Unique node buildings
Each node type has a unique node building associated with it that can be activated at the Village stage of node advancement. The unique building plays a central role in the progress of civilization for a server.[2]
Node types
Nodes exist all throughout the world and the location of said node will determine its type; but this type will be... seen at the first stage of development when the first stage when a node propagates real-time assets in the world; is basically these NPCs, these merchants that come into an area and they offer services and/or you know of stores or whatever the deal may be. You will see the flavor of the node from those merchants. So if it's a military node you'll see military people. If it's... an economic node you'll see merchants. If it's a scientific one you'll see scholars; and if it's a divine one you'll see priests and clerics. So players will have a very firm understanding of which node is which type in order to know how they want to progress.[3] – Steven Sharif
Nodes are assigned one of four (4) node types, each of which contain unique specializations.[4]
- Players will be able to identify the type of a node at its first stage of development (Expedition) based on its NPC population.[3]
| Node type.[4] | Specialization.[4] | NPCs.[4] |
|---|---|---|
| Divine nodes | Faith and skill/equipment augment focuses | Priests |
| Economic nodes | Trade and merchant focuses | Merchants |
| Military nodes | Combat and class training focuses | Guards |
| Scientific nodes | Artisan and construction focuses | Scholars |
Ashes of Creation allows you, the player, to decide the fate of the world around you. With each Node Type, you can change the flow of resources and goods in the world. Will you grow the largest Economic Metropolis and help guide the riches of Verra, or will you choose another path unlocking new stories filled with allies and enemies?[2]
Node types are predetermined and are the same across all servers.[4]
- A node’s type is static. It does not change based on the node’s advancement or destruction.[4]
For example, if a level 4 Scientific Node is destroyed, it will become a Level 0 Scientific Node. It will never be any other Node Type other than a Scientific Node. The location of these Types relates to the influences of the area around the Node.[4] – Margaret Krohn
Node types affect various services and systems at each level of node advancement.[4]
- Node governments
- Narrative
- NPCs
- Node buildings and amenities
Node layout and style
What has kind of been unlocked is the ability to do things more dynamically and more procedurally so that when a node spawns there is the opportunity to have different layouts and have different buildings and have different architectures; and each node starts to feel like its own place, so it's not the same node over and over again. Now we've got a node that kind of evolves and changes depending on where it's at and what the environment is and what race has procced it.[6] – Jeffrey Bard
The layout and architecture within a Node’s development area are determined by influential race. For example, a stage 3 Node with the majority of player contribution being Py’rai would have a Py’rai village with Py’rai architecture. Most NPCs would be Py’rai elves, and offer questlines within the Py’rai narrative.[4] – Margaret Krohn
Each player’s contributed experience is flagged with their character race and other identifiers. When a Node advances, the race with the highest experience contribution determines the Node’s style and culture. This style and culture change can happen at every Node Stage. For example, if a Node advances to Level 2 - Encampment Stage and 51% of all experience was earned by Ren’Kai players, the Node will be a Level 2 Ren’Kai Node. If that same Node advances to a Level 3 - Village Stage Node, but the Py’Rai contributed 62% of all the experience earned, then the Node will be a Level 3 Py’Rai Node.[8] – Margaret Krohn
Node layout and style is determined by several factors:[6][9]
- Environment and location of the node.[6][9]
- Node type.[9]
- Race that contributed most to the node's advancement.[6][9][10]
- Racial appearance of a node's buildings and NPCs.[11][10]
- This applies to all nodes, including castle nodes.[12]
- The rest is determined by the node's mayor.[9]
Some parts are determined by the area it's in. Some parts are determined by the type it is. Some parts are determined by the race it is; and then the rest of it is determined by the mayor.[9] – Jeffrey Bard
All nodes whether they're associated with a castle or associated with normal node structure has cultural influences that replicate over to the buildings that are produced and the NPCs that are present.[12] – Steven Sharif
Cultural influences bring more than just the aesthetic and storyline changes - benefits are granted to the dominant culture within that node's Zone of influence.[8]
- There is an attrition mechanic that affects experience and influence to curb a single race from dominating the entire world.[13]
There is an attrition and that attrition on experience and influence is heightened based on the performance of the race in the world. So if all these nodes are Orc nodes then their attrition rate is very high to compete with the cultural establishment of new nodes because they have more influence in the world and a popular opinion is against them in their outlying regions that they do not have influence in.[13] – Steven Sharif
See also
References
- ↑ Livestream, 1 September 2018 (36:28).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Know Your Nodes: Economic Node Type.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Livestream, 4 May 2017 (15:15).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Blog - Know Your Nodes - The Basics.
- ↑ Livestream, 26 June 2020 (45:32).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Livestream, 30 October 2020 (39:17).
- ↑ Livestream, 9 February 2018 (33:50).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Blog - Know Your Nodes - Advance and Destroy.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 Livestream, 27 September 2018 (53:06).
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Interview, 11 May 2018 (54:34).
- ↑ Livestream, 26 May 2017 (21:23).
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Interview, 11 May 2018 (47:27).
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Interview, 11 May 2018 (1:00:19).