Alpha-1 testing

Hail and well met glorious Ashes of Creation testers. My name is Sean Farrens. I am the manager of quality assurance on Ashes of Creation and on behalf of the Ashes QA team I would like to extend a deep and heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated in testing Ashes of Creation during the weekend of May 14 through May 16th for our Alpha 1 build. In spite of instability and uncertainty you have all proven to be invaluable in regards to your feedback and bug reports; and for that I cannot express my gratitude enough. As many of you know, developing an MMORPG is an epic endeavor that is filled with trials and tribulations that no other game will ever encounter; and your illustrated dedication has proven to our team that we are on a high road to the best MMORPG gaming experience to date. During this most recent testing period we received over 2,600 bug reports, which have been an absolute boon to our testing process. We review each report individually and I continue to be impressed with how detailed and helpful each of these reports has been. Like seriously you guys give repro steps and everything. Super duper handy. I greatly look forward to your feedback in the future and hope you enjoy our content so far, so thank you so much everybody. – Sean Farrens

While we will have specific spot tests for certain systems as we develop them post the Alpha one month, it should be expected and understood that after this Alpha one month there will be probably a significant amount of downtime where there won't be spot testing as we break apart a lot of systems, take what we learned from alpha one month and implement and iterate upon those learnings. So there's gonna be several months probably worth of significant downtime where there will not be access to spot testing, where we are going to go in and really rejigger a lot of systems – Steven Sharif

Phase	Release	Estimated/Actual date
Alpha-1	Alpha-1 early preview livestream.	March 27, 2020.
	Alpha-1 limited QA testing (NDA).	May 28, 2020.
	Alpha-1 preview pre-test 1 (NDA).	Dec 18 - Dec 21 2020.
	Alpha-1 preview pre-test 2 (NDA).	Feb 19 - Feb 22 2021.
	Alpha-1 preview intermittent spot testing (NDA).	Mar 19 - Jul 9 2021.
	Alpha-1 preview weekend (no NDA).	July 9 - July 11 2021.
	Alpha-1 (no NDA).	July 14 - August 15 2021.

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The term "alpha" is a tricky one, and it typically has 2 meanings in gaming. The development meaning for alpha is a point in the process where we are ready to test the fundamental systems in their core form, without polish and without much of the content. Then, there is the external or "marketing" term for alpha. This is typically applied to Eastern-ported MMORPGs, when in fact that is a completed game being localized for a region, and not really indicative of a true development alpha. As you may know by now, game development has many stages - from the initial tech demos to the pre-production and pre-alpha states, then on to the alphas and betas and eventually launch. – Steven Sharif

I want to make emphatically clear, our alphas and betas are true development alphas and betas, and some have said I am crazy to allow these phases to be seen without an NDA…maybe I am crazy? lol… But 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. And look, I know people see our 4K footage and say, "This looks better than most released games!", but trust me when I say, you ain't seen nothin’ yet. – Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 testing goals

Server deployment and performance testing

• Stress-test our server realm deployments and player concurrency numbers with high volumes of player activity and interactions.
• Stand up multiple world server deployments across different geographical regions.
• Soak test server grid health over a continuous period of production use.
• Evaluate current networking architecture, and identify non-performant code and areas for additional optimizations or refactoring.
• Test our build strategy and hot-fix deployment procedures, account services, web-based systems, launcher and patcher stability, and cloud-based infrastructure.

System functionalities and behavior testing (in their core state)

• Node features (In their core state).
• Experience collection – The ability for nodes to collect and store accrued experience from players in their Zone of influence and for this data to persist in a global hierarchy of the node matrix.
• Propagation – The ability for nodes to advance in stages, reflecting the appropriate advancements in the following: culture, layout, quest hooks, spawners, crafting and processing stations, NPCs, service buildings, merchant tables, prop placement, housing, citizenship, government systems (election, appointment, terms, admin interface) and taxes, |points of interest propagation and advancement, public projects, and parenting/vassal hierarchy.

