Ashes of Creation - Battle Royale Highlights

jahlon

As a reminder, This is Alpha 1 Phase 1 Battle Royale testing.   Ashes of Creation is an MMORPG that is currently in testing specifically for action combat testing.    

Acornia

Hated seeing all the bunny jumping in that clip.

Mikeha

I dont like this  at all. 

What happened to the mmo that I was really looking forward to?  

Raquis

the combat looks guud;)

Thomas2006

The final games combat will not be like this atleast according to the ceo in lazy peons chat. He said it was setup like this for network testing purposes and that the final combat will not be like this.

MadFrenchie

Battle Royale?  Does nothing for me.

Theocritus

Acornia said:

Hated seeing all the bunny jumping in that clip.

Any game that has bunny jumping is a no no in my book. Also using BR, how lame is that? THis seems like they are just trying to make a buck, not a good game.

jahlon

Acornia said:

Hated seeing all the bunny jumping in that clip.

The really really high jumping?  Yeah the Catfall Boots.  Not a fan.

Thomas2006 said:

The final games combat will not be like this atleast according to the ceo in lazy peons chat. He said it was setup like this for network testing purposes and that the final combat will not be like this.

Correct.  

We tested Alpha Zero back in December of 2017.   It had all the makings of a proper MMORPG.  The problem was at the time people were rabble-rousing about the use of Unreal Engine 4 to do an MMORPG with as much combat as Intrepid was saying Ashes would have.  I thought when NCSoft annouced they were using UE4 for Project: TL (the lineage) people would calm down since NCsoft isn't a rookie company.  No, that didn't happen.

So Intrepid shuffled their testing schedule to put 7 months of combat testing, action combat testing, large fight testing up on the front end.

Now, people are upset because the first of the three modes they chose was Battle Royale because it was quick and easy to get done and put in the hands of the players.  They can use this mode to do optimization of the server, test installation, do backend work, and the assets and effect they are developing get used in both the MMORPG and the BR mode.

MadFrenchie said:

Battle Royale?  Does nothing for me.

Yeah just a testing platform for the MMORPG parts.

Mikeha said:

I dont like this  at all. 

What happened to the mmo that I was really looking forward to?  

Its coming.  You'll see the game put back together as an MMORPG come Q2 2019.

parrotpholk said:

Thomas2006 said:

The final games combat will not be like this atleast according to the ceo in lazy peons chat. He said it was setup like this for network testing purposes and that the final combat will not be like this.

They have so many stories about their combat system I am confused on which to believe at this point.  They create a system for testing but with no intent to use it?  Sure makes complete sense why not.  Is it action...nope, tab....nope, or maybe a hybrid where you can pick and choose...good luck with making that work.  Seems like the game has no idea what it wants to be.  Then again they probably wasted resources to make a battle royale to test motion sickness just to scrap it as well.

Tab targetting was tested in A0 back in December 2017.   

This mode (BR) tests pure action combat (hit boxes, hit scan, projectile, etc) that will be needed in the hybrid action/tab setting.

The next mode in Dec 2018 will test class kits, plus action combat, plus some objective based technology.

The final A1P1 mode (Horde Mode) in March 2019 will test a more PvE flavor set of combat, and will be testing Mob AI

Theocritus said:

Acornia said:

Hated seeing all the bunny jumping in that clip.

Any game that has bunny jumping is a no no in my book. Also using BR, how lame is that? THis seems like they are just trying to make a buck, not a good game.

Did you have something in mind for how to quickly start testing action combat?  I mean they could do what I've seen some other games do and just drop you into a small ass arena.  At least this is fun.  It was easy enough for them to do.   They get to test the assets, spell effects, etc.  

Plus, lots of players means lots of what the server guys need to start working their vodoo magic now instead of in the few months prior to launch.



I think that gets everyone.

Mainly what you have is this


KS through Alpha 0 :  Foundation of the MMORPG and tab targetting.

