Is Ashes of Creation good?

[@TheQuellentine]

Thank you for the content! I am an Ashes fan and truly hope the best outcome for the game. Testing is wonderful because you get to be a part of making that happen. The passion and commitment from the developers is very encouraging.

[@BlandPickle]

No worries! Thanks for watching. I really enjoy this game and I see a large amount of potential. Lots to be fixed but testing is where the polish comes as you suggest. These deep dives also allow me to question and check if things are working, because if we find deeper issues in their system under the surface we can report and get that stuff fixed to avoid exploits.

[@J4MB4]

It is a test environment. We are testing bugs at a fundamental level. So much fun to help with this.

[@BlandPickle]

Man I’m loving it. I’m level 15.95 atm and I’ve soloed most of it as a cleric. Hunting loot, gathering doing some basic quests - so very enjoyable!

[@pedrodavid517]

keep it up with the videos, got this recommended randomly since i consume anything about mmos i clicked and it was a good surprise!

[@BlandPickle]

thank you for the kind comment! nice to hear that, genuinely

[@bjni]

ashes of creation is amazing, social sandbox players are eating GOOOOOD

[@BlandPickle]

I’m very obsessed with it. To the point that I haven’t touched POE2 over the holiday season. Once the servers go to 5day model I’ll probably pick poe2 back up but while we have it 24/7 I’m blasting my cleric to 20 as quickly as possible

[@Avalonic]

The issue is people paying 110$. Paying that much for a game deserves what ever type of comments good or bad.

[@BlandPickle]

Yep absolutely and they’re open to player feedback. We are on there to help them polish and fix their issues. But that 110$ gets you 2 years of access into a game before launch to contribute to it. compare that to a wow sub which costs 230$ a year… yes WoW is far more established but the point remains the money works out to be about 3 dollars a month given launch isn’t for two years. The reality is if you can’t justify the purchase my recommendation is wait until it launches and make your mind up then :)

[@BlownBudgetGarage]

I already have 30+ hours of play time in alpha 2 over the last 3 days. Here’s my takeaways: AoC will be damn near perfect. Right now it’s REALLY good only being in alpha. It’s much more fun if you join a guild with an active discord (imo).

[@BlandPickle]

Right now is a great time to be in the alpha for those not hesitant to pay the entry. Guild play is great too but I like solo play due to my weird and wild gaming timeslots haha

[@XeegCreates]

I’m loving the game man. Only thing I have a major problem with right now is the lag in the main contested spots. I want to go contest there but I can’t because of the lag

[@BlandPickle]

The networking they’ve got for this game is fascinating. On the one hand I can connect to an NA server from Australia and play comfortably, on the other their worker server network seems to be challenged leading to rubber banding and gameplay struggles. I hear you! Hope they refine that out as the game develops

[@XeegCreates]

@ yeah it sounds like specific “server workers” are having problems. Day of wipe was a disaster. Couldn’t do church because of the lag, or highwayman hills. I would have loved to contest those areas with my group.

[@BlandPickle]

I think the worker severs are getting worse. Was in steel bloom today and my god the spawning was all over shop. They had to switch our SW13 to SW12 to settle the operation. Hopefully kinks they sort out before launch 🤣

[@voice--less3817]

I'm pretty sure you have to be a citizen to get that node buff

[@BlandPickle]

If you switch zones of influence between nodes, you'll see separate buffs transition on your buff bar under your HP. it's not citizen specific :)

[@lescargo1159]

Ça fait plus de 10 ans que je back pour des mmo en alpha, et absolument tout les jeux n'ont jamais vraiment abouti. Au mieux ils sont des jeux de niches. Il faut vraiment qu'on arrête de donner notre argent à des studios qui ne le méritent pas. Les studios et les investisseurs devraient s'engager un peu plus et nous vendre des jeux qui sont au moins en état de beta. C'est dingue qu'on nous demande plus d'une centaine de dollars pour faire le travail d'alpha testing, a l'époque nous étions payés pour tester des jeux, aujourd'hui nous devons payer pour les tester. On se fait arnaquer et personne ne semble le comprendre 😢

[@BlandPickle]

Désolé, j'ai dû utiliser Google Translate pour comprendre ce que vous avez écrit, donc mon message de retour n'est peut-être pas parfait. Je comprends le sentiment de payer pour un gameplay qui n'est pas peaufiné. L'idée derrière Intrepid est de permettre à la communauté de fournir des commentaires pour peaufiner le jeu. Ce n'est pas un jeu d'édition AAA ; ils n'ont pas d'actifs et d'expérience existants sur lesquels s'appuyer, donc l'opportunité pour nous de fournir des commentaires est bonne. Le fait est que l'hébergement de ces serveurs et le développement du jeu coûtent de l'argent, et même si Steven finance une grande partie des coûts, un certain retour sur investissement est nécessaire. Les prix Kickstarter étaient exorbitants et le studio y a réfléchi et les a ajustés. Oui, 120 $ US, c'est élevé, mais cela vous donne accès à ce qui se passe avant le lancement et à la possibilité d'investir dans le jeu pendant 2 ans de développement grâce aux commentaires de la communauté. Si vous y pensez de cette façon, WoW coûte 18,99 $ par mois ; sur un an, cela fait 227 $ par an - donc 120 $ semble faisable. Je comprends qu’il manque un peu de raffinement, mais c’est ce qu’est un véritable Alpha.

[@lescargo1159]

​@@BlandPickle Pas de problèmes pour la traduction, tu peux même me répondre en anglais je comprendrais sans problème, c'est juste plus simple pour moi d'aborder des sujets complexes en utilisant ma langue maternelle x) c'est plus confortable pour moi mais je lis très bien l'anglais si cela peut t'éviter de devoir répondre en français ! Pour revenir au sujet, le vrai problème n'est pas tellement de payer pour participer à une alpha. Je le fais depuis des années et je m'y suis habitué. Non, le vrai problème c'est que ce modèle économique de financement participatif fait que la plupart des jeux n'aboutissent jamais ou alors ils n'ont pas le succès qu'ils auraient pu avoir si leurs modèles de développement avaient été différents. Quand un éditeur annonce un nouveau mmo en alpha, il y a une hype autour du jeu, et un développement qui s'en suit. Mais cela prend beaucoup de temps, souvent des dizaines d'années pour arriver à un jeu abouti et poli. Ce sont 10 années de développement ou la hype des joueurs retombe. Et au final même si 10 ans après le jeu est bon, et bien il n'y a pas assez de joueurs dessus parce que les gens sont déjà passés à autre chose depuis longtemps, et du coup c'est vraiment dommage. Fondamentalement, le problème est que de nos jours les investisseurs ne veulent plus prendre aucuns risques, ils ne veulent plus parier sur des petits studios (comme intrepid ou autres) Du coup tout ces studios choisissent le financement participatif pour pouvoir se financer mais aussi garder une certaine forme de liberté que les investisseurs avide d'argent ne leurs permettent pas. Parce que oui, les investisseurs imposent un cahier des charges désastreux qui brident la creativté et l'ingeniosité des studios, et même des plus gros studios ! C'est pour cette raison que même les gros studios sortent de mauvais jeux à l'heure actuelle. Bref, tout cela pour dire que dans un sens je comprend ton enthousiasme pour Ashes of Creation, je partage le même dans une moindre mesure mais depuis toutes ces années ou j'ai back pour tout un tas de mmo qui n'ont pas abouti, voir pire, qui se sont avérés être de vrais scam (Chronicles of Elyria, Camelot Unchained etc) Je suis maintenant beaucoup plus méfiant quand un éditeur annonce un jeu en alpha, tu comprends ?

[@BlandPickle]

I completely understand, and while I'm super enthusiastic about the game, I always hold a small amount of reservation in case it turns into a flop. Having seen games come to market through crowdfunding, many of the ones you mentioned, but many more too (need we mention the day before - yuck). I totally understand your sentiment, and there's nothing wrong with feeling that way about Ashes, given the historic graveyard of scams and failed crowdfunded projects. I want to remain hopeful for the reasons mentioned in the video and a few more. But like you I hold a small amount of reservations given the lessons of our past.

