[2023] Development Update with Node Village - 11AM PT Thursday, August 31, 2023 | Ashes of Creation Dev Tracker

Transcript (by Youtube)

3s	[Music]
9s	thank you
18s	hello and welcome glorious varins
22s	just as excited as we are for August
25s	development of date we have quite a
28s	doozy Buckle in uh make sure you hydrate
32s	go get your water now uh get some coffee
35s	if you need it because it's gonna be a
38s	long one yeah how are you doing Steven I
41s	I am doing very good how are you doing
45s	I'm doing great I'm moved in I got my
49s	wedding venue locked in life is great
51s	yes work is exciting yeah I know I'm I I
56s	gotta admit I I am a uh I don't normally
60s	get nervous for our live streams I
62s	really enjoy them right honestly
64s	um but this is a this is a a topic that
68s	we haven't touched for a while and uh
71s	you know there's a lot of updates and I
73s	think it's exciting and I think the
74s	community is going to enjoy it but like
76s	you said this is going to be a long one
77s	probably you guys can expect that our
79s	that this stream will last around two
81s	hours so yeah like Margaret said make
84s	sure you have some snacks make sure you
85s	pace yourself get up and stretch move
87s	your legs you know you got to stay
90s	healthy during this time yeah or get one
92s	of those like little treadmill things
94s	that you walk at your desk with I need
96s	one
98s	um but yeah it's gonna be it's gonna be
100s	a good a good long one for you all so
102s	stay tuned
104s	um but obviously you can see Bill low
105s	here our run of show we have some quick
108s	reminders that we're going to go through
109s	then we're going to get right into the
111s	node Village updates and then Studio
113s	updates and then q a so
116s	it's gonna be a tight one yeah and we
120s	will be having a whole bunch of people
121s	joining us today so it's going to be
123s	exciting
124s	yeah I think we have um I think we have
126s	what five five developers that are
128s	joining us today right
130s	roughly I think yeah three four five
132s	yeah maths are hard on the Fly
136s	um but we'll do quick updates uh so
138s	quick updates uh first and foremost
140s	we've got our YouTube Spotlight comment
142s	and this one comes from uh slender MMO
146s	or if that's lead speak sl3 and der
151s	um and they want to know is the
152s	development team moving away from action
154s	oh this is the wrong scene sorry wrong
158s	slide just wrong one I thought I grabbed
162s	the other one well I will grab the right
165s	one in a moment but the question is is
167s	the development team moving away from
169s	action combat or is action combat more
172s	prevalent with the melee classes and the
174s	healing slash range classes are more tab
177s	Target other than AOE spells and we have
180s	had people asking me about this as we've
182s	had the clerk update uh obviously with
184s	cleric it's a little harder to show tab
186s	Target and action combat because it's
188s	healing for sure well so to answer that
192s	question
193s	um we have not moved away from our
195s	hybrid approach to the development of
197s	Ashes of creation's combat
200s	um and specifically to reiterate you
202s	know that approach is incorporating
204s	elements of skill shots
206s	um fast and reactive gameplay that is
209s	situationally relevant uh and
212s	incorporates the camera mode of both tab
214s	targeting as well as action combat
216s	reticle
217s	um that's something that is still in
219s	progress we haven't moved away from that
221s	however to note you know our approach of
224s	that of that hybridization
228s	um is is going to incorporate things
230s	like templated skill shots directionally
233s	relevant
235s	um uh activated abilities uh along with
238s	the ability to dodge to roll projectiles
241s	that can impact Collision those are
243s	elements of action combat that are
245s	present now when we talk about Tempo or
248s	pacing of the combat
250s	we are not going to be as fast-paced and
253s	as you've been seeing updates from the
255s	development of our our archetypes and
257s	our classes we are not going to be as
259s	fast-paced as some of the more twitch
261s	oriented combat styles of of some action
264s	MMOs or or some action combat systems
267s	um it's meant to be a blend between the
269s	two uh and in that regard
271s	um for tab targeting purposes uh it
274s	needs to live comfortably uh with each
276s	other so
278s	um that's probably what you're seeing
279s	the opportunity to utilize the
281s	reticle-based combat mode is still
283s	available designs are are taking that
286s	into account and that is our direction
288s	for the foreseeable future
292s	awesome awesome then next up in our uh
297s	announcements here we do have
301s	um
302s	discussion round
304s	um Stephen will be joining
307s	um a whole slew of people over on Yokai
310s	theater's Channel
312s	um you've seen a few of these interviews
314s	in the past they're always good fun I
317s	know that these folks have been working
319s	very hard on getting everything set up
321s	so that we hope that you all enjoy it as
324s	well
325s	yeah that's exciting on that front I
328s	well I have I have been on that one
329s	before haven't I I've been on discussion
331s	with this my second time this will be I
333s	think they're gonna have a different
334s	cast with uh with them but yeah
337s	nice yeah I'm excited for that that's
338s	gonna be fun
340s	um when is that that's September 10th
341s	yeah September 10th at 12 p.m Pacific
346s	um so definitely make sure you guys get
347s	some questions in for that I think
349s	they're collecting questions
351s	um they're pretty good at making sure no
352s	repeats uh they've been around for a
354s	little while oh you're now you're
355s	putting pressure on them
360s	oh no called it out uh we do have a
363s	bunch of social that has gone on for
365s	this too so if you don't mind
367s	um heading on over retweeting sharing uh
370s	spreading some love that would be
372s	wonderful awesome and we have a new Dev
375s	discussion this one is about role play
378s	and I know there's a bunch of y'all out
380s	there who are interested in that stuff
382s	um definitely
384s	um head on over and tell us uh or not
387s	role play in-game content role play was
388s	last time uh in-game content uh what are
391s	you uh what we want to know is what are
393s	you looking forward to most in-game
395s	examples maybe a game system
397s	specifically a fantasy uh you hope to
399s	carry out or specific to activity with
402s	players um so definitely go tell us what
405s	kind of content you want to see in game
407s	as our content team is creating things
409s	now what if your favorite in-game
411s	content is role-playing
413s	that could be it
415s	um we we just did a report on role play
418s	that's why it's like in my mind uh that
420s	was our last of discussion that we did
421s	before so but you can still go give us
424s	feedback on that if you have thoughts or
425s	if role play is your favorite part of
427s	content feel free to add it into that as
430s	well the more information the better
433s	um and also we do have our next one is
435s	going to be coming up it's going to be
436s	about your dream node so if there's
439s	things that you would like to see in
440s	nodes especially after you watch today's
442s	stream uh tell us all the things because
445s	we are curious we would love to know
447s	and absolutely the last thing I have to
450s	share with you all today is about the
452s	Cosmetics uh we do have the
454s	non-forgotten Cosmetics that we'll be
456s	swapping over on September 13th at 11
458s	A.M Pacific and
461s	um with that reminder that the September
463s	pack that is coming up is going to be
465s	the final pre-order packs
468s	um we do have an FAQ on the August one
470s	right now if you want to read that but
471s	the final dates and things like that for
473s	the September pack will be in the
475s	September FAQ so um keep your eye out on
478s	that and if you have additional
480s	questions let us know and I will try to
481s	make sure those are covered as well and
483s	I do want to
485s	um I do want to comment just real quick
487s	on this for those of you who are feeling
489s	fomo about the packs being discontinued
492s	um that is not the intent and purpose
494s	for discontinuing the pre-order packs
495s	for Alpha 2. we still have a lot of
498s	testing that we need to do and we have a
500s	significant number of players that are
501s	we are anticipating and who have already
503s	pre-ordered for Alpha 2 and before we
506s	want before we potential actually open
508s	up again people to have access to to
511s	purchase into Alpha 2 we need to vet
514s	some things regarding concurrencies and
516s	total player counts and you know feeling
519s	very confident in that so I want to give
521s	the forewarning that if you do not
522s	participate in purchasing you know
524s	pre-order packages for Alpha 2 there may
526s	be an opportunity to do that again in
528s	the future so don't don't walk away from
530s	this feeling like you know you're
532s	definitely going to miss out if you
533s	don't participate in the pre-order packs
534s	but next month we will be discontinuing
536s	them uh and and we'll have some more
538s	information on that uh coming up as
540s	Margaret said in the September info yeah
542s	and uh keeping in mind that we'll have
545s	giveaways and things like that for Alpha
547s	2 access so even if you aren't able to
548s	purchase I know some people are well I
550s	can't even afford that so we understand
552s	we're going to have some other ways for
554s	you to get involved to just stay tuned
555s	for those things
557s	um you know extra lives coming up soon
558s	too so keep that in mind
561s	um that's like an announcement of an
563s	announcement but you all know if we
564s	partake in that every year
566s	um and uh the other thing is that I know
569s	that people are like oh they're showing
570s	off all the like this content and we're
573s	gonna uh where packs are closing so that
575s	must be Alpha two is really close as
577s	Stephen has stated in the past it is not
580s	right around the corner but it's not
582s	years away so yes uh keep that in mind
586s	um and set that precedent with yourself
587s	and expectation don't get too excited
590s	because I know people you can you can
592s	get excited don't get too hyped excited
595s	disappointed yes exactly no excitement
599s	and just to be clear I want to touch on
601s	that real quick as well right Alpha two
604s	um is something we are working very hard
606s	towards and we will continue to update
608s	you on that progress as we normally do
610s	every month with these showcases giving
612s	you guys insight into the development of
614s	things you get to see in real time you
616s	know how things are progressing and what
618s	the world is looking like and how the
619s	game is feeling
620s	um that's the whole purpose of this to
622s	collect that feedback
623s	um so so don't feel pressured right we
625s	understand it we're players too we don't
627s	like that stuff and that's why we took
630s	this transparent process yeah and we we
632s	mentioned in our FAQ too that you know
634s	we want to make sure that the experience
635s	for Alpha 2 folks is at a stage that
638s	we're very happy with likes that server
640s	performance is good that client
641s	performance is good in order to ensure
643s	that we need to make sure that we can
644s	support the amount of players that are
646s	currently part of Alpha 2 and then any
649s	additional players that we would want
650s	beyond that
652s	absolutely all right well with that
656s	we're gonna get into our node update but
659s	that means we're going to also invite
660s	some other folks in a moment here but I
662s	know that Steven you wanted to do some
664s	prefaces uh this first segment of this
667s	is going to be a slideshow oriented
669s	thing similar to what we did with the
670s	freeholds and people seem to like that
672s	yeah uh yes exactly so we we got a lot
675s	of positive feedback with the freeholds
677s	uh presentation uh specifically as it
680s	related to having that kind of
681s	PowerPoint slide oriented
684s	um you know anytime I think I talked
686s	about this in the past but anytime you
688s	have very detail-oriented systems design
691s	it's easy to kind of get lost in the
695s	details people run off on you know
697s	tangents well what about this how are
698s	you going to solve this how are you
699s	going to solve this and that a lot of
702s	times is the discussion that we have in
704s	a development setting or in a design
706s	room conversation but we can't capture
709s	all of that Nuance in a single live
712s	stream about some of these systems just
714s	because of how big they are
718s	but yeah that's why we have literally
721s	hundreds of hours of conversations
723s	recorded on the development side during
725s	this development process that you know
727s	we record all of our internal meetings
728s	and our internal dialogues for
730s	posterity's sake and afterwards so that
732s	we can talk about what it took to build
733s	this game and have you know kind of
735s	presentations about that but
738s	um there's a lot there and we have to
739s	condense that down to something that's
741s	digestible right and something that can
743s	be not just relevant to a core audience
746s	like you all are who are tuning into
748s	this development update
750s	um but also to the audiences that exist
752s	out there who are a bit detached from
754s	the process and rightfully so they're
756s	not interested in following development
757s	Journeys which is totally acceptable but
760s	it has to be digestible for them as well
762s	and so to that degree uh based on how
766s	successful you guys responded responded
769s	to the freeholds uh presentation we are
771s	going to preface this video with a
774s	little bit of a slide presentation and
776s	incorporate some of our design team to
778s	have that discussion and the intent and
780s	purpose of this portion is to re-affirm
785s	previous designs that are were captured
788s	and understood by the um community
790s	Through The Amazing Wiki that is up kept
793s	by Lex and that will reaffirm some of
797s	those designs but it will also introduce
798s	to you a few new designs that we have
801s	picked up along the way and adjusted in
804s	order to accommodate some of the more
807s	fleshed out systems as we approach them
809s	over the course of the last year and a
811s	half
812s	um so during slide one is going to be
813s	that we've canceled nodes
815s	yeah exactly it's all curated there's no
819s	world design I'm just kidding no it's no
821s	longer Dynamic no I'm just gonna I'd
823s	like to show you all well with that um
825s	I'm gonna switch over to that and bring
827s	in some new folks to join us
829s	um so give me a moment these slides will
832s	also be available to you all via
836s	um the article that we're going to post
838s	so if you I know it's hard to read
841s	you're like is this text for ants
842s	sometimes
843s	um but a slideshow for ants yes
848s	um
849s	all right
850s	welcome I'm excited yeah what up gamers
854s	so with us our two new folks uh some of
857s	them you've heard their voices before
858s	actually both of them you've heard both
860s	of their voices so I'll give you guys a
862s	moment to introduce yourselves uh once
864s	again we've got uh Dr Bucky Dr Bucky
869s	talk about who you are what you do here
871s	at Intrepid yeah so hi everyone I'm
874s	Bucky I've been on the last couple live
876s	streams but I'm a gameplay designer here
878s	at Intrepid and working a lot with the
880s	systems team flush not only systems the
882s	nodes and get them all working but uh
884s	also work a bit with combat as well yep
886s	yeah you get the best of both worlds
888s	there between combat and nodes
893s	um like when you were doing the node uh
895s	simulation stuff too they've seen some
897s	of the the yeah that's right which has
899s	been pretty cool Bucky is a jack of all
901s	trades very we enjoy you Bucky stay with
904s	us uh and of course we've got the juice
907s	the juice though Chris uh where uh tell
909s	us a little bit about you and what you
911s	do here at Intrepid yeah hi I'm a senior
914s	game designer here at Intrepid and I
917s	live in node land it's where I uh it's
920s	it's what I live and breathe
923s	yes Chris is my my right hand node man
926s	uh when it comes to understanding
928s	everything he has he has digested and uh
932s	regurgitated and digested again
934s	everything nodes
935s	all right
937s	well if you guys are all good and we're
940s	Gucci let's head on over to nodes the
943s	first segment here we're gonna go over
944s	is all about citizenship
948s	um so I'll hand it over to you Chris
952s	yeah so uh citizenship is kind of
956s	aside from nodes existing one of the
958s	most important parts right um so you as
961s	a player will get to
963s	um become a citizen of these nodes uh
965s	you're going to need to acquire some
967s	form of housing to be able to do that
968s	within that node's jurisdiction it's
970s	zone of influence
972s	um those forms of housing can be in in
975s	an apartment a static housing or a
977s	freehold the static housing is oh God
980s	Stephen I was just going to say and and
982s	pointing out specifically Inns is
984s	something that most players probably and
986s	most in our community uh have not either
988s	heard before or did not get elaborated a
990s	bit do you want to talk to us a little
992s	bit about the intent and purpose behind
994s	why we introduced Inns as an option yeah
998s	ins are intended to be our most kind of
1000s	accessible form of housing
1002s	um so that one players will be able to
1005s	become citizens should they desire to at
1009s	in an accessible way
1011s	um because the other forms of housing
1012s	are fairly limited yes yeah and ends are
1016s	something that are also sorry I was just
1018s	going to say ends are something that are
1019s	also available even around the starting
1021s	areas before you have an opportunity to
1024s	go out into the node zones as well and
1027s	it provides players with additional
1029s	storage they have some limited Furniture
1031s	application that are on a per room basis
1034s	depending on the type of room you rent
1035s	at an in
1037s	that's possible as well but citizenship
1040s	as you said is is one of the most
1041s	foundational aspects of Ashes of
1043s	creation right you're expected to be a
1045s	citizen at a node somewhere and you
1047s	cannot be a citizen at all nodes all the
1050s	time right yeah so
1053s	um you know you're gonna have to uh
1055s	you're gonna have to pay dues to be a
1056s	citizen uh which are regular but there's
1058s	a ton of benefits that come with being a
1060s	citizen right you're going to get
1062s	reduced fees at what that node offers
1065s	you're gonna get reduced tax rates and
1068s	you're going to get access to exclusive
1070s	vendors based on its node type if the
