Ashes of Creation Faces Its First Major Problem

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#ashesofcreation #mmorpg #copium
Ashes of Creation is an Immersive huge open world Sandpark MMORPG that is redefining the gaming landscape. Created for fans of PVP, PVE, and Roleplay, this ever-changing world promises the ultimate MMO experience. This game, which began development in 2016 and upgraded to Unreal Engine 5 in 2021, is now on the cusp of revolutionizing the MMORPG genre. Intrepid Studios are working towards delivering these highly requested features to an old school playerbase waiting for that MMORPG to bring them back to the golden age of the early 2000s:9 different playable races with both male and female options.A massive 1200 square kilometer world size at launch with 85 Nodes.A fully open world game with no loading screens, offering complete freedom to explore.A rich array of features including Dungeons, Raids, World Bosses, Open World PVP, Caravan PVP, castle sieges, node sieges, arenas, duels, guild wars, and more.A vibrant player-driven economy, crafting and artisan system, political system, citizenship, player run shops, taverns with parlor games, and a unique character customization system.Ashes of Creation offers an experience like no other, combining the best elements of both sandbox and theme park MMOs. This is a game built by an MMO fan for MMO fans, fully funded and committed to a zero pay-to-win model.

[@Narc]

I wonder if Asmongold will play this weekend? Should be interesting to see! Anyway, come watch a fat bald retard live: www.twitch.tv/Narciverse

[@Zaneirth]

Hmm see how that goes coz he is not the best at reading stuff, clicks through everything.. shit what do I do now? mean while chat has been spamming him over and over to press "F"

[@myddrynellis9342]

I am sure they will add tutorials into the game by Beta.

[@lakii1041]

he said he will on stream

[@silverclould]

@@myddrynellis9342 surely :)

[@n3rv.]

Only if the queue boss doesn't slay him. Imagine him siting on stream, in that queue... CONTENT!

[@Cimarb]

I one billion percent agree on the journey starting in Sanctus, and then you going through the portal after the tutorial. That would be WAY better than just showing up in the new world.

[@spencer4329]

A tutorial island type thing would be crazy good.

[@Dracias]

Yeah amazing idea

[@CasabianN-xr5sc]

Funny, back in the day he quit Archeage too for almost the same reason.

[@chrisk1128]

People seem to forget that the recent Alpha was to test server stability, it's not for actual gameplay and progress....... All of this will be fleshed out as the Alpha progresses. Welcome to what Alpha testing is about, not the supposed crap we have been fed the last decade as "Early Access" or beta's that are actually to see if players will accept the current build as playable.

[@tormmac]

the game has been being developed for 9 years , people arent going to be kind of reviews

[@Cetun79]

@@tormmac here is no game... it has not released yet and will not for multiple years. Anyone who "reviews" a Alpha is a a-hole. Also show me one big modern mmo with less then 10 years dev time. Throne of Liberty had what? 13.. 14 Years?

[@chrisk1128]

@@tormmac They have been open and clear about the current state of the development. Reviewing a unfinished product is self defeating due to everything being subject to change. People whining about an Alpha stability test just shows they are ignorant and have not done any research and are most likely not even doing bug reports, they just whine about it and take up server space until they "Rage Quit".

[@da_boring_gamer3170]

@@chrisk1128why do they have any starting experience at all then?

[@bloodgarm-w9w]

@@da_boring_gamer3170 Most games at this stage are still under an NDA... You're comparing something unfinished (that is usually hidden and unavailable to even be compared), to completely finished games that have been fleshed out for years and years.

[@reznovvazileski3193]

I think Soda is way too used to knowing everything in WoW to start a new major MMO like this without any documentation to race back to pro level. Hopefully he tries it again on launch when more is known and definitive so he can read up on the game and race back to being "experienced", because he'd honestly be able to kick ass with his experience in running guilds and his reach as a streamer as well, he'd be a Don over several nodes easily lol. I mean totally agree that the game do some form of job to teach itself as well though don't get me wrong, but with games this complex a wiki is just a more viable option since if the game's going to let you sit through a 2 hour introduction people will opt out of the tutorial and run into the same problems 99/100 times. The problem with a wiki right now is that it's gotta get damn near entirely reworked every single weekend so there's little to no point in diving into stuff beyond a macro level of "this system exists, do roughly that with it".

[@kengxi]

Every single WoW creator had similar complaints. This game even at release will not be "hand holding" you to the extent that WoW is. This is not a game that most WoW players will enjoy imo.

