Ashes of Creation | First Impressions

[@LuckyGhost]

Team up NOW in Tarisland New season Blight Dragon Elegy: click.fan/Tarisland_LuckyGhostS1 Thanks for watching!

[@hawaiicarl9854]

Is ANY alpha worth paying for to get into?

[@FinnDeJong]

@@hawaiicarl9854 No unless, you actually know what an alpha is and are willing to participate in it.

[@hawaiicarl9854]

@@FinnDeJong Yes I am aware of what an alpha is. I have never heard of anyone paying to play test it for a company. Let alone 120-250 dollars to perform the function of a game tester for the company. Next thing you know McDonalds will make people pay to serve food to customers.

[@jonathanhughes8679]

So you can at least see where the game is headed.. what about the duel classes.

[@kennethferland5579]

What you gain with removing fast travel is that you KNOW YOUR NEIBHORS, that group your with is going to be based in a location and your going to playing with them regularly.

[@jatocato]

It why i enjoyed early days of New World prior to server merges and what not. For the most part we knew the same people in the server. We knew the highest level player in it, we knew the guilds, we knew the most active chatters. Then the merges happened and, everything got messed up.

[@sliceofheaven3026]

If traveling lasts more than 15 minutes...the people with less time to play the game will have a harder time to enjoy the actual content of the game since they need to spend some of it traveling around. And there wont be that many people around in the starting zones since most people will be in other areas after a few weeks. This will leaver the new players to mostly adventure on their own in potentially somewhat empty zones.

[@xefiporhouseofzen8383]

You also remove the ability for the ZERG to be able to zap an army anywhere on the map. This is needed for an open world pvp game.

[@kfarbarata]

I like fast travel to places where u've already been. U need to reach there at least... U dont need to put that many, at least some nodes will have it

[@kfarbarata]

@@sliceofheaven3026 to bring ppl to the start areas is always painfull in games. Some Mmos did that by putting dungeons near start points that u need to go there everyday (or that the dungeons have like 3~4 floors that increase in difficulty.

[@CossuttaDario]

Hey! As an engineer I wanted to add a thought: when you want to test a sub-system or a part of it, you often turn off all the bells and whistles from other unfinished sub-systems (would introduce noise) and add tons of logging (which does introduce load). It's common practice and I guess many things have been turned off here. The real kicker is that mmorpg gamers are so deprived of a really good game, that will pay to be alpha testing (instead of being paid for it or at least doing it for free). Great review, Subscribed!

[@keldor8302]

Yeah, this stuff always blows my mind. As someone that has been a paid outsource tester for fifteen years. The idea that people are so impulsive and bad with their money. That they will pay any money to play an alpha (or even a beta). While I get paid to do it and even sent hardware sometimes. I just can't wrap my head around this. And it sucks that the industry has taken advantage of these people. By selling them testing "privileges." And a few companies even forgoing having real testers because of paid testing access. Just to make a quick cash grab on a failing game that they've already given up on. The whole thing hurts my head to process.

[@CossuttaDario]

@@keldor8302 any company will try monetising anything they can.. but atm I don't get the feeling that intrepid has given up on ashes, quite the contrary. Time will tell, fingers crossed. Actual testers cannot be replaced though.

[@Phrame1]

@@keldor8302 Most likely people are buying into it because they want to see the game succeed and helping to fund it and give feedback means a better chance at getting a game they like that no one else is really producing right now. Also $120 is not a lot of money to everyone.

[@kliersheed]

@@keldor8302 brainswashing and propaganda are a real thing and a majority of people absolutely underestimates at which level this is done. media, food/medical industry, opinion about countires with opposing interests, supression and exploitation of the plebs while keeping them addicted and "happy" with a daily fix of whatever (coffee, cigarets, alcohol, porn, sugar, flavor enhancers, social media shorts that swap between boring and shoostered clips for you to keep your endophine-levels maxed and make you want to keep scrolling,) psychological color conditioning, indirect pressure of simulated majority opinions, artificial social pressure (just think of corona), amazon ratings, botting, etc. etc.

[@jesperburns]

@@keldor8302 The idea of making the alpha so expensive was to disinsentivise casual onlookers to buy into it. But too many KZbinrs make their money out of exactly this content. Intrepid employs various paid testers and testing locations.

[@CHEFPKR]

Sounds weird... I LOVE that it is this slow. It's that old EQ vibe to me and it makes the journey worthwhile IF the world is good. I've spent 26 hours on my druid and she is only level 24, with a max of 60. Im so, so glad this is a slower leveling game.

[@fomo2933]

People just wanna rush to end game these days. Look at games like runescape, it's been around for more decades. you don't just max instantly. The whole levelling process is a journey.

[@menndoess9627]

I feel the same way. I made a comment about the fast travel to. I think classic wow does it right with flight points and hearths and having a class be able to summon. They’re making a massive immersive world, why bypass all that with fast travel. Not everything and every piece of content needs to be speed ran lol

[@davidfox326]

26 hours and already 24 seems fast compared to Pantheon and Embers Adrift.

[@eftultima]

That sounds boring af

[@Dreadina]

I agree, SLOW AND IMMERSIVE

[@Adrogans]

The lack of fast travel is one of the most important parts of the design of this game. I know it "feels" wrong at the surface but consider it in context of the endgame vision: 1. Caravans are (one of) the only ways to move mass amounts of materials around the world 2. When a node is sieged and loses, (some of) the resources there will be up for grabs for the victors; landowners will lose (some of) their stockpiled resources 3. Because of this, the politics around node warfare will have serious consequences 4. If we could fast travel, we could slowly move small amounts of resources from one place to another over time, thereby negating the need for caravans and circumventing one of the core mechanics of the open world PVP system There is NO WAY this game would work with fast travel, and that's a big part of the appeal. Your location MATTERS and isn't just an abstract annoyance en route to the real content. Getting around the world will be part of the adventure and doing so safely will require membership in a community. These are my 2 cents based on my current understanding of the vision.

[@LuckyGhost]

thanks for sharing your take on it in a well worded constructive manner! I can appreciate your point of view here

[@screwydrewy7027]

I’m ok with no fast travel I just want a variety of mounts and moving a little quicker

[@Adrogans]

@@screwydrewy7027 I suspect mounts will be sped up eventually as the game gets closer to launch. It’s way easier to speed the game up than slow it down without triggering a backlash so I think Intrepid is doing the right thing by starting slow.

[@KeruptR47]

didn't archage have resource moving like this and it killed the playerbase in like 2 years?

[@tyisamess]

I’ve had more fun playing this unfinished alpha mmo than I have in the last few years of other MMOs. I’m glad Ashes is giving us something different than the tired played out formula most MMOs have been giving us for the past several of years. I think if they add to this foundation and polish it. It will turn out great!

[@Yushaodo]

Agreed!

[@contortzz]

Also agree

[@saltybulldog3241]

lol found the toxic positivity guy. Saying that Ashes has anything new about it is laughable. Especially in it's current state.

[@user-yk6hv6hj3p]

@@saltybulldog3241 did you play it?

[@mortwycker]

Agreed

[@zizikavla132]

The first night of A2, we made a group of randoms, and as the group grew, we started wanting to find better challenges than the undead ruins. We found more group members and started heading west, killing stronger mobs, two and three times our level. The group bonded, everyone called each other with their actual character names, and a fellowship was born. We ended up being some of the first players reaching level 10, we explored the whole western map and we leveled up the first node in our server! I don't think a single one of us cared about reaching level 25 as fast as possible. The game is about grouping. The fun in MMOs is about grouping. F$*k the "endgame" Make some friends and play MMO's as they were always supposed to be played.

[@barsnack7999]

scam game, MLM scammer CEO

[@Seaners5]

@@barsnack7999 Can you elaborate on this? I don't know the history of the project. The streamer lost me with the "toxic positivity" stuff because it sounds like Zoomer-therapy-speak.

