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Ashes of Creation

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Ashes of Creation is an upcoming MMORPG, set in a high fantasy open world.[1]

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.[1]

Factions

There are no predefined factions in Ashes of Creation.[2]

Payment model

Box cost

There is no upfront box cost associated with Ashes of Creation.[3]

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.[4]Steven Sharif

Subscription model

Game time was previously purchasable in Pre-order packs.[5][6]

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.[7]

Ashes of Creation (the MMORPG) is a subscription-only game with no box cost.[7]

Certain regions will have "harmonized" subscription prices that better reflect their local economies. Harmonized regions will be segregated from other regions.[10]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.[16]
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.[18]Steven Sharif
There is no P2W in Apocalypse or the MMORPG![20]

Pay to win

Ashes of Creation will not be pay to win.[21][18][22]

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.[22]
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.[18]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.[21]Steven Sharif

Inventory slots, RNG loot boxes and XP potions are considered pay-to-win.[23][24][25][26]

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.[23]
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.[25]Steven Sharif
  • Items sold in the store that are also obtainable through gameplay are still considered pay-to-win.[30]
It undermines an achievement when you remove the need to achieve it.[30]Steven Sharif
Q: Will there be RNG boxes?
A: I dislike RNG. Archeage made me loath rng monetization gimmicks.[26]Steven Sharif

Alts

Localization/Translation

Efforts will be made to translate Ashes of Creation into multiple languages.[41]

  • Translation will be done in the game client based on interest.

Platforms

Ashes of Creation will be released on the Windows PC platform.[42]

  • Console support may be decided at a later point.

Performance

Performance optimization when rendering 1300 simulated actors utilizing merged materials and meshes in Unreal Engine 5 Nanite.[43] This test was confirmed post-stream to be running on a RTX 3070.[44]

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.[45]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.[46]Steven Sharif

Ashes of Creation was performing at 50-60 FPS on a 1080 Ti during early Alpha-1 testing.[47]

  • A "default player appearance" may be automatically applied during sieges or other large scale battles to improve client-side performance.[51][52][50]
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.[48]Steven Sharif

Unreal Engine 4

Unreal Engine 5 walkthrough.[53]

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.[53]Steven Sharif

unreal-engine-logo.png

Unreal Engine 5 is the graphical engine for Ashes of Creation.[53][54] The game was originally developed in Unreal Engine 4.[55] Migrating to UE5 early is expected to save time the long run compared to upgrading closer to release, or post-release.[56][57]

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.[60]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.[62]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.[65]Steven Sharif
  • Features (such as World partitions and One file per actor) make it much easier for multiple developers to work together.[56]
    • World partitions also enable Unreal Engine 5 maps to exceed the map size constraints of UE4 (~20 kilometers squared).[56]
Q: How does this upgrade to UE5 affect the Ashes of Creation release timeline?[56]
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.[56]Steven Sharif
  • As of January 24, 2022 all teams have moved over to Unreal Engine 5.[69]
    • The developers were able to transition to Unreal Engine 5.1.1 in February 2023 as part of milestone 4.[70][71][72]
    • The upgrade to Unreal Engine 5.2 was completed. The developers expect to start upgrading to 5.3 around the end of 2023.[73][74]
    • 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.[75]
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.[75]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.[76][77][78]

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.[76]Ry Schueller
  • There will be a multitude of servers located throughout the various regions of the world.[80]
    • Server selection will show the region where the server is located and/or the ping to that server.[80]
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.[80]Steven Sharif

Regions

Ashes of Creation will launch with the following server regions:[83][84]

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.[91]Steven Sharif

Other server regions will be considered based on interest.[85][84]

  • South America is under consideration due to traffic from that region.[92]

Once we get closer to launch we'll update this information, which may include additional regions.[85]

Certain regions will have "harmonized" subscription prices that better reflect their local economies. These regions will be segregated from other regions.[11]

  • Players will be able to make characters on any server they wish. There will be no region locking (outside of harmonized regions).[12]

Folks have always been able to make characters on any server they wish. We are not region locking anyone.[12]Margaret Krohn

Server population

Population limits will be enforced on each server.[93]

  • Around 8-10k concurrent users per server is projected.[94][91][95][96]
  • Initially there will be a limited number of registered accounts (approximately 15,000) per server to help mitigate login queues.[97]
    • This limit will increase over time to around 50,000 registered accounts per server.[97][98][99]
  • There may be queues to get into high population servers, but the aim is to avoid excessively long queues.[99]
  • The developers intend to carefully manage server populations via the use of character creation throttles to avoid the need to merge servers.[98][100]
  • 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.[81]

Server instancing

There won't be server channels (sharding) on a server.[101][102]

Server types

  • There won't be separate PvE and PvP servers but some servers may be more PvP focused than others.[103][104][105]

Server transfers

Server transfers, outside of server merges, will not be possible initially.[107][108]

  • The developers intend to assess the impact on housing and other systems closer to launch.[108]

