MMORPGs differ in many areas from single-player counterparts. Among other things, decisions in quests often do not matter. As a result, the quests do not lead to any consequences. Ashes of Creation aims to address this major problem of quests in a special way.
The major problem of quests in MMORPGs
Decisions without consequences: In classic MMORPGs, players experience adventures in the form of regular quests. These are intended to tell exciting stories and usually run similarly to missions in single-player role-playing games. The heroes are supposed to rescue a kidnapped princess, kill the dark lich lord, free a village from undead…
Setting aside events by the developers, these MMORPG quests reveal a crucial difference from those in single-player role-playing games: Players’ actions have no consequences.
- The kidnapped princess is repeatedly kidnapped, as other players also want to rescue her to claim the reward
- The lich lord respawns again and again, allowing other players to fight him as well
- The village is eternally haunted by the undead
Decisions with consequences that affect the game world and the NPCs and truly bring about lasting and significant changes are, nowadays, an important part of single-player role-playing games. However, in MMORPGs, such elements are usually sought in vain.
An MMORPG with consequences
Ashes of Creation will do it differently. Intrepid Studios is currently working on an MMORPG where the consequences of players’ actions play a significant role. Many may now wonder how that can work. Can only one player rescue the princess? Will the lich lord be gone forever? And can no other player free the village from the undead? No, because the developers have come up with something new:
- Nodes change areas – Every play area in the world of Ashes of Creation has a so-called node. This is a type of storage system that collects players’ actions. These actions then lead to certain events that impact the world.
- Mining awakens dragon – If players in a town near a resource-rich mountain extensively mine, this can lead to a dragon awakening in the caves. This dragon will then attack the town.
- Sea monsters attack port cities – A port city that relies on fishing may attract a sea monster if too much fishing occurs.
- The forests strike back – If you harvest too much wood, nature might retaliate. Trees come to life and attack you. However, if you manage your resources and do not harvest too much, nature might reward you by opening a safe path through the forest, allowing you to reach the neighboring city more quickly and trade more effectively.
- Who killed the raid boss? – If you have uncovered a dungeon through mining, monsters will swarm out of it. You set out with your friends to explore this dungeon to find out the source of this evil. During a raid, you discover a dangerous monster that you defeat. The player who killed this raid boss will then become known throughout the world. The dungeon is then cleared for now until new monsters might settle there. Which ones those are and when this will happen will also be determined by your actions.
PvP and content are important
PvP plays an important role. Not only in PvE do your actions have consequences. PvP will also be included.
- Escort missions – If you mine a lot of ore and want to transport it to the market of another town, it is necessary to hire players as escorts for the caravan. Because other players might organize an ambush and want to steal the ore.
- War between cities – If you discover a new mine near your town and mine ore that you want to sell, this may lead to a conflict with the neighboring town if they have previously sold the most ore in the area. If no diplomatic solution is found, a war may ensue, resulting in huge PvP battles and sieges.
Sandbox with content. The developers of Ashes of Creation want to create a sandbox in which players enjoy many freedoms, but the team will also integrate quests and stories. You will also encounter regular MMORPG quests over time and can experience a story. Because the developers explain that a sandbox should not serve as an excuse for a development studio to avoid creating exciting content.
In the end, the question remains how well all of this will work in the game. On paper, such plans always sound very good. However, in actual gameplay, it often turns out that players find ways to ruin such systems. Whether this will also be the case with Ashes of Creation is the big question. At the end of the year, the Alpha 1 is set to start, which may already provide an insight into how well the planned system works.