[@emmers1310]

@@Seaners5 Ehh Toxic Positivity has been a term that's been around for about 10 years I think, but I haven't heard it used in a long while. It's the opposite of a toxic person. Rather than being negative and unable to see the positive in things, they are so positive they can't acknowledge the negative. A fanboy of something is likely to have toxic positivity towards a company/product. Like they love a dresser they bought and will rave about it, but will refuse to acknowledge or see that being unable to open the drawers is a negative.

[@diamond_h0us]

The ease of grouping you’re describing at minute 20:00 is something Throne and Liberty has in my experience with it so far. Super easy to find groups in the open world dungeons, which as a concept is pretty smart.

[@mmomanny]

Yeah same just go in and get invited by everyone clearing the dungeons. Just type what contracts you need to finish and they will help you out.

[@freemanlee5655]

There are few things to make high level go back to lower zones, 1. collectable rare drops fun items, like pets cosmetic drops from trash mobs. Make them only drop if they roll back their level like FF14 when they group with lower levels. So the only way they get rare fun items is to grp with lower levels. 2. higher tier materials need lower level mats to make

[@shaluzar]

i would argue, that the most important reason for a player to stay in a certain zone is the node system. you want to contribute to your node and will automatically run by some new players or not as dedicated players. I guess with "lower zones" you mean a lower rank node? Another reason to stay there are gathering professions, which will help populating less hard areas (depending what materials will be needed for the whole crafting process).

[@harkonan5913]

In a full pvp game, this is not necessarily a good thing.

[@shaluzar]

@@harkonan5913 you're right about that. But intrepid hast to decide whats more important to them. I dont see a world where we can have both worlds

[@Willimann]

i think ur missing a critical piece here. Distance is *very* important for the node system to work. Fast travel would break it completly. AoC has that aspect in common with Eve Online. Nodes that are maxed out hinder nearby nodes from growth at a certain point. So players, in order to continue growing their nearby node, need to get rid of the maxed out node. They probably cant do it on their own because the maxed node is controlled by a large guild. So they need support. Who has to gain something from the fall of that note? A different maxed note further away. So thats where the support could come from. But if the note falls, all the players in the current max node could lose their home and revenue. So conflict naturally arises. Having fast travel, and in that case fast item transportation, completly throws the balance from defending and attacking out the window, and no one would be able to hold a node for a long time. Remember, peoples livelyhood is tied to a note, so not only large guilds have something to lose. Everyone in that node could lose all their shit or need to get it to another node, which is dangerous without protection. All this means that we need a world as large as planned in order for AoC to have the social sandbox experience come to life. If they can meet their set deadlines for content and fixes, this game has a great future. It all hinges on it.

[@LuckyGhost]

What you described sounds to me like a world where one guild wins and everyone else quits when they lose. Which I suppose wouldn't be surprising, that's what happened in every pvp mmo to release so far

[@Willimann]

@@LuckyGhost and that is what happened in eve, but well, not in AoC. A guild may control a city, but that doesnt mean only the guild can use it. you get punished for randomly murder hoboing players that are not flagged for pvp. Corruption is *very* nasty. That means Solo players and smaller guilds can absolutly play on these nodes. Then at some point the node cant support anymore players due to lack of resources, making other nodes more attractive. and that leads right back to growing other nodes and the rest is what i described in my first comment. This stops a large guild from taking over the entire server, but makes defending a part of the map from competitors much more possible and rewarding.

[@LuckyGhost]

@Willimann you assume pvp players will be ok with being the lovers on a server. I've never seen that be the case. It's going to take a lot more than this to retain the losing guilds for the long term, especially in a game where the stakes are this high for losing. Players dont hate anything as much as they hate losing progression

[@Willimann]

@@LuckyGhost and again, kinda missing the point here. No one is forced to engage in this loop. It just has good advantages to run a city, for your guild and others in the city. That makes it attractive, but also challenging, since ur not the only one looking to make it. Unlike Eve, where the only way to play is join the group with the biggest wallet and most players, you can do jack all in AoC. Dont like ur current node, travel a few hours and u can start right back up with whatever u were doing and not bother with the other node for all your future gametime. Distance is the key, and so is being able to do whatever you want whenever you want. Sometimes the games gonna tell you "maybe dont do this" and rip you to pieces, but that doesnt mean u cant go back there later and accomplish it. Or ask for some help from a group or guild. I like this game because everytime someone has an issue with the grander game design choices, it is possible to argue in favor of them. Some decisions in other games are just terrible. but i dont see that in AoC. Gameplay is obv still rough, but the approach that they are taking is everything i ever wanted from an mmo. Hope to god they dont die or make huge mistakes halfway.

[@LuckyGhost]

@@Willimann time will tell!

[@Phrame1]

I strongly agree they need to limit the scope for the initial launch of this game. The core gameplay is feeling solid, especially once they optimize the server performance and polish the graphics and character models a bit more. But if they insist on launching with every promised feature they might never make it to launch. The size of the Riverlands alone is already about the size of Throne & Liberty... it would definitely be feasible to launch with just the Riverlands, Tropics and Desert, maybe Jungle, then expand later. Also, I made a cameo in this video! I was the other Bard in the 8 man group :) Was fun playing with you!

[@LuckyGhost]

Hey! back at you!

[@barrywhite1770]

I had a ton of fun. Similar experience to you. Made a bard. Found groups and discord with them. Laggy/queues on NA server. I switched to EU server and there were no queues or lag. Best decision I made. This is exactly the kind of game I would like to invest time into.

[@spectual1224]

They planned for no fast travel. To give a more immersion feel. Also, to make the place you choose to lay roots be meaningful. But they will be having mounts, so that will probably be the way or a caravan. BDO's world is structure is like this and makes people live in the world. At least it used to. All the convenience changes just like other mmo's pretty much kills itself. So on that part I hope they make no fast travel unless like crossing continents or something.

[@ZimpotchiTV]

The bones are dope. Needs a lot of work. Good vid, I think it will finish.

[@LuckyGhost]

agreed!

[@InsomniaLightning]

Thank you! This is the best balanced review I have seen so far. You give an honest view of where the game is that and what a player can expect at this time and wish for the future.

[@Ashentz]

Hearing about a game that pushes you into grouping, is hard to solo, and is slow to level is perfect. This is exactly what I want and why eq and old mmos were ACTUALLY GOOD

[@philxx100]

you didnt even listen to the rest of the video did you... smh

[@Ashentz]

@@philxx100 smh smh smh

[@yaoiyaoiyaoiyaoi]

yeah and there's a reason why those "good" old mmos does not exist anymore lmao.

[@Ashentz]

@yaoiyaoiyaoiyaoi we're still playing them and if you weren't aware, ashes is being made for that kind of audience

[@yaoiyaoiyaoiyaoi]

@@Ashentz yeah, 20 of you 😂

[@baska-]

WoW is not the MMORPG I have played the most, not even close, but holy shit Classic WoW had top tier leveling experience, even with all its problems. The closer Ashes can get to the Classic WoW experience and improve on it, the better.

[@comq01]

yeah and what are you gonna do once you level once? twice? do it again ad infinitum? If this game just retrace wow's timeline of gamedesign its gonna be pretty funny

[@baska-]

@@comq01 your reading comprehension skills are incredible, keep it up man.

[@Deadlychuck84]

I saw someone point out that given you have full access and the game itself will be releasing as a subscription game. The price is basically just an upfront year of game time. When you consider that, it becomes less a question of if it's worth $120 and more a question of if in the next year (or more depending on how long the alphas actually end up taking) you will have gotten $120 worth out of it. Even if that means only coming back and playing every month or two.

