Node sieges
Node sieges enable players to destroy nodes starting at Village (stage 3).[3] This paves the way for new development and access to the locked content in surrounding nodes. Due to this dynamic, political strife and intrigue play an important role in the structure of the world.[4][5][6][7][8]
- Sieging nodes will not be an easy task for the attackers. Cities and metropolises will have a considerable defensive advantage.[8]
- PvE-oriented players will have alternative ways to participate in sieges, such as fulfilling buy orders and mayoral commissions to fund the siege, or constructing siege weapons to support either the attackers or defenders.[9]
- If you own a home in a node and you don't want to see that home destroyed, you need to defend that city![10] – Steven Sharif
- 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.[11]
- There will be systems that mimic some of the mechanics of sieges, but there won't be practice sieges.[12]
- The majority (~80%) of content in Ashes of Creation is open-world but there may be instanced battles within castle and node sieges where specific groups can participate in small, short-duration objective-based battles for specific waypoints.[4][13][14][15][5][16][17][6]
- Node sieges will be released as part of Alpha-2 phase-2.[1][2]
- Alpha-2 node sieges will be open-world, but there will be a temporary registration and approval process for both attackers and defenders to manage the number of participants during testing.[18]
- We are going to be putting in a temporary kill zone. So there will be registration on behalf of the defenders and on the attackers that will have an approval process for the attacker who laid the siege scroll and for the defender whose node it is to approve participants. If you're not on the registration list and you're in the vicinity of the fight, you will have a countdown and then you'll be murdered unless you leave the area. So, that's a temporary solution to ensure that we can keep the numbers at around 250 to 300 players roughly for these events until we get higher capacity capability.[18] – Steven Sharif
Siege defenses
Mayors will be able to allocate resources to bolster node siege defenses.[19][20][21]
- Improving defensive structures, such as stronger walls and gates, traps, and siege equipment.[19][20][22][23][24]
- Hiring mercenary NPCs to defend the node during sieges.[25][24]
- Relics will offer area-of-effect buffs to damage, attack range or player health of the defenders.[20][21]
- Race will not affect the defensive capability of a node.[20]
Siege balance
- There are points of balance that we want to incorporate, such as the defense mechanisms that the defenders have, the types of buffs that are acquired through completing killing the bosses, or capturing control points, the stages before a siege when it comes to those node progressions in the preceding weeks: Those are all going to be balanced considering all things being equal between the two sides. But obviously we're not going to control the state of gear acquisition that one side might have as an advantage over the other. There might be a much better geared team over there. There might be a much better coordinated team. There might be a higher number of individuals who are part of the attacking or the defense. Those are components that we aren't necessarily going to put on railroads so-to-speak. But the aspects of design that we can talk about like the hit point health of a particular wall or door, or mercenaries that can be hired; what's their cost, what's their damage output: Those are things yes we're going to balance. But obviously anything that's player dependent or that has player interaction and activity and determination you can't always balance; and you don't want to balance. Those aspects you leave those to the players.[26] – Steven Sharif
Declaring a node siege
Node sieges are declared directly by any player who completes the prerequisites for the siege initiation.[27][28][29] Sieges are started via a siege scroll, which is acquired through a quest that scales in difficulty with respect to the level of the node. A substantial investment is required to attain the siege scroll.[30][3][31]
- Siege scrolls are specific to the node that is named on the scroll.[32]
- The lifetime of the scroll begins when the node is named on the scroll.[32]
- Currently, if the scroll's lifetime is less than the siege cooldown remaining on that node, the scroll will be wasted, but this may change in future.[33]
- The Mayor is notified when their node is named on a siege scroll.[32]
- The method right now is when you complete a quest line and you're going to receive the scroll, you must stipulate the node that that scroll is valid for and then there is a lifetime on the scroll.[32] – Steven Sharif
- It was previously stated that siege scrolls were specific to a node stage.[34]
- The lifetime of the scroll begins when the node is named on the scroll.[32]
- Once the siege scroll is brought to the node and is activated, the declaration period begins and a countdown is initiated for players in the region to see. This countdown runs for a number of days equal to the stage of the node being sieged.
