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Ashes of Creation: Next Big MMORPG?

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7 years ago

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Raise your mug for the latest adventurer to the bar! Ashes of Creation is the latest MMORPG making headlines in the gaming world. Once it showed its stuff to the gaming world on Kickstarter in early May, everyone took notice. Boasting a huge world filled with new and exciting possibilities, made by a veteran team Ashes of Creation looks special. Intrepid Studios, the developers behind AoC are promising an open economy, refined gameplay, and the major hook called a “node system”.

The World of Ashes of Creation 

An MMORPG can only go as far as its world. Even if it has good mechanics and characters, the world world needs to hold the players’ imagination. The world of AoC is an open world, non-faction based, high fantasy world with its own special sauce. That special sauce, is the node system. Nodes are areas of influence throughout different parts of the map. As the players in areas level up, so too will the nodes and the civilizations in them. Sort of like the way cities are built in Civilization.

“We want the world to react to the player.” – Steven Sharif, Creative Director

The way that players interact with the environment changes the way the environment reacts to it. The developers noted that if a civilization near a mountain grows to large, it may trigger a dragon erupting from the mountains. The dragon will rain hellfire on the city below and the people will need to either leave, or fight for their home. As players interact with servers differently, the players will create their own story  with it.

“Each server is going to have its own story.”

Every city is at risk of attack though. While there might not be any automatic factions, alliances and enemies will form. So if you’ve got a nice and cozy home in the market section of some big city in the desert, be ready. Any time someone could come and attack the city. PVP is a major talking point from the game developers who mentioned a robust siege and guild system, along with dedicated battlegrounds.

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The Economy of Ashes of Creation

One of the biggest criticisms made towards other MMORPGs was a lacking economy system. Intrepid Studios didn’t want the money system to be a simple global auction house. Ashes of Creation emphasizes the economy system by breaking it into the nodes/regions. Each region has a certain independent focus created by players and the environment. There is no global auction stage, and players need to buy, sell, trade, and craft everything they need. Each city will have its own competitive advantage and disadvantage. That means special equipment might only be available three towns over. This means players will need to utilize the caravan system. The caravan system allows the transfer of goods from areas to other areas by players taking them. Which would be ripe for the thieves guild to steal from.

Narrative of Ashes of Creation

When players start out in different areas, they’ll be surrounded by nothing but wilderness. The story starts from the ground up by requiring the players to build their civilizations and start their own stories. With the player reactive world building, every player will experience a different story. There is going to be an overall story that is told to the players however. And the game plans to tell is to tell the narrative system in three ways. Players will experience the story in tasks, events, and through the overarching narrative. The tasks will be the day to day quests players work. Events will be exactly that, pre-planned scenarios that will happen to the players. And the overarching narrative will be what the players experience over the natural evolution of the server. The goal will be for each server to tell a different story, told by the players.

Intrepid Studios

The team behind Intrepid Studios is not some ragtag group of Joe schmoes. Intrepid Studios has a serious amount of experience under their belts. The team has worked on major projects like Star Wars Galaxies, the PlanetSide, and EverQuest Series, XCOM Enemy Within, & Vanguard Saga of Heroes. They want to make a game that isn’t like all the other MMORPGs coming out nowadays. Games that they consider cash grabs and simple pay-to-win garbage. (Although they didn’t use the word garbage in their description.)

Stretch Goals

Ashes of Creation came in with some serious goals. Despite having a $750,000 initial funding goal, it didn’t take long to move onto the stretch goals. In less than two full days on Kickstarter, Ashes of Creation was successfully funded. All in all the game added on seven different stretch goals for funding over $3 million! Some of the stretch goals included things like Parlor Games, Group Mounts, new locations and a new race. But the most impact-full one might have been the last stretch goal. Introducing a new financial systems with in-depth economic performance metrics for Commodities, Trade Routes, Wars, and Raids.

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MMORPGs have started and ended with WoW for the longest time. Maybe this will be the game that breaks from the mold and truly does something different with the genre. Only time will tell, but this is one hell of an opportunity for everybody. I know I’ll be helping build my story there. Will you?

 

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I've always been a gamer. Way back when I was sitting on the basement floor with my sister playing Spyro and Madden '99 I knew what my future was. Gaming. Now I try to squeeze as much gaming in as possible when I'm not in class at Bellarmine University.

