Ashes of Creation

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Ashes of Creation.[1]

Ashes of Creation takes place within a medieval fantasy setting, blending imagination with cutting-edge graphics. We are putting the word massive back into massively multiplayer with unique and novel mechanics that will bring meaning to player action. Ashes of Creation will incorporate the best parts of traditional MMORPGs with innovative sandbox concepts. You will choose your fate at every opportunity. Questlines will open and close based on the interactions of the players with their world, because this is a world where choice is consequential. Monsters will roam and grow in ferocity as civilization disrupts the natural order of things. From the location of towns to the size of cities, you will determine the landscape of your world. It will be unique in culture, ecology, and economy.[2]

Ashes of Creation is an upcoming MMORPG set in a world of high fantasy where player’s choices will shape and define the world around them.[3]

Ashes of Creation is a unique take on the MMO experience. Our world structure is dynamic and built to react to the actions of our players. Cities will rise and fall, their populations based on the history of the world as the players create it. Quests will unlock as these populations gather, their needs grow, and secrets are unlocked. As the world’s NPC structure is established in real time, players will have the ability to destroy what they’ve created, paving the way for new development, new populations, and real change. Political strife and intrigue will play a very real role in the structure of your world. Gone are the days of static worlds, change is here to stay.[2]
  • The developers are hoping for over a million concurrent users at launch.[5]

Nodes

Alpha-2 Village node flythrough.[6]

Nodes are a pre-set location, wrapped in a zone of influence, in our world that can form into towns of different sizes. These sizes range from a small camp to a sprawling metropolis. The size of the towns depends on the contribution by players and how far they’ve advanced the Node. Players do not create the footprint of a Node, but within that footprint they do have the ability to own land. Players who are part of the government for a specific Node will have the ability to modify building types and services further, but for the most part, a Node will grow along its own specific path (think about this more as NPCs building these towns out, rather than PCs individually putting buildings and walls up). A Node’s contribution area is larger than the actual town itself, allowing for players to adventure while building upon the town. We call the contribution area the Node’s “Zone of Influence,” and it’s the area where players help to advance the Node they are in.[7]

Encompassing each server are carefully placed points of development called Nodes.[3] There will be 85 regular node locations at launch with 15 additional castle nodes (5 castles x 3 castle nodes each)[8][9][10] for a total of 100 nodes.[11]

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.[11]Steven Sharif
Nodes are the heart of the world, they create the ebb and flow of life. At their core, Nodes are pre-set points in the world, wrapped in a Zone of Influence and surrounded by geographic areas that change over time based upon player participation. The world map is divided into regions, with each region containing multiple Nodes. As a Node advances, it influences the types of content within itself and the surrounding areas. Players do not create Nodes, but if they are a part of the government for a specific Node, they have the ability to influence diplomacy, and modify building types/construction and services within that Node.[12]Margaret Krohn

Node advancement

Citizen and non-citizen player activity (questing, gathering, raiding, etc.) within a node's ZOI counts toward that particular node's advancement (progression) to a higher node stage.[20][3]

The advancement of a node unlocks its unique content, which comes at the cost of locking out an increasing ring of neighboring nodes from progressing to the next stage.[21]

  • Nodes advance to the first stage quickly. This enables NPC services such as vending or banking items.[22]
  • The more advanced the node is, the larger its ZOI becomes.[23]
  • Less advanced nodes (referred to as vassal nodes) that fall within a more advanced node's ZOI can still gain XP, but must remain at a lower advancement stage than the dominant node.[24]
  • Certain quests, such as story arcs, may not be able to be turned in after a node has advanced.[27]
  • 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.[28]
    • 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.[29]
The way that the algorithm expands the territories takes into account a few things: One it takes into account the coast like where's the closest coast. Two it takes into account the neighboring nodes so it can take over and essentially vassal state those nodes, but what's more important is essentially the initial population based on like how players choose their races. Because we have nine different races and four different starting points that branch out, each server's population density is going to dictate essentially the first few nodes that are highly populated and then that initial seed is what's going to determine the node structure as it moves inland into the into the world essentially; and based on the performance and successes of different sieges will determine which nodes that got locked out from the previous the initial advancements what nodes can now be available to advance further. So I really think that with so many variables that are present in the equation of how nodes advance and stay existing with the more variables you have, the higher likelihood there is for there to be a significant diversion in world progression.[28]Steven Sharif
Normally the algorithm that's applied to the node territorial expansion will prevent significant nodes from being in close proximity to each other... There could be a perfect storm where all of the algorithmic progression of territory leads to having these nodes very close to each other because there's certain requirements that should that need to be available to satisfy node vassal takeovers; and it's possible that two nodes would never take each other over as vassals and end up close together and spanning their territories in opposite directions: The Tale of Two Cities thing.[29]Steven Sharif
  • A node does not receive XP from the nodes within its ZOI until these nodes have reached their cap.[24]
  • Citizens of one node can contribute to the advancement of other nodes.[30]
  • Node experience gain opportunities will be equitable across the four node types.[31]
    • The exact percentage of advancement from obtaining items or killing monsters is not going to be explicitly known to avoid "gaming" the system.[32]
Different people have different resources invested in nodes progressing and it would be a little "gamey" if you could know exactly what was necessary at that point because that would disincentivize people from participating.[32]Steven Sharif

Node advancement spawns a series of animations and visual effects (within the footprint of the node).[33][20]

  • Players within the node are teleported to a safe location, likely a respawn area near the node.[33][34]
  • Supplies will spawn around the node and system driven caravans are spawned to bring these supplies into the node. These caravans are not able to be attacked.[33]
  • NPCs will begin construction activities.[33]
  • Players outside the node will see the new facade of the node pop into existence as the node advances in stage.[33]
The Development Area of a Node is where civilization will appear as the Node advances. As the Node Stage increases, different buildings, NPCs, and services will become available in the Development Area. The higher the Node Stage, the more complex and populated the Development Area becomes. Development Areas will also vary depending on the Node Type - Economic, Military, Scientific, or Divine.[20]Margaret Krohn

Node sieges

Node sieges (Pre-alpha footage).[35]

As some areas in the world grow, others will fall. This is the foundation of the living, breathing world that is Ashes of Creation, where players will have the ability to make important decisions that matter in the longevity of an area becoming a city, or whether to siege a rival town. Rise above the ashes, create the world around you, and be a part of the story that unfolds because of your actions and decisions.[20]Margaret Krohn

Node sieges enable players to destroy nodes starting at Village (stage 3).[20] This paves the way for new development and access to the locked content in surrounding nodes. Due to this dynamic, political strife and intrigue play an important role in the structure of the world.[3]

  • Sieging nodes will not be an easy task for the attackers. Cities and metropolises will have a considerable defensive advantage.[3]
  • There will be systems that mimic some of the mechanics of sieges, but there won't be practice sieges.[36]
If you own a home in a node and you don't want to see that home destroyed, you need to defend that city![38]Steven Sharif

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Combat

PvP combat gameplay in Alpha-1 castle sieges.[40]

Combat is the most tactile system in the game. It's the thing you will experience most often; and outside of the systems and mechanics that are going to be present for the overarching core gameplay loop, combat needs to feel responsive. It needs to not feel floaty. It needs to feel mobile. It needs to be fluid. It needs to give a feeling of satisfaction. The audio components, the effects components, the animations themselves, the types of skills and those types of things: All of those are really our objective in fine-tuning the approach for our combat in Ashes of Creation.[41]Steven Sharif

Combat in Ashes of Creation is focused on strategy and tactics.[43]

  • Combat is the most tactile system in the game. It needs to feel responsive, mobile and fluid. It needs to give a feeling of satisfaction.[41]
We will continue to iterate on combat until it is in a place that collectively we as a community can say 'this may not be my particular combat, but this combat is good.' That is the driving force and factor behind the development of combat; and that is how we are going to continue to iterate upon it, utilizing of course the player feedback from our community, but also keeping you guys informed and up to date as we continually iterate on combat.[44]Steven Sharif
I think one of the things that helps set Ashes apart from an effects perspective is that we want VFX to be dynamically generated. We want them to interact with the world. We want them to feel like they are part of the combat.[49]John Kent
We're building a singular tool that all of the teams can use to build abilities and tweak their sound effects, visual effects, animation design, engineering: All using the same tool grounded in animation to build these abilities.[47]Keenan Reimer

A revamped combat system will be rolled out during and post Alpha-1 testing.[50][51]

  • The game isn't focused around cover-based combat mechanics.[55]
I might be on a rampart or behind a wall and that could be destroyed removing my cover, but not like a Gears of War or something, where I slide up to a piece of rock, or the corner of a wall or something.[55]Steven Sharif

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Factions

There are no predefined factions in Ashes of Creation.[56][57]

It's important to note that Ashes of Creation is a non-faction-based game. What that means is you're not told who your enemy and your friend is. You are not restricted with the players that you can participate in content with. Instead that choice is left to you, the players, and that is an element of the sandbox environment that we're trying to create with Ashes of Creation.[56]Steven Sharif
Because we are non-faction-based, you want to grant the user the ability to either do things that are "evil" or "good", so there has to be a plethora of choice on the evil side for them to participate in.[58]Steven Sharif
We present the player with these soft friction events and then that determines who your friends and your foes are.[59]Steven Sharif

Open world

Alpha-1 open world dungeon entrance.[60]

80% of the content that will exist in Ashes of Creation is open-world and there's a specific reason for that. So because of the way that friendships and or enemies are forged in the game and people have the opportunity to create their own friends or foes. We want that to play out from a contesting standpoint as well. So a lot of these hunting grounds or raid bosses that people are going to have opportunities to kill, they're going to be essentially contested potentially by your your enemies that you've created in the game or you can work together to create alliances in order to defend those contested zones.[61]Steven Sharif

Ashes of Creation will be a seamless open-world experience.[62]

  • No loading time or loading screens between regions.[62]