Player character systems (in their core state)

• Experience collection and persistence, experience debt, death effects, corruption and flagging, inventory systems, character paper doll and equipable items, property ownership and player storage, stats and waterfall derivatives, combat and ability systems, tab and action states, race and class selection and their customization, movement and character states, looting and party management systems.

Ancillary systems (in their core state)

• Caravans, drop, spawn, and reward table adaptations, player trading, mount and vehicle systems, raid and party functionality, guild progression and persistence, guild hierarchy, chat systems, customized AI behavior trees, boss functionality, harvesting prerequisites and procedural resource spawners, recipes and craft station systems, interactable containers and objects, global event manager, siege and battleground systems, open world traversal and dungeon design, quest and narrative dialogue setup.

The above is not a comprehensive list of everything being tested in Alpha One, but it hits the primary points. There are many other data metrics being collected for our approach to the content production pipelines, system definitions, and refactoring as well. Not to mention a plethora of technical art implications and optimizations, but you get the gist. This is a very fundamental test that will impact the direction of development post-Alpha One, so you can understand the importance of testing and its need for player participation, attention, and feedback. – Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 combat revamp

Alpha-1 split-body melee weapon combat sneak peek.

I can move while swinging on this guy. I can back up then continue to attack him. Just have complete control over my character while attacking. – Steven Sharif

A revamped combat system will be rolled out during and post Alpha-1 testing based on player feedback.

I just want to give kudos to the combat team, because in my opinion having played this and watched this and seen the community's response to it, they've done a great job in moving away from what was our direction prior to Alpha-1 to now having developed for Alpha-2 a significantly revamped combat experience; and I think it feels good and it plays well and it's fun. – Steven Sharif

• The goal is to give more agency to the player and achieve a more fluid flow of combat with greater mobility when using abilities.
• The current hybrid tab and action combat system will remain after the revamp.
• This revamp will not represent the final form of combat, but will set the general direction that combat will be taking.
• The revamp will be iterative and will be rolled out to testers in different phases.
• The developers will be testing whether or not to use global cooldowns GCDs on different types of abilities during Alpha-2.
  • As of July 2023 global cooldowns are not currently in the game.
  • Instant cast abilities are referred to as off-global-cooldown or OGCD abilities.

The revamped combat system will feature split-body animations, where the character's upper body can be locked by weapon attack animations while the lower body is free to continue moving.

You'll be able to move forward while swinging your weapon; and this will allow you complete control over your weapon attacks for melee. – Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 combat was focused on core functionality rather than combat balance. Alpha-2 combat will include archetypes, significant ability support, augments, split-body combat, weapon attacks, and many additional items, among other things.

• Changes that allow templated abilities to apply to 3D positions in the air or water will be prototyped and may be included in Alpha-2.

Alpha-1 availability

Pre-order pack upgrades are possible for current pack holders for the difference in price. Upgrades to Kickstarter and Summer crowdfunding packs are also available in the store for the difference in package price.

• August 15, 2018 was the last day for purchases of Alpha-1 through Intrepid pre-order packs (History).

• Sales of Alpha-1 resumed on May 5, 2021 through the Adventurer pre-order pack.

• August 13, 2021 was the last day for purchases of Alpha-1 through the Adventurer pre-order pack (History).

Alpha-1 participation

Alpha-1 testing was available to the following participants:

• Anyone who won and claimed an Alpha-1 Key through a giveaway.
• Adventurer pre-order pack and Intrepid pre-order pack owners.
• Braver of worlds, Leader of men, Royalty, Hero of the people, and Avatar of the phoenix Kickstarter and summer campaign backers.
• Official content creators.

There were approximately 9,600 participants in Alpha-1 testing as of August, 2018.

• As of May 31, 2021, just under 5k additional participants have been added since Alpha-1 sales resumed. Less refunds and unclaimed codes, leaves a total of slightly over 13k testers.
• The weekend test of May 27, 2021 saw 5,300 unique logins over the 3 day period.

