Preface

This document is a compilation of information about Ashes of Creation, an MMO currently in development by Intrepid Studios. The information was taken from confirmed sources in the game’s community discord, the official forums, official interviews, live streams, and scheduled and unscheduled Q&As. Some questions and answers were shortened to consolidate the document but contextual details were retained. This project is ongoing and the editors will update the document as new information is shared.

Any confirmed information is subject to change. Thank you to Frederik, Chkoupinator, Blurpe, and Squiddy for their contributions to this document, both in content and editing.

Important Note(s):
This title is in the Pre-Alpha stage of development. (See “Alpha Testing” to learn more about a game’s journey of development). Ashes of Creation is beginning it’s first alpha phase, “Alpha Zero”, on December 15, 2017. Participants will be under an NDA.

THE SUMMER CROWDFUNDING HAS CONCLUDED. THE STORE REMAINS OPEN TO OFFER BUNDLES, STANDALONE ITEMS, AND MERCH.

Sources & References

1. Interviews/Articles:
A. MassivelyOP | December 7, 2016 | Exclusive Interview with Ashes of Creations’s Jeffrey Bard

B. MMORPG | December 12, 2016 | Intrepid Studios Aims to Breathe New Life Into the MMORPG

C. MMOGames | January 11, 2017 | Ashes of Creation Wants to Bring the Virtual World to Life

D. MassivelyOP | February 9, 2017 | Won’t Sacrifice Aesthetics For Performance

E. PCgamer | March 30, 2017 | Nodes Help Expand its Reactive MMO World

F. MMOGames | April 13, 2017 | Ashes of Creation on Building Their Virtual World

G. PC Gamer | May 2, 2017 | MMO Ashes of Creation goes to Kickstarter…

H. Dungeon Crawler Network | May 3, 2017 | Interview with Steven Sharif

I. TheLazyPeon | May 9, 2017 | Q&A with Steven Sharif

J. IGN | May 25, 2017 | AN MMO THAT LETS YOU BE THE BOSS

2. Kickstarter/Summer Crowdfunding Livestreams:
A. Developer Livestream | June 30, 2017
B. Livestream w/ Aggelos | May 19, 2017

C. Livestream w/ DeathsProxy | May 17, 2017

D. Livestream w/ DocGotGame | May 8, 2017
E. Livestream w/ DJ Tech Live | May 5, 2017

F. Livestream w/ DeltiasGaming | May 3, 2017

G. Livestream | May 1, 2017

3. Official Videos:

A. Siege Design & This Weekend's Beta Test - January 11, 2019

B. Ashes of Creation - Apocalypse Siege Maps Preview Video

C. Ashes of Creation - Livestream with MMORPG Gameplay Update

A. “Ashes of Creation - Kickstarter Video”
B . “Ashes of Creation - Nodes Part Two”

C. “Ashes of Creation - Nodes Part One”

D. “Ashes of Creation - A Mage’s Life”

E. “Ashes of Creation - It’s Dangerous to Go Alone (Dungeon Gameplay Test)”

F. “Ashes of Creation - Seasons First Look”

G. “Ashes of Creation Q&A” - January 11, 2017 Dev. Q&A

H. “Ashes of Creation - Node Demonstration”

I. “Ashes of Creation - Merry Christmas!”

J. “Ashes of Creation - Dungeons First Look - Water Temple”
K. “Ashes of Creation - Environment First Look”

L. “Ashes of Creation - War - Combat First Look”

4. Straight from the Developers:

A. Developer Blog | Our Immersive World - Environments
B. Developer Blog | A World With Consequences
B. Developer Blog | A Reactive World - Nodes

C. Developer Blog | Node Series - Part 1
D. Developer Blog | Node Series - Part 2 “The Metropolis”

E. Developer Blog | Group Dynamics - Part 1

F. Developer Blog | The Mighty Beard (Taverns)
G. Developer Blog | City Hall

H. Developer Blog |

I. Developer Blog |

Social Media:

Community Submissions:

Ashes of Creation Extended Q&A Somewhat (Discord pre-search function Answers) - Original Compiler: Chkoupinator

TL;DW - Ashes of Creation Q&A - Original Creators: Brane Games & Frederik

Common Questions for Ashes of Creation - Original Creator: Rimirg

Discord Q&A (Transcribed) - By Zekece

Table of Contents

Preface

Development

| The Five Pillars

| Development Timeline

Adventuring Class

| Customization

| Primary & Secondary Archetypes

| Open World & Flagging

| Death Penalties

| Arenas

| Misc.

Loot & Inventory System

PvE

| Dungeons & Raids

| Monster Coin System

| A Dynamic World, “Verra”

Nodes & Player Housing

| Player Housing

| Nodes

| Nodes - Zone of Influence

Casual, Small Group, & Solo Play

Mounts & Pets

| Mounts

| Pets

Character Customization

| Character Appearance

| Non-Combat Attire

| In-Game Customization

Technical (not related to game systems)

| Server Information

| UI

| Optimization, Localization, Customization

| Development Goals, Timeline, Milestones

Exploitation, Security, RMT

Monetization, Cash Shop, & DLC

Kickstarter/Summer Crowdfunding, Alphas & Betas

| Crowdfunding Packages & Goals

Development

| The Five Pillars

What are the five pillars of development Intrepid Studios is adhering to with Ashes of Creation?

Engaging and Immersive Story
A Reactive World
Player Interaction
Player Agency
Risk vs Reward

(4-B)

| Development Timeline

What is the current timeline for development goals and milestones? (This section will be updated as new information is released)

Alpha 0

Access: key giveaway only
Date: December 15, 2017

Alpha 1

Access: Kickstarter packages, summer crowdfunding pledges, pre-order packs.
Date: 2018 (tentative)
Alpha 2 (will become the player test server “PTS”)

Access: Kickstarter packages, summer crowdfunding pledges, pre-order packs.
Date: 2018 (tentative)
Beta 1

Access: Kickstarter packages, summer crowdfunding pledges, pre-order packs.
Date: 2019 (tentative)

Beta 2

Access: Kickstarter packages, summer crowdfunding pledges, pre-order packs.
Date: 2019 (tentative)

Launch

2019 - 2020 (tentative)

Adventuring Class

| Customization

What different ways can the adventuring class the customized?

Through augmentation from selecting a secondary archetype, religion, race, among others.

Can all classes use all weapons?

Yes, but obviously certain classes will focus on weapons based on the build they want.

| Primary & Secondary Archetypes

What are the current classes/archetypes? (Take this class survey if you’re interested!)

Mage, Summoner, Cleric, Bard, Fighter, Tank, Ranger, and Rogue (See here for a description)

Will we be able to change our secondary archetype later in the game if we decide we want to try something else?

Yes.

Can a player select a secondary archetype the same of their first? So like, a mage primary and mage secondary class?

Yes, you can choose the same archetype for your primary and secondary yes. It will enhance your focus in that class. We are still discussing secondary class swapping.

What are the advantages of choosing the same class for primary and secondary classes?

This situation is specifically for people who want to play a very particular role (ex: someone wanting to play a typical “tank” would double down on tank/tank). Having the same class for primary and secondary will further solidify the player in that role. A tank/tank would be full on damage mitigation versus a tank/rogue that may be more evasion tank based.

For example, you have a taunt skill that snaps aggro from something and increases your hate and brings the monster to you. If you go tank/tank you may have an augment that allows your to modify your taunt that adds a reflection shield as long as the taunt skill is active, which damages the monster based on how hard it’s hitting the player.

Will rogues actually be rogues or are they going to be more like assassins?

Depends how you build it. Both options are currently viable.

Mechanic-wise, will different classes have different feels and playstyles or will they have very niche roles?

There will be a degree of focus within a certain role and your customization of the character (skills, augments) will play within that degree.

How do you plan on making bards unique?

Bards will dance, story tell, and can inspire with their words. A bard not in a party will be missed. They will be engaging in combat besides just buffing. They’ll be in the frontline.

Will all classes be able to maneuver or is it limited to the mage.

Yes! All classes will have maneuverability utility skills/spells/equipment. There will be locations within the game that will have wires, magical traps, and pits which will require utility items or spells to reveal; each class will have a certain focus on a particular type of trap. For example, the light spell reveals magical explosive hazards.

Was the model of the caster a placeholder in your combat video? I know I got that "asian" mmo vibe from that entire thing from the model, to the skimpy clothing, and even some of the spell effects that I know I was hoping to avoid.

Not a placeholder. But absolutely a work in progress.

What kind of creatures will summoners be able to summon?

Summons will reflect the summoner’s race. And summon skins will be available.

Can summoners choose the look of their summons?

Yes, there is some customization from cosmetics and non-cosmetics. Race, evolution, archetypes, shadow summons (if you’re a Summoner/Rogue).

| Progression

What are you guys currently planning for progression?

Our player class advancement follows both a vertical progression in the traditional leveling sense, as well as a horizontal skill customization platform. When players start the game, they will be able to choose from 8 separate Archetypes. As the player progresses vertically with their primary class, they will have the opportunity to add a second class. This second class will be chosen again from the 8 archetypes, and will follow more of a horizontal progression. The second class will allow the player to augment their primary skills from their main class, with effects from their secondary class.

For example; A fighter has a skill called “Rush”, that allows him to rush towards a target and upon reaching the target, deals x damage with a chance to knock the target down. If that fighter were to choose Mage as his secondary archetype (Spellsword), he would gain access to certain augments that he could apply to his primary skill tree. Let’s use his Rush skill as an example; As a Spellsword, he could choose to apply a teleportation augment to the Rush skill, which would allow the skill to now teleport you to the target, eliminating the charge time on the skill. Each skill in the primary tree will have several augment options from your secondary tree. The secondary skill augment tree will follow a horizontal progression that will be expanded upon further in a developer’s blog.

What will be done to ensure tanks are relevant in PvP?

A couple things, PvP isn’t a one-dimensional dps race. Damage mitigation, control are important for a tank in PvP, they want to focus on taunting so cannons/healers aren’t targeted.

Will Ashes of Creation be alt friendly?

Yes, no specific barriers

Max level?

We have an idea but aren’t announcing it. The concept is around 50, but thats a maybe (not decided).