There will be an approximately 80/20 split between open world vs instanced encounters.[63][64][61][65][66]

  • Around 80% of the content is open-world, where healthy competition is an instigator for player friction; for potential cooperation; for the ability to yield alliances; and the political theater that comes with it. This is an intended part of the PvX design of Ashes of Creation.[63][67][64]
In situations where we want to contain a particular type of raid, we will utilize instancing; and that can protect certain engagements with certain bosses. But that's really more on the 20% of the scenarios will have instancing protection like that. Around 80% of the content is open-world, where competition is- healthy competition is an instigator for soft player friction; for potential cooperation; for the ability to yield alliances; and the political theater that comes with it. So that's an intended part of the PvX design of Ashes. It's a core philosophical point. And just to be clear, that is not for everyone. We are not trying to make a product that appeals to every MMO gamer. That's impossible; and so we've been very upfront and forthright with what we are trying to accomplish and what our core pillars of philosophical design are.[64]Steven Sharif
  • Castle and node sieges may contain instanced locations where specific groups can participate in certain objective-based waypoints.[39]
  • Dungeons and raids will maintain an open world feel while also capitalizing on the benefits of instanced mechanics.[68] Instancing is only going to happen in certain dungeons where the desire is to have greater narrative appeal.[64][69] Outside of these and arenas there will not be too much instancing anywhere else.[62]
There will be some open dungeons that have bosses at the end of the dungeons. There will be some open dungeons that just have a multitude of dungeon bosses, not necessarily world raids or something; and there will be lots of different rooms and they'll be progressive in the sense that in the earlier parts of the dungeon they'll be lower level and then at the later parts of the dungeons deeper down they'll be higher level and more difficult; and that creates again I think an ecosystem of where players across a multitude of levels have an opportunity to coexist within certain areas of the world; and that's good from a social dynamic. It's good from a recruitment dynamic. It's good from just a liveliness and relevance of particular areas. So that you don't end up with these locations that once you pass a certain level like it's empty.[70]Steven Sharif
We're probably going to do instancing only in certain dungeons and in arenas. You probably won't see instancing too much anywhere else. What you see is gonna be what you get.[62]Jeffrey Bard

The PvP flagging and corruption system is in place to safeguard against griefing without limiting opportunities for open conflict.[72][64][73]

  • Healthy competition is seen as an instigator for player friction; for potential cooperation; for the ability to yield alliances; and the political theater that comes with it. This is an intended part of the PvX design of Ashes of Creation.[72][64]
  • This friction presents an opportunity to engage in the political aspects of the game, which is the lifeblood of what keeps players interested and invested in the game.[72][64][70]
Q: When you reach the bosses in [open world] dungeons can you be jumped?
A: For the most part if there are bosses at the end of dungeons, it is possible for you to get jumped.[70]Steven Sharif
Q: In an open world dungeon, what prevents others from just waiting until you're at the boss and then killing you and taking your boss's loot? What prevents mega guilds from just owning an area and preventing you from accessing or enjoying it?
A: In a majority of cases, we do not want to prevent another group from engaging potentially in PvP. We disincentivize it by creating safeguards within the flagging system that make that decision very concerning for the people that might go corrupt; and if you're in the large enough group of numbers I doubt you're going to experience that unless there's some rivalry between guilds. In which case there's apparatuses like Guild Wars that are more opt-in. You can drop guild tag if you want. But anyways, the competitive nature of this environment is a PvX element.[64]Steven Sharif

PvE

Alpha-1 Elder Dragon of the Tundra raid boss.[74]

The environment in Ashes of Creation is a visually stunning realm, with fantastical beasts and creations designed to both inspire awe and instill fear. The world is harsh and unforgiving, presenting a clear and present danger to the players. Dungeons, demons and dragons, oh MY! Our unique and adaptive AI means that an encounter with similar creatures will yield a completely different experience to adapt to as a player. Keeping you on your toes for constantly changing responses from your adversary. The world awaits its heroes.[75]

Elder Dragon of the Wood raid boss gameplay.[76]

Whenever you have a player versus environment setting you don't want a stagnant overly repetitive because its lackluster. It does not have that a component that engages.[77]Steven Sharif

The Node system facilitates the generation of new PvE content such as Quests, Dungeons, Raids and Monster coins.[78]

There is going to be a lot of PvE content for all portions of the playerbase... Part of that risk versus reward: Your risk is your time you're putting in to having a chance at getting the reward and successfully completing; and that should feel good based on how much time you devote. Now I know that there's a spectrum of casual and hard-core players in the time there, what we can do, but that's why we have many different content paths that play towards how you affect the world around you.[79]Steven Sharif

PvE content adapts to the development of the world to avoid repetition.[77]

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PvP

Alpha-1 open world caravan PvP.[80]

Player combat in Ashes of Creation is both vast and intimate. It spans many aspects of the game itself. From great political battles held on the fields of massive castles, to open world conflicts fought for the pride of Guild Leaders. A player can choose to participate in the fate of the world by swaying the tide of battle with his or her combat prowess. Our PvP mechanics follow a flagging system, as well as static PvP zones at certain points of interest; fight for control over cities, castles, caravans, or hunting grounds. Our PvP is designed to offer the players a well-balanced and fair world to shape through the pen, or sword should they choose.[75]

PvP (Player versus player combat) is the catalyst for change in Ashes of Creation.[81] Player combat is intended to be meaningful, ranging from Caravan battles to vast open world conflicts fought for the pride of Kings and Queens.[78]

Because players are motivated by different things, because they want something from the game that other players don't want, that's going to cause people to butt heads. Different players are going to want different experiences and the conflict between the two of them will create a bigger and better thing. Out of strife comes rebirth and that's a core symbol, it's a core theme that occurs throughout the game.[38]Jeffrey Bard
Just because our flagging system gives corruption to PKers, doesn't mean PvP won't happen. There is plenty of reason for PvP to occur open-world.[86]Steven Sharif
Q: Have you considered a high-stakes loot drop PvP zone/area in Verra?
A: We have not; and the reason for that is our current PvP systems already allow for material risk essentially that's either through the flagging system or through other event-based pvp opt-in systems as well.[95]Steven Sharif

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Gear

There may be some gear binding (BoE or BoP) but it will be an exception rather than the rule, as this doesn't facilitate the objectives for the economy.[97]

A lot of what we experienced in games that usually come before us is that many things are account bound and they're soulbound to your character... Instead very little here is character bound. Very very little. The vast majority of gear- yes you will get quest related gear as rewards- but it won't be let's say one set in one dungeon and you must run the dungeon over and over. Instead we want to really emphasize the reliance on the economy and crafters and gatherers and processors to support a majority of the gear structure in-game, combined with that of world raid bosses and dungeon bosses; not a repetitive quest line through a single dungeon.[99]Steven Sharif

Weapons and armor are not race locked, but armor will take on a racial appearance.[102][103]

Weapon types

Different weapon types offer different passive skills and proc effects from their weapon skill tree as well as different waterfall stats.[105]

The following weapon types are not equippable by players in the MMO.

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

There is an even split between melee and ranged weapons.[106]

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Armor types

Dünir tier 5 plate armor 3D render.[124] This render does not include any special effects as a result of enchanting.[125]

Armor types in Ashes of Creation.

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Races

Five of the nine playable races in Ashes of Creation.[133] From left to right: Dünir female, Dünir male, Niküa male, Vek male, Ren'Kai male, Kaelar male.

Ashes of Creation offers nine playable races.[134][135]

Parent race Races
Aelan Humans KaelarAlpha.pngKaelar.[136] VaeluneAlpha.pngVaelune.[136]
Dünzenkell Dwarves DunirAlpha.pngDünir.[136] NikuaAlpha.pngNiküa.[136]
Kaivek Orcs Ren'KaiAlpha.pngRen'Kai.[136] VekAlpha.pngVek.[136]
Pyrian Elves EmpyreanAlpha.pngEmpyrean.[136] Py'RaiAlpha.pngPy'rai.[136]
TulnarAlpha.pngTulnar.[137]

Verra is a world with rich and diverse cultures. Much of its important history has been dominated by the major races. Humans of the coast and plains, Orcs within the hills and the marshes, Elves in the forest and the riverlands, and the esteemed Dwarves of the mountains. The major races have held dominance through countless wars and skirmishes between the lesser races of Verra. Decades may pass between these flareups of violence. There are many minor races on Verra. Some of the minor races exist in makeshift villages or tribes if you will. Some of the major villages among the minor races are comprised primarily of the Giants, less reputable sects of Human, Gnomes, and Halflings. The Halflings are not Halflings in a traditional sense but actually half-bloods of different races.[138]Steven Sharif

Wandering the darker places in the world lie truly sinister abominations of creation. The great churches of civilization often dispatch heroes of the state to eliminate these threats to mortals. There currently exist four great nations on Verra. This is 25 years roughly before the fall: The Aelan Empire, Pyrian Kingdom, the Kaivek Protectorate, and the nation of the Dünzenkell. There was not always only four great nations. Long ago the races were more divided into many nations and city states.[139]Steven Sharif

In the 7,000 years of recorded history, wars upon wars were fought. Some for land, others for resources, many for beliefs. Royal houses stood and fell over the years. Some now long bereft of lordship. Many city states exist in Verra. Some self-governed bastions of democracy and republics alike. Others are vassal states at the behest of their benefactors.[140]Steven Sharif

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Religions

Religious temple in a Metropolis node.[23]

We're talking about a pantheon here, not necessarily separate religions. They're all offshoots of who is the better god, or who is the god who identifies best with you.[141]Jeffrey Bard

There are six primary religions as well as a Tulnar/Underrealm religion.[142][143][144]

  • Religion is intended to be a motivator, not an aesthetic.[145]
  • Choosing a religion enables players to walk a light or a dark path through their choice of questlines and other actions.[146][147][141]
    • Players will not be able to worship The Others at temples, but certain quest paths will allow darker forms of worship.[148]
There will be questlines. There will be certain actions that players are capable of taking to perhaps pursue the darker side of this metaverse so to speak.[146]Steven Sharif