- Once the countdown is complete, the siege begins.[3]
- Node citizens that renounce their citizenship during the declaration period may incur penalties.[37]
- Siege scrolls are not able to be modified after they are obtained.[38]
- Alpha-2 phase-2 node sieges will
- The questing that is incorporated as part of attaining that particular scroll is very particular to the type of scroll you're attempting to acquire and that is inclusive not just of the materials required as part of that questing but also the time associated with completing that quest, because we want there to be a reciprocal relationship between how much time it takes to stand up a node of the particular size and the types of quests that are required in order to attain the siege scroll. So there won't be a method by which you can first attain a scroll for a lower level node and then increase or augment or change that scroll after you've completed the quest. You'll have to go through a new quest again for the type of level of node you want.[38]
Sieging will require a similar amount of resources and time to what it took to develop the node being sieged.[39]
- Siege equipment will need to be crafted based on the stage of the defending node.[23]
A node siege may not be declared for 21 days following a node advancing to any stage.[40][41]
- This was previously stated to apply only to nodes advancing to Village (stage 3), not higher stages.[42]
- There are new functionalities and mechanisms that come online when a node advances and you want to provide both time for elected governments to take place, which then have direct consequences and choices to be made over defensive capabilities and also gives provides time for that node to collect and receive resources through taxation and/or quests for its citizens to participate in, so that it has available treasury funds and/or resources to allocate towards defensive structures and other types of defensive systems. So it would make sense that if there were to be an occurrence where node advances within that window, that window is reset again for the new stage because there are new correlating services and functions available.[41] – Steven Sharif
During the declaration period, individuals or guilds can register to attack or defend providing they meet the criteria.[30][31]
- The player who originally declared the siege cannot exclude anyone from joining the attack.[30]
- Citizens of the node or provincial nodes being attacked are automatically registered as defenders.[43]
- Players do not need to be citizens of the node in order to register as defenders, but they cannot be citizens of a node that is at war with the node they wish to defend.[44]
Many services are shut down during the siege declaration period, and instead are replaced by preparation quests or services for the siege.[46]
- Once a siege is declared, players are prohibited from moving goods out of depositories within the node.[47][48][49]
- This includes resources and materials that are stored in Warehouses, Chests within player housing, storage containers within guild halls, or within processing buildings on freeholds.[48][50]
- That incentivizes even further the necessity of players to contribute to the defense of a city. It also elevates the need for that city to politically gain allies among other nodes so that they can protect the collective goods of the citizens.[49] – Steven Sharif
- During the siege virtually all services are suspended.[46]
- Player stalls may still operate during node siege declaration. This is subject to testing.[51]
- If a node levels up during the declaration period, the level up will affect the node system for neighboring nodes, but the leveling wont occur until a short time after the siege.[52][53]
Server prime-time
Objective-based PvP events such as node sieges, castle sieges, guild wars, and node wars will occur within a prime-time window somewhere between 3PM and 9PM server realm time. This is subject to testing.[54][55][56]
- Guild wars and node wars can be declared at any time, but the objectives will only spawn during the prime-time window.[57][58]
- The key about the server prime time is that events cater to prime time. So, these inflection points where our expectation from a gameplay design is to allow or afford players an opportunity to participate in highly impactful events within the game: Those get delegated to prime time.[57] – Steven Sharif
Siege alliances
When a siege begins, temporary alliances are formed among attackers and defenders.[59]
- For node sieges, citizens of the node or provincial nodes being attacked are automatically registered as defenders.[43]
- There are many reasons to participate as an ally in the attack or defence of other nodes.[60]
- Titles.
- Items.
- Materials.
- Money.
- Social bonds.
