Creative Director’s Letter ( Ashes of Creation)
On Friday, Steven Sharif, the Creative Director at Intrepid Studios, published his quarterly Creative Director's letter updating the community on the progress of Ashes of Creations. If you've been following the explosive growth of Ashes of Creations over the past few months, you're probably aware that they have been very active on social media despite the ongoing pandemic. Streamer interviews, an AMA with Steven Sharif himself, and contributions from the Content Creator community have all helped the Ashes community expand, along with monthly live stream updates from Sharif and the team.
Development Update
We have seen the release of several new 4K videos showing the level of detail and artistic design we can expect from the game. Intrepid Studios has also released a lot of content regarding the art, design, and engineering that is going into AoC. If you haven’t seen their content yet, here are two 4K videos that are available on Youtube:
Pre-Alpha 4k GM Gameplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkwaYLOuw2s&ab_channel=AshesofCreation
4k Footage of Aquatic Mounts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH5Ux9qmnE0&ab_channel=AshesofCreation
It’s super valuable to watch all of their content, because each video contains a lot of information about the game as a whole. In their most recent development update, we not only got a high quality look at what aquatic mounts will look like, but we also learned that these mounts are unique and valuable, as they will be superior to ground mounts when used in water. There will be mounts that can hold multiple people, and there will be unique abilities for the passenger, as well as items that can alter the speeds of mounts underwater. Mounts will have a stat group associated with their rarity or animal husbandry, and you have to have the mount in order to apply a cosmetic. The development update also expanded on topics such as caravans. Something exciting that was mentioned is that caravans will be in both land and aquatic settings. It seems like AoC will really utilize the entire world of Verra instead of limiting gameplay to certain zones or areas. Another example of this is that nodes that are near the coast will have special sieges and events, showing that each geographical area is unique. There are also little details to be excited about, such as buffs from furniture which can be affected by whether or not your spouse is sleeping with you. There will also be a lot of customization during character creation, and new player acquisition will be a main focal point across the land of Verra. By having an ever changing node system that evolves with the players progression it makes it not only different but enjoyable to all that are in the node. Touching on new player acquisition is the Mentorship program that was mentioned by Sharif and makes me happy to share because I can’t tell you how many times people are unwilling to help a new player because of the selfish “what do I get” motive. It seems they are combatting this with quests aimed to help out both parties in a meaningful way.
A huge aspect of an MMORPG is a proper working guild system for the players to feel like they are a part of just a random game. The more organized a guild is the more success they usually see. This should be made a lot easier with access to logs that include money, items, gear and of course people, because how many times have you seen your guild number change but don’t know if it was up or down, although with the amount of people a guild can have is yet to be tested.
Group v group pvp might be possible
Guild leaders/officers will have logs for money, people, items etc
Mentorship program will be determined by quest given by various sources (intended to engage new player acquisition )
Something Sharif mentioned in the letter that was so impressive (and made me that much more excited for Ashes to launch!) was that Intrepid has moved the project from Unreal 4.23 to Unreal 4.25. If you don’t know much about Unreal Engine, this probably doesn’t mean anything to you. But the awesome thing about this change is that once Unreal Engine 5 is ready, projects that have been developed in Unreal 4.25 will be easily moved to UE5. Epic has revealed that Unreal Engine 5 is “being designed with forward compatibility in mind.” What does this mean for the Ashes community? This shows us that Intrepid is already looking past simply releasing their game, and that they are thinking about how they can elevate their game in the future.
Alpha One
The most exciting news in the letter were the updates on Alpha 1, including concrete dates for each phase. Sharif clarified that the Alpha would be a true development alpha, meant for testing the in game systems rather than the content. However, thanks to Intrepid Studios’ relationship with the community and content creators, Alpha 1 will be No NDA starting with the third Pre-Test in March. “I am trusting the community of gamers out there to get a glimpse into the process, and understand the long road ahead for what will eventually be worth the wait. Given time and talent, amazing things can happen, so make sure you help us in communicating that we are in open development which means people get to see the bare bones before the meat.”
Future
Intrepid Studios has a lot of work ahead of them in order for them to prepare for the first Pre-Test of Alpha 1. The letter also mentioned that “the content push is well underway internally for the Alpha Two and Beta test periods.” The studio is facing an increasing amount of work, so they are doing yet another round of hiring as well! If this is something that interests you, make sure to be ready for that in December.
If you are like me and you’re dying to get your hands on that juicy Alpha 1 key, there’s a great opportunity right now… in the form of a pumpkin carving contest! You can enter a physical pumpkin or a digital one, and each of the 3 prize packs includes an Alpha 1 key. Don’t forget to submit by the deadline for your chance to play AoC as soon as possible.
Grand Prize (Best Overall)
Gorgeous Prize (Most Creative/Beautiful)
Glorious Prize (Most Original/Epic)
AMD SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RADEON RX 5700 XT 8G
Ashes of Creation Vintage Logo Hat
Ashes of Creation Vintage Logo Hat
Ashes of Creation Vintage Logo Hat
Ashes of Creation Vintage Logo Lanyard
Ashes of Creation Vintage Logo Lanyard
Ashes of Creation Vintage Logo Lanyard
Ashes of Creation Vintage Logo Mouse Pad
Ashes of Creation Vintage Logo Mouse Pad
Ashes of Creation Vintage Logo Mouse Pad
Alpha One Key!
Alpha One Key!
Alpha One Key!
https://ashesofcreation.com/news/2020-10-02-the-glorious-gourd-contest-returns
There are many ways you can support the team and dream at Intrepid studios. I personally chose to go with the Voyager Plus pre order, so Alpha 2 I see you, but there are other ways. The team is currently hiring for many positions from Producer down, https://intrepidstudios.com/careers is where you can find a complete and updated list on their current needs. Who knows you could be a part of “Then Next Big Thing!” either way you decide to go if you liked this post and want to support me and my Verra journey in game feel free to use my referral code. Verra awaits us.
Referral Code:
Z38XH92TMHS31F1R
Referral Link:
https://ashesofcreation.com/r/Z38XH92TMHS31F1R