Sometimes games in the past have tried to shy away from heavy emphasis on religion because of the parallels that can occur between what is in the real world and this fantasy realm. I don't really subscribe to that theory. I think that religion plays a very significant role in the story of what Ashes of Creation is about and it is very much this almost monolithic idea of good vs. evil; so that is really at the crux of what the overarching narrative will be in the game; and I'm not trying to pigeonhole players into "everyone has to be good", like I said earlier there will be opportunities for players to deviate from that, should they so choose to roleplay in that regard.[142]Steven Sharif

  • PvP wars between religions are not a planned feature for the game.[149]

The Tulnar religion is a combination of religious beliefs of the major races as well as pagan beliefs of the minor races over time as they coexisted together in the Underrealm.[150]

The progression of the Tulnar- while they are still the staples of what were once the primary deities of the good pantheon remained for the Tulnar, over the time they existed and evolved into the society that they are at the return to Verra. It's much more similar... to the way the Creole religions advanced, with using components of Christianity as well as Voodoo and other smaller, more "paganesque" religions; and incorporated them into one. To that degree, you can correlate the way that society around the Tulnar has this almost combination of what were pagan beliefs from the minor races as well as the introductions of the major beliefs and religions from the major races, because they all came together in the Underrealm and survived in that regard. So you’re gonna see naturally a combination of those two things.[150]Steven Sharif

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Classes

With 8 Archetypes to combine, players may choose from 64 total combinations to create their class.[152][153][154]

Secondary
Bard Cleric Fighter Mage Ranger Rogue Summoner Tank
Bard Minstrel Soul Weaver Tellsword Magician Song Warden Trickster Songcaller Siren
Cleric Scryer High Priest Templar Oracle Protector Shadow Disciple Shaman Apostle
Fighter Bladedancer Highsword Weapon Master Spellsword Hunter Shadowblade Bladecaller Dreadnought
Mage Sorcerer Acolyte Battle Mage Archwizard Spellhunter Shadow Caster Warlock Spellstone
Ranger Bowsinger Soulbow Strider Scion Hawkeye Scout Falconer Sentinel
Rogue Charlatan Cultist Duelist Nightspell Predator Assassin Shadow Lord Shadow Guardian
Summoner Enchanter Necromancer Wild Blade Spellmancer Beastmaster Shadowmancer Conjurer Brood Warden
Tank Argent Paladin Knight Spellshield Warden Nightshield Keeper Guardian

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Lore

Ashes of Creation logo.[155]

Ashes of Creation is a direct reference to the storyline. Without giving too much away, the phoenix is going to be a persistent symbol throughout the first phase of the storyline, and the world that the players will be inhabiting is a long-lost world that has suffered devastating calamity.[156]Jeffrey Bard

The Phoenix is the celestial avatar of the Goddess of creation. Her sacrifice protected the people of Verra during the apocalypse.[157]Steven Sharif

There are different parts to the Lore in Ashes of Creation.[158]

It is about mythology and discovering what truths mythologies are talking about and finding out what really happened on this world so long ago; and that's part of that discovery process; and we want people to feel that throughout the game, not just in terms of lore but in terms of the world itself.[159]Jeffrey Bard

Story arcs drive one or more storyline quests within the game.[160][161][162][163][158] Story arcs branch into different stories with multiple possible endings depending on the quest objectives that players complete during each chapter.[160][161][163]

We're keeping lore very close to the chest and the reason for that is because it is very rich. It is diverse. It will have applications outside of just the MMORPG. We intend to take it much further, but I want it to be something that the players get to reveal themselves, that's not just handed to them and then the experience is lost. They should feel when they're experiencing this that it relates to them on a personal level.[164]Steven Sharif

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Design pillars

The design of Ashes of Creation adheres to five main pillars.[165]

  1. Engaging and immersive story
  2. Reactive world
  3. Player interaction
  4. Player agency
  5. Risk vs reward

In designing Ashes of Creation, we adhere every detail to five main pillars: Engaging and Immersive Story, a Reactive World, Player Interaction, Player Agency, and Risk vs Reward. Even in the environment, everything you as the player do will tie into these pillars, while everything your guild does, everything your server does will ultimately keep the world fresh, ever-changing, and most importantly... exciting.[165]

Inspiration

Ashes of Creation has taken inspiration from various other MMORPG titles.[166]

In terms of what came before, we're trying to figure out who did what best and take inspiration from that: Move the genre forward; keep things updated and bring it into the 21st century.[166]Jeffrey Bard
A lot of the systems in Lineage 2 were based around a concept that got lost today in mmorpgs, and that's risk versus reward. You know this idea that the more you risk the greater potential reward should be present is a complete paradigm shift away from everyone's a winner, everybody gets a participation reward, and here you go, congratulations you're a player in this game; and that's boring. It gives nothing for a person to aspire to achieve something, or to feel the bite of loss when you fail. Those are the driving forces of why people want to play games and it's a reason why new games when they come out have such a short lifespan, because they are always competing with WOW. You don't have to compete with WOW. You don't have to be a WOW killer. You can focus on something that is different from a philosophical design standpoint; and I think that's just what a lot of studios today don't want to take the risk on.[168]Steven Sharif

Open development

Intrepid Studios has embraced an open (transparent) development approach, rather than sharing information through carefully curated press releases and announcements.[170]

Player feedback is important, however the identity and the vision of the game is not up for discussion; and so when we talk about the core systems and tenets and philosophies behind what the game that we're trying to make is, we believe that the game we are trying to make resonates with a large enough section of the MMORPG player base that it is a sustainable and profitable venture for us to create that core game. Now, the ancillary systems that live around the core philosophy of Ashes of Creation, or the subtleties and what we need to do in order to make a particular system or feature better... that we want to collect player feedback.[172]Steven Sharif
  • Some game aspects will be more polished than others before they are presented.[175]
The delicate blend between a transparent development process, but also understanding that [the] majority of your player audience will not grasp, or will not take into context, what a work in progress looks like. So certain things we have to polish to the point where they're presentable; where they can be understood- again in its own context without my verbal support or Margaret's verbal support.[175]Steven Sharif
I think that we live in an age where it's easy to be transparent if you're not trying to hide something. The downside is if you're showing something that's not a completed or finished product, it is incumbent upon the viewer to understand that fact.[170]Steven Sharif
  • The purpose of transparent development is to enable participation and feedback from the community without the need to purchase access.[176]
The whole purpose of our development process being transparent being open is that you don't have to buy a package actually to participate. You can be a voice from the community. You can observe people playing. You can give your experiences and feedback.[176]Steven Sharif
I don't answer to a board. I don't answer to a publisher. We answer to our players; and we try to be as transparent as possible with showing our progress; and showing it in a timely manner.[177]Steven Sharif
  • Certain aspects of the game will not be revealed early to avoid spoilers.[178][179]
There are obviously going to be some aspects of the development that we will not reveal, like lore and some system mechanics in order not to spoil the game for release.[178]Steven Sharif

Payment model

Box cost

There is no upfront box cost associated with Ashes of Creation.[180]

Nobody should feel that they have to back the project to see it come to life. It's coming to life regardless of that. You do it because you want to support us and that's fine; and if you don't want to, that's also fine as well. We want to hear your voice and we want you to be part of the community, so that's a very important aspect. Nothing we offer in the pre-order packages are power driven. They don't give any competitive advantage to an individual who backs the game.[176]Steven Sharif

Subscription model

Game time was previously purchasable in Pre-order packs.[181][182]

This allows us to avoid the pay to win mentality many free-to-play games employ, as well as maintain a steady flow of new content for all our players.[183]

Ashes of Creation (the MMORPG) is a subscription-only game with no box cost.[183]

Certain regions will have "harmonized" subscription prices that better reflect their local economies. Harmonized regions will be segregated from other regions.[186]Ry Schueller
  • Subscriptions will begin at launch or, subject to change, a user may be able to choose to activate their subscription to start at a particular point in time.[192]
I think a sub cost provides both the barrier of entry to prevent, some not all, but mitigate some gold selling bots and whatnot because there's a cost associated with playing the game, but it's also not too high that it gets on the greedy side or prevents a lot of players from participating and trying the game; and then if the game is good then people will continue to subscribe and that subscription provides funding and revenue for the developers to continue a significant content creation and expansion rollout for the game.[194]Steven Sharif
There is no P2W in Apocalypse or the MMORPG![196]

Expansions

DLC expansions (post-launch releases) are planned on a monthly, quarterly, or six-monthly basis.[197][198]

  • New content will primarily be introduced through the node system. The goal is for existing content to remain relevant alongside the new content.[202]
  • Expansions provide an opportunity for the developers to evaluate ways to unlock content that was not readily experienced by players in the previous release.[203]
Each inflection point, which is those updates as expansions... you get to go back reevaluate. Hey, it seems like 89% of the servers out there never opened this door. Well, maybe the predicates were too granular. Maybe they were too focused. Maybe there's a reason why that didn't happen? Let's expand on that for the next expansion so that this content has an opportunity to come out and see the light of day.[203]Steven Sharif

Pay to win

Ashes of Creation will not be pay to win.[204][194][205]

Ashes of Creation will not be pay to win, that is our pledge to the community. One of the core principles we set forth with Ashes of Creation is a very strong desire to maintain the game's even playing field.[205]
A lot of developers and companies have come along in the past- and I've been hit by this too- and they've said we're not going to have pay-to-win and then boom they roll out some pay-to-win. We have consistently said we won't be pay-to-win and in the pre-orders that we provide and even in the Kickstarter there were absolutely zero pay-to-win components whatsoever. So not only will we talk the talk but we will walk the walk as well.[194]Steven Sharif
Because we are a non-box purchase game, meaning there is no box price to play Ashes of Creation, it is only a subscription; and that's beneficial because it reduces the barrier of entry and we want a high population obviously; but at the same time one of the ways we augment the revenue flows to sustain constant updates and new chapter releases and additional content within the game is through a cosmetic-only marketplace; and that means absolutely no pay-to-win whatsoever; and that will be adhered to forever.[204]Steven Sharif