1072s	nodes collected relics you're going to
1073s	have exclusive access to those so
1076s	there's tons of good reasons to be a
1077s	citizen and when you leave a node you
1081s	incur a cooldown before you can become a
1083s	citizen again so it's a it's an
1085s	important choice you have to make and
1087s	there's a cost to unmaking it yeah so
1091s	players do have some follow-up questions
1092s	obviously from the Freehold conversation
1094s	about housing they're wondering how much
1096s	player housing will be available to a
1098s	node
1099s	um and because people are afraid to be
1101s	homeless so what are their options on
1104s	Vera to not be homeless
1106s	well the the ends are one very good
1108s	option as we were just talking about and
1111s	um those are kind of capped more by uh
1113s	citizenship dues as that is a soft cap
1115s	that increases over time right when you
1117s	choose to become a citizen uh anybody
1119s	can kind of get an in uh to a degree
1122s	without being a citizen but in addition
1124s	apartments are another method which are
1127s	default and are part of every node has
1130s	access to these apartments
1132s	um and you can expand those apartment
1133s	buildings right Chris and Bucky
1135s	yeah you can so the mayor can elect uh
1138s	as part of the service building system
1139s	which we'll talk about in a bit to
1141s	expand those apartments and make them uh
1144s	allow them to have more citizens right
1147s	right and and also different apartment
1149s	types such as penthouses that have
1152s	different thresholds for the types of
1154s	Furnitures that they can house whether
1156s	they be legendary more rare types of
1158s	Furnitures that require a better either
1160s	static home or apartments and to answer
1163s	your question specifically uh Margaret
1165s	when it comes to the type of uh numbers
1168s	that we are playing with on a per node
1170s	basis obviously that's something that
1171s	changes based on node stage so the
1174s	advancement of the node will dictate the
1175s	number of Student Node static housing
1177s	and there's a predefined amount of those
1179s	because those exist within the world
1181s	right now we're still playing with those
1183s	numbers but if you were to think about
1185s	the level of exclusivity between the
1187s	different types of housing that we have
1188s	obviously the most exclusive when it
1190s	comes to a quantity is going to be
1193s	freeholds followed by endnote housing
1196s	followed by Apartments Then followed by
1197s	Inns so that is essentially you know
1200s	what what it's going to break down wise
1203s	exclusivity we don't have firm numbers
1205s	on what the static endnote housing is
1208s	going to be on a per stage basis that's
1209s	something that we intend to test as part
1212s	of alpha two uh but there is numbers
1214s	internally right we're just not oh yeah
1216s	yeah no no no I just want to be clear to
1218s	people yeah sure what I mean there is
1221s	that we don't have a number we would
1223s	feel confident giving the community
1224s	right now and them holding us to that
1226s	number because it is a variable we
1227s	intend to use data to inform and that
1230s	data is going to be play testing with
1232s	the community as part of alpha 2. yes
1235s	so excited housing stuff is so much fun
1237s	for me and then the other question here
1239s	is in regards to citizenship if I am a
1242s	citizen of a node and I don't agree with
1244s	leadership how do I or slash what is
1246s	involved in changing my citizenship to a
1249s	different node you mentioned there's a
1251s	cooldown but is there anything else
1252s	that's involved in that
1255s	yeah so I can take this one um so yeah
1258s	basically it's uh anytime you can visit
1260s	the town hall and renounce your
1261s	citizenship um at the node but that
1263s	comes with the cost of that now you go
1265s	into a cool down where you can't
1266s	actually join other node so it kind of
1268s	incentivizes players to try to make it
1270s	work at their node and then try and like
1271s	not just jump ship right if they don't
1273s	like it and try and make changes in
1274s	their node but um and then the one other
1276s	caveat is that if your node's like
1278s	destroyed in like a siege for example
1279s	then you will be able to just right away
1281s	join a new node you don't have to wait
1282s	on that cooldown just so it's not like
1284s	even further punishing even that snap
1286s	yeah and and something to expand on the
1288s	refugee status that Bucky was talking
1290s	about
1291s	is you know the intent is that it is a
1295s	normal process of the world
1297s	to see PVP be a catalyst for change that
1301s	is one of the defining elements of our
1303s	world building approach and being a pvx
1306s	game is that PVE builds the world and
1308s	PVP changes the world and as these nodes
1311s	get destructed and this should be a
1313s	normal habit that players are accustomed
1315s	to seeing that landscape changing over
1317s	time because it is the breadth of
1320s	renewal that then is allowed as a result
1323s	of that action this Refugee status to a
1327s	degree brings down the friction that the
1329s	player would have normally with finding
1331s	a new node to become a citizen at and we
1333s	want those types of mechanics present so
1336s	that players are not experiencing
1338s	extreme friction after Extreme friction
1340s	after Extreme fiction to the point where
1342s	it's just like you know screw this I'm
1343s	done right we want to be able to make
1345s	that a bit of an easier process and so
1347s	the refugee status reduces uh the
1349s	cooldown period to joining a new node as
1352s	a citizen but it also reduces
1354s	potentially some of the citizenship dues
1356s	that might be present some of the costs
1358s	associated with it and even policies
1360s	which we'll talk about a little bit
1361s	later with Chris and Bucky here can be
1364s	adopted by other nodes when a Siege
1366s	occurs that even makes it more
1368s	incentivizing for players to come there
1370s	as new citizens as well
1372s	all right and I will to to kind of
1375s	um directly answer if you don't want to
1377s	leave your note in your mayorship is uh
1379s	not doing things you like uh most of
1381s	these systems that we're going to talk
1382s	about here have some amount of like
1384s	citizenship buy-on that's like required
1386s	for a thing to happen so
1389s	um you know it may stagnate a little if
1391s	you don't like your mayorship but you
1393s	can stop them from doing destructive
1395s	things and you can stop them from
1397s	spending things in ways you don't like
1399s	yeah that might be a good it might be a
1401s	good segue into the next slide well
1403s	there's a bunch of community questions I
1404s	don't know if we want to answer a couple
1405s	of them or speed run through shoot
1407s	through some I would I would try to
1409s	limit it to probably around two or three
1411s	questions per slide otherwise we'll
1412s	never get to the videos okay
1414s	um I they're wanting to know if ins are
1417s	instanced rooms and if they're player
1419s	owned should be yes so instance so
1422s	instance uh instances are apartments and
1425s	Inns
1426s	um and these are shared instances where
1428s	you can invite party members to join you
1430s	in the instance as well if you want to
1431s	do a little bit of role play or you know
1434s	uh group activities in the in the
1436s	instances
1437s	um and then ownership on the apartments
1439s	and the Inns does not exist you rent
1442s	these uh locations and is it one person
1445s	who can rent them correct yeah same with
1448s	housing it's like one person owns it
1450s	correct and then you can have family
1452s	permission set to have access to those
1454s	as well
1455s	um and then the last one here I'll ask
1457s	is how will limited housing work with
1459s	players who stop playing so if someone
1461s	leaves the game and hasn't come back for
1463s	a while will they eventually be evicted
1464s	uh to allow other players to utilize
1467s	those faces yes the the the wheel of tax
1470s	and death is always turning in Vera
1473s	um and uh taxes are a necessary
1475s	component in order to upkeep and
1477s	maintenance the uh the freeholds or the
1480s	housing that you own and after a period
1483s	of not paying those taxes the tax man
1484s	may visit you and put you in a default
1486s	status after which period of time if you
1488s	do not settle that debt you will lose
1491s	your property all right let's move on to
1494s	mayorship and I will hand it over to you
1496s	gusto
1498s	yeah so uh obviously mayorship is
1502s	another really important part of nodes
1503s	it's how
1505s	um we kind of Define it as the mayor is
1508s	um tasked with initiating changes to the
1511s	quality of a node right not the progress
1513s	of it but the quality of it so there's
1516s	four main ways a mayor can get elected
1519s	based on the Node type
1521s	um
1521s	they're all kind of play to different
1524s	strengths uh scientific which we had in
1526s	Alpha One which we've changed a little
1528s	since then it's not a uh your single
1531s	popular vote it's now a ranked Choice
1533s	vote
1535s	um and we should take note of that in
1536s	real life as well I'm just kidding sorry
1540s	um the economic node type is a blind bid
1544s	auction
1545s	um so the player with the most money is
1547s	going to be the node uh are going to be
1549s	the mayor and um Divine is going to be a
1552s	PVE like favor event that players
1555s	participate in and uh have to grind
1557s	through to earn as much favor as
1558s	possible right and then uh military is
1562s	never revealed the military one and the
1564s	military is a trial by combat event now
1568s	um this is kind of the node enters a
1570s	state where uh players who register are
1573s	going to PVP each other in kind of a
1575s	free-for-all situation and citizens who
1578s	aren't registered are gonna get to back
1580s	a candidate and PvP with them yes so let
1585s	me let me set the stage just real quick
1587s	because I don't think in the past we've
1589s	talked about the potential of having
1591s	um uh a uh I think was like a military
1593s	champion and you could equip that
1595s	champion and the champion would fight
1596s	for you and you'd accumulate points and
1598s	that was kind of to to prevent the um
1600s	the the strangeness between like the 1v1
1603s	scenario but what we've decided is
1606s	um that moving forward for military
1608s	nodes we will be implementing an
1610s	election method that leverages the uh
1613s	ruined state of nodes as a PVP
1616s	Battleground so to speak in in a form of
1617s	an instance where citizens and or
1619s	candidates can participate and during
1622s	the week you will have a number of
1624s	opportunities uh to participate in a
1628s	timed event where you can pledge your
1630s	support to a candidate or if you are a
1633s	candidate you will have objective-based
1634s	gameplay within a windowed period of
1636s	time within the node proper and you will
1638s	attempt to go to those objectives
1640s	execute the required uh action and you
1643s	will accumulate points based off of your
1645s	performance during those events and at
1647s	the end of those events overall the
1649s	highest point contributor will be
1651s	elected the mayor now what that event
1653s	entails is you as a citizen can pledge
1657s	support and you will have open PVP
1659s	within the node proper uh that groups of
1662s	those candidates and their pledged
1664s	supporters can attempt to secure and
1668s	combat over the objectives over an hour
1670s	period of time perhaps a number of times
1672s	a week and then at the end of those
1674s	events will be the election result that
1676s	is the intent and desire behind this
1678s	system
1679s	I think it's going to be fun I think
1681s	it's going to be interesting but
1683s	obviously the purpose of these
1685s	demonstrations slash discussions is to
1687s	give you guys an opportunity to give
1688s	your thoughts whether or not you think
1690s	that's interesting what you think could
1691s	be improved where are the areas where
1693s	you would have concerns
1694s	um that's a really cool update I think
1696s	for the military nodes that you guys can
1698s	can chat about some questions that are
1700s	coming in from a chat in all the places
1703s	we're looking at Discord we're looking
1704s	at Twitter we're looking at Social so
1706s	we're keeping an eye on all the places
1707s	uh they're getting fed to me one of the
1710s	questions is are all the benefits that
1712s	Mayors can give to a node the same for
1714s	every type of node or are there
1716s	differences per type of node
1718s	there there definitely are differences
1721s	um the difference is some systems uh
1723s	have a more some of the things that
1726s	Mayors can do are more Universal but
1728s	then some systems have very specific if
1731s	your your race has a certain your note
1733s	has a certain dominant race or your
1736s	um node is a certain type or it's in a
1738s	certain biome so there's even
1740s	differences between kind of
1742s	um where it is too
1744s	okay and then uh this was just a funny
1748s	one does the mayor get a free home just
1751s	because I think that's funny their home
1753s	is the town hall where they slave away
1755s	all day long
1756s	they get to decorate their office
1759s	um uh
1761s	people want to know
1763s	um so I'm guessing that's not the case
1765s	they still have to have their own home
1767s	okay uh it's it's a predicate you have
1769s	to be a citizen before you can be the
1771s	mayor so you need to so you need to know
1773s	what it's like to be one of the lackeys
1776s	no uh what happens if a mayor leaves
1778s	like if they quit playing the game
1780s	um and what will happen to the mayorship
1784s	if that occurs so some of the decisions
1787s	that the mayor makes they have a period
1789s	of time within which they can make the
1791s	decision and if they don't the system
1793s	will make a decision for them some of
1795s	those interactions not all however uh
1798s	there is a constant conversation with
1800s	regards to the systems we're creating
1802s	for Mayors to interact with how much is
1804s	too much failure that we're going to
1805s	give agency to a player to to be a bad
1808s	faith mayor essentially and part of that
1810s	is not just if they quit but if they
1812s	want to actively do the node harm how
1814s	much harm can they really do and those
1817s	two things kind of align with one
1818s	another
1819s	um but yeah some of the systems have
1821s	automated uh responses and some don't so
1824s	there is some damage that can be done
1825s	you have to choose your mayor wisely and
1827s	in the event that that somebody quits
1829s	then there's an election cycle for a
1832s	reason and you vote that person out or
1833s	you have a different uh if there's a
1835s	different election method you have that
1836s	person removed all right kill them no
1839s	I'm just kidding and the last one here
1841s	is Can An Enemy of the State be set on
1844s	any random player or are there some
1846s	other prerequisites that need to be met
1849s	uh no you cannot have an Enemy of the
1852s	State condition assigned to a player
1854s	there are methods by which you can have
1857s	flag statuses uh uh um uh associated
1861s	with other node citizens through like a
1863s	node war and you can have open PVP in
1866s	the world if your nodes are at war with
1867s	one another but you cannot denote a
1870s	particular individual as An Enemy of the
1871s	State and have the guards kill them when
1873s	they approach the node right this is the
1875s	intent of the system is not to
1876s	necessarily exclude players exclude
1879s	players and create you know clicks or
1881s	factions within the nodes per se
1883s	everyone's just going to make Steven the
1885s	enemy estate oh wow you don't want me as
1889s	the enemy estate I have the Ultimate
1890s	Weapon oh really I'm just kidding just
1894s	nuke everything spawn three million
1897s	Bears I'm just a sandal Wanderer anyways
1900s	that's okay I'm just trolling anyway
1902s	next up we have mandates to keep things
1905s	moving and I'll hand it over to you
1906s	Chris
1908s	yeah so mandates are kind of a new thing
1909s	I don't think we've ever really talked
1911s	about them uh outside of the company
1913s	before
1914s	um but they're functionally what we're
1917s	talking about
1918s	um
1919s	this Energy System that Mayors get to
1921s	use to enact things right enable service
1925s	buildings or
1927s	um or do constructions Etc
1931s	um and they're they generate mandates by
1933s	having citizens participate in these
1935s	activities right so contributing to the
1937s	construction of a service building or
1940s	um doing mayoral commissions which we'll
1942s	talk about and voting on policies so the
1946s	more citizens like what a mayor is doing
1948s	the more power they're going to get to
1949s	do more things and the less citizens
1951s	like what they're doing the less power
1953s	they're going to get to do things
1956s	foreign
1958s	was talking about on the last slide too
1960s	where it's like we're kind of you know
1962s	concerned about limiting how how much
1965s	damage a bad faith mayor can do right
1966s	and this is definitely one of those
1967s	systems that you know if you're doing
1969s	good things that the citizens are
1970s	agreeing with and this is part of your
1971s	power as a citizen even if you know even
1973s	if you think you don't have any power
1974s	this is one of your main things is like
1976s	agreeing with what the mayor is doing
1977s	makes them able to do more uh actions
1980s	and that are hopefully are favorable for
1981s	you yeah I think absolutely yeah so when
1984s	we think about
1985s	um when we think about certain energy
1986s	mechanics usually they're provided as a
1988s	way to to give a throttle right and most
1991s	of those throttles are incurred through
1993s	specific design curated intent however
1996s	this throttle exists in such a way where
1998s	the citizens have the ability to either
2000s	let the gas go for the mayor or pull it
2002s	back a bit because they're doing things
2004s	they don't necessarily want and Mayors
2006s	have a unique ability to elicit change
2008s	within the node proper either through
2010s	the destruction of certain buildings
2012s	that have been constructed previously
2013s	because there's a limited number of
2015s	slots that buildings can be constructed
2016s	Within or the kickoff of additional
2018s	projects or the certain types of
2019s	policies that can be enacted like those
2022s	things those actions the changing of a
2024s	tax rate they all have a unified source
2027s	of energy requirement and the energy
2029s	requirement is a mandate and you accrue
2031s	those mandates as Chris and Bucky were
2034s	saying through doing things that the
2036s	population agrees with and when you do