[@lescargo1159]

@@BlandPickle Wise :)

[@BlandPickle]

It was nice chatting! Thanks for sharing your thoughts

[@arminfetahovic7187]

Can please add time marks on video ❤️

[@BlandPickle]

Maybe, I’ll think about it :P nah good suggestion, I’ll look into it

[@OnigoroshiZero]

Ashes of Creation will never finish.

[@BlandPickle]

I really hope it doesn’t star citizen and while that’s a possibility I hold hope that we get a full launch no longer than 3 years. Famous last words maybe 😅😅

[@LordDudeious]

Is it worth it? It's an alpha, after all. The current state depends heavily on perception. Paying $110 for an alpha, knowing everything will be wiped-I'm not so sure. Sure, it's aiming to be the perfect sandbox, blending elements of DAOC and other classics. But with my rig-a 4090, 64 GB of 6000 MHz RAM, a 7950X CPU, fully overclocked and refrigerated-it's not about whether it can run well. The real issue is this: I'm paying them to test their game, find their errors, and essentially do their job for them. Meanwhile, they'll profit, while we-the players-spend time bug hunting and reporting issues. Honestly, it's frustrating and feels a bit insulting. Shouldn't they pay us for doing their work? Don't talk about actually working to get what you want. When even the development team doesn't work to get what they want, they expect us to do that for them.

[@LordDudeious]

True excellence means delivering a product that's flawless from the start-if your customers are doing the testing, you're not just outsourcing responsibility; you're forcing them to pay for the privilege of fixing your mistakes. And honestly that's just fucking insulting.

[@LordDudeious]

Anything worth doing's worth doing right? The first time.

[@SlugmaChops]

I got it. Ive been playing it. I've been having a lot of fun surprisingly. Yeah I'm testing which should be their job, but theyre not the first ones to do this. I can give them a little bit of a pass that they are publishing themselves and all were doing is making the development of the game come faster with testing out the bugs that could've taken them a while to find as if they have all 300 employees testing versus thousands of people testing for entire days it's beneficial. 120, 110, and 100 for access to testing is pretty steep I was very hesitant to do so but I had a few friends get it so I decided to join them, and I dont regret it. I wouldn't recommend someone to get it just because of the price point for an alpha test, but it doesn't mean it won't be worth it in the long run. It runs way better than I thought it would, but its still clearly an alpha. If you're interested in testing the game and giving feedback to potentially contribute to the game getting better then that's when you would get the alpha, but if you're looking for an mmo to play then buying alpha access is not the way to go possibly wait for beta or release if that's what matters most.

[@LordDudeious]

@SlugmaChops I've never been a fan of, nor have I agreed with, the idea of paying to be a beta tester for a game. I’ve felt this way since the early days of video games, decades ago. Back then, testers were rewarded for their time and effort. Now, people are actually paying to beta test games, and that’s wrong on so many levels. It’s no wonder why the quality of games has declined. Paying to alpha? Yeah, fuck that. Better be some rewards in there, far beyond skins or flair. For my profile... that whole ego trend of "I've got this because I Tested" bs... FT...

[@SlugmaChops]

@LordDudeious the quality of games is due to lack of testing or being forced to release early because of corporate publishers and because they know they can get away with it. People have paid to beta test since the 90s and even minecraft for example had 1 million copies sold while still in alpha. It's a matter of opinion you think it's wrong and thats fine don't get alpha access. I'm just letting you know what I think as someone who did get alpha access. I know what I'm signing up for and I know where my money is going if I didn't or didn't want to I wouldn't have done it just like you are now by not giving them money for it. But I want the game to succeed and the fact they don't have a massive corporation behind them that can get more funding kr other products that can bring in more money for them then I think it can slide for now at least.

[@ClutchPwnageTv]

Keep working on your delivery and try to get to the point faster. I like how in depth you are, but you shouldn't have to spend 4 minutes explaining what an "Alpha" means to your audience, etc. You could cut this video in half and keep most of the content if you trust your audience's intelligence level a bit more.

[@BlandPickle]

Thanks for the comment, I wrote down a bunch of notes on reviewing my video last night and this was the key dot point. Brevity. Will work on that for sure!!