Inventory slots, RNG loot boxes and XP potions are considered pay-to-win.[206][207][208][209]

We will not use a loot box system for cosmetics either. We currently have a cosmetic store that offers limited time, limited quantity items to help sustain game development. These items are purely decorative and do not offer any in-game benefits.[206]
My definition of pay-to-win is really anything that affects the in-game economy, the in-game action pool, your abilities and/or skills... In my opinion the inventory slots and the XP potions would be considered pay-to-win.[208]Steven Sharif
  • Items sold in the store that are also obtainable through gameplay are still considered pay-to-win.[213]
It undermines an achievement when you remove the need to achieve it.[213]Steven Sharif
Q: Will there be RNG boxes?
A: I dislike RNG. Archeage made me loath rng monetization gimmicks.[209]Steven Sharif

Cosmetic store (micro transactions)

Ashes of Creation cosmetic store.[214]

There is going to be legendary cosmetics that can be earned and achieved in the game through the game systems, but that's going to take a significant amount of effort and work; and those cosmetics are going to be on-par with the cosmetics offered in the marketplace... What that does is it provides additional revenue to the company so that we can continue to fund the development of content as well and bridge the divide that not having a box cost would have and not having any pay-to-win mechanics whatsoever.[194]Steven Sharif

The Cosmetic store enables players to purchase Cosmetics for use in Ashes of Creation.[215] The cosmetic store offers limited time, limited quantity items to help sustain game development.[216]

Nothing in our shop will ever be pay to win as we believe this practice greatly hurts the MMORPG genre.[217]

  • Cash shop cosmetics will offer a diverse selection of unique looks.[218]

I want to incentivize purchase in the cosmetic shop for sustainability of what expansions we have intended, since we are not a box cost. I want to incentivize purchase by offering limited items: limited time, limited quantity, so you have confidence that when you purchase them, they won't be offered later on in some other way.[216]Steven Sharif

I don't want cosmetic items that can be purchased from the market to be transferable... because it is in a way a transfer of money for potentially something in-game.[220]Steven Sharif

Alts

End-game

Ashes of Creation will not have a typical end-game where content is essentially static and repetitive. Instead, max-level characters will be able to engage with many different gameplay loops that open up based on how the world progresses over time.[231][232]

Endgame to me communicates static. It is static structure. Okay, you've entered this loop, now and this is your end-game loop that you will repeat over and over. Whereas instead, the approach for Ashes is you have now reached a point where all of these loops are relevant; and the loops are present to you depending on how the community engages the world. And it's up to you to identify the most promising loops because you have a finite amount of time and resources in which you can engage with them. And that's then where strategy becomes a part of the picture: How will I choose to engage with these loops to maximize my return, or to maximize the specific benefit I wish to bring in individual, group, myself, or guild.[231]Steven Sharif
Part of the whole experience with nodes is that there is no real end-game, in that the world is constantly shifting every day. Month one is going to be really different from month two; and that's for the level 50s and level 1s.[232]Jeffrey Bard

ESRB rating

Dead bodies in a Pre-alpha raid encounter.[233]

The aim is for Ashes of Creation to have a T for Teen rating, but it may end up having a M for Mature rating.[234]

  • There may be an option to turn off blood and gore in the game.[235]
  • There probably won't be swearing in quests.[236]

The antagonists in this game are definitely dark... We're not going grimdark at all, but there are parts of it that get that way.[236]Jeffrey Bard

Game difficulty

Ashes of Creation will be on the higher side of difficulty when it comes to engagements.[237][238][239]

Adventuring is not easy in Ashes... The intent is that encounters are difficult. The world is dangerous. It is not a cakewalk to progress within Ashes.[237]Steven Sharif

Learning curve

Ashes of Creation will be easy to understand yet hard to master.[240]

My stance on participation trophies is that things should be hard, people should fail, the bitter taste of defeat is what makes success that much more rewarding. Helping other players learn encounter strategy, and fine tuning their play style for high end content is an important part of eliminating participation trophy. Growing together is a good thing, and that include failing together as a means to drive for success together.[241]Steven Sharif

Target demographic

The developers want Ashes of Creation to appeal to both younger and older generations of MMO gamers.[242]

I think our target demographic, obviously we have a very high graphic fidelity in the game that's attractive to younger players, but at the same time we have a very roleplay game orientation - a a play back to that pen-and-paper Dungeons & Dragons feel that perhaps younger generations may not know but is very near and dear to the hearts of older gamers. So I think we have a broad appeal from a demographic standpoint.[242]Steven Sharif

Player types

Ashes of Creation will cater for a variety of player types from Raiders or PvPers to Role players and Crafters.[243]

The most compelling design argument for how those different sects of gamers interact with each other is dependant from the design standpoint of interdependencies in the systems. So, for example if as a Raider or as a PvPer you're looking for the best gear, you're going to devote your time towards leveling up and going out and participating in the things you enjoy like pvping, perhaps going for caravans or sieging cities and castles and all that type stuff. If you want the best gear, you're going to have to rely on a person who's devoted their time towards crafting potentially; and they may not be a PvPer but they have a place in your wheelhouse because you need their services. And then that crafter is going to need a person who is either a gatherer or plays the economy as a merchant in the nodes with the auction houses that are regionalized. They're going to have to work with a person who specializes in trade that takes caravans with either mercenary groups or other guilds that are PvPers between the nodes to get the resources they need. Building dependencies on different groups or factions of players that exist within a large world like this MMORPG is what solidifies the bonds that allow for them to exist either harmoniously, or at least in a way that they know you need those types of players.[243]Steven Sharif

Casual vs. hardcore players

The multiple progression paths in Ashes of Creation are designed to suit different playstyles and offer different "lanes" for players depending on the time they have available to play.[244][245][246][247]

  • Some progression paths will be more immediately achievable, which are more suited to casual players.[245]
    • Triggered events such as cravans and sieges will allow casual players to participate in impactful events without significant time investment.[248]
    • Lower level characters will have usefulness in mass combat that does not depend on their level, such as manning siege weapons, helping repair fortifications, bringing proximity-based buffs to key positions, using stealth or scaling walls. These types of things are relevant to the tide of battle and do not require the player to be max-level or have high combat stats.[249]
There are events that are happening in the world in the game that you won't need to be a hardcore player to impact and join. For example, the triggered events from the PvE standpoint against the cities; the trades of the caravans; those natural battlegrounds that exist; the castle sieges you can login for. There is a lot of systems that are at play where a person can simply log in, participate, have fun, be impactful and then log out.[248]Steven Sharif
  • Other progression paths will require a significant time investment, which casual players will take longer to achieve than hardcore players.[245]
    • The contribution of a large mass of casual players working together may have a greater impact on node progression than hardcore players. Hardcore players may be able to progress into to late-game content faster than casual players, but may lack the numbers to influence the nodes in those locations as quickly as the larger population of casual players.[245]
Traditionally in MMORPGs you're going to see a larger population of casual players than you do of hardcore players; and that's just the way the cookie crumbles from a population standpoint. And because of that and the way that nodes collect experience and advance as a result of player activity, those casual players will actually have more impact on node progression than the hardcore players will: at least as I predict, because of the sheer quantity disproportionate between the two different groups of people... You may see in Ashes the smaller hardcore group of players progress further into the late-game content, right. But they don't have the numbers to influence the nodes in those locations as quickly as the more casual... larger population has near the outskirts.[245]Steven Sharif

Game balance

The way that the systems are being designed from a balancing standpoint we're taking into account how we would like the nodes to change per-se how often and we've designed attrition systems for certain cultures that may have more dominance over others. These are things that in Alpha and Beta we will be testing and watching and making sure that our objective is achieved from a gameplay standpoint and if it's not we'll come back and recalculate.[250]Steven Sharif

Class balance

There will be match ups in 1v1s where one class will be superior to another; and that application should be a rock-paper-scissors dynamic. We want there to be counter-play between the different classes... Instead it's going to be a group focused balance, where as long as you have the diversity of classes present, that's going to be an equal level playing field. It's going to be very dependent on skill and strategy.[253]Steven Sharif
Balance-wise, there's a number of different interactions mechanically that you have within an ability that you can adjust in order to balance its power. The most most common ones are: Cooldown, Mana consumption, Damage done, Effect status conferred, Promotion of that effect status, Range.[254]Steven Sharif
When we move into Alpha 2 and we have a lot of data that's supporting the use of these particular abilities in combat settings, how often they're used, how often they result in death, what the average damage done by this archetype is comparatively to other damage done by different archetypes: All of that data gets logged and all of that data gets queried in order for us to refine the abilities so that they live in the environment we want them to. Now, that's not to mean that we're going to have a perfect balance across the board between the archetypes. Again, we're taking a rock-paper-scissor approach to balance, which means that some archetypes will do better against other archetypes and vice versa; and we're also not creating an environment where we want to have 1v1 balance. We are focused around group balance. Group composition is important.[251]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.
Even though augments do radically change the way your active skills provide you abilities, there's still a primary focus on the base archetype itself and not the 64 whole classes.[252]Steven Sharif
Certain archetypes are capable of moving the gap between their counterpart per-se. If I am a Tank archetype and a Mage is my counter, I can take a Mage secondary and bridge the divide slightly; and then move my identity that direction ever so slightly.[259]Steven Sharif

Localization/Translation

Ashes of Creation is aiming to be available in the following languages: English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Polish, Spanish, and Portuguese.[260][261][262][263]

  • Previously it was stated that English, French, German, and Russian will be supported then Italian, Polish and Spanish be added later.[261][264]
  • Other languages are being considered based on interest.[260][262][263]
  • User interface localization tools are available in the chat window.[265]