2039s	things that the population doesn't agree
2041s	with your mandates suffer and if you
2043s	don't have mandates to do certain
2044s	actions then that's the way that the
2047s	that the citizenship throttles back your
2050s	ability to elicit change
2052s	so the question we have from people is
2054s	there uh if is if there's a cap on the
2057s	energy for mandates
2060s	there is not currently a cap that's
2062s	designed uh for mandates however
2064s	mandates are an accrued energy through
2067s	action and actions have cooldowns
2069s	associated with them that you can do
2070s	them over certain periods of time and
2072s	they also have certain weights that are
2074s	applied by Design so naturally within a
2076s	given period of time a mayor will only
2078s	have the ability to do so many things
2080s	that generate mandates and as a result
2082s	that is the soft cap however the system
2085s	is built or is being built in such a way
2087s	where that is a variable we can Define
2090s	through testing when we see if there
2091s	should be or should not be we can add
2093s	that at a later time and is there a way
2096s	to counter those
2098s	um Band-Aids
2100s	counter those mandates what do you mean
2102s	by that
2103s	like uh if if the mayor if the mayor has
2105s	acquired the mandates
2108s	um then they can use the mandates as
2110s	they see fit however a lot of the
2112s	interactions still require successful uh
2115s	participation by The Audience by the
2117s	citizens right Chris if you want to talk
2118s	a little bit about well actually I think
2120s	we have policies coming up in a second
2121s	yeah we have policies
2123s	um so can a mayor do just a simple vote
2126s	like if they just want to ask people
2127s	Seth like hey I want to put up a poll is
2129s	that going to be something that's going
2130s	to be available to them
2133s	like one of you guys grab that if you
2135s	want to yeah it's not something we've
2137s	previously discussed uh you know we've
2139s	talked about having messages of the day
2141s	for the mayor and um obviously there's
2143s	still chat services and stuff that
2145s	Mayors can use to get
2147s	um
2148s	to get the uh
2151s	that's what I'm looking for feedback
2153s	from the citizens right
2154s	yeah we want that to be something that's
2157s	a bit more diegetic and not necessarily
2159s	handheld by a survey system right we
2161s	want if the individual is interested in
2163s	participating with their Community with
2165s	their citizenship with citizenship there
2167s	will be tools that they can use such as
2169s	the message of the day such as chat such
2171s	as yeah citizenship chat right like the
2173s	mayor will probably have a you know
2174s	special color name right there and they
2176s	can ask questions and just have
2177s	conversations with the citizens there's
2178s	a little q a with your mayor that's cute
2180s	yeah yeah I want I can't wait to see the
2183s	RP and like have different nodes deal
2186s	with their Mayors like I just I'm so
2187s	excited for it because
2189s	you know I've been part of a lot of
2191s	different communities and every Guild
2192s	runs differently I feel like every node
2194s	is going to run differently and I'm just
2196s	excited to see that we're already
2198s	thinking on the community side what kind
2199s	of fun streams we can do
2201s	um just real quick because you touched
2204s	on a great point there oh yeah go ahead
2206s	is that we have a very
2208s	um
2209s	we have a unique approach in that we are
2211s	a non-faction based game many of the
2213s	MMOs that a lot of us have played are
2215s	faction based so um because of that
2217s	because we're non-faction based we have
2219s	this concept of pseudo factions that we
2221s	have to create systems in such a way
2224s	where we can present that and what you
2226s	just described essentially as a micro
2228s	Community or a pseudo faction that
2230s	exists within the nodes and as you
2232s	described like many of those are going
2234s	to be very different across the
2236s	landscape and I think that creates a
2238s	very compelling and interesting
2240s	social social diversity so that when
2243s	you're determining Friend or Foe there
2246s	is a a landscape that is going to be
2248s	constantly changing as a result of those
2249s	different faction interests
2251s	all right and our last question here is
2253s	will a good mayor have a benefit for the
2255s	next election so they have some kind of
2257s	like favor points or something like that
2259s	so that they can get reelected and how
2261s	long is that term for
2264s	yeah so there's
2266s	no plan other than the mayor's actions
2270s	to help them get reelected right if you
2272s	do good things you're more likely to get
2274s	reelected because players will like you
2276s	you know
2277s	um but there's no systemic benefit to
2280s	previously being the mayor
2283s	yeah
2284s	I wanted to or I said one more
2287s	clarification about mandates right like
2289s	if you're uh you get when you become
2291s	elected you probably get a couple
2292s	mandates right but then and then as you
2294s	do good and you're getting more and more
2296s	mandates and you might end the election
2297s	with a bunch of mandates if at that
2299s	point you don't get reelected uh and a
2302s	new mayor comes in I don't think they
2303s	will inherit all your mandates they'll
2305s	get reset back to uh correct yeah the
2309s	Mandate pool is unique to the candidate
2311s	right and so and that's and then this is
2313s	obviously remember everything we're
2315s	discussing here is something to change
2316s	you know this is all based off of
2319s	testing essentially that we'll be doing
2320s	but as Bucky described a mandate is
2324s	unique to the candidate and so if the
2326s	candidate is voted out of office like
2328s	yes there is going to be a momentum
2330s	slowdown because the other candidate in
2332s	Nez Bucky said they'll be coming in with
2334s	some default amount of mandates
2335s	available to them just fresh off the
2337s	election or fresh off of whatever the
2339s	election method is
2341s	um that they can use to start their
2343s	their works but as they as they roll
2345s	those actions forward are they
2347s	generating more mandates or are they not
2349s	right that's kind of the intent behind
2352s	the momentum a candidate has all right
2354s	I'm going to move us on to mayoral
2356s	commissions if you'd like to talk a
2359s	little bit about that
2360s	yeah I could do this one
2362s	um yeah so we got Commissions in our
2364s	game is basically a simple type of quest
2366s	with a singular objective and there will
2368s	be other types of commissions like you
2370s	know Quest related ones narrative
2371s	related ones you know but uh Mayors will
2374s	have access to initiate mayoral
2376s	commissions which are kind of special
2378s	and these are commissions that are meant
2380s	to help the node in some way
2382s	so um and then the node will be rewarded
2385s	based on the amount of players that
2386s	complete these commissions so you know
2388s	kind of back to how we were talking
2390s	about this is one of the like um ways to
2392s	generate more mandates if you're doing
2393s	commissions a lot of players are
2394s	completing them and helping out the node
2395s	you'll be getting some more mandate
2396s	power and uh yeah and the players will
2399s	be rewarded as such so you can get
2401s	things like experience node reputation
2403s	node currency and other other different
2404s	kinds of rewards for helping out the
2406s	node yeah and it's and it's a good thing
2408s	to point out as well is that um
2409s	citizenship participation is the key
2413s	factor in mandate Generation
2416s	Um whether that's through policy
2417s	enactment through commission completion
2420s	um or through a buy order potential
2422s	um or even unique you know one-off
2424s	predicate systems that exist outside
2426s	event wise or whatever right
2429s	um your citizenship participation is
2431s	what determines that so so commissions
2433s	can be conducted uh by anyone
2435s	non-citizen or citizen right and so you
2438s	want to see what the health is of your
2439s	interaction as a mayor with your
2441s	citizens versus the world so that's an
2443s	important factor as well to keep in mind
2446s	yep and uh yeah the commissions
2449s	basically just cost gold from the
2450s	treasury from there to initiate and
2451s	they'll have a limited number of
2452s	commission slots active at one time and
2455s	then you can have a variety of
2456s	commissions that'll be enabled based on
2459s	node type it's location you know the
2461s	predominant node race and different
2462s	building choices right so there'll be a
2465s	lot of different options in the mayor to
2466s	try to see what they want to try to
2467s	incentivize their players to their
2469s	citizens to and other visiting players
2470s	to work on
2472s	yeah can they pick a custom flag for
2475s	their node
2478s	uh can um so Mayors will have a uh uh
2482s	emblem generation Suite that will have a
2484s	number of different
2486s	um uh
2488s	components slash
2490s	damn I can't think of them like symbols
2492s	like yeah kind of like how our tattoos
2494s	modular thank you yeah it's modular it's
2497s	a modular uh Insignia system that you
2499s	can choose and pick between to create uh
2501s	the flag cool can only citizens
2504s	participate in commissions or
2507s	can anybody can participate in the
2509s	commissions so I can have my friends and
2512s	just to be clear just be clear there are
2513s	mayoral commissions and then there are
2515s	node commissions right and the node
2517s	commissions are just general commissions
2518s	that interact with the world around you
2520s	the pois that exist around your node
2523s	um and the marrow ones are specifically
2524s	chosen Chris if you want to talk a
2525s	little bit about that
2527s	yeah so uh yeah the mayoral commissions
2529s	are specifically chosen by the mayor uh
2531s	which is kind of it it is similar to the
2534s	regular commission system but uh that
2537s	system is more uh system generated right
2540s	um so anyone can participate in a
2542s	mayoral commission but uh we for
2545s	mandates like I said we track the
2547s	citizen participation in those right the
2550s	mayoral commissions are available for a
2552s	limited time there's no limit on the
2553s	amount of players that can complete them
2555s	right
2556s	um how many I can have so how many I can
2560s	yeah yeah there'll be a limit on how
2561s	many you can take at any one time I mean
2564s	you can't repeat one that's active right
2568s	um but once once that timer runs out
2571s	based on how many people completed it
2573s	will determine kind of what reward the
2575s	node gets as a result of that commission
2577s	and the and the mayor also has a
2580s	limitation on the number of active
2581s	commissions he can uh set at a time so
2585s	the intent and purpose there is that the
2587s	mayoral commissions serve as a strategic
2590s	decision base for the mayor what issues
2594s	am I facing what issues do I believe I
2596s	will face how um how is this aligning
2599s	with my strategy and then um how will my
2602s	citizens help me help participate in
2604s	accomplishing these goals so that I'm
2606s	best set strategically for what I intend
2608s	to do with those commissions all right
2609s	and our last question for this is is
2613s	participation always going to be greater
2616s	for larger nodes by default or can a
2619s	small node with
2620s	close to 100 participation still greatly
2623s	benefit from them
2626s	yeah so I mean that's gonna come down to
2628s	what commissions the mayor is initiating
2630s	right uh level three nodes aren't going
2633s	to be uh initiating mayoral commissions
2636s	that are that require thousands of
2639s	players to participate right because
2641s	they don't have access to those where uh
2644s	metropolises that have a huge
2646s	citizenship base will get access to
2648s	those kinds of commissions so the awards
2649s	rewards will be kind of proportionate to
2652s	um you know the node level and the like
2654s	expected amount of citizens
2657s	moving on
2661s	and I go policy
2663s	keep referencing in the other segments
2665s	so I feel like this is going to be the
2666s	one
2667s	[Laughter]
2669s	yeah policies are also something we
2670s	haven't really touched on
2672s	um a lot as well although we have
2674s	referenced it
2675s	um Chris if you want to take this one
2677s	away yeah so policies are actions that
2680s	the mayor can take
2682s	um they're exactly what it sounds like
2684s	it's policy right so
2686s	um as a mayor I want people to be
2688s	harvesting uh Stone so I'm going to
2690s	initiate the stone policy which is going
2692s	to provide this benefit to people who
2695s	are harvesting Stone in the zone of
2697s	influence right
2699s	um now in order to initiate a policy
2701s	players are going to be able to or
2703s	citizens will be able to vote on it and
2705s	either turn down the policy if they
2707s	don't want it or
2709s	um you know accept the policy if they do
2713s	yeah and that's a very key Point Buck if
2715s	you want to chat about that a little bit
2716s	Yeah well I was just gonna say also too
2718s	that's one of bringing you back to
2719s	mandates that's one of the really
2721s	powerful uses of mandates is it it
2722s	allows you to bypass the citizen vote on
2725s	a policy if you wish so you can spend
2727s	that limited energy resource if you
2729s	really think this Policy important you
2730s	need to even just like hotline it or you
2731s	think it's good for the citizenship but
2733s	they're not going to agree with you you
2734s	can just say like skip the vote and
2736s	that's one of like the cool powers for
2738s	policies yeah and and really an
2741s	important uh aspect that that players
2743s	should be taking away and part of what
2745s	our interest in Alpha 2 to collect data
2748s	on uh from player Behavior player
2750s	sentiment right and your guys's feedback
2752s	is how much of an interaction is
2755s	existing between the citizenship of the
2757s	node and the decisions that the players
2758s	that the mayor is making and policies
2761s	are a great example of that because it
2763s	requires outside of the mandates uh that
2766s	Bucky was just talking about which is
2768s	very limited in scope how much America
2770s	can do and if they really want to spend
2771s	their mandate capital on that you know
2773s	that's a decision they need to make but
2775s	um the players are primarily necessary
2778s	the citizens in order to vote
2781s	successfully policies in place and
2783s	policies take a very card format type
2786s	system right the node has a number of
2789s	different locations from which they get
2790s	certain types of policies from that
2793s	includes things like racial uh
2795s	representative of the culture that the
2796s	node is something that's representative
2799s	of the um I'm building selection and
2802s	specialization that the node has taken
2804s	uh something that is representative of
2807s	the predicate of happiness that the node
2809s	is currently at if they're very happy or
2811s	not you can do certain types of policies
2813s	so a lot of different predicate systems
2815s	make available and also make relevant
2818s	whether or not you can even suggest a
2821s	policy for enactment and then it
2822s	requires the player by on the
2824s	citizenship buy-on uh to actually get
2826s	that enactment complete completed and
2828s	there's a limited number of slots that
2830s	you can have active policies uh
2832s	available at a given time and on top of
2835s	that certain policy cards have a cool
2837s	down so you can't use them repeatedly uh
2840s	over and over again
2842s	yeah I feel like this is definitely one
2843s	of the systems the mayor is going to be
2845s	constantly like thinking about like
2846s	trying to min max their policy choices
2848s	right they're going to be like oh yeah I
2849s	only have limit number slots
2851s	juggling 11 things like the economy of
2853s	the node if it's under a threat by you
2855s	know a siege for example you know what
2858s	they're trying to do how they're trying
2859s	to advance their nodes they're going to
2860s	constantly looking at these policies try
2861s	to optimize them for the best like and
2864s	are the policies always voted as
2866s	majority vote
2868s	yeah yeah okay
2871s	um and then the next one here is do
2872s	policies affect the vast just to be
2874s	clear just to be clear you said you said
2876s	always uh except for the cases where the
2879s	mayor uses his mandate power to override
2882s	the citizenship participation which
2884s	again is limited in function but it is a
2886s	power that the mayor has available to
2887s	them veto it's like it's like an
2891s	emergency action basically right exactly
2893s	it's an emergency action
2895s	um and certain events will also make
2897s	certain policies available like if a war
2899s	gets declared or a Siege gets declared
2900s	you have certain War footing policies
2902s	that are now available to you those
2904s	might require much lower threshold of
2906s	player uh or citizenship vote in order
2909s	to pass as well because of the emergency
2911s	situations
2913s	um and so I'll re-asked the other
2914s	question because I think um we went back
2916s	to the other one uh do policies also
2919s	affect the vassal nodes of that node
2923s	so there may be policies that do uh but
2927s	they don't all inherently
2931s	and there might even be policies that
2933s	affect the Zone around you policies have
2935s	a wide range of effects that can be
2937s	conferred
2939s	um uh and that's the intent right for
2941s	the system yeah they could go from
2943s	affecting the buildings you've
2945s	constructed to affecting the zone of
2948s	influence of your network right
2952s	and the last one here is Will nodes
2953s	affect the policies chosen in a physical
2955s	way like different objects scene or
2957s	things like that in the node like will
2959s	they see things change
2962s	certain policies will absolutely have a
2964s	visual change that are present right not
2966s	all
2967s	um
2968s	we want to make sure that when we spend
2970s	our budget of either asset creation
2973s	or content creation that we're
2974s	reflecting meaningful choices that are
2976s	more wide arcing
2978s	um
2979s	and that might be in the in the realm of
2981s	like props getting spawned to reflect
2983s	like you know you have a refugee status
2985s	well now I'm spawning a number of like
2987s	guards and citizens with clothing and
2990s	boxes of food to kind of represent hey
2992s	we're taking in refugees because the
2994s	node nearby got destroyed that's how we
2996s	would visually diegetically show these
2999s	types of effects within the world and in
3001s	the node layout tool and and how nodes
3004s	are constructed those spaces and
3006s	locations are predefined for certain
