Design Eckpfeiler
Das Design von Ashes of Creation befolgt die fünf Haupt-Eckpfeiler.[1]
- Spannende und fesselnde Geschichte
- Reaktive Welt
- Spielerinteraktionen
- Mittel für Spieler
- Risiko vs Belohnung
In designing Ashes of Creation, we adhere every detail to five main pillars: Engaging and Immersive Story, a Reactive World, Player Interaction, Player Agency, and Risk vs Reward. Even in the environment, everything you as the player do will tie into these pillars, while everything your guild does, everything your server does will ultimately keep the world fresh, ever-changing, and most importantly... exciting.[1]
Design
Ashes of Creation takes place within a medieval fantasy setting, blending imagination with cutting-edge graphics. We are putting the word massive back into massively multiplayer with unique and novel mechanics that will bring meaning to player action. Ashes of Creation will incorporate the best parts of traditional MMORPGs with innovative sandbox concepts. You will choose your fate at every opportunity. Questlines will open and close based on the interactions of the players with their world, because this is a world where choice is consequential. Monsters will roam and grow in ferocity as civilization disrupts the natural order of things. From the location of towns to the size of cities, you will determine the landscape of your world. It will be unique in culture, ecology, and economy.[3]
Ashes of Creation ist ein kommendes MMORPG, das in einer High-Fantasy-Welt angesiedelt ist, welche durch die Entscheidungen der Spieler geformt und definiert wird.[4]
- Ashes of Creation is a unique take on the MMO experience. Our world structure is dynamic and built to react to the actions of our players. Cities will rise and fall, their populations based on the history of the world as the players create it. Quests will unlock as these populations gather, their needs grow, and secrets are unlocked. As the world’s NPC structure is established in real time, players will have the ability to destroy what they’ve created, paving the way for new development, new populations, and real change. Political strife and intrigue will play a very real role in the structure of your world. Gone are the days of static worlds, change is here to stay.[3]
- Ashes of Creation ist ein PvX-Spiel und baut auf dem Prinzip von Risiko versus Belohnung auf.[5][6][7][8]
- We will refine systems, we will iterate on systems, but we will never change the core identity of the intent and philosophical approach to what Ashes of Creation as an MMO brings to the MMO genre space... What we want to do is express that Ashes of Creation is endeavoring to build a risk-versus-reward centric PvX style game. And that intent and purpose will be delivered upon, and it will not change.[7] – Steven Sharif
- Der ursprüngliche Code-Name für Ashes of Creation lautete The World of Origins.[9]

In order for sandbox mechanics to mean something, there must be curated content to accompany the player’s choices. Which means, as the developers, we must create that Themebox style content but for every possible path the community may take.[11] – Steven Sharif
Ashes of Creation is a PvX game built on the foundational principle of risk versus reward. The developers may seek feedback and make changes to portions of the game, but the core design pillars of the game will never be changed.[12][5][6][7][8]
- We will refine systems, we will iterate on systems, but we will never change the core identity of the intent and philosophical approach to what Ashes of Creation as an MMO brings to the MMO genre space... What we want to do is express that Ashes of Creation is endeavoring to build a risk-versus-reward centric PvX style game. And that intent and purpose will be delivered upon, and it will not change.[7] – Steven Sharif
- Ashes of Creation is referred to by the developers as a "themebox" or "sandpark" game as they aim to create a reactive player-driven world accompanied by curated content.[4][11]
- When it comes to how MMO’s have been traditionally designed, most gamers are familiar with two distinct types of gameplay loops: the “theme park”, and the “sandbox”. The vast majority of MMO’s we’ve all seen come and go in the gaming industry have been of the theme park variety – these games put the player onto a specific path, guiding them along, with plenty of pretty sights in between the same old quest hubs, very little in divergent paths, virtually no freedom in player progression. Recently the MMO genre has seen some games of the sandbox nature come onto the scene, but despite the ultimate freedom the sandbox affords players, many are left wanting more, as there is by definition no pre built world content, no human touch, just the vastness of the “sand” for lack of a better term. Thus many MMO players often find themselves caught between the repetitive rock of the theme park or the vast dead spaces of the sandbox’s hard place. This chasm between the state of MMO gameplay loops is where we intend to inject Ashes of Creation’s Node system.[4]
- Q: How do you go about designing some of the more old school systems such as XP debt, minimal fast travel, and open world raiding that have really gone away for the most part in modern MMOs?