The current plan is for Ashes of Creation to be available in the following languages: English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Polish, Spanish, and Portuguese. Although this may not be the final list of languages we support, we are still looking at which other languages into which the game may be translated.[260]

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

Servers won't be language locked.[262]

  • There may be separate servers in the EU region based on language type.[261]

Platforms

Ashes of Creation will be released on the Windows PC platform.[266][267]

Q: Will the upgrade to UE5 affect the supported systems? A lot of people are like linux question mark.[266]
A: It's something that we'll evaluate in the future. I haven't ruled it out necessarily- would see how much work it would take to do that, but really like less than one percent of the player base is using Linux.[266]Steven Sharif

Performance

Performance optimization when rendering 1300 simulated actors utilizing merged materials and meshes in Unreal Engine 5 Nanite.[269] This test was confirmed post-stream to be running on a RTX 3070.[270]

What you're seeing here showcases the new modular appearance component which can combine any set of meshes and materials into a single mesh and single material at run-time. What you're looking at is over 1300 different entities, different actors. These are simulated players essentially. Previously you saw the example they were just standing still. There was no animation, there was no effects, there was no environment and it was a thousand. This is thirteen hundred playing animations, playing effects, plus the environment which is Nanite in this example. So what you're seeing is all of these players moving around and doing something and you're seeing the frame rate at about 30 on Clayton's rig.[271]Steven Sharif

Here you see that the FPS in the top right corner is like seven or eight on average, so not too good from a rendering perspective... So by merging now you can see that the same thousand players who are wearing the same armors as previously are actually having a 300 percent increase- 300 to 400 increase- in the performance of the of the FPS. So it went from 7 to about 21 on average and that is a significant optimization point that obviously this is just the beginning of the optimization efforts.[272]Steven Sharif

Ashes of Creation was performing at 50-60 FPS on a 1080 Ti during early Alpha-1 testing.[273]

  • A "default player appearance" may be automatically applied during sieges or other large scale battles to improve client-side performance.[277][278][276]
I think you guys will agree with me here that effects now are, as opposed to where they were in Alpha-1, we've taken into account what people's feedback were, although it was always the case we were going to address them; and we've implemented them in such a way where they're more conducive to large player battles.[274]Steven Sharif

Unreal Engine 4

Unreal Engine 5 walkthrough.[279]

Lumen has done a great job in really bringing to to life this area. As you can see, there's light bouncing off of the surfaces and casting into the rest of the cave... I love how you can also see the detail in the costume and the cloth that we have now.[279]Steven Sharif

unreal-engine-logo.png

Unreal Engine 5 is the graphical engine for Ashes of Creation.[279][280] The game was originally developed in Unreal Engine 4.[281] Migrating to UE5 required early is expected to save time the long run compared to upgrading closer to release, or post-release.[282][283]

What it provides in my opinion as person who enjoys PvP is it adds additional dynamics to what is possible from your opponent or from yourself. You know, if there is a ledge and jumping off that ledge is going to deal a lot of damage to me when I hit the ground and that puts me at a significant disadvantage, maybe I have an option to jump off the ledge at a point where I can mantle onto the side of a cliff or something. Now the give and take there is I won't be able to use my skills while I'm mantled. I won't be able to react easily, but I didn't have to take the fall damage per-se. Or if there's an obstruction and I'm going to take a significant reduction in speed so that I can crouch and make it past that, and now I have a effective line of sight has been obstructed as a result of that decision. I think it adds interesting elements to the battlefield and the key here is going to be making sure that it's not cumbersome- that it doesn't feel opposite of the flow of combat.[286]Steven Sharif
Lumen is going to greatly improve the visual fidelity and performance of the game with the reduced work and effort that's required by the art team, making Ashes of Creation much more beautiful than in UE4.[288]Steven Sharif
Nanite brings us really an entirely new approach to rendering and art workflows. Now we can render more actors with extremely high detail while eliminating the need to bake out normal map textures. For artists essentially what this means is that they can import high quality sculpted meshes directly into Unreal 5 without really having to reduce the poly count, making the workflow more efficient while simultaneously improving the quality of the art.[291]Steven Sharif
  • Features (such as World partitions and One file per actor) make it much easier for multiple developers to work together.[282]
    • World partitions also enable Unreal Engine 5 maps to exceed the map size constraints of UE4 (~20 kilometers squared).[282]
Q: How does this upgrade to UE5 affect the Ashes of Creation release timeline?[282]
A: While UE4 is a great engine, there are certain focuses and technological endeavors that Epic is doing on UE5 that won't necessarily be supported by UE4; and we want to make sure given the lifespan of Ashes and how long we intend this MMO to last, that when we made this decision early on during the development process that we weren't going to exacerbate the amount of effort it would take to move over later in the lifespan or after launch.[282]Steven Sharif
  • As of January 24, 2022 all teams have moved over to Unreal Engine 5.[295]
    • The developers were able to transition to Unreal Engine 5.1.1 in February 2023 as part of milestone 4.[296][297][298]
    • The upgrade to Unreal Engine 5.2 was completed. The developers expect to start upgrading to 5.3 around the end of 2023.[299][300]
    • At some point the developers intend to stop updating Unreal Engine until post-launch. This decision will be based on careful consideration of potential delays and other risks.[301]
Q: What is your stance in regards to focusing on delivering an MVP versus continuously upgrading your tools and engine to deliver a better product with new tech, even if that results in delays or additional years of development like UE 5.2, maybe 5.3 etc?
A: Our technical teams, especially our network team, our ICS teams, our gameplay engineering teams, they convene and weigh when our next update should be on the engine side: What new technologies might bring benefit overall. My perspective on how we balance the need for integration of new technology versus the responsibility we have in a timely manner to provide testing sessions that get us closer to the launch date; that's a delicate balance. I would say generally our disposition is not to incorporate new technologies that yield some significant amount of delay on the development side. We very much take the perspective that we're capable of adjusting and/or integrating those new technologies post-milestone, post-launch if necessary. At some point we'll stop updating the Unreal Engine in development until launch. That point hasn't come yet, but of course the larger the project grows and on the more custom we make the engine for our back-end needs; and for whatever else merge conflicts can occur- those mergers can become big and painful; and the update process gets more painful. So to answer your question shortly, we have a team that evaluates what direction we need to take there; and at the top of my mind is always, let's not incorporate delays as a result of leveraging new technologies.[301]Steven Sharif

Servers

The world will be the same on each server, but Nodes will develop differently. Different servers will have different narratives. Things that happen on one server may not happen on another.[302][303][304]

To answer your question about "what stops all servers from from progressing the same nodes," the answer to that question is "other players." Certain content is locked behind different nodes that develop. If we assume that at some point all of the information regarding node progression is available, not all players on a server may agree on what content they want access to, or that they want other players to have access to. Even if a certain perks from node progression are considered "best value" to players trying to solve a node meta, that doesn't mean all players on a server benefit from that in the same way. Because of this, some players make act against your best interests, because it isn't their best interest. Nodes define (and redefine) the world around you, influence points of interest, world quest lines, story arcs, drop tables, resource pools, and even spawn tables for NPCs and bosses. The cycle of nodes leveling and triggering events is something we expect to see play out in a variety of different ways, across different servers, based on how players choose to play Ashes of Creation.[302]Ry Schueller
  • There will be a multitude of servers located throughout the various regions of the world.[306]
    • Server selection will show the region where the server is located and/or the ping to that server.[306]
With regards to live launch when the server's go live, you'll be selecting a server to play on; and that will be your character's home; and that server you'll be aware of where that server is located usually by either a ping or a region that's notated on next to the server.[306]Steven Sharif

Regions

Ashes of Creation will launch with the following server regions:[309][310]

At this stage we do not have numbers on how many different servers will exist for different regions. We've said in the past 8-10,000 concurrent users per server is what we'd like to aim for. Obviously, the number of servers that exist in a region are going to be dependent on the population that's playing.[317]Steven Sharif

Other server regions will be considered based on interest.[311][310]

  • South America is under consideration due to traffic from that region.[318]

Once we get closer to launch we'll update this information, which may include additional regions.[311]

Certain regions will have "harmonized" subscription prices that better reflect their local economies. These regions will be segregated from other regions.[187]

  • Players will be able to make characters on any server they wish. There will be no region locking (outside of harmonized regions).[188]

Folks have always been able to make characters on any server they wish. We are not region locking anyone.[188]Margaret Krohn

Server population

Population limits will be enforced on each server.[319]

  • Around 8-10k concurrent users per server is projected.[320][317][321][322]
  • Initially there will be a limited number of registered accounts (approximately 15,000) per server to help mitigate login queues.[323]
    • This limit will increase over time to around 50,000 registered accounts per server.[323][324][325]
  • There may be queues to get into high population servers, but the aim is to avoid excessively long queues.[325]
  • The developers intend to carefully manage server populations via the use of character creation throttles to avoid the need to merge servers.[324][28]
  • The developers may occasionally release stats relating to server populations and archetype/class makeup, but there isn't going to be an official page that surfaces this information.[307]

Server history

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

The history of each server will be tracked and visible to players in a node's library.[327][328]

  • This design may have changed.[329]
We're gonna keep track of the history of the world so that we can tell people the story up to the current day. A player who's brand new, who's come in at the six-month mark can take a look at each server, what each server has done, how each server has tackled the storyline; and they can decide for themselves what community they want to join; what version of the world that they want to take part in.[328]Jeffrey Bard
  • Scribes may be able to collect and record information about the events of the world as they see it from their point of view.[330]

Server instancing

There won't be server channels (sharding) on a server.[331][332]

Server types

Server transfers

Server transfers, outside of server merges, will not be possible initially.[335][336]

  • The developers intend to assess the impact on housing and other systems closer to launch.[336]

