Sunday 11/17/2024 Post

 For the first time in 85 years the Green Bay Packers have won a game by blocking a potential game winning field goal.  Of course it happens to be against the Bears because why not.  I almost feel bad for the Bears fans.

 

Pirating Ashes of Creation

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.

Monday Screenshots: I really like my chair

 I really, really like my chair throne in Throne and Liberty.  I show it off whenever I get the chance and these screenshots show that!

Sitting on my throne

Sitting in my throne waiting for a world boss to spawn

Sitting on my throne in a co-cop dungeon

Sitting on my throne waiting on another world boss spawn

Sitting on my throne getting ready to take on Talus

Sitting on my throne getting ready for Adentus (aka the dentist) fight to start

Well that sucks

 

 There is a long gone Heartlessgamer that would have been happier with today's results, but reality and old(er) age wizened him up.  Unfortunately that means today sucks.  This one is going to hurt for a while.  There is a non zero chance we never come back from this.

 The worst part is the truth that has been staring us in the face: this is America.  This is who we are.  It's time to grapple with that reality and the consequences of it.

October 2024 In Review

 October 2024 is in the books!

The Blog

 Blogger provided number (last 30 days graph so a bit off a full month): 19,800

 Note: this is missing the first few days of October where there was a spike in traffic visiting my Hurricane Helene posts.  You can see it falling off on the left side.

 

 In other metrics:

• Posts:
  
• Target: 0
  
• Posted: 24
  
• Difference: +24!  With the hurricane havoc every post was a win!
  
•  Search Trends
• "new world roadmap 2024" remains the top result that drops folks onto the blog
  
• "best battlefield game", "best battlefield", "best battlefield games" continue to drive traffic as well to Best Battlefield!?

What I Played

 October started with no gaming due to the hurricane causing power and internet outages, but towards the middle of the month I was able to get going with Throne and Liberty and that has consumed most of my gaming time.  I have two level 50 characters now and am working to max out my main's gear.

 I did spend a little bit of time in New World as well.

Years Ago

1 Year Ago

 Last year in October 2023 we got a chance to play The Finals beta and I ended up really enjoying it.  It didn't hold me long term but my oldest son is addicted and plays every day.  He is pretty good at it too.  Every once and a while I hop back on to play with him.

 We also got the "mind blowing" Star Citizen video.  A year later I am not sure anyone can say the game is any closer to what that video promises.

 Oh and New World's expansion, Rise of the Angry Earth, launched.  It brought mounts, level 65, level 700 GS, and a bunch of changes to the game.  It was light on content and staying power, but feature wise it was great.

5 Years Ago

  Oct 2019 was in the 'not a lot of blogging' era and nothing comes to mind.

10 Years Ago

 In October of 2014 I was getting a chance to play Archage for the first time.  I honestly couldn't remember the game all that well so it was good to re-read my initial impressions post.  My... uhhh... younger self does come through in the post.

15 Years Ago

 Setting a milestone and trend that continues to this day in October of 2009 World of Warcraft launched cross-realm (aka cross-server) dungeons and thus ended the idea that you were limited to the server you joined in an MMORPG.

 For fantasy readers: we received the first Wheel of Time book co-authored by Brandon Sanderson.

 We also got the Left 4 Dead 2 trailer; one of my favorite game trailers of all time!

 20 19 Years Ago

 Technically I have 20 named years on my sidebar, but mathematically 2005 is only 19 years ago.

 In Oct of 2005 we had hints that Diablo 3 may become an MMORPG.  Oh how wrong we were!

 We all celebrated Raph Koster starting his blog in 2005!  And he is still at it today which is pretty cool as I've gotten the chance to catch up with him over Discord as he works on his new project, Stars Reach!

 Oh and I got banned from the World of Warcraft forums for posting a picture of a magazine article.  A magazine I physically had in my hands.  Ironically this ban stands to this day!

Monday Screenshots: Throne and Liberty Halloween

 Some screenshots from the Halloween Event in Throne and Liberty.  I think the team did a really good job on the visuals here!

Lots of pumpkins!

Halloween dungeon; get in the flying pumpkin!

Don't forget to block or enjoy your flight into the abyss!

Pumpkin boss mechanic; get in the pumpkin to avoid the wipe!

F this pumpkin.  If you know; you know.

Amazing decorations at Purelight Tower!

Obligatory armor skin: the pumpkin helmet

I'm on the "Crazy Taxi" side

 I don’t usually dive into politics on this blog, but every now and then, something just grabs my attention. If you looked back far enough, you'd probably see that I’ve drifted between the right and left over the years. Since around 2016, though, I’ve found myself firmly on one side—and it happens to be the one where a VP candidate is unafraid to show off his Crazy Taxi skills. Plus a Mountain Dew!  Now that’s a candidate I can get behind!  Kamala is pretty cool too.

