At the end of my post covering the recent Narc-induced Ashes of Creation drama I alluded to considering paying to join the Alpha 2 testing for the game. This possibility took by brain to the same place it goes for all decision making: a pros and cons list!
Reasons NOT to pay to join Alpha 2
I've been burned by early access purchases before. Previous experiences have left me wary of spending money on games that are incomplete or fail to deliver on promises.
If the game never launches, what did I pay for? There’s always a risk the game could be delayed indefinitely or even canceled.
Paying to test a game incentivizes the developer to delay the final release. The financial support from testers could reduce the urgency to complete the game.
Early access trends are divisive. Many gamers dislike this model, and continuing to support it might perpetuate a trend some feel hurts the industry.
It’s a test, not a game. Bugs, performance issues, unfinished content, and limited features are to be expected, making it far from the polished experience of a launch-ready game.
Progress is temporary. Wipes, bugs, exploits, or other scenarios could reset any progress made during testing.
Toxic behavior is reportedly rampant. Reports of issues like mob training, ganking in towns due to no safe zones, and other toxic behaviors are happening frequently.
The cost is a significant lump sum. Spending $100+ upfront is a risk, especially if I end up disliking the state of testing due to bugs or performance issues.
Pressure to justify the expense. If I pay, I might feel obligated to play regardless of whether I’m enjoying myself, just to “get my money’s worth.”
Interest may wane. If there’s a long gap between test phases, I might lose interest.
There are better uses for the money. As my mother used to say “there are starving kids in Africa.”
Reasons TO pay to join Alpha 2
Launch periods are magical for MMORPGs. While this isn’t the full launch, it’s a formative period in the game’s life, offering a unique chance to experience its evolution firsthand.
Trusted content creators are enjoying it. Multiple creators I respect have expressed how much fun they’re having in the alpha, even after exhausting its limited content.
The cost is comparable to a subscription. If treated as a subscription, the $100+ cost could equate to less than $10 per month of access, assuming ongoing and reliable playability during the testing phase.
I’ve spent more on less promising games. Compared to other early access games I’ve supported, Ashes of Creation shows far more potential.
Financially, it’s not a concern. The cost is manageable for me and wouldn’t create any financial strain.
I want to influence the game design. I see Ashes as a game that I will play and testing would give me a better avenue to provide feedback to hopefully shape the game to my desired outcome.
It would make my opinions more informed. I’ve criticized the game a lot, and playing it would give me firsthand insight to back up or refine my perspectives.
So what comes next? To answer truthfully: I am not sure. There is an itch I want to scratch by diving in, but a more rational side saying "you don't need to test the game; be patient". Come back to the blog to see what side wins out!
If you browse my history of Ashes of Creation blog posts or read many of my comments on Reddit in the Ashes of Creation subreddit, especially around the recent Narc controversy, you will get a sense that I am critical of the game. Skeptic, even, would be a good word to describe my view of Ashes. But am I being fair in my criticism and skepticism? Probably not but I need to get some things off my chest.
In order for this to make sense you need to be up to speed on the drama created by Narc, a popular Ashes content creator on Youtube, who announced he was done with the game and can no longer recommend backing the game financially. In the video Narc makes a range of points backed up by video. Watch his video first:
Steven Sharif, who started Intrepid Studios and is spending his own money to make Ashes a reality and serves as the creative director, did not take kindly to Narc's video. First he responded publicly on Reddit and then he took to live streaming the current alpha test to disprove Narc's statements (with a specific focus around Narc's comments about the desert zone expansion). It's along stream and can be watched here:
Asmongold, a very popular and often considered toxic MMO streamer, then reacted to Narc's video. Surprisingly Asmongold stayed fairly neutral and wanted to hear more from both Narc and Steven on the topic. First watch the original react video.