- A: When looking at the reasoning behind why some of those old systems existed, a lot of it was centralized around the idea of risk versus reward. I mean, let's take a look at the three that you name, XP debt, minimal fast travel, and open world raiding. Experience debt is a cost of failure. Experience debt is the bite of not achieving success. If I die to a monster because my strategy was bad, because my performance was bad, because my planning was bad: all of that means that debt is the cost I pay for the bad choice... Minimal fast travel: My location matters; and the time it travels there is the cost I pay. Open world raiding: I'm not the only person interested in completing this objective. I have competition. That competition represents pressure. That pressure represents a desire to succeed and perform. All of those are touch points on player emotional connectivity. There is a reason why I want to succeed: Part of that reason can be incentivization through reward; part of that reason can be distance; it can be incentivization through failure. So that I think are one of the core fundamental philosophies as to how you design some of the more old-school systems.[13] – Steven Sharif
Inspiration
Ashes of Creation hat sich von verschiedenen anderen MMORPG-Titeln inspirieren lassen.[14]
- Eve Online mit seiner räumlich begrenzten Wirtschaft und dem Risiko vs Belohnung während Transporten.
- ArcheAge mit seinem Behausungs System, Transporten und Seekämpfen.
- Lineage II mit seinen Burgbelagerungen, seinem PvP Markierungssystem, freiem PvP und der Gildenentwicklung.
- Star Wars Galaxies mit seinem Handwerks System.
In terms of what came before, we're trying to figure out who did what best and take inspiration from that: Move the genre forward; keep things updated and bring it into the 21st century.[14] – Jeffrey Bard
End-game
Ashes of Creation will not have a typical end-game where content is essentially static and repetitive. Instead, max-level characters will be able to engage with many different gameplay loops that open up based on how the world progresses over time.[15][16]
- Endgame to me communicates static. It is static structure. Okay, you've entered this loop, now and this is your end-game loop that you will repeat over and over. Whereas instead, the approach for Ashes is you have now reached a point where all of these loops are relevant; and the loops are present to you depending on how the community engages the world. And it's up to you to identify the most promising loops because you have a finite amount of time and resources in which you can engage with them. And that's then where strategy becomes a part of the picture: How will I choose to engage with these loops to maximize my return, or to maximize the specific benefit I wish to bring in individual, group, myself, or guild.[15] – Steven Sharif
- Part of the whole experience with nodes is that there is no real end-game, in that the world is constantly shifting every day. Month one is going to be really different from month two; and that's for the level 50s and level 1s.[16] – Jeffrey Bard
Spannende und fesselnde Geschichte
Themen, die die Vergangenheit und Gegenwart von Verra widerspiegeln.
- Klassen | Archetypen | Rollen
- Völker | Religionen
- Fähigkeiten | Erweiterungen
- Überlieferungen | Handlungsstränge
- Rollenspiele | Soziale Animationen
- Weltkarte | Interessante Orte | Klima
- Biome | Unterreich | Unterwasser
Reaktive Welt
Diese Themen beschreiben, wie sich die Welt von Verra aufgrund der Aktivitäten von Spielern entwickelt.
- Nodes | Arten von Nodes | Node-Stufen | Einflussbereich
- Wirtschaft | Von Spielern geführte Unternehmen | Auktionshäuser
- Handwerksklassen | Sammeln | Verarbeitung | Handwerkskunst
- Aufträge | Events | Aufgaben
- Zur See | Seekampf | Schiffe
- Weltbosse | Monstermünzen
- Zerstörbare Umgebung
Ashes of Creation will be a living, breathing, reactive world. Your actions will shape the Zones of Influence, leveling Nodes to form massive Cities, and create the story of the world that everyone experiences.[19] – Margaret Krohn
Spielerinteraktionen
Spielsysteme und -mechanismen, die die Interaktion zwischen den Spielern fördern.
