We’ve seen games heralded as “the next big thing” or a “WoW Killer” for years upon years. So far, nothing has killed World of Warcraft and we rarely even get a new big thing. Sometimes, in the worst case, we don’t even get a thing at all as upcoming MMO’s often never launch due to complications or financial constraints given how large and expensive developing this sort of game is – particularly for indie developers.
So here we have Ashes of Creation. It’s an independently developed upcoming MMO. It has more going against it than for it. The market is saturated with MMOs: WoW, ESO, FF14 & Runescape dominate the market, and there’s dozens if not hundreds more eating up little slices of the potential player base. Each game brings with it a their take on the genre – their own unique trait or gimmick. So what does AoC bring to the table that is unique? And what is it that has players expectations so high? What has people willing to spend $500 to get into the first alpha tests?
TheLazyPeon put out a video a couple months back that I highly recommend watching titled “Genuinely The Most Exciting Upcoming MMORPG“. We’re probably years until launch and a professional MMO player is hyped. Or at least is appearing to be hyped for clicks, but let’s assume it’s genuine. Why is he so hyped? The main hooks of Ashes of Creation seem to be two things: Their ‘node’ system and the owner/developer. That video breaks down a bunch of their other systems in a better way than I could, so I’ll just focus on these two.
The Node System
AoC features a unique system of world progression. Instead of the game launching and all the areas being fleshed out, everything is undeveloped. There aren’t towns and cities. It’s a vast and varied wilderness. As players quest (from the small, expedition-like quest hub), kill monsters and farm resources, the zone will level up. As the zone progresses it becomes more advanced. The expedition becomes a settlement, then a town, a city, and so forth. More quests, monsters, items and resources are available to the player. Additionally, there are varied types of nodes with different perks as the cities develop. And the areas around leveled up nodes are limited so not every area can be an advanced city.
With this, every server will be different. Different groups will level up different nodes. Areas will vary with available content and world bosses and resources. This game will, in theory, truly let the player base affect, change and determine the world they are playing in.
The Dev
Steven Sharif is the creative director of the game, co-founder of the studio, a principle investor and, perhaps most importantly, the face and voice of the development team. On that wiki link is the following quote from Steven about himself:
“I’ve been an avid gamer for over 25 years, and time after time I find myself playing MMORPG’s. There is something about the Massively Multiplayer part of the game that has always intrigued me. Nothing compares with the experience of playing with thousands of people, from across the world. Everything in my design for Ashes of Creation, stems from that role of “community” in our game. I want to see the players dictate the direction of our story. I want to see the world we develop, adapt and react to the player’s actions. Most importantly, I want to see a game built by gamers FOR gamers.”
Steven has been doing interviews with big names in the gaming content creation community, such as Asmongold, TimtheTatman, and Summit1g. He is a regular part of their monthly developer update. And he’s a big gaming nerd. A friend of mine and I would wax philosophical about what we’d do if we had a bunch of money and we’d always come back to the idea that we’d create an MMO from all of the experience of years of gaming. And this is exactly what Steven Sharif and Intrepid Studios have done.
Potential players are excited at the prospect of a game made by a gamer and not by, what feels like, a big evil corporation. Unlike how players feel about, say, Blizzard developers – often claiming that they don’t even play the game. Now, it doesn’t matter if that’s true or not as it has taken hold of player perspective. For me, personally, this aspect is what has me most interested. I want to see what a game is like that is crafted by someone with a passion for it. It is, also, one of my biggest concerns. From the interview with Summit1g, Steven seemed very… nostalgia focused. Declaring that MMOs were better back when there wasn’t fast travel, addons, group finding tools, etc. And, while I can understand feeling that a game like WoW is missing something that it used to have… there’s also a reason many of those features were and are so heavily embraced. Having someone so close to the issue can bring a perspective that a “BEC” (big evil corporation) can’t get, but it can also be too personal. We could end up with a game that is littered with answers to one persons gaming pet peeves.
Last Thoughts
I am… hopeful. If this game lives up to the hype it could truly be amazing. An immersive, player influenced, dynamic world. However, falling short could lead to full on disaster. If the node system is a gimmick instead of the unique, game-changing feature it could end the future of the game all by itself. If the creator is able to use his experience and passion without being trapped by bias and nostalgia, then maybe we have the next big thing coming.