Publishers

Intrepid Studios will self-publish Ashes of Creation in the NA (North American), OCE (Oceanic) and SEA (Southeast Asia) regions.[337][338]

We have learned a lot from our partnership with MY.GAMES, and we wish our friends there all the best as we have mutually decided to part ways. Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce that Intrepid Studios will be opening European offices in Amsterdam to help support our publishing operations in the EU/CIS regions. We have recently posted open positions for our new EU offices, and look forward to hiring the best and brightest in true Intrepid fashion.[339]Steven Sharif

The Ashes of Creation MMORPG will not be published on the Steam platform.[340]

Esports

Esports is not the main focus of Ashes of Creation, but the game may move in that direction if the gameplay is compelling, competitive, and fun.[343][344]

What I would say as an MMO player is Esports tends to miss out on a core element that's unique to MMORPGs, which is progression; and it's difficult to represent that progression in the traditional Esports format that we see with other games and genres today. However, what I will say is that I have participated in some MMOs that have stood up cross-server competitions and I've really personally enjoyed those types of cross-server competitions where you bring the best that those individual servers have to offer with regards to groups, or teams, or constant parties as we like to call them; and you allow them to compete in an arena format, or in a castle siege format. Like that is super cool. I love that server versus server type of competition and I think that's where there is a potential to do something interesting with regards to Esports and the MMORPG genre.[343]Steven Sharif

Voice acting

  • Narrated quest lines are not currently planned for launch.[345] It has been stated that adding voice acting into the game at a later point will be a fairly cosmetic change.[345]
Is it difficult to add voice acting later? No, it's definitely not... It's a fairly cosmetic change.[345]Steven Sharif
  • The use of AI voice acting is under consideration.[348][349]
I think that some of the technology and the advancements that we've seen, not just within the gaming industry but a broad scope of AI influence, is something that we are keeping a close eye on and we have some plans to investigate and inspect a few of the designs and approaches that we've taken, particularly as it relates I think to this question and AI voiceover potential to influence our narrative loops and how players interact with general AI dialogue; and there is an opportunity there, but it's not one that we have fully explored yet, although it is on the docket for the first part of next year for us to analyze what potential exists from a leveraging standpoint for this new tech; and I would say, stay tuned next year as we give updates. You'll likely see some things, perhaps even in Alpha-2 that could relate to that, we'll see. But, it is something we are aware of and we are keeping close tabs on how to integrate and leverage as part of Ashes.[348]Steven Sharif

Security systems

Security systems will be in place to combat cheating, exploiting, botting, gold selling/real money transactions (RMT), item duplication and other things that affect the economy starting from Alpha-0.[350][351][352][353][354][355][356]

  • A broad spectrum of approaches are going to be utilized in order to try to protect the integrity of the game once it launches. Testing of these systems will begin leading up towards Alpha-2.[351]
Security is always at the top of any concern when you have a closed system like an MMO is... We've seen a lot of MMO is launch without security in place and the economy gets ruined as a result thereafter. And every band-aid that's slapped on top of that wound is just making things worse. And so part of why you take the time in order to ensure that things are done correctly is also the security component of things; and that's where testing with a live audience is a bit different also than testing with a Q&A audience as well, because you're going to get those bad actors- and we call them bad actors because ultimately they're attempting to destroy the fun for others... So what we've done is we've hired some security experts who've worked on massive other MMOs like World of Warcraft and other games, and they bring with them lot of experience; and we're going to be testing that in leading up towards Alpha-2. It's a very important part of Alpha-2. It's not something that we really addressed with Alpha-1 because again, that was a much more barebones functional testing experience. We did see some issues during Alpha-1 and we made it important for Alpha-2 to test those systems. We have a broad spectrum of approaches that we're going to be utilizing in order to try to protect the integrity of the game once it launches.[351]Steven Sharif
  • These systems collect user data and flag abnormal activities for investigation. This combined with player reporting functions generates a live "heat map" that draws attention to unusual behavior.[350][352][353][356]
We do have already built into the game on the outset is essentially behavioral metrics. So in the game, as a player does normal things and they acquire normal gold, that's all good and well, but if there starts to be item IDs that appear on the player account that are out of the norm, like either a large amount of gold, or significant legendary items, what it does in the back-end it flags the account for view so that we can take a look at where did this item come from. Is it coming from a known gold seller or a flagged bot, or whatever; and then we investigate. So we're going to be pretty hard on the ability for players to subvert the natural economy systems by RMT or botting.[353]Steven Sharif
  • Botters, cheaters, gold sellers, and RMTers, will face severe penalties from the active GM/community team.[350][357][358][356]
It's important to note that there is a sanctity that must be protected within the game from RMTing; and let me just go into a little diatribe about this: But in games that I've played where the company or the publisher does not enforce rules, it becomes the standard that you buy gold if you want to be competitive. If you want to compete at the top tier levels in certain games, and everyone's buying gold, you almost either have to buy the gold or you're just not going to be able to compete with those people and that's a really shitty feeling to have. Excuse my French, I apologize. That is sucky; and in order for that not to be the case it is the responsibility of the publisher or the developers both to make sure that we have stringent practices from a CS- from a customer customer service perspective- to enforce our rules and to make sure that players are aware if they partake in this there is a huge risk in doing so. It's not going to be a slap on the hand. It's not going to be a "we told you once, we told you twice, we told you three, four, five six times okay. We're just taking some gold away", that thing. We have got to ensure that it is feared to do those things because that ashes has active GMS, it has active customer service, it has an active community team.[358]Steven Sharif

Addons/mods

Addons, DPS meters, and threat meters will not be supported.[359][360][361][362]

My decision is not to allow DPS meters nor add-ons. I feel we have adequate measures in place to prevent a majority of potential third party trackers. I know this subject has passionate voices on both sides and I respect the various opinions and positions many of you have expressed.[361]Steven Sharif
  • The developers do not want addons/mods to be necessary to experience the game.[363]
  • The developers believe that DPS meters (parsers) can cause toxicity and other negative behaviors.[360][364][362]
What role DPS meters provide in online communities that I've noticed in the past my experiences: they can be a bit toxic, they can be a bit exclusionary; and that's why we don't want the DPS meters.[360]Steven Sharif
Meters in my opinion are a removal from the game immersion; and what I mean by that isn't necessarily even the fact that having the meter takes you out of the game per-se, but it is- there's a lot of diegetic approach that you can take that doesn't rely on UI elements like a meter to indicate how you should do a thing; and when you're not utilizing those types of meters you can do different types of strategies and encounter design. You can have things that can be more subtle and aren't going to be immediately given away by a meter indicating something; and that's the type of gameplay that we think that I believe we want to emphasize; and for that reason, we're not going to be including threat meters. What we will be including however are animation indicators. We're going to be including ability indicators to show the tank "hey I might be losing aggro here." I'm observing in the world these immersive elements that are not tied to any specific type of UI, but indicate to me that this monster might be moving off to attack somebody else in a very immediate future; and now I should be using the abilities that I'm saving to regain that aggro, or to lock them down with a taunt or something. That to me is a bit more representative of the type of gameplay we want to to bring in our encounter design.[360]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.
  • There will be integrations available for streaming services such as Twitch and a few other services, but it's not something that will be exposed through an API just yet.[365]
  • The design of the game API is still under consideration.[366]

Milestones

December 2015 First team members were hired.[367]
February 2016 Ashes of Creation design documentation and prototyping.[368][367]
December 10, 2016 Official website was launched and project announced.[367]
January 18, 2017 Official discord was launched.[369]
May 2, 2017 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign launched with $750,000 funding goal.[370]
June 3, 2017 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign completed with 19,576 backers raising $3,271,809.[371]
June 2017 Game production began with a team size of 15-20.[368]
June 21, 2017 Summer crowdfunding campaign launched.[372]
July 22, 2017 Summer crowdfunding campaign completed with 2,485 backers.[373]
September 1, 2017 PAX West 2017.[374][375]
November 4, 2017 Raised $16,500 for Extra Life children's hospitals.[376]
December 15, 2017 Alpha-0 released on schedule.[377]
March 19-23, 2018 Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2018.[378]
April 5, 2018 PAX East 2018.[379]
August 15, 2018 Last day for purchases of Alpha-1 through Intrepid pre-order packs.[380]
August 20, 2018 At Gamescom with My.com.[381]
August 27, 2018 100 developers working on Ashes of Creation.[382]
September 1, 2018 PAX West 2018 panel.[383]
October 19, 2018 Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale (previously called Alpha-1 phase 1 battlegrounds).[384]
November 4, 2018 Raised $20,518 for Rady Children's hospital with Extra Life.[385]
April 15, 2019 60 developers working on Ashes of Creation at San Diego offices (following disengagement with Malaysian art team).[386]
November 3, 2019 Raised $20,901 for Rady Children's hospital with Extra Life.[387]
August 21, 2020 Announced a mutual parting of ways with publisher My.games.[339]
October 17, 2020 Almost 3,000,000 registered accounts for Ashes of Creation.[388]
October 17, 2020 ~87 developers working on Ashes of Creation.[389]
November 8, 2020 Raised $88,546 for Rady Children's hospital with Extra Life.[390]
February 26, 2021 Official ashesofcreation.com website redesign.[391]
May 5, 2021 Alpha-1 sales resumed with the announcement of the Adventurer pre-order pack.[392]
May 17, 2021 Verbal NDA was lifted from Alpha-1 testing.[393]
July 9, 2021 Alpha-1 no-NDA preview weekend began on schedule.[394]
July 11, 2021 Alpha-1 no-NDA preview weekend completed on schedule.[395]
July 14, 2021 Alpha-1 no-NDA month long test began on schedule.[396][397]
August 15, 2021 Alpha-1 no-NDA month long test completed on schedule.[398]
November 7, 2021 Raised $34,485 for Rady Children's hospital with Extra Life.[399]
December 23, 2021 Announced that Ashes of Creation is moving to Unreal Engine 5.[279][280]
January 14, 2022 Over 120 people working on Ashes of Creation.[400]
November 5, 2022 Raised $77,939 for Rady Children's hospital with Extra Life.[401]
August 31, 2023 Over 150 people working on Ashes of Creation.[402]
November 5, 2023 Raised $76,964 for Rady Children's hospital with Extra Life.[403]
December 19, 2023 Over 170 people working full-time on Ashes of Creation.[404][405]
March 1, 2024 188 employees working on Ashes of Creation.[406]