Many incentives exist that can benefit your node and yourself personally by participating in the attack or defense of cities. These range from titles, to items, to materials, to money. Additionally, aiding others may help you strengthen bonds when your assets are threatened.[60] – Steven Sharif
Siege participation
- Participation in castle and node sieges will require pre-registration for the siege event.[61][62] The registration and approval process is said to be a temporary measure to manage the number of participants during Alpha-2 testing.[18]
- Alpha-2 phase-2 siege participation will initially be restricted to a minimum of 100v100 until dynamic gridding is fully online. This will be enforced by a death volume. Mayors will administer the list of valid node siege defenders. The initiator of the node siege will administer the list of valid attackers.[61][18]
- Alpha-1 castle sieges were located in a separate zone that was accessible via a NPC teleporter.[63][64][65][66]
- Castle sieges (in the final game) may or may not be instanced.[65][67]
- PvE-oriented players will have alternative ways to participate in sieges, such as fulfilling buy orders to fund the siege and constructing siege weapons to support either the attackers or defenders.[9]
- If non-PvP players wish to participate, there will be buy orders that get stood up during the Declaration phase. There will be certain types of commissions that will be available during the declaration phase that will require the efforts of many people, all of whom do not perhaps need to participate within the PvP event. And so those are ways that you can contribute to the defense of your node, or the attackers: if you want to help construct vehicles, if you want to bring in resources, to acquire the the seed scroll. Those are all possible things.[9] – Steven Sharif
- 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.[11]
- Players could potentially intercept stragglers with the guild war or flagging system en route to the siege field.[69]
Siege mechanics
Node siege mechanics in Alpha-2 phase-2 will consist of the following:
- Until dynamic gridding is in a good spot and until we get some more performance we're going to restrict the sieges to 100 versus 100 and we'll slowly scale that up. The way we're going to do that is through a death volume, so unless your register to participate in the siege, either on the attacker side or the defender side- and there will be administrators: For the defending side it'll be the Mayor, and for the attacker side it will be the initiator of the attacking of the siege event. They'll be able to administrate the lists. At a minimum, 100 people will be able to participate on each side and then players will be contesting safe houses and teleport locations, control points on the battlefield that will be outside of the city gates; but also objectives for certain buildings within the interior of the node also. And then, initially the node will not be destructible quite yet at least. Not in January, but it is something we plan to roll out I think in February. That is with our relics that are going to be essentially caravan boxes that can be found out in the wild and brought back to nodes and kept within the nodes trophy building. or Reliquary as we call it. And then upon destruction, or upon a successful siege, those will be lootable along with any material resources- not completed warehouse items- but any material resources that exist within the nodes warehouse that will function through a period called the ruined phase for the for the node, if the node is successfully defeated.[27] – Steven Sharif
- Node siege participation will initially be restricted to a minimum of 100v100 until dynamic gridding is fully online. This will be enforced by a death volume. Mayors will administer the list of valid node siege defenders. The initiator of the node siege will administer the list of valid attackers.[61]
- Attackers and defenders will contest control points (such as safe houses and teleport locations) outside of the node gates and buildings inside the gates. Buildings destructibility will be introduced later in phase 2.[61]
- Relics stored in the node's reliquary along with resource and material items stored within the node's warehouse will become lootable during the node's ruined state.[27][70][71]
Siege weapons
Siege weapons and siege vehicles are able to be utilized during sieges.[75]
- Siege equipment is able to be crafted or purchased from NPCs. Crafting will require materials, recipes and craftsmanship.[76][22]
- Part of this endeavor of sieging a player-held location (or non-player-held location) is time to prepare; and that includes gathering and crafting these mega weapons or collecting the resources: Whether it be gold or specific quest items to purchase from NPCs.[22] – Steven Sharif
- There will be ways to repair destructible structures (such as walls and gates) and also repair (or re-craft) siege weapons that were damaged during sieges.[77]
- Anything that you want to bring into existence in the world is going to be built by players: Whether that is Ships, Siege engines, Weapons, Armor, etc.[78] – Jeffrey Bard
Siege PvP
Sieges don't use the PvP flagging system.[79]
Death penalties do not apply to objective-based events (such as caravans, guild wars, and node sieges).[80]
Siege NPCs
Siege NPCs, NPC guards, and mercenary NPCs serve as defense points during sieges and other events.[81][82]
- Only combat NPCs are killable during a siege. Non-combat NPCs, such as merchants, will despawn and will respawn if the siege is unsuccessful.[81][83]
- Upgrades to the node's Barracks may allow a garrison of siege NPCs to be spawned in the event of an attack.[81]
