Ashes of Creation - Game Director Interview

An interview with Steven Sharif the Game Director of Ashes of Creation.
Having a good time with the game and had a great time with this interview.
Hope you all enjoy!

Sign up for the game here:

Watch the stream here:

Join the community here:

#Pants #AshesOfCreation #PirateSoftware

Timestamps
00:00:00 - Steven introduction
00:01:17 - Working on a large scale game
00:05:19 - Monetization
00:07:28 - Cosmetic mounts
00:08:14 - Regional pricing
00:09:36 - Soulbound items and RMT
00:13:47 - Guilds
00:20:24 - Anti zerg mechanics
00:22:12 - Guilds and Mayorships
00:25:43 - Spycraft
00:29:17 - Voting Mayors
00:32:19 - PvP
00:37:09 - Asmongold
00:46:14 - Drops, experience and player level
00:51:11 - Wipes
00:52:57 - Loot
00:56:29 - Transmogs and PvP
01:03:00 - UI and art
01:06:46 - Alpha access cost
01:13:43 - Leveling in AoC
01:20:10 - Crafting
01:22:46 - Region locks
01:24:33 - Content for solo players
01:26:39 - Sniping character names
01:29:10 - Need & Greed changes
01:38:07 - Caravan System
01:40:41 - Transpareny
01:44:07 - Naval warfare
01:47:28 - Fishing
01:50:53 - How big is the game
01:52:22 - Sharding
01:54:16 - What Steven is most excited about
01:56:32 - Ferret Wish
01:57:04 - Ending

- Edited by Sunder

[farsidesc]

By far one of the best interviews I've seen for Ashes of Creation.

[anthonydavis]

Not that the PirateSoftware team needs more work but it would be cool to have a playlist of all the Dev interviews Thor has done. Its a very intriguing topic in general. I love hearing the devs go through some of their process.

[TheQueerLeaf]

Thanks for posting this as a separate video

[blaydsong]

I love that he has a Pathfinder goblin. That game is my jam. :)

This whole interview has now got me seriously thinking about this game.

[zuxiloman]

bruh, i've been following the birth of ashes for a long time, and seeing Steven talking so passionately about this project and listening how truly into it he is, made me want to buy the game.
I've been hoping to start from point 0 in an MMO for a long time, and this is my chance to be part of something greater.
Help make Ashes not just an amazing game, but also a space for finding future friends, foes and trolls.

[Callumkloos]

I'm really not an MMO guy, but this was fascinating. MMOs as a product are so large and complex, and its really interesting watching this, and also watching you play the alpha on stream and comment on on the progress

[tylervanover]

Thank you for doing this. I was just thinking I'd like to see an interview with you two today and bom

[inpy]

00:00 Intro
0:45 What is like to work in that big of a project
2:58 About being in touch with the community as the developer + Steven background
5:12 Vision about monetization, pay to win, etc
7:30 How does cosmetic mounts work
8:15 Regional Pricing and Harmonization
9:36 There is no soul-bound items, is this intended? + Open Economy
10:50 How to fight Real Money Trading without Soul-bound items?
13:48 How Ashes is going to handle massive guilds/zergs influence on servers
17:10 About very large scale PvP environment + Guild progression + War Intelligence strats
22:11 Interaction between Guild and Node/Mayor systems
25:40 Ways to counterplay Spycrafting in Ashes
29:15 Currently there is democratic elections for choosing a Mayor. What other ways will be available to choose/become the Mayor?
31:05 Can you choose the type of the node you are in?
32:15 PvP balance on the game, for 1v1 and group vs group
33:18 Corruption features that are currently working
36:00 Corruption Baiting with AoE
37:15 People griefing Asmongold, griefing consequences and differences from intended PvP
46:15 Why higher level enemies have reduced item drop chance (its a bug)
47:50 Exp being reduced a lot for the group because of 1 higher lv player
49:30 Does Steven wear wigs (?)
50:35 Austria not being an available country on making accounts
51:12 When will wipes (char reset) be happening (20th december)
52:55 What are the intentions for equipments types on different classes
56:25 Are there plans for transmogging
59:40 Can non-pvp-flagged players loot bags (player drops) for the PKers, avoiding the corruption/flag
1:03:50 Will font-sizes/UI be scalable/adjustable
1:04:50 Color-blind support, being able to re-color everything on the UI
1:06:42 Alpha access cost
1:13:38 Intended player "feeling" for leveling/progression being hard-earned/time consuming
1:20:10 Is the crafting/gathering system intended to be relevant along all levels/progression?
1:22:45 About region locking for servers
1:24:35 What content are available for solo players
1:26:37 How to retain character names in between wipes
1:29:06 Why do you need to pickup loot from ground after winning the "need/greed" - PvX potential on loots
1:37:58 What are other planned activities that bring PvP spontaneously to the world, like caravans
1:40:30 About transparent development
1:44:06 About Naval Warfare, sea content and server population handling
1:47:25 How deep the fishing system is gonna be + a bit more about seas
1:50:52 How big the world is going to be + how many players are expected per server
1:52:26 About server meshing
1:54:12 Steven, what is the system you are the most excited about?
1:55:04 About the Underground/Underrealm World
1:56:30 About Ferrets Wish on the tower riddle + ending

[DrAustinSauce]

So well spoken.... It doesn't seem like he's just surface-level reacting to questions, but rather that every topic is purposely and meticulously thought out at a base level. Super cool to see from a dev.

[IK-nvhr]

15 minutes in and Steven is already giving GREAT answers to GREAT questions. I hope other content creators come across this interview and react to it, really excited to see where AoC goes 🤞

[BedsideJuggler]

Watched it live, watched it during the playback of the VOD, will watch this as well. Great interview overall. It's awesome to see someone with a passion for video games be involved in something like Ashes. Can't wait to see how this all goes. (Also can't wait for Friday so I can play!) Appreciate that the Goblins were part of the interview as well

[theguyonyoutube]

Really well spoken, knowledgable man. Might not be a game for me but ill give it a try.

[flahautjj]

Love how obviously passionate about the game he is. He seems like he could talk about ashes all day and love every second of it. Very optimistic about aoc now.

[Karkonion]

Best Game Director Interview ever, i enjoyed all 2 hours of it, direct questions and no BS answers . Awesome job ~!

[MrJessdb]

When the dude said the best cosmetics shouldn't be in the marketplace he had my heart. I will do a month minimum just for that alone.

[foREVerSyning]

Great interview, all the player first talk pulled me in. Def joining for the wave in May.

[swampsy]

stoked that this interview happened - props to gm steven for doing this and being so open about everything you asked

[runnag_]

Great interview and I love the transparency from Steve and ashes. I have plastered this video everywhere I can as it answers so many questions for those of us joining in on the Alpha or those interested in the launch. You did a great job and I appreciate it.

[CHEFPKR]

After backing the original kickstarter, it's amazing to see where the game is.

I might be heading into Alpha after this interview...

[avak]

Played under Steven's leadership while playing Archeage. It was the craziest time in any mmo I've played. Thank you Steven for your passion, your time, and your dedication.