Asmongold was able to then line up impromptu interviews with Narc, Steven Sharif, and Thor (Pirate Software) and get more of each side's view of the matter on the topic. Another long video to watch but as the top comment on Youtube states "If you think I’m going to lay here watching this for 3 hours and 40 mins then you would be correct.". So get watching.
Once you've watched the above, which is an investment of time for sure, you should have the context for the rest of my thoughts shared below.
First I want to point out that Ashes of Creation is a crowd funded game in a time period where there is not a great opinion of crowd funded games due to rampant fraud, scams, and failure to deliver related to crowd funded projects. Yes, Steven Sharif is making up the difference for development costs from his own pocket but the game is still at it's core a crowd funded project.
Second it is worth noting that Ashes is charging for access to test the game. Originally this was via more traditional crowd funding packages which were taken down for sale before the test was set to begin. Right after the packages were taken down and assumed you could no longer buy access to the alpha test Steven announced new test-only access was available to purchase. Charging for alpha access has been a bone of contention ever since.
I mention the crowd funding and charging for alpha testing access because it sets the stage for a powder keg in the environment. Add in a defensive, cult-like following for the game who practically worship Steven Sharif and it was inevitable something like Narc's video was going to set it off.
The stage was set. We have a crowd funded game with a feisty community and a "savior of all things MMORPGs" figure in Steven Sharif. Toss in a spark of "I am quitting because the game isn't delivering what we paid for" from Narc's video and BOOM.
My initial reaction to Narc's video was one of confirmation of my skepticism that Ashes of Creation could deliver the game that Steven has promised. Or at the very least that the game that Steven promised was even farther away than we had hoped. I wouldn't say I rushed to defend Narc's position but I did make many comments on Reddit that ended up defending his position.
I still somewhat identify with Narc's points he made in his video but after seeing Steven's response, mediated by Asmongold, I can see where Narc cherry picked footage that exaggerated the point he was making. In essence, Narc was not being fair to the progress the game has actually made. The game came up short on his expectations but through words and selective video he overstated his opinion.
I hesitate to say Narc flat out lied because at the end of the day he was ultimately sharing his opinion. No amount of Steven flying around the world and showing things off will convince Narc that his opinion was wrong. More importantly it is not hard to see that Narc had higher expectations due to the past developer updates and a lack of specificity about what was coming to the alpha test's . When you are charging for access to a test and have a history of creating "fear of missing out" around crowd funding packages then the expectation of the buyer is always going to get a bit more weight from me.
So I think Narc created a misleading video and based on his follow up comments assumed more viewers would have watched previous content to have a bigger picture of his view point. In the end though Narc had expectations based on what he saw and what he heard that were not met. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for his diehard interest in the game. His video was his way to say so and that he could not longer in his own good version of faith recommend the game.
Steven's response was one of measured response at first but veered into anger and I personally think Steven made a couple missteps when anger got the best of him but after seeing Narc's unhinged response targeting Steven (which I won't link) I will give Steven a pass. More importantly is that Steven's response increased my interest in the actual state of Ashes of Creation because if anything positive has come out of this fiasco is a much better understanding of the state of the game.
Also Steven can sell a compelling vision for the type of MMORPG I want to play. Without prompting he clarified positions such as understanding his desire for PvP systems in the game that are not in line with most of the market but a game with PvP is the type of game he is making... period. Good on him. Stick with your guns. I have skepticism on how it all comes together but now I know it's not an area of negotiation. I can get behind developers that stick to a vision.
Now how do I judge my own response? First, I admit I took the bait and fell for Narc's video hook, line, and sinker. I supported words like "lies" and used phrases like "legal action" when I should not have. In the case of the legal action comments I made I will stand by them because crowd funded games are a hot topic in the legal space with many game projects being forced into refunding backers even when they are able to release games.