There were roughly 9600 if I recall A1 participants prior to my closing the preorder packs in 2018. Since opening them up again there have been just under 5k additional participants added. And prolly around 300 refunds give or take. Of the roughly 14,000 a1 testers, there are still about 1k unredeemed ks codes which leaves a little over 13k testers? The weekend test saw 5300 unique logins over the 3-day period. And I think discord flags stand around 4k roughly? – Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 castle sieges

Alpha-1 preview castle.

Trebuchets in the Alpha-1 preview castle siege attackers headquarter camp.

Alpha-1 preview castle siege gameplay.

Alpha-1 castle sieges were based on Ashes of Creation Apocalypse castle sieges.

• Players will be able to join guilds. These guilds can register for the siege events.
• Castle siege events will be 100v100 battles that occur daily and will last for three hours.
• Attackers will start on the opposite end of the map (from the defenders).
• Attackers will be able to use trebuchets to drive to and assault the castle.
  • Trebuchets have a single primary fire that does a small amount of damage to players and heavy damage to buildings.
  • Trebuchets will be fully physical when they are being driven.
• When the attackers have breached the castle they will be able to channel a cast on the relic in the throne room to try to capture the castle from the defenders.
• The victors of castle sieges will receive benefits, such as cloaks, flying mounts for guild leaders and potentially also for guild officers.
• Alpha-1 castle sieges are in a separate zone that is accessible via a NPC teleporter.

  Currently the siege zone is actually in the open world, but separated by mountains and off in the sea a bit. There is actually no instancing in A1, although the siege zone will only be accessible in A1 through a registration NPC teleporter. – Steven Sharif

  • This zone includes the following raid bosses.
    • Elder Dragon of Flame
    • Elder Dragon of the Tundra
    • Elder Dragon of the Wood
  • These bosses will also appear in the open-world (outside the siege zone) with slightly different mechanics.
• The opposing team is notified when these raid bosses are being attacked.
• Teams who get the last hit on these bosses will receive buffs that will help them in the siege battle.

Last year, I spoke of attempting to incorporate sieges into the Alpha One experience. This has obviously been a goal of mine because it provides considerable data and a consistent event within the world that players can participate in to help stress test the deployment. Well, I am happy to say that it is appearing more and more likely by the day! Initial implementation of the Apocalypse siege code has been migrated into the Alpha One client, and we should begin internal testing next month. I will caveat this expectation with the fact that we are cutting it a bit close from an internal QA standpoint, but I have some confidence that the system will be online and capable of inclusion for the Alpha One test in the month of June. The siege component will obviously not be representative of what the siege system will be at launch, or even in Alpha Two. – Steven Sharif

• Destructible structures (such as walls and gates) are present in Alpha-1 castle sieges.
  • The ability to repair structures (and siege weapons) is a long term design goal that will not be present during Alpha-1.

Alpha-1 PvE content

PvE content in Alpha-1:

• There are over 200 quests in Alpha-1.
  • Questing will be placeholder until Alpha-2.
• Approximately 10 percent of the artisan system will be online in Alpha-1.
• There are approximately 49 unique gear sets obtainable in Alpha-1.
  • These are unique sets with different stats, but some may be similar in appearance.
• There is no instancing in Alpha-1.
• Approximately 6 or 7 dungeons with one almost raid-level difficulty.
• Two world bosses requiring party-sized groups.
• One true 40 person raid boss.
• Alpha-1 castle sieges occur in a zone that is accessible via a NPC teleporter.
  • This zone includes three Elder dragon raid bosses.
  • These bosses will also appear in the open world outside the siege zone with slightly different mechanics.

There's over 200 quests in the game right now. There's a bunch of dungeons. We've retooled all of the boss fights. Those dragons that you see in the siege are also in the world- part of the open-world too. There will be a slightly different- there are some extra mechanics in the siege versions versus the ones that are in the world, but there's plenty of cool things to get on both of them, so make sure you check them out and hunt them down. – Jeffrey Bard

Artisan classes in Alpha-1

Level 25 for all Gathering, Processing, Crafting Artisan professions (Novice, Apprentice and Journeyman tiers) were released in Alpha-2 phase-1.