Class Specifics

| TANK SKILLS

TANK:

Ability: (Taunt): taunts are traditionally the ability for the tank to draw aggro from a target. Ability sometimes single target, cone target, or aoe target. Allows tanks to control the battlefield. Forcing the confrontation to happen on their terms.
Ability: (Wall). How the tank can manipulate the battlefield. Tank will slam his foot on the ground and a wall will be constructed on, around, or in a direction he’s facing. The wall, while it exists, will apply a condition modifier to enemies that come within proximity to it, and will generate aggro back to the tank.
Ability: (Pull/Lasso). Spawn the wall, then pull a target into the wall- the target will hit the wall, fall down, and pulled to the tank.
Ultimate ability (“Super hero leap”)- Deals damage and conditioned stun effect, perhaps a knockdown.

The tank can put the shield in the sky and offer aid to allies. % damage from allies will be transferred to him (dmg mitigation).

Utility skill: threat detection. He can determine, within an area around him, which will detect creatures around him as well as their aggro (hostile, docile, etc.). Utility effects/skills not spammable. Will have CDs.

| CLERIC SKILLS

CLERIC:

Ability: targeted spot heal (focus heal)
Ability: heal/damage over time that (HOT) acts as HOT for target and proximity based DOT for nearby enemies.
Ability: “Balance Life?. Life balance aoe that a cleric will lay down as a template. Enemies within the template will have their life removed while allies will have life restored based on life removed from enemies.
Ability: group balance life effect, Cleric can take the HP % of the party and balance them to a metric that is equal (averages party member’s HP)
Ability: Chain Heal effect. Can target a party member, launch a line of heals towards them that will arc based on proximity to other nearby allies. It will continue to jump to allies, when it jumps, it will deal burst damage to nearby enemies.. Powers up with each new jump
Buff: “Endow Life”. a short duration buff that will resurrect a fallen party member. If the party member dies while the buff is active, they can be immediately resurrected. If the party member dies without the buff, the cleric can cast it (long cast time) for the res.
Ultimate ability: Divine Form. Grants party members within proximity to cleric (plus the cleric itself) a buff to heal and damage, provides a HOT to nearby allies and a DOT to nearby enemies. Cleric will rise up on their feet, during the 5 or so seconds, will hover/float while this happens.

Utility skill: environmental cleansing/purge. The purge can clear/cleanse curses (cast by mages) for examples.

| MAGE SKILLS

MAGE:

Ability: Fireball. Fast cast, targeted spell that also deals splash damage in an AoE template. You choose the point of impact, does fire damage that may light targets on fire (based on enemy conditions or environmental conditions).
Ability: Ice Prison. Long cast root skill. Allows the mage to lay down shards of ice that trap enemies, full root. Doesn’t do damage.
Ability: Lightning bolt, player determines direction of lightning bolt and it strikes in a line template. Projects out from mage, deals damage.
Ability: Self teleport (mobility). Teleport works in direction the mage is facing is the teleport.
Buff: Mirror Image… Mage gets a shimmer around them and for a few attacks increases their evasion… breaks after a few attacks.
Ultimate ability: Earth eruption that is a huge aoe earthquake, line template from direction mage is facing. Will trip enemies and deal damage when it hits them.

Utility skill: Detect magic will allow the mage to see magically hidden points of interest in their point of view.. Illusion spells for example.

| RANGER SKILLS

RANGER: Uses a bow. Combo will be a primary shot > double arrow shot > arcane shot. Rangers have a min. distance requirement for bow use.

Ability: Power shot. Held/charged up cast time. Longer charge time more damage (assumed).
Ability: Snare; Fire a foot pin/hamstring shot that slows the target
Ability: mark a target that debuffs an enemy that will debuff them with additional damage from any other sources. Will have an effect that actually “marks” the target.
Ability: Dash/disengage. Pulls the ranger out of a bad situation. The skill will trigger an immediately bow shot after the disengage.
Buff: Prepare shots. Grab arrows out of the quiver, slams them in the ground. As long as ranger stays within proximity to those arrows, they get double damage on the next 4 shots. (Do the arrows in the ground match with how many double damage shots the ranger has left?)
Ultimate Ability: a rain of arrows. Lays down a template on the battlefield, and shoots off shots that will rain down in that area (“blot out of the sun”).
Unique pets implied

Utility (at PAX): tracking

Races

What are the playable races?

There are 2 human races (Aela Humans), 2 elven races (Pyrian Elves), 2 orc races (Kaivek Orcs), and 2 dwarven races (Dünzenkell Dwarves). See this imgur link for a description of the races.

Does my race choice influence my class?

Yes. Races will provide augmentation for your skills. Races will affect your stats, and stats will affect your skills and abilities. In addition, races will give unique flavors to your class archetype skills. Classes will not be restricted to certain races. Races will allow you to apply augments to your primary archetype (class).

Will races have a unique mount?

Yes.

Combat Systems

| Mechanics

How is the combat going to be?

Well, the combat is going to be a combination of targeting method and positional mechanics that will dictate and determine the ability of skills to land and the efficacy of those skills. Our hybrid system uses elements of tab targeting and of positioning and movement. It also includes keystroke time frames as well as dodge and move mechanics. Combat will be fast paced.

A lot of people consider "tab-target" quite an outdated form of combat, and that a fluid action-based combat is a better direction for games to go in. What's your thoughts on the current combat system?

In regards to tab targeting, while our combat system is not completely fleshed out, I can say that our tab-targeting will involve positioning and mobility and that we will have more in-depth blogs on this system as our development progresses.

Will animation cancelling be used in combat?

This is not a fighting game. If your ability is available, you can use it. You’re not locked into animations for the most part (can’t think of any exceptions).

Are dodges an invincibility frame or…?

The lead designer could answer that more specifically, but our dodge and movement mechanics are going to include templated skills in positioning and if you’re not under that template as it progresses, then you’re not going to be hit. Dodge will allow your character to move from that template.

Will there be a stealth mechanic?

There is a stealth mechanic. It will be discussed when our class overviews get published

The weapons; will they just be used during abilities or will you actually be able to attack with a sword?

We are not going to have a auto attack mechanic, however there will be skills that will use your weapon and will be low cooldown skills. So you will be able to attack with your weapon at the same time as you can use skills with them.

Will combat be more in depth than just left clicking?

I think we are going more towards fluid chain attacks when using your weapons. So you have the ability to combo at a higher dmg/dps or something, but it will be similar to as you said right clicking and stuff, but you will have key interruptions that will allow you to combo and stuff.

How are death animations going to look?

The fireball I used today, (in the mage's life video) left the corpse of this demonic bunny, in a pile of fire... Then its body exploded and blood went everywhere... I was caught a bit off guard. It is entirely possible for the death animations of a person/monster to be situational depending on the method/element of the final strike.

Will there be collisions between players?

Yes, but there will be a mechanic that prevents blocking that and spell collision

| Skills (General)

Are you planning a limited action set of abilities where players have to choose what's active at any given time, or will players have many action bars with many active abilities as in games like WoW and SWTOR?

We don't want our players to be flooded with bars filled with abilities and skills that they rarely use, or become obsolete. So we will have a skill system that progresses with the player. Like many other aspects of our game, players will choose their skill sets from their chosen archetype and archetype combinations

Will there be a skill tree?

No skill tree, but focus on solid kits with lots of functionality.

Please think about adding a "Cyclone" or a "Whirlwind".

Cleaving will be a thing for certain classes for sure

Will there be “group” skills?

This is being considered, especially with regards to sieges.

Artisan Classes

Is there a crafting system in AoC? If so, how will it work and how will it affect in-game income?

There is a very in-depth and crucial crafting system in the game. Personally, I have always felt that crafting should be a serious commitment, and because of that it should be serious rewarding. Our crafting system is built into a class progression, which players can choose to level concurrently with their primary adventuring class.

As you progress in this artisan class, you will have three distinct trees that you can progress in:

Gathering
Processing
Crafting

An artisan will choose which path he will progress in, or he can spread out his progress to be efficient in all three trees of artisanship. True masters will be dedicated to one of the three artisan paths. Because of the amount of time and effort required to become a skilled artisan in AoC, these players will undoubtedly exert a strong influence over the in-game economy.

What “professions” will there be though?

Your artisan specialization, harvesting, processing, and crafting, diverges into cooking, alchemy, husbandry, armorsmithing, weaponsmithing, and different categories within those too. They’re “professions”, but they’re more like a skill spec and that spec will determine what you do.

Will there be any roles of value for those who aren't interest in combat? Farming/breeding/cooking. If so, will the casual non-combat player feel like his actions are worth something.

Farming/breeding/cooking and crafting in general is of EXTREME importance in this world. It is my personal opinion that players who control the economy exert greater influence over the world than those who directly influence PvP. Non-Combat play styles will absolutely be a full-time option, and will yield considerable influence.

Can we get more info about breeding/animal husbandry?

Most of the unique traits you can try to breed and get that trait into the next mount. You can find unique, rare creatures to try and breed with something else. It’s a very cool experimental mechanic. It also includes pets, livestock, and not just mounts.

Will there be a limit to how many “professions” a player can learn and gain experience for?

Not necessarily, but there will be restrictions (paraphrasing- question was asked during a voice chat discussion with Steven).

Will there be tea in ashes?

Yes. Tea is confirmed as a consumable created by a cooking profession. It can be offered in particular buildings such as a tavern or food hall where patrons can purchase the tea. It will offer benefits to the player for a period of time after consumption. There are many many random combination of ingredients that produce different types of food and drinks.

| Harvesting

Fishing- will it be in Ashes?

Yes. Fishing plays a role in a gatherable sense. Collected fish can be used for potions and food, and maybe unique components. We don’t know the UI for it yet, but we’re gonna try to do something different.

AFK fishing?

No. It’ll be relaxing, slow-ride, and interesting though.

Will resource gathering be manual (player hits a node) or automated generation?

We’re having discussions about harvesters and harvesting, basically if you’re a citizen of a node that has a ZOI and within that ZOI is a resource you want to harvest, and you own a freehold, you have the ability to place down a harvester which will give you a return over time until that resource is depleted. There would be limited spots and those types of resources would pop up randomly. However, heres also a manual thing if you come across something you can go and harvest it by yourself.

| Processing

| Crafting

Crafting, tell us about it.

It’s the part that drives the economy.
To craft something, you first have to find someone who either has the resources you need or someone who can harvest the resources you need. You then need to process the resources, using a processing plant bound on a freehold. The crafter can then use a recipe within the ZOI of a node to create an item.
There will be different degrees of item sink to prevent the crafting materials being more valuable than the item. Decay, salvaging/deconstruction are example of that. Overenchanting may destroy an item. Economic supply & demand will also play a role in the value of items versus materials.
Crafted items will be some of the best gear to have besides world boss drops. Crafters will create most of the BIS items.