- Dungeon | Schlachtzüge | Kampf
- Gilden | Gildenhallen | Gildenfestungen | Gildenschlösser
- Gruppendynamik | Plündern
- Zugehörigkeiten
- Soziale Organisationen
- Gesellschaftsspiele
We decided to focus on mechanics that bring the idea of community to the forefront. To get people to interact with each other meaningfully – not just to conquer a raid boss, or to get some coin from a faceless auction house, but to maybe save a city. A city that all the local residents had a stake in. A city that the players had spent weeks or months developing; the defense of that city, the attack on that city! Or building a world together as a community choosing our own fate with our friends. We believe that’s going to be a story far more memorable and far more meaningful to players than just about anything we can come up with.[23]
Einflussnahme auf das Spielgeschehen
Systeme, die die Erfahrung der Spieler im Spiel erweitern und prägen.
- Waffen | Rüstung
- Fortschritt | Stufenaufstieg
- Unterkünfte | Node-Häuser | Apartments | Grundbesitz
- Reittiere | Maultiere | Drachen
- Charakter-Ersteller | Erscheinungsbild der Ausrüstung
- Kosmetische Gegenstände | Skins | Kostüme | Accessoires
- Inventar | Verbrauchsgegenstände
We will have a lot of content that is available, but those will be behind doors that are accessible through agency on behalf of the community. In a traditional sense, no we are not a theme-park, however we will probably have more content than a theme-park does, traditionally. Just because, in order for those choices to be meaningful, there must be meaningful content behind the door you choose.[25] – Steven Sharif
Risiko vs. Belohnung
Aktivitäten, die mutige Abenteurer belohnen und sinnvolle Konflikt fördern.
- Freies PvP | Kopfgeldjäger
- Node-Belagerungen | Burgbelagerungen
- Karawanen
- Gildenkriege
- Arenen
- Erforschung | Schatzsuche
- Börse (Aktienmarkt)
The risk versus reward relationship, when, say for instance, you've dedicated time towards building a node and other players have dedicated that equivalent time towards sieging the node, there's going to be a pitched battle between those players... They spend that time doing this because they care passionately about having access to that content.[27] – Steven Sharif
Geschichte
Ursprünglich gab es vier Design Eckpfeiler: Wirtschaft, Knotenpunkte, bedeutsame Konflikte und Geschichte.[28]
Siehe auch
Einzelnachweise
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
- ↑ Video, 2017-04-30 (0:00).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ashes of Creation MMO.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A reactive world - Nodes.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Liveübertragung, 2023-04-07 (55:22).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Liveübertragung, 2023-03-31 (1:00:16).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Liveübertragung, 2022-10-28 (32:52).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Liveübertragung, 2017-06-01 (37:39).
- ↑ Podcast, 2021-04-11 (46:44).
- ↑ Liveübertragung, 2022-10-14 (37:10).
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 MMOGames interview, January 2017
- ↑ Liveübertragung, 2023-07-28 (1:30:11).
- ↑ Liveübertragung, 2023-04-07 (40:30).
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Interview, 2018-08-24 (8:35).
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Interview, 2023-07-09 (42:51).
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Video, 2018-04-05 (40:08).
- ↑ Dillias diary.
- ↑ Liveübertragung, 2018-02-09 (33:50).
- ↑ Blog - Know Your Nodes - The Basics.
- ↑ Liveübertragung, 18. Januar 2018 (16:34).
- ↑ Liveübertragung, 9. Februar 2018 (4:42).
- ↑ Video, 24. Februar 2018 (0:01).
- ↑ Ashes of Creation - A new Beginning.
- ↑ Liveübertragung, 2019-09-27 (50:01).
- ↑ Liveübertragung, 2018-04-8 (AM) (27:26).
- ↑ Video, 2023-07-16 (0:01).
- ↑ Liveübertragung, 22. Mai 2017 (38:44).
- ↑ Liveübertragung, 3. Mai 2017 (11:33).