My own view of Ashes is it is slow to deliver and I've been regularly unimpressed with their monthly updates so it was not hard to buy into Narc's point that the team is not delivering to previous updates that made the game seem further along than it is. It is worth noting that Narc doubled down on the assertion when questioned by Asmongold and while Steven did show some more of the desert area I would still argue it is no where near what was shown in the preview showcase two years ago. It is a valid question to ask why what is actually in the test two years later is lacking in comparison and how none of the stuff talked about two years ago is in yet (i.e. the desert dungeon).
The topic around the desert area expansion is also the only real point that Steven was able to dispute via showing the current state of the game. The other points Narc made were only refuted by "its coming later" and "game development is hard so things may change" response from Steven. Which brings us full circle to why my own view is still closer to the points made by Narc than maybe I want to admit.
There is a long ways to go for Ashes of Creation to become the game it set out to be and as a crowd funded game that is charging players to access test phases I am personally going to set a higher bar and be more skeptical in nature. As Josh Strife Hayes, another well known MMORPG content creator on YouTube, once said "If a game costs 100$ I judge it for this price.".
Yes, this means I am admitting that much of the uproar around Narc's video is more due to Ashes charging for access than it is for the development misses towards some player's expectations. A point that Asmongold hammered home when he spoke with Thor at the end of the "About Ashes of Creation" video. So to a degree that means I have not been fair to Ashes of Creation's actual progress and thus puts me in the same light as Narc.
So where do we go from here? First, I need to get back into blogging more about Ashes and my thoughts about their development updates. I told myself I wouldn't do it as I wanted to avoid my past mistakes made with being a WAR fanboy before it's ill-fated existence, but I'm too invested now and have said too many short sighted things to not broaden my body of work about Ashes. Ashes is also one of the only games doing interesting things in the MMO space so I would be remiss not to pay closer attention and provide my feedback.
Second, and probably craziest of all, this entire situation has made me consider buying into Alpha 2 access. Why? Because I did get misled in Narc's video and I would not have had I had more actual experience with the game. There is a side of me that does not want to reward crowd funded games anymore but there is another side of me that says "you are just paying a subscription to play a game". Because while it is a test, and to Steven's point "not a game to play yet", there still seems to be tons of folks like Nyce Gaming having a ton of fun testing it by playing it as a game! New World is in a dry spell. Throne and Liberty flamed out. I really don't have an MMO addiction at the moment so the itch is there. I may actually do this and that will speak louder than any number of words I've put on page here.
Note: as I wanted this post to be as pure as possible no AI was used in editing this post so I own the grammar and spelling errors!
Thor from Pirate Software recently sat down with Steven Sharif for an in-depth interview on all things Ashes of Creation. The conversation focused primarily on Alpha 2 and what testers are currently experiencing, but also ventured into the game’s future direction. I have a few thoughts of my own on this.
Watch the Interview Here:
The Node System and Factions
One of the highlights of the interview was the discussion on the node (city) system and how it’s distinct from being in a guild or a religion. Steven explained that players will be able to join different "factions"—not in the traditional MMO sense, but as groups that may cross guild boundaries. Imagine it like this: you work for a company but play on a softball team with friends from other companies, and then attend a different church. This flexibility sounds promising and could add a lot of depth to social structures in Ashes.
Spycraft and Politics
Spycraft was also a key topic, with Thor comparing it to the legendary espionage tales of EVE Online. Steven described how Ashes will offer tools for players to engage in political intrigue and espionage. While these make for great stories, my experience—including in EVE Online—is that they often sour the game for many players involved. It’s one thing to read about grand betrayals, but it’s another to be on the receiving end of them. How well this will play out remains to be seen.
The Corruption System
The corruption system came up as well. When you kill players not flagged for PvP, you accumulate corruption, which is purely punitive and comes with significant risk. Though corruption can be worked off, it’s a slow process. I have my doubts about how well this will hold up at launch, especially given the potential for abuse (e.g., hacked accounts going on a killing spree). It’ll be interesting to see how Intrepid Studios manages this.