Will crafters names appear in the items they craft? (Maybe limit it to high-tier items) yeah i know, will probably kill your item database

Yes. Crafter names will appear on items they craft. "Crafted by: Pyre"

Can crafters dismantle dropped items to learn new unique crafting recipes?

Yes.

Will crafting be recipe based or more dynamic?

Crafting will involve recipes for certain items, as well as dynamic methods for other items.

Will there be different types of crafting that you can specialize in, such as weapon crafting, armor crafting, and furniture crafting?

How will leveling your crafting class work? Are we going to me advancing and making cool unique items the whole way up or repetitive dagger crafting?

Not repetitive

What about custom skins when crafting?

Custom skins, yes. There will be a possibility for crafters to create custom looking items, not just stats as well. So, we want our crafters to be legendary. I personally have always felt that a person that devotes as much time towards a system like crafting that encompasses a majority of their playtime, than it should be reflected in their product. That means, that yes crafters will have an ability to customize their items and what the crafter creates might be different from the items someone else creates. It all depends on what type of focuses you go for.

Will there be RNG involved in crafting?

No, we want to diminish the amount of RNG involved in crafting. I really don't like that aspect so much of crafting.

Just like crafters have perks to create great stuff, will gatherers and processors have similar perks?

One of the ideas I'm playing with which we haven't decided on is: Utilizing the caravan system to move between regions might have the ability to increase the potency of the gatherables. (Full answer)

Will there be potions, and is there an artisan class for Alchemy?

Yes. There will never be potions that replace the role of a class or a class’s abilities. Potions will probably not give buffs, but maybe.

Can crafters augment epic boss drops to make it more powerful?

Yes.

| Player Shops

You mentioned in your Q&A that crafters will be able to open a services shop to repair broken equipment for other players and that materials will need to be provided to satisfy the repairing of equipment. Would the player requesting the repair have the option to provide the materials and by doing so lower the cost to repair their item?

Players will be able to input the required items for repair, accompanied by the necessary mats. The crafter's shop would merely offer the service.
Though if the player needed the mats as well, the shop would contain a window with those for sale if they had the inventory

Would said shops need to be manned by a player, or can you just set up the store and leave it?

We will delve deeper into those mechanics in the near future

Are you also considering giving the shop the ability to BUY goods instead of just SELLING them?

Players will be able to input the required items for repair, accompanied by the necessary mats. The crafter's shop would merely offer the service. Though if the player needed the mats as well, the shop would contain a window with those for sale if they had the inventory

Are the player stalls restricted? What kind of UI/notifications are available?

There can be as many player stalls as allowed by the node’s development in the marketplace area. There’s a UI for a town-center (like a bulletin board) that could show connected node items. You can’t purchase from that UI but it provides stall information so you can go find the stall and purchase an item. You don’t have to visit every stall, but you also can’t buy from a central location.

Can player stalls be customized?

Possibly. From a visual standpoint, you’ll have classes of items and you’ll have generic aesthetics that appear in your stall (potions, fabrics, etc.).

| Economics

What’s going to be the primary method for items entering the economy?

Our crafters will be the epicenter of our item economy. However, those crafters, in order to create epic gear, depend on the bosses that arise in the story to be defeated. Essentially, we want players who focus their time and effort in crafting to be indispensable in their respective trade skills. Which also means, that the time dedicated to becoming an expert in those trade skills must be meaningful and intense. If everyone is a master crafter, then no one is.

Can you give us more information on the trading system? What makes this system so unique?

Our trading system is the first of it’s kind in any MMORPG. The movement of resources from region to region is where risk meets reward. And we want players to experience that feeling of suspense. To give you an idea of how this works; resources in our world spawn in certain regions.

As an example, let’s say IRON may only spawn in a Tier 1 region. And that IRON ore can only be processed in a Tier 2 region. Players have very limited carry capacity for resources, and will rely on our caravan system to transport goods from region to region. Caravans are spawned in villages (Stage 3 nodes) or above and can be sent to other village stages nodes or above (see “Caravans” in PvP). If the caravan reaches its destination the defenders will reap a reward, and the owner will have transported his goods for processing and sale.

This system will create POCKET ECONOMIES in certain regions that depend on activity of bandits or guilds to defend the trade routes between player governed cities.

Will there be a labor system used in ashes?

No. We are employing other methods of throttling, that do not include energy and labor mechanics.

Social Systems

Can you share general details on Social Systems?

Social organizations, as we’ve introduced them with the stretch goals, are an in-depth way for players to interact with the world around them in a different fashion, and there will be different organizations. Organizations will have their own goals and objectives in the world. Participation may include rewards, titles, and more. Social organizations are optional.
The thieves guild may revolve around securing a rare object to advance your place in that organization.
You can only pledge your oath of loyalty to one organization at a time and may lose progress if you change allegiances.

Do you plan to give us several dance options?

There will be social animations and emotes, including dance

Will there be a formal system available in-game to hire both NPCs and other players?

The interaction between players we’re wanting to facilitate with some sort of UI system (like some sort of hiring process). From an NPC perspective, there’s a lot of systems in place in the open world to hire guards, player run governments can hire additional guards to man the walls, guild leaders can hire mercenary NPCs for sieges, caravans will specifically have NPCs that are capable of being assigned to caravans based on certain developments in the zone and the developments on the leading castle for that region.

What will the in game chat be like?

It’s very in-depth. Channels will be standard: trade, general chat, party, raid, maybe even social organization, and a node citizenship channel. We’re planning on VOIP for parties, raids, and maybe guilds.

Gear

Can I transfer gear to an alt?

Yes, but probably not through the mail… More like a transfer between characters. We haven’t worked out a lot of the details with this.

Will there be legendary items?

Yes.

| Weapon Slot

Will weapons be class locked?

Players can select from a variety of weapons that reflect their own class customization

Will we get different types of shields in game? ie. Buckler, Targe, Kite, Heater, Tower Shields. Also can we dual wield them?

Yes there will be a good variety of shields.

Have you considered putting more exotic type weapons in the game? (Trident, polearms, crossbows, for example).

Will there be scythes in game?

Are you guys gonna add dual swords to the content of the game or is the fighter only allowed to use one sword?

Dual wielding will be a thing

| Gear Slot

Will gear be bind on equip?

Generally, no. That doesn’t achieve the objectives we have in place with the economy. You may equip gear and sell it later if you’d like. There could be some binding, but it’d be an exception.

Will there be separate PvE and PvP gear sets?

Will there be end-game tier sets with set bonuses (like WoW)?

Yes.

Will gear degrade and break?

Yes, but not the other kind of meaningless degradation in other MMOs. We’re going to have gear degradation and potentially even breakage that would then require a portion of the materials and a crafter capable of crafting in order to repair it.

| Utility

What about the items that cannot be crafted and don't have a recipe ? Will they have a custom repair only recipe or will they not be repairable ? Also what happens when an item hits 0% durability?

0% durability will unequip the item, increasing its repair costs. non-recipe items will have default repair skills costing mats equal to its crafted equivalent

Will we have the option to "inspect" other players' gears?

Great question. I am not sure on that yet

Will there be PvP and PvE gear or will the gear be the same?

Good Question. That will be discussed in detail in a future blog.

Is a Spyglass confirmed?

It’s a utility piece. Part of our class design includes active combat skills but also utility skills.

Will there be a grappling hooks?

| Aesthetics

Will we get non-heel options for us girls who prefer to battle in more realistic armor?

The great thing about being open in development and engaged with the community is that we get good feedback! I have heard the feedback regarding the design of her armor, and we are readjusting how to please both the style some people want and the practicality that others desire. Your feedback does not go unnoticed

Will the game have capes and cloaks?

The items hanging from the mage in the gameplay preview (potions, belt, books, pack), are those apart of an armor set or can those items be customized at the individual level?

Those represent items the mage is in possession of.

So they automatically/dynamically change based on what is in the mage’s inventory?

Players can set the appearance priority on their belt for the items they wish to show

Will there be an in game transmogrifier, so if you like a piece of gear you have, you can just change it to look like that. Instead of buying a full costume from the marketplace... will people be able to make their own unique looking sets of gear, so they can be separate and different from everyone else if they wanted to.

We are leaning yes in that direction.

PvP

Will there be Guild vs Guild wars that allows for PvP between the two warring guild’s members without penalties?

Yes, but not standard GvGs. We’re thinking of including objectives or locations or items guilds may own as victory/surrender conditions.

| Caravans

How do Caravans work?

(See “Economics” for more details). In order to transport resources, you will have to initiate a caravan. Multiple players can deposit goods into a single caravan. While the caravan moves, it will have players who are registered as “Defenders” and NPC guards assigned by the village node. A zone around this caravan will prompt players nearby with a window that asks if they wish to defend, attack, or ignore the caravan. If the caravan reaches it’s destination, the owner of the caravan reaps a reward and all who added resources to the caravan will have successfully transported goods for processing and sale. If the bandits succeed at destroying the caravan, however, then a wreckage will appear- only lootable by players who registered to attack.

How will you prevent mass guilds from camping these trade routes, solely to attack and plunder caravans. Also, how will you prevent mass guilds from securing these routes without trouble because of their size?

The caravan system is designed to be initiated by the player. Which means, information of the caravans launch time and route, should be a closely guarded secret. Routes will also be diverse, and the world is large, so it might behoove you to scout the route ahead before a launch. Fast travel in our game is also limited, which means unless the guild had knowledge of your plans beforehand, it is likely that they will be unable to organize and travel to a location. As far as mass guilds securing trade routes, there is always a bigger fish in the pond. Also caravans will have limitations on carrying capacity and launch windows that will segment multiple caravans by several minutes, which would space out the caravans, making it difficult to "zerg" a defense.

How will you balance the defender vs attacker rewards for caravans? The defenders could fill the caravan with useless stuff to exploit their reward with low risk. Are the rewards based on game-generated algorithms or are they player based?

Caravans have different applications, not just for personal goods. Caravans are sometimes required for node-specific quests. There’s a cut-off point where new players can join in along the path. Rewards will be based on the type of caravan, and comparable to the bandit achievements.

I understand players can hire guards to help defend them against other players. Is this limited to other players or will PvE events also occur during these expeditions?

Depending on the caravan that is launched, number of guards that will accompany the caravan and their strength will be based on a few factors; size of the node from which the caravan is launched, If the node falls under the influence of a castle, if the player has purchased additional guards, what the elected node official/officials determine they wish to allocate node resources to the caravan guard system. Caravan's will potentially include PvE disturbances along the route, depending on; it's destination, status of local quests lines for the area, and size of the node the caravan is originating from.

