Kickstarter

The Ashes of Creation Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign launched with a $750,000 funding goal on May 2, 2017.

• Campaign concluded on June 3, 2017 with 19,576 backers, raising $3,271,809.

This project is primarily self funded, and we’re dedicated to staying true to our vision and not being compromised. The core product can be delivered with our current capital and the crowdfunding goal. Going forward, we are dedicated to keeping our vision consistent with our philosophies and adding features whenever possible.

Ashes of Creation Kickstarter packages.

Kickstarter packages:

Badge	Package
	Explorer
	Settler
	Pioneer
	Founder
	Warrior of old
	Braver of worlds
	Leader of men
	Royalty
	Hero of the people
	Avatar of the phoenix

Crowdfunding package upgrades

Upgrades to Kickstarter and Summer crowdfunding packs are available in the store for the difference in package price.

Stretch goals

Ashes of Creation Kickstarter goals.

Parlor games

Parlor games are games that are played in player-built taverns or in-node taverns.. Some will be dice games, others will be card games; and some will be less savory.

The idea behind the tavern games is to create another social interface. This is where players that are loving the RP aspect of MMORPGS- they want to walk into a tavern and meet new people and play games. – Steven Sharif

• These games will involve aspects of both chance and skill.
• They must be played between 2 or more people.
• Players will be able to wager in-game currency against other players.
  • The developers are considering a secondary currency for tavern games that would enable purchase of cosmetic items through a secondary currency market.
  • There may be a ladder system that contributes to gaining this currency based on placement on the ladder.
  • The alternative is to use the regular currency (gold).
• A portion of the income from the game goes to the tavern owner or node.
• Parlor games will vary based on the predominant race of a node.
• There may be unique games that can be acquired through adventuring in the world.

Parlor games were a Kickstarter stretch goal.

Cute small pets

Doggit and Peacat pets. Winners of the Kickstarter Cute small pets stretch goal vote.

Cute small pets were a Kickstarter stretch goal.

Group mounts

Multi-passenger group mounts were unlocked during the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.

• These mounts will be elephant sized or larger.
• Group mounts will be rarer and more difficult to obtain than regular mounts.
• There will be a limit on the number of passengers (for each type of group mount).
• Specific weapons systems may exist on different riding points on group mounts.

The group mount is gonna be a very difficult mount to achieve, but once achieved it's gonna be very fun and and pivotal in gameplay. So the idea there is to have them grand. – Steven Sharif

Backer only weapon skins

Kickstarter backers will receive a unique weapon skin.

• Usable on all types of weapons.
• Include subtle and tasteful glow/particle effects.

Enhanced naval combat

Alpha-1 naval concept art.

Snapchat Sneakpeak, 9 November 2017.

Naval content refers to content above and below the sea.

• Aquatic mounts.
• Coastal nodes.
• Fortresses.
• Harbors.
• Island chains.
• Naval caravans.
• Naval NPCs.
• PvP objectives.
• Quests.
• Raids.
• Ships.
• Trade routes.
• Treasure hunting.
• Underwater dungeons.

Naval content was unlocked as part of the $1,500,000 Kickstarter stretch goal.

There will not initially be naval content (such as a Dark Lake) in the Underrealm, but this may be something that gets added in future expansions.

There won't be class abilities that are specific to naval content, but some utility skills (such as underwater breathing) may be of some benefit.

Backer only armor skin

All Kickstarter backers receive a unique armor skin set.

The Underrealm

Alpha-0 Underrealm environment.

One of the aspects of the Lore behind the Tulnar was that in the pantheon of gods that exist- having foretold the future through the Goddess of Fate to the Goddess of Creation- these areas in the Underrealm were created in to allow for refuge for which the gods knew would be left behind that couldn't make it to Sanctus. So that was a pre-thought there in the creation of the Underrealm to facilitate that realm where refugees could seek. – Steven Sharif

Alpha-0 Underrealm Sharptooth cat mob concept art.

We plan to have the Underrealm really pervasive throughout the game itself, a part of the open world. It will introduce some unique elements such as the type of monsters you see, the type of crops you can grow and houses you can have. – Steven Sharif

The Underrealm is a rich environment where bio-luminescence abounds in the fauna and flora that exist here. These deep caverns and underground valleys provide new destinations for civilization to develop. Bringing the node system into the depths of the world may awaken darker creatures than the surface.

• The Underrealm is estimated to be 100 km² in area.
  • The underrealm is not contiguous across the entire map. There will be areas that are obstructed by chasms or other features.
  • The location of Underrealm entrances throughout the world is focused around natural geographic choke-points that exist above ground. This provides alternate subterranean routes that can be used by caravans, raids, and other player activities.
  • Not all entrances to the Underrealm will be open at the same time. This can shift dynamically (based on node states) that cause different routes to open up, which may be more or less advantageous than other routes.