The Asmongold Incident
The recent Asmongold drama was a topic of discussion. When Asmongold, a popular streamer, joined Alpha 2, he was repeatedly hunted down and killed. Since Ashes is a PvP-heavy game with no current new player protections, technically, he was fair game. However, Steven intervened, banning players under the justification of "griefing."
My quick take:
Asmongold received preferential treatment; most players in similar situations wouldn’t see any intervention.
Banning players simply for not adhering to one person’s definition of "griefing" is unsustainable.
Griefing lacks a "common sense" definition and is nearly impossible to manage at scale.
New player protection and reducing abuse opportunities are critical.
The good news is that Steven mentioned plans for future features to protect new players. While this may address situations like Asmongold’s, any GM intervention in PvP will inevitably require judgment calls—leading to inconsistencies and likely some drama.
Transmog Plans
Ashes will feature transmog, with indicators to help players identify what their target is actually wearing. I think this is a good compromise, though I’d prefer restrictions on armor type (e.g., no transmogging cloth to look like plate).
A Social, Group-Centric Game
Steven emphasized Ashes’ focus on social aspects, with leveling designed as a longer journey (estimated at 225 hours to max level) and grouping being the best route. There will be some solo content, but the game will primarily be group-oriented, including combat balancing.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about this. I love solo and solo-adjacent gameplay and often play at odd hours when my group isn’t online. The old-school approach of finding a group, traveling to the meeting spot, and then having the group fall apart doesn’t appeal much. While I’m willing to give it a shot, I worry about the potential frustration of waiting on group availability, which could push players toward faster-action games.
Naval Combat and Deep-Sea Fishing
Naval combat also came up. While much of this system isn’t yet in the game, Steven’s vision sounds exciting, including the addition of deep-sea fishing for larger, tougher catches. That’s definitely my kind of content—I’d be ready to sign up for a ship crew immediately!
However, the naval discussion reminded me that Ashes is still far from launch. Alpha 2 is expected to last a year and remains feature-incomplete. Given the amount of feedback and polish needed, it’s likely still a few years away.
Steven’s Role and Vision
Wrapping up, Steven described himself as the "rudder" guiding Ashes’ development. This was a fitting metaphor, emphasizing that this is very much Steven Sharif’s MMO. As we saw with the Asmongold incident, he’s not afraid to get directly involved. Some will appreciate this, while others may find it concerning, as heavy-handed involvement isn’t always sustainable.
Final Thoughts
One thing is clear: Thor is having a lot of fun in Alpha 2, and his enthusiasm is contagious. Ashes of Creation remains the only MMO on my radar, and I’m cautiously optimistic.
Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own. The grammatical correctness is the AI.
It is "old man rants at the open sky" time. Games, especially RPGs, should NOT make managing your character's inventory a game in and of itself! It is irritating and detracts from otherwise great games.
This topic came to mind after I read Nerd Girl Thoughts post on Crashlands. She describes how the game has the audacity to have an unlimited inventory:
Did I mention you can carry, well, everything? One of most annoying parts of crafting-focused games is that you never know what you’re going to need later, so you’re spending resources crafting a million chests just in case those early game resources are needed again later on. Not in Crashlands, because your inventory is infinite. If you can pick it up, you can carry it. No inventory management, no chests, no worries.
The "crafting a million chests" hits close to home for me right now playing a lot of Once Human. My house has chests... everywhere. Chests for all the logs that I keep piling up. Chests for overflowing collections of disassembled parts. Chests for that thing I may just need a week from now.
Fortunately Once Human at least lets crafting supplies be sourced from the crates without having to go and get it out of the crate (well at least most of the time; some inconsistency with some of the crafting stations that don't do this). Also Once Human lets players carry a lot of misc items for free in their backpack. Nice but still irritating with so much in the backpack.
Ashes of Creation's inventory
Even with the quality of life features Once Human has it still has "manage your inventory back at base" in it's core loop which is a common offender for my "old man rants at the open sky" trigger. It makes sense that you go out on an adventure in a game and then return home to prepare for the next adventure. But it's a game so I want to relax and enjoy my home; not micro manage inventory!
