The new MMORPG Ashes of Creation has opened its doors after years of video restrictions. One of the most important gaming YouTubers, Pirate Software, has checked out the game and raves about it in videos.
This is the situation with Ashes of Creation: Ashes of Creation has been in development since 2016. It rises from the ruins of Everquest Next and incorporates many ideas from the failed online role-playing game that was supposed to lead the next generation of MMORPGs after WoW and Final Fantasy XIV.
Ashes of Creation is the brainchild of millionaire and MMORPG fan Steven Sharif, who says: If necessary, he could also finance the game alone.
The MMORPG Ashes of Creation is supposed to provide a dynamic world that changes depending on the decisions players make.
Even though Ashes of Creation has been in development for so long, we haven’t seen much of the game recently because alpha players were not allowed to share their experiences. That has changed now with the start of Alpha 2.
YouTuber raves about the MMORPG for not including fast travel
What does Pirate Software say? Former Blizzard employee Jason Hall has become one of the most important gaming influencers under the name “Pirate Software” in just a few months. In 2 short videos, he now talks about the massively expansive game world of Ashes of Creation and how players move through it.
The special thing for him is that while the world is huge, the standard feature “Short Travel” (fast travel) is missing.
Normally in MMORPGs, players can “teleport” from various points on the map to other points without covering the actual distance. In Ashes of Creation, that is different:
There is no fast travel. […] Every time we traveled across the map, it felt like a campaign in Dungeons and Dragons.
The YouTuber explains how such a self-imposed mission goes in Ashes of Creation, for example, when one decides to raid an open-world dungeon:
- You decide to travel from your base to a destination
- For this, you first need to gather all materials and the team
- Then you fight several battles on the way to the destination
- Now you have arrived at the destination, complete your task, raid the dungeon, collect treasures
- Now you need to bring these treasures back to the base
Traveling is dangerous. If you die, you lose materials […] And when we got home, I felt: Okay, that was my adventure for today. It took about three hours, we accomplished all our tasks. But it felt like a round in Dungeons & Dragons. I haven’t felt that way in a game in ages. It felt really good.
Ashes of Creation addresses criticism from many core gamers
Why doesn’t every game do it this way? In the past, 20 to 25 years ago, all MMORPGs were like this. But the success of WoW has led to many comfort features being included in MMORPGs to attract more players.
Today, MMORPGs are designed so that they can be played “in bites” and without major commitments.
The principle of Ashes of Creation requires players to commit for 3 hours.
In modern MMORPGs, most game units usually last only 30 to 45 minutes, and after that, you can drop out at any time without losing anything.
Exactly this “softening” or “casualization” of MMORPGs is criticized by some purist MMORPG players. This includes not just fast travel but also features like automated group finding or instanced dungeons.
Significant popularity boost for Ashes of Creation
Why is this important? The two videos from Pirate Software have reached 870,000 and 1.5 million people. This is a huge success for the crowdfunding MMORPG Ashes of Creation, especially because it has been positively received and Pirate Software gives the impression that it is not a “normal MMORPG” designed to make life as easy as possible for players, but a real alternative.
Ashes of Creation is benefiting from such a boost right now, as the game continues to be controversially discussed: In Alpha 2 of Ashes of Creation, criticism meets praise – “miserable” versus “more fun than full-fledged games”
