The new MMORPG Ashes of Creation is under criticism: As announced, they have now stopped selling pre-order packs for $250 as of January 17, granting access to an alpha in the third quarter of 2024. This has raised some eyebrows, according to certain critics.
This is the situation:
- Ashes of Creation is a sandbox MMORPG that was announced in 2016.
- It is currently not playable – the next opportunity to play the MMORPG should be in the third quarter of 2024, during Alpha 2.
- However, access to this Alpha 2 is no longer available: Only people who have purchased a $250 pre-order pack will have access. This is no longer being offered.
MMORPG employs “FOMO” tactics, creates artificial time pressure
This is how it went down: Ashes of Creation had already announced in August 2023 that they had enough testers for Alpha 2 and would no longer be selling the pre-order pack. However, they did not stop selling immediately but set the date for January 17, 2024. So, almost half a year later.
Before really taking the pack off the market, they reminded potential customers that this was the last chance to take the plunge.
The pack is still “not really gone”, as anyone who has purchased a smaller pre-order pack can still upgrade for an additional fee and gain access to the beta. This is reported by massivelyop.
What is the criticism? The criticism of the whole spectacle is that the developers want to create an artificial sense of “FOMO” (Fear of Missing Out). Of course, they want to sell as many of these expensive packs as possible, but they pretend that the offer will not be available for long to pressure potential buyers into acting.
The same game drives the MMORPG with “time-limited skin sales”, so the criticism goes.
On reddit, the MMORPG is being torn apart in a current thread. It states:
- It is silly that the MMORPG is still not playable after such a long development time. The development takes forever. Final Fantasy XIV managed its reboot in a much shorter time and completely reinvented itself.
- When the game finally releases, it will be at least “5 years outdated”.
- The game has raised far too high expectations that it could never meet.
- One user described it as a “mix of Starfield and Star Citizen”.
Despite all the criticism, Ashes of Creation is still one of the most promising new MMORPGs. However, it has been that way for many, many years: The 5 most promising new MMORPGs for 2024 and beyond
