Honestly, there is so much Intrepid can talk about this next upcoming livestream, I have no idea what they got in store for us. So, make sure to tune in to the Ashes of Creation livestream on May 28th at 11 AM PDT yourself! Something tells me it’s going to be quite lively.
Why? Well, the Alpha-1’s verbal NDA has been lifted following the preview week, so it’s likely that the developers will be discussing the events that transpired once they finally allowed for a significant number of people to log in (spoilers: a lot of technical problems and chaos ensued, as is usually expected).
Unfortunately, for now the team has been mostly conducting bare-bones server testing aside from some raid events, as they themselves have admitted.
Quoting Steven Sharif from the official Ashes of Creation Discord channel, “it’s important to note, that the Alpha One experience is not meant to be a content test. But rather, standing up core systems in their bare bones and vetting our technical architectures, while providing the opportunity for us to optimize and squash bugs.”
This is to say, since the focus recently has been on technical stability, we probably shouldn’t expect to see more content than we have already seen in developer livestreams.
Now, to hear about more content coming in for Alpha One testers and onwards? That we quite possibly might.
Then, interestingly, Intrepid started a couple of interesting discussions on their forums this week that might come up during the livestream.
At the center of the Dev Discussion #30 was Crafting. Specifically, the devs wanted to hear about crafting systems you have enjoyed in other games and how much time you invested into them. All very good questions to ask when trying to do good by your player base!
A suggestion I am sure many can get behind was, “Please create a crafting system for players that love crafting – not for players that hate crafting!” (by Lethality, link to the reply — there is much more to it and it’s pretty well thought-out.)
When it comes to crafting in Ashes of Creation, we have seen the developers come up with some exciting ideas aside from the drops, grinding, recipes, rarities of crafting materials, and leveling — all of the familiar staples of MMORPG systems.
For example, higher tiers of crafting are tied to higher levels of node progression, an escrow system to protect player-to-player transactions, the caravan trading system, and the artisan classes being the driving force of the game’s economy in many ways.
All of this signals that there will be a place for characters who prefer to stick to PvE and crafting, but also an opportunity for more competitive and PvP-oriented players to find something very valuable in a system they might have dismissed otherwise. The bulk of what we know about the system comes from 2017 and 2018 livestreams, with a handful of updates coming from 2020, so a dedicated discussion might be due!
Then, Intrepid started a discussion #4 in a new series called Guild Gatherings, dedicated to the discussion of “everything related to guilds”. This time around the topic was Team Building, where developers wanted to hear about activities guildmates participate in outside of the game. Quite an interesting way to think about the MMO guilds!
Some things discussed were planning sessions related to the game, watching movies, playing other games together (sometimes other MMOs), roleplay planning and sessions, Discord channels full of pet pictures and memes, giveaways and contests, discussing computer rigs, the economy, hobbies, and things like educating new players, and training guild officers.
All very familiar aspects of guild activity, but otherwise a trove of great ideas for those with an aspiration to establish a new community in the game. But, why are developers asking this particular question?
Maybe this is just a way to keep the forum discussions going, or…? Could Intrepid be trying to support these kinds of activities by providing support for Discord servers (bot access, for example), or hosting some interesting events?
Still, with the new discussion series being established, we might hear more discussion surrounding guilds in the game and Intrepid’s initiatives to support player collaboration.
Alright, let’s stop guessing — the livestream is just around the corner, exactly in a week on Friday, May 28th! That will be almost a month since Ashes of Creation livestream on April 30th, but with things being a little different this time around and going into the future.
After all, Intrepid now has hundreds of players logging in to their servers with the intermittent testing, revealing flaws within the system, but also paving a way towards a solid technical foundation after which the content we have all been eagerly waiting for will start to be added on top.
Perhaps, in a way, the development of the game is alike the slow, grindy, but very rewarding process of advancing and populating nodes within the game.
/global, WE NEED MORE STONE AND WOOD.
/global, Are you excited to hear what the developers have in plans for us? Let us know in the comments below!
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Mila Grish
Dedicated contributor at EIP Gaming and a part-time collector of books she will never have time to actually read. Jumps on the newest releases just as quickly as on the uncovered dusty collections from the basement. For her, shiny graphics can never be an excuse to not have a polished player experience or an immersive story.
