I remember the first time I logged into Everquest, ventured out of the city of Freeport, and got pwned by a level 2 skeleton because I missed all my swings. I laughed, respawned, and found out about ‘conning’ the enemy and stuck to whites and blues. I have a lot of fond memories of Everquest and the feeling of wonder as I grew in power and ventured further and further away from home. My first group was in The Unrest killing undeads in the corner of a garden. My first raid wiped three times trying to kill Nagafen before we finally got the kill. I’ve been chasing that feeling around hype after hype only to have found it exactly one time since then: Venturing into Icecrown Citadel in World of Warcraft and slowly marching our way to a Lich King kill. I’ve been pretty much aimless ever since.
Enter Ashes of Creation. Here is a game that is marketing itself to someone in my exact shoes; people missing that wonderment and immersion and most importantly the sense of community that comes from grouping being a primary means of getting things accomplished. A part of me would love nothing more than to run into an area and should ‘camp check’ like my days of yore. Despite my own misgivings I find myself excited at the prospect - which is why I simultaneously try to and try not be. Why? Because I, and mostly likely at some point you, have been let down by words and promises once a project comes to fruition.
Albion promised to be the next UO and instead is a relatively stale instanced, toxic pvp-fest. No Man’s Sky? Yeah, not an MMO but probably the biggest let down in gaming history. We’ve had games that promised the world and either silently vanished or ruined their own game with pay to win money grab schemes that took a great thing and threw it in the toilet. As a result, I find myself very cautious and skeptic. I want Ashes of Creation to be the game that restores my love of MMOs and I want it to be true to everything devs have told us so far. I’m excited to find out in December’s Alpha but terrified at the same time of being let down again. So only time will tell.
For those that are excited about the game but may not have gotten access: let me know what you would like to see discussed and explored and I will do my best to bring you the content you crave (subject to press embargos and such). I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts.