How do I attack a caravan?

When a caravan is active, a player will be prompted upon entering the caravan’s conflict radius to attack the caravan, assist the defenders, or not get involved. Attacking the caravan will allow attackers to open fight with defenders without either side being influenced by the corruption mechanic.

| Sieges

Why would a guild want to compete for a castle?

Castles exert control, to a degree, over the economies of the nodes under its influence. There are five castles in the game and those castles have a domain that they control, to a degree. Owning a castle, the guild may be able to allocate some of those taxes for increased defense spending in nodes, separate of the nodes taxation policies and coffers and they may activate certain events and abilities that can progress citizens of certain nodes. They may unlock certain types of buildings. Castles have dedicated nodes around them that exists outside of the nodes system that are buildable to a certain stage by the guild that owns the castle and the guilds that are in an alliance with that castle there's a lot of different mechanics that that relate to our castle system.

It’s been said that defenders in a siege will have the advantage, but what are their win conditions?

Defenders would win on a timer, or through defeating the NPC staff and General at the Attacker’s encampment, then burning down the encampment, which is a spell with an extended cast timer (2-5min)

What are the siege mechanics?

Node sieges follow very specific mechanics. For example, a guild may use a difficult to get quest item, to declare a siege against a node at stage 3 (Village) or above, after the siege is declared there is a declaration period. This period is longer for higher stage nodes. During this period, all trade to and from the node is frozen. The Player government of the node is now capable of spending the node taxes on the defense of the node. When the siege begins, there will be objectives for the attackers to secure in order to increase the defenders respawn time. Ultimately the apex of the battle will rely on the attackers securing the town center, and removing the town’s flag, while then raising their own.
Each node has a number of districts, depending on its stage. Each district has an objective that attackers can attempt to take control over. If an attacker takes over a district, they gain that district as a respawn location for attackers. They also increase the respawn for defenders for each district that is taken. Districts are taken by defeating a raid boss Guard NPC in that district.

Is there a time limit on sieging?

After a node has been sieged, it cannot be siege for a long period of time.
The tentative siege cooldowns for the various stages are as follows (sieges can only occur after stage 3):

Stage 3: Village - ~ 20 days
Stage 4: Town - ~ 30 days
Stage 5: City - ~ 40 days
Stage 6: Metropolis - ~ 50 days

What would happen to a siege if they back out of a commitment without really attacking?

They would lose all of the time and effort they spent in attacking, but I’m not sure if that’s a reference to castles or a reference to nodes. But if it’s in reference to nodes, what stops the node to initiate their own siege to go on the cooldown timer? If you’re spending that amount of effort and time, the siege becomes an open siege for anyone who's not a citizen or a registered ally or defender for the node, so you would be doing the work of the attacker just to give them an open door and say come on in and try your best. It’s such a degree of effort involved with sieging either castles or nodes that I don't see that being an issue.

Will the availability of siege weapon types be dictated by the node stage of the attackers or of the defenders?

Siege equipment will need to be crafted. Certain siege equipment will be available based on the stage of the defending node. Governments will be able to allocate resources, taxes, and quests to help develop the defenses of the node.

Can NPC’s die during sieges if so what happens to the NPC if the siege is successful?

NPC's are only killable during a siege, they will respawn if the siege is unsuccessful. If the siege is successful, then the node will de-level. And that NPC will likely no longer exist. Though it is also possible that a new npc will take its place. During the siege, certain NPC's will serve as defense points for the node. Killing certain NPCs will allow the attackers to gain advantages during the siege.

Who determines if something is under siege or not, can one guy just start a siege?

Anyone that can complete the prerequisites of node sieges can start it, and anyone can participate. Castle sieges however are intended for guilds.

Who can participate in node sieging?

Anyone can participate in node sieges; the castle sieges are different however.

Follow up

Wouldn't that allow for abuse by that an allied node would declare a siege on a metropolis just to trigger the safety period?

No, the amount of effort required would be substantial. Additionally, if they declared the siege, it would be an open door for people to attack without spending the time and effort.

How do people declare a siege?

Declaring a siege on a node of stage 3 or above, is possible between a time window that is appropriate for the server location. Once a siege is declared there is a period before the siege will commence. The time of this declaration period is determined by the size of the node:

Stage 3: Village - 2 days
Stage 4: Town - 3 days
Stage 5: City - 4 days
Stage 6: Metropolis - 5 days

| Open World & Flagging

Will I be able to mess around, "flag", on a guild member like in some MMOs, or will they be immune to all AOEs and targeted effects even if trying to purposely attack them.

Currently our flagging system has several lockouts. People whom you may not flag on. This order follows a simple affiliation progression in the system. Party member, Raid member, Guild member, Alliance member. If any of these 4 affiliations are present then the player may not flag on the target.

What type of flagging system will be used for PvP in Ashes?

(See this image for a visualization of the following: http://imgur.com/a/a3DWx)

There are three states that a player can find themselves in: Non-Combatant (Green), Combatant (Purple), and Corrupt (Red). Everyone is a Non-Combatant by default. If a Non-Combatant attacks a Combatant or another non-combatant, then they become a Combatant for a period of time. Similarly, if a Non-Combatant enters a PVP zone (which includes things like Castles, City Sieges and Caravans) they are automatically flagged a Combatant while in the zone, and for a period of time after leaving that zone.
Players can kill Combatants without repercussions, and are encouraged to do so, since dying while a Combatant means you suffer reduced death penalties. Where this changes is when a Combatant kills a Non-Combatant. In this case, the Combatant is Corrupt, and acquires a Corruption Score (which is accrued based on a number of different parameters, including the level differential of their freshly slain victim). This Corruption Score can be worked off with effort through a few mechanics, but the primary means of getting rid of it is through death.
While a player is marked as Corrupt, they may be attacked by both Combatants and Non-Combatants. If a non-combatant attacks a corrupt player, the non-combatant will not flag as a combatant.

As a follow up, what is experience debt?

Experience debt is accrued through death. It’ll effect your performance in game.

Will there be anything in place to stop people from killing people outside of a dungeon of some sorts or a city?

The corruption mechanics/flagging system is a very heavy handed deterrent to outright PK'ing, and will sufficiently reduce the occurrence of PK'ing, though we will obviously playtest this

Will there be systems in place to prevent PvE minded players from being mindlessly slaughtered by PvPers?

Yes.

How many mats do you drop if you get pked?

All materials/resources have weights assigned to them in order to work with the caravan/material transport system. You will lose a percentage of the weight of those resources based on your combat status (non combatant, combatant, corrupted).

Will there be a jail system?

Will there be a bounty hunter system?

Yes. Players can acquire the bounty hunter title through a quest available only to citizens of Military Stage 4 (Town) Node. Bounty hunters will be able to see corrupted players on their map. Corrupted players may kill BHs without acquiring additional corruption skills.

Can you steal stuff?

Of the top of my head I would like to say no, but it isn't something we have fully explored yet.

Will we be able to loot enemies once we have killed them?

I really don't want to compare our PvP system to anything else on the market, because it is pretty unique. Obviously a flagging system has been done before, but not as effectively as I believe we will accomplish. Our goal is to focus on the concept of Risk VS Reward. And we will get into more detail about our PvP mechanics in the near future

| Death Penalties

How do death penalties work?

A Non-Combatant who dies suffers normal penalties, which includes experience debt, durability loss, as well as dropping a portion of carried raw materials (which can then be looted). A Combatant who dies suffers these same penalties, but at half the Non-Combatant rate. A character who has a Corruption Score on the other hand, suffers penalties at three times the rate of a Non-Combatant, and has a chance to drop *any* carried/equipped items based on their current Corruption Score.

Will corruption have a visual effect?

Yes. (Corruption on a troll)

Does dying wipe all corruption?

No, it wipes a certain amount of the corruption value based on the original score acquired.

What’s to stop me from having my friend kill me really quickly to get my corruption skill off?

Well, you don’t respawn at the regular spawn locations. It’s randomized. So there’s no guarantee that your friend could find you. Also, BHs will be tracking you, and will want to kill you. So, there’s no guarantee that your friend will find you before the BHs do.

| Arenas

For pvp ranks/arenas, how will things work, will we have 3v3, 2v2 1v1s, or do you guys want it to only be open world type pvp?

There will be Arenas, and they will vary in team composition. From 1v1's to team based instances. Rankings will be an integrated feature.

Will there be ladders and ratings?

The arena system will include ladders/ratings and potentially rewards.

Will there be ranks to advance in PvP?

As players progress in the arena system, they’re going to accumulate a sort of legacy. These legacy points relate to how you can progress with in-game PvP items that might be accessible with PvP relation potions and advancements.

| Misc.

Do you plan to have a competitive scene for Ashes pvp, such as ESports?

It is something we are thinking about, but I don't have an answer at this time

Will there be non-lethal duelling?

Loot & Inventory System

How will looting work?

We will do an in-depth review of our party/looting/PvE system in the future

Are there plans for any items, currency, etc. to be lootable on PvP death?

Currently when players die to other players, the death penalties incurred will include a portion of the deceased player's resources/gatherables dropping ONLY. Player's will have a very limited space for these types of items in their inventory, as we intend the caravan/mule system to be the primary mode of transportation in regards to these goods

How do you plan to handle inventory space?

Inventory space will be tied to a backpack type item, that will be crafted from artisans. The higher lvl backpack, the greater the inventory space. Different backpacks will cater to different players. IE A gatherer's backpack will have more space for gatherables, an adventurers more space for consumables and items.

Will weight have an effect on players in game?

A scale that records your use of potions and food/drink each season to accumulate weight based on consumption that may decrease your speed with obesity and or/ enhance stamina with fitness

Is there anyway to increase a character’s weight limit through in-game means?

Yes. There are different items in game that can increase the character’s weight limit.

With the weight system, do you store currency in a bank or node? Do you lose money if your node is destroyed?

Weight doesn’t relate to currency. It relates to materials, goods, gatherables, items, that kind of thing. Not currency.

Will there be AOE looting?

We’ll address it in the future, right now it isn’t included, but not off the table.

Auto-loot or pet-loot?

Generally we like auto-loot, but there’s always something special about a player picking up an item they’ve been wanting.

PvE

| Dungeons & Raids

How will dungeon finder work? What are your ideas for now?

I don't even know for certain if there will be a dungeon finder yet. We are still discussing that mechanic. I don't want there to be a UI based utility system that is focused on efficiency. More so an in game reason for a person to visit the town that has unlocked a nearby dungeon rich with loot, where solo players could post their willingness to join adventuring parties who intend on delving that deep cold cave of darkness, malice and hate.