3008s	types of either events or policy
3010s	creation or relics right to show those
3013s	things in those in those areas
3015s	um yeah all right to keep us moving
3017s	along we are going to talk about service
3019s	buildings now which I'm very excited for
3022s	people to see on the stream when we do
3023s	the playthrough segment because it looks
3025s	cool
3026s	yes yeah serving buildings are one thing
3029s	we hit hard in the uh in the play
3031s	through that people about to see but uh
3033s	Bucky or Chris if you guys want to take
3034s	it away I could do this one actually
3036s	maybe do you want to start with the next
3038s	slide that kind of explains it then we
3040s	can go into the maintenance and
3041s	demolition sure we can go into the first
3043s	one
3044s	yeah building types go for it
3047s	yeah okay yeah so
3049s	so yeah there's a couple different types
3051s	of service buildings right we have your
3053s	default buildings that come pre-built
3054s	with the node those are things like the
3056s	town hall the warehouse the Caravan tree
3058s	and then there's also constructed
3060s	service buildings and that's a lot of
3061s	things like the artisanship buildings
3063s	businesses that the mayor actually has
3065s	to initiate and choose and then voted on
3068s	and built by the players
3070s	um
3071s	and then the different types of
3072s	buildings there are between that is some
3074s	buildings are active service buildings
3075s	so those are like you know yards and
3077s	ship business businesses like different
3079s	you know your blacksmith your Tavern and
3081s	all that
3083s	um and then some buildings are passive
3084s	buildings and those are kind of provide
3086s	passive benefits to the node they don't
3087s	have a reason to be visited but they uh
3090s	unlock the ability to upgrade your
3091s	active Service Billings through
3093s	expansions
3095s	and then yeah so building expansion is
3097s	like is the primary way you upgrade your
3099s	buildings through expansions I think we
3100s	we're showing uh expansion tree in the
3102s	in the recording right for the
3104s	blacksmith
3105s	um and so to upgrade your building you
3107s	choose expansions you build passive
3109s	buildings to allow you to like unlock
3110s	those expansion slots and just a little
3113s	basically specialize your service
3115s	building down a path and kind of the
3117s	building specialization station will
3119s	narrow down a specific path so you might
3120s	start as a generalized blacksmith
3122s	building and then you'll specialize
3124s	towards maybe armorsmithing and then
3125s	tour specifically like plate armor
3127s	through the expansion tree
3130s	yeah the the important thing with the
3132s	service building system for us is that
3134s	it's it's uh a way to shape your node
3137s	like a character right and to give you
3140s	an exclusive kind of Niche that you can
3143s	carve out in the world or a niche that
3146s	you fight over right uh if you'll build
3149s	if you go down this weaponsmithing path
3151s	and you build your node to be this like
3153s	Mecca of weaponsmithing uh and the node
3156s	Three Doors Down builds it there's
3159s	reason for you to conflict over it right
3160s	they're taking your business or maybe
3163s	you are in a Zone and there isn't um a
3166s	weaponsmithing uh thing anywhere near
3168s	you and you do want to start to carve
3170s	that path for yourself uh to make your
3172s	note a place people visit and come to
3176s	yeah and I think the the key takeaway
3178s	here when talking about uh node
3180s	specialization
3182s	um is you know buildings provide as we
3185s	were talking about with policies access
3187s	to certain policy types as well right
3189s	they're going to incentivize player
3191s	activity and traffic to your node based
3193s	on the services that the building is
3194s	giving you
3196s	um they're going to potentially expand
3197s	the um uh uh the types of craftables and
3202s	workstations that you're going to have
3204s	available to you based on the buildings
3205s	you construct and there might be reason
3207s	for you to construct the same type of
3210s	building multiple times because the
3212s	pathway of upgrades is exclusionary
3214s	right so when I choose a path down a
3218s	particular building type in order to
3219s	reach a tier five benefit when I
3221s	eventually reach a higher stage or even
3223s	if I'm lower stage and want to dedicate
3227s	a majority of my service plots toward
3229s	one particular crafting building like I
3232s	may get a very top tier workstation as a
3236s	result even if I'm still a village note
3237s	right it's like I'm the village node
3239s	that makes the T5 swords uh because I've
3242s	dedicated all of my plots to that right
3244s	uh Chris if you want to talk a little
3245s	bit about that yeah the important thing
3248s	is uh expanding your building requires
3250s	other buildings to support it right so
3253s	to go from a smithing building to a
3256s	weaponsmithing building uh you're going
3258s	to need to fill another plot with what
3260s	we call those those passive buildings
3262s	right uh or sport buildings and they are
3265s	going to provide some kind of passive
3267s	benefit to the node as the name kind of
3269s	describes whether that's to the zone or
3272s	to services in the node but they're not
3275s	going to be buildings that you
3276s	particularly visit but they will allow
3278s	you to make the buildings you are
3281s	visiting better yeah
3284s	just real quick some of those
3286s	dependencies that Chris said can also be
3289s	conferred based on the vassal ship
3291s	Network you have as well so you might
3294s	have a parent node or a regional uh um
3298s	Regent node uh that has a vassal ship
3301s	over your node and you're getting
3303s	benefits convert to you through either
3305s	the prerequisite of the building types
3306s	that you can construct as well to to
3309s	make a bit more Headway there
3311s	and I think because you're already
3312s	talking about the plots and how you can
3313s	space them I know we're going to show
3315s	this off in the video as well but how
3317s	much can a node's government decide
3318s	where a specific building is placed so
3322s	the plots in a node are predefined
3325s	um but the plots are Universal right so
3327s	you can put any any constructed service
3330s	building in any plot right
3334s	yeah and that's relevant because in
3336s	specific places but you get to pick
3337s	which plot they go to exactly and that's
3340s	relevant because when it comes to either
3343s	events or sieges against the node and
3346s	even Wars
3347s	those building locations also serve as
3350s	objective locations as well and there is
3354s	a varying degree of footprint and level
3357s	design that's associated with access to
3360s	those plot locations so um if you know
3363s	that your uh you know your Smithy that
3366s	has your workstation to build the T5
3368s	stuff is is closest to better yeah right
3372s	next to the door
3374s	there's a difference there in strategy
3376s	yeah uh and the next question here is
3378s	Will nodes in certain places have unique
3381s	buildings and unique upgrades or kind of
3383s	are all of those available to everybody
3387s	those so constructed service buildings
3389s	are available to every type of or every
3391s	type of node in every location right uh
3394s	where the uniqueness comes in is in some
3396s	of the default buildings like your uh
3398s	your node type building
3401s	yeah and in addition to that potentially
3403s	relics as well which are location
3405s	dependent within the world you can
3407s	acquire certain relics that give you
3408s	access to certain types of workstations
3410s	uh or that can augment certain types of
3413s	workstations as well
3414s	um and and those could be closer located
3417s	to certain nodes uh based on the pois
3420s	and I think you talking about sieges and
3422s	destruction is a perfect segue uh into
3424s	the next slide here which if you guys
3427s	want to go for that in regards to how
3429s	many slides do we have left just so
3431s	audience knows time to game play we have
3433s	one more after this
3435s	one more time after this video
3438s	sweet
3441s	all right yeah so I can keep keep going
3443s	with this one
3444s	um yeah so this is just more info about
3446s	service buildings and
3448s	uh how they're maintained so service
3450s	buildings incur regular maintenance
3452s	costs for node Commodities or for the
3454s	node in terms of Commodities and gold so
3456s	to continue operations you have to you
3458s	know fund them that's definitely part of
3459s	the things the mayor will be thinking
3460s	about is keeping that economy going
3462s	which we'll get into more on the next
3464s	slide about buy orders but basically if
3466s	you miss maintenance on a building it'll
3467s	enter a state of disarray and building
3470s	maintenance is auto paid but
3472s	um and it kind of goes goes through like
3474s	the most valuable buildings they'll pay
3476s	first and then if you don't have enough
3477s	Commodities though or gold new treasury
3480s	then some of your buildings will become
3481s	in a state of disarray
3484s	and so if a building's in a save
3485s	disarray or maybe damage as a result of
3488s	a Siege it basically needs to be
3489s	repaired so to do so players visiting
3493s	the node can just contribute materials
3494s	to restore the building to an
3495s	operational state
3497s	and then Mayors will also have the
3499s	ability if they want to to demolition uh
3502s	or demolish constructed buildings
3504s	so if they if they so choose they can
3507s	you know destroy a building if they
3508s	don't think it's needed anymore but this
3509s	will have
3510s	um mandate cost and a player buy-in
3513s	votes so we want to make sure that you
3515s	know mayor can't just go and blow up the
3516s	whole node you know if they're trying to
3518s	grief or something right so this is very
3520s	important and impactful decision
3523s	um and then buildings can also just be
3525s	straight up destroyed from a Siege like
3528s	if you're a sieged and you're ultimately
3530s	survives you still might have taken some
3532s	damage in form of destroyed buildings
3534s	and
3535s	um they'll basically become reduced to
3537s	Rebel after which a certain period of
3539s	time they'll become an empty plot again
3540s	you can rebuild but so that's a very
3542s	like even if you attack a node you don't
3544s	destroy it you can still weaken it so
3545s	that's kind of like a strategy for
3547s	attackers even if they don't aren't able
3548s	to destroy the node ultimately and
3550s	especially for events uh where monster
3553s	coins can be relevant you know these are
3555s	some of the objectives that players
3556s	might even have during PVE events if
3558s	they utilize monster coins is to either
3561s	help organize the NPCs in uh in
3565s	assisting in the destruction or
3566s	disabling of a particular building
3569s	yeah exactly
3572s	cool cool
3575s	um and I think we can head on over to
3578s	the next question our next um segment
3580s	just to kind of move things along and
3583s	this is about buy orders which we are
3585s	going to show a bit on the playthrough
3587s	as well
3589s	yeah talk to us about buy orders because
3591s	this is a big loop um for the citizens
3595s	and the mayor yeah so buyers are really
3599s	important they're kind of the primary
3600s	way that the node generates these things
3603s	we call node Commodities which are
3604s	functionally node resources uh node
3607s	resources are used we spend them on
3610s	buildings uh to build them and upgrade
3613s	them on maintenance you can trade them
3615s	with other nodes
3617s	um you know they're super useful to the
3619s	node and uh increasing its quality now
3623s	basically what it is is it's a recipe
3626s	that the mayor can
3629s	um initiate maybe they need bins of
3631s	stone like we show in the in the Stream
3634s	um and that's going to cost a you know
3636s	different materials and players are
3638s	going to have to contribute those
3640s	materials to the buy order as a package
3642s	and
3644s	they're going to get rewarded for it in
3646s	the form of node currency and if you're
3648s	like a really economic and strategic
3650s	player you'll kind of be monitoring buy
3652s	orders around the world and be trying to
3653s	Transit Goods to get the most reward you
3656s	can
3657s	um and if you're kind of a local player
3659s	and you just like help in your node and
3661s	you'll be uh you know kind of using them
3663s	almost as a surrogate vendor for
3666s	something a reward that's a little
3667s	better than just dumping your materials
3669s	at an NPC
3671s	foreign
3675s	ERS are instrumental in the activities
3680s	that a node participates in whether it
3682s	be the transition of these node
3686s	inventory items and again the node
3689s	resources these node Commodities they do
3691s	not exist in player inventories they
3693s	exist solely within the node's inventory
3694s	so once a material gets sunk into the
3697s	buy order the player receives the
3699s	benefit of the node currency which right
3701s	now is a bound currency that's used to
3703s	purchase a number of different types of
3705s	vendorable items that exist within nodes
3706s	it is not player to player currency it
3708s	is not intended to be traded between
3712s	players but instead it interacts with
3714s	these unique vendors that Supply a large
3717s	segment of necessary components for a
3720s	number of different things whether it be
3721s	crafting enchantments you know a lot of
3724s	different things that exist within the
3725s	node this is the reason why you would
3727s	want to acquire that currency so you
3728s	have access to those types of items and
3731s	and you've seen you just take all of
3732s	them and you don't share with anybody
3734s	unbelievable I under misunderstood the
3737s	intent or what he was asking me I
3739s	thought he said he wanted me to share
3740s	okay anyways um so
3744s	um when the mayor or even if the mayor
3746s	is not making these decisions buy orders
3748s	will populate based off of activities
3749s	that the node have available to them
3751s	after a set period of time so that the
3753s	bad faith mayor is not depleting the
3755s	node potentially of its potent of its
3757s	resources that players can still
3758s	interact with so the node can use these
3761s	resources as well to trade with other
3764s	nodes that might have resource types
3765s	that you need available to them and When
3768s	selecting specific types of buy orders
3770s	that require certain material components
3771s	in order to fulfill you will have a wide
3774s	array of material choices to make either
3776s	those that are relevant Locale to your
3779s	node placement or those that are across
3781s	the world and there is a variable in
3783s	payment that the mayor has access to in
3785s	setting and how they'll be rewarding
3788s	players so you need to make sure that
3789s	you're incentivizing players who are
3790s	making those large transits across the
3792s	world to actually take that risk and
3794s	bring those materials to you these these
3797s	buy orders require a significant amount
3800s	of material components in order to
3801s	achieve the necessary inventory that a
3804s	node wants to see for construction
3805s	projects for trade goods for a lot of
3807s	different things that they use the
3808s	materials for so um it is it is a big
3811s	undertaking but it is one of the primary
3813s	Loops that the node requires in order to
3816s	get the steam to do certain things right
3818s	and it is something that we that we
3820s	Showcase in this gameplay video that
3822s	we're about to go to after this slide
3824s	um we're gonna and oh sorry and Chris
3826s	and Bucky I'll let you give a few more
3827s	comments before I preface the video oh I
3829s	do yeah the question for the community
3831s	as well oh yeah sure
3833s	but you guys can go ahead
3835s	I was just gonna add that
3837s	um buy orders also benefit from citizen
3840s	contribution right uh it will generate
3843s	mandates if citizens are participating
3845s	in these buy orders yeah so the question
3849s	that people are a little confused about
3850s	is they're they're wondering if you can
3852s	explain what the difference between a
3855s	buy order is versus a commission
3858s	yeah so um a buy order is strictly
3860s	material based right and you don't
3862s	accept a buy order and then go do it it
3865s	is something that you can just check
3867s	your node UI or you can check the the
3870s	nodes around you to see what they have
3872s	active and you can just go do it and
3874s	come back and uh you know participate or
3877s	fulfill these buy orders whereas a
3879s	commission is a mayoral commission is
3881s	more like a quest it's something you
3882s	pick up and then it tracks your activity
3884s	while you have it yeah think of
3886s	commissions like you know there is a
3888s	there is the Sherwood Forest is nearby
3890s	and there's a number of wolves that have
3892s	been attacking the villagers and we need
3895s	your support and taking care of those
3897s	wolves go out there now Citizen and and
3899s	bring back pelts to prove your
3901s	worthiness right that that's a
3902s	commission whereas a buyer is more like
3905s	a person standing at an auction you know
3907s	house saying we're willing to buy this
3908s	for this amount of money does anybody
3910s	have this right and you're coming up
3911s	checking your Warehouse inventory
3913s	checking your inventory and you're
3915s	depositing that in exchange for the node
3917s	currency and that then you're using the
3919s	node currency to go interact with
3921s	vendors and purchase vendors now to be
3923s	clear node currency stays with the
3926s	player even if their node is destroyed
3928s	or they drop citizenship this is
3930s	something that you have available to you
3932s	and you carry forward to your next
3933s	location but you may only spend your
3935s	node currency at nodes that you're a
3937s	citizen of
3938s	and also like you have to have enough
3940s	node rep to be able to buy certain tiers
3942s	of things from the node with your node
3944s	currency even the currency is generic
3946s	you still need the rep with the node to
3947s	unlock better purchases correct and and
3950s	and guys I said this at the start of
3951s	this presentation that there that nodes
3953s	is the most complex system that exists
3956s	within ashes of creation it is arguably
3958s	one of the more complex systems that
3960s	probably exists across MMORPGs as a
3962s	whole and what I would say is what what
3964s	Bucky just commented on which is node
3966s	reputation is a separate mechanic that
3969s	also deals as a predicate for the
3971s	vendors that you have access to as a
3974s	player right and so you can establish
3976s	that node reputation by touring certain
3978s	activities within the node by
3980s	progressing within certain social
