Alpha island

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Map of Alpha-1 testing zone.[1][2] Image credit: Axiom: Angelcry

The Alpha One map including nodes, dungeons, quest givers, POI, teleporters, and camps will be explorable! Note that this is only a small portion of the world of Verra.[3]

Alpha-1 testing tropical zone featuring a war beast and a tribe of pigmy goblins.[4]

This is a rather large tropical area; and what we use some of the creatures for is kind of like establishing character for different parts of this tropical place. So that even though it's the same biome, it feels different when you are going from place to place based on what's there and how those things are interacting with the environment.[5] – Jeffrey Bard

Alpha-1 testing takes place in a zone to the north west of the world map.[6] This zone has many islands and a mainland area.[7]

Alpha-1 starting area

Alpha-1 alpha island starting area.[18]

There's been some significant lighting changes here in this area. There's been some work on the foliage, on the trees that are available, toned down some of the ruins, rearranged some of the tents and it's starting to look pretty good.[18] – Steven Sharif

The Alpha-1 starting area is set in the ruins of a Pyrian divine gateway to the south of alpha island.[8]

Divine gateways

Empyrean divine gateway concept art.

When you play the MMORPG you're going to be stepping through what are called these divine gateways from a planet called Sanctus and Sanctus was really a safe haven that was forethought by the Goddess of Fate and Creation as a sanctuary to provide the people of Verra who could survive the fall, the apocalypse, the exodus essentially.[19] – Steven Sharif

Divine gateways are portals located in the ruined cities of the four ancient races of Verra.[20]

Where players start, they enter this portal from another world called Sanctus. Sanctus is a place of no magic, low technology; and players are the first expeditioners that are coming through this portal into the world of Verra.[27] – Jeffrey Bard

Alpha-1 nodes

There will be 85 regular node locations at launch with 15 additional castle nodes (5 castles x 3 castle nodes each)[28][29][30] for a total of 100 nodes.[31]

We have moved from a 103 nodes to 85 nodes; and there's a few reasons for that. One, when we were doing the calculations behind how- in Alpha 2 and in the game- we want these vassal structures to exist, we had more nodes than what felt meaningful and we wanted to condense some of that those curated story arcs and hooks into the environment and realm around the areas to be more bountiful at a lesser node value: meaning bringing down the node count so that we can increase the richness of each of those nodes more than what was at 103.[31] – Steven Sharif

Node locations

info-orange.pngThis section contains information from Alpha-1 testing. It will be updated when new information is made available.

World map

Updated Ashes of Creation map.[37][38]

The new world map in all its 1,200 square kilometer glory. So you're gonna see some names here- a little bit of a reveal of some of these locations in these areas- and you're also of course seeing similar biomes that are present as well. But more importantly what you are seeing is the orientation of these continents and these islands that are facilitating specific types of inter-continental trade gameplay; and they support the relevance of these caravans moving across the land mass to locations that will now incorporate these harbor areas, which aren't identified on the map here... But the important part was providing a lot of coastal naval gameplay between these zones and trade routes between land base.[38] – Steven Sharif

The original Ashes map from my pathfinder world of Ashes made 10 years ago. Obviously some adjustments had to be made for the mmorpg. But the main two continents and their points of interest have a lot of the same.[39] – Steven Sharif

The world of Verra features an in-game viewable world map. This map is not randomly generated, and begins covered in a fog of war.[40] Players will not be able to see the world until they have explored it or gathered information about it. The world is also full of imperfect information, which will require the player to act on it for verification.[41]

For example, you may hear a rumor in a tavern that tells you the location of a cave full of weak Kobolds, but this was not accurate as the rumor was started by well-equipped bandits in order to waylay overconfident adventurers.[41]

When information is gathered, or the player has successfully explored an area, points of interest are marked on the map.[42]

  • These points of interest are determined by Node progression; and not every server will share the same map, as player decisions will vary server to server.[42]
  • The map UI will potentially incorporate player created location markers that are visible by other party members.[43]

In addition to node progression being a factor on map generation, zones in Ashes of Creation will cater to all levels.[44]

The map will have geographical choke points caused by non-traversable obstacles (such as Mountains).[45][46][47]