[@dennispick]

No one should have to pay to test a game. Them charging for an alpha test basically says they are out of money and want to get as much as they can from the players. Alpha and beta testing was by invitation only or friends and family of the devs in the past and was completely voluntary. This business practice shouldn’t exist tbh.

[@deadjosh13]

From a studio that has no track record... asking for $120 to test a game is ballsy. Basically a sign of "We need more money". If any triple A game studio asked for this amount to test an Alpha? bro the internet would be all over that shit raging.

[@alejandrohayling8381]

@@Mik-hn7vh you are such an easy person to scam... how can you defend having to pay 120$ for alpha testing? Oh, you get a month sub, to what? a game that might be out in 3 years, or not, you are just spending money on promises and hope, that is a very easy way of losing money, and tbh, it really hurts the credibility of the company and it is not good for the gaming community, we should demand more for our money, you should be smarter.

[@Phrame1]

The problem is everyone is thinking about paying for access as if this were a fully released or even early access game, but it's not there yet. I backed Ashes during the kickstarter days and viewed it as an INVESTMENT in a project I wanted to see come to life, fully aware that as with any investment there was a risk I wouldn't ever see or play anything. At this point with the game being pretty well funded, I wouldn't advise paying for access to the Alpha.

[@Phrame1]

@@deadjosh13 They don't have the backing of Triple A studio investment so I can understand if they need more funding. My issue is more with the messaging. If they straight up said "development is taking longer than anticipated, so we need to do another round of funding for the game" that's one thing, but they're kind of shady about it so it comes across the wrong way

[@Guknowit]

Great honest review of the Alpha. Thanks for both the positive and negative feedback. YOU'RE doing and Alpha test right. I'll see you during the second wave.

[@danceplaylist3481]

Your sincere and thoughtful first impressions/observations on aspects of AoC are interesting, informative, and valuable to the conversations regarding AoC , I think. Well done and thank you.👍

[@LuckyGhost]

Appreciate that, thanks for watching!

[@Aciel_Yu]

I'm not defending its pricing nor trying to justify its price tag for them but what you did not cover is that the 120$ access key includes access to Alpha 2 (Phase 1,2,3), Beta 1, Beta 2, 1-month of subscription when the game releases, and some Ashes's Ember currency for its cosmetic shop. That's like 1-2 year worth of playing time, albeit the quality of the playing time is not there compared to most published games. But I can see the value there, plus you get to pitch in your ideas on how certain systems can be improved, and they have a good track record of listening to players' feedback so take that as you will.

[@aleksandardjorjdevic3452]

Man your a good sheep to shave . Baaaah more for this game that will never finish . 😂😂

[@Aciel_Yu]

@@aleksandardjorjdevic3452 Here is how I look at it. If the game does not finish, I'll go hiking as usual. I go out on a Friday night as usual. I go paddle board on sunny day as usual. I go fishing as usual. Makes no difference to my life if this game comes out or not. There are also other games to play so

[@leonardobertagnolli712]

120$ is two weeks worth of food, buddy. No game is worth that. Even more a unfinished 10y development game. This game is promising a LOT, an delivering nothing. As the other dude said, you are a good sheep to shave.

[@Mik-hn7vh]

@Aciel_Yu Totally agree, you pay 100-120$ for access for the next few years, not just now. And with time they will add more and more to the game. Nobody pushes you to buy it, only if you are interested in game it is good time spending for the next 2+ years of testing. And games are exist to have fun, so if you are feeling that it will bring you fun for the next few years of testing then it is definitely worth it!

[@Disiplyn]

​@@aleksandardjorjdevic3452 Dude mentions logical reasons on why it might be worth it for some people and even makes it clear by saying "take that as you will" and yall call him a sheep. Ok, makes sense

[@gregruppert2555]

It looks like this is a game for only really devoted players. I can appreciate that, but there is no way I can make that kind of commitment anymore.

[@user-yk6hv6hj3p]

I actually think there is plenty of room for casuals in this kind of game. Sure you won't be the mayor of a node, but you might eke out an existence by crafting or gathering or trading, and generally not caring so much about some sort of progression path like you would in a theme park game. You don't have to join some mad dash to max level. You just have to find a niche in the rich variety of systems that such a game is proposing to offer.

[@YourOnlyONEofcl]

Truth. Many of us no longer have the luxury to play a grinding and/or sandbox MMORPG.

[@Navefreamo]

@@YourOnlyONEofclAnd is that the reason why they shouldn’t make the game that they want?

[@Discojericho]

@@Navefreamo Yes! No one should make games that I don't personally have time to play. That is exactly what that person said. Don't you feel smart? For reading so deep between the lines that you figured out the secret message. Go deeper, report them to the police! They may want to hurt the developers that make the game they don't have time to play. Its a reasonable interpretation.

[@aithjawcraig9876]

@YourOnlyONEofcl What are you talking about? These games are less grinding than themeparks

[@Metz9031]

LOTS and LOTS will change, be removed, be added, get polished, etc. this Game is out in 3 years from now. i will play it when it is out!

[@aeriyah2769]

Hey, new to the channel, but I appreciate your take on the game here. I feel like I have a much better understanding of the state of the game now. I was super involved with DAoC when it was a big thing and still go back to play it on occasion, so the vision they are selling is exciting. From what I've seen the group experience feels similar and I am hoping that aspect is maintained. Overall, it seems like they are on the right track, even if it has been very slow-going. Hopefully, it makes it to launch at some point.

[@Mosleso]

The toxic positive or the "fanboys" are the reason these games get worse overtime. Yeah you are always going to have those haters but most of that negativity comes from people just being tired and fed up with the same crap all the time. There's a reason why people keep saying this game looks like a game that came out in 2010. It is no where close to being finished as you said, and to charge 120 dollars for an alpha stage is madness. Sad reality we live in today.

[@xzeraCS]

even being in alpha this is actually sad... now look at deadlock that games in alpha and is 100000 million times better of a game and free to test. its actually insane to me these guys are putting 125$ on a alpha test😂

[@helloworld9996]

Just by watching it, its alot like archeage (2012) with a graphics mod. Gameplay aside, next year's aa:chronicals and chrono odessy would at least be more visually appealing to new players.

[@Corbeauxx]

So firstly, this footage looks like it was taken with graphics on lower settings, because when I played it, it looked much better than that, and I have my settings on High (There is also Ultra setting if your computer can handle it). Secondly, graphics are not representative of a good game, just because a game has good graphics, does not mean it is better. An mmorpg which intends on having huge pvp fights has to consider *performance*, and if you have intense graphics, than the game won't be playable for many people who don't have a rigged out PC. Clearly you haven't thought this through very well.... AOC has done a great job balancing graphics with performance. Having played the alpha over the last couple of days, there are many things in the world that are just not shown in footage, there is a visual NDA after all... this game has a lot of depth to it that I have not seen in any mmorpg for the past 20 years. So no it is not a game that looks like it came out in "2010"... and since you have clearly not actually played it, do not make judgments about it based on ignorance. Thirdly, access to alpha with its "120 dollars" is completely optional. I don't understand why people get upset about it, if you have a problem with it, don't buy it, simple as that. You are not in any way being forced to spend this. Goodness, people really lacking in common sense.

[@Corbeauxx]

@@helloworld9996 lol you're clearly new to the mmorpg scene.... basing your opinion of "visual appeal" on trailers released by an Asian game company... literally so many game trailers released for the past 20 years by these companies look like this in their trailers, then when they're released, look nothing like that in actual gameplay footage... Furthermore, in a game with pvp, graphics has to be balanced out with performance, if you have really intense graphics and you have a 500 man pvp war, then your frame rate will be 1-2fps... your screen will freeze every couple of seconds.... does that sound like fun to you?

[@2freeIvX]

It also do a lot of the dumb mistake game did in the past. No shared kill credit in 2024 is absolutely crazy. They will ge tno playerbase with that type of shit.