3981s	organizations or certain religions uh
3983s	within the node and then that predicate
3985s	serves as your access either to items
3987s	granularly within a vendor's access
3989s	table or to just vendors as a whole it
3992s	just kind of depends and there's
3994s	different thresholds you have to meet
3995s	across different vendors
3997s	yes it is and every like almost every
4000s	system interacts with nodes in some way
4002s	it's a little crazy so we'd be here all
4005s	day if we went through everything but we
4007s	will give you Snippets here and there
4008s	throughout the upcoming months so this
4010s	won't be the only thing just uh you know
4012s	old hold tight yes um and on that point
4015s	I do want to I do want to uh pre-text to
4018s	a degree uh what we're going to be
4019s	showing here
4021s	um and I know Margaret you have prepared
4023s	a video to kind of give players some
4025s	insight uh to can we answer one quick
4028s	question we'll buy orders include
4030s	processed or final goods or is it only
4033s	just the raw materials it it will
4035s	include raw materials and processed
4037s	Goods but not final uh crafts okay cool
4040s	now I can play the video for you Stephen
4043s	cool so before we play that let me let
4046s	me just preface something so
4048s	it has been roughly two years since you
4054s	guys have been inside of a node
4056s	and
4058s	um always as usual I say that things are
4061s	Works in progress art is constantly
4063s	moving forward things are constantly
4064s	getting better
4066s	um and you guys get to watch that
4067s	progress
4068s	um as part of of our development journey
4071s	and and you know not everybody is built
4073s	for that uh but you guys are here and
4075s	you guys are are watching and you're
4076s	giving us your feedback and it's very
4078s	important to us and what we're going to
4080s	be showcasing today
4082s	um we can't showcase everything right
4084s	some things are still in development
4085s	some things have yet to be developed
4087s	um and and what we are wanting to
4090s	Showcase to you is a village update
4093s	where we're showcasing some of the
4095s	interactions we just discussed in this
4097s	slideshow such as mayoral activities
4099s	taxes the initiation of buy orders the
4102s	completion of those buy orders the use
4105s	of inventory systems within the node uh
4108s	to begin a construction sequence
4110s	um interacting with with the environment
4113s	and most importantly is now the visual
4116s	rep representation of the node structure
4119s	at the Village stage and
4122s	um this is something that is
4123s	representative of the quality that we
4125s	intend to have with notes
4127s	um
4128s	for launch and it is for Alpha 2 but
4131s	what's most important from you guys when
4133s	you are watching this is to give us and
4135s	it's about an hour long video so I told
4137s	you today is going to be a doozy or
4138s	Margaret told you Jay's gonna be a
4140s	twosie
4141s	but uh it is it is 32 minutes not
4145s	actually an hour Oh I thought it was
4147s	like 52 minutes I was watching it last
4148s	night
4149s	did I did I watch The Wrong video I
4151s	might you have the wrong video
4153s	I thought it was 52 minutes oh no my
4156s	phone died
4158s	um okay well it's either 30 minutes or
4160s	52 I'm pretty sure it's 52 but we'll see
4164s	um and so uh uh uh my point is that uh
4167s	when you guys are watching this the the
4168s	best point of feedback is obviously
4170s	going to be along the systems design
4171s	that we just discussed but keeping in
4173s	mind that these systems are created when
4176s	you're giving that feedback in a very
4178s	intricate and interconnected way and we
4180s	don't have the ability to communicate
4182s	all of the intent and purpose and all of
4184s	the designs that are associated with it
4185s	so when you're giving feedback there try
4187s	not to think about the niche points that
4190s	that we may have already addressed but
4192s	more the overarching intent of the
4194s	system and how you feel it will
4195s	interface with you as a player and when
4197s	you're giving commentary on the visuals
4199s	and the interactions that you're going
4200s	to see in this video think about ways
4202s	that you would like to see things done
4204s	differently uh based off of examples
4206s	that you give on our
4208s	um in your past gaming experiences and
4210s	what you enjoyed about what's been done
4212s	uh visually and we have an incredible
4214s	art team here at Intrepid obviously our
4216s	our environment artists are always
4217s	amazed amazing you're going to be
4219s	introduced to three of them
4221s	in this live stream but before we
4223s	actually get into the video presentation
4225s	I want to remind everyone where nodes
4228s	have come from and Richie sh who is one
4232s	of our glorious content creators in the
4233s	community uh he made a video doing a
4236s	walkthrough of a Alpha One nodes where
4238s	the core functionality was present the
4240s	expansion the development the collection
4242s	of experience people saw them grow there
4244s	they saw the construction there and they
4247s	saw some of the interactions that we've
4248s	detailed but just take a look visually
4250s	at where nodes have come from before
4253s	you're about to see where nodes are now
4255s	and you are right it's 53 minutes
4257s	also Richie was on our q a that we did
4260s	in April so if you want to check that
4262s	out over on our YouTube channel uh
4264s	Stephen answered a lot of great
4265s	questions over there and so we can play
4267s	the video and talk over it as we're
4269s	watching it yeah and as as we're it's 4K
4272s	so it uh
4274s	we grabbed this earlier today so
4278s	oh okay hello there hello
4282s	yeah so so just to give you guys context
4284s	this was back in Alpha One
4286s	this was a very Bare Bones
4289s	representation of the note but had a lot
4292s	of the core functionality present from
4293s	the ex the collection of experience
4295s	around it uh the vassal ship uh system
4298s	and locking out other nodes from
4300s	progressing uh vendor tables that became
4302s	available and new nodes and uh excuse me
4305s	new story arcs and uh quests that were
4308s	possible as a result uh the purchasing
4310s	of housing the storage uh components the
4314s	citizenship and the mayoral election
4316s	right all this the core functionality
4318s	was there but just to give you guys
4319s	insight to development this was not
4323s	visually what we wanted to represent for
4324s	the node but served its purpose at the
4326s	time and so
4328s	what we are going to see now is nodes
4332s	for Alpha 2 The Village update and we're
4335s	going to be showing more about nodes as
4336s	we move forward towards Alpha 2 but this
4339s	is an hour-long video you're about to
4340s	watch that gives you insight to where we
4342s	are now and with that
4345s	enjoy
4346s	the show
4347s	send nodes
4350s	we are sending nodes
4352s	[Music]
4355s	[Applause]
4356s	[Music]
4369s	thank you foreign
4374s	to another live stream here in the world
4377s	of Vera and boy do we have an exciting
4380s	stream today
4382s	we are back again
4384s	looking at
4386s	one of the most defining features of
4389s	Ashes of creation the node system
4393s	and I am joined today by regular face on
4396s	the uh live stream one of our glorious
4400s	senior designers Mr Chris how you doing
4403s	Chris I'm doing SWAT I don't know if I'd
4405s	say regular though well I mean well you
4407s	know there's once before there's one
4409s	other time that's that's regular now
4411s	it's two times that's a regular thing
4413s	right I don't know I feel like you're a
4414s	regular on the stream sure that's true
4416s	that's true it's true all right I
4418s	apologize we are joined once again by
4420s	one of our glorious designers Mr Chris
4425s	thanks for having me it's great to be
4427s	here and for those of you who don't know
4429s	Chris is uh our resident expert when it
4432s	comes to nodes he lives eats breathes
4436s	and any other normal bodily function
4438s	that's required revolves around the node
4441s	system so I'm glad to have you with us
4444s	because
4446s	you know what there needs to be known
4448s	about notes where are we uh we're we're
4452s	yeah lots of things need to be known but
4454s	we're uh outside of a beautiful node
4457s	that's around the corner a little bit
4459s	okay and I believe I am the uh
4462s	self-appointed mayor of this node for
4464s	the purposes of what we're going to be
4465s	demonstrating a little bit later yeah
4467s	the citizens aren't super happy that you
4470s	um you know invalidated the election
4471s	process but wow
4474s	wow it's not an invalidation it's a
4477s	reaffirmation of the correct election
4480s	process
4482s	so tell me what we're doing out here
4484s	today what are we going to be showcasing
4485s	here it's been a long time since we've
4487s	actually taken a look
4488s	um at nodes as many of you know
4491s	the last time we saw notes was back
4493s	during Alpha One in August of 2021 wow
4497s	um and nodes during that time were
4501s	you know relatively
4503s	early functional version they had a lot
4505s	of the core systems and functionality
4506s	present that we saw which was you know
4508s	constructing buildings and participating
4510s	in quest hubs uh they were able to
4513s	purchase housing and become citizens
4515s	there was all that there but they were a
4519s	very early representation of it and
4521s	definitely not visually or aesthetically
4524s	what we wanted to present that's going
4525s	to be part of what we're showing but
4527s	what are we doing out here today and let
4528s	me while you tell me what we're doing
4529s	I'm just going to adjust some of the uh
4531s	the winds yeah for sure
4534s	um well today we're gonna walk through
4536s	kind of the
4537s	General process of what it takes to
4539s	build a building
4540s	um you know we're gonna get some
4542s	materials uh we're gonna get the nodes
4544s	some materials we're going to get the
4546s	nodes some money
4547s	um and we're going to build ourselves a
4549s	little service building nice so we're
4551s	gonna go generally around the loops that
4553s	players can expect and and obviously
4555s	nodes are a huge system they are as I
4558s	said one of the defining features of
4559s	Ashes of creation what sets us apart
4561s	from other MMOs they reflect the change
4563s	that exists within the environment based
4565s	off of player activity player actions
4567s	and players have governance over these
4570s	nodes both from a mayoral perspective
4571s	and the way that citizens interact with
4574s	the decisions that the mayor's is is
4575s	utilizing and as a mayor one of those
4579s	core Loops is as you mentioned buy
4581s	orders tell me should I be starting one
4583s	of these how would I go about doing that
4584s	yeah so you probably should do that
4587s	um there is a lovely menu you can open
4590s	with the node button n okay all right oh
4594s	I see the node here
4596s	um and then you're gonna go to the
4598s	treasury page
4599s	got it I am on the treasury and I see
4601s	there's a number of different items in
4603s	our node inventory yeah so these are
4606s	these are node Commodities
4609s	um and they're the resources the node
4611s	uses for lots of things like
4613s	um Siege defense they're going to use it
4615s	for maintenance they're going to use it
4616s	to build buildings they're going to
4617s	trade it with other nodes
4619s	cool
4621s	and these are these are essentially the
4623s	resources that the node are going to be
4624s	using in order to initiate those
4626s	activities at like construction projects
4628s	you were mentioning or trading with
4631s	other nodes and how what is the method
4633s	by which we actually acquire as a node
4636s	these Goods because these goods are not
4638s	things that exist within player
4639s	inventories but rather they are
4642s	generated by players interfacing with
4644s	the environment in some way shape or
4646s	form and then bringing those materials
4648s	to the node to get transitioned into
4650s	these node inventory items exactly so
4653s	we're going to do what's called a buy
4654s	order so if you look in the bottom left
4656s	of your treasury screen you're going to
4658s	see a little plus button you can click
4661s	that and it'll open you up to a big list
4664s	of Commodities that you can select to
4668s	um kind of that's some settings on the
4671s	buy orders okay cool this is looking
4673s	good and just always as usual guys
4676s	um everything that you see is a work in
4677s	progress we are moving towards our Alpha
4679s	two so you get to see as part of our
4681s	open development you know things that
4683s	are still works in progress like the UI
4685s	this is a functional UI system but it is
4688s	not the version of our of our final UI
4690s	artistically same is true for everything
4692s	you see in the environments and in the
4694s	world
4695s	um so what should I be selecting today
4698s	what do we need what are we trying to
4700s	build you're gonna need some bins of
4703s	stone we're gonna build a forge today or
4706s	a Smithy we renamed it it's not a forge
4708s	anymore okay cool uh
4711s	and uh we need bins and stones for it
4714s	all right so I see bins of stone in the
4716s	industrial goods section
4718s	and over on the right hand side I see
4720s	that I have the ability as the mayor to
4723s	customize
4724s	um the buy order and what elements of
4727s	this would I want to customize and why
4731s	yeah so um the first thing you see at
4733s	the top is the recipe right
4735s	um the recipe is gonna change the mins
4738s	and Maxes of the parameters you see
4740s	below how much you can pay players for
4743s	these items how long you can keep them
4745s	active and
4747s	um the ingredients are options you have
4750s	for
4752s	um the recipe that you've picked right
4754s	for different materials so obviously not
4756s	all materials are going to be local to
4758s	all locations so kind of picking the
4761s	right things to either incentivize
4764s	players from a long distance to bring
4766s	things to you or picking things local
4769s	because you need them now and you need
4770s	them fast and you need them for a low
4773s	amount of uh investment okay so the
4776s	first thing I'm looking at is this
4778s	purchase price and is this what I'm
4780s	paying players essentially from the node
4782s	treasury uh on a per item basis of these
4786s	of these materials so uh a buy order
4789s	comes as a package so players uh deliver
4791s	them as a package so and they you're
4795s	paying per package functionally but that
4797s	is not in Gold it's in node currency
4799s	which is the primary way that nodes are
4802s	going to reward players okay cool and um
4806s	so when I'm purchasing that package is
4809s	it that I'm buying one Basalt and one
4811s	housing night and that is a package or
4813s	am I buying 50 Basalt and 50 house a
4816s	night and that is a package uh that's
4818s	going to depend on the recipe
4820s	um but uh so it's not exactly always
4823s	going to be the same amount of each and
4826s	it the amounts that's per package will
4829s	vary based on the amount of investment
4831s	the node has to uh put into the buy
4833s	order okay cool all right so I'm going
4836s	to set this
4838s	um you know because I am a benevolent
4840s	mayor and I believe that people should
4843s	be rewarded for their hard work and
4844s	effort and helping to establish what the
4847s	node that we are collectively a part of
4849s	needs and I'm going to set that to two
4851s	right just above the minimum
4854s	um just and I will say I love it the
4857s	more you pay the more it will cost the
4858s	nodes treasury oh okay maybe I'll set
4860s	this back down to one no I'm just
4862s	kidding
4864s	I'm just kidding now you see why the
4866s	citizens are mad
4868s	they're perfectly happy we
4870s	should last week There's a 99 uh
4873s	um approval rating for me so and that
4876s	one percent they mysteriously left the
4878s	note I don't know where they went they
4879s	were in a plane uh no I'm just kidding
4881s	okay so all right duration wide uh
4885s	duration wise let's see three days now
4887s	is this the amount of time that players
4889s	have the opportunity to kind of turn
4890s	these these things in exactly so
4894s	um the last slider that you have there
4896s	is quantity
4897s	um and basically when you initiate a buy
4899s	order the node is paying for it right
4902s	um so regardless of whether players
4905s	finish it uh you've paid for it so the
4907s	longer it's up you know the more likely
4909s	you are to get paid out
4912s	um but the shorter windows allow people
4914s	to kind of capitalize it you know
4917s	capitalize on it sure you know the early
4918s	bird gets the worm and just to be clear
4920s	I know exactly what many of the people
4923s	in the audience are thinking that if I
4926s	was the mayor and I knew what types of
4929s	buy orders I was intending to launch at
4932s	some date I could inform you know via
4936s	some type of insider trading uh what
4939s	that is going to be so that people had
4941s	time potentially to bring those
4942s	resources to the node in advance and
4945s	purchase out all the buy orders
4947s	yeah that is definitely true the mayor
4949s	does have some power to
4952s	um
4953s	give people warning but they also have
4955s	the power to pull the rug out from under
4957s	those people too right tell him you need
4959s	bins of stone and you're gonna you need
4962s	you know
4963s	Basalt and halcyonite but you actually
4966s	use uh iron okay interesting and then
4970s	that way if there are bringing those
4972s	things usually via Caravan given that a
4974s	lot of the quantities for these types of
4976s	spiders are going to be relatively large
4977s	in order to accommodate the necessary uh
4979s	material components that the node
4981s	requires
4982s	um they might be subject to attack
4984s	potentially right so reputation matters
4987s	here so I see that that in choosing
4989s	quantity I'm choosing 116 different
4991s	packages which means I'll get 116 Basalt
4994s	and 116 halcyonite and that will help us
4997s	to
4998s	finish this project yeah correct all
5001s	right so I'm going to go ahead and
5003s	schedule this order
5004s	uh order details okay yes let's see
5008s	okay so this package has a it's not a
5011s	one to one per se this is 117 packages
5013s	which will constitute total of 696 the
5016s	salt to 232 halcyonite
5019s	um total Reserve cost is 25. I'm gonna
5022s	confirm this all right there we go all
5026s	right so it's kicking off
5028s	all right so I assume you've brought me
5029s	out here and I don't normally
5031s	participate in direct menial labor as
5034s	the mayor of this node but for
5036s	demonstration purposes I will help you
5038s	uh um uh collect some of these resources
5041s	uh yes I see we're out here in a