Release schedule

Alpha Two is coming in Q3 2024! We have not announced specific dates or testing schedules for Alpha Two, Beta One, or Beta Two yet.[407]

The Ashes of Creation release schedule is subject to change.[408]

Spot testing has begun, some limited NDA'd testers are participating in spot tests and December will see more, including some major headless client testing. Also those of you that still have the A1 launcher may see an update in the next couple weeks.[409]Steven Sharif
The NDA spot testing that will be before Alpha-2: We will have first one with our PI members, then we'll have some with our Alpha-1 users, and then our Alpha-2 users; and of course Alpha-2 will not be NDA, but that spot testing will be NDA.[410]Margaret Krohn
Phase Release Estimated/Actual date
Pre‑alpha Alpha-0.[411] December 15, 2017.[377]
APOC Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale stress test (NDA).[412] September 7, 2018.[413]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale stress test (NDA lifted).[384] October 19, 2018.[384]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale open beta.[414] December 18, 2018.[415]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale early access.[416] September 24, 2019.[417]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse castle siege mode PI closed testing.[418] December 19, 2019.[418]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale testing ends.[419] March 10, 2020.[341]
Alpha Alpha-1 early preview livestream.[420] March 27, 2020.[421]
Alpha-1 limited QA testing (NDA).[422][423] May 28, 2020.[424][425]
Alpha-1 preview pre-test 1 (NDA).[426] Dec 18 - Dec 21 2020.[426]
Alpha-1 preview pre-test 2 (NDA).[426] Feb 19 - Feb 22 2021.[427][428]
Alpha-1 preview intermittent spot testing (NDA).[429][430] Mar 19 - Jul 9 2021.[429][430]
Alpha-1 preview weekend (no NDA).[429] July 9 - July 11 2021.[395][394][429]
Alpha-1 (no NDA).[429] July 14 - August 15 2021.[398][431]
Alpha-2 spot testing (NDA).[410][432][433][434] November 2023.[409]
Alpha-2 (No NDA).[410][433][435][436] Q3 2024.[407][410][437]
Beta Beta-1. To be announced.[431]
Beta-2. To be announced.[431]
Pre‑release Head start for crowdfunding backers at the Founder level and above.[438] 1-2 days before launch.[438][189]
Release Launch (live) release. To be announced.[431][439]
Post‑launch Major releases (DLC expansions). Quarterly or six-monthly.[197][198]
Minor releases. Monthly.[197][198]

Accomplishments

  • Kickstarter's most funded MMORPG.[440]
  • Kickstarter's #7 most funded video game.[441]
  • Most anticipated MMO – MMORPG.com's Best of 2017 Awards.[442]
  • Most anticipated early access hands-on MMORPG – MMOs World.[443]
  • Gamescom 2018: Best Independent game.[444]
  • Gamescom 2018: Best Online game.[444]
  • Best indie MMO of 2020 – massivelyop.com reader's poll.[445]
  • Most anticipated MMO of 2021 and beyond – massivelyop.com reader's poll.[446]
  • Top 10 Best Upcoming New MMORPGs For 2021 And Beyond – Forbes.[447]
  • 2022 Best MMO Studio – MMOGames.[448]

Franchise

Ashes of Creation will be a franchise.[449]

Q: Given that you said that these story arcs are a module that get placed into the world, do you plan to sell or release your Ashes of Creation themed TTRPG module for other DMs to use?
A: There's a lot of things I want to do when we launch Ashes. One is, of course, a module that's set in the world of Ashes of Creation. Yes, I would love to release a throwback to the original campaign. It's very different from where Ashes of Creation is today. But I think it's- there's a lot of overlap between gamers who enjoy tabletop RPGs and MMOs and one of the benefits of telling a story through different venues, mediums and systems is that you reach a broader audience, because not all of us like the same things; and I think the story of Ashes is a rich one. And because of that, telling it through multiple mediums is definitely a desire. From a board game perspective, I'm a huge board game nerd. I love playing board games. A lot of us at the office do. I would love to tell the story of Ashes through a board game as well. I would love to tell the story of Ashes through a RTS. I would love to tell it through film and television. There's a lot of ways I think that the story can be told. It doesn't all have to be focused around the return to Verra. There's a lot of different opportunities across the many thousands of years of timeline that Verra's existed that we can tell the story and even other aspects of that.[451]Steven Sharif

