Group sizes

Party witnessing the beginning of the An Ancient Violence Story arc in Alpha-2.

We're not creating a solo game, but it doesn't mean that we don't offer gameplay that is solo centric as well: It lives in addition to the social aspect of What MMOs provide; and so part of what we do in order to to give that element of gameplay is we have quest lines that are devoted towards solo players. We have hunting grounds. Obviously one of the benefits of being a solo player is you get to keep everything that drops. You don't have to share loot with a party or with friends; that's one benefit of being a solo player. But it's going to be more difficult to overcome challenges; and those individuals who are up to taking that additional level of of difficulty are going to excel perhaps in their character progression a bit faster than those who are more group-centric. It's going to be a little bit of a roll of the dice there because there are loot tables, there are reward tables that accompany that, but it's important to note that from a content perspective Ashes of Creation is looking to fulfill both that solo-oriented mind in gameplay as well as the group and social experience; and a lot of times those paths diverge: They move apart, they come back together; and that process is going to be seen throughout the leveling in Ashes of Creation where you'll have more opportunities for solo gameplay and some opportunities for group gameplay. – Steven Sharif

Ashes of Creation is designed for solo players as well as large and small groups.

• Parties have up to eight (8) players in a single group.

The idea behind an 8-person group is to allow us to really amplify party roles, and to create a need for each of the archetypes in every party.

• Raids will have 40 man groups.
• Content will be tailored for 40, 16 and 8 person group sizes.
• Arenas will have 1 man, 3 man, 5 man and possibly 20 man Free-For-All (Deathmatch) group sizes.
  • There won't specifically be guild vs guild arenas but team-based matchmaking allows teams to face other teams.
• Castle sieges are expected to have at minimum 250x250 players to be on a single battlefield, with the possibility of increasing this to 500x500 over time.

The minimum goal is 500 players on a single battlefield. I think we will be able to hit 500vs500 but we shall see. – Steven Sharif

Solo players

Early Alpha-2 solo PvE ranger combat.

It is not that we don't intend to provide a valid solo experience. Things are easier in a group. Things are easier with friends. That is the intended experience. We are an MMO after all. So we are very conscientious to ensure that we are prioritizing group-based content, but we also want to provide a valid path for solo experience as well, because sometimes as a player I experience this: I just want to go grind or do something on my own for the hour of time that I have, and not eat up the 15 to 20 minutes it takes to integrate into a group or whatever. So that's something that's going to be bolstered as additional systems come online throughout phase two and three. – Steven Sharif

Ashes of Creation provides gameplay options for solo oriented players, but the developers encourage players to find other players to help with progression, especially during Alpha-2.

Ashes of Creation as we know is all about community, is all about creating these pseudo factions: That's the whole intent behind the citizenship system within nodes, [and] the religious and social systems, is to help find these pseudo factions that you can become a member of and that can help you throughout the gaming experience; and that is especially true in Alpha-2 as we continue to work on content and progression and scaling and tuning and all those things. – Steven Sharif

• Certain quest lines and hunting grounds are devoted towards solo players.

For those solo players who don't really care about finding a community to play with but they want to have one when they need it, there's going to be a lot of opportunities from a dialogue perspective, in-game chat options; you can join as part of citizenships: there's a lot of pseudo factions there- social organizations that give you an in to other players without the strong bonds that typically come with guild-oriented organizations; and I think that that's a comfortable medium between the two. – Steven Sharif

• Node citizenship and social organizations provide the ability to interact without the strong bonds that typically come with guild-oriented organizations.

• Mechanics exist within larger conflicts for small groups and solo players to impact the battle.
  • This includes systems that will likely focus on single group sized participants while the larger battle is occurring.

• A shorter TTK is expected to help solo players and smaller groups compete with larger groups or zergs.

Siege participation

Non-registered combatants are not permitted on the siege field in castle or node sieges.

• Alpha-1 castle sieges are located in a separate zone that is accessible via a NPC teleporter.
  • Castle sieges (in the final game) may or may not be instanced.

• Players may choose to respawn at their HQ as long as they are registered.
  • Non-registered guilds are not granted the ability to take ownership of the castle if victorious.

• Players could potentially intercept stragglers with the guild war or flagging system en route to the siege field.

Lower level characters will have usefulness in mass combat that does not depend on their level, such as manning siege weapons, helping repair fortifications, bringing proximity-based buffs to key positions, using stealth or scaling walls. These types of things are relevant to the tide of battle and do not require the player to be max-level or have high combat stats.

See also

• Group dynamics
• Encounters
• PvE