The expansiveness of the Underrealm itself is quite large. It does persist across across a lot of the playable game area that's above ground. So there are alternatives in the Underrealm for passages and traversal throughout the world. – Steven Sharif

We've also talked about node states affecting what openings are open and what things are closed. So not all entrances to the Underrealm will be open at the same time. So that configuration can shift and different routes will open up and be more advantageous than other routes. – Jeffrey Bard

Backer only aquatic mount

Tidesnapper aquatic mount 3D render.

Tidesnapper early Alpha-1 water animations.

Tidesnapper aquatic mount concept art.

Tidesnapper is an aquatic mount that has the ability to glide through the water.

• Tidesnapper was a Kickstarter reward for passing 9,500 backers goal.

Social organizations

Trader's company screenshot.

Social organizations are ways for players to interact with the world around them in a different manner. They are about creating micro communities within the game.

• Social organizations start to patronize Nodes once they advance to Town (stage 4).

The whole idea of these societies is that they are a mechanism for progression that do not have to rely on your level progression. These are different progression paths that players can participate in. If you don't want to leave a node in your gameplay experience and you want to find as much as you can do within that city, these offer those things. Now, some quests might take you outside of the city to you know hunt and pursue things, but you could also perfectly be a person that is a merchant and purchases them from other travelers instead of having to go do it yourself. We want to offer players a diverse method of progression; and these systems house those benefits. – Steven Sharif

• Social organizations function a little bit like factions, but without flagging mechanics.

Sometimes two organization's goals might not align with each other and there'll be conflict there, but it's not going to be like everybody in the Traders Guild is at war with everybody in the Thieves Guild. – Jeffrey Bard

• Social organizations are run by NPCs, however there will be ranks that certain members can attain that will grant some influence over the organization.

Backer only dye set

Dyes are one-time use items that apply a cosmetic color change across all dyeable items that are equipped on a player's character (paper-doll).

• Two dye channels are provided per character that together influence up to 50% of the gear that is equipped by that character.
  • The first dye channel is for lower grade dyes that influence 10 to 20% of armor appearance on that character.
  • The second dye channel is for higher tier dyes that influence up to 30% of armor appearance on that character.
• The original design allowed individual items to be dyed with different dyes.

One of the things that we want to do- again talking about player agency- is we want to give them the ability to kind of change the appearance of their armor sets that they're wearing; and the way we've approached the dye solution is through a channeled system. We have a two channel dye system where the first channel is a lower grade dye that it has influence over between 10 to 20 percent of your overall armor appearance; and then the second channel dye is a higher tier dye that you have to acquire; and by doing so you can influence the remaining thirty percent- up to thirty percent of that armor appearance: So up to a total of fifty percent influence that can occur across all the pieces that you wear. Now one unique approach to the way we're doing this dye system is we're not allowing individual dyes to be applied on individual items, but instead we keep a cohesion across the set by applying that dye channel to your character; and when you equip a piece with your overall character it will assume that dye channel from your paper doll. So you apply the dyes to your character and when you equip a piece of item it will take that dye and it will influence the channel over that particular piece so that it comes into alignment. And what the reason that we're doing that is there's a lot of options with regards to customization for your character appearance, whether it be through transmog, through costumes, through mixing and matching sets and pieces that you can wear; and what we want to avoid is the rainbow effect where these pieces do not look good together and it creates the clown that's walking down the street.

The Kickstarter dyes are sets of unique colors that are not obtainable by players who did not participate in Crowdfunding. These dyes are not usable as normal dyes are. Instead they are used to override the color of another dye obtained in game.

• They are assigned to a character from a user's account management page.
• They do not expire, so they may be used to continually override dye colors.
• Once a dye has been overridden it becomes a bound dye to that character, so the colors cannot be sold for in-game benefit.
• When an item is sold or transferred, color changes are reverted.

New Underrealm race

Underrealm concept art.

The Tulnar society has more of a caste like system, where based on what physical features you show, based on where your ancestry and lineage lie between the races that came together to make the Tulnar, kind of determines your order in that caste system to a degree. So when players get to create their characters and determine whether they are going to have heavy influences of reptilian, mammalian, humanoid; that's going to kind of determine their reception from NPCs as well when they interact with those Tulnar PCs. – Steven Sharif

Tulnar (pronounced Tull-nar) is a playable race in Ashes of Creation. The Tulnar fled to the Underrealm to escape the Corruption that befell Verra.

• The Tulnar is a combination of four major races and many minor races that were left behind on Verra after the apocalypse.