[@webtiger1974PTG]

When this game comes out in 2040 I don't think I will be playing it.

[@mmomanny]

Funny how these people will die defending this game based off what the guy said he wants in the game with absolutely nothing to show for it

[@grundlefairy]

like Star Citizen lol

[@XxXVideoVeiwerXxX]

If they get the server meshing to work it will be what everyone wants, just depends on if they can. It is interesting how they are creating this with a clear template (archage) but its taking a lot longer, i assume its because it has more subsystems, like the nodes.

[@Rastebb]

Can someone explain server meshing to me like I'm a child? I don't need the engineering specs of how they do it, just what it means for a player

[@XxXVideoVeiwerXxX]

@@Rastebb Ashes should have a video on youtube doing just that.

[@rumyelfrostfire9273]

Maybe it is good to mention a few things: 1) Server meshing is not yet in the game (the one they created for the game). They are using the standard one, this being the reason it behaves so badly. They said that they will add it a bit later after they fix some other stuff that is priority now. 2) They said they have a lot of system content to add, but they are doing it very slowly and 1 at a time to see what breaks what. That is one of the reasons why you see it so differently that the streams (people that have access to PTR already said that they are like 3-4 builds forward compared to live). 3) This alpha is already planned to be a minimum of 1 year. Steven already confirmed this. Game is rough but it is alpha only at this moment. As for the time that it took them, please remember the following: 1) They restarted most of the project because after the BR play test they found that their server solution was garbage and had to fully redesign. 2) They had to redo a ton of the game because they remade combat when people complained a lot during alpha one and some of the following streams. 3) They most likely had to redo a ton of the game when they chose to go UE5. Now most of those were their choices and well they cost time, but it makes sense why it takes so long. Better do this than have these issues at release when it is way too late to fix.

[@alejandrohayling8381]

it was too late to fix, or even release, like 2 years ago. Its just a joke by now, and you people are falling for it like old people on phone scams.

[@rumyelfrostfire9273]

@@alejandrohayling8381 You are entitled to your opinion ofc. I really happy for now with my purchase since no company wants to do a L2 type mmo anymore. If this is the best I can get nowadays I'll take it. Hope you find a game you enjoy as well on the horizon.

[@brunobadjiduaso6378]

The best point yo yo made for me is to deliver this big steven ambitions in expansions, i totally agree.

[@alfredgreybeard]

Being forced to group or suffer punishment because you don’t, will kill the game. While I don’t mind grouping, some days I just want to do things alone. I know people are going to comment below “MMOs are for grouping”, “get friends”…. Blah blah blah. I’m sorry to say majority of players also want the same. Not everyone will want to spend time trying to find groups, and listen to the 1 random group member that won’t shut up. Sometimes you just want to chill while you solo some mobs and watching your 2nd monitor.

[@DickGarrison]

What’s the point playing a MMO then if you want to play with yourself. Kinda stupid to cry about being solo.

[@NoOne1x]

Because being in party should have more benefits then only having a chance to finish quests. Why grouping hasn't xp buff and loot buff?. 2 people 10%, 3-20% etc. People don't wanna do group content because you can easily do this alone without dealing with randoms running around map, without actually doing something together. It's so frustrating

[@jumano13]

when i didnt feel like grouping i went gathering. slaying some mobs i encounter. was a lot of fun and rewarding

[@martialis2974]

exactly. i have nothing against grouping. but theres always this one guy that has no real life and tries to compensate through leader ship ingame. which is just annoying

[@martialis2974]

@CestPasFaux-kt9zq we found the one who compensates through ingame leadership xddd i even said i have nothing against grouping. just sometimes you wana do solo stuff also groups are not always available for everybody and a nice storyline quest with cut scenes should always be part of an mmo so you have a better immersion. and they even said cutscenes and a story main quest will be implemented sooner or later

[@ivandamyanov]

Thanks for an incredible review, very fair and interesting 6:20 especially in a game with this problem, I think a commission quest for mentoring newbies is a must - you gotta help any amount of

[@michaelnapper4565]

Best video I've seen on this yet. Thanks. Gonna watch from a distance...for years, I think.

[@CABWrites]

Most levelheaded critique I’ve seen yet. This is why I watch your channel. I also find it hard to believe that a PVP centric game made in this current era that has essentially force grouping has any chance of mainstream or even long-term success. But that’s just my two cents.

[@JerodRSN]

Everything you said is spot on. Everything in their livestreams is 100% advertisement. The promises Steven is saying will bite him in the ass. 250 v 250 will never happen. The game has potential and I really hope it’s good. Not being able to solo leveling NEEDS to be reworked. Forcing people to group for such a basic thing every mmo has is insane

[@c1p1ify]

as soon as you make it possible to solo everything, no one will even try to group.

[@EyeOfTheCat2002]

​@c1p1ify True. And I think the grouping is also done to create community.

[@adrienaliphon5384]

To say 250v250 would never happen when we're currently in the fastest growing technological age is just bait at this point

[@JerodRSN]

@ okay, CURRENTLY there is literally ZERO chance of this happening. Not in any game released right now, and I’d go as far to say not in the next 10-15 years either. 500 people in a SINGLE spot all spamming abilities. That is not going to happen for this game.

[@adrienaliphon5384]

@JerodRSN you're joking right? Lol

[@ThirdUncleStudio]

Thanks for the honest review! I totally get what you mean about the two types of people playing this game right now-seems like it’s either all about toxic positivity or toxic negativity. Your balanced perspective is so refreshing and really helps cut through the extremes on both sides!

[@Hisui1859]

I don't agree with the showcases being just advertisements cause from a development standpoint and the way it's seemed to me since I've been helping with the tests that were under NDA I believe the case is they have much more polished versions but while they work on finding particular bugs with different systems they are using more barebone versions for testing this way they can zoom in on particular bugs without having every other system added in. It makes sense if they are using server meshing the way they plan too. Because if you add max graphics and all this detailed content it makes it harder to figure out if a particular bug is server side, client side or just a graphical bug. When we jumped in the server the day of the player textures wouldn't load at all and everyone looked like one punch man for a day or two until they released a newer build. I know during the years I did server development for games we would do similar thing and even load npc's one by one to make sure there wasn't particular bugs or exploits and have multi different builds until we released the final version. Of course from a player standpoint it looks like they lied to you and likely your gonna be upset and instead of helping test the game some people are going to just not provide feedback or help the game progress and then at the end of the day you then won't be able to have a say in helping create the game too.

[@rooster1012]

Server meshing has nothing to do with crap graphics.

[@blogtrump9965]

@@rooster1012graphics are good though tbh

[@soothingchakra]

​@@rooster1012You clearly didn't read his post

[@allthatishere]

I wouldn't say the graphics are crap, but the game definitely lacks a distinctive style.

[@cynthiahembree3957]

@@allthatishere I actually think this is worse than having crap graphics. Have a “look” is super important for attracting an audience long term

[@alex132788]

Pretty sure Steven has said the goal is 70% questing 30% grinding, so I think the questing is just not added in for some testing reason. I've heard that alpha 1 had an entire MSQ from level 1 to 10, that's just not there now.

[@vitorac412]

Community 90% agree, no to fast travels

[@BandittProductions]

I feel like a lot of the systems may have been toned down / stripped back for testing purposes (character creation being an example). Things that are easy to test/fix may well have been removed or toned down so that people spend less time creating characters etc and more time actually playing the main game to get more data from the testing of the more important systems. But you could also be right, it could well be advertisement vs. reality.

[@clancypants]

Dude made his millions on MLM - is he capable of being an honest salesman?

[@albert9655]

25+ hours to 25 is not slow at all imo

[@KanonXO]

enjoyed the vid man!

[@LuckyGhost]

Glad to hear it Kanon!

[@Farkraus]

This honest content is what the community needs.