Even though we're an open-world that doesn't mean that from a design perspective, especially with the way our economic systems work, that we will want to create Geographic choke points.[46] – Steven Sharif

World size

1,200 km2 (square kilometers) is the expected total world size of Verra at launch, including land (480 km2) and water/ocean (750 km2), but excluding the size of the Underrealm.[38]

  • The reason given for expanding the map size was to better accommodate Naval content and to reduce the overall content density in the world.[38]
The purpose of it becoming bigger is as I said to make sure that density isn't overwhelming: that it isn't everywhere I look there is immediately something. I have no opportunity to see areas of the world that are expansive and are just kind of wanderlust adventure feeling. Everything was sitting on top of you, POIs and nodes and houses and everything. It was like an urban area everywhere. But we wanted to expand that because a large portion of the game is a sandbox element; it's coupled with a lot of curated content but it's that sandbox element.[38] – Steven Sharif
  • The shape of the continents has also changed and two new large islands have been introduced.[38]

Castle sieges in Alpha-1

Alpha-1 preview castle.[52]
Trebuchets in the Alpha-1 preview castle siege attackers headquarter camp.[53]
Alpha-1 preview castle siege gameplay.[54]

Alpha-1 castle sieges are based on Ashes of Creation Apocalypse castle sieges.[55][56]

  • Players will be able to join guilds. These guilds can register for the siege events.[53]
  • Castle siege events will be 100v100 battles that occur daily and will last for three hours.[53]
  • Attackers will start on the opposite end of the map (from the defenders).[53]
  • Attackers will be able to use trebuchets to drive to and assault the castle.[53]
    • Trebuchets have a single primary fire that does a small amount of damage to players and heavy damage to buildings.[53]
    • Trebuchets will be fully physical when they are being driven.[53]
  • When the attackers have breached the castle they will be able to channel a cast on the relic in the throne room to try to capture the castle from the defenders.[53]
  • The victors of castle sieges will receive benefits, such as cloaks, flying mounts for guild leaders and potentially also for guild officers.[53]
  • Alpha-1 castle sieges are in a separate zone that is accessible via a NPC teleporter.[57][58][59]
    Currently the siege zone is actually in the open world, but separated by mountains and off in the sea a bit. There is actually no instancing in A1, although the siege zone will only be accessible in A1 through a registration NPC teleporter.[57] – Steven Sharif
  • The opposing team is notified when these raid bosses are being attacked.[55]
  • Teams who get the last hit on these bosses will receive buffs that will help them in the siege battle.[55]

Last year, I spoke of attempting to incorporate sieges into the Alpha One experience. This has obviously been a goal of mine because it provides considerable data and a consistent event within the world that players can participate in to help stress test the deployment. Well, I am happy to say that it is appearing more and more likely by the day! Initial implementation of the Apocalypse siege code has been migrated into the Alpha One client, and we should begin internal testing next month. I will caveat this expectation with the fact that we are cutting it a bit close from an internal QA standpoint, but I have some confidence that the system will be online and capable of inclusion for the Alpha One test in the month of June. The siege component will obviously not be representative of what the siege system will be at launch, or even in Alpha Two.[56] – Steven Sharif

Alpha-1

Alpha-1 Teaser.[61]

This is a true development alpha. This is not a marketing alpha; and what that means is as you know part of the process here in developing Ashes of Creation is being open with that development so you guys can see that progress; and it is a double-edged sword. There are going to be a spectrum of people that exists who are very involved with the game's development and those who are just completely at an arm's length away in understanding the process; and they may look at alpha one- the people who don't really understand the development process or haven't been a part of it- they may look at it and they may think oh you know this is trash, looks like trash, you know whatever it's the end-product. But at the end of the day what's important for us and what yields the best possible product is for us to include as much as possible the community in that development process with no NDA so that you guys give valuable feedback; and as we go through the iterative process in further defining the game and fleshing out that content were doing so with the player in mind and their voice in our ear. That is I think one of the key distinguishing factors between our development and many developments that you guys may have seen in the past.[62] – Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 preview ancients mobs.[63]

What this experience for Alpha one is going to be- that month-long experience- it is not intended to be a content experience... It is not intended to be a game experience. It is not intended to be a fully-fledged content experience. So keep that in mind.[64] – Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 PvE combat.[65]