5044s	beautiful part of the world this is
5046s	obviously the riverlands which many of
5049s	our audience are accustomed to seeing
5051s	this will be one of the primary
5053s	locations that we'll be testing for
5055s	Alpha 2. it is expansive it is large it
5059s	is probably larger than most MMOs just
5061s	as a single biome that people have
5063s	participated in but I see we have some
5066s	familiar house tonight here yep I've got
5068s	some Insider information from the
5070s	artisanship team on where we need to go
5072s	nice very cool
5075s	ah we've added some blue smoke I see it
5078s	to the uh
5080s	to the to the effects here
5083s	looks very good I see some there's some
5085s	basalts here as well and so players who
5088s	who are interested and see this kind of
5090s	update at the node
5092s	um of the the necessary
5096s	materials requested
5098s	not all the time will those materials be
5100s	in the locality of that node right
5102s	that's that's as you were mentioning a
5104s	bit strategic for the node to either
5106s	select material components that yield
5108s	the type of node inventory items
5110s	necessary or Commodities necessary based
5112s	on the geolocation of that
5114s	correct and uh they might not even have
5117s	access to buy orders for certain uh node
5121s	Commodities that are local to them right
5124s	so higher tier Commodities will be uh
5127s	you know further away
5129s	very cool
5132s	and will players around the world have
5134s	an opportunity to inspect the types of
5136s	bioters that are currently listed at a
5139s	um at a particular note yeah they will
5142s	be able to cool very cool so those of
5145s	you say Traders and are interested in
5147s	kind of I'm going to start moving down
5148s	this road now those of you who are
5150s	Traders and are interested in um
5153s	and actually capitalizing on the supply
5155s	and demand of nodes and you know their
5158s	competing interests and what they're
5159s	trying to accomplish will have an
5160s	opportunity to uh to move those goods
5163s	around the world take that risk
5165s	potentially but receive a high reward as
5169s	a result
5171s	exactly
5173s	oh I see we have someone up ahead here
5175s	who is this
5176s	oh
5179s	a lovely guard a guard doing his duty
5182s	let me let me pay him a visit and tell
5184s	him
5185s	how wonderful of a job he is doing
5189s	Fare Thee Well God
5191s	hello
5194s	stop when your mayor's talking hey
5197s	listen they're busy people does he not
5199s	recognize my authority
5201s	and is he stretching in front of me
5205s	do I bore you
5208s	unbelievable you're gonna have to talk
5210s	with his Commander
5211s	this is a beautiful area
5213s	I mean the environment team did a
5215s	phenomenal job obviously always
5219s	and I think one of the big things that
5221s	people are going to be in
5223s	for a surprise here as we showcase uh
5226s	this glorious node where are we going by
5228s	the way this is Winstead this is the
5230s	lovely Winstead node
5232s	so one of the biggest
5234s	differences that people are going to
5236s	notice today and of course it's very
5238s	important to keep in mind
5240s	I'll go into walk mode here I don't run
5242s	into my own node
5244s	um it's very important to keep in mind
5247s	that nodes in Alpha One the last time we
5250s	saw them
5251s	or very placeholder right as I said they
5254s	were core functionality but artistically
5256s	they did not represent the aesthetic of
5257s	nodes that we were intending to to
5260s	create and the environment team uh has
5263s	been hard at work in creating obviously
5266s	the different stages of these nodes but
5268s	also in representing the type of visual
5270s	Fidelity that we want to represent
5271s	within the cities of our game and I
5276s	believe that we have arrived at Winstead
5280s	and we are joined by some additional
5283s	glorious members of the development team
5285s	I see two of them here we have Mr
5288s	Tristan our lead environment artist
5290s	Tristan how you doing buddy hello
5292s	welcome doing very well how are you I am
5295s	doing very good we just went for a
5297s	little stroll got some resources and now
5298s	we're showing up back to the nude you
5300s	got everything we need I do I think I
5302s	have everything we need
5304s	we also have with us I see Adam how you
5308s	doing buddy I am good thank you another
5311s	one of our glorious environment artists
5313s	yes
5314s	and there's one more missing he's around
5316s	here somewhere what where is he
5319s	let's see is he over here what is this
5321s	is this the care of answering by the way
5322s	it is the Caravan sorry
5325s	oh very cool hold on I'm gonna come look
5328s	over there but let me just take a look
5329s	at what's going on in here real quick
5331s	beautiful
5334s	and this is where players will have an
5336s	opportunity to reserve certain Caravan
5338s	stalls they'll be able to kid out and
5340s	we'll be showcasing this in a future
5342s	live stream probably a couple months
5343s	away or so
5344s	um where you can kit out your Caravan
5347s	with different components you can
5348s	upgrade these uh and this that is a
5350s	default building correct the nodes don't
5352s	select and create those uh by agency but
5355s	they come by default yeah that is a
5357s	building that comes with the node though
5359s	it is upgradable by the node I see now
5362s	where where is our third where is
5365s	James hello
5367s	ah we have found him welcome James hey I
5371s	was just uh doing some stuff at my house
5373s	oh early citizen I was able to get some
5376s	real estate very nice okay look at that
5380s	beautiful little house you have there
5382s	it's quaint I think that's the
5383s	appropriate term right quaint are you
5385s	paying your taxes on that you don't
5387s	really pay us enough so unbelievable
5390s	unbelievable it is not the mayor's job
5393s	to assign these salaries this is a
5395s	purely capitalist Society those are that
5398s	you can either speak to your your
5399s	corporate head
5400s	I didn't vote for you oh no
5407s	uh it was on the stream I gotta hit with
5410s	some bad news uh James is invisible oh
5414s	James where are you I drank a potion of
5417s	invisibility oh very nice I can see you
5420s	James I think you look you look very
5421s	nice that's because you're the mayor yes
5424s	that is correct I see all I'm the mayor
5427s	of Sauron no I'm just kidding well let's
5429s	let's head into
5431s	um the node and and take a look here
5434s	this is I mean truly a sight to see I
5439s	love the layout I love the aesthetic you
5442s	guys did a phenomenal job
5445s	um with actually representing I think
5447s	what we want out of the out of the node
5449s	I mean the visually it's just it looks
5452s	great oh look at a little piglet
5454s	yeah you might find a few little small
5457s	farm animals to hang out with
5459s	all those guys are great
5462s	little piglet talk to me a little bit
5463s	about what it what it took to bring this
5465s	note online into the to the visual
5468s	Fidelity that we wanted to a lot
5475s	there's far more than just making the
5477s	art here
5478s	um look good it's also anticipating how
5480s	we're gonna approach
5482s	uh eight different races or more in
5484s	terms of the amount of assets we have to
5487s	create so it's more of a it's not just
5489s	an artistic problem it's a logistic
5491s	problem right so we have so much to do
5495s	when it comes to
5497s	the world in terms of the biomes and
5499s	making this all work and functional
5500s	because they're all this is dynamic you
5503s	know this isn't set in stone this is
5504s	something that's going to be spawned and
5506s	created by the players and built up out
5508s	of layers and that of course makes it
5510s	entirely more complex 100 like yep we
5515s	had to develop new systems for how we
5516s	developed the art how we lay out the art
5519s	how design can use the art just so that
5522s	you know it can be dynamic it can be
5525s	different races and it can show up in
5528s	different biomes yeah
5530s	yeah not to mention we had to build up a
5532s	new aesthetic good you know
5535s	really sell and Ashes of creation look
5538s	uh Stephen before you go any further can
5540s	I show you something real quick yes
5542s	absolutely
5543s	right back over here
5546s	we just come back here
5551s	where oh this is cool so there's like
5554s	these little back alley areas where you
5556s	know Tristan why don't you go with them
5557s	no no no it's okay we posted something
5561s	up here oh what is this oh there's that
5564s	little fella who is Tristan have you
5567s	seen me
5568s	what is that
5570s	who is that guy is that Tristan yeah is
5574s	that the Lord himself oh wow I am
5578s	currently on the uh Missing board you're
5580s	on the missing board
5582s	it's all right at least people care
5584s	about me hey oh they're too sad that I'm
5587s	I'm missing yes no you're you have a
5589s	bounty on your head yeah the rewards
5590s	award is 10 cents
5593s	well I'll take it yeah at least
5597s	somebody's paying attention to me and
5598s	where I am and where my whereabouts are
5600s	oh that is hilarious
5603s	so talk to me a little bit about um you
5606s	know we're going to get back to your the
5607s	systems real quick uh in a second guys
5609s	but I wanna I wanna just kind of go over
5610s	what are some of the unique hurdles that
5614s	we are accomplishing through the
5615s	development of these nodes especially
5617s	considering that they have to go through
5618s	multiple different stages of development
5621s	from you know Crossroads to encampment
5624s	to Village to town to City to
5626s	eventually these large metropolises
5629s	um and how that makes this a very
5631s	complicated process for you guys
5634s	yeah I mean essentially we have to plan
5636s	for the buildings being able to expand
5639s	to get taller to get bigger um and that
5641s	has to happen from day one right like we
5644s	need to talk to concept and figure out
5646s	how we get from we said Camp
5648s	to Metropolis and then kind of work
5651s	within those bounds
5653s	um and you know there's been a lot of
5656s	discoveries and and pain and Jubilation
5659s	along the way and this patches died I
5663s	don't know but uh yeah it's you know
5667s	it's it's a work in progress like it is
5668s	for every stream right like um but I
5671s	think we've have a good start here and
5673s	we'll be able to really kind of push
5676s	forward and show progress yeah it's in
5679s	the future full absolutely it is it is a
5682s	beautiful view this this area and I know
5686s	that you know there's been some changes
5688s	kind of in how we anticipated node
5690s	expansion working
5693s	um and then utilizing a more
5696s	district-oriented approach
5698s	um where expansions kind of are
5701s	previewed or at least telegraphed to the
5703s	to the node as development continues uh
5707s	as expansion grows players start to see
5710s	construction taking place within the
5713s	node to represent those expanding areas
5715s	yeah that's right um as as the mayor and
5719s	the citizens start you know bringing
5721s	more online with their node you'll start
5723s	to see the outskirts of say like this
5726s	Village for instance start to have
5727s	little construction projects grass will
5730s	be cleared you'll start to see you know
5733s	scaffolding and other things being
5735s	placed as well as materials and we'll
5736s	start to see the The Village expand into
5739s	a town and then a town into a city and
5742s	so forth and so on
5744s	um
5744s	it's really exciting to to be able to
5746s	kind of build those systems and Visually
5748s	they'll have them look you know
5751s	well you can see how it looks but yeah
5754s	absolutely
5755s	and it's not just you know obviously for
5758s	those of you who might be a little bit
5760s	newer to the audience in the project
5763s	the systems that are in place to
5766s	accompany this node progression these
5768s	City progressions across the world are
5771s	really intended to to be defined by
5774s	player activity player action player
5776s	choices
5778s	um whoops I have a little bit of a weird
5780s	mesh issue over there but that's okay
5783s	um the uh really meant to reflect the
5786s	player choices right and that includes
5788s	building construction and as we were
5790s	talking about earlier these buy orders
5792s	are the primary method by which
5795s	nodes can procure the resources
5799s	necessary one of the other methods by
5801s	which nodes can help
5804s	kind of
5805s	utilize that expansion is through
5808s	treasury acquisition with taxation with
5811s	trade agreements and other nodes Chris
5813s	we have some resources we've collected
5815s	where are we going to head to next to
5817s	kind of utilize that well if you'll
5820s	follow me over here alrighty uh we're
5822s	gonna go to the warehouse
5825s	all right I'm on my way with you to the
5829s	warehouse
5830s	uh now this is a building that you're
5832s	gonna you know manage your material and
5835s	item storage uh you're going to
5837s	obviously interface with the buy order
5839s	manager uh I think he's called the
5841s	requisition agent these days all right
5847s	cool so if we're going to want to talk
5849s	to this lovely fellow over here
5852s	this guy here yep
5856s	see here okay here we go all right and
5859s	as you see kind of the portrait still
5860s	you know outstanding you're gonna see
5862s	that some of the UI greetings citizen
5865s	I'm tasked with purchasing Goods which
5866s	I'm how dare him refer to me as a
5868s	citizen we need to fix the uh the
5869s	greeting tables I mean really the
5873s	disrespect okay uh I am passive
5875s	purchasing Goods which the node uses to
5878s	construct and maintain its varied
5879s	Services would you like to see our
5881s	current requisitions I wouldn't indeed
5884s	exchange rate okay all right and so now
5889s	anybody who is participating uh as a
5892s	citizen or as just a player in the game
5894s	can go to these locations and they can
5896s	fulfill these buy orders so right now
5897s	I'm seeing that I can adjust the
5899s	quantity of goods that I'm going to be
5901s	offering to the node
5904s	and we might have a little bit of a
5906s	problem here because it's saying that
5907s	the total value of goods I want to
5908s	contribute are 232 currency worth a gold
5911s	worth uh to the to the node well you're
5914s	exchanging two for every you're getting
5917s	two for every package you're fulfilling
5919s	and you can fulfill all of them it looks
5922s	like
5923s	should I do that
5925s	I mean do you want to share the love
5928s	um
5930s	okay I'll do that so exchange confirm
5933s	let's see here total materials process
5935s	this order for 232 I will confirm that
5939s	boom done so now so now I have acquired
5943s	node currency in exchange for this
5947s	for these materials correct uh also you
5951s	did all of it you didn't share anything
5955s	uh oh what does that mean uh well the
5958s	currency is bound so you can't trade it
5960s	with anyone so you fulfilled the whole
5963s	buy order and you took all the reward oh
5967s	I thought you meant share as in like I
5970s	would take that and then later I would
5972s	use what I received and give those to
5975s	other people in other means like through
5978s	you know servitude as a servant-oriented
5980s	type leader
5981s	you know what I mean like I didn't know
5982s	you meant actually not fulfill the order
5984s	listen I need I need some node currency
5987s	oh
5988s	[Music]
5989s	I'm sorry I didn't know that's what you
5992s	meant I thought you meant shares and
5993s	like me give more resources I didn't
5995s	okay will that be a problem or are we
5998s	good no we're good we're good okay okay
6000s	I'm just a little hurt oh I'm sorry I
6003s	didn't know that I can speak with a guy
6004s	I know some people here at this note
6006s	okay okay for sure hook me up all right
6009s	so we fulfilled this buy order what is
6011s	next in this Loop so now
6014s	um we are going to talk about taxes
6016s	you just spent as a node 25 gold to uh
6020s	initiate that borrower buyer to write
6022s	yes eventually we're gonna need the
6024s	treasury says I have 75 remaining yeah
6027s	and that should be enough to build the
6028s	building but you probably want to start
6030s	replenishing now right yeah um so you're
6033s	going to open up your uh node panel
6035s	again okay and take yourself to the
6038s	treasury page done
6040s	uh and you're gonna look there's a taxes
6043s	area
6044s	taxes area taxes this is tax rates oh I
6048s	see that okay
6049s	I mean you can you're going to be able
6051s	to adjust those as the mayor do I want
6054s	to go to Advanced details yep
6056s	okay oh I see okay perfect and so this
6059s	is I see that there are a number of
6061s	different uh potential modifiers
6064s	these probably are going to be offered
6068s	out
6069s	um as either the node levels up or as
6072s	um upgrades how does that work talk to
6074s	me a little bit about these yes
6076s	so at a high level
6079s	um in early node development you're not
6081s	going to get access to a lot of these
6083s	right this is probably pretty close to
6084s	what a node level 3 is going to end up
6086s	getting
6087s	um and we've broken the things that cost
6090s	money in the node into different
6091s	categories right
6093s	um as the node uh levels up you're going
6095s	to get access to kind of deeper controls
6098s	on the taxes so that you as a mayor can
6101s	uh kind of incentivize players to come
6104s	to your node to do certain things right
6106s	if you're a node that loves
6109s	um you know smithing you're probably
6110s	going to want to lower your taxes on
6112s	artisanship to incentivize players to be
6115s	here
6116s	um but then you might want to drive up
6117s	taxes and other avenues that players
6120s	aren't necessarily coming to your node
6121s	for but are using out of convenience
6123s	right
6125s	Okay cool so we need to generate some
6128s	more income
6129s	yep so I would recommend cranking those
6131s	taxes
6133s	oh my God oh man not again oh here we go
6137s	this is not me this is it takes a
6140s	village
6141s	literally right that's what we're doing
6143s	right now it it takes from a village it
6145s	takes from a villager and it goes to the
6148s	roads right yes it goes to the potholes
6151s	in the roads there's seems to be quite a
6153s	lot of them here I have adjusted the tax
6156s	rate to 75 percent all right now if we
6159s	go over here to this guy
6162s	all right you can go ahead and
6164s	buy some stuff and
6166s	75 of the base cost of these items is
6170s	going to go to the uh is gonna go to the
6173s	treasury
6178s	let's see here
6182s	uh
6185s	uh this is a bit grayed out for me maybe
6187s	I don't guys again you're going to see
6189s	some placeholder stuff
6191s	uh it looks like
6193s	I don't have room for some stuff so I'm
6195s	just gonna be killing some things
6197s	nobody
6199s	pay any attention to the non-existent