[@ivoivic2448]

considering how shit his wow classic takes were, yeah he won't be getting far in AoC.

[@reznovvazileski3193]

@@kengxi I mean other WoW creators have the same issue though. They've played the game for 20 years most of them, that's a long time to get complacent and just assume you know everything. Then when you get thrown into a situation where you have to learn from the ground up, that's overwhelming. Hell I'm a PoE player I know all about having to learn large quantaties of info from raw text :') But yea I just think games like PoE and this are inherently unsuitable for handholding tutorials, even though handholding does work in other games. But because there's THIS much to learn, people will quit in the tutorial because they just want in on the action already. So wiki is the best bet imo, and just make sure it's up to date at all times and people know where to look when they need info. But that's near impossible with the game still minimum 3-4 years away from release so everything changes all the time the wiki would be relevant for a week at most. I think the majority of gamers period just aren't used to playing this early of a version of a game and are more shocked by that. But that will be fixed upon release and then when information is somewhat permanent and you know where to reliably get it from, I think even some WoW players, especially hardcore grinders like soda, can actually really enjoy this game. I'm damn near sure asmon will anyway he loves the complexity of PoE and the longterm grind of MMOs both, and this game tickles it all.

[@kengxi]

@@reznovvazileski3193 My issue is their expectations when Steven has said many times this year that Alpha 2 is not near a completed game that was not the point of it. I questioned why Steven needed to reiterate this so many times but I guess now I know. I don't think it's them being shocked but rather ignorant.

[@reznovvazileski3193]

@@kengxi Yea as I said most gamers aren't used to playing alpha state content. Mostly because most developers don't wanna deal with exactly this shit :p I mean a reasonable response would've been, hmm game's a bit unclear, I'm gonna make a ticket that they should consider putting in some extra assistiance for this gamesystem. After all that's what you've signed up for when testing a game years before release. It's not an early access full game type of situation :p But yeah ragequitting an alpha is a bit much lol I'll have to agree with you there.

[@MrNecrotik]

"As we approach the launch in 2077" - Narc. Hahahaha!

[@MartinaBabic-es6bz]

👍

[@pivkemrzli2297]

he is not wrong about the date

[@Wizardi1111]

Dang, that breakdown deserves a full video for educational purposes.

[@erismo2138]

Educational like maybe read 2 paragraphs about a game before you pay their developers $200 to test it for them.

[@AntwKats]

God forbid ppl start using their senses and spending time learning

[@ivoivic2448]

this is your average wow retail player. their brain overheats if they have to read quest text.

[@EuphxTrombone]

I've been casually keeping up with ashes since it's release. Hearing all the systems back to back just destroyed my brain 🤯 And I'm here for it.

[@thomasanderson2551]

What soda actually did was give an authentic representation of how someone totally new to Ashes will experience things. It's important he acted the way he did. Soda is a smart dude, try not to see what he did as childish because, "It's only an alpha." I think he knew what he was doing. We need representatives like him who aren't years deep in copium pointing out this stuff and aren't just going to seethe with useless feedback or be a suck up to Steven.

[@sangheilizealot5787]

no

[@maxrusty3596]

But the thing is , this is a specific version of the game designed to test specific things. He and others are complaining about things without this knowledge somehow thay it's truely and alpha test and not representing of the final or even current state of the true game experience.

[@YoungsterJoey151]

@@maxrusty3596the UI not being intuitive is good feedback, he doesn’t have to praise the game in the alpha. They WANT people to critique it so they can make it better.

[@ivoivic2448]

nah, he gave an authentic representation of a smoothbrain trying actual content.

[@Angelvanberghen]

@@sangheilizealot5787 yes.

[@Genosis]

I may be just old, but coming from Everquest where the "quests" were pretty much all hidden and involved week long spawn timers and 72-man raid quests for several parts... watching this Sodapop fella whine with impotent rage about things that took no time at all to figure out, complaining an unfinished game didn't spoon feed him. was painful to watch. Look. Read. Explore. Interact. That dude seriously needs to go back to hello kitty island adventure or whatever with your glowing quest trails and "pay 20$ to be max level" content is waiting for him. I miss a game where I feel like I actually accomplished something. Feel proud to have achieved what I have done, rather than get my participation badge and free epic loot. It's my hope that with enough work AoC is the game I've been waiting for. My hope still remains, anyhow.

[@ivoivic2448]

I just hope Steven sticks to his vision. frustrated grownup children should be ignored.

