Discussion & Outline Summary
Community & Reminders
- They are spotlighting 1 YouTube comment per development update.
- The comment led Steven to explain that Alpha 2 is not years away, nor is it right around the corner. Late this year or early next year the team is hoping to be in internal testing for Alpha 2.
- The internal Milestone 4 was hit last week.
- There will be a community Q&A with Content Creators on April 7th.
- Cosmetics swapping over on April 12th 2023, at 11AM PST.
Carphin Preview
- Aimi, Scott, and Jeremy were present in the Carphin video.
- Story arcs are not procedurally generated, they enter the world dynamically depending on the world and it’s state that the players have created.
- The story arcs are intended to represent change in the story that that Verra is telling. This is done not just by changing dialog but also changing the environment, to display the consequence of previous choices that were made.
- The Carphin story would normally require nodes to be build up in the general area.
- New pathways, new enemies and NPC become available with each new story arc.
- A desperate spell was cast during the time of the Apocalypse, when the ancients were approaching the Aelan Capital, the head mage did a desperate and dangerous spell to slow their advancements in order to buy more time to get people through the divine gateways.
- When this city is not in its cursed state, there are constructs and arcane things (animated armors while the curse is in effect, there are watchwolfs and sighted seekers.
- Blood magic is an “illegal” magic, which produces corruption in the caster that could bleed over into the environment.
- This whole story arc is told in 4 chapters across the server which change the environment.
- There are limited rare ingredients that become available during corrupted spirit blooms only available during certain story arcs or certain chapters of story arcs.
- The dungeon itself is the Tower of Carphin, which is the mage university. They were gifted the power of elvish magic to humans.
- Aristade was the first human dean, after Tenfelarous (the Elf Dean) left.
- Jennica, a later dean, never died, but rather was lost during some of her teleportation studies.
- There are 5 phases of the 3 moons.
- World spanning story arcs do not repeat, but can be replayed with a separate game loop, but their outcomes to not have an effect on the world. Other story arcs will repeat on a cool down.
- Story arcs were something very early on that was decided to be the method of displaying how player choice has effects and consequences in the world.
- The intention is not to have daily or weeklies in order to not miss something, but the story arc system is meant to have many cycles that can be replayed.
- The story arc in Carphin can end in 2 ways: a boss fight at the top of the tower, or a boss fight at the bottom near the surrounding town, depending on which is chosen, the next story arc will be different.
- Corruption will always continue to grow towards civilization.
- PvP is wrapped in corruption, but it is not the only defining aspect of corruption in the world. Corruption is a representation of the ancient magic and hatred to strike back at the gods that banished them. It permeates around locations in the world and pervert Verra.
- The animation team updated the idle stance for the 2 handed sword.
- Areas not only will change with corruption but also with seasons.
- The competitive nature of this environment is a PvX element, thus PvP in a dungeon is an intended design of Ashes. This is not all dungeons but likely 80% of them.
Character Art
- 3D models of Carphin Status were shown.
- Additional Carphin weapons were displayed (short bow, long bow, staff, spear)
- Art concepts of pustules
- Autumn Caller model (October 2022 – November 2022)
- The Giant slayer model(September 2022 – October 2022)
- Alpine Baghorn model (December 2022 – January 2023)
- Female dwarf model update was shown.
- Vaelune female and male model update
- Djinn version of the male Vaelune model was shown.
Studio Update
- Milestone 4 was hit. Core objectives around 5.1.1, optimization, design were completed.
- Mage will be displayed next month.
- Cyclops the month after.
Question & Answer
- Will mounts always be animals or will we have inanimate objects likes flying carpets or brooms?
- Mounts are generally animal in Ashes due to Steven’s preference to high fantasy.
- Will items in your inventory expire or degrade (such as food)?
- Generally, no, they will not degrade, there is the idea of buffed items. You can create a food consumable, which you can cook in a piece of home furniture (like a stove), doing so would create a timed consumed that gives an additional buff. But there are so many resources in the game that degradation would not be compelling or valuable in Ashes of Creation.
- How will legendary responds work? Random responds or Prime time?
- Fixed response times runs into the issue where the powerhouse of the server can lock down a boss, in order to alleviate that, there will be windows of time when it can spawn. In addition, some of the bosses spawn off of a predicate which can be met at any time, which thus might not be a timer.
- It has been said that summoners summons will be an extension of our player, will the POV change?
- Summons are a reflection of the desired play style of the player, this is in reference to having the choice of which of the trinity you may spawn given the situation. Becoming a summon may only be possible in a siege summon, in which case your character becomes the summon rather than an additional summon.
- What features are planned for the start of A2 vs by the end?
- Alpha 2 is meant to focus on core system and their ancillary counter parts. This includes the siege system, the story arcs, the character class progression, the artisan system, home ownership, vehicles, mounts, professions, content. There are ancillary systems that are not necessary to begin testing, and with Alpha 2 being a long testing period there will be things that may trickle in.
- What is your stance on focusing on delivery vs advancement in tech (such as UE 5.2)?
- New technology integration or updates on the engine and their integration is a process where multiple teams convene to understand the overall benefit/risk of updating. Steven disposition is not to incorporate new technologies which would yield significant delay.
- Does your choice of secondary archetype influence on which passive abilities will be available?
- The inclination is that they will lean in that direction, but that will be tested in Alpha 2.
- Aside from contesting open world dungeons, are there incentives for flagging for PvP?
- There is no incentive to go corrupt. Flagging to a combatant (ie. Responding to an attack) the incentive there is that you lose less if you die. If you die while flagged (but no corrupt) you lose less experience debt on death, the death debuffs will be less.
- How relevant will cover and terrain layouts be in gameplay, and will environment destruction interact with these cover mechanics?
- There is no really the concept of destructible terrain or cover, other than in specific system like castle siege where you may be behind a wall that can be destroyed.
- Is it possible for a PC who has achieved the top spot in a particle religion to become an avatar of a specific deity?
- No not an avatar. You become a very prestigious member of the community in your node, you have certain powers that are granted to you in node events, you get unique access to certain vender tables, and some directionality of the organization or religion, but not an avatar.
Outline Contributors: Skylarck The Botanist, Simurgh