Can we expect big raid bosses like Valakas or Baium in Lineage 2?

100%

Will raids be challenging in ashes, if so do you have plans to hire encounter designers?

I want raids to be very challenging. And dynamic. Good PvE content is necessary in a world as complex as ours. Several of our designers have intimate knowledge of getting this done

Will there be instanced dungeons and raid content that will require a set of amount of players to follow mechanics properly to defeat, or will it be more open world where you can go in with any amount of players?

Both. As it stands now, many dungeons in the world have an open world component, with several instance access points that parties can participate in. We want to maintain the open world feel while being able to capitalize on the benefits of instanced mechanics. We will go into more depth in a blog soon.

How will dungeons be affected by or affect node development and progression?

Certain dungeons and other points of interest across the map will all be affected by the server’s node development. Some dungeons will only be unlocked if nodes are developed to certain stages. The storyline objectives for players inside dungeons will also be dependent on the story arc paths chosen through the node system. The drop tables in area and dungeons will also be tied into the progression of certain areas. For example, let’s say that the humans have developed a node in Region A, and a storyline has opened up that leads players to inspect the ruins (dungeon) of a nearby area. And let’s say that this node was developed in a scientific (crafting) zone… Well before the node developed, this dungeon was accessible… But now the dungeon has propagated new monster assets that include a drop table catering to a crafting emphasis because of the development of that scientific node. And perhaps, a new boss appears in different rooms of the dungeon that includes different adventure quest starts, like a mysterious item with a storyline that can only be progressed if a node develops to the metropolis stage in a certain region, across the world. Our system is so vast, when it comes to interconnectivity and how the world reacts to the players, it is difficult to explain in one Q&A, which is why we will have very in-depth developer’s blogs as we move further into our development.

What the point of putting in time, energy, resources, and effort to developing a larger node?

When a node develops into stage 3, the village stage, it now has a citizenship associated with it. Players will be restricted to a certain number of citizenships. In order for players to gain citizenship, they must own housing in those nodes. Either open-world housing somewhere in that node’s Zone of Influence, or static housing within the node itself. Even Instanced housing is offered at the City stage 5 and Metropolis stage 6. Citizenship entitles you to a lot of benefits for that node including; Titles, reputation, honor, loyalty, merit, and probably most importantly is the nodes government. As a citizen you are granted the privilege of participating in a node’s government. From voting to running for office. The government has a lot of say in the direction of the nodes development. Directing assets, building projects, tax allocation, defensive ability etc. Players have the ability to not only create these cities, but they have the right of self-governance. Guild’s also hold separate roles in the direction of the node, than the roles held by private citizens, and only a certain number of guilds may participate in these roles. Separate guild roles are reserved for Small size guilds, medium size guilds and large size guilds.

What PvE progression will be available for players? And what will be the group limit?

We’re thinking the group limit will be 8, to reflect the 8 archetypes. We’re thinking raid size is around 40.

| Monster Coin System

Could you explain the monster coin system? Do you have systems in place to prevent P2W?

The system is structured in a way to prevent groups of people being able to collectively join an event. Furthermore, the monster coin system cannot “weaken” a node before a siege.

How is the Monster Coin System set-up?

(1-J) There are three tiers within the MC system:

Tier 1 -

Tier 2 - “Elite”. Spider demon falls in this category.

Tier 3 - “Epic”. Dragon world spawn would be in this category.

The monsters will have several objectives to complete, which can be done through AI control or player control. Ultimately, if the monsters complete enough objectives, the node they are attacking will delevel.

Everytime a player participates in a monster coin world event, they unlock more skills.

Not everyone who owns a monster coin will overload/zerg an event, though. "Each token has a marker that determines when it was first released, purchased, or whatever the deal may be, and that enters the player into a queue that gives priority to the earliest marker; if that player's offline, then it will go to the next player in the queue. And there's only going to be a select few of these being sold at any given time."

Are there rewards for participating in a Monster Coin/World Event like this?

(1-J) Yes. "If the player takes over and finishes that script successfully, then they're going to get rewards mostly based around the context of the event, so they'll get clothing customizations, appearance items, or mounts."

| Questing, “Grinding”, and Leveling

What type of role will questing play in both progression and the world? Will these be the main mechanism through which players level their characters and change the world itself?

We’re going to be breaking up what is traditionally called ‘questing’ into three different categories: Narratives, Events, and Tasks. We want to avoid going down the path of trying to force narrative into gameplay where it doesn’t really fit (ie: filler stuff that doesn’t really relate to what’s happening in the world), so what you find in the Narratives category is where you’ll find most of what you might call traditional quests. Because we’re jettisoning filler, we’ll have the resources to craft a really excellent story, with gameplay that reflects the scope of that story. Events are where you’ll find your public quests, though these will be scaled to fit local, regional, and global needs. They’ll also have consequences locally, regionally, and globally, for good (if they’re taken care of successfully) or for ill (if a fail condition is reached). Tasks are hyper-local to individual Nodes, and will be centered around developing the Node that they belong to. If you want to go kill five wolves, this is where you’d do it. You can kill five wolves on your own, and that will count toward Node progression, but if a Task is offered to kill five wolves, then both the Node and your character will get bonus XP when that task is completed. Tasks will be numerous and varied, and will reflect the different gameplay styles that players can engage in within Ashes – there will be crafting, exploration, combat, and gathering oriented tasks (among many others).

Will quests be the only way to level up? Will there be other ways to gain experience like crafting or gathering?

Questing will be the primary means of getting experience but by no means be the only way. Exploration, crafting, events, and of course killing monsters will all contribute to your character’s growth. We want to reward people for playing and participating in a sort of big picture way. You’ll probably see your character gain experience from weird things you haven’t seen in the past.

Will there be multiple choice quests?

Yes.

Other than gaining exp, will there be other reasons to quest?

Yes. Social organization progression will have things only accessible based on the progression of that guild. Finding recipes, discovering the world, and finding easter eggs would be additional reasons.

Quest or Grind?

No grind, it sucks, where grind refers to repetition and getting nowhere. There will be progression paths which will require time, however.

What is the level cap and how fast will players be able to advance to the level cap?

No answer yet.

How would you rate the growth in leveling?

Monsters spawning is tied towards node development. In the zone of influence of a node there are spawn tables, and those spawn table change as a node advances. So you may start the game with no nodes developed at the beginning of the game. Nodes may progress faster near these starting points of the world in the beginning, which will increase the level of certain spawn tables around those nodes which will change the type of resources that spawn as well. In addition we're creating a very dynamic resource node mechanic that will allow all resources to spawn all across the world, in different places not restricted to certain zones. Another thing is, our artisan class is a separate progression and it involves certain horizontal progression methods that are not linear style as the adventuring class may can tell.

Is the adventuring class progression slowed down early in the game, because of node progression needing to be?

In a way it is throttled by node progression. However, I think the balance between node progression and player activity on a server is going to be a healthy balance between progression and development so that you won't really see a slow down so to speak. The world will develop with the progression of the adventuring class. (Full answer)

| World Spawns

Will there be world spawns?

Yes. Absolutely. Epic.

How do you plan to manage the zerg mentality where people rush in and negate all the mechanics?

For those raids, they will involve very specific mechanics that are problem-solving mechanics for raids to overcome. The raid will have to test mechanics to see what works.

The World

| Travel

Will there be means to fly? Like a fly spell for mages? Not gliding like in the dangerous to go alone video, literally flying.

Flying will be extremely limited. To only a handful of individuals per server. We want people to enjoy the content of our World without the ability to simply "fly over" it so to speak. The only actual flying mount will be the dragon (see “Mounts”).

Since the world is so large, or it appears to be, will there be an auto run system in place like BDO?

Very likely yes.

| Exploration

Is AoC truly open world? Are there any invisible walls?

When we say open world, we pretty much mean that. We’re aiming to make as much of the world as traversable as possible, because exploration is something we want to incentivize and reward. There may be certain other situations where you’d see a loading screen, like cutscene perhaps, but they’ll be few and far between.

As far as invisible wall,s there will have to be places you won’t be able to go, particularly along the edges of the world, but we’d prevent you with environmental hazards rather than invisible walls (Like deep ocean that has nothing beyond it).

How will exploration work? Can we find hidden dungeons while wandering the world and get bonuses for completing it for the first time? Like double drop rate, xp or something like that?

We really want players to explore. And we want them to be rewarded for finding things. And new things will spawn all the time in the world as areas get developed. So in short, Yes, exploration will be rewarding.

Will the map in-game show region types and where nodes are or will we have to discover it for ourselves?

Self-discovery

Will there be climbing? And if so, can players climb anywhere?

Yes, but only certain areas will be climbable and only by certain classes. There will be many aspects of mobility, climbing, and traversal utilities.

Will there be a main city that’s a safe area or zone?

Maybe safer because of guards that pounce on combat inside of a city, but there’s no hard cap for a “zero combat” zone. We’ll keep looking at it. If griefing becomes an issue, we’ll take a look.

Will there be portable campsites?

Yes, and they will work similar to how inns and taverns work in regards to getting bonuses.

| A Dynamic World, “Verra”

What is the name of the world?

The world is named “Verra”. It was named that for two reasons: “One is lore oriented, so I cannot get into that. But the second is its meaning of faith that "it" will come. From the Russian and Italian meanings. "It" being Ashes of Creation, and with Ashes, what I believe will be the golden age of our genre” source.

What will the game setting be? A medieval-style western type of setting or a more eastern approach? Can you describe the world to us?

We are aiming for a very medieval approach but with a very Lord of the Rings look. A lot of mysterious and mythological environments. The world is ruined and has been undiscovered for thousands of years. So many ancient artifacts and abandoned cities of old.

Are there any plans for dynamic events ala Guild Wars 2, or is that simply referring to quests adapting in response to the zones’ evolution and the decisions players make?

Dynamic to us means consequential. If an event occurs in the world, is the world better or worse for it? So yeah, we’ll be doing dynamic events as you understand them, but because each node rises or falls because of player action, these events should be much more meaningful. If players discover a dragon’s nest, and then disturb it by looking for treasure, that action might cause the brood mother to awaken and ravage the local countryside (a local Event, described in a previous answer). The players in that local area are notified and must do what they can to defeat her. If they do defeat her, they’ve just taken down a dragon (the Node receives a morale boost of some sort), and hidden parts of her nest may now make themselves known. If they cannot, then the damage the brood mother causes (burning fields and houses, maybe de-levelling the Node in the process) is very consequential and can realistically change that local area in ways we can’t necessarily predict. Whatever happens, it’s a permanent change that the players will have to figure out how to respond to. And that tells a cool story without us having to write a single word.