- Mercenary NPCs can be hired in advance.[81] They are intended to be a significant presence but not the main line of defense in a siege.[84]
Siege instances
There may be instanced locations within otherwise open-world castle and node sieges, where specific groups can participate in small, short duration objective-based battles that will affect the overall outcome of the siege.[4][13][14][15][16][17]
- What we were talking about was how during castle sieges or node sieges, you're going to have certain instanced locations where it's only going to be a group that's designated to participate versus another group while the siege is happening. And I know in the past we talked about well how do you plan to incorporate these more objective-based waypoints as part of these larger events; and say that not only is it going to be a complement of numbers or in the overall grand battle perspective, but there's also going to be opportunities for smaller more niche groups to participate in more focused objective capturing. And a part of that is going to be small very short, ten minute long instanced battles where groups can go and participate against other groups that are defender versus attacker; and the outcome of which will influence certain aspects of the overall battle while that's still occurring in the background.[17] – Steven Sharif
Completing a siege
A node siege will last for up to two hours.[85]
- Defenders will be required to hold a central point in the node for the duration of the siege or they must destroy the hedquarters of the attacking army.[86][50]
- Attackers will need to gain access to the node then reach a central point where they must channel a 5 minute cast on the defender's flag. This cast can not be interrupted by CC but can be interrupted through death of the caster.[86][50]
If the node survives, there will be a cooldown before the node can be sieged again:
- Village (30 days).[35]
- Town (40 days).[35]
- City (50 days).[35]
- Metropolis (60 days).[35]
- This was previously 20, 30, 40, 50 days.[85]
If the node still exists after the siege has ended, citizens will need to obtain the resources needed to rebuild any damaged infrastructure.[87]
Node destruction
Nodes can be destroyed starting at Village (stage 3) following a successful siege against that node.[27][3]
- It is a normal process of the world to see PvP be a catalyst for change. That is one of the defining elements of our world building approach and being a PvX game is that PvE builds the world and PvP changes the world; and as these nodes get destructed this should be a normal habit that players are accustomed to seeing that landscape changing over time, because it is the breath of renewal that then is allowed as a result of that action.[88] – Steven Sharif
- Players lose their node citizenship after their node is destroyed without entering into a cooldown period.[88][89][3]
- Node destruction may prevent some quests from being completed.[90]
- After a node is destroyed, the footprint of the node will enter a ruined state and will become an open PvP zone for a number of days equal to the node's level. These ruins consist of a debris field of treasures that are lootable by certain players.[70][71][91][92][49][93]
- Which players get to loot the debris field during this period is currently under discussion by the developers.[94] Previously it was stated that any player could loot the debris field.[71] Before that it was stated that only attackers who participated in the siege will have exclusive looting rights.[95]
- Any loot remaining after this period will be open for anyone to loot.[95]
- After a number of days equal to the destroyed node's level, the node will revert back to stage 0 (wilderness) and any modified terrain will revert back to its original state.[71][96][97]
- Those are like open-world battlegrounds that spawn on the footprint of the node after a successful siege. And these are opportunities that previous defenders have to salvage certain materials and/or equipment from the destroyed node, or that attackers have to do the same. And there's interact points that live within that environment that take time in order to interact with, which makes those individuals susceptible to potential ganking or fighting. And you can control those areas; and that exists for some period of time. It's like an open-world arena system.[70] – Steven Sharif
- Treasures in the debris field will take time and tools to uncover.[27][70][71]
- The warehouse debris will contain a portion of all Materials (crafting components) and Gatherables that were stored in the destroyed node. Finished goods will not be lootable.[27][71][91][92][49][93]
- The reliquary debris will contain a stockpile of shards of the relics that were stored there.[27][98][71][91][99][100] These may be lootable by registered attackers after successfully destroying that node in a node siege, even though they are not citizens of that node.[99][100]
- The town hall debris might contain tax-oriented certificates that were held within the vaults and in the treasury.[91]
- The stables debris might contain mount certificates that can be added to caravans in the future or sold on the auction house.[91]
- Gatherables and crafting materials that were stored in in-node housing and apartment storage chests become lootable. These are not lootable if the node survives the siege- even if the housing buildings are destroyed or damaged during the siege.[92]
Node building destruction
Node buildings (including player housing) have hit points and can be damaged or destroyed by different systems.[103][92]
- NPC-driven events that are a response to story arcs or node atrophy.[103]
- Node sieges and node wars.[103]
- 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.[102]
- Hazardous events such as tornadoes or hurricanes.[104][103]