[@user-yk6hv6hj3p]

Fairly balanced perspective. Not bad. Would say that a few things are a bit nitpicky at this point. Yes the servers are bad, but that's the point of the first couple of weeks - getting the servers stable etc. As far as it seemingly like showcases were curated for marketing. Maybe in a way, but this applies for a lot of the concerns mentioned in this video, a lot of the stuff they are working on will not be in this build. There will be a lot of half finished stuff left out, or stuff left out because it's not what they want to test right now and they don't want to deal with too much other stuff getting in the way of the stated goal of the alpha 2 in the early stage, which is getting everything stable. The alpha is obviously a long term thing, and as I'm sure you have seen the proposed release cadence for updates and what the updates are, etc, It's obvious they're simultaneously working on MUCH more stuff that isnt quite ready to go. Things like the world being big and there being no fast travel. I can assume there will be faster mounts at some point than the one you can get at literally level 1. And there will be travel between one of the node types later on. But generally it won't be "easy". Yes the map sucks. That will obviously get fixed. And yes, I share the concerns you have with new players not being able to find groups. In fact I'm a bit worried 3000 concurrent players or whatever they currently have planned will make the world feel really empty once we have 10 times the land mass available. But I guess we'll see. I had fun, because my expectations were mid. I knew the servers would struggle, but they got way better, and I knew there wouldnt be all of the systems in place, and they weren't.

[@josiewoodrose7616]

I trust your opinions on games and that's why I am watching your video. You are exactly right about haters and fans making videos that are skewed to their way of thinking rather than being objective. Thanks for checking out Ashes gameplay.

[@Shi3ko]

The Main Problem with the most People is they expect to Play a Game, they not. They are Testing a Game and should do it the Right way but they don’t. How many Participants do you guys think are doing Bugreports and how many are doing them right!? On Top its a Indie Company of mostly MMORPG Players/Lovers with the First Game they make. And we should if we even compare it to other Games not to already 1.0 Released Game… Compare it to Phanteon or PaxDei

[@meno2294]

Steven straight out said over and over in the streams do not buy this lol The price tag is just a gate It gets people that really want to test it And give feedback Instead of what we normally do in game betas and just play it and do nothing

[@TheZerosd]

​@@meno2294and I'm 100% sure 99% of this alpha testers bought it for playing and not looking for bug's

[@AntwKats]

the problem lies with the yt'rs its them they are just trying to find an excuse to make a video

[@wiegix]

The test you pay 120 for. It's not a test, it's bad product.

[@dalekkgames5430]

I was in a 100+vs 100+ in throne and liberty. I was quite impressed on how the game ran.

[@_deepcalm_]

a game that's no where near release yet we've been seeing "playtests," vertical slices, and developer chats/interviews for literal years now. sorry but the game just seems like the passion project of someone who doesn't really know what they are doing, and they are shooting themselves in the foot, similar to the devs of no man's sky, by building up so much hype for it. just make the game, stop releasing so much early content.

[@Juan_Dominguez]

Ikr

[@user-yk6hv6hj3p]

He wanted to do open development. This is what it looks like. You can also not follow the open development at all and just wait until it's ready. Most companies already do it the way you are suggesting. Do you enjoy that method? Plenty of people WANT the early content, and if they are willing to provide it, then I'm going to try it. Anyway, there's literally 200 employees now, and some of them have decades of experience in making MMOs. I'm sure they know something about what they're doing, so even if Steven isn't an expert, he has plenty of help.

[@deadjosh13]

@@user-yk6hv6hj3p Its also been like what? 8 years? With this current state of the game is honestly pretty disappointing. Looking at this state, there is at least 2-3 more years and thats over a decade at that point in development. Asking for 100+ dollars just to test a game is pretty greedy coming from a studio that has no track record in the video game field.

[@user-yk6hv6hj3p]

@@deadjosh13 They haven't had 200 employees developing the game for 8 years. The increase in hiring is a more recent phenomenon. The current state of the game is also not an indication of how much other work remains unfinished but partially complete, and has therefore, not been included in this build of the game. Asking for the money is absolutely fine. Literally nobody has to buy it. There's other games. I wanted to help fund the idea, and I saw value in paying for it (because I figure I'm going to be playing alpha and betas for the next couple of years, which costs them money to host servers). The main reason though, is I'd rather pay extra to fund a fair game than have the company try and make their profit with pay to win BS like most other MMOs these days, thus wrecking the game in the process.

[@Krillkuttaz]

​@@user-yk6hv6hj3p Well said. This game looks so good and I bet it will only get better with a solid community backing it rather than bashing it. People are toxic.

[@amiththomas3884]

There's a good chance a lot of the fancy visuals and stuff will come later down the line because this is an early testing version.

[@BogDustForBreakfast]

Thanks for your honest review . Saved me wasting $180 today 👌

[@shaluzar]

im referring to your opinion on "the biggest problem": I think the performance of their server is not the issue. I think its the fact that the server mesh technology is not implemented yet on alpha servers and if i'm not mistaken, it is been announced for phase 2 which starts december 20th. I can imagine, that what we saw on the first weekend, is just some quick or old implementations and with the concept fully there, we are good to go.

[@zometthecomet]

This game is everything that pushed me away from old school everquest . . . And I keep running into systems that have me saying that's why Classic WoW changed this.

[@Audio041194]

Classic WoW has been lame since cata bro (retail as well), they weren't as revolutionary as you remember I played vanilla too. This game is closer to old school wow than any mmo out there right now. Even Classic has QoL that vanilla didn't have.

[@Tattooedbylex]

Then don’t play bro

[@enriquecabalsanchez8956]

I agree with you the best they coild do is to get ready the nodes and his dungeons and quest, then with expansions start to implement things as naval combat and extras. Get the basica done!!

[@higguma]

9:03 yessssssss I was literally anti this game. I was so loud in the comments, but seeing the alpha is really changing my heart. Especially after playing throne and liberty. My only concern rn is the enemies hitting you magnetically. Idk if I saw this, but im not for it. In Throne for example, you're getting hit with short attacks and the enemy is a mile away.

[@AlexisOnFiraa]

10/10 feedback mentality, congratulations, very good and honest points! Always with good videos, Lucky!

[@knifeninjaaa4141]

When are you going to do throne of liberty??? Been waiting for you to help me understand the end game hahah

[@infinite2679]

Ugh, after testing SC for awhile now I cannot tell you enough how right you are about "toxic positivity" being a huge problem with these forever alpha games. Those poor souls can't help themselves but defend a multi million dollar 12 year money-hole that regularly disregards their concerns

[@stovetopicus]

The server stability and the DDOS attack were incredibly frustrating. The bugs and lack of meaningful questing are annoying. However, the combat is a lot of fun and I like that you actually have true player interaction. The node system, even in its infancy, is really cool. The potential here is almost endless. The time where I was able to play I enjoyed immensely. This game is not going to be for everyone, but it is for me.

[@MartinaBabic-es6bz]

who will DDOS attack alpha game? for what and why? I think, they have big problems whit servers, so they say as excuse it was DDOS attack.

[@jopet216]

Appreciate the video. I'll be looking forward to playing this game when I retire

[@SpookyPenguin71]

Half of this game sounds incredible and half of it sounds really miserable. So many aspects are just slow, punishing, and inconvenient just to be petty against other mmo's that offer more convenience in their game. I think they need to look for a middle ground there. I also think they are potentially running into feature creep. The size of the map, the amount of classes if you consider picking a second archetype, huge pvp battles, etc. I'm really looking forward to the game but I'm having mixed feelings lol

[@PyraiSage]

Personally, I don’t feel like like the punishment is petty. I want a hard core sensation when it comes to life and death in the game without deleting my character. This feels like a good middle ground for that. I think the ashes fans have had enough of linear or railroaded progression.

