[2024] Holy moly, the amount of people complaining about this alpha 2 stuff is asinine.

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The game is in development. The company is very transparent. The founder shows a passion for making a great MMO. So far everything has looked fantastic with great progression towards a finished game. It's going to take time. Things may change.

I was the 72nd backer of this game back in 2017 on Kickstarter. I say that so you understand how long I've been following the development. I'm not upset it's been almost 7 years and I haven't tested alpha yet. I'm not upset that the persistent (24/7) alpha testing doesn't start until May. And I won't be upset if it's later than that because I understand this stuff takes time. I don't want the company to feel pressured into releasing an unfished game like we've seen so many times before. Let them do their due dulligence in creating something that is fully fleshed out.

And if you want to be a part of helping them create a great MMO, fantastic. We welcome you. But if you're just going to complain about dates being pushed back or other changes that are made along the way in order to benefit us then I ask that you, let someone else help test the game. You can decide if you want to play when the game launches.

Please before you post, think about the situation. We all want the same thing - A great MMO. We haven't seen a new one worth really playing in years. And all these triple A studios keep screwing us.

This is not a scam. Steven is very forthright and honest. The founder himself told us it is not a game to play in its current state and not to buy the keys if we don't want to test. How more transparent can you be?

I have high hopes for Ashes of Creation and Intrepid Studios because of what I've seen over the last 7 years. I hope y'all can find the patience to let them work so we can reap the benefits at launch.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk

Edit:

In case anyone is curious.

Kickstarter pledge

Founder - Early Bird Limited - $125

Invite to Closed Alpha - Phase 2 (Persistent Alpha)\ 1 Additional Month of game time (4 Total)\ Kickstarter Exclusive - Spectral Mare mount\ Kickstarter Exclusive - Pseudo Dragon Pet\ Kickstarter Exclusive - Freehold appearance bundle Tier 2\ Kickstarter Exclusive - Character Founder's Costume\ Access to Live launch head-start - 1 day early!\ Unique "Founder" forum badge\ Unique in-game character title "Founder"

Plus all previous rewards!!

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6 months ago - /u/Steven_AoC - Direct link

Thank you brother for the kind words and for your support. Because of the excitement that surrounds Ashes, there are a lot of emotions and expectations from a wide range of perspectives. And the reality is, alpha is not priced to be widely accessible. While the alpha will run for at least over a year, and will eventually become the public test realm that will run concurrently with beta, we have to support server costs and cdn for users during that time.

My advice, people can be frustrated. But the best remedy for frustration in this case, is to wait until we finish cooking and reevaluate interest when launch comes. Alpha offers no advantage to a player and can be shared by all because of the nda removal. 💪❤️

6 months ago - /u/Steven_AoC - Direct link

Originally posted by Mangert

There is no way that this is a scam. They are way too transparent to be a scam.

However, that doesn’t mean they are the best company in the world. They have issues. They are currently under a tax lein for not paying their taxes. Making them unable to continue to sell cosmetics.

They have repeatedly made promises on dates and deadlines that they were unable to meet.

They aren’t hiring as fast or as many as they seem to want (considering development is slower than they hoped).

They seemingly are desperate for money, and this game does NOT seem fully funded as they claim.

We constantly provide disclaimers that being in active development may result in missed timelines, delays and complete reworks. This is the development path and strategy we have chosen to adopt because we believe it will create the best product, and we believe it’s the healthiest way to develop large games like Ashes. Maybe this will be wrong, time will tell. It is factually inaccurate to say we are unable to sell cosmetics. Players who own packs can currently upgrade and make purchases and have been able to do so for the last several years. The tax lien issue was dealt with a couple years ago, and were minor clerical mistakes, the company pays hundreds of thousands in employment taxes every week. And we are actively hiring and have hired record numbers over the past 18 months. Funding for the game is not in question, despite what Reddit may say.

6 months ago - /u/Steven_AoC - Direct link

Originally posted by o5mfiHTNsH748KVq

With how it’s priced and the fact they’re doing it without NDA, they’re either going to live or die by this alpha. We won’t be kind if it turns out to be a cash grab like the doomers suggest.

I have a feeling they’ll be wrong, but we’ll know for sure soon.

edit:

let me be more succinct for anybody that’s confused. if a2 turns out to be a whaling expedition, that would f**king suck. i believe Intrepid is developing in good faith, but their pre-release monetization model has been abused by many developers before them. I expect their public alpha to be different than others and we’ll drag them if they abuse us.

I don’t think we will live or die by alpha. I think we will continue to build the game and improve it in a live test environment. Anyone looking at a2 as a judgement of the game at launch is not in line with the expectation we have publicly tried to communicate.

6 months ago - /u/Steven_AoC - Direct link

Originally posted by Elderwastaken

Agree. Some people are sucking at that YouTube rage nipple a little too hard.

Like many mammals, Humans by nature are instinctually drawn to nipples for sustenance as newborns. It can be a difficult habit to break.

6 months ago - /u/Steven_AoC - Direct link

Originally posted by SmeV122

I'll be honest, while I have been following the development for a short while, Steven is super transparent and the company is fantastic at communications imo. I don't understand what had people upset yesterday. All I know is I'm excited to have an opportunity to test with the release of the keys

Thank you brother

6 months ago - /u/Steven_AoC - Direct link

Originally posted by Niwrats

Just note that at least on the programmer side, hiring too much can be a mistake. Both due to money burn and the hires getting gradually less efficient due to increasing complexity of the.. whole thing (both code and personnel wise).

Of the 200+ developers on the project, roughly 60 are coders. There is a lot left to do ;)

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