The Complete Alpha 2 Guide From Intrepid Studios | September Development Livestream
First Look at the updated Aelan Ruins and the New Player Experience!
Welcome to the September Development Livestream, where we go through everything players will encounter on their first day of Alpha 2, an introductionary Jump Puzzle, our first look at the amazing Lionhold, and even a very spicy Q&A Period.
Also, we are announcing the upcoming launch of our website for YOUR user submissions! Get your recording software ready (Shadowplay, OBS, Discord, Medal) and bookmark the Ashes Moments Website to get your clip in the first Ashes Moments video and share it with the world! PVP Outplays, random moments, funny bugs, and even Guild Drama will all be featured on our Youtube channel updated frequently, so represent yourself, your guild and your server in the best way possible!
Community Spotlight
Still looking for a guild? Want to pledge yourself to a greater good (or bad)? Check out Srixun’s AoCGuilds Discord & Website!
AoCGuilds.com is your gateway to finding the perfect Ashes of Creation guild! We're dedicated to connecting players with guilds that match their playstyle. Our platform streamlines recruitment with easy-to-use tools and resources. Join our vibrant community on Discord to post guild ads, find the perfect guild, or connect with like-minded players. Whether you're recruiting or searching, we're here to help you thrive in Ashes of Creation. Let's grow this amazing community together!
Some players are even calling this the UnOfficial NA Discord for Ashes, even though we help players worldwide!
Join us: Discord: https://discord.gg/zGpYch3Aad
Website: https://aocguilds.com/
Meet Bill Trost: Director of Design
We start the livestream with a brief introduction to Bill Trost, Director of Design. His goal can be summarized by helping deliver Steven’s vast vision for the game into actionable deliverables that can be facilitated by the individual teams, and coordinating the overall vision.
Bill is an old-school pen-and-paper Dungeon Master, and has a very deep history with MMOs. He was a Co-Creator of Everquest, working on world-building and lore. He worked over at Everquest and smaller games at Sony for over a decade, before moving onto mobile game design and other projects like Defiance. He also helped build the Amazon Games Studio, and worked on their first project New World.
As an Early Kickstarter supporter, he has had his eye on Ashes of Creation for a while now, and has known Steven Sharif for several years before joining as a Lead Game Designer, and eventually transitioning into his current role as Director of Design.
They then discussed how they’re enabling a world with room for players to help build the lore and world itself, and how that’s a unique experience that he’s excited to share with all of us.
Upcoming Alpha 2 Livestream Changes
As we go into Alpha 2, the development livestream will see some changes. We’ve already seen some mentions of events and patch notes style videos, but one of the major changes is the forum post where players can send in questions will not exist anymore. Instead, they will be getting questions from viewers live, and do more of a rapid fire type delivery.
Youtube Spotlight: Reliquary
An interesting question was randomly chosen for the Youtube Spotlight, asking about the reliquary and relic system.
Relics will be serviced through the cargo system, and require a mule/caravan/merchant ship to facilitate the dimensions of the relic
Some relics will automatically get granted to the node (common relic vs exclusive relic)
Relic system can assign different types of benefits to different types of groups (entire Zone of Influence vs smaller group)
No, there are no benefits for having the relic in your possession, as it’s not meant to be kept, but safely transported.
Alpha 2 Updates
Pre-Alpha 2 Spot Testing & Pivot to Kanban
With Over 9000 Alpha 1 testers invited to Pre-Alpha 2 spot tests, the Intrepid Studios team is working around the clock to get ready for the October 25th, 2024 Alpha 2 Launch Date. Fine-tuning things and getting as much new content ready for A2 launch is their priority.
With the internal team moving to Kanban, the new Milestone 11 has moved to test-and-react, with the QA teams in Europe and America constantly working on discovering and hammering out major bugs. For the Project Managers out there, they have moved away from the Agile methodology (Sprints and pre-planning) to the Kanban Board methodology (with developers taking the highest priority ticket at all times). This is to facilitate the heightened work schedule coming into Alpha 2 and making sure the major issues are handled as soon as possible.
Hype Video ft. Your Favorite Content Creators
Intrepid delivered a short hype video featuring several content creators including Jamie Kaos, No1, Asmongold, and others. No new footage was shown, but we will link the video as soon as it’s available for those who want some extra hype.
Alpha 2 Guide Video
With wonderful narration from Margaret Krohn, the Alpha 2 Guide brief overview of several systems and brand new in-game footage to go along with it.
Starting in various regions like Lionhold, a Kaelar military stronghold, players will embark on a new journey through Verra. Find a mount, take quests, find treasure, and help build a node from a basic encampment to a sprawling town. Gather resources, take commissions, and deliver goods (or ambush them) to gain strength. Battle Tumok, or other players, to fulfill your own desires in the World of Verra. Build your own experience, and create your own story on October 25th, 2024!
What You Can Expect
Intrepid will be releasing a more thorough Alpha 2 Guide Article in the coming days, highlighting the necessary information for people to have an efficient testing experience. They are also working on a How-To for bug reporting and giving feedback, for those that are new to testing software and games.
Giving detailed information while not being unnecessarily verbose allows players to get back to testing as quickly as possible, and allows the developers to have what they need to address it.
As we enter Phase 1 in October and Phase 2 in December, Steven reiterated that server stability & scalability will be a major point, and it won’t be until Phase 3 where these issues really get hammered home. It is important to let new players understand that
Alpha 2 Map
We got a glimpse of the Alpha 2 Map, and more elaboration on the Lawless Zones. These Lawless Zones (Lawless Sandsquall Desert & Lawless Turquoise Sea Tropics) where they will be free-PVP areas. There will be no corruption in these areas, so all players will be free to kill (and be killed). These territories serve the purpose of the Open Seas, with drop rates for later game progression being focused in these areas. You are entering this territory knowing that PvP without repercussion is always possible.