[@deadjosh13]

@@PyraiSage lol return back to here once the game releases and you get corpse camped for 4 hours without any ways to get out of it... then tell us about it LOL

[@zizikavla132]

Convenience and the generation of quick gratification is what ruined MMO's. I can't wait to spend 20 minutes with my horse going from A to B. I want to login and immerse myself. Hit up my online friends or guild and go do something.

[@BrennonIsMilak]

They've mentioned no fast travel (except maybe from a high level scientific node) being a thing by design, because they don't want large groups of players to be able to come from all over to snipe a raid or overwhelm a pvp scenario. It has to be a conscious investment for you to leave your area to do that other content. This also maintains world scale. Also on the price, if you take into account the planned sub fee, an A2 key is pennies on the dollar for what you'd pay on release since you get all testing phase, Alpha phase 3 probably being very long, plus beta, plus 1 month launch time, plus $15 cash shop credits at launch, so I'd say it's honestly a great deal if you don't mind dealing with the early jank.

[@gtfffv]

Yeah I never liked having to spam "lfg" in world chat in any MMO, it's boring and a waste of time. I hope they put in a group finder. It doesn't have to teleport us anywhere, just allow us to play the game or do anything else while waiting to find a group

[@Corbeauxx]

@@gtfffv that's what guilds are for.

[@menndoess9627]

You have to talk to people and find groups in an MMO oh no that sounds horrible lol LFG did really good for WOW right?

[@AntwKats]

yeah, its boring , socializing in a masive multiplayer game ...

[@AngraMMO]

I haven't once wrote LFG in global chat this weekend. If I wanted to level, I would walk to Lionhold and found a good event (world quest). Once you find it, a group pops up organically, and that felt really good.

[@hankthemiltanktv1306]

​@@AngraMMOyup, that's what happens in a no fast travel/ground mount only(mostly) game. Players actually meet each other like the intended design of the genre. Unlike games where you lfg and treat everyone in the group like a robot or a sponge.

[@Shoobedooby]

Appreciate the unbiased pov ghost. I hope this game flourishes into the mmo we have all been looking for.

[@Athasin]

It's a server stability alpha. The whole point of this weekend was for Intrepid to see how their servers holds up, where the problems are, and come up with a plan to fix/optimize it. So I agree with the, "It's alpha people." Gameplay criticism from testers is just irrelevant right now. Save it for phase 2 when they'll actually be testing mechanics because right now nothing you can say about server performance will be more informative than what their network and server engineers are seeing on the back end. The only thing you can do is keep stressing the servers which gives them the data they actually need at this phase.

[@refiningLoL]

copium

[@Kiobao]

Yeah, they have a road map posted on their site for what they want to focus and when as well as what they are adding for each part. This is often why games in ACTUAL ALPHA have NDA's and such because this is what acual testing is like when a game is 2-3 years out, even though I think the game is likely 3-4 years out. You test what THEY want you to test and do focused things and often restrictive so that you are testing within their parameters. Which is why other games often when they let people play "alpha" and "beta" are generally within a year from release because of optics because people get really critical of testing phases of games and quickly become disinterested. You don't just play the full game at peak current development stuff. This even shows this is JUST going to be about scalability, stablity, performance and progression. Mostly just on weekends, until december 20th. They wont be adding much until december 20th. Even then, thats mostly just going to be node advancement and economy testing. So really, the game will only ACTUALLY resemble a game and what we may get an idea of what they want around may 1st 2025, which is when they will be adding content and expanding. I do think it's REALLY bare bones now I don't really see myself playing it much, if at all, until may. Even then, I'd rather just play in beta for when we see a sorta resembelance of a full game and then I'll judge it from then. I think it's fine to give constructive criticism however or just pointing out what we are seeing in the game. I really think for the optics of the Alpha , they should have made Wave 1 NDA or something and then Wave 2 in december when we get 2 new zones and a few other things be when NDA is lifted, I'm not sure. Maybe they just wanted to do this first so people would get into the alpha and they stress test the servers with more people.

[@Athasin]

@@Kiobao Exactly! So many people went into this thinking they were going to play a $120 early access game that's been in development for the last 3 years. When really it's clear they spent the last 3 years converting the UE4 alpha build they had to UE5 while coming up with server meshing tech they hope will be the answer to a problem that has plagued mmo's for decades. I also think they should've kept phase 1 behind an NDA while they work on server stability and getting the server meshing up and running. Because no amount of explaining to people what an alpha is will undo the damage other companies have done by taking software terms like alpha and beta and using them for early access marketing.

[@HealingwithJesus33]

They said that 3 years ago in A1…

[@Athasin]

@@HealingwithJesus33 And then they spent 3 years doing an engine upgrade and creating new server meshing tech... If someone says it'll take 1 hour for the cake to be done baking, then they inform you that the person the cake is for is allergic to gluten so they need to re-do it, would you be shocked if 1 hour later they said it'll take the cake 1 hour to bake? No, because you'd understand that by doing the cake over again means they'll need to re-bake it again. The servers tested in alpha 1 are not the same servers tested in alpha 2.

[@Mulchi14]

I think we wont see early zones being empty 2 months after release since a crazy amount of game systems play around nodes. Every zone has 5 nodes, you become a citizen of a node at lvl 10. The node and content around it levels up with player progression in that node. Its kinda a place where you and your friends 'live" and you also have your storage there.

[@Yushaodo]

21:49 that's because there's hit chance in the game that's half implemented... lol.. it's not a beta, it's an alpha-2... Relax my g

[@MostCoolestName]

ive watched 6-7 videos about this to try and gather an idea of what to expect and this is the first where anyone actually talked about the game and its systems haha

[@BlathnaidAOC]

No incentive for alts? What do you mean? Playing a whole other class seems like a pretty massive incentive? I've maxed every class in classic wow multiple times becuase I want the new class flavor. I'll do the same here.

[@allthatishere]

I get what your saying here, but it doesn't take a 100 hours to reach level 25 in classic WoW.

[@LuckyGhost]

WoW Alts and Lineage 2 / AOC alts are not the same my man. Between massive amounts of xp required and the accumulation of xp debt through pvx, leveling alts isn't something you do over a weekend in these types of games like it is in wow. and it often comes at the expense of falling behind your guildmates who aren't leveling alts. there will be significantly fewer alts in a game like this

[@cynthiahembree3957]

Leveling takes way too much time imo to justify alt accounts. I fear unless they buff leveling speed people will just not play other classes. Which honestly I would argue is not a good way to go about it but here we are

[@OldManHash]

Great level-headed video man! I'll be trying the game for the 1st time on Nov 8th, but yeah we'll see if they take a couple of weeks to address the server and queuing issues. I'm a player that can enjoy all types of activities as long as they're fun, be that: PVP, PVE, Solo or Group content. Right now it seems that XP gains heavily favor group play, but I'm sure if you wanted to shore up your crafting & gathering skills there's plenty of stuff to do solo. I love to do group stuff, then when ppl log off, I go and grind some crafting and watch some vids on the 2nd monitor with a drink or whatever. I just want this game to succeed because I think we need a solid western MMO that is independent of an overzealous publisher, and that's not doing some type of Korean P2W MMO shenanigans.

