There’s no shortage of MMORPGs out there, but there are few that truly push things to the next level. The Kickstarter-funded Ashes of Creation aims to do just that, offering a massive experience that “aims to bring the Massive back to Massively Multiplayer.” It seems like this is something that gamers really want, seeing as they helped raise over $3,000,000 to make the game a reality.
The concept of the game is simple enough, as the game’s Kickstarter page claims that it will take everything that we love about the MMORPG genre and push it all forward. “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,” reads a description.
Ashes of Creation – Official Gameplay Trailer
One way where the game will push things forward is with the amount of control the player has on the events of the game’s world. You will be able to create your character just as you can in many other games of the genre, but this game goes much further. “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.”
The whole game is built around a living and breathing world, which will cause it to be a dramatically different game for each player. Changing seasons and weather hazards (even volcanoes) threaten the game’s world, but the damage done will vary from player to player. One player may play for hundreds of hours and never see the volcano erupt, whereas another may get unlucky and have it wipe out an entire city. Likewise a harsh winter may last ages on one server, whereas a player on another server will get by with less trouble. Things may get tough, but with the right help no obstacle is insurmountable.
Of course, seeing as there’s so much potential for change means that there’s the potential for some big consequences. Players need to make their decisions wisely and realize that they cannot be undone, and that they will likely ripple throughout the entire game’s world. Failure to save someone (or someplace) will result in them being gone forever, with the player’s only solace being to not make the same mistake going forward. Everything is put in the hands of the player, and the player must accept all of the good and bad that comes with that.
The game’s world is run on what is called a Node System. The interaction that the player has with these nodes determines how each node’s accompanying area will transform, for better or for worse. There are many zones in the game, and each one is made up of multiple Nodes. As players complete tasks and level-up, so will the node that they are currently in. The more experience pumped into a particular node the bigger it will become, causing a tiny village to eventually become a metropolis.
The story featured here is very basic, but that is because it will ultimately be your own story that unfolds before your eyes. All the game tells you is that “something dark and terrible happened long ago to wipe [civilization] from the face of this planet, and now that civilization has returned, those dark things stir again.” You have the potential to receive aid from the gods, or forget them entirely and fend for yourself. Again, it is all up to you, and the events of your game’s story will largely be unique to you.
There are numerous races and classes that players will be able to choose from, with there being four races and eight classes in total. The four classes each contain two subsets, which are the following:
Aela Humans:
Kaelar
Vaelune
Pyrian Elves:
Empyrean
Py’rai
Kaivek Orcs:
Ren’kai
Vek
Dunzenkell Dwarves:
Dunir
Nikua
As for the eight classes, they are Tank, Mage, Fighter, Cleric, Rogue, Summoner, Ranger and Bard.
There’s a lot more information to learn about the game, so be sure to get the full scoop through the game’s Kickstarter page. Ashes of Creation is obviously in the very early stages of development, and an official release date has not yet been decided. However, the game’s Kickstarter page does claim that all of the backer rewards will ship in December 2018, so it looks like the team is currently targeting a release somewhere around that time frame.
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