They're a culmination of the leftover races, not just the leftover major race populations, but the leftover minor races as well; and that's what gives them their attributes that are bestial, or reptilian, humanoid; and that players can use sliders to influence the visual representation of. But in a similar fashion, their cultural markers are also going to be a culmination of different influences, so they're very differently constructed culture than what is found in the other eight races. – Steven Sharif

• Tulnar stands for "the forgotten".
• Tulnar are not restricted to the Underrealm (there are no factions).
• Tulnar eat many things!
• The Tulnar religion is a combination of religious beliefs of the major races as well as pagan beliefs of the minor races that evolved over time as they coexisted together in the Underrealm.
• Tulnar are not a result of corruption.
• The Tulnar have souls and these souls act as conduits for The Essence.
• The Tulnar do not have avian characteristics. The sentient avian races (such as the Sladeborne) did not take refuge in the Underrealm.

Were the Tulnar a result of corruption in their creation, or was it purely a kind of you know crossbreeding between the multiple minor and major races that existed in the Underrealm during the after the apocalypse? They are not a result of corruption. So there is no corruption that was that was taken into account during their creation. – Steven Sharif

The Tulnar race will be in place before Alpha-2. Concepts and early works are expected at that time.

Backer only mount barding

Mount barding cosmetic reward for backing at the Leader of Men level.

Mount barding (also referred to as Saddles) is armor for mounts in Ashes of Creation. Mount barding is similar in concept to player armor.

• The higher the level of barding, the better looking it will be.
• Barding will have multiple components that can be equipped. Each component will increase the stats of the mount, such as hit points and speed.
• Barding cosmetics can only be applied to mounts with barding cosmetic slots.
• Cosmetic skins may only be applied to barding/saddle items that are earned in-game.
  • Barding skins' appearance may differ depending on the type of mount.

Backer only skill FX

All Kickstarter backers will receive a skill effects (FX) set.

• Includes unique colors and additional effects for certain skills. For example: A mage with her fireball skill may fire off a ball of searing white flames as opposed to the traditional colors of that skill.

Stock exchange

As nodes develop, player governments may open a Stock exchange (also called Stock markets and Sharemarkets) where players can buy and sell shares in Nodes, Guilds and Social organizations.

• The value of stocks is influenced by world events and the performance of nodes, Social organizations or guilds.
  • Hard metrics, such as quest lines, nearby resources, citizen progression, and purchases of local real estate, will determine the value of purchasable shares.

• Sieges will halt trading of shares in a node. This opens up potential for economic sabotage.

• There is no regulatory commission to restrict the purchase and sale of stocks.

Crowdfunding guild rewards

Guild themed character cloaks were cosmetic rewards for backing at the Leader of Men level or higher in the Kickstarter and Summer crowdfunding campaigns.

Kickstarter/Summer crowdfunding guild rewards are assigned to a guild by the owner of the reward.

• Once assigned, the reward becomes an asset of that guild.
• Guild members that leave the guild no longer have access to the unique items of that guild.

Crowdfunding mounts

Runic steed mount concept art by Jeff Delierre.

Kickstarter/Summer crowdfunding mount rewards are obtained and utilized by applicable backers in the following way:

1. Basic mounts are obtained through an early quest that is available to all players in starting areas.
2. Players assign cosmetic skins to a character on their account from the account management page.
3. The skin can then be applied to change the appearance of the mount that was earned in game.
   • This does not remove the skin itself. It can be applied again to any other applicable mount in the future.
   • Players may remove the skin from a character and assign it to another character on their account.
   • Skins can only ever be active on one character and one mount.

The Dawnbreaker mount skin is used in a similar fashion as described, but is only applicable to a certain class of mounts. Aquatic mount skins, like the Tidesnapper, are also used in a similar fashion, but are only applicable to the aquatic class of mounts.

Kickstarter media

• 2017-04-30 Video - Kickstarter
• 2017-05-03 Livestream
• 2017-05-05 Livestream
• 2017-05-08 Livestream
• 2017-05-10 Livestream
• 2017-05-12 Livestream
• 2017-05-15 Livestream
• 2017-05-17 Livestream
• 2017-05-19 Livestream
• 2017-05-22 Livestream
• 2017-05-24 Livestream
• 2017-05-26 Livestream
• 2017-05-30 Livestream

Artwork

• 

  Dawnbreaker colors

• 

  Dawnbreaker

• 

  Doggit and Peacat

• 

  Falcon hawk

• 

  Moonstrider mule

• 

  Mules

• 

  Obsidian stallion 3D render

• 

  Obsidian stallion

• 

  Phoenix

• 

  Pseudo dragon

• 

  Runic steed 3D render

• 

  Runic steed

• 

  Spectral mare

• 

  Tidesnapper

External links

• Kickstarter campaign

See also

• Summer crowdfunding
• Cosmetic store