Hello everyone!
Development on Ashes of Phoenix has been really intense during this summer, and thanks to your support and feedback, we've been able to bring multiple improvements to the game. Now, it is time for the launch.
Friday the 5th of September, the public server will be officially open for everyone. That means you'll be free to download the game client and jump into Arizona with all of us and start the adventure!
In a couple of days, game rules will be posted on our forums and the installation
procedure page will be updated. We'll post an announcement about it before launch day so you can perform the game installation already if you wish. The exact hour of the launch and some other details will be given at the same time.
This version 1.0 is just the beginning of the Ashes of Phoenix journey though. We have plans for the future weeks and months, and you can expect the game to evolve regularly. We'll talk about this in more detail in a few weeks. You can also expect us to ask your opinions about features of the game, both existing ones and new ones that we plan to introduce. Thanks to those discussions, we hope to develop a better game that corresponds to your desires, and also give you a clearer picture of our vision for Ashes of Phoenix in the future. This game is about combat, exploration, survival and politics, and all those aspects have not been equally developed yet. There is much more to come!
On top of that, in order to allow everyone to take a look at raw footage straight from the battlefield, we will host a livestream on twitch.tv on
August 30th, 8-10pm CET, showing live zone control in action.
We hope you'll have much fun playing AoP and we want to thank you for your support which is extremely helpful, boosting our spirit and giving us the energy we need to continue on. We hope you're as excited as we are to start plundering Phoenix with all our friends!
See you soon in Arizona!
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Now back to the debate here.
Dr Tomo:
This FO mmo is ffa pvp with no restrictions
Actually no, in AoP players have to join one of the four main factions. By doing so they will automatically be allied with the other members. While they can decide to shoot each other, doing so would be done at a great cost of reputation, reputation which is required to access the most advanced services of your faction. If you drop too much, you'll be expelled from your faction.
shihonage:
There will never be a MMO world "RUN" by players who are free to do anything they want. First and foremost, it has to have rules that herd the unruly bastards into acceptable behaviors in acceptable places, and protect the new players, otherwise you lose everyone except the scum of the earth.
I totally agree, that's why factions exist and why there are guards to protect the main hubs. Besides, I think that being raped by another faction is probably a good reason to start playing along with other members. You don't necessarily need to spend much time on that, just following a group can already be helpful, for example when you just started playing the game. Playing Rambo alone in the city would certainly lead to your death.
This game encourages and even enforces cooperation. Players sticking to FFA behavior will lose.
Awor Szurkrarz:
The problem with FOnlines isn't PvP. The problem is grinding and no permadeath.
Open PvP would be great without grinding and without permanent characters with inflated power.
AoP doesn't enforce any grinding. Lvl 1 characters are not babies who just got out of their cradle. They are able to fight and survive well already. There are no implants and such items that cost millions of caps and make you much stronger than regular characters. Being a crafter doesn't prevent you either from being a fighter, as non-combat skills are improved by use and not by points. Reaching the level 24 softcap will prevent you from getting more HPs on next levels. You won't get any more combat perks nor will you be able to spend skill points on your tagged skills. Instead you will gain new perks improving your comfort, and your points will be invested in your other skills, that you probably never raised until then. All in all, you'll be more versatile, but not strictly more powerful.
One alternative to permadeath could be resetting the killed character to level 1. So, players could have permanent identities, but not permanent character power.
I think that would potentially imply a lot of grinding, and if you got disconnected, if you click by accident or whatever else can happen, you'll be really angry. Perhaps there are ways to counter those issues, but that's anyway not our priority right now. Losing all your carried equipment is already a big penalty, as equipment plays its role just as much as your build/level and player skill do. I don't see why you should lose experience as well.
Gaining power in AoP to the extend you're mentioning, "promoting a great inequality among players", is impossible in AoP. Your only limits are your own skill and equipment, your ability to use every single weapon, trick, trap and plan to win battles. You can smash anyone, and anyone can smash you, the smartest and the fastest win. At some point (which is pretty early), your character level will matter less than your skill. And if you know where to find what you need, you won't spend much time on gathering your equipment. This game is not focused on doing chores at all.