[@baelgrimhc]

Ashes of Steven's Bank Account

[@hellzak8348]

Ay was watching the video over break and see myself running as the tank! (Hisoka) super fun time in Verra. All network issues aside, can see myself playing this game for a long time to come

[@DaveS1969]

Look i paid 375 for the Alpha testing 2.5 years ago, i knew what i was getting into, yea its frustrating the waiting lol and they are years away but one thing i can say is man they are oon the hot fixes now the PTR is way different its 2 different versions of the game, what you see in the lives are the PTR. As for the gameplay yea its not up to par but it is an alpha and they are working hard to get things working with 10k players dropping in hahahaha im not mad either way i had fun in the 2 days i played as of today they were hit with a DDOS for the last 8 hours so no one has been able to play 250 million login requests per 5 minutes so no gameplay today :(

[@Yushaodo]

That sucks.... A easily implemented, "per character without reason" entity limit, and as for server attacks .. have a dynamic source code imprint on all data, so that any not current frequency is detected, that source is blocked... This coding is the future of online protection.... In fact, the best way to do it is by etching the imprint physically into the hardware itself... So all data must be able to channel through it.... All non authentic code would be easily dealt with

[@FinnDeJong]

@@Yushaodo For your information, the game didn't get ddossed. It was the authentication server. So people who were authenticated could play the game but players who tried to log in or got disconnected couldn't.

[@DaveS1969]

@@FinnDeJong I was just going by the info they put out they said ddos 250 million login requests per 5 minutes lol I’m not a hacker just a builder so I don’t know 😂

[@aeroblizz1987]

I love when you need to group, always love that in classic wow and hate in retail now. Hope they will fix the performance issues, fluid gameplay is so important with landing spells

[@BlathnaidAOC]

8 years into development isn't really fair. They were a team of 10 people for 2-3 of those years and then went to UE5 like 3 years ago... Now you can criticize those aspects, but it's not even close to as agregious as starcitizen. Realistically they're only 3-4 years into legitimate development and for that amount of time they're in a good place. Another 2 years and they'll be much further along.

[@allthatishere]

I would say it's just as egregious, dude. How many years have they sold fomo cosmetic packs? If people can lambast SC for such practices, why can't they do the same for AoC?

[@FinnDeJong]

They already are further along. But the Alpha is less far ahead than I heard the PTR is. What I understand is the current alpha status is mostly testing specific things. And disabling everything that could interfere with this testing.

[@Lightstep9]

@luckyghost Thank you, this is a much needed Clarity review. Yes Star Citizen same and always 2 years away. Pantheon same issue and no monies. Ashes, Pantheon etc keep pushing for group content model and have poor to no solution for small size to solo players. WoW solved all of that thankfully and still going strong after 20 years. I like WoW as well but would like some variety as well as better competition for those MMO choices. Thank you again for the review, looking forward to what may come next for us in gaming.

[@Corbeauxx]

So having actually played the game over this weekend, I can tell you that this game is not a bog standard grinding game....AOC has a huge amount of depths that you have not yet seen... as someone who has been playing mmorpgs for over 20 years, I can tell you that AOC even in its current alpha stage already has way more depth than many mmorpgs I've previously played... The combat and skills actually makes you think about the skills you're going to use, and how you're going to use them... the node system is intricate, the crafting is complex and requires cooperation, the world has so much to explore, such as cave systems that go down multiple levels, to where it becomes dark and the only light you have is your spell effects and mage light... the classes are fun, and makes you feel like your role actually matters, the pvp is fun... Also, for those criticizing the graphics, this footage looks like it was taken with graphics on lower settings, because when I played it, it looked much better than that, and I have my settings on High (There is also Ultra setting if your computer can handle it). Secondly, graphics are not representative of a good game, just because a game has good graphics, does not mean it is better. An mmorpg which intends on having huge pvp fights has to consider *performance*, and if you have intense graphics, than the game won't be playable for many people who don't have a rigged out PC. I mean think about it, would you have a game with amazing graphics only for your fps to drop to 1-2 fps during large scale pvp and not be able to tell what you are doing or what is happening?...This is why AOC has done a great job balancing graphics with performance. The game definitely still has much that needs to be added, after all it is still in alpha, and I had my doubts about it at first, but those doubts were squashed after actually having played it.

[@ItsYent]

This game will not be majorly popular if the grind of only killing mobs the real way to level . And if it takes 300+ hours to reach max level. It’s a PVP centric game with pve aspects it’s the opposite of WoW or FF14

[@Yushaodo]

Well said!

[@Corbeauxx]

​@@ItsYent And what makes you think that the grind of only killing mobs is the real way to level?... yes *currently* in the *alpha* the most efficient way to level is to do events... but that's *currently* in the *alpha*... so much of the game's pve content hasn't even been added to the game yet... Also, what makes you think that a game has to be like WoW or FF14 in order to be successful? There have been several mmorpgs since WoW that tried to be like WoW, and guess what? none of them succeeded, why? because if people wanted to play a game like WoW, they would just play WoW.... AOC isn't trying to be like WoW or FF14... the game that AOC is being based on is Archeage, which was in fact hugely popular and considered by many to have been the best mmorpg we've ever had... until it was ruined by a combination of p2w and patches that changed the way the game originally was. I can assure you, there is a huge number of mmorpg players wanting a good pvp centric game... and the fact that AOC has received over 30 mil in crowdfunding before the game even released an alpha, is a testament to that. Ps. the game already has plenty of quests and points of interest you can do as pve content, it's just currently not as efficient to level with as doing events in groups.

[@LuckyGhost]

FYI my footage was with graphics on max with a 4090 gpu cheers

[@ItsYent]

@@Corbeauxx my guy I clearly am giving criticism on the ALPHA . So yes right now with mob grinding being the most efficient that is very not good and should be looked at. Thats the point of an alpha is to look at what works and doesn’t work. Also not saying it needs to be like wow or ff14 but looking at the biggest MMOs in the current market you should steal ideas from them. WoW starting out was stealing shit from EQ . It being in “alpha” means ppl should openly criticize the game so the game can look and see about changing stuff that might not be that healthy for the game.

[@sliceofheaven3026]

Sometimes when devs use the word open development it might not actually be that open. Sometimes the word is used as a markerting based buzzword to generate a image that everything shown is actually in the game or coming soon to the game. I think the alpha 2 proves that Ashes has still a long way to go until Stevens promises are fulfilled.

[@Macuria1989]

Unfortunately it's not for me, I'm waiting for the Riot MMO and the Ghost MMO from Ghostcrawler

[@jamesd5767]

He got kicked out of 2 companies for a reason you know. Dont be waiting for his game

[@Macuria1989]

​@@jamesd5767 okay, I have more hopes for Riot anyway 😁

[@cynthiahembree3957]

@@jamesd5767 He didn't get kicked out of Riot. He actually left due to creative differences and family matters. He's still good friends with many Riot devs. You don't stay friend in companies that you left on a bad note.

[@Ludydobry]

newsflash mate, Riot MMO got cancelled.

[@Macuria1989]

@@Ludydobry no. 5 days ago: "a recent job posting on Riot's website proves that something is happening. The MMO team is currently looking for a lead UX designer whose role will be "to be responsible for all aspects of the user experience across large areas of the game" The job posting, posted at Riot's headquarters in Santa Monica, California, asks candidates to "consider user interface, presentation, interactions, and encouraging good player behavior through systems," with a focus on HUD and menu design seem to fit the role. It's also worth noting that Riot is looking for someone with seven years of UX experience in live service gaming who can demonstrate a shipped product. It's a pretty big task, but it's encouraging either way."

[@blakespicer9234]

My one issue with the ashes negativity is that i'm just sick of people hating on the game and acting like it's for sure not gonna come out when this studio has been so incredibly transparent with the dev cycle

[@Kosme88]

The principal dev made all his money with MLMs, he's been selling cosnetics and early accessee at ridiculous prices for years. I don't think this game is everg going to get finished.

[@Moddum123]

bro lol he was 18 when he sold some nutritional products for an MLM, it was nothing serious and he didn't stay there for long. He went into real estate soon after.

