Villages

This page is currently a draft.

Node at village stage.

A village refers to a stage three node. Buildings that offer goods and services, as well as purchasable housing are created when a node reaches village stage.

Collections of freeholds placed together are considered part of their parent node, and cannot become a separate village other than via roleplay.

Player housing

Player housing	Type.	Availability.	Starting count.	Limit.
Apartments	Instanced.	Village stage and higher.	50.	One per character per server.
Freeholds	Open world.	Village stage and higher.	Low thousands per server.	One per account.
Inns	Instanced.	Starting areas and Nodes.	Most accessible.	-
Static housing	In-node.	Village stage and higher.	8.	One per character per server.

If you were to think about the level of exclusivity between the different types of housing that we have, obviously the most exclusive when it comes to a quantity is going to be Freeholds, followed by In-node housing, followed by Apartments, then followed by Inns. – Steven Sharif

Real estate

Players buy the deeds for housing from the node itself, or may buy and sell properties from other players.

• The developers are considering an auction-based method for listing new properties that become available for purchase when a node advances. Currently freeholds may be acquired via auction.
  • A grace period will occur before the housing becomes available for auction.
  • Bids will then be accepted starting at a minimum reserve value that is based on the number of citizens in that node.
  • At the end of the auction, the highest bidder will win the house.

• Housing will have a base price that scales with the number of citizens in the node.
  • There is no cap on the price of player-originated housing sales.
  • In-node housing will be at a premium, and is expected to be hotly contested.
  • The more apartments that have been purchased in a node, the higher the price scales.

• Player housing that is destroyed during a node siege can no longer be sold.

• Freehold plots may be purchased from and sold to other players, or can be obtained via deeds issued by a Village (stage 3) or higher node.
  • The seller may decide if their freehold should be auctioned or sold directly to other players.
  • Previously it was stated that freeholds may not be sold to other players.
  • Players cannot be denied from buying a freehold.

We're establishing a real estate market that players can invest in and then sell within the in-game economy, but also they are a resource that's subject to removal through the sieging system as well, so there's a bit of risk implied there but the idea is that this is something for players to strive for. – Steven Sharif

• Housing ownership can default back to the node if the owner fails to pay their property taxes. A balance and penalties will be charged to the new purchaser of the home in the manner of a "foreclosure process".
• Players will not be able to exceed their allotment of housing in the game.

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

• Rental and leasing concepts are under consideration.

Housing benefits

Player housing offers a number of benefits.

• Ability to claim citizenship to a node.
  • Additional benefits are granted to home owners who are also citizens of that node.
• Ability to place furniture and other decor items.
  • Houses will be empty when purchased. Players will need to place furnishings and decorations in them.
  • Each size of player-owned housing determines how many decor items can be placed in it.
• Storage containers.
  • Players must build and place these in their housing. There are restrictions on the grades of storage containers available in different types of houses.
  • Different grades of storage containers have different inventory capacities.

Each different type of housing offers different additional benefits.

• Apartment benefits include placement of pots to grow seeds and other functional furniture items.
• Freehold benefits include the ability to place business and artisan buildings.
• Static housing benefits include garden sections for farming special types of crops.
• Players may grow crops in the garden sections of freeholds or static houses.
• Crafting benches are available in freeholds and static houses but not apartments.

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

• Prized items can be displayed within a house.
• Achievements and trophies may be displayed.
• Social activities.
• Housing may provide proximity based bonuses.

Caravans

Alpha-2 caravan being escorted to the Miraleth node.

The Caravan System is a major aspect of the economy in Ashes of Creation. While the rewards can be great for moving massive amounts of Commodities and other materials across the world of Verra, players can choose to be Caravan attackers or defenders, making these hotspots for PvP battles.

Caravan PvP in Alpha-2.

Caravans are vehicles that facilitate the transfer of cargo across Verra.

Caravans are the induction of emergent gameplay, which means you cannot predict the situation you're going to be in when you use a caravan. That's part of the risk: The risk is the unknown. If you could predict it then your ability to mitigate that risk would unfortunately remove that dynamic- that ratio of risk versus reward. – Steven Sharif

• Personal caravans are used to transport cargo for one or more players.

• Mayoral caravans are used by Mayors to transfer cargo between nodes with established trade agreements or alliances.

• Caravans are initiated from and arrive at caravansary node buildings within Village (stage 3) nodes and above.

• Caravans create an objective-based PvP event in the open-world that players can choose to attack, defend, or opt-out of.

• PvE caravan events can cause roadways to be blocked off or hostile mobs to spawn to attack the caravan.

• It is possible to launch decoy caravans and merchant ships, but there are visual hints of what is contained in a caravan. Decoy crates may be available via social organization progression.

Node sieges

Node sieges (Pre-alpha footage).

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. – Margaret Krohn

Node sieges enable players to destroy nodes starting at Village (stage 3). 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.

• Sieging nodes will not be an easy task for the attackers. Cities and metropolises will have a considerable defensive advantage.

• There will be systems that mimic some of the mechanics of sieges, but there won't be practice sieges.

• Death penalties do not apply to objective-based events such as node sieges.

If you own a home in a node and you don't want to see that home destroyed, you need to defend that city! – Steven Sharif

• The majority (~80%) of content in Ashes of Creation is open-world but there may be instanced battles within castle and node sieges where specific groups can participate in small, short-duration objective-based battles for specific waypoints.

See also

• Node advancement
• Buildings
• Player housing
• Node sieges