Gameplay videos

External links

See also

References

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  6. X.com - Fly on through the Village Node we showed in our August livestream!
  7. Node series part I
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  9. 9.0 9.1 castle nodes.png
  10. 10.0 10.1 Podcast, April 23, 2018 (15:14).
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  25. steven-quote-neighboring-nodes.png
  26. jahlon-steven-vassal-nodes-quote.png
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  100. weapon augments.png
  101. class weapons.png
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  154. archetypeclass.png
  155. Ashes of Creation Press Kit.
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  157. steven-phoenix.png
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  167. CC effects do notapply to non-combatants.png
  168. 168.0 168.1 Interview, July 29, 2020 (9:02).
  169. steven-l2.png
  170. 170.0 170.1 A chat with Ashes of Creation's Steven Sharif, 2017-06-7.
  171. Livestream, July 28, 2023 (1:30:11).
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  178. 178.0 178.1 transparency.png
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  181. Newsletter - Pre-order packages are ending reminder.
  182. Pre-order packs
  183. 183.0 183.1 kickstarter subscription.png
  184. toast-subscription.png
  185. Livestream, May 4, 2018 (53:34).
  186. 186.0 186.1 roshen-harmonized.png
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  188. 188.0 188.1 188.2 margaret-region-locking.png
  189. 189.0 189.1 braver of worlds.png
  190. Summer Braver of Worlds.png
  191. steven-lifetime.png
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  193. alpha-1-and-game-time.png
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  209. 209.0 209.1 RNG boxes.png
  210. Interview, June 13, 2021 (48:27).
  211. steven-multi-boxing-3.png
  212. steven-multiple-accounts.png
  213. 213.0 213.1 steven-pay-to-win-items.png
  214. Ashes of Creation cosmetic store.
  215. cosmetics obtaining.png
  216. 216.0 216.1 216.2 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (58:29).
  217. 217.0 217.1 kickstarter microtransactions.png
  218. equitable-cosmetics-quote.png
  219. cash shop non tradable.jpg
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  224. Livestream, April 30, 2021 (1:17:40).
  225. 225.0 225.1 225.2 Livestream, July 30, 2021 (1:14:33).
  226. 226.0 226.1 Livestream, May 15, 2017 (19:15).
  227. steven-cosmetic-reassignment.png
  228. Kickstarter item application.jpg
  229. kickstarter mounts.png
  230. Livestream, May 24, 2017 (32:07).
  231. 231.0 231.1 Interview, July 9, 2023 (42:51).
  232. 232.0 232.1 Video, April 5, 2018 (40:08).
  233. Livestream, November 17, 2017 (23:00).
  234. Interview, August 17, 2018 (31:09).
  235. Livestream, November 17, 2017 (33:56).
  236. 236.0 236.1 Livestream, May 4, 2018 (49:45).
  237. 237.0 237.1 Livestream, February 29, 2024 (1:24:31).
  238. 238.0 238.1 Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:05:51).
  239. Livestream, June 4, 2018 (7:25).
  240. Podcast, May 11, 2018 (33:09).
  241. Ashes of Creation Forums - No participation trophy.
  242. 242.0 242.1 Podcast, May 11, 2018 (33:09).
  243. 243.0 243.1 Video, April 5, 2018 (44:06).
  244. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (1:32:10).
  245. 245.0 245.1 245.2 245.3 245.4 Podcast, April 11, 2021 (18:35).
  246. Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (28:38).
  247. Livestream, May 19, 2017 (51:52).
  248. 248.0 248.1 Video, April 5, 2018 (48:03).
  249. Interview, July 8, 2020 (1:12:51).
  250. Video, April 5, 2018 (49:36).
  251. 251.0 251.1 251.2 251.3 Livestream, December 19, 2023 (1:25:16).
  252. 252.0 252.1 252.2 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (33:26).
  253. 253.0 253.1 253.2 Podcast, April 23, 2018 (59:28).
  254. 254.0 254.1 Livestream, December 19, 2023 (1:23:00).
  255. 255.0 255.1 Interview, October 20, 2018 (2:40:17).
  256. Podcast, September 29, 2021 (30:04).
  257. Livestream, June 25, 2021 (1:05:01).
  258. Livestream, February 9, 2018 (41:56).
  259. 259.0 259.1 Podcast, April 23, 2018 (1:01:01).
  260. 260.0 260.1 260.2 What languages will Ashes of Creation be in?
  261. 261.0 261.1 261.2 Interview, August 24, 2018 (2:35).
  262. 262.0 262.1 262.2 Livestream, May 17, 2017 (1:09:22).
  263. 263.0 263.1 Livestream, May 24, 2017 (45:49).
  264. spanish.png
  265. Interview, August 24, 2018 (3:19).
  266. 266.0 266.1 266.2 266.3 266.4 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (48:45).
  267. 267.0 267.1 Livestream, May 26, 2017 (38:30).
  268. Livestream, May 24, 2017 (23:50).
  269. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (1:10:09).
  270. RTX3070clarification.png
  271. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (1:08:42).
  272. Livestream, September 24, 2021 (52:48).
  273. alpha-1-fps.png
  274. 274.0 274.1 Livestream, April 28, 2023 (1:03:41).
  275. Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:07:12).
  276. 276.0 276.1 Livestream, August 17, 2018 (1:07:51).
  277. Livestream, July 25, 2020 (54:10).
  278. Livestream, November 22, 2019 (1:08:05).
  279. 279.0 279.1 279.2 279.3 Video, December 23, 2021 (0:00).
  280. 280.0 280.1 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (19:59).
  281. unreal.jpg
  282. 282.0 282.1 282.2 282.3 282.4 282.5 282.6 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (40:53).
  283. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (50:50).
  284. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (49:39).
  285. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (42:09).
  286. 286.0 286.1 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (55:32).
  287. Video, December 23, 2021 (23:53).
  288. 288.0 288.1 288.2 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (54:00).
  289. 289.0 289.1 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (52:52).
  290. 290.0 290.1 Video, December 23, 2021 (2:54).
  291. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (52:58).
  292. Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:37:17).
  293. Livestream, May 3, 2017 (26:50).
  294. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (47:51).
  295. Livestream, January 28, 2022 (7:26).
  296. Livestream, March 31, 2023 (1:10:30).
  297. Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:14:41).
  298. Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:07:46).
  299. steven-ue5.jpg
  300. Livestream, April 7, 2023 (1:21:29).
  301. 301.0 301.1 Livestream, March 31, 2023 (1:27:15).
  302. 302.0 302.1 roshen servers.png
  303. Livestream, May 19, 2017 (37:03).
  304. MMOGames interview, January 2017
  305. Official Livestream - May 4th @ 3 PM PST - Q&A
  306. 306.0 306.1 306.2 Livestream, September 27, 2018 (48:13).
  307. 307.0 307.1 307.2 Livestream, November 19, 2021 (52:35).
  308. Livestream, January 27, 2023 (4:18).
  309. Interview, May 8, 2017 (22:06).
  310. 310.0 310.1 Livestream, May 24, 2017 (40:50).
  311. 311.0 311.1 311.2 311.3 311.4 311.5 server-locations.png
  312. 312.0 312.1 na and eu servers.jpg
  313. 313.0 313.1 313.2 313.3 Ashes of Creation FAQ: Where will your servers be?
  314. 314.0 314.1 servers SEA OCE.png
  315. steven-oce-servers.png
  316. Reddit Q&A, 2019-01-8.
  317. 317.0 317.1 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (AM) (26:41).
  318. Livestream, July 9, 2018 (47:54).
  319. Livestream, May 17, 2017 (59:25).
  320. Livestream, October 29, 2021 (1:14:00).
  321. Video, September 6, 2018 (4:25).
  322. server population.png
  323. 323.0 323.1 steven-jahlon-accounts-per-server.jpg
  324. 324.0 324.1 steven-server-accounts.png
  325. 325.0 325.1 Interview, July 18, 2020 (12:56).
  326. Kickstarter packages.
  327. Blog: Know Your Nodes - Scientific Node Type
  328. 328.0 328.1 Interview, April 20, 2018 (9:20).
  329. Livestream, September 29, 2023 (1:14:29).
  330. Livestream, May 26, 2017 (51:37).
  331. Livestream, May 8, 2017 (36:26).
  332. Livestream, July 28, 2017 (35:42).
  333. Livestream, May 10, 2017 (35:27).
  334. MMORPG Interview, 2016-12-12.
  335. Livestream, October 14, 2022 (2:53).
  336. 336.0 336.1 February 8, 2019 - Questions and Answers.
  337. steven-publishing-oce-sea.png
  338. Interview, August 21, 2018 (11:20).
  339. 339.0 339.1 339.2 Blog: New Adventure Awaits.
  340. ashes-steam.png
  341. 341.0 341.1 apoc-offline.png
  342. Forums - Dev Discussion #60 - Esports.
  343. 343.0 343.1 Livestream, February 29, 2024 (7:28).
  344. Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (39:48).
  345. 345.0 345.1 345.2 345.3 Interview, October 20, 2018 (2:22:09).
  346. Livestream, 2018-04-8 (AM) (25:12).
  347. Livestream, May 31, 2023 (45:26).
  348. 348.0 348.1 Livestream, December 19, 2023 (3:59).
  349. Forums - Livestream Q&A - May 31, 2023.
  350. 350.0 350.1 350.2 steven-anti-cheat.png
  351. 351.0 351.1 351.2 Interview, July 9, 2023 (1:47:04).
  352. 352.0 352.1 steven-rmt.png
  353. 353.0 353.1 353.2 Interview, July 19, 2020 (1:12:37).
  354. Livestream, November 17, 2017 (38:35).
  355. Massively OP, 2017-06-1
  356. 356.0 356.1 356.2 Livestream, February 9, 2018 (20:40).
  357. steven-penalties.png
  358. 358.0 358.1 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:32:45).
  359. Interview, September 10, 2023 (34:51).
  360. 360.0 360.1 360.2 360.3 360.4 Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:19:29).
  361. 361.0 361.1 Ashes of Creation Forums - No Damage Meter?
  362. 362.0 362.1 Livestream, May 10, 2017 (20:02).
  363. Interview, October 20, 2018 (6:29).
  364. Livestream, April 30, 2020 (1:28:19).
  365. Interview, May 11, 2018 (49:03).
  366. Livestream, May 10, 2017 (21:41).
  367. 367.0 367.1 367.2 MASSIVELY OP interview: Ashes of Creation on a new way to MMO.
  368. 368.0 368.1 steven-milestones.png
  369. Ashes Discord.png
  370. Ashes of Creation Kickstarter campaign
  371. Ashes of Creation Kickstarter.
  372. Summer Crowdfunding.png
  373. summerended.png
  374. PAX West 2017 Schedule.
  375. PAX West 2017 Map.
  376. Intrepid Studios Dev Team.
  377. 377.0 377.1 Livestream, January 18, 2018 (2:48).
  378. GDC.png
  379. PAX East.png
  380. Newsletter, 2018-08-7
  381. gamescom.png
  382. Ashes of Creation Gamescom 2018 Interview: Responding to Criticism.
  383. Newsletter, 2018-08-7
  384. 384.0 384.1 384.2 alpha1-phase-1-update.png
  385. Intrepid Studios Extra Life 2018 (@MediaAoC).
  386. Interview, April 15, 2019 (5:09).
  387. extralife2019.png
  388. Interview, October 17, 2020 (18:36).
  389. Interview, October 17, 2020 (56:55).
  390. extralife2020.png
  391. Livestream, February 26, 2021 (9:51).
  392. Ashes of Creation Store: May cosmetics.
  393. steven-a1-verbal-nda.png
  394. 394.0 394.1 Ashes of Creation Twitter - Alpha-1 Preview Weekend Begins
  395. 395.0 395.1 steven-a1preview-end.png
  396. toast-a1-launch.png
  397. Guide to Alpha One.
  398. 398.0 398.1 alpha-1-end.png
  399. extralife2021.png
  400. Interview, January 14, 2022 (9:11).
  401. extralife2022.png
  402. Livestream, August 31, 2023 (2:16:45).
  403. extralife2023.png
  404. Steven Sharif Christmas message, 2023.
  405. Livestream, December 19, 2023 (1:32:23).
  406. steven-employees.png
  407. 407.0 407.1 Intrepid Studios Support - What are the Alpha/Beta Release dates?
  408. kickstarter release schedule.png
  409. 409.0 409.1 steven-a2-spot-testing-started.png
  410. 410.0 410.1 410.2 410.3 Livestream, September 29, 2023 (55:34).
  411. alpha-0 pre-alpha.png
  412. Livestream, September 1, 2018 (54:06).
  413. alpha-1-stress-test-3.png
  414. Press release - Ashes of Creation Apocalypse Launches December 18.
  415. apoc-beta.png
  416. Blog: Ashes of Creation Apocalypse heads into early access.
  417. @AoCApocalypse on Twitter.
  418. 418.0 418.1 Livestream, December 17, 2019 (18:33).
  419. Blog: Early Access for Ashes of Creation Apocalypse Battle Royale Testing Ends.
  420. March 2020 newsletter.
  421. Video, March 23, 2020 (0:01).
  422. alpha-1-nda-2.png
  423. alpha-1-nda-1.png
  424. steven-a1-testing-start.png
  425. Creative Director's Letter, 2020-04-1.
  426. 426.0 426.1 426.2 Blog: Creative Director's Letter, October 16 2020
  427. Livestream, February 26, 2021 (14:58).
  428. Blog: Creative Director's Letter, January 2021.
  429. 429.0 429.1 429.2 429.3 429.4 Alpha One Schedule Update, May 10 2021.
  430. 430.0 430.1 An Update on Alpha One Schedule, March 12 2021
  431. 431.0 431.1 431.2 431.3 release-dates.png
  432. Interview, July 9, 2023 (26:35).
  433. 433.0 433.1 Livestream, March 31, 2023 (5:57).
  434. Livestream, October 14, 2022 (17:05).
  435. Livestream, January 18, 2018 (25:22).
  436. alpha and beta phases.png
  437. vaknar-a2.png
  438. 438.0 438.1 founder.png
  439. Livestream, March 8, 2019 (57:26).
  440. kickstarter most funded MMORPG.png
  441. kickstarter most funded video game.png
  442. MMORPG.com's Best of 2017 Awards.
  443. Most Anticipated MMORPGs For 2018.
  444. 444.0 444.1 DualShockers’ Gamescom 2018 Awards
  445. MassivelyOP 2020 awards reader's poll.
  446. MassivelyOP reader's poll.
  447. Forbes: Top 10 Best Upcoming New MMORPGs For 2021 And Beyond
  448. Twitter - MMOGames.
  449. 449.0 449.1 Livestream, May 17, 2017 (41:27).
  450. Livestream, October 31, 2018 (35:00).
  451. 451.0 451.1 451.2 Livestream, April 7, 2023 (1:24:36).
  452. Livestream, November 3, 2018 (0:00:17).