- 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.[105][106]
- 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.[105][106] – 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.[105][106] Any NPCs or services offered by that building will not be available until the building is repaired.[107][92]
- Players must contribute materials to repair disarrayed buildings and restore them to an operational state.[105][106][103][92][87]
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.[105][106][103]
- Node leadership must clear any rubble on plots before any buildings can be reconstructed. Any prerequisites for the building reconstruction must be satisfied beforehand.[103]
- 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.[103] – Steven Sharif
- If the node is destroyed by a node siege, the debris field will contain spoils that are lootable by attackers or defenders.[70][71][91][92][49][93]
- Player housing that is destroyed during a node siege can no longer be sold.[108] Furnishing and decorations are retained and can be placed again later.[108][109][110]
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.[111][109][110]
- Blueprints for homestead, business, and artisan freehold buildings, including progression and upgrades, are returned to the player.[112][111][3][109][110]
- A possible design idea is for items such as furnishings to be boxed in crates that are accessible inside the new home.[113]
Impact on in-node housing
Following a node siege, static housing will be scaled back or destroyed based on the advancement of the node.[109]
- 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:[109]
- If their building was destroyed during a node siege, even if the siege was not successful.[87][109]
- If the mayor decides to destroy apartment buildings all items and layouts will be mailed to the owner.[114]
- If a mayor built extra apartment buildings at Town (stage 4) or higher and the Node deleveled below that stage.[109]
Impact on freeholds
Freeholds may be attacked by any player for a period of two hours following a successful siege against its parent node.[115][116][3][117] Freeholds can also be lost by foreclosure for not paying property taxes or other fees.[111]
- Players and their allies may defend their freehold for this period of time.[117]
- Structures and guards may be obtained to defend freeholds during this period.[117]
- 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.[111]
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.[116][3]
- The freehold owner will be required to undertake a quest process to have their freehold adopted by a new node if one exists.[116]
- 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.[111][3][116][118]
- 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.[3] – 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.[119] – Steven Sharif
Node redevelopment
A node that was successfully destroyed by a node siege may develop differently due to the following influences:[120][121]
- Different races becoming primary contributors.[120][121]
- Design elements determined by different governments.[120][121]
- Reactions and interactions with other nodes in the world.[120][121]
Node politics
There won't be a civil war mechanic within nodes but there will be scope for internal political conflicts; such as undermining the current leadership and disrupting trade.[122]
- The only way to remove an elected mayor prior to the end of their term is by destroying the node.[123]
We want consequences to matter and if that person got elected then you need to work within the means of the mechanics to get them unelected.[123] – Steven Sharif
Zergs
- Zergs are empowered by fast-travel. Meaningful travel times are intended to prevent zerg play from being so much of an influence.[125][126]
- You cannot easily fast travel throughout the world and that is an intended game design again to mitigate the response from these large number organizations that may not focus as much on subterfuge or espionage, because they have the numbers. But, they don't have the organization or the skill, and that is the textbook definition of what a zerg is. So, fast travel is an additional component that helps to mitigate. There's not one particular solution or mechanic to a zerg. There is a confluence of solutions that make it more difficult to zerg, but ultimately in an MMORPG numbers are relevant. Then, to a degree, they are a mandate of power. So, you can't entirely stop it, but you can put a lot of hoops that they need to jump through in order to manage that large of an organization, which then just introduces the likelihood that that organization will at some point fall apart or be susceptible to some type of political intrigue.[125] – Steven Sharif
- Encounters are designed to have meaning in terms of how boss skills and mechanics relate to group compositions, tactics and strategies.[4][127] There are different ways to make a fight more difficult for larger sized groups without relying solely on stat buffs or making the boss a "damage sponge".[128]
- Raid and dungeon bosses have specific mechanics and abilities that players need to learn and react to.[128] Zergs that are not aware of these mechanics or react to them appropriately will be wiped.[127]
- Larger encounters/sieges may include instanced objectives that only permit a limited number of players.[4][13][14][15][16][17]
- Bosses and mobs can dynamically adapt to the number and types of combatants in proximity to the encounter.[129][130][128][131]
- Adaptive AI behaviors, such as AoE effects, might activate based on progress within an encounter.[132][130][133][128]
- Q: For open world bosses, how will we address people that bring way more players than the boss is intended for?