Since you’re making the world alive, will some mobs sleep at night and some mobs wake?

There are day and night cycles and they may affect the spawn tables.

Will there be seasons?

Yes, and there will be seasonally exclusive events. Season transitions will occur during downtime. Snow can block a road or obstruct a dungeon entrance or change what's good for regional crop rotations. Seasons will also affect economies.

If the world us built from the ground up by the players, will there still be things to do in the world and points of interest (POIs)?

Absolutely, the world was inhabited before, but it has been left untouched hundreds of years. Things that happened on this planet before the players came are going to be parts of the poi system. It is less of a fact that there is a black canvas, it is more of the fact that you have a lot of paint to work with in order to create your own picture.Players are not moving into emptiness. They’re moving into a world with a backlog of lore, storylines that you can uncover, exciting treasures and items you can find.There are also going to points of interests in the world like dungeons, wizard towers and mines.

Will each zone/city have it’s own music and what style/theme?

Yes. Music will also reflect the terrain you’re in. Mountains may be cymbals, tranquil areas pianos. In addition to the seasons, music is another part of the world that is dynamic.

Will the game have voice over?

We want that, but it's very expensive and not high on the priority list.

Will “World Firsts” or grand achievements be announced to the server?

Yes, and there are A LOT of potential “firsts”. There will also be leaderboards tracking that stuff.

Will the ecosystems be dynamic?

Different zones are tied to different ecosystems. You’ll see them fluctuate based on the progression of nodes in the world. Environments will change based upon players’ actions.

NPCs & Monsters

| Killing NPCs

How do killable NPCs work?

NPC's are only killable during a siege, they will respawn if the siege is unsuccessful.

So, what happens if they die during the siege and the siege was successful?

Also, is there any benefit to killing a NPC?

If the siege is successful, then the node will de-level. And that NPC will likely no longer exist. Though it is also possible that a new npc will take its place. During the siege, certain NPC's will serve as defense points for the node. Killing certain NPCs will allow the attackers to gain advantages during the siege.

How will creature respawning work?

It depends on the creature. There will be spawning zones, that will be spawn certain type of monsters. And then there will be quest and story arc oriented spawns as well that depend on the development on the servers node system. So spawning of mobs is both intrinsically tied to story line that develops with the nodes system as well as tradition zones that spawn monsters. (Full answer)

| Hiring NPCs

Will there be a formal system available in-game to hire both NPCs?

There’s a lot of systems in place in the open world to hire guards, player run governments can hire additional guards to man the walls, guild leaders can hire mercenary NPCs for sieges, caravans will specifically have NPCs that are capable of being assigned to caravans based on certain developments in the zone and the developments on the leading castle for that region.

| NPC AI

What will the intelligence be like on the NPC AI? Will they have a learning system?

It will be similar to how the monster AI works, with some intelligence. There won’t be IBM Watson levels of intelligence, but we want to do things like give the NPCs characters that aren’t dumb. We want them to have their own story. We’ll have a robust AI system. There’s a lot of new technology for these types of things we’re planning on implement.

Nodes & Player Housing

| Player Housing

Will there be “no build” zones, like not putting houses in the middle of the road or at important locations?

Yes.

How will the housing cap work?

AA had multiple houses allow per We have one plot of land that is account capped, and fits many structures including your home, also AA restricted housing to building zones. Ours are not.

Can other players destroy my player housing?

Player housing is only attackable if the node owner loses in a siege, and then only if the housing is within that zone of influence. Items inside of the housing will be retained on the account of the original housing owner.

Will housing have predetermined looks?

Yes, and skins will be available to change those looks. There will be pre-constructed designs. Expanding the home will bring modular aspects you can change/customize.

What types of player housing are there, and what type of buildings will players be able to build?

There are three types: Static housing (within the node), instanced node apartments, and open world land ownerships “freehold” (building your own). You may acquire blueprints for structures to be built on the land you may claim such as home, stables, crafting stations, etc.

Static housing - There will be a finite number of houses per node. You can build a house in the early stages development of a node and reap benefits from it if that node progresses into later stage. Houses will grow along with the node and are open world.
Instanced housing/“Apartments” - Basically housing for politics within a node. Houses for government and other political housing.
Open world land ownerships/“Freeholds” - You will lay claim to a piece of land out in the world. On that land you will have space to build a home, grow a farm, build all kinds of different workstations and so much more.

When players claim plots of land out in the world, they will be able to construct different types of buildings on that plot. Some of those types are social buildings such as an Inn, or tavern. These buildings allow the owner to sell certain consumables that enhance a player's abilities in game. Most of these consumables are only purchasable from these buildings. There are few consumables that can be carried on your character. But we are still testing this idea

Can you explain more on the apartments?

Apartments will be instanced forms of housing. If a player run government of a node decides to build an apartment complex within the node, that will allow other players to purchase those apartments.

Can you explain more on Freeholds? (Kickstarter video)

Freeholds are plots that can be placed in the open world, so long as the area falls under the Zone of Influence of a Stage 3 node or above. These plots allow players to build many different types of buildings, that have wide ranging effects and abilities. Where these may be placed will be pretty much anywhere, so long as it does not overlay a spawn zone, road pathing, proximity zones to other plots, hard terrain features (mountainside, cliff {trees or rocks are fine} etc.) Building designs will be diverse and have many skins that are both unique and limited.
Freeholds will include be designed so that players may interact with certain aspects of it. This will allow for visitors to come and eat at a tavern or rest at an inn on a freehold which will then grant benefits to the visitor while they’re within proximity to that freehold. Freeholds will also allow players to build processing plants in which to process raw, harvested resources into useable crafting materials.
We’re currently thinking of ways to incorporate how different environments have different impacts on a freehold. For example: if you’re into agriculture and plant your freehold next to a river (constant water source), that land may grant the player multitudes of benefits for planting there instead of a different area that lacks a river.
The amount of freeholds that exist in the world is limited by space in the open world.
There are few freehold location restrictions. Asses, like rocks and trees, can be overridden, just not pathing. Freeholds can’t be too close to one another.

Can freeholds be attacked?

You can lock the door. We’re still discussing this.

Will players be able to build class-flavored structures on their freehold?

No, but profession-flavored yes.

Will there be templates for freeholds or some system to save builds?

Can people steal from your freehold?

No. No one can walk through your freehold when you’re offline.

Can a player have homes in multiple nodes?

The home doesn’t give you citizenship, it gives you the ability to choose citizenship. You could claim citizenship where you wanted citizenship, then change to another apartment or another node.

| Nodes

What types of nodes are there?

There are 4 different types of nodes: Military, Economic, Divine, and Scientific

Do players get reduced time having the corruption debuff in a military node?

Do players get to choose the type of node it will develop into?

No, the type of node is predetermined.

How can players tell what type of node it is they are developing, in case they don’t want to contribute to the growth of a particular node?

The NPCs will reflect the type of node to expect, even at stage 1. Divine nodes will have preist NPCs, military will have soldiers, Economic will have traders & merchants, and science will have scholars.

Is it just players that can destroy nodes or will PvE events also happen than can cause node destruction/degrading?

Nodes will experience atrophy and will require continued player activity in order to grow. If a town loses too much activity, then it may result in a PvE siege against the node. We are still working on this mechanic.

Will it be possible to have a node within a dungeon?

That's a really good question! Think of it as a mini-zone within a zone. It's an area that can encompass other things. If anything, a dungeon would be within a node's area, not the other way around. Hope that clears it up a bit!

Can there be nodes underground?

Yes.

Will there be island nodes?

Yes, if there is enough player activity on that island to trigger node development.

How is the generation of nodes going to work? It seems like it will require a lot of technical resources.

This is a huge task that we’ve set for us, and is without a doubt, one of our biggest challenges. It’s solvable with procedurally generated content, but that ties our hands with regard to look and feel, two things that are incredibly important to us. So, the plan here is to do a little bit of procedural generation, and then help it along with good old-fashioned elbow grease. We have some other shortcuts that we’re working on as well, but at the end of the day, each Node should give the sense that it was lovingly crafted through every stage of its development.

What will determine the architecture of a node?

Architecture in a node is determined by the primary contributors to its development. There are 8 different architectures, one representing each race. Each player has racial markers and the back end will track the amount of racial markers that are involved in developing the node, and the more markers there are of a particular race will influence the flavor of the architecture.

If someone becomes a citizen of a node, will ALL XP gains goes towards that node, or the node the person is currently adventuring in?

There are a few factors to that and it’s important to note that as citizen of a node, you can indeed contribute to the development of other nodes

If a node falls while you’ve been off for a bit, will you lose everything related to that node?

You will maintain your personal designs and decor, but if the node falls, the in-node assets will disappear, and the zone housing will be susceptible to attack/removal. You may then find a new home and lay down your recovered designs/decor.

| Nodes - Zone of Influence

What is a zone of influence?

A “ZOI” is the territory around a node in which the node collects influence from various actions and objective within it.

How big will the zone of influence of a node be?

The radius of the node depends on the node’s development. The ZOI of a stage 6 metropolis may encompass multiple smaller nodes.

| Nodes - Governance

What are the stages of node growth and how long will they take to develop?

Stage 1: Expedition (Few hours)
Stage 2: Encampment (Many hours)
Stage 3: Village (Few days)
Stage 4: Town (Many days)
Stage 5: City (Few weeks)
Stage 6: Metropolis (Many weeks)

What types of roles are there in governance of a node?

There are current 4 methods of mayorship in City government systems, depending on the zone the city is founded in (Divine, Science, Economic, Military).

How does someone become a mayor?

The type of node will determine the form of the election: Election from citizens, election by gladiatorial, election by revenue, election by service. Currently considering elections to occur on a monthly system.

How are castles ruled?

Castles will be ruled by the occupying guild and thus under the lordship of the guild’s leader.

What if people who own node buildings go inactive, what will happen to the taxes they have to pay? If they then don’t pay will I be able to claim their plot of land?

There are taxes due on all property that prevents inactivity. These taxes are given to the local node.

What are taxes used for?

Taxes will be administered by the node government and will only be accessible for node development spending- It will be based on the number of structures you own on your plot. For example: defense funds to guard NPCs, barracks, city walls and other defenses, build up market places, increasing stock options, develop trade routes.

