Ashes Of Creation is an upcoming MMORPG by Intrepid Studios, who aim to build a massive online world with meaningful interactions. They have successfully funded their game on Kickstarter, and here’s what it is all about:
Ashes of Creation is a new MMORPG that aims to bring the Massive back to Massively Multiplayer. It takes everything we love about the genre and brings it boldly into the future as a truly next generation title. We’ve all wanted a world that lives and breathes and reacts, where our decisions matter, where the world changes because of what we’ve done. Ashes of Creation is that game: The rebirth of the MMORPG.
Choosing your class, race and gear is a good start, but while most MMOs stop there, Ashes of Creation is just getting started. All of civilization is the responsibility of our players, and how that civilization evolves comes down to what our players decide. If you want a city, or marketplaces or the comfort of your own home, it’s up to you to build it. If a city is encroaching on your territory, it’s up to you to destroy it. Allies and enemies, friends and foes, these are words determined by you, not by us – there is no red and blue team for you to fall back on. Your grudges, your wars, your peace are real things, created by you, and the history of conflict is the history of the players.
In order for choice to matter, the world must be capable of change. Ashes of Creation brings to life a world designed around that concept. From seasons that include quiet autumns and devastating winters, to a volcano that threatens to level a city, this world lives and breathes and reacts to what the players do. On one server, that volcano may never erupt, in another that devastating winter may last five cycles, or with the help of a few heroes maybe only one.
From the moment a settler steps through one of the divine portals, the world has changed and will forever be changed. Ashes of Creation gives players unprecedented control over their destiny, and it’s the world’s ability to change that gives them that power.
But change for change’s sake means nothing without consequence. That means that these changes and these choices must have repercussions, they must be *felt* throughout the rest of the world. It means that when a player makes a choice in a quest, that choice can’t be undone. It means that when that volcano erupts and destroys a city, the landscape is forever altered. It means that when a tyrant makes life difficult for his citizens, his citizens can rise up against him. Players have choices to make, those choices lead to change, and that change has consequence. Day to day, server to server, the world will be in flux, and history will remain where it always should, in the hands of the player.
The state of the world is determined by our Node System. It’s through this system that players determine how civilization evolves, and it’s through this system that our world determines how to react.
Every zone is made up of multiple Nodes, and each Node has a Zone of Influence. As players adventure and complete their day-to-day goals, their experience is being captured by a Node through its Zone of Influence. As players level up, so do these Nodes. With enough experience a Node might become a village, a city, or with enough effort even a metropolis. As these population centers open up, players can establish citizenship through in-Node housing, instanced housing, or our Freehold system.
More player activity results in more civilization, bringing with it new quests, events, and services that players can take advantage of.
These centers of civilization will be ruled by you, the player, through democracy or through force. You determine whether that temple is built, or that barracks, or that marketplace.
But everything has a price, and the savvy politician must decide whether that price is paid through tyranny, through diplomacy, or through war.
Every leader is ultimately bound by their economies, which are local to their region. There is no global auction house, and resources don’t exist in unlimited supply.
Some regions might have too much iron, others not enough, and thus trade routes will be brokered and fought over. The transport of goods is an essential facet of our game, and though dangerous and fraught with risk, the health of the Node depends on it.
It depends on it, because the world doesn’t appreciate civilization. Something dark and terrible happened long ago to wipe it from the face of this planet, and now that civilization has returned, those dark things stir again.
Can you remember the names of the gods that once were, and invoke their aid? Or will you erase their memory from history and take up the sword yourself?
Ashes of Creation is at it’s core, a high fantasy world, with monsters, demons, dragons and heroes. Players will be able to choose from one of 8 races (four species, each with two subtypes). In keeping with our theme of Consequence, and unlike other games, race won’t just be a matter of look, with relatively inconsequential abilities tacked on. Instead they integrate deeply into our class system, augmenting and changing the basic chassis provided by our eight core archetypes. Our goal here is to create a system where an elven fighter feels different, but serves the same role as a dwarven fighter.
At some point during your adventuring, you’ll be able to augment your primary class with a secondary class, chosen again from the eight archetypes. Do you want your fighter to channel the elemental energies of a mage? Or would you rather your rogue be able to summon a helping hand? Maybe your ranger wants to supplement his healing abilities, or perhaps your bard wants to off-tank? You further specialize your character by choosing this secondary class, augmenting and changing what your core class can do.
We’re a team of MMORPG veterans, brought together under one flag, with one goal in mind: To finally advance the genre. There’s over 40 years of MMO experience here in this office, and we have the experience and the know-how to get this project done.