6203s	icons yeah some of that art is still
6206s	pending
6207s	um okay I will now interact with this
6210s	gear vendor and let's see if he can sell
6213s	me some items
6216s	you know these are grayed out for me do
6218s	you have any money
6220s	oh my God I have no money it looks like
6223s	you probably only have node currency I
6225s	need some money
6228s	I'm gonna use cheat panel nobody look
6231s	this is a little bit of a cheap panel
6233s	okay you're gonna see uh where I can
6236s	you're saying your mirror is broke right
6238s	now right we'll just we'll just
6239s	pixelated yeah yeah nobody nobody sees
6242s	anything uh maybe you did need that node
6244s	currency more than I did yeah so uh
6248s	character gold let me just get some gold
6252s	um give gold you know I'm gonna give
6254s	myself a thousand
6257s	and I will now speak with this
6259s	individual again who was so rude and
6262s	Curt with me when I tried to buy stuff
6263s	from him
6264s	didn't know who I was
6266s	as the mayor
6268s	um Okay cool so we want to generate some
6270s	currency for the node we're just going
6272s	to demonstrate here making some
6273s	purchases
6276s	um oops I probably need to hold on sorry
6280s	my bad
6283s	I'm going to select
6286s	some of these
6290s	different items
6293s	how do I make that purchase
6296s	so I'm just selecting these items
6299s	yep you should just be able to right
6300s	click them
6301s	all right click oh there we go yeah yeah
6303s	my bad
6306s	okay how much gold do we need for the
6308s	note right now oh this is more not for
6311s	you to just make a bunch of gold right
6312s	away but just to make sure we're getting
6314s	more gold over time we have enough to
6316s	make the building
6317s	okay let me check the no Treasury
6320s	the no treasury now has 112. that should
6323s	be plenty
6325s	um so now
6327s	you want to build a building Steven I
6329s	want to build a building
6331s	all right well
6332s	let's go have a nice little Waltz uh
6335s	well actually open your open your mayor
6337s	panel here for us okay mirror panel is
6340s	open
6341s	uh and you're gonna hit n and go to the
6344s	buildings tab done
6346s	now here you're going to see a list of
6349s	all the buildings we currently have
6350s	constructed uh since this is a pretty
6353s	new node all the buildings in this list
6355s	are uh what we call default buildings
6358s	which means they come pre-constructed
6360s	with the node
6362s	but if you scroll all the way down to
6363s	the bottom you're going to see the empty
6366s	plots okay very cool and just to be
6369s	clear the default buildings are offering
6372s	default Services as you were saying
6374s	Apartments
6375s	warehouse for storage or the caravansary
6379s	for the um the Caravans and reception of
6383s	those Caravans like all nodes will have
6385s	a base default list of services that are
6389s	offered regardless of type and then what
6392s	we're doing now is we're specializing
6394s	the node to cater specific services in
6398s	order to draw traffic of players to us
6401s	correct yeah all the services that come
6403s	default with the node we've kind of as a
6405s	design team deemed essential right
6408s	um we want Caravans to move around the
6410s	world so everyone should have a caravan
6411s	Siri we want players to have storage so
6413s	everyone should have a warehouse right
6415s	but that doesn't mean those default
6417s	buildings can't be upgraded and
6418s	specialized themselves right
6420s	awesome
6422s	um but the empty plots are where you
6424s	really get to start specializing your
6425s	node
6427s	all right and I see a Smithy under
6430s	artisanship
6432s	correct
6434s	okay I've selected the building
6437s	yep
6439s	oh okay here we go we have a little bit
6440s	of a tree here that talks about its
6442s	expansions yeah so uh buildings can
6446s	expand as I kind of alluded to the
6448s	default buildings they specialize as
6450s	they expand right so this isn't like a
6451s	traditional
6453s	um steel traits it's exclusionary more
6456s	like a tech tree right so selecting uh
6460s	the next upgrade for it will lock out
6464s	the other two paths right
6467s	um so as you get better with the
6469s	building it will continue to narrow
6470s	which allows lots of nodes to carve out
6473s	lots of niches in the world
6476s	very cool and so because of this because
6479s	it's exclusionary it would be relevant
6482s	for certain nodes in order to achieve a
6486s	broader spectrum of upgrade potential
6488s	within a particular
6491s	building type to potentially build
6493s	multiple of these buildings
6495s	yeah exactly right if you want to be the
6498s	home to weaponsmithing in your node
6500s	you're probably going to have three
6501s	smithies to capitalize on uh slashing
6505s	bludgeoning and piercing weapons right
6509s	um and there are other things you can do
6510s	with the policy system or with the Relic
6513s	system to kind of amp that up even
6515s	further
6516s	very cool
6518s	very cool and so let's say um and I know
6521s	we don't have this
6523s	or I'm not sure if we have this yet
6525s	implemented but let's say for example I
6528s	as the mayor I'm about to start this
6529s	build right I'm going to enjoy just
6531s	click on this build right now yep all
6534s	right
6535s	okay here we go uh construction
6536s	requirements so I have the bins of stone
6540s	and it looks like we have the cords of
6542s	wood yep citizen contribution so the
6545s	citizen contribution that is in
6547s	reference to when this construction
6549s	project begins citizens will need to
6552s	come to the building and and contribute
6554s	resources to Aid in its development yeah
6557s	so um unlike buy orders you're not
6560s	directly rewarded for this right
6562s	um as a player this is uh kind of our
6565s	way of ensuring that citizens want the
6568s	thing that the mayor is asking them to
6570s	do or is spending resources on right so
6573s	if you're a mayor and you're just like
6574s	I'm going to build a bunch of this uh
6577s	building that no one wants
6579s	um then players aren't going to
6581s	contribute to it and they're not going
6582s	to get built
6583s	good call very cool all right let me
6586s	confirm this
6587s	players will have two million days to
6590s	provide the resources for construction
6591s	well that's good you know I want to be a
6594s	lenient mayor
6596s	um and I you know as many in the
6598s	audience know we expect Ashes to have a
6600s	very long and fruitful lifespan as a
6604s	product and two million days is a bit on
6607s	the you know maybe conservative side of
6610s	what we'll actually see overall but I
6613s	think it's a worthwhile time
6615s	are we good with that what do you think
6617s	Chris yeah that's that sounds great okay
6620s	two million days it is
6624s	okay where do we go to see this building
6626s	uh so we've constructed it over here
6630s	um if you want to follow me this way all
6632s	right I am I'm falling I don't normally
6634s	run in my own town but I will I will run
6637s	listen up I got places to go people to
6640s	see people to see
6641s	you work at the best of them there
6645s	uh so you notice there's a gentleman
6647s	here you can talk to
6649s	um and this is also work for me just to
6651s	be clear he does he does technically he
6653s	works for the city uh I am the city
6657s	I'm just kidding
6659s	um and uh this gentleman is the
6662s	construction Foreman so this is where
6663s	players will get to go to donate
6665s	resources to the construction of a
6666s	building okay all right let's see here
6669s	so he has nothing of nothing acquired
6672s	but what is it you say you do here Mr
6675s	construction form and he hasn't
6676s	collected yet any resources
6679s	oh you just initiated it do I have to do
6682s	everything myself should I give him a
6683s	hundred uh of the oak log
6686s	uh I mean I think that's a fair thing to
6688s	do all right
6689s	let us donate
6693s	we shall donate to the foreman
6698s	oh it's beginning to construct
6702s	now Bruno and Scott did a great job with
6706s	this uh construction animation and
6709s	visual effects
6711s	um as you will see you're gonna see a
6712s	sped up version of this here but
6714s	typically Chris talked me a little bit
6716s	about the time expectation for these
6719s	types of projects and of course how
6721s	that's a variable depending on the stage
6722s	of the node and the building type itself
6726s	yeah so um you know we want this to be
6728s	an exciting thing so once materials are
6732s	kind of contributed to it and it's ready
6735s	to finish
6736s	um there's gonna be you know any kind of
6738s	variable from like 15 to 20 minutes to
6742s	even a couple of days for it to finish
6743s	constructing depending on kind of the
6746s	power that the building offers to the
6748s	players right
6750s	very cool
6751s	and and
6754s	um James Adam Tristan talk to me a
6756s	little bit about how you guys go about
6759s	constructing these different you know
6761s	more modular sets of building creation
6764s	and and what it takes to kind of you
6768s	know master that across the multiple
6770s	different cultures that we're
6771s	anticipating uh uh to to to present
6775s	Within These villages
6778s	yeah sure I mean it's it's a lot of
6781s	trial and error but you know the it took
6784s	a lot of practice to figure out you know
6786s	what the correct size of the buildings
6789s	and the plots the walls the doors all
6792s	those things
6793s	are and then to dial them in so that
6796s	going forward any future races it's all
6799s	kind of somewhat plug and play as long
6802s	as we're making them to those specs the
6805s	big thing is the aesthetic and how that
6808s	will change between races which is you
6810s	know Bill will work in progress but
6813s	like this for example this one is a lot
6816s	of anglo-saxon type architecture
6818s	influence
6819s	yeah and Kayla absolutely yeah but
6823s	that's that's that's how how it works in
6825s	the most part and it's all modular so we
6828s	can make these buildings and
6830s	mostly any size we want so it could
6833s	reach all the way up to the sky multiple
6835s	floors if we wanted to not saying we
6837s	would but
6839s	uh and that's that's the idea so then
6841s	this right here will construct those
6844s	pieces
6846s	for the player one piece at a time very
6848s	cool
6849s	very cool
6851s	yeah I love the uh you know we
6852s	previously had a different version of
6855s	this in in
6857s	um oh look it has a little fireworks
6858s	playing above the building that's
6861s	awesome
6863s	so it's drawing attention kind of to the
6864s	uh to the construction
6866s	um we had a version of this obviously in
6868s	in Alpha One and
6870s	um
6871s	you know that was very sped up uh for
6874s	what we were trying to accomplish there
6875s	this technique is uh you know meant to
6878s	more represent that that longer period
6881s	of of construction requirement yeah
6885s	um and a lot of what you see right now
6887s	it's technically being generated
6890s	procedurally by the tech from our attack
6892s	art team which is Alberto has been
6895s	putting together which is like basically
6896s	we kind of took a
6898s	an approach similar to other games that
6900s	you might see in like strategy games and
6902s	stuff like that so there's a scaffolding
6903s	approach that kind of builds things up
6905s	and forms around and you'll see some
6906s	people kind of working hammering it's
6909s	very rudimentary at this current point
6910s	in time but yeah no the the goal is to
6913s	have it be as versatile as possible so
6915s	that when we actually need to make
6918s	a hundred of variations of these we
6921s	don't have to sit there and make
6923s	animations one by one which we did in
6925s	the past
6926s	um which gets very complicated very
6928s	expensive in this case it's more of a
6929s	procedural you know you plug and play
6932s	like right but I do run I do want to
6935s	clarify that we're not saying that these
6938s	nodes are fully procedurally generated
6941s	it's
6942s	the building aspect is but
6945s	the nodes themselves still have a
6948s	handmade aspect to it right correct yeah
6952s	this is all just for the construction
6953s	phase so we can kind of have things done
6955s	in a way that feels natural but doesn't
6957s	really take
6959s	years and years to actually complete the
6961s	final product right awesome
6964s	um absolutely very very impressive work
6967s	so Chris now that we have
6970s	constructed this Smithy
6973s	what are we doing do you have a little
6975s	duckling following you
6977s	the ducklings are very excited right now
6979s	I have one following me right now oh my
6982s	oh my God but that can be fixed no no no
6985s	no no no no no no no no no no do it
6989s	dude
6991s	do not kill that duck oh my God oh God
6998s	what are you doing did you just murder
7002s	that duck you you just murder our tax
7005s	rate just oh my God you can't kill
7008s	innocent animals over your disgruntled
7010s	this tax rates I would I would say
7012s	that's more for food for the village but
7014s	I'm you know Rebellion I'm trying to
7016s	what have you done
7018s	you can't even eat that there's not
7020s	valuable meat on this creature yet
7034s	fair enough
7037s	all right it needs to be done Chris what
7040s	are we gonna do with this Smithy well
7042s	what do you want to do we can uh do some
7044s	armor smithing we can do some
7046s	weaponsmithing I I honestly think after
7048s	that heinous act against that duck you
7050s	really needed some better weapons to
7052s	defend the uh Beautiful Creatures of
7055s	this node agreed I am so angry I could
7058s	just scream oh
7061s	that's sorry uh well over here is the
7064s	weaponsmithing station all right cool I
7067s	was looking at this a little bit earlier
7069s	whoops I turned off my UI
7071s	all right what do we have uh well I hear
7074s	the artisanship team hooked you up with
7076s	the ability to make a blood sword oh do
7080s	I have materials oh I do have some
7082s	materials what should we do oh the
7085s	sandals of holding bag it's like
7087s	Infinite Space
7089s	that is a GM back
7091s	um okay so I do have some materials what
7093s	do we want to do with this material
7096s	oh do you want a blood sword or not well
7098s	I mean I don't know do I want a blood
7100s	sword is it one sort of good is it
7101s	better than what I already have where is
7103s	the blood sword crystallized blood sword
7107s	okay I see it's gonna be a pretty spicy
7111s	sword
7114s	okay very cool
7118s	um yeah let's try this what are we gonna
7121s	do here so I already have the materials
7123s	for it
7125s	can I just go to
7127s	craft one quantity hold on it says I
7129s	can't craft this yes you got to add your
7131s	molds to it
7133s	um
7136s	oh I have selected my iron weapon mold
7142s	and I'm using
7144s	that mold and crafting
7149s	oh I do have a crystal blood sword now I
7152s	shall rule with a mighty fist let me
7154s	equip this
7158s	do I actually have oh I do have it
7162s	oh okay that's pretty sweet
7165s	I like that
7168s	looks great
7170s	very cool
7172s	all right so now now that we have
7174s	constructed this building there are also
7176s	a number of upgrade paths that players
7179s	can utilize to specialize the building
7181s	further we previewed that in the tech
7183s	tree for the building and each building
7185s	comes with that sort of customizable
7188s	um uh path of upgrades that are possible
7190s	and those continue to give the node a
7195s	higher specialization which makes it
7198s	relevant for player traffic
7200s	right and the idea with that too is
7203s	um no one node can do anything right so
7206s	um it kind of is leaning into this idea
7208s	that you need to gobble your goods
7211s	around the world and go to a lot of
7212s	places to do a lot of things right
7216s	yeah absolutely absolutely this is a
7220s	beautiful I mean gosh this is just
7223s	I love the atmospherics
7225s	I love the the more nature oriented
7228s	aspects of the interior of the node now
7230s	this node uh Tristan and Adam James this
7234s	has a bit more topography than what we
7238s	were seeing in alpha one that talked to
7240s	me a little bit about
7241s	the types of node templates and
7245s	footprints that we are leveraging uh
7249s	with the design of these of these
7251s	Villages and cities
7254s	um yeah so there should be
7256s	um
7257s	kind of a handful of different types
7259s	that you'll experience in the world and
7260s	they all have their different benefits
7262s	so in this case we kind of have a
7264s	plateau landscape layout for this one um
7268s	it's not like you said the flat
7270s	Landscapes that we've done in the past
7272s	um we've also got ones that will be like
7274s	Rivers flowing through it and as well as
7277s	like being nudged up against say like a
7279s	body of water or like a cliff face sort
7283s	of style so in this case it's this is a
7286s	pretty one of the more basic versions
7288s	that you'll see for the current
7290s	um layout styles that we have but yeah
7292s	yeah not only that the the dote itself
7294s	will have its own type that that's best
7297s	suited to you know develop into
7300s	um I think this one's an academic node
7303s	yeah this one is academic so
7306s	um I see we have kind of a placeholder
7308s	node type building here yeah that's the
7311s	town hall oh is that the town hall I
7313s	apologize this is a placeholder one over
7315s	here they'll kind of Citadel looking one
7316s	yeah yep yeah that is a work in progress
7320s	so we have that standing in for now
7323s	beautiful so this is kind of where all
7324s	the activities take place for you know
7326s	citizenship interactions the paying of
7329s	these dues the opportunity for players
7331s	to kind of interface with their local
7333s	government and the custom uh Quest arcs
7336s	that are available based off of the
7337s	surrounding pois
7339s	um you know up here is kind of the city
7342s	center so to speak
7345s	right right this is where you know
7348s	elections happen right
7351s	um normally
7355s	when you don't GM command yourself mayor
7359s	oh unbelievable I just sat down you guys
7362s	told me did you have myself there
7365s	um there's also a place where you know
7367s	punishments Could Happen ah where's that
7370s	are like Gallows over here or something
7372s	yeah
7374s	is that the type of Mayor that I am do I
7376s	just have like public hangings or
7378s	something I mean if you're that type of
7380s	mirror you could just hang anyone
7381s	anywhere yeah unbelievable depends upon
7383s	who messes with the ducklings that's all
7385s	yep I gotta go
7387s	[Laughter]
7390s	I noticed that we have a bit of homage
7392s	that we're paying to the
7394s	excusing to the windmill monster that
7397s	many players experienced in our
7398s	pre-alpha testing yeah okay and you guys
7400s	remember that that was like two days
7402s	straight of us getting stuck at a
7404s	loading screen back in like 2018 2017.