There will also be high-end monsters, high-end resources, as well as the highest-value Caravanserai turn-in locations. As Alpha 2 progresses, these Lawless Zones will be settled, resulting in Nodes being allocated and the new Lawless Zones being introduced. This “pushing the boundaries of the frontier”, with new content settling new lands, and introducing even newer lands that are yet to be settled. New resources, new monsters, and even higher value Caravanserai locations.
PvP will also be closely watched, as due to the non-permanent nature of Alpha 2, players may decide the existing penalties are not enough of a deterrant to wanton killing (which occurred in Alpha 1), and will be adjusted to ensure the intended player experience takes precedence.
Archetypes & Weapons
Margaret and Steven then discussed the Archetypes & Weapon skill trees, highlighting the current status of each. With ongoing focus groups and new skills being added/old skills being reworked, these images will very quickly be outdated.
The weapon skill trees will be available for the following weapons: Mace, Shortbow, Longbow, 1-Handed Sword, 2-Handed Sword, Wand, and Book.
The full skill summary can be found here.
Alpha 2 Guide Walkthrough: Day 1 on Verra
Finally, we get a true representation of the first day of Alpha 2 (we hope), with a walkthrough for the starting area for new players of the Aelan Ruins.
We are joined by Steven, Bill, and Margaret as they return back home to Verra from Sanctus. They are the latest wave of settlers, and new players are greeted by previous settlers, some with their own stories (and quests) that they can’t wait to talk to you about.
These questgivers also have some voice over implemented. This is an AI-generated voice-over, sourced from the internal developers. This means that, while it will be AI-generated, the developers themselves will the originating voice, while AI will add inflection and attenuation to create the world they live in.
Exploring the world around you gives you access to various beginner-level weapons, giving us the first glimpse as to how unguided exploration can result in additional boons.
As the new settlers start exploring the Ruins of Aela, they decide to climb up the stairs surrounding the starting area. This is the players first introduction to a Verran jump puzzle. Although there are level one Goblins on the path, they don’t seem to have an aggro range (even with red nameplates), so players can attempt the jump quest several times without any issue. We also encountered the adaptive battle music, made by Composer Inon Zur, which triggers when players start combat.
As development continues, Steven mentioned that they have plans to include crypts and other hidden places in the starting area that allows for even more exploration, providing multiple levels of interaction for a starting area for players of many different levels. This is extra beneficial, because no one enjoys starting a game in an area that is devoid of player activity. Creating multiple levels of interaction for players in the starting area can create hubs of activity for years to come.
As the group progresses on the path to Lionhold, they encounter multiple mobs and quest NPCs (most of which are not voice acted). They pass on a quest item, and continue on their way to their first node.
Within Lionhold, you can obtain multiple tutorial quests like harvesting, crafting, the commission system, storage, etc. With Ashes of Creation being a Sandpark game, you can decide to do these quests in whatever order you’re interested in, or just head out in the world and start levelling.
Exploring Lionhold (and the Vaelune equivalent) has something for everyone, allowing players to build their own quest path and focus on the actions they themselves prioritize. Various vendors are available for selling and purchasing basic materials and equipment. Bill also suggested that some things may appear only at night, or during certain times of the year, detailing how exploration can be scaled on multiple axes. This is great for players who enjoy taking their time and constantly learning new things themselves.
The team continues to explore Lionhold, interacting with other vendors and quest givers. For players that are excited to get this first experience themselves, I suggest just listening to this portion of the video and leave the visual portion for when you enter the area. For all others, you can watch the full video here.
Question & Answer Section
Here are a few answers to questions that we feel should be highlighted
The main story quest isn’t mandatory to level up, but should be incorporated as players interact with the world
The AI solution implemented for voice-overs can be adapted for multiple language translations, and the team is exploring other uses for AI that fit their development
As Node Atrophy progresses, certain services and buildings will degrade and players will lose access to it
Battlepasses are (still) not planned
Merch store in the manufacturing phase currently
Fog of War mechanic is intended for dungeons as well as overworld, with Fog being reintroduced to areas that have undergone physical changes, encouraging rediscovery
Glint distribution in parties is forced systematically to be round-robin, so Master Loot won’t be the only one who can obtain it in that Loot Distribution system
Treasure Maps can be timed and have multiple points (with only 1 correct one), may require a consumable to dig treasure, and will have a loot table with very rare drops. They can also be tradeable.
Building a the Riverlands and all it entails (PoIs, NPCs, Mobs, Dungeons, etc.) will pave the way for creating straightforward and reproducible steps, which can then be outsourced to external studios to rapidly build the 16+ other Biomes that are required before launch.
Art Update
That ends the September Development Livestream! The next Livestream is scheduled for after the Alpha 2 Launch, so get ready for that.
As a final reminder, make sure you have your recording software ready (Shadowplay, OBS, Discord) as we’ll be launching our site in a couple weeks for YOUR user submissions! Highlights, funny bugs, PVP outplays, and everything in between will be featured on our Ashes Moments Youtube Channel!
An exciting addition to our channel is to be the hub for Guild Drama/Battles as well! We’ll speak more on that in the future, but for all those players who enjoy hearing about Guild Drama but not being a part of it, subscribe to stay up-to-date. From successful Guild spies, Guild breakups, and Discord Drama, send in your Guild Drama moments to share your greatest success stories and establish dominance!