The MMORPG Ashes of Creation is for many fans of online role-playing games the most exciting new MMORPG in development: But the current alpha is actually under NDA – players were allowed to take a look, but could not talk about the game publicly. This ban has now been relaxed by the boss Steven Sharif.
What is the current status of Ashes of Creation? The MMORPG Ashes of Creation is currently in Alpha-1. The servers are open from time to time.
However, players in this phase are actually under a non-disclosure agreement, under an NDA: They are allowed to play, but not publicly discuss the game. Those who want to join the alpha have to pay dearly for access.
If you don’t invest in alpha access, you’ll have to rely on the announcements from the developers and their streams for information. However, this NDA has now been lifted for Alpha-1. Therefore, players are now speaking openly.
Players praise the graphics of Ashes of Creation, but many criticize the combat
This is the general impression: In a reddit-thread, players from the alpha summarize their opinions:
Overall, the game is currently described as still very unfinished. The assessment is even: The non-disclosure agreement was lifted too early; they should have waited until some main areas had a decent content loop.
The areas are described as large, especially the Riverlands are said to be about as large as the continent Kalimdor in WoW. One player says,
- he explored the outer boundaries of the Riverlands and took 89 minutes to do so.
- for Kalimdor in WoW, it took him 112 minutes.
The combat in Ashes of Creation is heading in a good direction, but it is tab-target combat and not an action combat system:
If you like action combat (like I do, or hybrid), then the game will be disappointing in its current state.
If you liked Guild Wars combat (hybrid), you will not like this game. That’s the feeling I personally have.
The graphics are generally praised and considered successful.
One player explains; you should not expect questing like in WoW. In Ashes of Creation, quests are hardly worth it; you just find a group and grind mobs.
Players praise the respectable performance but anticipate much criticism
Is the game progressing? Yes, but just at an alpha level. One player explains: The alpha has long suffered from a series of major technical problems: crashes, stability issues, and other annoyances. All these problems have been fixed in the last updates.
The graphics are also described as great – but many apparently are bothered by the fact that a game that looks so good does not use a modern combat system but relies on tab-targeting:
This means it is not yet a real game. There isn’t much to do except write bug reports. My cynical guess is that they will launch A2 just to fulfill Kickstarter promises. I think the server stress tests we conducted in A1 provided useful data. I can’t imagine that the workforce being put into the launch of A2 is worth it at this point.
Players also make it clear: The game currently has a good foundation for a game. But it is definitely still an alpha and feels that way. One should not expect a finished game from Ashes of Creation at this time. The general opinion is: It was actually too early to lift the NDA. It is expected that when transitioning to Alpha, on October 25, a lot of criticism will rain down on the MMORPG: Ashes of Creation: Release, Roadmap, Alpha 2, Classes, Gameplay, Payment model – everything important about the MMORPG from Steven Sharif