Alpha 1 Phase 1: BR - Action Combat

Alpha 1 Phase 1: (end of Dec 18) Castle - Action Combat with Class Kits in a Pvp Setting, Objectives, Castle Siege Mechanics

Alpha 1 Phase 1: (end of March 18) Horde Mode - Action Combat with Class Kits in a PvE setting

Alpha 1 Phase 2:  (Q2 2019) Ties them together with all 8 Archetypes, hybrid combat, crafting, 

Alpha 2:  Persistent Alpha

Wellspring

Back during the KS I posted about the lack of info on the combat system. It's such a huge part of the game. How can you go KS without nailing down the combat system?

Without more info, I dropped my pledge from the early bird one with the lifetime sub ($400) to the lowest tier package ($25). 

Xiaoki

Remember last year when they had that "rhythmic" combat system where when you attacked you got a bar and you had to press the button within a certain section of that bar for it to be a better attack or something?

No? Understandable because it was quickly abandoned.

It seems they put out these combat videos to gauge reaction from the message boards. Next year they'll have a new combat system and they'll put out a video of it and see how people respond. If it doesnt go well they'll just say "Oh, this isnt the real combat system this is just ....for testing purposes. Yeah"

When it comes to the combat it seems they are throwing crap at a wall and seeing what sticks and when that doesnt work they chase fads. Everyone loves Battle Royale third person shooter games right? Right?!

Ticklepink

Well as a backer who wanted to see something other than a korean MMO that resembled Archeage with starbucks and guns and wings and flying contraptions and basically everything visual and nothing of substance, I couldn't be more disappointed. It started with the bait and switch announcement that KS backers would be getting Alpha 1 access making us believe this would be earliest access and then creating "pre alpha ZEROS".. 1A and 2A and 3B etc etc etc to have out for  winning packages given to folks who attended this PAX or that COM or whatever they chose would add more steam to their Hype train. They have had close to a year worth of alpha tests with people who were randomly chosen who paid NOTHING to help kick start their game and listened to their input (basically alienating the very people who have already put money(some odd 3 million$) in their pockets-The adults)

Then odd things started happening with lore..Teddy Bear mounts and guns that shot potions all being backed up by Steven saying: "Cause "Magic!" I was struck with the impression that Tabula Rasa had been necroed and  dipped into TERA and couldn't have been MORE displeased.

Now ,these combat videos where there are so many particle explosions you can barely see the WOW-esque armor and rumors that testers have to set their graphics settings to outright low  just to be able to log in begs the question what are they testing exactly? How much stuff they can fit on one screen?

IMHO I think the record KS went to their head. They're drunk on the possibility of providing anything they want and ultimately are providing nothing. Count on release dates being pushed back past 2020 ..."again"..and then perhaps again after that.

Iselin

Ticklepink said:

Well as a backer who wanted to see something other than a korean MMO that resembled Archeage with starbucks and guns and wings and flying contraptions and basically everything visual and nothing of substance, I couldn't be more disappointed. It started with the bait and switch announcement that KS backers would be getting Alpha 1 access making us believe this would be earliest access and then creating "pre alpha ZEROS".. 1A and 2A and 3B etc etc etc to have out for  winning packages given to folks who attended this PAX or that COM or whatever they chose would add more steam to their Hype train. They have had close to a year worth of alpha tests with people who were randomly chosen who paid NOTHING to help kick start their game and listened to their input (basically alienating the very people who have already put money(some odd 3 million$) in their pockets-The adults)

Then odd things started happening with lore..Teddy Bear mounts and guns that shot potions all being backed up by Steven saying: "Cause "Magic!" I was struck with the impression that Tabula Rasa had been necroed and  dipped into TERA and couldn't have been MORE displeased.

Now ,these combat videos where there are so many particle explosions you can barely see the WOW-esque armor and rumors that testers have to set their graphics settings to outright low  just to be able to log in begs the question what are they testing exactly? How much stuff they can fit on one screen?

IMHO I think the record KS went to their head. They're drunk on the possibility of providing anything they want and ultimately are providing nothing. Count on release dates being pushed back past 2020 ..."again"..and then perhaps again after that.

Thanks for your informative post.

I was also pretty excited with core concepts announced initially. The town growth with their corresponding dungeon and event unlocks especially.

