Node atrophy

Node atrophy (based on the stage of a node) is subtracted from the total experience nodes gain each day. Any deficit remaining can lead to services within the node being progressively diminished or disabled.

Q: What are the systems for node atrophy and will materials be required for upkeep?

A: Node atrophy again is another system that we quite haven't yet implemented. However, what's intended for that system is: as players participate in doing things that build up a node, whether that be participating in experience gain, or fights around the city, acquiring resources, interacting with the services of the city, whatever it is: If players do less and less of that over time the experience of the node will start to degrade. Services within the node may start to become inactive. You may start to get certain buildings that become inaccessible as a result of that atrophy type system, which again will just continue to perpetuate the already existing problem, which is player traffic and activity within the node, making it weaker and more susceptible to potential siege, which is the way by which we remove nodes from the world. – Steven Sharif

• Node atrophy does not delevel or destroy nodes, but it makes them more vulnerable to player initiated node sieges. Previous design concepts were that nodes could delevel or even disappear based on accumulated atrophy.

Node building destruction

Destructible castle.

You could be more precision oriented in the decision to attack a city. Let's say it's a rival node that's trying to reach a node stage five or something and you want to disable their ability for the religious system to progress so you target the temple during the attack, or you want to disable their scholars academy from reaching a higher level so that your nodes can; or you want to disable multiple buildings that allow for experience and quests to be undertaken by its citizenship, which prevents them from keeping up in pace of experience gained with your node. These can be more precision oriented and don't have to effectualize an actual takeover of the node. – Steven Sharif

Node buildings (including player housing) have hit points and can be damaged or destroyed by different systems.

• NPC-driven events that are a response to story arcs or node atrophy.
• Node sieges and node wars.
  • Attackers may not be capable of destroying a node during a siege. Instead they may carry out precision attacks to disable specific service-oriented buildings within the node. These buildings can be targeted with siege weapons and bombs.
• Hazardous events such as tornadoes or hurricanes.
• Mayors have the ability to demolish constructed node buildings. This will have a node mandate cost and will require player buy-in via a vote.

Mayors will also have the ability, if they want, to demolish constructed buildings. So if they if they so choose they can destroy a building if they don't think it's needed anymore. But this will have mandate cost and a player buy-in votes. So we want to make sure that [the] mayor can't just go and blow up the whole node if they're trying to grief or something. So this is very important and impactful decision. – John Collins

If building maintenance is not paid, or a building is damaged as the result of an event or siege, the building will enter a state of disarray. Any NPCs or services offered by that building will not be available until the building is repaired.

• Players must contribute materials to repair disarrayed buildings and restore them to an operational state.

If a node siege is successful, or if buildings otherwise take significant damage, they are destroyed and appear as rubble on the plot they occupied.

• Node leadership must clear any rubble on plots before any buildings can be reconstructed. Any prerequisites for the building reconstruction must be satisfied beforehand.

  Buildings also live within a prerequisite system. So in order to build down the tech tree of what these buildings provide, as the node grows larger to access stronger building types, you may get a kink in that chain if it's destroyed and you'll have to stand that back up in order to support the service again. – Steven Sharif

• If the node is destroyed by a node siege, the debris field will contain spoils that are lootable by attackers or defenders.
  • Player housing that is destroyed during a node siege can no longer be sold. Furnishing and decorations are retained and can be placed again later.

Impact on player housing

Player housing designs and decorations are retained and can be placed again later if the housing is destroyed during a node siege.

• Blueprints for homestead, business, and artisan freehold buildings, including progression and upgrades, are returned to the player.
• A possible design idea is for items such as furnishings to be boxed in crates that are accessible inside the new home.

Impact on in-node housing

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

Following a node siege, static housing will be scaled back or destroyed based on the advancement of the node.

• If the housing was purchased at a higher advancement than the node currently is then it will be destroyed, otherwise the housing will be scaled back.

Impact on apartments

Apartments may be destroyed in the following circumstances:

• If their building was destroyed during a node siege, even if the siege was not successful.

• If the mayor decides to destroy apartment buildings all items and layouts will be mailed to the owner.

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

• If a mayor built extra apartment buildings at Town (stage 4) or higher and the Node deleveled below that stage.

Impact on freeholds

Freeholds may be attacked by any player for a period of two hours following a successful siege against its parent node. Freeholds can also be lost by foreclosure for not paying property taxes or other fees.

• Players and their allies may defend their freehold for this period of time.
• Structures and guards may be obtained to defend freeholds during this period.

When it comes to losing Freeholds like this, one person’s loss is another person’s gain. While there aren’t enough Freeholds in the world for everyone to have one at the same time, this cycle of players losing Freeholds creates opportunities for other players to acquire one.

After the two hour period of open combat following a successful node siege, any remaining freeholds will exist under a grace period for roughly 1 week where another node may take over the zone of influence of the freehold.

• The freehold owner will be required to undertake a quest process to have their freehold adopted by a new node if one exists.
• At the end of the grace period, if the freehold does not reside within the ZOI of a Village (stage 3) node or above, it will be destroyed.
  • Materials and resources (including livestock) are able to be pillaged. It has not been decided which players get to loot the freehold during this period.

If a siege is successful, then the Node is brought down to Level 0, and anyone who was a citizen of that Node is no longer a citizen. Freeholds within the Zone of Influence are subject to a period of vulnerability. These Freeholds can be destroyed by other players during a period of roughly 2 hours after a successful siege. Destroyed Freeholds are subject to material loss, and blueprints for them are mailed to the player to utilize for future placement in order to allow the player to keep their Freehold’s layout and structure. Once the vulnerability period is complete, any remaining Freeholds will exist under a grace period for roughly 1 week where another Node may take over the Zone of Influence of the Freehold. – Margaret Krohn

Q: How many times a year do you suspect that most players will be moving residence based on nodes being eliminated from sieges?

A: There are a lot of variables that influence that answer. I'm not sure I can give an average, but what I would say is that depending on the political dynamic of a server: if a server tends to have more combat and/or sieges against nodes, that is going to increase the amount of opportunity for freeholds to be removed from the world and then replaced. I'm not sure I have an average. what I will say is that it is very important to remember that Ashes is not a PvP game and it is not a PvE game. It is a PvX game and that has a very specific meaning. It means that as these systems are developed as they are designed and they are integrated with each other: they are done so from a competitive viewpoint and how that system relates to both PvE and PvP. Freeholds are one of those systems very much so and it's because of the cyclical nature that we're attempting to achieve with the development of nodes and the destruction of nodes, the world is a rapidly and dynamically changing place really. So it's intended to be something that is constantly recycling and is leaking out different types of content and new content that revitalizes the player interest and stimulates new points of conflict or cooperation. – Steven Sharif

See also

• Nodes
• Node buildings
• Node advancement
• Node sieges
• Player housing