Will governments be allowed to embezzle taxes?

No. Mechanics are in place for nodes to excise taxes on freeholds, services within the node, and on services and freeholds that exists within the sub-nodes of that region. The taxes get held in a node fund and in a city fund that can only be allocated to certain mechanics within the city.

Can nodes create formal alliances between one another and work together?

We have systems in place to account for player run governments to interact between one another from node to node. That interaction can include cooperation between events, trading, potentially alliances for sieges, or even the creation of conflict between nodes. There will be trade agreements- competitive advantage between nodes will exist so trade agreements will give players a bit of agency to work within that economic competition.

What sort of functionality does the City Hall provide? (4-G)

City halls primarily provide function to the players within the node’s government. It allows them to:

Decide what buildings are built, expanded, or demolished within the node
Notify it’s residents of attacks
Toggle an “enemy” status on player citizens from other nodes
Declare war on other nodes
Develop trade agreements with other nodes
Plan/organize creative festivities within your node (granting buffs to experience gain, crafting, unique services, etc.)
Generate quests

| Metropoles

What perks do the different Metropoles based on node type?

Scientific node:

Air travel between nodes within the metropolis ZOI

Military node:

Reduces debuff time of corruption.

Divine node:

Not yet released

Economic node:

Adds shared auction house for all nodes within the Metropolis’ ZOI

| Taverns

What role do Taverns play within a node?

Air travel betwee

Guilds

Will we be allowed to have custom guild emblems and custom rank names in the guilds?

Yes. The guild interface will have a great deal of customization.

Can there be multiple guild leaders?

Guild roles can be appointed. And include privileges that can be assigned. But there is one “leader” spot for certain mechanics.

Will guilds have a role in node development?

Guild’s hold separate roles in the direction of the node, than the roles held by private citizens, and only a certain number of guilds may participate in these roles. Separate guild roles are reserved for Small size guilds, medium size guilds and large size guilds.

Has the guild size been considered?

Yes, and we have an extremely in-depth guild leveling and skills system.

Will your account be locked to your main guild?

I would tend to not go that route, the reason is when you have a non faction based open world game, Intelligence gathering and political intrigue, and espionage are an important factor for gameplay. If i were to account lock guilds I would be removing away a healthy aspect of the game for certain players.

What will guilds have access to?

It has been common in a lot of MMOs that guild activities have been focusing on large guilds, we want to bring content that focuses on small guilds, medium guilds and of course the large guilds. That is shown through the guild mechanism, like leveling up the guild to get certain abilities, sieging castles, and founding nodes and towns. There is going to be a lot of focus on the “local gameplay” and “global gameplay”. Guilds will fight guilds; some guilds might recruit other guilds to help them fight. It will also be possible for single players to participate in events that are just as influential and as fun as these large guilds participating in these world events. Guilds will have levels and skills, the guild's participation in the world will help level the guild. Guilds will be able to have guild halls in nodes. There will be guild specific buildings and guild specific quests inside a node. There will also be specific in-game activities that relate to different sizes of guilds.

How will small guilds compete with big guilds?

It’s much easier to design different content in game for different sizes of participants. Small guilds shouldn’t beat large guilds. Instead, let the small guilds face equal forces.

Can a guild leader set tax rate regardless of node ownership?

There’s no guild-specific taxation. Guild leaders have a lot of tools they can implement in the guild interface system. There could be a defacto “Hey, deposit this into…” or payments are required, but there isn’t a specific field to denote taxation.

Casual, Small Group, & Solo Play

Is there any pull for Solo players, or are we required to join guilds?

The game is built for both the solo player as well as guild oriented players, both large and small guilds. Solo players are after all, still a member of the larger server community

What do you think about casual-friendly?

I feel that casual players will have a purpose in the world, and should be influential in the world's development

Will it be possible to play the whole game, from character creation to end-game, while playing solely PvE, and being able to avoid PvP?

Pvp is the catalyst we use for change to occur in the world. While I appreciate the desire of some players not wanting to participate in that mechanic, I'd be lying if I told you that you could COMPLETELY avoid it. Is it possible to play and avoid PvP? Absolutely, you can focus on PvE, crafting, gathering, city building, farming, animal husbandry, home building, raiding. I want Ashes to be an astounding environment for our players to explore and interact with. To challenge you.
Because change can impact all players, we feel that everyone should have a say in that change. We have incorporated roles for non-pvp oriented players to impact these PvP events. Such as developing the defensive abilities of cities and castles, or enhancing the defenses of our caravans, to creating faster mounts, and advanced weaponry that can be used by the PvPers. To discovering supplies and artifacts through PvE to aid in the battles waged by others. Ashes strives to create an inclusive atmosphere where participation in the direction of the world is not restricted to one particular form of gameplay.

Is playing alone encouraged or do you need to be in a guild to have a good time?

Playing alone is completely accepted, and feasible.

What’s your vision for smaller organizations or even players who prefer to go it alone?

Many systems in our game involve parameters that cater to smaller groups and individuals. We don’t want to have our systems get dominated by the large guilds, and we have incorporated that philosophy when designing the game. Some parts of our game are meant to have a scope of smaller scales. So we have built the game with a Bottom-up mentality, allowing for foundations of many individuals and smaller-guilds to support the infrastructure required to allow for large guild activities. A symbiosis, so to speak, between the individual and the guild communities.

Will there be any mini games that you can play in taverns?

I personally like minigames, but they have to be done right. We will look into crafting some fun mini-games for sure.

Regarding grinding, will solo players or small groups be able to take down mini bosses rather than only kill, like 100 wolves?

I guess the answer there is, there will be a healthy mixture of both, the traditional numbers games when it comes to acquiring materials as well as the epic content that requires raids and large community efforts for epic items that are not capable of being mass produced but are very rare on the server.

Mounts & Pets

| Mounts

How can you get mounts?

You can get mounts from questing, found in the wild, tamed, epic mounts, as well as a few others.

Will there be racial-locked mounts? Or will every race be able to ride every mount.

Currently every race in Ashes has a unique mount. Then there are mounts that can be found in the wild, and tamed. As well as quest mounts, epic mounts, and a few other mount specific ideas we will release in the coming weeks.

Are there dragon mounts?

Dragons are epic mounts that will have strong battle abilities (AOE Breath, Weapons, swooping flyby attacks, and others). They will only be available to Kings/Queens of castles and elected Mayors of Metropolis stage nodes.

Presumably a question about rare dragon mount acquisition

It's possible that an egg could drop from certain Epic World Bosses. Which over time may yield a dragon, but that dragon would have a timer on it (over time it will age and die). Only a handful of players among thousands will own one.

Will the dragon mounts have different physical appearances?

Dragon appearances are based off the region of origin, that applies to castles and nodes.

Can we name our mounts?

Will mounts have permadeath?

No. Mounts can be killed and resurrected. They’re not permanently gone upon death. However, some mounts will have a life timer on it (dragon egg finds for example) or only accessible through in game achievement (Node mayor or castle king/queen).

Will mounts be a reward for node prestige?

Yes. These types of mounts will be accessible to the Castle owner/mayors as long as the owner meets the necessary requirements of being a lord/mayor.

Will players that work hard enough be able to earn having a dragon?

There will be epic rewards, for epic effort yes.

Will there be turtle mounts?

Is taming the only opportunity to get pets or mounts or are we going to be able to create our own pet/mount?

Breeding will be a thing

Will there be pack animals?

Yes, many species of mules will be breedable by expert breeders. Including small species. Mules will assist in the transport of goods/resources/gatherables- allowing you to spawn these creatures for greater carrying capacity.

| Pets

Will there be companion pets?

Yes, pets will exist in Ashes. Some will be levelable and have gear available to them

Will pets pick up loot?

Currently still considering this.

Sub-question: Autolooting or pet looting?

We like autolooting most of the time, but there’s something cool when something really awesome is being opened. We like the event of you seeing something you really wanted.

Character Customization

| Character Appearance

How extensive/detailed will the character creation be?

One thing I liked about BDO is their Character Creation. If I had to give a comparison, I would use BDO as an example of what our Character Creation is going for

Can you change your character’s appearance? Barbershop?

Yes. Salon shop items can go back to character creator and redo. It may or may not be tied to the cash shop. There could be one that changes cosmetics, but there could also be something in game which does that.

General Info:

| Non-Combat Attire

Do you feel like the need for seasonal attires will become a thing? Or the logic of a bikini keeping you warm in a snow-covered mountain from previous mmos going to follow along here?

Definitely want to incorporate clothing that matches seasons, though implementing that would be interesting. Since seasons amongst zones are different.

| In-Game Customization

Will we see things in the world that we can find that will add further depth to our character? For instance: becoming a vampire/ werewolf? I’m not saying that those things should be added, but i’d like to know if similar things can be found and acquired in the world?

Yes there will be very in depth character depth in the world.

Will there be a dye system for gear?

There will be dyes. But will likely be accessible behind achievements/crafting walls. And will be available in the cosmetic shop. There will also be professions that can craft dyes. Dyes from KS pledges will be permanent.

Technical (not related to game systems)

| Server Information

Can people play on a different region’s servers?

I would imagine so, I don't have a firm answer on that yet. But I'd lean to yes.

Is there an estimate for total server population?

Our current design is aiming for around 10k.

Will there be in game voip so we can talk to players within a proximity?

We are working on this.

Will there be server transfers?

Server transfers would likely not be easily accessible. It’s an onerous task. I imagine at some point, yes.

Will there be sea/oceania servers (are they past the thought stage)?

There will be sea/oce servers

Do we have confirmation that upon "full release(open to all persons)" there will be a complete server wipe of everything that was done in alpha/beta?

Of course.

Will users stay in the game once they’ve disconnected?

No. Possibly only with kiosks, but you’d probably just be mirrored by an NPC. That could cause problems with other things.

| UI

For the UI, has player configuration been discussed? Will addons/mods be allowed?

We’re leaning towards not allowing mods. Customization of the UI will be allowed. Mods that change the ability to be competitive will not be allowed, but mods that make the UI look sexy will be available.

Will the UI be modular, movable, resizable?

Yes, we want to add a lot of customization options of the UI for the players. We’ve got that system in place now, but won’t be shown in the videos.

| Optimization, Localization, Customization

Can players import images into the game for cloaks or sails?

From within the game’s pictures. We’re going to have an in-depth symbol creation in-game: city flags, guild emblems, custom armor & cloaks. The issue with external images is 1) review them all is a lot of work and 2) it breaks immersion.

Will the game have its own launcher or launch through for example steam?