Their early videos although pretty vanilla and generic also showed promise but like you I have been turned off by the over the top GFX that hide the useful details for the sake of glitz. Didn't know about the teddy bear mounts and that's really pathetic.

Their testing using the latest FOTM combat system, BR, has also really started to make me wonder just WTF they're up to.

I've gone from very interested and excited to skeptical and disappointed in short period of time.

Ticklepink

My personal experiences or opinions aside,  take a look at the video. You have any class able to pick up any weapon at any moment and use it to some effective degree. That makes classes obsolete in my opinion if a ranger can pick up a wand and finish me off with the ability to spam endlessly with what seems to be no mana or cool down involved. Look at the video.spam spam spam. Now some people may be fine with that and that's OK however that's not the game I originally backed.

Utinni

They used BR mode for a stress test.

bcbully

Look pretty damn awesome to me. I might join-in in December!

FlyByKnight

Circle Strafing, back pedaling and hopping about; this is what happens when attacks and skills don't have a risk versus reward system. People complain about animation locking or investing into a move because they just want to mash out buttons. 

Not really fond of this at all.

FlyByKnight

Torval said:

This had to have been the lamest most unfun stress test I've ever done and I've done a lot of them. Battle Royale sucked big time. Action combat can be tested without battle royale. It's been done many times. I get the impression they really want to focus on pvp. I image this game will appeal to ArcheAge fans.

The combat was okay. Skills are fairly responsive. The performance was mediocre. It was better locally but there was a ton of lag and stuttering in the storm and during flight. Animations are pretty good for an alpha. Movement feels floaty. Lighting is too bright and glaring and not subtle enough.

Don't do that. Archeage is NOTHING like this. Some moves had cast times, some couldn't be done while running around. The classes who had roles, and it wasn't all arcade like with power-ups laying in random places. PVP had some rhyme and reason to it.

Kajidourden

Looks like junk.  New World looks more worth my time.....

jahlon

bcbully said:

Look pretty damn awesome to me. I might join-in in December!

You'll be able to join this mode in what "should-be" no more than 3 weeks.

Kajidourden said:

Looks like junk.  New World looks more worth my time.....

Maybe.  Different genre though.   New World is heavy survival influenced game.   

FlyByKnight

Torval said:

FlyByKnight said:

Torval said:

This had to have been the lamest most unfun stress test I've ever done and I've done a lot of them. Battle Royale sucked big time. Action combat can be tested without battle royale. It's been done many times. I get the impression they really want to focus on pvp. I image this game will appeal to ArcheAge fans.

The combat was okay. Skills are fairly responsive. The performance was mediocre. It was better locally but there was a ton of lag and stuttering in the storm and during flight. Animations are pretty good for an alpha. Movement feels floaty. Lighting is too bright and glaring and not subtle enough.

Don't do that. Archeage is NOTHING like this. Some moves had cast times, some couldn't be done while running around. The classes who had roles, and it wasn't all arcade like with power-ups laying in random places. PVP had some rhyme and reason to it.

The way characters and skills work now isn't representative of how they will work. It's a combat systems test. A lame one for several reasons, but not representative of main game design.

The entire purpose of the test is to gather data on how different weapons, spells, and interactions work, not represent game play. It would be stupid to gate combat/skill systems with RPG rules when you're testing combat and not RPG rules. The test wasn't fun but I think the combat is pretty tight for an alpha.

It will appeal to AA fans because the combat is responsive and impactful and the game will be sub with a cash shop. It is territorial and pvp focused. If anything I could see this lighting a fire under Trion and XL to make a friendlier player revenue model.

The focus on pvp is the annoying part. Also their coy marketing mind games with alpha test phase numbers is childish. They sold alpha to KS backers and then invited a bunch of other people for their pvp feedback. It's not quite bait and switch, but it's typical MMO "we're not a pvp game" studio bullshit. WoW does it. They all do it. Hell FO76 is a pvp game that isn't a pvp game.

I guess. I've never seen a game developer basically make Fortnite combat, only to turn it into something else. Sure it will get tweaked but I don't think the circle strafing, magic grenade launcher, and hopping is going anywhere.