[@Genosis]

@@ivoivic2448 I have little doubt he will; he didn't sink millions of his own money and years of his life to make a clone of a game we already have and got bored of. My only concern is the whiners will make enough bad press to limit how many players actually try the game and it won't be sustainable upon launch.

[@ivoivic2448]

@@Genosis I'm not the one who sunk millions into a project, but I'd be so bold to say that press can't impact jack if a game is good. The only ones who will be persuaded by press are short attention span normies who just want to play "the next big thing". they'll be gone within months anyway.

[@ugriDnuub]

Fkn exactly! I want that deep sandbox experience of coming through the portal and just immersing myself. Soda and his ilk are too used to braindead leveling by using step by step guide addons and gps/autopilot in wow. Afk zooming from "!" to "?" is just how to make your game only about max level stuff and then die until next patch.

[@DoctorEvolve]

100% agree

[@OkerlundTV]

No hand holding was GREAT when it came to games like EverQuest because they were not that complex. And I still love when games don't hold your hand. I look forward to games like Monsters and Memories or Pantheon. But when it comes to Ashes of Creation... hand holding is a bit needed, especially at the start. You can't expect people to just know what to do. Not everyone, myself included, want to read through a wiki before playing.

[@strantheman]

It's blunt and a little vulgar, but he's 100% right that the "onboarding" (not hand holding) experience is critical and it's obvious when it's not good.

[@ivoivic2448]

back when people could communicate, other than write youtube comments, mmos actually functioned pretty well without tutorials.

[@gabrielmnt4119]

Just a little vulgar! :))

[@BraamBafflehelm]

@@ivoivic2448 That's because the systems involved.... go bonk skeleton, get xp and loot, repeat

[@ivoivic2448]

@@BraamBafflehelm it was always go bonk skeleton. it's just that back when people could communicate, they actually asked in chat "where is skeleton?" instead of whining on youtube that the game has no tutorials about skeleton bonking areas.

[@BryanFrench]

Phase 1 is server stability.. NOT anything other than that. Why dont we wait until we are supposed to test these things to critique them.

[@swampdert]

NO WE NEED TUTORIALS RIGHT NOW OR ELSE THE GAME HAS FAILED AND YOU CANNOT HAVE ANOTHER OPINION ABOUT THIS

[@ImaITman]

I thought the same thing - he's thirsty for any content that will get views per the norm. What would really get a lot of views is if he made a video apologizing to the Intrepid team for his childlike behavior before Alpha 2 launch. He'll never do it though, because like many other weak minded individuals, taking responsibility for actions is outside the scope of how they operate.

[@oogiewoogieboogie]

its fine, feedback is still good they can accept feedback but still prioritize server stability

[@Aggenosc]

Because why wait with critique? Lol better to always critique things so they can be improved as early as possible.

[@hagaiak]

You're right, but we need to provide them with feedback as soon as we can. Interprid team can then take our feedback and prioritize it in their backlog. We can also give them ideas on how to solve issues, such as Narc's suggestion to delay crafting related tutorials/quests for later and focus on combat and the basics first. They can take this feedback, put it in their backlog, and get to it later. All in all, that's how it should be :)

[@gpturismo]

"I want a hardcore MMO." *gets hardcore mmo* "F THIS I HAVE TO DISCOVER THINGS? MY HAND ISN'T HELD?" *rage quits* (Also it's ALPHA... great feedback)

[@LlewdLloyd]

I've had people tell me that they are confused when people come into the scene not knowing anything, but it was eye opening that there are people who haven't actually tried reading up on anything. I like your take on a tutorial island. Even Tibia had "Rookguaard" to teach people the starting experience without being able to attack other players until they enter the Mainland.

[@DoctorEvolve]

What if the game is just not for everyone? People made it through the starting zone and had fun. So what if a big streamer didn't?

[@TylerDull]

Too much instruction too early is also bad.

[@mcgruff7355]

Going from wow to Archeage was a giant learning curve. There will always be a learning curve stop being a batch. When you don't have any direction by developers you have to spam help from people still learning ,this pisses people off .

[@johnhill762]

It's not about how complex the systems are; it's about how well-integrated they are. Every MMO has complex systems. But only the great ones integrate them in an intuitive, enjoyable way.

[@erismo2138]

None of the great ones did that during their alpha.

[@davidsumpter4933]

In my opinion. Soda didn't seem to be into the game from the start. I think all the starter quests were present to keep players in the starting area to help test the servers. If everyone spreads out from the start, testing would be much harder.