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New PS5 Patch Introduces Rare 40FPS Mode for Avatar Game

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Published

16 hours ago

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April 23, 2024

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Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora has received an exciting update that introduces a new graphical mode, elevating the game’s visual experience. With a smooth frame rate of 40 frames per second and enhanced resolutions, players can now immerse themselves in even more stunning and detailed environments. Now downloadable on PS5 with the latest patch 3.2, this mode is compatible with 4K TVs that can handle up to 120 Hz. Before this update, Avatar PS5 only offered quality and performance modes. However, with this new option, players can now enjoy the benefits of both modes after downloading the 2.4GB update.

Throughout the PS5 era, 40fps modes have been a rarity, much to the disappointment of the hardcore community. Insomniac Games first introduced them in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and later added the feature to Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. They also included it in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Other PS5 titles, such as Hogwarts Legacy, Lies of P, and God of War Ragnarok, also offer 40fps modes.

In addition to that, Patch 3.2 for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora brings along the following:

Worldwide:

  • Research Station Alpha now features a convenient Fast Travel option
  • The issue of controller re-mapping and resetting on game restart has been resolved
  • Addressed multiple instances of crashes
  • I corrected a few spelling errors
  • Addressed the issue of voice lines overlapping during dialogue

Primary Objectives & Optional Objectives:

  • [Main Quest: Shadows of the Past] This main quest is an intriguing journey into the depths of history. Addressed a bug that previously hindered quest progression in co-op mode

More bug fixes have been implemented.

  • [Available on all platforms] The rescued human characters no longer return to the Resistance HQ wearing masks
  • Available on all platforms. There is a noticeable improvement in the visibility of NPCs when they are at the edge of the Player’s vision

 

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Exciting news for gamers! The highly anticipated PS5 game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be joining EA Play on Thursday

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Published

22 hours ago

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April 23, 2024

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Update: It seems that the PS Store may have acted prematurely, as it has now been officially confirmed that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be added to EA Play on Thursday, April 25th, 2024. Once the active members are in, they’ll have the opportunity to download and play the complete game.

Original Story: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, released in 2023, has been added to the EA Play subscription service. This exciting action-adventure game is now available for download and play at no additional cost for active members. While EA has yet to provide any official updates, you can head over to the PS Store and find it listed as “included with EA Play.”

Adding to the mix is the recent announcement of a forthcoming price hike for the subscription, affecting both monthly and yearly payment plans. Starting on May 10th, 2024, the monthly subscription fee will be increased from £3.99 / $4.99 to £5.99 / $5.99. For those who choose the 12-month commitment, the price will be £34.99 / $39.99, which is a £15 / $10 increase.

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In April 2023, the highly anticipated Star Wars Jedi: Survivor made its debut on the PS5. After thoroughly evaluating the game, we are pleased to announce that it has earned an impressive 9/10 rating in our review. We praised the game for its ability to build upon the first installment’s foundations and improve upon every aspect. “The combat is highly enjoyable and provides a plethora of options, while the exploration reaches new heights. The incorporation of Metroidvania elements adds an extra layer of depth, resulting in captivating puzzles and rewarding experiences.”

Click the link to access a comprehensive list of all EA Play games available on PS5 and PS4. Are you planning to give Star Wars Jedi: Survivor a try on the service? We would greatly appreciate your feedback in the comments section.

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Rest assured, the highly anticipated PS5 exclusive, Stellar Blade, will be available in its original, uncensored form across all regions

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2 days ago

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April 22, 2024

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Fear not; for those worried about potential censorship issues with the PS5-exclusive Stellar Blade, set to release on April 26th, Sony has got you covered. ShiftUp, the developer, proudly assures players that the game will maintain its uncensored content across all regions, including Japan.

We have to admit, we didn’t anticipate this as a potential issue or a potential selling point. The main character, Eve, and her revealing costumes have been heavily showcased in the game’s pre-release marketing. Nevertheless, it is pleasing to witness ShiftUp’s evident enthusiasm as their vision prepares to reach the hands of a vast number of players.

Regarding Stellar Blade, Yoko Taro believes it surpasses NieR: Automata, and we were pleased to learn that the game will be considerate of your PS5 storage capacity. The demo is now available for you to try, and it has nearly doubled the daily active users of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. This is quite impressive, especially considering it is the game’s first console showing.

Will you be there to experience Stellar Blade on its release day? It’s certainly a relief to witness the game remaining uncensored until the last moment. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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