• Artisan skill trees are scheduled for release in Alpha-2 phase-2.

• Approximately 10 percent of the artisan system was online in Alpha-1.

Alpha-1 servers

Alpha-1 server realms were provisioned in the following regions.

• US East.
  • Resna.
  • Norlan.
  • Eradal.
  • Denaris.
  • Grenlaw.
  • Pelune.
• US West.
  • Lyneth.
  • Kal.
  • Shol.
  • Nimaneer.
  • Solunea.
  • Donale.
• EU East.
  • Tenok.
• EU West.
  • Kaelun.

Server wipes

Alpha and Beta server realms will be wiped prior to launch.

• The goal is to wipe as little as necessary during testing.

Q: How often do we think we'll wipe in Alpha-2?

A: As little as necessary. That is the goal. – Steven Sharif

Alpha-1 NDA

Alpha-1 testing prior to the full release of Alpha-1 was covered by NDA.

• NDA review and acceptance is done via the game client.
• The text and voice NDA was lifted from the PI QA testing phase on May 28, 2020.
• The verbal NDA was lifted from Alpha-1 preview testing, and future testing, on May 17, 2021.
• The NDA was lifted on July 9, 2021 for the three day Alpha-1 preview weekend test.
• The NDA was lifted on July 14, 2021 for Alpha-1.

We are extremely excited to invite folks to this glorious milestone of our development journey with NO NDA as we want everyone to be able to provide feedback unfiltered. During Alpha One testing, we'll be looking for your feedback specifically on the following things: download and installation process, client performance, and server performance.

Alpha testing system requirements

Alpha-1 stress testing, March 17, 2021.

These are fully operational NPCs. They have behavior trees, they have AI blackboards; they are functioning as an NPC would; and to my surprise, to everyone's surprise actually, the server handled it quite well: 5000 entities all within a very dense area. – Steven Sharif

Minimum and recommended computer specifications for Alpha-2.

Minimum Specs - 1080p

• Processor: Intel i5 8400 | AMD Ryzen 5 2600
• Memory: 12GB
• Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 1070 or equivalent
• DirectX: Version 12
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 100GB SSD Storage
• Windows 10/11

Recommend Specs - 1440p

• Processor: Intel i7 8700 | AMD Ryzen 5 3600
• Memory: 16GB
• Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 3070 or equivalent
• DirectX: Version 12
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 100GB SSD Storage
• Windows 10/11

Please note that these requirements will change throughout our testing phases.

Alpha testing zone

Map of Alpha-1 testing zone. Image credit: Axiom: Angelcry

The Alpha One map including nodes, dungeons, quest givers, POI, teleporters, and camps will be explorable! Note that this is only a small portion of the world of Verra.

Alpha-1 testing tropical zone featuring a war beast and a tribe of pigmy goblins.

This is a rather large tropical area; and what we use some of the creatures for is establishing character for different parts of this tropical place. So that even though it's the same biome, it feels different when you are going from place to place based on what's there and how those things are interacting with the environment. – Jeffrey Bard

Alpha-1 testing took place in a zone to the north west of the world map. This zone has many islands and a mainland area.

• The Alpha-1 starting area is set in the ruins of an Pyrian divine gateway.
• There are 12 different (sub)zones in the Alpha-1 testing location.
• The Alpha-1 map was approximately 70 km² of playable area.
  • This was previously estimated to be approximately 100 km² in size. This was about 17% of the total world size.
  • Previous estimates range between 20-25% of the map.
  • Traversing the width of the zone (10 km) on a mount would take about 30 minutes.
• Alpha island (also called Alpha-0 island) was the first open-world testing zone for Alpha-1 participants.
• There are approximately 4 biomes in Alpha-1: Flood plains, Desert (Desert), Snowy mountains, Forest.
  • A tropics biome was added for the December 2020 Alpha-1 preview tests.
• Temporary teleportation points will be present in early tests until ships are introduced later in the alpha testing.

See also

• Alpha-1
• Release schedule
• Ashes of Creation