[@calvinwilson3617]

Look I think ashes has a lot of problems, but soda hopping into the alpha and expecting there to be tutorials is just hilarious. Soda is a veteran gamer, he should know the state of an alpha. Things like tutorials comes last, because if the systems behind the tutorial changes then the burial has to be changed anyways

[@Fuz2yman]

The worst experience is if the game is designed based on suggestions from people who have played it incrementally for 5 years and who were there when all systems were introduced and they have no concept of how a new/fresh player would see things, since they already know all the systems and where to go etc... I dont like the current hold your hand quest design either... BUT if you want to do away with it, you NEEED to have the gameplay designed around it, like a nlp npc that you can talk to about the world in the first "tutorial" area or somethng like that, or system messages with information on suggested activities, common names for things etc

[@silasgs9257]

They need to add more fall damage. And if youre a grown ass man and experienced mmo player your intelligence is that of a goat if you cant maneuver this mmo. Back in the day we used to just log in and wing it. We all died within 60 minutes of playing runescape the first time and lost all our beginner stuff. Didnt cry about it just picked up and kept moving. Newbies or super casuals get a pass

[@sgtwisky]

I agree that there needs to be a way to ease players into the world, and its many systems. And it needs some way for players to go back to specific tutorial quests if they need a refresher. There should also be the option for players to skip all the tutorials and just play if they really want too.

[@andreroberts4209]

I try not to click the like button before I watch the content, but then you hit us with that Ayyyy whatup boys and I can't help myself

[@sevenddeadly]

I personally just hate it when there are pointers and markers everywhere, making you run from one place to another mindlessly.

[@Glundberg84]

Well put mate, I stand behind everything you said. Some kind of tutorial/video explanation to the different systems would be recommended. I remember those short videos in Bioshock that explained the different spells, I found them both entertaining and informative. :) Maybe a "library" of videos like that could be made available for us players in good time before launch, just like the character creator. Then people will have the chance to familiarize them self with these systems before they are in the "race" of leveling. Just a thought. Keep up the good work. :)

[@slaskos]

tutorial island would be great for easing players into the game, it should be rushed in like 2h but there should be extra tutorials for completly newbies

[@piotrsitek818]

Thank you for coming back to copium inhaling Narc 🎆🎇🎆

[@MrKevlarkent]

I do agree that it would be better to get people to do combat first, maybe wait til lvl 4 to do basic gathering or something. But I also think that if you spend 10sec thinking and looking around, and don't assume the game will tell you exactly where to go, you will find it easily

[@edellenburg78]

I have played MMOs for a long time, and the onboarding has me a little stressed out. Holy shit that is a lot of systems

[@jinglyjones1677]

It might be an idea to have a dedicated "game info" type section that explains the various game systems, terminology etc, with some nice easy to understand graphics. Possibly also a video at the beginning to intro each new player to the game. This is as well as tutorial quests to show us the ropes.

[@jinglyjones1677]

Agreed the beginning should be more linear.

[@ugriDnuub]

I don't want a linear start that insults my intelligence, but they should and will probably have a chunky ingame systems guide. For now though it's tech alpha and we have a wiki and a discord.

[@haste3]

I actually agree with sodas take. The questing needs better indications on where you turn in or who you turn in to.

[@Phrame1]

The only reason this happened is they don't have tutorials in the game yet. I'm sure there will be a new player experience that introduces all of this stuff at some point

[@YoSomePerson]

I also had the idea that the game should start in sanctus. It would be a good way to introduce lore and give the PC a reason why they want to leave it. Give the player a choice for different backgrounds who their character is. These backgrounds should be rather broad so that there isn't really an issue if 2000 other characters have the same background.

[@Snack_Foods]

Sound like this guy belongs on a mobile game that does the quests for him

[@calvinwilson3617]

While i agree with some of soda's criticisms, its unrealistic to expect detailed tutorials when its still alpha and thise systems may change which wiuld require tutorials to be rewritten. It makes much more sense to make tutorials for the release (or maybe beta) However this is the downside to allowing people to pay for access to test, they will come accross things you arent prepared to address yet

[@Ghandii]

the "no hand holding" thing has always been weird to me everytime that i didnt know what to do in a game no matter how good the game is automatically turns it from a 9/10 to a 3/10 and all of a sudden i dont wanna play it

[@Zantsmith]

Just hearing there's still years of development left makes me add realizing we probably won't see this till 2030. And by then it'll be outdated

[@Hat_Uncle]

Good constructive criticism with a long term solution presented. Nice.