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.[109]

The Ashes of Creation release schedule is subject to change.[110]

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.[111]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.[112]Margaret Krohn
Phase Release Estimated/Actual date
Pre‑alpha Alpha-0.[113] December 15, 2017.[114]
APOC Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale stress test (NDA).[115] September 7, 2018.[116]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale stress test (NDA lifted).[117] October 19, 2018.[117]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale open beta.[118] December 18, 2018.[119]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale early access.[120] September 24, 2019.[121]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse castle siege mode PI closed testing.[122] December 19, 2019.[122]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse battle royale testing ends.[123] March 10, 2020.[124]
Alpha Alpha-1 early preview livestream.[125] March 27, 2020.[126]
Alpha-1 limited QA testing (NDA).[127][128] May 28, 2020.[129][130]
Alpha-1 preview pre-test 1 (NDA).[131] Dec 18 - Dec 21 2020.[131]
Alpha-1 preview pre-test 2 (NDA).[131] Feb 19 - Feb 22 2021.[132][133]
Alpha-1 preview intermittent spot testing (NDA).[134][135] Mar 19 - Jul 9 2021.[134][135]
Alpha-1 preview weekend (no NDA).[134] July 9 - July 11 2021.[136][137][134]
Alpha-1 (no NDA).[134] July 14 - August 15 2021.[138][139]
Alpha-2 spot testing (NDA).[112][140][141][142] November 2023.[111]
Alpha-2 (No NDA).[112][141][143][144] Q3 2024.[109][112][145]
Beta Beta-1. To be announced.[139]
Beta-2. To be announced.[139]
Pre‑release Head start for crowdfunding backers at the Founder level and above.[146] 1-2 days before launch.[146][13]
Release Launch (live) release. To be announced.[139][147]
Post‑launch Major releases (DLC expansions). Quarterly or six-monthly.[148][149]
Minor releases. Monthly.[148][149]

Cheating

Template:Cheating

Franchise

Ashes of Creation will be a franchise.[150]

  • The Ashes of Creation MMORPG is one of many intended products in the franchise.

