Resources

Gatherable mushrooms found in an underground cave.

Gatherable resources (also known as raw materials and harvestables) occur in locations where you would expect them to be organically.

• Some resources will be one-time gatherables that will randomly respawn at a different location once collected.
• Other resources will exist as a cluster (also called vein gatherables). These will last until the full resource is depleted.

  Like a large mine that's present and has a vein of mithril ore in it, or a herd of some type of animal that you can collect fur or wool from. – Steven Sharif

  • There will be moving resources such as herds of animals that are constantly moving around the world.
  • Once a resource is depleted from one location it may respawn in the same location or somewhere else, depending on the type of resource.
  • Resources respawn on a cooldown basis.
• Resources won't be locked to the node system.
• Some unique resources may be monsters in disguise or have monsters defending them.

We want our players to have a reason to explore the wilderness, to travel with purpose, and much of that will be driven by our resource system. Transporting these goods might just be more difficult than gathering them. Our regional market system allows players to participate in creating pocket economies that will reinforce the stability of goods in particular regions.

We really want resources to be persistent and non-renewable. If there’s a mithril vein, that mithril vein will be there until it runs out. The server will manage these amounts on its own, and will repopulate things where and when it desires. You might find another mithril vein in that location sometime later, or somewhere nearby, or maybe never again!

Players drop resources and other items upon death, based on their applicable death penalties.

Raw materials (gatherable resources) are not to be confused with crafting materials (processed goods).

Resource types

• Crops
• Fish
• Herbs
• Livestock
• Lumber
• Mushrooms
• Ore

Resource quality

Flanggler (Flower angler or Mimic flower).

Resources will have differing tiers of quality for the same resource type. This is somewhat similar to Star Wars Galaxies.

• Gatherers who are more advanced in their artisan tree will unlock higher level harvesting tools that have a greater chance of collecting higher quality resources or proccing a greater quantity.

You will have an opportunity to proc certain qualities based on your progression in the Artisan tree. So if you are a gatherer; and as you advance in your gathering, you'll have a higher opportunity to collect better resources. – Steven Sharif

In Alpha-1 testing there are 4 tiers of gatherable resources across all gathering professions:^{[ citation needed ]}

• Tier 1 (Common)
• Tier 2 (Uncommon)
• Tier 3 (Rare)
• Tier 4 (Epic)

Artisan tools

Alpha-1 tongs "prop" used by Blacksmith NPCs.

Gathering requires the creation and use of harvesting tools that enable the gathering of resources.

• Progression in the gathering artisan class unlocks higher level harvesting tools that enable gathering of higher level resources.
  • A gatherer at maximum proficiency will unlock Master toolsets that will grant them access to the highest quality gatherables.
• Tools will have durability and tool lifespans.
  • The amount of usages of a gathering tool increases as the gatherer becomes more proficient in the gathering artisan tree.
  • Tools may become non-repairable, requiring re crafting.
• Artisans will not need to rely on other trees in order to make their tools.

Tools do advance within the artisan tree, so your ability to either gather, process or craft will require the equivalent tools necessary at that stage of crafting in order to accomplish the task at hand. So, you could not mine copper and mithril with the same tool. – Steven Sharif

Gathering tools for Mining, Herbalism, Lumberjacking, and Fishing are associated with a resource tier. For example: A tier 2 axe can gather tier 1 and 2 lumber and no higher.

Tool rarity	Resource tiers	Vendor price	Vendor location
Common	1	10g	Alpha-1 starting area
Uncommon	1 - 2	100g	Expedition (stage 1) nodes
Rare	1 - 3	500g	Encampment (stage 2) nodes
Epic	1 - 4	2000g	Village (stage 3) nodes

Processing requires blueprints for the construction of buildings that are needed to process resources.

• Crafting requires the acquisition of recipes in order to craft items.

Resource extractors

Resource extractors are potential constructions that can collect resources over time.

• Available to node citizens who own a freehold near a "resource center".
• Requires several people to construct.
• Moving resources from the extractor will likely require a caravan.

Seasonal resources

Seasons affect the crops (resources) available for planting as well as how crop rotation is managed.

Underrealm resources

Resources will be different in the Underrealm.

• This will affect Farming and Animal husbandry professions.
• Since players may only have one Freehold, they must choose their Artisan specializations accordingly if they wish to place it in the Underrealm.

