Over the past few months I’ve become more and more disenfranchised with both Intrepid Studios and their Ashes of Creation project. Even the slight increase in optimism I had last month was overshadowed by the announcement that Intrepid decided to augment certain abilities and not tell anyone that. This month I will say again that I am more optimistic about the direction Ashes of Creation is taking, both because the game is starting to shape up but also because they are listening to community feedback and improving the livestream. The video was 20 minutes long, always on point, and didn’t feel like a never ending story. By the time the video segment was done, I was left inspired that where we are now is a better place than where we were before the livestream.

The February Ashes of Creation livestream focused on the UI updates, which in and of itself isn’t sexy, but what was inspiring was the method they used.  Intrepid clearly took the time to record the video in advance so they had the video segment done, they had a nice flow of education in the “hows and whys” of how UI/UX gets done, and they are moving back to a very educational centered style, something they excelled at in 2017-2019 and then drifted away from.  While Intrepid didn’t tackle the cosmetic question, they did focus on some other things which gives a very solid foundation for future livestreams if they continue to follow this method.

The official livestream is still on Twitch as a VOD:  https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1747833493

I answer questions Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays over on Twitch if anyone has any questions.

https://www.twitch.tv/paradox_gaming_network

All of the music you hear in the background of my streams and videos is Copyright Free Music, DMCA Free, Royalty Free and available for my fellow content creators to use.  You can also find our music music on our website: https://pgnmusic.com/ or on Spotify at

https://sptfy.com/pgnmusic or YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/c/pgnmusic

If you are just learning about Ashes of Creation and you have not made your account yet, please consider using this referral link: https://ashesofcreation.com/r/DE3PDNGIRSPVK7Q4 Costs you absolutely nothing to use, but it helps financially support the Paradox Gaming Network so I have money to do things like giveaways for subscription time when Ashes launches.

If you want to learn more about Ashes of Creation, I suggest you swing by https://www.ashes101.com/

if you like things in an educational format or https://ashesofcreation.wiki/ if you like just the facts lined up for you.  Also, I recommend https://ashespost.com/ for your transcription needs.

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Ashes 101 Website for all your Ashes of Creation Educational Needs

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I cannot believe the year 2022 is almost behind us.  Where did this year go?  It really doesn’t matter, but what is really impressive for the year 2022 is how much development Ashes of Creation has finished.  Between Dec 2021 and Dec 2022 Intrepid has migrated from UE4 to UE5 and then 5.1.  They’ve grown their staff size from around 120 to north of 165.  They’ve shown off quite a lot of new things like Biomes, Seasons, Weather, the melee and ranged kits, and group play with the Cleric.  Intrepid is clearly taking the time to build not only an amazing game but an amazing team.  That was evident in their recent livestream where a total of 15 different staff members from Intrepid were on camera talking about everything from Engineering, the Environment and Sound, to Combat, to gathering.  That’s not to say everything this year has been sunshine and rainbows.  There are still a few millstones that Intrepid has hanging on their necks that they should make a priority to answering in Jan of 2023 just to clear the slate, zero the game, and then move forward.  What was your favorite thing about Ashes of Creation development in 2022?  What really wow’d you?

Intrepid Studios did their November  @AshesofCreation  livestream this past Friday and it was filled with of great information.  The biggest piece is that they did the Cleric Showcase, although it was less showcased that the Ranger and the Fighter.  Hopefully Intrepid will consider bringing back the Archetype skills list images like we had in the past so people have some idea what the different abilities are and what they do.  Intrepid also showed off group play with the Cleric, the Ranger, and the Fighter exploring an area filled with Undead Zombies and Skinriders.    There was a lot of discussion regarding group synergies and abilities synergies and combos.  As well as knowing your enemy when you are grinding, plus resource management.

During the October 2022 Ashes of Creation Livestream, Steven Sharif the Creative Director mentioned that the crafting system might have some sort of mini-game in it.  In over two decades of MMORPG gameplay only two games have really stood out for their crafting systems; Eve Online and Final Fantasy 14.  FFXIV is without a doubt the more complicated of the two systems, with at this time 24 different buttons on your hotbar for crafting.  The problem is, that in FFXIV you can simply create a macro that 100% ensures you HQ each and every craft.  Where is the game in that?  The other is Eve Online, which isn’t a crafting system but more a Manufacturing and Logistics system, which I believe is the gold standard of production and more MMORPGs should model it.

Intrepid Studios has put out their October livestream and during that livestream they talked at length about the Gathering System.  Now I am pleasantly surprised and I’m shocked that I’m surprised.  Intrepid has pivoted away from only certain things in the environment being able to be harvested.  Now everything can be harvested.  Normally I think this mechanic belongs in survival games, but with everything Intrepid disclosed about their direction, I think we are going to be ok.    

This is something I’d like to hear more discussion on, and so would Intrepid.  Is this the right decision?

https://linktr.ee/ashes101

There is so much misinformation about Ashes of Creation that I felt it necessary to make a clarification video.  Yes! Ashes of Creation is going to have Open World PVP.  no, it is not meant to be the focus of the PVP.  Ashes is going to have 8 meaningful PVP activities including Sieges, Wars, Caravans, as well as open world auto-flag zones post-siege and in International Waters.    Some quotes from Steven Sharif, the Creative Director on Ashes of Creation   “The overwhelming majority of player's experience with PVP in Ashes will be through CONSENSUAL Systems." "Griefing is bad and I feel we have created a system that will sufficiently deter the potential for rampant griefing"  

The corruption system tied into the flagging system should be a good enough deterrent for stopping the game from becoming a gank-box or murder hoboville.    If you need more information on the PVP systems, you can go here:  https://ashes101.com/pvpFlagging specifically is here:  https://ashes101.com/pvp#flagging

In this video, we'll be discussing the potential scope creep associated with the development of Ashes of Creation.  Ashes of Creation is a ambitious game that has the potential to be something special. However, with the development of the game comes the risk of it becoming too big, too ambitious, and too costly. We'll discuss this risk and how Intrepid can protect themselves from it.

https://linktr.ee/jahlon