- A: This is going to be adaptive AI behaviors that are going to have a higher level of frequency that's going to make it very difficult to zerg down certain content. That is the intent behind that system, is to be an anti-zerg mechanism. In certain encounters where we want to keep the numbers at a very specific value, we will utilize instancing. We've talked in the past about 80% of the world content being open-world and about 20% of it being instancing. That value still seems like it's going to be true.[132] – Steven Sharif
- Loot in Ashes of Creation encounters is finite and must be distributed between party or raid members who complete the encounter. There is no individual loot system that grants loot to all participants. This essentially acts to balance the lowered risk in large numbers against lower chances of gaining rewards.[134]
- Q: Risk versus reward seems to be involved in all systems. Do you feel risk, such as death penalties, or the threat of being PKed during dungeon content will lead to players zerging world bosses and dungeons to minimize said risk, thus trivializing some content and experiences, regardless of that planned difficulty scaling you just spoke about?
- A: Another part of our design that is more old school, but speaks exactly to this thought is that the reward is finite; and what that means is in a lot of modern MMOs, each person gets their own reward for participating; and back in the day, the one person was the loot master: they would interact with the raid boss and then there would be some guild-driven system or alliance-driven system that would determine who's next on the list to get this bow, or who's the crafter that deserves this master legendary recipe, or where does this legendary material go. It's not that everybody got your loot box because we all completed the boss together: everyone gets the auto-granted reward from the quest of completing the boss together. What people came for that reward- the reason why alliances and guilds organized the raid to go defeat the dragon, was because the dragon boat dropped, and there was only one that dropped. So, the more people you take, the more slices of the finite pie you have to deliver, which reduces the reward structure. So, if you're going to reduce risk you must reduce reward.[134] – Steven Sharif
- There is a give-and-take for guilds that want to see a larger number of members as opposed to smaller guilds that may join alliances or unlock additional guild passive skills. Systems such as guild castles, guild halls, and relics grant benefits to all members of a guild, whereas passive skills unlocked for smaller sized guilds will only apply to that smaller number of members.[135][4][136][137][138][139][140][141]
- Let's think about what the design approach here is as an anti-zerg mechanism. So, within the progression tree, that dichotomy I described of either choosing to invest skill points into passive vertical power gain for the members, or into additional membership slots. There are, to the contrary, objectives within the game such as owning a castle, guild halls, different types of relics that can be acquired and held, that give an organization buffs and benefits. And so you have a choice to make: either I can be a small close collective of skilled players, the anti-zerg side and I get to invest in all of these vertical power benefits of the passive buff trees, or I can have more members get the reward from owning a relic, or owning a castle, or these kind of trophies that you acquire. But, I'm not going to double dip; and so what that does is it creates a scale where, if the smaller guilds with the investment in guild passives is able to accomplish skirmish size, objective-based game play systems that accompany this and defeat the zerg guilds, now they're double dipping in the vertical power gain because they've invested in these passives and they've acquired a castle and/or they've acquired a relic.[135] – Steven Sharif
- The best way that I found in games I played previously to take down a zerg is to cause drama from within... It's that conflict inside of the politicking that happens in that big organization. If we provide opportunities for division to occur then it also provides stability to keep a server healthy away from that zerg mentality also... If we approach the castle siege and we've destroyed the walls and we're in the throne room and we're about to cast on the penultimate thing and I at this time am just so excited from what's happening that I'm like "screw it I'm gonna go for it". It's gonna be mine. I'm gonna take the taxes for the next month. I'm gonna take all the gear from the castle. I'm gonna take everything... We want that political intrigue to be present in the game.[7] – Steven Sharif
- Objective-based game play helps to balance the zerg mentality.[143]
- I always feel that if you balance based on groups that in your balance focus is to incorporate features that play well from a player versus player perspective as well as a player versus environment perspective: Having support classes, having DPS and tanks that can obstruct movement and/or create bottlenecks on the field and stuff like that. I think a well-rounded raid it will perform better against a non well-rounded raid, however then you incorporate the second aspect of numbers; and that's where again mobility, organization, leadership tactics. Having objectives in gameplay that make those important helps to balance the zerg mentality that a lot of guilds can tend to have.[143] – Steven Sharif
- Instancing doesn't play a major role in limiting zergs, due to 80% of content in Ashes of Creation being open-world.[17]
- There may be instanced locations within castle and node sieges where specific groups can participate in certain objective-based waypoints.[17]
- Zerging is always a problem in a lot of these MMORPGs where you really can't control the number of participants in certain open-world systems; and in that sense instancing is a great tool that designers can sometimes use to curate a particular number of participants that you want. But the predominant amount of content within Ashes of Creation, over 80% of which is is open-world content, so instancing is very limited.[17] – Steven Sharif
Visuals
2017-10-24
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Livestream, November 27, 2024 (19:51).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2024-11-27 - Development Update with Alpha Two Giants and Demons.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 Blog - Know Your Nodes - Advance and Destroy.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Interview, November 10, 2024 (13:47).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Livestream, April 28, 2023 (1:28:14).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Interview, June 13, 2021 (36:38).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Interview, May 11, 2018 (44:20).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 A reactive world - Nodes.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Livestream, January 11, 2025 (22:09).
- ↑ Video, April 30, 2017 (5:31).
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Interview, July 8, 2020 (1:12:51).
- ↑ Twitch Bustin - Practice Sieges?
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Livestream, July 3, 2024 (1:59:34).
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Podcast, May 10, 2024 (46:50).
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Livestream, March 31, 2023 (1:00:16).
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 Livestream, January 28, 2022 (17:50).
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Livestream, November 27, 2024 (1:22:39).
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Livestream, April 29, 2022 (27:42).
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:22:40).
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:33:10).
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Livestream, January 18, 2018 (37:05).
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 MMOGames interview, January 2017
- ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (59:11).
- ↑ Livestream, June 25, 2021 (1:10:52).
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 Livestream, January 11, 2025 (19:01).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:40:10).
- ↑ 31.0 31.1
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 Livestream, December 23, 2021 (1:30:34).
- ↑ Livestream, January 28, 2022 (1:07:45).
- ↑ Livestream, November 19, 2021 (50:23).
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 35.5 35.6 35.7
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, April 29, 2022 (1:09:45).
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 Livestream, June 25, 2021 (1:09:26).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 Livestream, March 26, 2021 (1:04:46).
- ↑
- ↑ 43.0 43.1
- ↑ Livestream, July 26, 2019 (1:16:03).
- ↑ Interview, August 7, 2018 (14:35).
- ↑ 46.0 46.1
- ↑ Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:03:52).
- ↑ 48.0 48.1 Interview, July 19, 2020 (41:32).
- ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 49.3 49.4 Livestream, April 30, 2020 (1:14:44).
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 50.2 Livestream, May 19, 2017 (47:07).
- ↑ Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:06:09).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ Interview, July 29, 2020 (31:05).
- ↑ Interview, July 18, 2020 (13:13).
- ↑ Interview, July 8, 2020 (22:37).
- ↑ 57.0 57.1 Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:48:21).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ 60.0 60.1 Official Livestream - May 4th @ 3 PM PST - Q&A
- ↑ 61.0 61.1 61.2 61.3 Livestream, January 11, 2025 (19:13).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, April 30, 2021 (41:18).
- ↑ 65.0 65.1 65.2 65.3 Podcast, April 11, 2021 (49:40).
- ↑ Blog: Creative Director's Letter, April 14 2021
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ 70.0 70.1 70.2 70.3 70.4 Interview, July 9, 2023 (1:36:24).
- ↑ 71.0 71.1 71.2 71.3 71.4 71.5 71.6 71.7 Livestream, October 14, 2022 (52:31).
- ↑ Video, May 28, 2021 (25:44).
- ↑ 73.0 73.1 Blog: 10 facts about castle sieges in the MMORPG.
- ↑ Video, May 28, 2021 (11:55).
- ↑ Interview, September 10, 2023 (22:29).
- ↑ Interview, August 8, 2018 (20:49).
- ↑ 77.0 77.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:04:29).
- ↑ Livestream, May 24, 2017 (17:08).
- ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (45:14).
- ↑ Livestream, December 22, 2020 (1:13:51).
- ↑ 81.0 81.1 81.2 81.3 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (2:09:32).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, July 28, 2017 (36:51).
- ↑ 85.0 85.1
- ↑ 86.0 86.1 Interview, July 19, 2020 (37:58).
- ↑ 87.0 87.1 87.2 Livestream, November 22, 2019 (17:59).
- ↑ 88.0 88.1 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (20:54).
- ↑ Interview, July 29, 2020 (17:26).
- ↑ Livestream, February 29, 2024 (53:58).
- ↑ 91.0 91.1 91.2 91.3 91.4 91.5 Podcast, September 29, 2021 (14:21).
- ↑ 92.0 92.1 92.2 92.3 92.4 92.5 92.6 Interview, July 8, 2020 (57:46).
- ↑ 93.0 93.1 93.2
- ↑ 94.0 94.1 Livestream, July 28, 2023 (1:26:16).
- ↑ 95.0 95.1 Podcast, September 29, 2021 (15:46).
- ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:48:43).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ 99.0 99.1 Podcast, September 29, 2021 (10:49).
- ↑ 100.0 100.1 Interview, July 18, 2020 (56:11).
- ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2019 (36:20).
- ↑ 102.0 102.1 Livestream, November 22, 2019 (16:56).
- ↑ 103.0 103.1 103.2 103.3 103.4 103.5 103.6 103.7 Livestream, March 31, 2022 (1:13:00).
- ↑ Forums - Livestream Q&A 2022-08-26.
- ↑ 105.0 105.1 105.2 105.3 105.4 Blog: Development Update with Village Node.
- ↑ 106.0 106.1 106.2 106.3 106.4 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (57:23).
- ↑ Interview, July 9, 2023 (1:32:45).
- ↑ 108.0 108.1 Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:02:12).
- ↑ 109.0 109.1 109.2 109.3 109.4 109.5 109.6 Livestream, July 18, 2017 (40:14).
- ↑ 110.0 110.1 110.2 Livestream, November 17, 2017 (47:10).
- ↑ 111.0 111.1 111.2 111.3 111.4 111.5 Blog: Exploring the Boundless Opportunities of Freeholds.
- ↑ Interview, January 19, 2025 (1:03:18).
- ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (1:00:57).
- ↑ Livestream, March 26, 2021 (59:21).
- ↑ Livestream, November 19, 2021 (54:26).
- ↑ 116.0 116.1 116.2 116.3 Livestream, August 28, 2020 (2:04:00).
- ↑ 117.0 117.1 117.2 Livestream, May 19, 2017 (28:04).
- ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (29:34).
- ↑ Livestream, June 30, 2023 (1:39:22).
- ↑ 120.0 120.1 120.2 120.3 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (39:17).
- ↑ 121.0 121.1 121.2 121.3 Livestream, May 24, 2017 (52:39).
- ↑ Livestream, May 24, 2017 (40:50).
- ↑ 123.0 123.1 Livestream, June 28, 2019 (1:26:14).
- ↑
- ↑ 125.0 125.1 Interview, November 10, 2024 (20:29).
- ↑ Livestream, May 5, 2017 (23:26).
- ↑ 127.0 127.1 Livestream, May 19, 2017 (25:18).
- ↑ 128.0 128.1 128.2 128.3 Livestream, November 30, 2020 (1:16:09).
- ↑ Podcast, May 10, 2024 (48:54).
- ↑ 130.0 130.1 Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:34:06).
- ↑ Interview, July 19, 2020 (17:12).
- ↑ 132.0 132.1 Livestream, August 30, 2024 (1:02:37).
- ↑ Interview, June 13, 2021 (22:20).
- ↑ 134.0 134.1 Podcast, May 10, 2024 (50:37).
- ↑ 135.0 135.1 Interview, January 19, 2025 (45:19).
- ↑ Interview, October 20, 2024 (18:40).
- ↑ Podcast, May 10, 2024 (35:00).
- ↑ Livestream, September 27, 2018 (55:39).
- ↑ Interview, August 8, 2018 (9:36).
- ↑ Livestream, May 22, 2017 (57:37).
- ↑ Livestream, May 5, 2017 (23:26).
- ↑ Podcast, May 10, 2024 (40:31).
- ↑ 143.0 143.1 Interview, August 8, 2018 (11:52).