Ashes Of Creation – What To Expect

For the last few years MMO fans around the world have been craving a new and exciting addition to the genre. Although smaller low budget games have been released and the big names such as World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy have been expanded upon.

If you were looking for a fresh new MMO experience there has been very little on offer. Several new MMOs have been hinted at over the last few years, most notably, Ashes of Creation, New World, and the mysterious Lord of The Rings based MMO. Both New World and Ashes of Creation have been delayed several times, however they still appear to be the best hope for a rich MMO gaming experience in 2021. In this article I will delve deeper into what makes Ashes of Creation an intriguing front runner and what we can expect to experience when the game finally launches next year.

Overview of The Game

Ashes of Creation is a medieval fantasy based MMORPG, it claims it will incorporate all the best aspects of the current popular MMO’s into one graphically stunning game. The game promises to
be open world with unique mechanics and aspects of sandbox gameplay.

Ashes of Creation Features

Open World Nodes

Ashes of creation states that their MMO experience will be unique, in that the players will help shape the world. It claims cities will “rise and fall’ depending on player decisions. This is a truly unique concept in the genre, although games such as the ill fated “Everquest Next” planned to implement this idea, few have come to fruition or lived up to the hype. The idea of an ever changing landscape is very intriguing and if implemented well could keep players interested for years to come.

Player Housing and farming

Once a unique feature, player housing is available in almost all the larger MMOs of the last ten years, it is something we as players have come to expect so is there anything unique about houses in AoC (Ashes of Creation)? Rather than having set zones and instances, it appears you can choose to plant
your roots anywhere in AoC. Whether you crave a bustling town experience or a more rural setting in the wilderness . Developing your plot of land with farming and animal husbandry has also been mentioned, which may appeal to casual gamers as well as MMO veterans.

As a massive fan of games like Stardew Valley this really appeals to me and I will be interested to learn more about these features as the game develops. Whether the farming will be as fleshed out as in Black Desert Online or as simple as World Of Warcrafts Mists of Pandaria farms, it remains to be seen.

Some of the mention player farming and housing features:

• Set roots almost anywhere in the world
• Develop your plot of land over time
• Do farming on your plot of land
• Look after animals on your plot of land

Player vs Environment

As with all good MMORPGs questing is going to play a huge part of your PvE experience. Developers of the game state it will contain “the best elements of traditional MMO’s” they do add however that some quests will shape and change the world based on your own decisions. This a unique and novel concept for the genre and something which has been more at home in solo RPGs such as Dragon Age where your decisions have an impact.

I am very interested to see how they make these individual choices work in a multiplayer environment. Dungeons have certainly been mentioned with regards to PvE however there isn’t much mention of raiding and other end game content at the moment.

AoC claims to have an intuitive AI system where the same creatures will behave in unique ways depending on the environment or quest which is very intriguing. Stunning graphics and a variety of enemies also promise to make for an immersive, ever changing and exciting PvE experience.

Player vs Player

PvP promises to be an integral part of AoC with both small and large scale battles happening in both instanced zones and the open world, fighting for control of certain areas in the game.
Sieges in AoC are large open world multiplayer events where hundreds of players will battle over castles to secure and hold them for themselves. Having possession of a castle will
apparently hold great rewards for the player offering access to rare resources and other benefits such as controlling nearby towns and lands.

Game Economy

In every MMO there are the players who play for the riches, those who wish to build up and contribute to the economy of the game and there is certainly a place for this style of play in AoC. There is a caravan system in the game whereby players can transfer goods between cities to turn a profit. There will also be an area for PvP whereby opposing groups will be able to defend and raid each other’s caravans in an attempt to protect or steal the goods.

There will also be a classic market system in the game for buying and trading goods much like the auction houses or other MMO’s. However AoC states you will be able to “set up shop” in various areas to make the most profit from your collected and created goods.

Ashes of Creation – Game Economy Features

• A caravan system to transfer goods
• PvP combined with economy, to defend/steal riches
• A standard market / auction house system
• The ability to set up your shop to turn a profit!

Crafting and Gathering

As mentioned in the housing section, it is possible to set up your own plantation in AoC in order to grow your own ingredients for crafting or trading. You will also be able to traverse the world in search of natural resources and treasures.

Tools will be available for gathering and crafting and the developers boast that the variety in what players can make will be unique to them and “extremely versatile”. As someone who loves to max out craft skills I can’t wait to find out more about this system and how they have implemented this uniqueness into what we will be able to craft when the game launches.

So when can we play?

Unfortunately AoC does not currently have a release date although it is widely thought to be coming next year in 2021 there is no indication of which quarter I would expect it towards the end of the year. You can register interest in the game at AshesofCreation.com if you wish to learn more and stay up to date on all the latest news surrounding the game.

It certainly appears to have all the key features needed to make a promising entry into the genre as well as something a little unique we haven’t seen before. I am tentatively hopeful for Ashes of Creation and believe you should be too, watch this space for more exciting MMO news and reviews in the future.