[@xenith_terrek]

Lol that players reaction--he acts that way because it drives views. I DO AGREE the starter area/tutorials need to be fleshed out. I'm sure they'll come after the network/stability testing

[@ralith844]

i feel like changing up some of the names of systems would help too. Imo "node" tells me nothing if i didn't already look up what a node is, i feel like there can be a better name to convey "this is a preset city" other than node. City center maybe? Territory point? something like that would be better if this is gonna be a core system players need to care about and able to understand fairly quickly

[@georg1994]

Even for people who followed the game for a while the starting experience has been quite confusing i feel like

[@darksinge]

[2:39] That was actually a really great breakdown.

[@maximilianwallner2142]

Not to mention the banger song in the background!

[@jonathansmith841]

I fully agree. Focus on combat early on, slowly introduce other systems

[@WeaselSpanzor]

Soda? Confused by a video game? Color me shocked

[@OtterPirate]

He said he visited the ember spring then had to find an official, and was confused about it. YOU GET THE QUEST TO VISIT THE LION HOLD EMBERSPRING FROM AN OFFICIAL, READ MAN, READ

[@jstawch2608]

Sodapoppin gives the example of exactly what i hope this game weeds out. These impatient ADHD players that need to progress at light speed, never actually figure anything out and have every quest indicator on your map so you just click all the quests, go to the indicated spot on your map, do remedial task, repeat. F that, make people figure shit out.

[@Cimarb]

I hate the term "hand holding". Making clear instructions and teaching people how to play your game is NOT "hand holding". When your kid needs to change a tire, do you show them how to do it, or do you just throw the tire iron at them and say "figure it out"?...

[@cheeseionyt8660]

But you're not a kid and you have so many people around you who you can talk to. This doesn't mean I disagree with tutorials but it's really hard For tutorials I think you should do like X4 Foundations have done but that's just how I like it

[@johnhill762]

Agreed. Basic information needed to play a game is just part of the gaming experience. Hand holding is more... when the designers literally have you running from area to area with giant arrows pointing the way. So yeah, playing a game with a manual is not "hand holding". It's necessary info needed to actually PLAY the game effectively. To understand its systems. Hand holding is when objectives and other feats are essentially put on a platter for you, with less work involved. So basic info about the game is one thing; telling you how to actually achieve things in the game is another. They are NOT the same thing.

[@Ensyd]

Tell me you haven’t played Dark Souls without telling me you haven’t played dark souls.

[@johnhill762]

@@cheeseionyt8660 "You're not a kid, you can talk to a lot of people" You're missing the point. The point is that instructions are a basic part of a game (no matter how many people you can ask for this info). Therefore, it should be in the game regardless of other ways of getting this information. And a person's age has nothing to do with anything.

[@Zaneirth]

@@Ensyd this isn't dark souls tho is it.

[@MrPoyoshi]

Repeat after me: This is the first version of the Alpha that serves to test Server stability! Then take a chill pill.

[@winter197]

maybe add an optional one at the start so try Hards can just skip and newer, slower players can do? weird Comparision but StarBase had like a tutorial area were you at any time, if you were confused on how to do something you knew where to go to get a walk though at any time. also edit great video btw

[@fyrestorme]

This is not the starting or new player experience btw. This is alpha 2 phase 1.. I feel like some people are already forgetting that key detail. But so there's no confusion about my position, I do agree that the game needs to be a lot better than this at teaching/guiding new players.. AT LAUNCH.

[@tyisamess]

It’s an alpha most people playing are hardcore mmo players. I don’t think the new player experience is a top priority at this point. As people for help if you need assistance. It’s a social mmo.

[@stephenswinehart]

The rage-filled tantrum about a game in alpha is weird af. But then again paid access to an alpha is also weird af.

[@adam-l1x8r]

Narc you yourself said this years ago and I think Steven said this game isn't gonna be for everybody. The fact that it's PVX is gonna turn alot of carebears away, Just look at Sodas name for his toon says it all.