[@spgaming6817]

Probably tbe moat valid review ive seen so far. high hopes for this game just hope they can produce what they promised even if they come out with the essentials and dynamics and evolve the game into the content they promised

[@TurboToller]

Paying 120 dollars to test the game is insane. Call me old but you used to be paid to test a game 😂

[@infinityfabrik]

Good vid. Like the balanced outlook. My wife gifted me one of the $250 keys, cause she's rich (I'm not lol) and for the extras, like built-in post-launch game time and currency (and the fact that I'm going to be able to play the game for the 2 or 3... or 5... years before it launches haha). We're travelling around Europe right now so I didn't have the chance to play (and really anyone that knows anything about MMO launches knew this weekend would be borked). I appreciated the update. I, also, always appreciate the effort and work you put into your vids. Hope you're having fun being an uncle. Kudos and cheers!

[@Baillee-cc9oe]

Not solo friendly? I’m out.

[@Solidsteakx]

Same. I can’t depend on people to have fun.

[@Baillee-cc9oe]

Me either. I don’t have any friends and random people always cuss me out cause I usually have no clue what I’m doing.

[@RadicalRaspberry2]

the way you describe the group stuff reminds me of how ff11 had to be played

[@LuckyGhost]

Yeah it's a lot like that

[@meno2294]

The $120 price tag Is a gate. Steven really wanted people to go in and play the game test it And give feedback He knew the only way to get proper feedback And proper testers would charge that much money. Steven even straight out said please don't buy this alpha pack Unless you really want to test systems

[@shinnister]

yes. but most ppl can’t understand that

[@cynthiahembree3957]

The problem is I just need to point out other games in alpha don't have this problem. Why is that? If anything you get worse feedback by charging because people are already attached to their project which adds bias into the equation

[@baelgrimhc]

This is a bullshit excuse that goes all the way back to the beginning of Early Access when Planetary Annihilation was sold on Steam/Kickstarter for $90. Just like you don't need to charge people to receive alpha/beta feedback, you don't need to charge people to limit access to your game. Both can be handled without any money changing hands. Prior to the last decade or so, that's how alphas/betas were always handled.

[@AntwKats]

@@shinnister Most KZbinrs* they only care for clout so the can get paid for a video

[@MrMedia4you]

It almost feels taboo to say, but like, can the obvious point of them ALSO making a shit ton of money from this be pointed out??

[@Vangancnoir]

Thanks for the video. Really apreciate the honesty as I am really on the fence with the state of the game rn. Hopefully the game is gonna be ready to be released one day.

[@Malbabo]

I believe they mentioned a mentoring system is in the works for future, to help teaming up with lower/higher lvl players. They have announced the objective of this fase is not visuals, or mechanics, or game systems. The objective is just testing the servers loads. I can tell you that the PTR servers that run parallel to this beta have a much better version of the game. I enjoy your videos but you kinda lose it when you say "this game is running worse than any other mmo on the market"... this so called "game" is not on the market. I agree feedback is good but saying "servers suck and are laggy" when the object of the fase is to test the servers, feels more like jumping on a bandwagon. The UI feedback, for example, was good.

[@LuckyGhost]

You're comment was great until you were upset when I stated a fact. The game servers arent running great this weekend. That's objective not subjective. They know this and I believe they will fix it. But there's no reason to be upset by me stating the obvious

[@Shi3ko]

I can’t agree more. To get a real outside Developer View on this Game you should Watch PirateSoftware Playtesting it how it should be Played/tested. And he knows how Development goes.

[@Shi3ko]

This was 100% to expect anyways thats why there is Phase 1 for it. We need to give the Alpha some time;)

[@ToMaSsS10]

@@LuckyGhost That's classic cultist talk, they play the victim all day

[@Malbabo]

@@LuckyGhost im not upset. Im stating a fact. Its like saying "that tricicle isnt good because it only has 3 wheels". Its not feedback; its pointing out the obvious. The servers arent good because that was the whole point of this fase.

[@FearHype]

No fast travel is perfect, and the game actually will have fast travel, just very limited to certain metropolises

[@minordetails2103]

Looks like a 2009 game

[@tearsien]

regurgitated hater fuel you didn't come up with

[@eternaldarkness3139]

Assuming Intrepid achieves most of what they intend, it will be quite a remarkable world. The world is enormous, the Metropolis' look spectacular (WIP). Again, this is alpha, and easily 2 years to release.

[@xzeraCS]

nah bro i cant with the animations😂😂

[@Yushaodo]

No it doesn't lol .... Rage bait detected

[@FERGX12]

Thats good

[@OhhLocky]

LUCKY FINALLY LEARNED HOW THE NORMAL WORLD PRONUNCES NICHE WHAT A DAY TO BE ALIVE

[@LuckyGhost]

I'll say it the other way next time. It keeps it exciting

[@OhhLocky]

@@LuckyGhost NOOOOOO

[@_Ease]

what on earth were they doing for 8 years?

[@uznugaris]

COVID happened for 4 of those years remember

[@kurisechan88]

They rebuilt the game halfway through development, switched engines.

[@angepano8591]

A game called DAoC solved a lot of those grouping problems to give incentives to party with newer players - yet have a very 'old school' feel. There DAoC players were able to limit the level of some alts so that they could play with newer players in Battlegrounds that were fun and extremely popular with even veterans. Guilds often had 'BG nights' which were a hugely fun event.

[@TruckKun]

Honestly I'm disappointed with Ashes, I know it's ''alpha'' but the game took almost 10 years to be developed and still on this state lmao I won't be playing alpha 2 anymore and I might not even play since the game will take more or less 2-3 years to get out alpha, there are better looking mmos like Archeage Chronicles coming out and in the meanwhile there's throne and liberty... Honestly Ashes is a meme, on time that it will be released everyone will be playing something else that it will look much better than what Ashes does

[@Justin-jx1ui]

I have a question. Do you kno if i get into alpha will i get the released game? Or pay again?

[@TheAirak]

I cannot believe that people aren't making a bigger deal out of the fact that the stream showcases were fake.

[@BlathnaidAOC]

The weren't? They were just in less stable further along builds. They're showcasing things in isolated environments. All that's been shown will be in the game before the end of next year.

[@dupestv]

Because they weren't fake, they're the PTR version of the game. In every livestream, Steven has stated that the A2 will be a true alpha, and that a lot of the things they are testing right now includes performance of their servers, not the content of the game. I swear people are so quick to accuse when they have no idea what they're talking about

[@LuckyGhost]

@@BlathnaidAOC further along versions of the game? the character creator was shown 2 years ago. we are not playing on a 2 year old version of the game this weekend. there is a definite disconnect between reality and live stream happening right now, and its more than just "older version"

[@cynthiahembree3957]

@@dupestv The issue with this is that people don't actually know that. People are justified in their doubts currently

[@alejandrohayling8381]

its just a big scam by now and dumb people are falling for it

[@pinclerinus]

Spending 100+ for segmented time in alpha and or beta seems a bit much. Does that include the game on release as well or just for that access for that time?

[@landofsyn2980]

Since day 1 I have commented on so many videos saying this game is not it. When the creator said I don't need any funding since I'm funding it allllllll byyyyyyy myyyyyy self...??? Lmfao gtfo

[@backpackmusician]

I’m on Albion rn. Have my eyes open for this one. It could have that feeling like early day EVE where everything was player driven. Have heard good things from Thor about it. This has the potential to be very great.

[@ausoleil8269]

Not a totally uninteresting video. But really a lot of your points are not relevant to this stage of alpha. You could have made your point in 5 min or less : buggy but fun.

[@user-yk6hv6hj3p]

I feel like they delivered exactly what they said for the first weekend. Chaos and bugs but a framework for a very in depth and fun game underneath.

[@alexandert4463]

People really can't help but let their preconceived notions of what their experience should be at this stage of testing get in the way of the reality they have been told of over and over again. They are not going to flip the on switch for every previously developed feature and function whether it's ready or not, if it's not what they are currently testing. They specified that the networking is what they are focusing on testing. Character creator does not need to be switched on for that purpose. It's an alpha, not a demo!