7407s	that was a fun time
7410s	I love it they mimic the size of a
7413s	windmill would be pretty I think we
7415s	actually did turn so at some point we
7417s	updated that image to be a windmill
7420s	monster that was eating out pre-alpha
7422s	players when they tried to do it that
7424s	was great it was really good oh it's
7426s	beautiful this is absolutely beautiful
7428s	so
7430s	um
7431s	you know what
7433s	I would like to thank each of you for
7437s	showing our players the update to nodes
7441s	this is one of the one of many updates
7443s	that players will be seeing over the
7446s	course of the next
7448s	um
7448s	time till Alpha two and as it relates to
7452s	kind of the systems design of these
7455s	nodes showcasing the core loops with the
7459s	Mayors helping to initiate buy orders as
7461s	well as Commissions in order to generate
7463s	these node Commodities these node these
7466s	node inventory items by which then the
7469s	node utilizes to kick off certain either
7471s	events or service building constructions
7474s	that the that create an additional Loop
7477s	for players to participate in I think
7479s	that this is very exciting that the node
7482s	is absolutely beautiful and it hits the
7483s	aesthetic that we want but what's most
7485s	important is to get your guys's feedback
7487s	in the community uh the you guys as our
7490s	players giving us your thoughts about
7492s	the visual Fidelity that these Villages
7494s	are representing you'll have an
7496s	opportunity to see additional node
7498s	stages as we progress this is a lot of
7501s	work that the environment team has been
7503s	doing a phenomenal job in my opinion in
7506s	creating
7507s	but you guys need to give us your
7509s	thoughts if you like what you see here
7510s	what can be done better and then we are
7513s	going to chat a little bit more about
7515s	some of the system changes that we have
7518s	introduced as part of our road to Alpha
7520s	2 as it relates to the nodes so yes go
7525s	ahead yeah this is just nodes part for
7527s	part five
7530s	[Applause]
7532s	I don't know this is you're gonna kill
7534s	me I hope you're okay this is not yet
7537s	nodes part four but this is getting
7539s	close Okay no you guys did a great job
7542s	yeah I'm sure everyone will get that
7544s	reference there yes exactly
7546s	um but Chris and I will be joining you
7549s	guys in just a moment to talk a little
7551s	bit more in detail about these systems
7553s	in just a moment thanks guys for joining
7555s	us appreciate it thank you thank you bye
7562s	foreign
7564s	[Music]
7570s	I'll be playing the video in the
7572s	background whilst we continue to chat uh
7575s	there were some questions in the channel
7577s	that um or in various Channel all the
7580s	places we've accumulated our community
7583s	managers are hot on the trail
7585s	um and of course social media
7587s	um the first one here is can node NPCs
7590s	be customized if so what kinds of
7591s	customization options are there and can
7593s	NPCs be upgraded and with things like
7597s	crafted gear yeah so there are a group
7600s	of NPC types that can be customized
7602s	those are the mercenaries and the guards
7605s	that defend the node against events and
7607s	sieges those customization options are
7610s	conferred through utilizing upgrades
7613s	within buildings like the barracks but
7616s	if we're talking about appearance can I
7618s	change their hair or their facials that
7620s	is not something that is provided to the
7622s	players
7623s	can we cook Duck Soup no I'm just
7625s	kidding that's another question on here
7628s	um the chat was just losing it and the
7630s	apples the guy hammering the apples
7632s	um clearing their bugs Apple smoothies
7636s	yes Granny Apple Smith um no can you
7641s	kill oh go ahead just to just to touch
7644s	on what you said clearly there are bugs
7645s	absolutely guys always remember when
7648s	somebody you know out there who's
7650s	perhaps you know not watching
7651s	development as closely as our core
7653s	audiences uh expressing to them that
7656s	this is uh work towards Alpha two things
7658s	are work in progress there's going to be
7659s	bugs you're going to see weird things
7661s	that's the whole process of development
7665s	um you know we're showing you a slice uh
7667s	that we bring up to a little bit more
7669s	level of of what some would say is
7672s	Polish right so that exactly a higher
7674s	Fidelity so that we can get a good
7676s	amount of feedback from the community
7678s	and you guys are not obstructed by
7680s	things like uh you know visual
7683s	um uh um because sometimes we set
7686s	buildings up in in a node and it's all
7688s	gray boxes right like we don't show you
7689s	guys that because because we're we're
7691s	playing around with layouts and ideas
7693s	and how the flow feels yeah and sieges
7696s	and level design but we'll show you that
7699s	because it doesn't it's a difficult
7701s	barrier that that exactly the great
7704s	boxing and the and the prototyping for
7708s	those who are not in a line of
7710s	development work it's a it's a difficult
7712s	barrier to make it past that visual that
7715s	that dissonance there
7717s	um uh so that's why we bring things when
7719s	we showcase these these uh these systems
7721s	and whatnot we bring it up to a
7723s	digestible level
7724s	we try
7727s	um two-hour digestion uh you know it's a
7730s	process
7731s	um the next one here is uh can you kill
7735s	guards at a node I know we've talked a
7736s	little bit about this but they want to
7737s	know can citizens kill guards at their
7739s	own node how effective are guards in
7741s	combat in order to protect um
7745s	guards are capable of being killed
7747s	however that is a very tall barrier to
7750s	surpass meaning that their skill level
7752s	is relatively High uh their damage
7755s	mitigation their output and power
7757s	um you know those things are are very
7759s	difficult to overcome but they can be
7761s	killed and again you can upgrade guards
7764s	through policies through upgrades uh
7767s	within the barracks structures and you
7769s	can even Place mercenaries and guards
7771s	ahead of certain events
7774s	all right
7775s	and the next one here is can node to no
7780s	well I guess following up on that in
7783s	sieges will will guards be more active
7785s	or are they going to play a more passive
7787s	role
7788s	uh during siege's uh guards and um the
7793s	um uh
7795s	merchants and NPCs no no no yeah not non
7798s	non-combat NPCs are despawn during
7801s	sieges
7802s	um unless they're relevant from an
7803s	objective perspective uh and then combat
7805s	NPCs which include the uh Garrison which
7809s	is a military Detachment that could
7810s	spawned based on the upgrade choices
7812s	that the barracks have been made and the
7814s	existing guard populations will be
7816s	present to participate in The Siege from
7818s	an AI perspective
7820s	sorry I just want to add that little bit
7821s	on there because I think they were
7822s	asking about sieges too uh can node to
7825s	node trade supplies some of the
7827s	Commodities that are not present in the
7829s	node that start absolutely the buy order
7831s	okay and does that trigger Caravan
7834s	between the nodes
7835s	correct so mayoral Caravans which I'm
7838s	not sure we've um
7842s	yeah yeah essentially what happens is uh
7845s	Mayors who who need certain resources
7848s	that either they don't have enough of or
7850s	that they're prospectively investing in
7852s	they will initiate a uh mayor request
7856s	and any node that is uh that sees that
7860s	request on the mayor um on the uh uh
7863s	marrow node excuse me the mayoral
7865s	Caravan drop down menu will have an
7867s	opportunity to to attempt to fulfill the
7871s	trade request in order to fulfill a
7874s	trade request a node must have a a
7876s	certain level of of relationship with
7879s	that requesting node at a minimum it has
7882s	to be a trade agreement relationship and
7885s	then there's a limited number of those
7886s	trade relationships that you can have
7888s	and that scales up to eventually
7890s	Alliance perspective
7892s	um and then once the node requesting
7895s	mayor accepts a potential fill order
7898s	then a system Bond Caravan is generated
7902s	uh and and the transit is completed and
7905s	players can participate in helping to
7907s	defend that or not and we'll have more
7909s	information about Caravans coming up in
7911s	the future live stream so stay tuned
7915s	um
7916s	then the next one is can we see the
7919s	empty plots so that we can plan out the
7922s	physical placement of buildings
7925s	can you see the empty plots yes there
7927s	will be a a node map that players will
7931s	have access to within the UI and on that
7934s	map you will be able to see uh the plot
7937s	locations
7938s	and you can see them in the real in the
7940s	world too like if you walk around you'll
7942s	you can tell that a space is used for a
7944s	building like a governmental building
7946s	yeah
7948s	um and then the next oh I think there's
7950s	a follow-up to this
7952s	can you choose where to place them so we
7954s	talked about this earlier
7956s	um in regards to that which is there are
7957s	designated plots but you can but the
7960s	mayor can choose which plots to place
7961s	them in and so what Stephen had stated
7963s	before is that there's some strategy to
7965s	this right if there's a plot that's
7967s	close to a gate and there's a plot
7968s	that's further Inland in the middle of
7970s	your node maybe you want to be strategic
7972s	about which buildings you place near the
7975s	door because those ones might get
7976s	destroyed faster and then if a Siege
7980s	happens and you have to you know it gets
7982s	destroyed now now you're having to put
7984s	more resources into that to fix it to
7986s	bring it back up to a a
7989s	non-disarrayed status because you want
7992s	to be able to like use it right yeah and
7995s	basically just the quick answer there is
7996s	of course
7997s	um plots exist within the node and all
8000s	buildings can be placed in any plot
8003s	all right
8004s	and then
8006s	um
8006s	is the game time requirement that the
8009s	two million days in game time or real
8012s	time clearly not no that was that was a
8015s	bug I was just making gist of that
8018s	um and and again to reiterate the UI is
8021s	very work in progress you are seeing
8023s	what is the version of our functional UI
8025s	which is not representative of our
8027s	artistic UI which is player facing it'd
8030s	be cool if the the mayor could be like
8031s	hey I want this to be done within this
8034s	time frame and they have like a window
8035s	that they can choose between would be
8037s	cool uh that is dictated by the type of
8040s	building that's being constructed so
8041s	each each building has its own
8043s	Associated construction rate uh or time
8046s	and that can be augmented uh by certain
8049s	um certain effects some of which can be
8052s	conferred through policies as well that
8053s	give you longer uh Power structure times
8055s	so those policies could mean that you
8057s	construct things faster but
8060s	um the more powerful the building is
8061s	expected to probably take more time is
8065s	that a good annotation okay cool
8067s	um and I think that's it for the major
8069s	ones from the chat I know we're gonna
8071s	have a million we'll be here all day if
8072s	we answer all the questions so
8076s	let you all go at some point so we're
8078s	gonna do a quick Studio update
8081s	um Stephen absolutely a studio update
8085s	um things are going very well here at
8087s	the studio we continue to grow uh with
8090s	of course your guys's help out in the
8092s	community spreading the word for ashes
8093s	of creation especially our content
8095s	creators and those of you uh who are who
8098s	are are
8099s	um
8100s	our
8101s	um de facto Headhunters that talk that
8105s	talk about ashes on on social media and
8108s	whatnot
8109s	um we are we have a number of listed
8111s	positions still available uh we we show
8113s	that on social media as well uh anybody
8116s	um who is watching this that's a
8117s	developer that might be interested in
8118s	potentially applying for the team you
8120s	can always visit our our company website
8122s	at intrepidstudios.com and take a look
8123s	at what roles are available
8126s	yes our hearts go out 100 to some of the
8130s	studios that we've been seeing um uh
8132s	having layoffs recently
8134s	um you know that is always a very sad
8135s	sight to see this is a very close-knit
8137s	and Small industry
8139s	um and many of the people who are a part
8142s	of these development studios are there
8144s	because of a sheer passion that they
8146s	have as being one of us a gamer uh and
8149s	wanting to make something that can make
8151s	you guys uh our their communities happy
8154s	and it is just a very sad thing to see
8156s	sometimes when these Studios get closed
8158s	down either through mismanagement or you
8161s	know through whatever and we're trying
8163s	on our end to have some scalable
8166s	Solutions in place for things like that
8168s	because we understand in development
8169s	there's times where hey you need a lot
8171s	of QA or a lot of Cs or influx of
8174s	artists for certain times of things but
8176s	you don't need them for the longevity of
8178s	the entire project and so coming up with
8180s	solutions that are like contractual or
8182s	things like that can really Aid in that
8184s	so it's not like hey people are getting
8186s	left you know laid off left and right I
8189s	think yeah again that's something that
8190s	we're trying to be conscious of at
8192s	interpret Studios as we grow and like
8194s	Stephen has said a million times we are
8196s	trying to grow smartly and only get
8198s	people in the roles that we really need
8199s	at the time so that means that some
8201s	teams are you know wearing many hats
8203s	because that's what uh that life is like
8205s	yeah yeah
8207s	absolutely we have over over 150
8210s	developers now at Intrepid and and that
8212s	touch the project in some way shape or
8214s	form here in San Diego We are continuing
8216s	to hire so so send people our way good
8219s	people our way send them our way okay
8222s	and of course we just we did like a
8225s	potluck this month it's been fun the
8227s	studio we were constantly always trying
8229s	to celebrate the little things the
8231s	little moments that we have internally
8232s	with our internal Milestones too because
8234s	that's a good morale boost and just the
8237s	teams in general uh have been kicking
8239s	butt so sending love to all of them if
8242s	we can get some little hearts in chat
8244s	for our developers one of the things
8247s	that I always say is like it's so hard
8248s	when you hear players say oh the
8250s	developers don't care because deep down
8252s	the ones who are working day in and out
8254s	we care a lot and yes sometimes things
8256s	don't always go the way that we expect
8259s	um but we're trying at least yeah
8261s	Intrepid Here We Care a Lot absolutely
8264s	and just to give a shout out guys I know
8266s	I was watching chat you guys uh it
8268s	seemed that the sentiment was
8270s	resoundingly positive with regards to
8272s	the visual direction that the nodes are
8273s	taking
8274s	um just want to give a shout out to
8277s	our art team in particular our Tech our
8280s	Tech artists and our environment team uh
8282s	Tristan who's their lead they all do a
8285s	phenomenal job Zachary Scott John James
8288s	Hans Hal Charlie Cameron Brandon Brianna
8291s	hey young Adam and Adam you guys have
8293s	done a phenomenal job uh Brian as well
8296s	and Bruno
8298s	um you know just big hearts and chat for
8300s	them uh they they slave away at making
8303s	us the visuals that we all want to see a
8306s	quality level and the games that we
8308s	spend a majority of our time in our free
8310s	time in and it is one thing to have an
8313s	artist working on something it's another
8315s	thing to have a passionate individual
8317s	who wants to play in a world they're
8319s	creating and I feel very very uh
8322s	privileged and blessed uh and I
8324s	expressed the sentiment on behalf of our
8326s	community our team of developers artists
8329s	and all uh continue to strive and do an
8331s	amazing job so very well done Intrepid I
8334s	think that this was a a great moment for
8336s	the community to see the direction that
8338s	nodes take we are the node game this is
8341s	a fundamental World building aspect that
8343s	MMOs have not historically seen or had
8346s	an opportunity to to leverage or utilize
8349s	uh to the degree that we are doing so to
8353s	a degree that's that's the risk that is
8355s	ashes of creation what will players do
8357s	with this newfound power but at the same
8359s	time I feel it's the most appealing one
8362s	um and so you know for that big big
8364s	props to the team and and for you guys
8366s	that out in the community giving us your
8368s	feedback and and joining us on this
8370s	journey speaking of the community we are
8372s	going to grab some q a but of course we
8374s	do have a thread up and while we do that
8376s	I'll play uh more of the video
8378s	um but we do have a thread up right now
8380s	for feedback please give us your
8381s	feedback in regards to nodes The Village
8384s	node update that we provided with you
8385s	and we will have the 4K video up on
8388s	YouTube as well as per usual shortly
8391s	after shortly after so stay tuned
8393s	um so with the questions the first one
8396s	here is from Gaul about potion chugging
8398s	what is this and just real quick
8401s	Margaret I know we have a lot a lot of
8403s	these questions but I do have a hard
8404s	stop at 1 30. I thought we were only
8406s	going to be two hours so maybe just grab
8407s	the top three okay I'll grab the top
8409s	three
8410s	um so the first one is about potion
8411s	chugging what is the intent for potion
8414s	consumption during active combat will we
8416s	chug potions regularly or will there be
8419s	a moderate cooldown
8421s	yeah there there will be a cool down uh
8424s	for potion use it is intended that
8426s	potions are relevant during combat there
8428s	will be a a mixture of potion use as
8431s	well as meals and or drinks uh that's
8434s	something we'll get into a little bit in
8435s	the future the differences between those
8436s	things and what types of benefits they
8438s	confer because they are unique to the
8439s	type but there will also be tiers of of
8443s	these different types of things and
8445s	those tiers will share cooldown so uh
8448s	you might have a very strong potion and
8450s	a very minor potion they'll have
8452s	separate cooldowns that they uh that
8455s	they uh share with their with their same
8457s	tier
8458s	so you're not intent the intent is not
8460s	to spam potions during combat the intent
8462s	is to be tactical in the use of these
8465s	potions because you do not have an
8466s	unlimited ability
8468s	all right and then Sun Garden wants to
8470s	know about mounted combat how will it be
8473s	evident to players in a PVP scenario
8475s	what types of abilities they might
8478s	anticipate from an enemy's Mount if its
8481s	owner has a skin of another breed
8483s	applied to it
8485s	sure great great question
8487s	um so uh Mount abilities are really
8490s	meant to be a learned uh information
8493s	Source this is not meant to be something
8496s	that I can look at amount and know
8499s	without interacting with that individual
8502s	that player what that mount is capable
8504s	of doing and as as such when they have
8506s	skins excuse me when they have skins
8510s	applied whether it be through in-game
8512s	earned or through cosmetic purchase you
8515s	will get a learning for what that mount
8517s	does by observing its use case and
8520s	taking that knowledge that you have
8521s	learned forward with you
8523s	all right
8524s	and the next question here is about node
8527s	citizenship and this comes from renadel
8530s	and azaray on the forums and they want
8533s	to know can a player be stripped of node
8536s	citizenship by any player agency other
8539s	than node Destruction for example being
8542s	exiled by some government process if so
8544s	what happens to their house
8546s	no they cannot be there is no player
8550s	agency function
8552s	um uh that allows for a citizen to be
8555s	dismissed from a node
8556s	all right and that that is it oh my god
8561s	oh we did it oh my God it has been a
8564s	long journey but thank you wait is off
8566s	my shoulders now
8569s	hello heart palpitations at the
8571s	beginning
8572s	um but I always do that before the
8574s	streams I get so nervous
8576s	um don't forget that Steven will be
8578s	joining the discussion round on
8580s	September 10th that will be streamed at
8582s	twitch.tvokai theater we'll be making
8584s	sure that you're aware of all of these
8586s	things and all of the social channels so
8588s	make sure you follow us as you don't
8590s	miss out there's going to be a lot of
8591s	answers I'm sure about node things and
8593s	variety of other stuff we'll see
8595s	um and you know of course please head on
8597s	over to our forums to leave us feedback
8599s	we're very diligent about making reports
8601s	for our development team and you can
8603s	find that at
8605s	forums.ashesofcreation.com and of course
8607s	we do have the non-forgotten Cosmetic
8609s	swap over that's happening on September
8611s	13th at 11 A.M where our last cosmetic
8614s	set will be swapped over so that will be
8616s	our September set and there will be an
8618s	fa cue with that said giving you further
8621s	details but if you have any questions
8622s	make sure you let us know so that we can
8623s	ensure those are in our FAQ we do have
8627s	an FAQ in the August one so check that
8628s	first to make sure the questions are not
8630s	already answered and of course we would
8633s	like to thank you all for joining us we
8636s	hope that you enjoyed this that you
8637s	stuck around with but uh that you were
8639s	hydrated and walked a little bit during
8641s	it but we also want to thank Bucky Chris
8644s	James Tristan Adam and of course Steven
8647s	for their time
8648s	um because these do take a little bit of
8650s	time and we hope that everyone stays
8653s	safe and healthy and that you follow us
8654s	on all of the things we are ashes of
8656s	Creation in every place that you can
8658s	think of give us some love over in all
8660s	those spaces we try our best to keep
8661s	content and you know keep you filled
8664s	with some ashes of creation content
8666s	almost daily so come hang out with us
8669s	over on our social platforms and we will
8672s	all see you next month
8674s	bye guys
8678s	[Music]

[2023] Development Update with Node Village - 11AM PT Thursday, August 31, 2023

Transcript (by Youtube)

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