built to react to the actions of our players. Cities will rise and fall, their populations based on the history of the world as the players create it. Quests will unlock as these populations gather, their needs grow, and secrets are unlocked.
As the world's NPC structure is established in real time, players will have the ability to destroy what they've created, paving the way for new development, new populations, and real change. Political strife and intrigue will play a very real role in the structure of your world.
Gone are the days of static worlds, change is here to stay.
30 Awesome things in Ashes of Creation
Ashes of Creation Official Videos and Livestreams
EQNext was set for failure because of Smedley. It is easy for a development studio to walk away from something when you have SOE behind you able to eat that loss. This is a small indie studio with the founder putting up the majority of the money himself, don't think you'll see him walking away from that. There are people on the team who worked at SOE through various games, the leadership sets the tone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smedley_(video_games)
I can see where you're coming from and I agree. It's the reason why I'll never back a project via kickstarter or something similar until I was at least able to participate in alpha/beta testing. And if a game recruits its testers from the backer-pool I'll have to live with the fact that I won't participate in testing and only see the final result.
So if you're like me, hyped but still sceptic, just wait for the game to release.
This game won't have factions
The developers will not bend to those who shout for them to change their plans for Ashes. They'll listen and improve. We were drawn here because of their ideas and willingness to back their own dreams.
CylverRayne said:
What she said, in spades. A nutshell. So on and so forth.
Many of us long-time gamers remember when community was the core of everything that happened in a game, and we've been starved to see that reappear. Ashes is a game that will force that community with the very nature of its design. When you have a strong, active, thriving community, you have players invested in their own little slice of the world.
Too often today, everything is a rush. Speed runs in dungeons, zergs on the battlefields. Everything is about satisfying desires immediately, and there's nothing available, really available, for players who just want to lose themselves, "living" in the game they're playing. It's been a refrain for years: "I want to play this game to enjoy myself, not to feel like it's a job." Well? Ashes offers the opportunity to get back to that mindset, to relearn what it means to know the people you interact with, to develop relationships. It's not just about any one thing, it's myriad things that tie themselves in with myriad other things. Crafting leads to selling leads to caravans leads to PvP leads to win/loss leads to monetary advancement ... do you see the picture here?
Those of us enamored with the idea of Ashes are enamored with the idea of a game providing longevity. It's not gonna just be about "rush through the boring shit to get to endgame to power up then wait for the next xpack." It's gonna be about developing your character, you locale, your guild, your alliances.
Will there be commonalities in play with other MMORPGs? Of course! How could there not? Even just the idea of a world set in a fantasy setting automatically makes it similar to how many other games? But, if you only look for the similarities, you're going to miss the glaring and obvious differences that have intrigued us.
In short, @Possum and I were willing to depart with a small amount of our hard-won money in order to support this passion project, because we long for a game that sees and recognizes the need for more community interaction. Not just achievements in dungeons or raids or PvP -- actual, real, long-term community.
Can't beat that, imo. If that's not for you, though? Then this may not be your game.