I don't by any means speak for all AA victims (I mean players) but if you've played you'd have to agree this style of combat is sorta the antithesis of games like TERA, Blade & Soul, Black Desert, and Archeage. This is more like Darkfall IMO. It's floaty, there's no weight to the attacks, no risk versus reward decision making, no spacing, no attack chaining, and timing.

FlyByKnight

Kajidourden said:

Looks like junk.  New World looks more worth my time.....

Looks are deceiving in this case. According to the video I recently saw *wink wink* the combat for New World is absolute TRASH. Saying Rock Em Sock Em Robots has the same amount of options when "fighting" wouldn't be far off.

jahlon

FlyByKnight said:

I guess. I've never seen a game developer basically make Fortnite combat, only to turn it into something else. Sure it will get tweaked but I don't think the circle strafing, magic grenade launcher, and hopping is going anywhere.

The thing is this, Intrepid changed the development timeline and did Alpha 1 Phase 1 specifically to show people the future of combat.

They've already shown (to a limited playerbase) the tab-targetting combat in A0.

Now they are showing off action combat and the world. 

In Q2 2019 we get send back into the traditional MMORPG world with action and tab for testing.


In some ways, this is bad becuse people are only seeing a BR.  Truthfully, they might have wanted to let some of the creators play with the A0 a final time, but it wasn't ready for viewing.   It was like seeing your house under construction before the carpet is put in, the painting is done, etc.  Yeah you can envision what it will look like done, but its not visually appealing.

FlyByKnight

jahlon said:

FlyByKnight said:

I guess. I've never seen a game developer basically make Fortnite combat, only to turn it into something else. Sure it will get tweaked but I don't think the circle strafing, magic grenade launcher, and hopping is going anywhere.

The thing is this, Intrepid changed the development timeline and did Alpha 1 Phase 1 specifically to show people the future of combat.

They've already shown (to a limited playerbase) the tab-targetting combat in A0.

Now they are showing off action combat and the world. 

In Q2 2019 we get send back into the traditional MMORPG world with action and tab for testing.


In some ways, this is bad becuse people are only seeing a BR.  Truthfully, they might have wanted to let some of the creators play with the A0 a final time, but it wasn't ready for viewing.   It was like seeing your house under construction before the carpet is put in, the painting is done, etc.  Yeah you can envision what it will look like done, but its not visually appealing.

How in the world are tab target & action combat to coexist in a PVP game? That's the real question.

jahlon

Torval said:

I'm curious to see how hybrid will go down too. It's either been clunky or one of the two is more favorable so anyone serious or hardcore (all pvp players and some pve players) will use it. If they pull off a cool hybrid system that would be remarkable.

You will have a set number of abilities on your bar.

You will be able to choose up to 75% of one type (action or tab) and the other 25% must come from the other.

So you could be 50/50  40/60  70/30  but you can't be more than 75/25.   

delete5230

Mikeha said:

I dont like this  at all. 

What happened to the mmo that I was really looking forward to?  

I have to agree, 
Nothing against the game but I didn't realize how much of a PvP this game will be.  I like PvE with a little PvP.

I just assumed

Galadourn

FlyByKnight said:

jahlon said:

FlyByKnight said:

I guess. I've never seen a game developer basically make Fortnite combat, only to turn it into something else. Sure it will get tweaked but I don't think the circle strafing, magic grenade launcher, and hopping is going anywhere.

The thing is this, Intrepid changed the development timeline and did Alpha 1 Phase 1 specifically to show people the future of combat.

They've already shown (to a limited playerbase) the tab-targetting combat in A0.

Now they are showing off action combat and the world. 

In Q2 2019 we get send back into the traditional MMORPG world with action and tab for testing.


In some ways, this is bad becuse people are only seeing a BR.  Truthfully, they might have wanted to let some of the creators play with the A0 a final time, but it wasn't ready for viewing.   It was like seeing your house under construction before the carpet is put in, the painting is done, etc.  Yeah you can envision what it will look like done, but its not visually appealing.

How in the world are tab target & action combat to coexist in a PVP game? That's the real question.

Neverwinter comes to mind....