Throne and Liberty 1.5.0 Patch Incoming

 The next Throne and Liberty global patch 1.5.0 is rolling off the assembly line tomorrow (10/31).  I spoke into my AI box and told it what I was interested in and it spat out this summary for me:

Throne and Liberty Update 1.5.0 Highlights

Throne and Liberty’s Update 1.5.0 lands October 31, packed with new content and impactful tweaks:

New Battle Pass & Shop Gear

The Phantom Tracker’s Star Battle Pass launches October 31, bringing exclusive emotes, a spooky Amitoi, and new outfits. The Lucent shop refresh also offers themed cosmetics for a festive look.

Big Gameplay Enhancements

• Field Boss Rewards: Boss portals now scale better with player count, offering more spread and better odds for rewards, including new Epic reward chests for selecting your preferred Epic loot.
• Combat Adjustments: Faster crowd control immunity buildup makes getting CC’d less punishing in group fights.
• Dungeon Fixes: Bugs in Death’s Abyss are squashed, and Adventure Codex objectives now award more XP.

UI & Quality-of-Life Tweaks

Extra chat tabs, visible health bar shielding, and a better Guild Points tracker make it easier to stay connected and organized.

Bug Fixes Galore

This update smooths over crafting issues, character movement, and controller function—setting players up for a smoother, more polished adventure.

... and honestly the AI (ChatGPT) did really well here with what I gave it as my interest areas.  Specifically I told it my favorite dungeon was Death's Abyss and it picked out a change specific to it.  I also mentioned I was interested in epic loot which it used well.  I also said to make sure to let me know if there was a new battlepass (which I knew already but wanted to see if the AI would interpret correctly).  I also asked if there were any changes to CC / crowd control and it picked them right up!

 I am sure there is more I could get out of reading the actual full patch notes but time is limited here and I'd rather play around with my "read the patch notes for me" AI than read actual notes myself :)

Why doesn't Throne and Liberty use a blind auction house?

 RMT (real money trading) is rearing its ugly head in Throne and Liberty, but the developers are pushing back by penalizing players caught engaging in these transactions. When players are caught buying Lucent (the premium currency) from RMT sellers, they’re hit with negative balances in game, which the community seems to find amusingly effective. But it raises a question: Why is the game in this situation when there are better ways to design the systems to minimize RMT?

A screenshot from Throne and Liberty showing a negative Lucent balance due to a player being punished for buying Lucent off third party sellers.

 Taking a step back first: it's surprising that RMT is this prevalent, especially since there’s no direct player-to-player trading in the game. Player A can't buy items directly from Player B. Instead, all exchanges happen through the auction house, which is restricted to premium currency and a limited selection of items. Even calling it an "auction" system is a stretch, as there’s no bidding—everything is listed at fixed "buy it now" prices, and listings are anonymous, so players can’t see who’s selling what.

 This setup makes RMT transactions fairly obvious. For example, if someone buys an item for 10,000 Lucent that typically sells for 10, it's likely RMT-related. While it’s possible players are simply transferring Lucent this way without any real money trading hands it doesn't seem in the "spirit" of the game for players to move Lucent around like this.

 Given the lack of player-to-player trading and the limitations on which items can be traded, it seems like Throne and Liberty could benefit from a blind bidding system. In this setup, sellers wouldn’t see listing prices but only the most recent bid or purchase prices. When a player bids on an item, they’d either get a match or be informed their bid is too low. This would eliminate the obvious RMT loophole as players can no longer pick which seller they are buying from.

 Blind bidding has worked really well in other games such as Final Fantasy 11 and seems like the obvious design choice in Throne.  This blurb from the wiki I linked sums it up best:

In the auction houses of FINAL FANTASY XI, sellers designate an asking price when they put items up for bid. The first bidder to offer a price higher than the asking price gets to purchase the item.

 I can't even think of a legitimate reason that any player ever needs to buy something in Throne's auction house at a higher price than the current lowest price which means it is perfect for blind bidding.

 While Throne and Liberty’s current auction system limits direct player trading, it inadvertently leaves space for RMT to thrive, impacting the game's economy and balance. The blind bidding system would minimize opportunities for suspicious transactions that are likely RMT. As the developers continue to combat these issues with the negative account balances, it’ll be interesting to see if they consider more structural changes to the marketplace.

Note: this post was edited with the help of AI/ChatGPT. The thoughts are my own.  The grammatical correctness is the AI.

Monday Screenshots: Daily and Weekly Checklist for Throne and Liberty

 I’ve described Throne and Liberty as a “chore” to play, but I keep logging in because my friends are there, and I do find some moments of enjoyment. Since I’m sticking with it, I decided to get organized and establish a daily and weekly routine. Part of that involves visiting specific vendors to buy time-gated items they offer. I came across a helpful image on Reddit that breaks this down, and I thought it’d be useful to share. 

Note: The only item I don’t fully agree with is the Rare Parchment. You can earn 33 of these by completing a single contract, so I don’t see much value in spending contract coins on them. Contract coins are hard to come by, so I’d rather save them for other items. However, if there’s nothing else you need from the contract coin vendor, the Rare Parchments could be worth picking up.

Your Throne and Liberty daily and weekly shopping list; see notes above about Rare Parchment!