Ashes of Creation is currently in a pre-alpha stage. Since early 2020, the developers have been sharing gameplay and details about the MMORPG with fans. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch is already very excited about the game, but he has 4 concerns that worry him.
What makes the game so interesting? Ashes of Creation is one of the few MMORPGs currently in development in the West that aims to appeal to a broad audience. While there are some other projects like Crowfall, these specifically target a niche audience.
Ashes of Creation, on the other hand, wants to bring players together, promising exciting PvE content such as dungeons and open-world bosses, while also providing social interactions and PvP. All this comes together through a very special system – the nodes:
- The entire open world is divided into these nodes
- They are leveled by players and can become anything from small tent cities to huge metropolises.
- In the nodes, there are mayors, crafting stations, and also housing.
Additionally, the game has an interesting background story. Studio founder Steven Sharif is a millionaire and has played ArcheAge himself. However, from his perspective, the sandbox MMORPG had too many problems. Therefore, he wanted to create something with Ashes of Creation that matches his desires.
What is the current state of the game? Currently, Ashes of Creation is in a preliminary stage before Alpha 1. The first backers who paid 1,000 euros or more should already have hands-on access. Moreover, new content and features related to the MMORPG are being presented every month.
The official alpha without NDA is set to start in spring 2021.
I personally have not yet gotten hands-on with the game, but I absorb every detail like a sponge. During this process, I have also come across 4 things that could be an obstacle for Ashes of Creation, which I would like to share with you.
1. Open-World PvP
What do we know so far? In Ashes of Creation, much revolves around the topic of PvP. However, this does not pertain to battles over the massive fortresses or the nodes, but also to the open world.
In Ashes of Creation, there are no factions. Theoretically, any player can attack any other player. To prevent this system from spiraling out of control, the developers have implemented a flagging system. The system has 3 different statuses:
- Non-combatant (green)
- PvP fighter (purple)
- Corrupted (red)
Each player starts as a “Non-combatant”. In this status, for example, you will not take damage if you accidentally walk through an AoE caused by other players.
However, if you deliberately attack another player, you will become a “Fighter”. If you kill a “Non-combatant”, you will also become Corrupted. Exactly how this works can be seen in this image:
Corruption is supposed to have several disadvantages:
- Other players can kill you without punishment
- You lose attributes such as health points and mana with each level of corruption
- You will also be marked on the world map after reaching a certain level
- After death, you will not respawn at regular spawn points, but somewhere in the world
- You may lose your equipped gear. “Non-combatants” and “Fighters” do not have this risk. They only lose a little XP, durability on their gear, and time
Losing your gear and possibly respawning in a completely different part of the game world just to hinder other players while questing does not seem lucrative at first glance and could be off-putting.
Where do I have concerns? PvP in the open world is a double-edged sword:
I personally enjoy the thrill of being interrupted or getting involved in fights while questing. Under fair conditions, of course. After all, the fun is lost when high-level enemies with strong gear appear.
However, I know plenty of players who prefer to avoid open-world PvP and would rather quest in peace – especially when starting out in an MMORPG.
In my opinion, a lot depends on the balancing from the developers. If players, for example, receive such a high level of corruption for killing a beginner that they lose their gear for it, the action would be completely pointless.
The corruption could also lead to the development of a kind of “bounty system”. Players who wish to defend beginners could go on the hunt for the Corrupted, kill them without penalty, and loot their gear. That at least sounds like an entertaining activity to me.
An alternative could be the system from New World. They switched to an optional PvP flagging system and offer more loot and XP in return when players roam around as PvP fighters. However, the incentives for PvP were so low that hardly anyone utilized it. We also criticized this in our podcast about New World.
2. Player Balance
What do we know so far? In Ashes of Creation, fortresses play an important role. There are a total of 5 fortresses in the game. Each of these fortresses “controls” 20% of the entire world, which means that all nodes belonging to this fortress must pay taxes.
A similar system also exists with the nodes. Each node has “vassal nodes” that belong to it and cannot level up independently of their “parent node”.
The whole system works like a snowball and establishes hierarchies.
Where do I have concerns? Aside from the fact that the system sounds incredibly complex on paper, such systems are very prone to balance issues.
It can quickly happen that a guild or group of players dominates the entire system or that guilds make non-aggression pacts with each other and thus retain their fortresses and power. In the large battles, up to 500 or even 1,000 players are supposed to compete against each other.
My experiences are primarily based on World vs. World in Guild Wars 2, fortress battles in Black Desert, and the wars in New World. All of these systems have encountered issues relating to population.
Here, the developers of Ashes of Creation should definitely create incentives to prevent such structures from forming.
3. Post-Release Content
What do we know so far? In their ambitious plans, the developers have already revealed that they want to release a smaller update each month and a “major release” every quarter.
This is intended to ensure fresh content in the game.
Where do I have concerns? New content post-release is often a sticking point for MMORPGs. In Ashes of Creation, I find it particularly difficult to even envision new content.
The game world is so divided that all areas always belong to a fortress. Each node also has a background (scientific, military, or religious) and is filled with content such as dungeons or world bosses.
The release of a new area can therefore really occur only when the other 4 fortresses also get one. Additionally, with the release of a new area, a battle for it starts immediately, as it is likely easier to conquer than a city that is already controlled and developed.
However, new areas also depend on content such as new dungeons or world bosses. Furthermore, item balance plays a much larger role in such an MMORPG than, for example, in WoW. Simply throwing new gear into the game world is also not the solution.
Here, I am particularly curious about what the developers of Intrepid Studios plan as new content to keep Ashes of Creation interesting permanently.
4. Monetization
What do we know so far? Ashes of Creation relies on a subscription model. You will have to pay monthly to access the MMORPG.
In addition to the subscription, there will also be a shop for cosmetic content. What this might look like is already shown by the current cosmetic packages linked to access to the alpha and beta.
From November 4th to December 2nd, the shop has the “Harvest’s Dawn” package. It includes:
- A cosmetic accessory skin
- A pet
- A mount skin
- A costume
- A caravan skin
- A housing skin
Where do I have concerns? The package shown here changes every month. By the end of 2020, there will be 12 different costumes, mounts, and all the other content created for the shop.
While I have nothing against cosmetic content in a shop in principle, with a subscription game, most should be earnable through gameplay and not also land in the shop. While WoW does this as well, it is not to this extent and even before the actual release.
Even though I don’t personally place much value on the appearance of my characters or mounts, I still hope that this practice will be toned down after the release. For collectors and players who care about their appearance, it could otherwise become really expensive.
Ashes of Creation could become a really good MMORPG
Even though I have expressed my concerns in some areas, I still believe that Ashes of Creation will become a good MMORPG. Besides the nodes, I am particularly excited about the social features, such as cooperation in a city, and the hybrid combat system designed to satisfy both tab-targeting and action fans.
However, my statement only holds true as long as the promised features come through and are implemented. After all, there have been many games in the past that made big promises and did not deliver. How successful Ashes of Creation will actually be, we will probably only see a few weeks after release.
What do you think about Ashes of Creation? Can you understand my concerns or do you have others? Or are you able to dispel my worries?
As mentioned at the beginning, Ashes of Creation is currently one of the most interesting MMORPGs in development. But there are more exciting games out there. We have presented them to you here:
