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[[Alpha-1]] testing is scheduled for fall 2020. Everything prior to this date is considered QA testing that Alpha-1 backers are invited to join in stages.{{quote|alpha-1-nda-2.png|link=https://discordapp.com/channels/256164085366915072/256164085366915072/694823375553691670}}
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[[File:alpha_one_test_scehduleschedule-1000.png||thumb|<blockquote>''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.''{{livestream|2021-05-28|1h36m43|8HeiXYLpP3I}}{{ndash|[[Sean Farrens]]}}</blockquote>]]
  
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* Limited Alpha-1 testing begins in May 2020 with [[Royalty]] and above backers. Initially these tests will be conducted during single day sessions, which over the course of several months will evolve into weekend testing periods.{{web|https://mailchi.mp/intrepidstudios.com/ashes-of-creation-development-update-300996|Creative Director's Letter, 1 April 2020.}}
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<blockquote>''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''{{livestream|2021-07-30|20m30|U3WrvtnSMiM}}{{ndash|[[Steven Sharif]]}}</blockquote>
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<blockquote>''The testing in May-June will likely remain under NDA until I feel comfortable with stability.''{{quote|alpha-1-nda-1.png|link=https://discordapp.com/channels/256164085366915072/256164085366915072/694815293901635624}}{{ndash|[[Steven Sharif]]}}</blockquote>
 
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* Over the summer, Alpha-1 testing will expand to include [[Braver of worlds]] backers and above. They will also start off with weekend testing periods.{{web|https://mailchi.mp/intrepidstudios.com/ashes-of-creation-development-update-300996|Creative Director's Letter, 1 April 2020.}}
 
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* Closer to fall the aim is to invite all Alpha-1 players to participate in week long testing sessions.{{web|https://mailchi.mp/intrepidstudios.com/ashes-of-creation-development-update-300996|Creative Director's Letter, 1 April 2020.}}
 
  
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<blockquote>''Finally, I am happy to announce that limited Alpha One testing will begin in May of 2020 starting with our highest level Alpha One backers from Kickstarter. This testing will include our Phoenix Initiative backers and above at first. As the game client becomes more stable during this limited testing, we will begin to introduce our Braver-of-World and above backers, and eventually our Intrepid pre-order pack holders. Our goal is to have the Alpha One game client ready for full testing in Fall of 2020. Now obviously this timeline is subject to the preliminary testing and its success during the next several months, so make sure to temper expectations. The whole purpose of testing Ashes is to create a solid and enjoyable experience, while iterating on game design and implementation. The important takeaway of this announcement is that we are making progress towards a playable experience. There is still a long road ahead, and many systems in Alpha One are core systems that require more fleshing out still. And even now I cannot guarantee delays will not occur, but we will strive to be transparent and communicate with you about our successes and failures.''{{web|https://mailchi.mp/intrepidstudios.com/ashes-of-creation-development-update-300996|Creative Director's Letter, 1 April 2020.}}{{ndash|[[Steven Sharif]]}}</blockquote>
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!scope="col"| Phase
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!scope="col"| Release
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!scope="col"| Estimated/<span class="kickstarter_highlight">Actual</span> date
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!scope="row" rowspan="8"| Alpha-1
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{{Alpha-1 release schedule}}
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<blockquote>''The initial tests in May with our Phoenix Initiative and above backers will be conducted during single day sessions, which over the course of several months will eventually evolve into weekend testing periods as the Alpha One game client becomes more stable. Over the summer, as we expand the participating Alpha One testers to include Bravers and above, they too will start off with weekend experiences that will test the patience of our players. As we get closer to Fall of this year, we aim to invite all Alpha One players to participate in weeklong testing sessions and push the limits of our Alpha One experience. As we approach these testing periods, we will be updating you with schedules and instructions.''{{web|https://mailchi.mp/intrepidstudios.com/ashes-of-creation-development-update-300996|Creative Director's Letter, 1 April 2020.}}{{ndash|[[Steven Sharif]]}}</blockquote>
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{{readmore|Release schedule}}
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<blockquote>''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.''{{web|https://ashesofcreation.com/news/2020-10-16-creative-directors-letter|Blog: Creative Director's Letter, October 16 2020}}{{ndash|[[Steven Sharif]]}}</blockquote>
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<blockquote>''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.''{{web|https://ashesofcreation.com/news/2020-10-16-creative-directors-letter|Blog: Creative Director's Letter, October 16 2020}}{{ndash|[[Steven Sharif]]}}</blockquote>

Latest revision as of 18:59, 22 September 2023

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.[1] – 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[2] – Steven Sharif

Phase Release Estimated/Actual date
Alpha-1 Alpha-1 early preview livestream.[3] March 27, 2020.[4]
Alpha-1 limited QA testing (NDA).[5][6] May 28, 2020.[7][8]
Alpha-1 preview pre-test 1 (NDA).[9] Dec 18 - Dec 21 2020.[9]
Alpha-1 preview pre-test 2 (NDA).[9] Feb 19 - Feb 22 2021.[10][11]
Alpha-1 preview intermittent spot testing (NDA).[12][13] Mar 19 - Jul 9 2021.[12][13]
Alpha-1 preview weekend (no NDA).[12] July 9 - July 11 2021.[14][15][12]
Alpha-1 (no NDA).[12] July 14 - August 15 2021.[16][17]

Read more...

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.[9] – 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.[9] – Steven Sharif

  1. ↑ Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:36:43).
  2. ↑ Livestream, July 30, 2021 (20:30).
  3. ↑ March 2020 newsletter.
  4. ↑ Video, March 23, 2020 (0:01).
  5. ↑ alpha-1-nda-2.png
  6. ↑ alpha-1-nda-1.png
  7. ↑ steven-a1-testing-start.png
  8. ↑ Creative Director's Letter, 2020-04-1.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Blog: Creative Director's Letter, October 16 2020
  10. ↑ Livestream, February 26, 2021 (14:58).
  11. ↑ Blog: Creative Director's Letter, January 2021.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Alpha One Schedule Update, May 10 2021.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 An Update on Alpha One Schedule, March 12 2021
  14. ↑ steven-a1preview-end.png
  15. ↑ Ashes of Creation Twitter - Alpha-1 Preview Weekend Begins
  16. ↑ alpha-1-end.png
  17. ↑ release-dates.png
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