Another big offender in games is various currency tokens. Massively multiplayer games especially LOVE their currency tokens and even more than that they LOVE being inconsistent about the tokens. Some go into a currency bank and others go into inventory or sometimes it goes to some hard to find account wallet you don't even realize you have.
Once Human as a recent example for me is a poster child for inconsistency. Where did that starchrom you just picked up go? Oh it's just tracked as a number on your inventory screen. Picked up some stellar planula? That is in your backpacck. Got a blueprint fragment? That is in the blueprints screen. Oh you got the other thing called blueprint? That is in your inventory. Once Human content creators are making bank on just explaining the inventory management interfaces in this game!
If it's not obvious by now I don't like managing inventory which is why you will see me barking about games like Ashes of Creation planning a "tetris like" inventory management system or why you will see me rolling my eyes at a game like Star Citizen trying to make an entire career path in the game for "loading a ship". Just stop. Let me play the game; not an inventory UI!
Just a quick check in on games I am paying attention to and some summaries with links to more info if you are interested.
Ashes of Creation
Ashes of Creation is an upcoming open-world fantasy MMORPG with a massive 1200 km² world called Verra. It features a dynamic node system where player actions shape the development of civilizations, from humble villages to vast metropolises. The game blends PvE and PvP elements, with open-world dungeons, professions like fishing, and intense castle sieges in PvP zones like international waters.[2][4]
Light No Fire is an upcoming open-world survival fantasy game from Hello Games, set on a procedurally generated planet the size of Earth. Players can explore vast landscapes, climb any mountain, sail oceans, and fly on dragons[1][4]. Character creation allows customizing species like rabbits or wolves[1]. It features multiplayer, allowing players to build persistent communities together or go solo[1][4]. While focused on exploration and building, combat is also expected to play a role[1][4]. The intriguing title "Light No Fire" hints at the game's mysterious lore and potential dangers lurking in the shadows[4].
The Ghost MMO is an upcoming fantasy MMORPG being developed by Fantastic Pixel Castle, a new studio founded by veteran developers like Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street (World of Warcraft, League of Legends MMO). It takes place in a shattered world of floating "shards" containing different biomes and environments to explore. The game features a unique shard system - private "Blue Shards" for you and friends to play survival/base-building, and public "Red Shards" for a more traditional MMO experience. With a focus on community, heroic characters, and alt-friendly gameplay with dozens of classes, Ghost aims to modernize the MMO genre while retaining classic RPG combat and social worlds.[1][2][3][4]
The Word on the Street podcast, hosted by Scott Johnson and Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, provides monthly insights into the development of Fantastic Pixel Castle's upcoming MMO Ghost, featuring conversations with the team working on various aspects like prototyping, combat design, world-building, and technology.[1]
Combat Champions is a fast-paced, first-person shooter video game where players engage in over-the-top stunts and map-altering destruction while capturing key points and outshooting opponents in corporate arenas turned into game show settings.[1][2] Developed by C77 Entertainment, the game features explosive corporate conflicts televised by the Corporate Mediation Alliance, allowing players to drive the crowd wild with their high-stakes, high-reward performances.[1][2]
First go ahead and watch the video (or summary embedded at the bottom of the post).
First, the AMA started out on a great topic of guild management and I was happy to hear Steven talk about wanting to build a toolset for guild management in game. In theory this is a fine desire, but I worry whether the dev team knows enough of how guilds need to be managed in the game prior to it's release to really do it correctly.
This isn't a knock on the dev team and again I want to say I'm happy to hear they want to include guild management features. However, this is a "you don't know what you don't know" scenario so I hope they stay high level in the tools until after launch and they see how players actually play the game. Personally I'm a believer in letting the community solve needs for tools like this because they will get to it faster and deliver it more to the players needs and it's not at the expense of development in other areas of the game. With that said; I'm interested to see what the devs come up with for Ashes.