Alpha-1 is a testing release of the Ashes of Creation MMORPG.[66] Alpha-1 will test:

  • Character
    • Progression to level 15.[68][58]
      The composition of class skills or archetype skills has to tread a fine line between two roads: One we wanted to be representative of skills not just that would traditionally be found 1 through 15 but we're actually introducing some skills that might be found later, because we want to test those particular ideas and how the skill functions.[68] – Steven Sharif
    • Character creator (basic).[69][70][71][72]
  • Races
    • 4 playable races Kaelar, Vaelune, Dünir, Empyrean.[77][70]
      A lot of times people ask well why haven't we seen the other races and stuff? We want to establish the quality bar and process with these races first and then when we move into further content production for the other races we have have those pipelines in place and we have the processes in place and we know how to approach them.[78]

The weapon attack is an important component of the combat system, so we want to make sure that as we're doing this combat revamp that we are essentially taking into consideration player feedback and sentiment about how they want a reactive and more mobile weapon attack system.[79] – Steven Sharif

info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

Alpha-1 availability

Pre-order pack upgrades are possible for current pack holders for the difference in price.[98][99][100] Upgrades to Kickstarter and Summer crowdfunding packs are also available in the store for the difference in package price.[101]

Coastal nodes

Pre-alpha naval concept.[104]

There will be healthy amounts of sea content within the coastlines of the continents that does not fall into the "open sea" area.[105] – Steven Sharif

There will be nodes along the coast and on islands.[106]

  • These nodes will have specific water oriented influences and abilities, services, questlines, that relate to the seas.[106]
    • There is a healthy amount of sea content within the coastlines of the continents that does not fall into the open sea area.[105]
  • Coastal nodes change the spawn tables of the nearby water content and can also trigger specific events.[107]
  • Harbors in coastal nodes will have quest lines that relate to the ocean and nearby islands.[107]
  • It may be possible to siege a coastal city by sea.[108]

Island chains are part of Ashes of Creation naval content.[109][110]