[@MartinaBabic-es6bz]

lik je zlato 🤣🤣🤣 dobro im je ukazao na veliki problem, nigdje ništa objašnjeno pa se ti snalazi...to je loša odluka. Vidiš Narc da možeš i na lijep način ukazati na određene probleme, ne trebaš se ponašati ko neko razmaženo djete koje je zaostalo u odrastanju. Dobar video 👍

[@Cetun79]

Honestly Ashes fucked that up. Here should have been a HUGE disclaimer as soon as you open the game. "THIS IS A ALPHA BUILD it is for testing only and does not represent anything near a finished game". I mean the preached that in the Streams over and over. Problem is here are still People who never watched the Streams and now are going in Ashes expecting a Game that just is not here yet.

[@steve_hu]

Yea I played 20 minutes then decided to just wait for the beta... Probably the best decision of my life.

[@michealfutch7819]

I'm pretty sure they'll be adding more tutorials into game, as it becomes more polished. Just one time, full stop do these actions, and there you go. I imagine the class and weapons will be an ongoing thru out leveling tutorial. But the other stuff should be along the quest. Movement, blocking, dodging, exit portal, boss mechanics, escort to node, escort mechanics, node mechanics, go to townhall, political mechanics, go to guild hall, guild mechanics, once you get to pvp area, pvp mechanics. Shouldn't be too hard to incorporate all this into a storyline.

[@ПавлоКравчук-с8й]

Obligatory "shitty" take: don't buy the alpha if you don't follow the game tl;dr - casuals shouldn't buy a 250$/120$ alpha access to a game they know nothing about, but Intrepid do need to address starting experience before launch, for now it's not critical Now, for the actual comment - great video. Very valid criticism of a poor starting experience - I followed the dev streams before, and still was getting lost at the start, mostly because quest markers were either bugged or not showing where the crafting stations or NPCs to turn the quests to are, but that 1/10 of the problems an actual new player would experience when starting However, it's something for Interpid to tackle later - it's a smart choice to not waste dev time on crafting the actual new player experience, since "new players" of the alpha have shilled at least 100$ to play the game, half of them can probably recite the AoC wiki in their sleep

[@krashsx]

I wonder if narc is able to be self critical enough to realize he should apologize for how aggressively negative he was prior to access. Cause now he has hands on and is actually able to communicate w/o a literal meltdown every few seconds.

[@maysenvincent1411]

I agree the starting experience needs an overhall.

[@Monkeypuzzle]

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I was really taken aback by the clip of Sodapoppin. I’ve never watched him, but dude has serious anger issues. It’s one thing to be frustrated or confused, but that’s a lot of over the top yelling and f-bombing for someone sitting comfortably at home playing a frickin game.

[@erismo2138]

All he had to do was read what was on the screen in front of him. Ask in global. Ask his own chat. Ask his creator friends. Join a group. Press M to open the Map and look at the legend for the icons. This was a toddler tantrum, 100% beginning to end. PS This man paid $200 to test a game he knew nothing about then got mad at THE DEVELOPERS because he knew nothing about it. What a dipshit.

[@anaximanderification]

Starting over in the other world and choosing your background and starting weapons would be great besides just a tutorial, but that might be when they add instancing in the world, tutorials when you have 5000 people around are not fun.

[@ZenPaladin]

Maybe a Verapedia that is in the game or even accessible through in game books or libraries. Not a true tutorial but an in game resource where you can go and learn. Or you could just ask other players but I know that's not as reliable as it could/should be.

[@erismo2138]

He wouldn't have read it

[@definitelynotadam]

This is why public access to alpha, without any basic vetting, is a bad idea. Nothing new here.

[@songdemon]

Totally agree that the normies who haven't been following the development will get lost. But it is a social mmo theyre people all around to answer questions. Maybe having a part of the menu have tooltip or something to pull up to read would be good but i feel that figuring things out in this new world is half the fun

[@Ozzmosisbonez]

I think giving players the ability to be mayor is a very BAD idea. it will turn into streamers and their sciophants just flexing on other people who dont dance to the beat of their drum. Its going to cause a shitshow. You included Narc

[@danialmoser2573]

NARC! my HOT TAKE: Consider my Orange flag PvP status. This is an "I won't attack you but will defend myself status". No flag change is required if you attack me. Also no corruption for either if you attack me. If I attack a green while orange, I receive max corruption immediately regardless. To make this work, AoE should not hit green unflagged players. ALL SQUADS and RAIDS should be in same pvp status. These fixes stop all baiting with green flag players. It stops easy kills when pvp players attack non pvp players that cant return fire until they change to pvp. ALSO, pvp should be required to loot bodies.