Resource locations

Verra will not be randomly generated, but the starting resource points may be different on each server.

Alpha-1 mine shaft.

Players will be able to move resources and set up shop in other areas to take advantage of the varied markets. With resources spawning dynamically, certain regions will naturally become important trading hubs for the transportation of goods throughout the world.

Loot tables

Alpha-1 dungeon concept by Michael Bacon.

Monsters drop hunting certificates, Items and crafting materials rather than gold.

• Hunting certificates is a term that covers items, such as Pelts that house the value of a mob's death. These certificates are specific to an economic region.

A wolf is not going to be carrying a sack of gold. It may instead drop "pelts" that can be traded for gold.

• Hunting certificates will also drop on a character's death.
• Hunting certificates can be traded with hunter NPCs within nodes.
  • The level of the node and the distance of the node from the drop will determine the value of the certificate. Certificates redeemed from distant economic regions via the caravan system will provide higher returns (4 to 5 times greater in some cases) than certificates collected from the same region.
  • The value of the certificates are also calculated (by the world manager algorithm) based on the volume of certificates being redeemed in each region.
• Hunting certificates can also be stored within node warehouses.

Loot tables of world bosses or dungeon bosses have a small RNG chance of dropping gear (completed items).

• There is a much higher chance that materials and unique recipes are dropped that can be used to craft items of equitable value.
• There is a small RNG chance of looting rare and legendary items or crafting materials from mobs based on the level, status and type of mob. This also applies to harvesting resources with a gathering profession.
• Legendary equipment is only dropped by Legendary world bosses.
• Stats on dropped items will vary based on the rarity of the item.

Loot tables are disabled for player controlled monsters.

Experience debt decreases the drop rate percentages from monsters.

Players drop hunting certificates and other items upon death, based on their applicable death penalties.

World manager

The World manager is an algorithm in Ashes of Creation that controls dynamic world elements. It acts as both a throttle and an incentive system for various activities to ensure certain parameters are within acceptable thresholds.

• Prices of hunting certificates.
• A heatmap of experience being gained to apply to node advancement.
  • The territory expansion algorithm takes into account the nearest coast, neighboring nodes, and the heatmap of players in surrounding areas over the last weeks or month.
  • Due to the way the progression algorithm calculates territorial (ZOI) expansion during node advancement, there is a small possibility that two nodes of the same stage end up being close to each other.
• Transit of resources and goods between regions to drive quest rewards for nodes.

For example if you know iron is being used as a raw resource for a specific crafting path that might drive up the price of mithril or silver; and that will incentivize the market to course correct a little bit. The idea is to provide soft incentives that help to alleviate the demand and also to prop up the supply that might not be present from the economic systems. – Steven Sharif

Timeline

Artisan classes (Gathering, Processing, Crafting) will come online fully in Alpha-2 and the Betas.

In Alpha One the core basics of what crafting represents as a gameplay loop that is represented. So that means that there are gatherables out there. You will have to have tools in order to service those gatherables. There will be processing that's necessary; and then there's crafting stations that are available and can be constructed by the players. This is in Alpha One. You have to collect the recipes, you have to collect the materials, and you have to refine the materials; and then you have to create the reagents and then use those to kind of create the final crafting component of that you're trying to create. So that in and of itself is present, but it is a very very small piece of really what will be the larger crafting puzzle for Alpha 2 and betas. – Steven Sharif

• Approximately 10 percent of the artisan system will be online in Alpha-1. The core basics of the artisan gameplay loop will be facilitated via the merchant (NPC) system.
  • Gatherables and gathering tools.
  • Some processing/refining of materials.
  • Recipes will be able to be collected.
  • Crafting stations will be available and can be constructed by players.

Crafting honestly will not come online in any sense of its true form until Alpha-2. Alpha-1 has essentially what are intended to be the core gameplay loop of crafting, meaning the collection of materials, the translation of those materials into processed goods, and the use of those processed goods into item acquisition. That's the core gameplay loop that is currently present in Alpha-1. But those are mostly facilitated kind of piggy backing the merchant systems right now and not actually using the real crafting system; and that's because crafting hasn't been completed in a form that can be implemented in Alpha-1, but will be for Alpha-2. What's present in Alpha-1 doesn't even really scratch the surface for crafting. – Steven Sharif

See also

• Gathering
• Processing
• Materials
• Artisan classes