[@supermercado6848]

@@BlandPickle I disagree, especially when it comes to explaining Alpha. Marketing for video games has changes "alpha" to mean early release. Alpha is NOT early release and will destroy the game if people go into thinking it's a semi finished product. Is this game playable? Absolutely, but it's missing a hell of a lot of things. The road maps look super exciting.

[@BlandPickle]

@@supermercado6848 I’m very excited for the roadmap and future. There’s still a lot of space for fk ups too as I mentioned in my video. I’m torn between being detailed and not insulting people’s intelligence in terms of the brevity point. I appreciate your input bud! Need to strike the right balance! Thanks for hanging out in stream with me tonight too ❤️

[@einer1314]

Sorry man, but the biggest problem is the design of the game having such a large landmass. The game will feel barren. It needs to be smaller and have big dangerous dungeons, not a huge over world. Enjoy your weekend,

[@BlandPickle]

No apologies required. I find your point fair, and I can appreciate it. Steven’s own words were he didn’t want to build a theme park, but he doesn’t want it to be a pure sandbox (like Valhalla) so he’s aiming for a Sandpark (somewhere in between) Open spaces with lots to discover. The dungeons in Ashes are large and scary af, but they’re open world, not instanced. I think the part that needs polish is the “things to discover.” Phase two will be adding lots of new content through to May so I’ll be interested to see what more comes. Until then, we test for bugs and run across open maps. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts.

[@einer1314]

@@BlandPickle Cool to hear about the dungeons being dangerous. I'm all for open world ones as well. Have fun,

[@BlandPickle]

o7

[@Satamapiiri1]

the main Issue is the Asian market. We know that in Asia there is time limit they can play in a day so that's why there is demand for lvl boosters and gold shops. But is Intrepid to leave Asian market out time will tell...

[@BlandPickle]

That's a fair point-I didn't think of that. I think there will be gold farming and RTS, but Intripid has quite a hard stance on them. Steven has been super clear that there will never be pay-to-win. If he switches on that, this game likely dies. Time will definitely tell.

[@XeegCreates]

@@BlandPickle his whole purpose of making the game was because pay to win ruined his favourite game. I feel pretty confident that Intrepid places this among their highest design goals.

[@BlandPickle]

Yep 100% lineage 2 and arch age died for egregious pay to win. I hope it never comes and they never flip on it

[@Tialian]

Sub and microtransactions? Might as well just play WoW then. The whole point is to get away from that kind of crap.

[@BlandPickle]

The MTX is cosmetic only. No leveling boosts, no box price, no xp speed up scrolls etc. tbh it’s far more appealing compared to what retail is doing. Appreciate your view on it however. Games like this need to make money to survive though.

[@Tialian]

@BlandPickle doesn't matter unless you can also earn that content in-game. Microtransactions otherwise water down the game and break immersion.

[@BlandPickle]

I'm struggling with this point, to be honest; cosmetics being purchasable doesn't water anything down; it gives alternative options. Each bit of loot is designed with the different 'ragdolls', as Steven calls them, in mind. So if you are a Durin and you find ashen armour, that ashen armour will tailor itself to your race, and everyone will get cool and different-looking armour that matches their race. Being able to buy a skin over that for players who want more doesn't seem that problematic as an option. To that end, buying mount skins rather than mounts, which give you more speed or whatever other games do, also feels more in the right direction than just flat buying a mount at max speed. You earn and work for the mount. You can add skins to it... No different to buying a stock car and puting some decals on it... Above all else, Steven has been super clear that big glowy weapons and sweeping theme park armour won't be in the game. It'll just be alternatives that keep to the theme and style of the game. He used the term "it would be more ornate and intricate." Not sure if my point helps at all, but I felt it fair to try and clarify a bit more with these points.

[@Tialian]

@@BlandPickle I wonder what the ratio of skins earnable will be vs what you can buy. Ultimately it doesn't matter if there will always be a skin that requires a separate purchase. If they need to charge more for the "full" experience then they should, or at least have the option.

[@BlandPickle]

I’m agreeable to that idea - I’m unsure how it will pan out but I’m watching their monetisation plans closely. We’ve heard plans so many times for companies to backflip on us and become egregious in their financial expectations. As I said in my video there’s still plenty of hurdles for intrepid to jump until release. Appreciate that we could discuss this!