External links

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 A reactive world - Nodes.
  2. Livestream, 26 May 2017 (39:36).
  3. kickstarter box cost.png
  4. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (1:23:41).
  5. Newsletter - Pre-order packages are ending reminder.
  6. Pre-order packs
  7. 7.0 7.1 kickstarter subscription.png
  8. toast-subscription.png
  9. Livestream, May 4, 2018 (53:34).
  10. 10.0 10.1 roshen-harmonized.png
  11. 11.0 11.1 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:21:03).
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 margaret-region-locking.png
  13. 13.0 13.1 braver of worlds.png
  14. Summer Braver of Worlds.png
  15. steven-lifetime.png
  16. Livestream, February 26, 2021 (1:08:47).
  17. alpha-1-and-game-time.png
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:53:46).
  19. Livestream, October 31, 2018 (38:47).
  20. 20.0 20.1 Blog: Steam Announce And Play Test FAQ For Ashes of Creation Apocalypse
  21. 21.0 21.1 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (56:02).
  22. 22.0 22.1 kickstarter p2w.png
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 loot-boxes.png
  24. 24.0 24.1 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (48:28).
  25. 25.0 25.1 Podcast, August 4, 2018 (1:57:56).
  26. 26.0 26.1 RNG boxes.png
  27. Interview, June 13, 2021 (48:27).
  28. steven-multi-boxing-3.png
  29. steven-multiple-accounts.png
  30. 30.0 30.1 steven-pay-to-win-items.png
  31. Livestream, May 15, 2017 (18:25).
  32. Podcast, May 4, 2017 (51:52).
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  34. Livestream, April 30, 2021 (1:17:40).
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  36. 36.0 36.1 Livestream, May 15, 2017 (19:15).
  37. steven-cosmetic-reassignment.png
  38. Kickstarter item application.jpg
  39. kickstarter mounts.png
  40. Livestream, May 24, 2017 (32:07).
  41. Livestream, 17 May 2017 (1:09:22).
  42. Livestream, 26 May 2017 (38:30).
  43. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (1:10:09).
  44. RTX3070clarification.png
  45. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (1:08:42).
  46. Livestream, September 24, 2021 (52:48).
  47. alpha-1-fps.png
  48. 48.0 48.1 Livestream, April 28, 2023 (1:03:41).
  49. Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:07:12).
  50. 50.0 50.1 Livestream, August 17, 2018 (1:07:51).
  51. Livestream, July 25, 2020 (54:10).
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  53. 53.0 53.1 53.2 Video, December 23, 2021 (0:00).
  54. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (19:59).
  55. unreal.jpg
  56. 56.0 56.1 56.2 56.3 56.4 56.5 56.6 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (40:53).
  57. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (50:50).
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  63. 63.0 63.1 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (52:52).
  64. 64.0 64.1 Video, December 23, 2021 (2:54).
  65. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (52:58).
  66. Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:37:17).
  67. Livestream, May 3, 2017 (26:50).
  68. Livestream, December 23, 2021 (47:51).
  69. Livestream, January 28, 2022 (7:26).
  70. Livestream, March 31, 2023 (1:10:30).
  71. Livestream, February 24, 2023 (1:14:41).
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  73. steven-ue5.jpg
  74. Livestream, April 7, 2023 (1:21:29).
  75. 75.0 75.1 Livestream, March 31, 2023 (1:27:15).
  76. 76.0 76.1 roshen servers.png
  77. Livestream, May 19, 2017 (37:03).
  78. MMOGames interview, January 2017
  79. Official Livestream - May 4th @ 3 PM PST - Q&A
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  81. 81.0 81.1 81.2 Livestream, November 19, 2021 (52:35).
  82. Livestream, January 27, 2023 (4:18).
  83. Interview, May 8, 2017 (22:06).
  84. 84.0 84.1 Livestream, May 24, 2017 (40:50).
  85. 85.0 85.1 85.2 85.3 85.4 85.5 server-locations.png
  86. 86.0 86.1 na and eu servers.jpg
  87. 87.0 87.1 87.2 87.3 Ashes of Creation FAQ: Where will your servers be?
  88. 88.0 88.1 servers SEA OCE.png
  89. steven-oce-servers.png
  90. Reddit Q&A, 2019-01-8.
  91. 91.0 91.1 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (AM) (26:41).
  92. Livestream, July 9, 2018 (47:54).
  93. Livestream, May 17, 2017 (59:25).
  94. Livestream, October 29, 2021 (1:14:00).
  95. Video, September 6, 2018 (4:25).
  96. server population.png
  97. 97.0 97.1 steven-jahlon-accounts-per-server.jpg
  98. 98.0 98.1 steven-server-accounts.png
  99. 99.0 99.1 Interview, July 18, 2020 (12:56).
  100. Interview, July 18, 2020 (10:04).
  101. Livestream, May 8, 2017 (36:26).
  102. Livestream, July 28, 2017 (35:42).
  103. Livestream, March 29, 2024 (2:27:46).
  104. Livestream, May 12, 2017 (24:52).
  105. MMORPG Interview, 2016-12-12.
  106. Livestream, May 10, 2017 (35:27).
  107. Livestream, October 14, 2022 (2:53).
  108. 108.0 108.1 February 8, 2019 - Questions and Answers.
  109. 109.0 109.1 Intrepid Studios Support - What are the Alpha/Beta Release dates?
  110. kickstarter release schedule.png
  111. 111.0 111.1 steven-a2-spot-testing-started.png
  112. 112.0 112.1 112.2 112.3 Livestream, September 29, 2023 (55:34).
  113. alpha-0 pre-alpha.png
  114. Livestream, January 18, 2018 (2:48).
  115. Livestream, September 1, 2018 (54:06).
  116. alpha-1-stress-test-3.png
  117. 117.0 117.1 alpha1-phase-1-update.png
  118. Press release - Ashes of Creation Apocalypse Launches December 18.
  119. apoc-beta.png
  120. Blog: Ashes of Creation Apocalypse heads into early access.
  121. @AoCApocalypse on Twitter.
  122. 122.0 122.1 Livestream, December 17, 2019 (18:33).
  123. Blog: Early Access for Ashes of Creation Apocalypse Battle Royale Testing Ends.
  124. apoc-offline.png
  125. March 2020 newsletter.
  126. Video, March 23, 2020 (0:01).
  127. alpha-1-nda-2.png
  128. alpha-1-nda-1.png
  129. steven-a1-testing-start.png
  130. Creative Director's Letter, 2020-04-1.
  131. 131.0 131.1 131.2 Blog: Creative Director's Letter, October 16 2020
  132. Livestream, February 26, 2021 (14:58).
  133. Blog: Creative Director's Letter, January 2021.
  134. 134.0 134.1 134.2 134.3 134.4 Alpha One Schedule Update, May 10 2021.
  135. 135.0 135.1 An Update on Alpha One Schedule, March 12 2021
  136. steven-a1preview-end.png
  137. Ashes of Creation Twitter - Alpha-1 Preview Weekend Begins
  138. alpha-1-end.png
  139. 139.0 139.1 139.2 139.3 release-dates.png
  140. Interview, July 9, 2023 (26:35).
  141. 141.0 141.1 Livestream, March 31, 2023 (5:57).
  142. Livestream, October 14, 2022 (17:05).
  143. Livestream, January 18, 2018 (25:22).
  144. alpha and beta phases.png
  145. vaknar-a2.png
  146. 146.0 146.1 founder.png
  147. Livestream, March 8, 2019 (57:26).
  148. 148.0 148.1 Interview, February 7, 2021 (21:57).
  149. 149.0 149.1 Livestream, May 8, 2017 (11:14).
  150. Livestream, 17 May 2017 (41:27).