Artwork

See also

References

  1. ↑ Alpha-1 screenshot.
  2. ↑ toast-a1map.png
  3. ↑ Guide to Alpha One.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (12:09).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (22:43).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (9:51).
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 alpha-1-map-size.png
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (16:05).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Interview, January 14, 2022 (3:50).
  10. ↑ steven-a1-map.png
  11. ↑ Interview, July 19, 2020 (1:21:49).
  12. ↑ Podcast, April 11, 2021 (53:01).
  13. ↑ Livestream, November 30, 2020 (25:45).
  14. ↑ steven-pi-not-alpha-island.png
  15. ↑ Livestream, January 29, 2021 (26:38).
  16. ↑ Livestream, October 16, 2017 (12:08).
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (24:51).
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (17:23).
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Livestream, November 8, 2020 (0:00:00).
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 mapportals.png
  21. ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (29:25).
  22. ↑ starting gateway.png
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Livestream, October 16, 2017 (53:58).
  24. ↑ tulnar-gateway.png
  25. ↑ underrealm-gateway.png
  26. ↑ Interview, July 20, 2020 (13:33).
  27. ↑ Interview, April 20, 2018 (5:46).
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Blog: 10 facts about castle sieges in the MMORPG.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 castle nodes.png
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Podcast, April 23, 2018 (15:14).
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:05:47).
  32. ↑ Blog - Know Your Nodes - The Basics.
  33. ↑ Interview, August 24, 2018 (3:44).
  34. ↑ Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:18:54).
  35. ↑ Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:06:42).
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (37:16).
  37. ↑ Blog - Development Update with New Map and Feature Discussions.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 38.3 38.4 38.5 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (46:52).
  39. ↑ original ashes pathfinder map.png
  40. ↑ Interview, May 22, 2017 (22:54).
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 The mighty beard!
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 MMOGames interview, January 2017
  43. ↑ Livestream, May 27, 2022 (2:33).
  44. ↑ Livestream, May 15, 2017 (30:53).
  45. ↑ Livestream, August 26, 2022 (53:26).
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:25:11).
  47. ↑ Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:19:13).
  48. ↑ Livestream, January 30, 2020 (1:18:12).
  49. ↑ world size.png
  50. ↑ waterlandsize.png
  51. ↑ Interview, August 17, 2018 (10:43).
  52. ↑ Video, May 28, 2021 (24:44).
  53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 53.2 53.3 53.4 53.5 53.6 53.7 53.8 Video, April 30, 2021 (19:25).
  54. ↑ Video, May 28, 2021 (19:04).
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 55.3 55.4 55.5 55.6 Video, April 30, 2021 (13:02).
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 56.2 56.3 56.4 Blog: Creative Director's Letter, April 14 2021
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 57.2 57.3 steven-siege-zone.png
  58. ↑ 58.00 58.01 58.02 58.03 58.04 58.05 58.06 58.07 58.08 58.09 58.10 Livestream, April 30, 2021 (41:18).
  59. ↑ Podcast, April 11, 2021 (49:40).
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:04:29).
  61. ↑ Video, July 14, 2021 (0:01).
  62. ↑ Livestream, October 30, 2020 (15:35).
  63. ↑ steven-a1-testing-leaks.png
  64. ↑ Livestream, March 26, 2021 (40:19).
  65. ↑ Livestream, March 28, 2020 (54:48).
  66. ↑ Video, April 5, 2018 (1:01:40).
  67. ↑ steven-alpha-1-map.png
  68. ↑ 68.0 68.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:13:05).
  69. ↑ steven-launcher-leak.png
  70. ↑ 70.0 70.1 70.2 70.3 70.4 70.5 70.6 70.7 70.8 70.9 Newsletter, 2018-08-7
  71. ↑ Livestream, July 26, 2019 (1:10:44).
  72. ↑ 72.0 72.1 Livestream, September 1, 2018 (1:02:99).
  73. ↑ 73.0 73.1 Interview, October 17, 2020 (53:50).
  74. ↑ 74.0 74.1 steven-ranger.png
  75. ↑ Livestream, March 28, 2020 (1:41:11).
  76. ↑ Interview, October 20, 2018 (12:38).
  77. ↑ Interview, June 13, 2021 (31:24).
  78. ↑ Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:48:14).
  79. ↑ 79.0 79.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:14:50).
  80. ↑ steven-combat-revamp-update.png
  81. ↑ Video, February 26, 2021 (6:17).
  82. ↑ 82.0 82.1 82.2 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (44:30).
  83. ↑ alpha-1-nodes.png
  84. ↑ alpha-1-zoi.png
  85. ↑ 85.0 85.1 85.2 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (43:55).
  86. ↑ Interview, August 8, 2018 (19:02).
  87. ↑ 87.0 87.1 87.2 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (42:28).
  88. ↑ 88.0 88.1 88.2 Interview, February 7, 2021 (35:30).
  89. ↑ Podcast, May 11, 2018 (59:25).
  90. ↑ Livestream, January 30, 2020 (35:12).
  91. ↑ 91.0 91.1 91.2 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (39:08).
  92. ↑ 92.0 92.1 Blog: Creative Director's Letter, October 16 2020
  93. ↑ Livestream, October 30, 2020 (20:40).
  94. ↑ Livestream, August 28, 2020 (1:29:17).
  95. ↑ steven-naval.png
  96. ↑ Livestream, June 25, 2021 (29:09).
  97. ↑ Interview, August 8, 2018 (18:55).
  98. ↑ 98.0 98.1 98.2 Livestream, April 30, 2021 (4:02).
  99. ↑ steven-alpha-1-sales.png
  100. ↑ steven-a1-upgrade.png
  101. ↑ crowdfunding-packs.png
  102. ↑ 102.0 102.1 release-dates.png
  103. ↑ 103.0 103.1 Ashes of Creation Store: May cosmetics.
  104. ↑ Livestream, August 17, 2018 (58:53).
  105. ↑ 105.0 105.1 steven-stream-clarifications-august-2022.png
  106. ↑ 106.0 106.1 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (1:01:28).
  107. ↑ 107.0 107.1 Interview, July 19, 2020 (48:05).
  108. ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (37:51).
  109. ↑ Livestream, May 17, 2017 (30:53).
  110. ↑ Kickstarter - We Just Broke $1,500,000!
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