[@exciting-burp]

I think having a document outlining how to engage with the game would have been a good thing - but the struggle is a good source of feedback also. Thanks to the likes of Battlefield/EA/Ubisoft/etc, people don't understand what a beta - let alone *alpha* - is. You can't have it both ways, extremely early insight and power in the development process, and a mostly polished experience. Never has the saying "more money than brains" rung truer, if you aren't equipped to handle an alpha then don't buy into one. I'm a beta backer for that reason - so that most content (especially NPE) is ready. Pirate Gaming has a much more sane demeanor to this, especially as someone who is familiar with MMO development. Soda seems like a clown who keeps hitting himself.

[@YommiOfficial]

When you say that not telling everyone exactly where to go and what to do is gatekeeping their fun, what about the hardcore MMO audience (this game's target audience) who thinks this lack of information is fun? Is that not gatekeeping our fun? Just a thought.

[@imSkrap]

are you not able to run in this game? also do mounts not have a running feature? the game seems weirdly slow and not very friendly to small groups (1-3 people)

[@erismo2138]

Yes you can run. The game is quite fun with a group of 3 people. 1 is not a group and 2 is a duo. It's a hard game and therefore it's easier with help. Easy games are easy solo. This is not a solo game and that was not hidden from anyone (except Soda who paid to test this without reading a single fucking word about the game). Your old nag crappy mount (according to the stablehand--although on hover it just says "Horse" not old nag) that they give you for free at 1st level is slow. That horse used to be fast but they slowed it down because they want people to pursue Artisan made horses. Allegedly they are improving the base horse mount soon. But again, they don't want you using that, they want you getting an Animal Husband mount from a player in the economy.

[@Torozor]

Great video Narc, been loving the content.

[@jollyscarecrow]

Typical retail WoW player. I've never liked him. But, unfortunately that is the norm these days. Its not like how it was back in the UO days where you're dropped in and you have to find out things for yourself.

[@RealNomadicus]

ITS! IN! ALPHA!!!

[@Liuvar]

2077, next gen game redefined.

[@Artorius777]

This is more complicated from Black Desert

[@AngraMMO]

Intrepid does need to be a bit more thoughtful when tackling the New Player Experience. I've spent a solid 20 minutes trying to find the lumbermill during the tutorial on friday 😅

[@erismo2138]

Or you could spend 60 seconds asking in chat. Also once you understand that the stack of lumber is the lumbermill the whole crafting iconography likely falls into place. As far as the main map goes that this guy was freaking out about, if you just hit M there is a legend for those icons. Like wtf does this guy's life look like? Is his car in the pound because he just gave up on the parking meter? Never flown because the check in process is to opaque? Never kept a girlfriend because you have to pay attention to those to figure out their wants and needs? And there's no way this guy owns a cat. Not a happy one, anyway. He's a dog man. That dog loves you and you do absolutely NOTHING to earn it. Perfect.

[@Wholesome_Fries]

What happen was ppl didn't vote for him

[@fullmetalathlete]

Yeah i 100% agree that the new player experience and the beginning of the starting msq is absolutely crucial to retaining players. The success of the revamp of the starting experience vs how it used to be in New World imo is a great example of the importance. I think having some very clear structured explanations of mechanics in the first 5-10 levels is very necessary for a game of this size.

[@Davivd2]

This was funny. Narc is right about all of this. But what I find funny was that this streamer was losing his shit because he hit a roadblock that stopped him from consuming the game as fast as possible like a ravenous locust. He's a WoW refugee, trying to play an old school RPG. I kind of want the lack of hand holding to filter these players away from Ashes if I'm being honest. Otherwise they will be non stop on the forums: "Wah, it's not fast enough. Fukin GO GO GO GO!!!" RPG's were supposed to be for the slow paced gamer. Not the GO GO kids.

[@blahblahgdp]

You dont want AoC to be like POE. Please dont require the game to be played half outside the game.

[@ifreshplays]

hes a experienced MMO player if he doesnt understand what to do. how ion earth can that not been seen as a major issue.

[@erismo2138]

It's not because the game is not made for WoW players who jump into an alpha test paying $200 without knowing anything about it who refused to hit "M" or read anything on the screen right in front of them. THANK GOD

[@Servtar]

Personally soda should have not reacted that way cause they literally released a guide to alpha 2 that explained the icons and what they meant. Two. I do believe he played tbc when there was no in game quest helper to point out where you need to go. There were add ons that handled that that he most likely used and let’s not forget vanilla wow didn’t explain a whole lot they just offered tips that would pop up at some point when you ran across something new. So for soda to react like that is in all honestly exactly what it looked like. Childish. If he read the guide a lot of what he was dealing with would have been handled.