That is still being discussed. However, it’s likely to be our own launcher and not through steam.

Will there be a large effort put into graphics optimization?

We will offer highly scalable options for users to adjust rendering particle effects etc.

How high is optimization prioritized for both server and client side?

Very high. We want server/client to have peak optimization. Currently, we got 60 FPS in the dense city center with no optimization with a GeForce 960.

Will UE4 be able to sustain more than 100 people battles?

Out of the box, UE4 is not designed to sustain 100 people battles. We however, are building a proprietary backend to support our networking needs and multiplayer mechanics. The great thing about UE4 is it's graphical fidelity and front end, to get an environment up and running and looking beautiful. Coupled with the ability to access the engine's source code, and adapt the parts we need to adapt

What languages will the game be translated to?

Localization and translations really depend on the demand for our game in those regional markets. I can say that it is an expensive process, but one that we are wanting to do if the demand is there. The best thing you can do to see this happen, is to help build our community in those markets.

Can you change the control scheme (keyboard/controller)? Will the game eventually go to consoles?

Yes, but we’re not sure if we can make the game with a controller. Also, not sure on the console question either.

What kind of camera options will we have? Field of view, zoom, directors level cameras to zoom out far?

Our goal is to provide versatility for point of views and cameras. Unreal provides utility for that so what we want to do is provide the content to support it.

Will there be music macro language (MML)?

We’re going to have not only music, but potentially customized dancing. I’m not sure the specific language that will be used, that hasn’t been addressed in design discussions.

Will Intrepid support APIs for community web tools or even in-game UI enhancements?

I think on the web tools question, the answer to that is tentatively yes. In regards to the in-game systems, no answer yet.

| Development Goals, Timeline, Milestones

When is the game set to launch?

It’ll probably be completed and set to launch in the middle of 2019; however, I’ve said officially “before 2020” so we’ll stick with that.

When did development begin like when did you actually sit down with a crew to begin on AoC?

I began formulating the overarching design theories in April of 2014. We opened the office December 2nd 2015. We began pre-production with our development team end of February 2016. Our first employee was hired Dec 2nd 2015

Addressing transparency.

When I decided that our studios would involve the community in every aspect of our development, we understood that there would be needed a level of trust in the community that what they are seeing is not the final product. It is meant to show our progression and development. All too often, an indie developer moves to crowdsourcing a game, prior to having a working model in any system...Basically with only a concept they manage to raise money. I wanted to show more than that, I wanted to show actual production and investment from our studios, BEFORE we asked the community to bring our project to life.

The MMORPG Community grows every year and the problems grow with it. What are your plans on community management?

Part of what makes me love MMORPGS is the community. I’ve always felt that developers with the best intentions, then end up missing the mark completely because of corporate influence, and bottom lines that end up turning into cash grabs. It breaks my heart to see the genre I love, reach such a hopeless period.

This is why I decided to make AoC. I believe, that if we build it, they will come. If we do this right, and listen to the community, get engaged, be transparent… AoC will rock the industry back to what made it great.

Exploitation, Security, RMT

Will God Moding ever be a problem for players to contend with if the ingenious and infinitely monkeyable nature of the internet pulls the story too far from your main narrative?

God modding will not be a problem, or possibility for our players.

How will gold seller player-to-player trading be prevented?

Outside of the standard MMO security mechanics that involve: behavioral algorithms and robust monitoring to flag accounts that have nonstandard action. We plan to have a very active gm community that will be proactive in preventing RMT, botting, spamming in chat, all that kind of stuff.

Can you give more information on GMs?

They should be in town/cites, active. But I don't know if they would have an active hand in the actual storyline or player community activities and stuff like that, more so that you are just aware of their presence and they literally be able to land that ban hammer if they see bots and stuff like that.

Multiboxing/Dual Clients?

That’s fine, we don’t have an official policy. As long as you’re paying for an account, it’s real and not stolen, and you’re not botting, it’s not a problem.

With free trade, RMT becomes more of an issue. Will there be anti-botting ystems?

We have robust security protocols and systems in place against RMT and botting. Being a subscription game helps us make it a higher barrier for entry for grey market activity participants. We won’t be 100% successful, as that’s impossibly, but we’ll have a really high threshold.

Will there be an authenticator?

Monetization, Cash Shop, & DLC

What is the monetization model for the game?

The purchase model will be a monthly subscription.

Will the referree’s gain any benefit from joining under another player’s referral?

At the moment, no, but it is being considered.

Will there be a cash shop?

Yes, with only cosmetic items (skins, mounts, pets, etc).

Can everything in the cash shop be obtained through in-game means?

No, not everything.

Will cash shop items be tradable?

P2W?

We are fully aware and agree that the downfall of many of the MMO's that have come out recently are a result of flagrant pay2win strategies from their monetization process. We will not follow in their footsteps.

If Intrepid faces financial ruin, and the cash shop sales and subs aren’t enough, what will you do to deal with that?

Throwing garbage at the game won’t help at that point. We wouldn’t want to introduce an element to the game that has ruined the genre over the past few years. P2W wouldn’t bring people back, it just messes with people who are still there and the most loyal folks get screwed.

Tell me that there will be a balance between what cosmetics are added to the shop and what is available in game.

There will be a balance. Players will have a wide range of cosmetics available through in-game accomplishment and progression, as well as a wide variety of purchasable cosmetics for players who are more casual and would prefer to support the game through the cash shop. Either way, player customization will be achievable from a cosmetic standpoint readily throughout the game.

Will cosmetic items have specific slots or will we be able to put any item into the cosmetic slot?

Cosmetic items will be used to change the appearance of normal slotted items.

Will DLC be bought or free?

DLC will be not cost anything more than the normal subscription

What are the plans for content release?

That is still undecided, but generally we’re thinking minor monthly updates (dependent on the flexibility of the node system) with major releases quarterly.

Kickstarter/Summer Crowdfunding, Alphas & Betas

| Crowdfunding Packages & Goals

Will we be able to reserve names?

Name reservations will be available in a kick starter package. It will go from the top down. Different pledge packages above the name reservations will have first dips all the way down to the entry for a name reservation.

Are the items available through the kickstarter going to be account wide or one character only?

You will be able to assign the item to a character on your account. And reassign if you wish, and they are not locked based on region.

Will members of the Phoenix Initiative have access to unique cosmetics?

Yes, within the private PI area

Concerning the guild-themed cloaks and barding, what happens to the cloak/barding if people they’ve been given to leave the guild?

Guild rewards are assigned to a guild by the owner of the reward. Once assigned to a guild, it becomes an asset of the guild. Guild members that leave no longer have access to the unique items of the guild.

Are the launch party invites transferable? Say if I want to have someone else go in my place?

Unique passes will be assigned to code holders for the package, you may give this pass to someone else if you wish.

Are the backer dyes permanent or one-time use?

Permanent

Can you address/explain the rumors suggesting that the KS packages include skins and not mounts, as originally stated?

To answer your question, mounts are earned in game through breeding or through taming. The way that players will likely earn their first mount is though taming. In the starting areas you will be able to tame a certain type of animal as your mount. When you do this, you can replace the animal you normally would have gotten with your Kickstarter mount. So essentially you are still getting the mount. The packages do not say that your Kickstarter mount will be received at level one. So to be fair, you are receiving the mounts. In actuality it is better, because this "skin" can be used on mounts you will have all throughout your gaming. Not a mount that may be inferior to mounts you may breed later on.

For the package with the name the NPC included, what sort of details can you share on that?

We’ll get in contact with those backers and provide some guidelines and options for that. This will include the gender and race of the NPC as well as where the NPC will be located at in game.

Parlor games?

Yes, it’s a very heavy social stretch goal. It’s focusing on design elements that relate to the community. These social organizations are akin to single player RPG advancements, an in-depth level of story for an individual and pertains to other players in a hierarchy.

Enhanced naval content… What can we do at sea?

Underwater content: monsters, dungeons, treasures, different classes of ships on the sea, trade routes (including water caravans). There will be content in, on, under the sea.

Is there a naval class?

A naval profession, limited in scope but getting better at sailing or supporting a ship or firing arrows. There are professions that relate to on-ship experiences and may unlock skills associated with those professions.

| Alphas & Betas

When is alpha supposed to release?

Friends & Family, Invite Only - Q4 of 2017 (key giveaways)
Alpha Phase 1 - 2018
Alpha Phase 2 (Consistent Alpha) - not set yet

How can someone acquire an alpha key? (See this link)

By registering on the website (in a random drawing), by actively engaging in the forums and discord while also making unique contributions (selected drawing), or by purchasing a KS package (details not available yet).

Will there be an NDA?

There will be NDAs for the Friends & Family/Invite-Only alpha.

PAX Info

General Info:

Ashes of Creation will have a large booth on the main floor at PAX prime in Seattle, WA. PAX coming up in two months. PAX Prime/PAX West in Seattle, WA from September 1-4 (visit HERE for registration information).

The Ashes of Creation booth will offer two different experiences for PAX attendees: a PvE experience and a PvP experience.
1) PvE: The PvE experience will be allow multiple attendees to play together, as one of four archetypes (Tank, Ranger, Mage, Cleric) and experience a dungeon-like play through. The archetypes will be loaded with skills, buffs, effects, and utility abilities.

2) PvP: The PvP experience will pit teams of 4 against each other in a 4 v 4 arena, with the same available skill set for the PvE experience.

Ashes of Creation will offer unique merch for sale at PAX. They will also stream the experience for fans who can’t attend. Devs hinted at upcoming packages that may include PAX tickets in the coming weeks/months.

Lore & RP

| Lore

How will lore be revealed?

Lore will be revealed in bits and pieces. It is a very important part of the project to me - Steven.

The Underrealm race, any details you can share?

This race has beast-like qualities. In lore, this race fled to the Underrealm area to escape the catastrophes that were occurring above ground. It’s not returning to the world, but to the surface. They are poking their heads out for the first time in generations. The divine portals just showed up and that’s what’s bringing people back to the world. The divine portals have done other things and is what has brought their attention back to the surface. They’re wondering, is the catastrophe happening again?

| RP

Are you considering adding RP servers?

If the community wants to claim a server as an RP server, that’s fine. We think RP should be across all servers though.

What kind of elements will RPers have to share their stories and express themselves?

We’re going to include social interactions, abilities, skills, music playing with various instruments, storytelling, dancing, and easter eggs. The social buildings allow for player gathering and sharing and affect the game as well.

Compiled by Nivhawk; (Resplendence Gaming Community)