PvP background

While Ashes of Creation took inspiration from Lineage II (and other games) it has also addressed several flaws in the implementation of those games. The approach of the flagging system in Ashes of Creation is to further disincentivize griefing while still allowing the system to keep risk relevant in the open-world setting.

First and foremost, PvP in Ashes exists in both opt-in systems and events, as well as our open world flagging system. And while it is true that I enjoyed and took much inspiration from games like Lineage 2, we have innovated and adapted our approach to Ashes’ flagging system in order to further disincentivize griefing while still allowing the system to keep risk relevant in the open world setting. The overwhelming majority of player’s experiences with PvP in Ashes will be through consensual systems like caravans, sieges, wars, the open sea and other events. Players will make a choice to participate in those systems or not. And if they choose to participate there will be significant rewards for success. – Steven Sharif

• PvP in Ashes of Creation exists in both opt-in systems and events as well as open-world PvP with a flagging (and corruption) system.

In the open world, when competing for the scarcity of resources, raids, dungeons and or hunting grounds, an important element of risk vs reward is introduced through our flagging system. Players must be aware of their surroundings and the reputation of other players who may be in proximity. The flagging system is intended to always provide an element of risk in all settings, but also architected to ensure that griefing and PK’ing is almost never worth it. The subtleties of this system are complex, which is of course why it will require considerable testing and feedback. – Steven Sharif

• Corruption gain takes into account level disparity between the attacker and the player that was killed. The greater the disparity the higher the corruption accrued. Corruption penalties occur as the corruption is gained.

These are all things that I've changed in the system that help to safeguard some of those loopholes. Now of course, as we said, we can't and we don't want to 100% remove the ability for that risk to be alive- for that risk to be realized. But what we do want to do is make sure that those occasions are few and infrequent, and are not the majority of a player experience, let's say in the open world; and we do so by incorporating all of those risks and costs into a decision to gain corruption and then PK another player in the open world. It's just not going to be done often and that is my expectation and opinion. It's also the goal of the system is that griefing is not a viable option or play style. And as a result of that desire for the system, we will fine tune it in such a way through testing that that outcome is achieved. And that is the intent and purpose of the design. – Steven Sharif

• Corruption score has a scaling impact on skill and stat dampening that will ultimately make them ineffective at PvP combat.

• Working corruption off through XP grinding takes significantly longer than Lineage II.

• There is also a bounty system that reveals corrupt player locations on the map.

• Abilities with CC effects do not apply to non-combatants. This prevents players from opening attacks that stun unflagged players.

• Players who heal, buff, or otherwise support corrupted players will flag as combatants.

• Non-combatants can attack corrupted players without flagging themselves as combatants.

• There is a 60 second timer to logout while corrupt. Force-disconnecting the client during the cooldown will leave the character in-game.

Open-world PvP

PvP combat gameplay in Alpha-1 castle sieges.

Alpha-2 open world caravan PvP.

Player combat in Ashes of Creation is both vast and intimate. It spans many aspects of the game itself. From great political battles held on the fields of massive castles, to open world conflicts fought for the pride of Guild Leaders. A player can choose to participate in the fate of the world by swaying the tide of battle with his or her combat prowess. Our PvP mechanics follow a flagging system, as well as static PvP zones at certain points of interest; fight for control over cities, castles, caravans, or hunting grounds. Our PvP is designed to offer the players a well-balanced and fair world to shape through the pen, or sword should they choose.

PvP (Player versus player combat) is the catalyst for change in Ashes of Creation. Player combat is intended to be meaningful, ranging from Caravan battles to vast open world conflicts fought for the pride of Kings and Queens.

Because players are motivated by different things, because they want something from the game that other players don't want, that's going to cause people to butt heads. Different players are going to want different experiences and the conflict between the two of them will create a bigger and better thing. Out of strife comes rebirth and that's a core symbol, it's a core theme that occurs throughout the game. – Jeffrey Bard

• The majority of players will experience PvP through opt-in objective-based battlegrounds. These are high risk and high reward encounters that do not utilize the corruption system.
  • Sieges.
  • Caravans.
  • Guild wars.
  • Naval PvP in the open sea.

  Better things in more abundance can be found in the open-sea zone. And as a result, that is why there's an added level of risk associated with opting into those locations. – Steven Sharif

  • Death penalties (mostly) do not apply to objective-based events (also called sanctioned events).
    • Gear degradation applies on death during Caravan PvP.

• There are also reasons to engage in open world PvP, which is subject to the player flagging and corruption system.
  • Contesting open-world dungeons or raids.
  • Contesting scarce resources and hunting grounds.
• The risk of gaining corruption is expected to deter the vast majority of players from griefing other players but this doesn't mean that PvP won't occur in the open-world.

Just because our flagging system gives corruption to PKers, doesn't mean PvP won't happen. There is plenty of reason for PvP to occur open-world. – Steven Sharif

Q: Have you considered a high-stakes loot drop PvP zone/area in Verra?

A: We have not; and the reason for that is our current PvP systems already allow for material risk essentially that's either through the flagging system or through other event-based pvp opt-in systems as well. – Steven Sharif

• Archetypes such as Tank and Bard are viable in PvP due to the rock-paper-scissors design philosophy, where each class is naturally strong against certain skill compositions.

Ashes of Creation inspiration

Ashes of Creation has taken inspiration from various other MMORPG titles.

In terms of what came before, we're trying to figure out who did what best and take inspiration from that: Move the genre forward; keep things updated and bring it into the 21st century. – Jeffrey Bard

• Eve Online with its regionalized economy and risk vs reward in transportation.
• ArcheAge with its building systems, transportation and naval combat.
• Star Wars Galaxies with its crafting systems.
• Lineage II with its risk vs reward, castle sieges, flagging, open world PvP and guild progression.

A lot of the systems in Lineage 2 were based around a concept that got lost today in mmorpgs, and that's risk versus reward. You know this idea that the more you risk the greater potential reward should be present is a complete paradigm shift away from everyone's a winner, everybody gets a participation reward, and here you go, congratulations you're a player in this game; and that's boring. It gives nothing for a person to aspire to achieve something, or to feel the bite of loss when you fail. Those are the driving forces of why people want to play games and it's a reason why new games when they come out have such a short lifespan, because they are always competing with WOW. You don't have to compete with WOW. You don't have to be a WOW killer. You can focus on something that is different from a philosophical design standpoint; and I think that's just what a lot of studios today don't want to take the risk on. – Steven Sharif

Design pillars

The design of Ashes of Creation adheres to five main pillars.

1. Engaging and immersive story
2. Reactive world
3. Player interaction
4. Player agency
5. Risk vs reward

In designing Ashes of Creation, we adhere every detail to five main pillars: Engaging and Immersive Story, a Reactive World, Player Interaction, Player Agency, and Risk vs Reward. Even in the environment, everything you as the player do will tie into these pillars, while everything your guild does, everything your server does will ultimately keep the world fresh, ever-changing, and most importantly... exciting.

See also

• PvP
• Risk vs reward
• Ashes of Creation