[@ivoivic2448]

he was in diapers when tbc rolled out...

[@adhenyx]

I would love to do onboarding in sanctus and then you can skip it and jump in or follow along and learn

[@MatthewKristenReeves]

Try playing Everquest when it first came out. There was no help at all. We had to rely on forums to read up on quests. People now are such care bears.

[@brentsyog8274]

Times have changed. If you want a player base to stay, make them want to play instead of them struggling to do basic task in game

[@erismo2138]

A care bear is something else, I have some respect for those. This guy is a baby throwing a tantrum.

[@erismo2138]

They made this game specifically BECAUSE the playerbase changed and they made it for the OTHER playerbase, the one which didn't.

[@Indrycho]

this is beneficial to amount of playerbase and games popularity, but still I don't want to have sodapopin type players in Vera :P If they die they die. and also I do not want to to that ton every new character, but that at least is doable, through some simple quest/dialogue selection. (haha!, like written only in wiki way, like throw out every food from inventory when tutorial starts and run naked through portal as trigger for skipping tutorial, or other ways like how Bloodborne DLC is triggered :P)

[@tcr7436]

This game is so going to bomb. Esp for the new gen. Not enough old gen players to keep it going.

[@YoshisSupport]

i am on the big big fix the stater experience early, dont turn into a game that never updates it

[@Iyetube]

Think people can learn about most stuff through discovery and social. Map icons and quest paths need optimisation... that is why Sodapoppin is confused. I play League of legends (rip me) where you learn through playing and external sources. AoC shouldn't spoon-feed everything to the player but certainly flush out the core player ui not to frustrate the users.

[@jacobwebb5371]

So do you want a good mmo or a massively popular mmo?!genuinely can’t tell with your feedback. Your entire scope is built on a pve- story centric mmo… this was never going to be that

[@bits360wastaken]

1: Good mmos are massively popular mmos. If they are good people play them. 2: Asking for a basic tutorial to a feature that has an entire research paper worth of stuff players are supposed to just... figure out has nothing to do with "a pve- story centric mmo", this is literally just asking for basic instructions on how to play the damn game.

[@Rglezy]

I don't want to be handheld but the game just lacks basic features. The objectives tracker is lacking.

[@Skwisgar86]

Regardless of whether or not the guy was right he comes off as just an immature, whiny, baby who doesn't understand the concept of an alpha.

[@Turk3y89]

Dude seems like he needs some help in the emotional/mental maturity department. Getting that mad and frustrated over a game is wild.

[@kengxi]

Quests do need better direction and I'm sure it will improve. Hopefully not super hand holdy like WoW. But this is not the point of Alpha 2 phase 1 AT ALL. There are so many creators that came into this expecting a near full game like wtf.

[@Tobuay]

IMHO, Soda needs to chill. It's an Alpha 2. He's bitchin' like it a release day game.

[@ohihassan693]

6:09 well that sanctus idea is good but nods and related mechanics are not present there and they are in vera according to the story. Does that mean they would have to build a nod and related mechanics all in that santus before going through portal as a simulation for the real story? Cus what we do in vera we do it cus we are coming back to rebuild it and sanctus is not like an abandoned vera. So I don't know how it can be done story wise cus it doesn't match. A better thing would be to divide tutorial into two parts, initial and basic mechanics tutorial before sanctus and tutorial related to how to survive and do necessary activities in vera be taught after the portal in and around the starting area.

[@coldsliceofbread]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmbKmpaVmplpZsk Gonna be honest. I'm out. Not playing a game that becomes a second job. That shit is insane. They need to dumb that down a TON. Why. Why do games feel the need to provide 8 fucking talent trees. I miss TBC Talent Trees in WoW. No weird Diablo esk situation where you have 1000 passives to pick from.

[@erismo2138]

Literally this game was not made that way on purpose. They won't be dumbing it down. There are at least 1 million people who crave a game like this and they made it for them. Old school MMORPGs are second jobs. They can be played casually, like any game. But that's not who they attract. This game does require you to read things. Things on your screen right in front of you. Horrifying.

[@rainel.6807]

There was some tips on left edge, at least on my game.. Also don't like games that throw info tips middle of screen while i'm fighting etc.

[@CalebSenobi]

This game seems really fuckin cool but 120 for early access is a lil crazy to me