The next question that intrigued me from the AMA was around the open world (i.e. non-instanced) dungeons and how Steven spoke about them. He spent a lot of time talking about groups carving out their little part of the dungeon. Loot is limited so a zerg can't show up and all get a reward; only a small number of players will. That sounds promising and I hope they figure this out but I'll be surprised if they deter the zerg approach that most players tend to take.
Another good question was around node (aka player controlled areas of the world) and griefing. The answer let me down though. Steven talked about guilds/nodes initiating war against each other to settle conflicts which sounds good on paper but is a moot point the moment the griefer just logs out and logs on their other account. We need to know more about the mechanics here before I will be convinced that players won't quit a month in because they are tired of the grief.
Later in the AMA the topic of PvP TTK (time to kill) comes up and I personally feel like the question was presented poorly and then answered only somewhat. Steven gave the expected answer of "squishy DPS will be squishy" and "tanky tank will be tanky" so TTK will vary. Ideally the question could of been phrased around do they see this as a FPS style TTK where its measured in seconds or is it meant to have more drawn out battles. This is an important aspect to get right in PvP.
While the question and answer disappointed with TTK it did bring up the topic of zergs and how Ashes will combat them. I was less than impressed on the answer though. Steven's answer was "skill". Skill is what will defeat zergs. If you are better you will just smash down waves of enemy players. That is easy to say and far harder to realize.
To actually get to this answer then that means good groups will be able to make themselves so overpowered that not even the biggest zerg can wipe them out. That basically means you have to create completely broken classes and abilities or combinations of such. I just don't buy it. Zergs suck but they are part of the modern MMO experience so we need to see more on how much of what Steven talked about in the AMA doesn't just get run over by the first streamer army that shows up.
In some other answers in the AMA Steven gave me some tidbits I am worried about. He talks a lot about nodes and travel where each node is different than another and one group may run their node for X reason and another might target Y. Travel between will be manual or via caravans (i.e. slow) and each node is unlikely be self sufficient.
On paper all of these ideas make sense just like similar ideas made sense when New World launched with local trading posts and limited fast travel. The problem: it is not fun. In fact it is annoying if the only way I can do something is spending a portion of my time running from A to B. Just like New World experienced so will Ashes: players will realize the game doesn't respect their time and they are gone once the new shiny wears off on the game.
Maybe I am wrong and this will all work out. I am personally interested in seeing if they can make it work but it uncorks so many questions and possible problems. What happens when the inevitable fall off of players post release when the buzz dies down? Server merges seem like a disaster for Ashes to consider but also it sounds like it will be fairly miserable on an empty server.
Ashes can create an amazing game but if there is friction everywhere a player turns then it limits the audience to players willing to put up with the friction for some sense of meta game that the average player doesn't graps. None of what Steven is saying about the systems -- be it dungeons, guild management, nodes, slow travel, caravans, etc -- says to me this game is going to work well without coordinated groups of players. There are too many games on the market to put a bunch of friction in Ashes and expect players to stick around and I worry about risk of once one key group member leaves because of it the group dissolves and leaves as well.
Is Steven ultimately build a house of cards? That's my take so far and we need some harder hitting AMAs on how he envisions this all coming together (and not taking another 10 years to do so).
TLDW video summary
The provided transcript is from a live stream AMA (Ask Me Anything) session focused on "Ashes of Creation," a highly anticipated MMORPG. During this session, the game's creator, Steven Sharif, is joined by four prominent content creators from the game's community. They discuss various aspects of the game, including guild tools, story arcs, dungeon designs, node types, and crafting systems, among others. Here's a summary organized into sections with bullet points for clarity.
Introduction and Content Creators' Introduction
Steven Sharif introduces the AMA session and welcomes four content creators: Vladis, Jamie Chaos, Sunny (from L Forge), and Nice.
Each content creator briefly shares their excitement and the communities they represent.
Guild Tools in Ashes of Creation
Steven talks about the importance of guild tools and mentions features like offline messaging, forum connectivity, data on player performance in events, and administrative tools for guild leaders.
Story Arcs and Player Level System
The game will have story arcs catering to different player levels, with some designed for high-level content and others for a broader range of levels.
Dungeons and Player-versus-Environment (PvE) Content
Discussion on non-instanced dungeons' size and complexity to accommodate multiple groups and PvX potential.
Specific dungeons, like the Tower of Carin, designed to support multiple parties with distinct levels and challenges.
Tulnar Civilization and Lore
The Tulnar, having lived underground for a long time, have a tribal, city-state-like civilization with significant achievements in construction and development.
Customization and Diversity for Tanks and Healers
Steven addresses concerns about customization for tanks and healers, emphasizing the secondary archetype system for hybrid gameplay styles.
Mechanisms Against Node Griefing
Guild wars and node wars are mechanisms to counteract griefing through land management and resource depletion by enemy nodes.
Costs and Benefits of Active Blocking
Discusses the stamina resource associated with active block, dodge, and other universal skills, and how skill points can be allocated for enhancements.
Discoverable Dialect in Ashes of Creation
While current incantations are ad-libbed, there's interest in developing more fleshed-out dialects and languages for the game's cultures in the future.
Trial Quests for Archetypes
Steven explains that while players can switch secondary archetypes, there's no current plan for trial quests before making a selection.
Passive Skills Available to Smaller Guilds
Smaller guilds can focus on enhancing their passive skills as a strategic choice, with details on how guild structure affects passive abilities.
Intended Time to Kill in PvP
The intended time-to-kill (TTK) in PvP scenarios ranges based on player levels, gear scores, and archetypes, aiming for skillful play to overcome numbers.
Guild Freeholds in Ashes of Creation
Details on guild freeholds offering expandable plots for members and the central guild hall providing unique benefits and customization options.
Weapon Types and Dual-Wielding
A list of weapon types available at Alpha 2's launch, details on dual-wielding mechanics, and clarification on shields not having a weapon tree but being part of universal skills.
The session concludes with Steven Sharif thanking the content creators and the community for participating in the AMA, highlighting the engaging and informative discussion that took place.
I have to admit the game looks visually better with each developer update and that stands out the moment the demo starts. I am really digging the look of the town (called nodes) and it is still crazy to think most of these towns will be player placed and upgraded.
The demo shows commissions which immediately brought "quest boards" to mind of every MMO in recent memory. However, the difference that eventually pays off in the demo is that the commissions feed into more and more of what Ashes is advertising as it's main attraction: a living and dynamic world.
Think of the commission as a kick start to get players out of town and into the opportunity to unlock a chain of events that contributes to a dynamic change in the world. Players can of course just skip the opportunity as Steven does in the demo and get a train of enemies rolling around, but more exciting was to see the world change as different actions are taken.
In the video we get to see a sudden thunderstorm form as new enemies appear in an open world event. The event intertwines with other quests in the area before hinting at unlocking a larger transformational world event at the end of the video.
Plenty of MMOs have dynamic open world events, but the "revolution" Ashes hints at is that all actions are leading to changes in the world that are stickier than other games. A real "fear of missing out" model where server 1 will be different than server 2. Add in the nodes mentioned earlier and the game is starting to show the real possibility to be that revolution we've all wanted in the MMORPG genre.
This isn't to say all of it was revolutionary. There was still the same old static -- I will never move from this spot - quest givers. Enemy AI wasn't all that impressive; easily defeated by the age old tactic of running away. Combat looks noisy (too many effects) and for a few updates has shown a favor towards kiting enemies.
While I could nitpick more I won't. I am cautiously continuing to grow excited about the possibilities of this game. With only Alpha 2 planned for this year there is still along road to go here for betas and a launch, but its going to be a fun one to check out each month in the developer updates.
