Overview
If you have stumbled upon Ashes 101, then you are one of the millions of MMORPGs enthusiasts that are following the development Ashes of Creation, a new MMORPG coming soon from Intrepid Studios. There are so many new and unique ideas in Ashes of Creation it is hard to just jump into the community and get your head wrapped around everything Intrepid is trying to change in the genre and doing it all without relying on a box-price or a cash shop loaded with Pay-to-win (P2W).
Nodes, Zones of Influence, Castle Regions, Corruption, any one of these ideas can be overwhelming, even to members of the community who have been following the game for four years. Compound that with the fact Steven (Creative Director on Ashes of Creation) will oftentimes say something during a monthly livestream or just off the cuff in Discord, and it changes everything we know and everything we have built our foundation on. Also, as a community it is easy to forget brand new people join the community every day. When we start deep diving into theory craft on some of these topics, to a new person we may as well be speaking a foreign language.
Recognizing how overwhelming jumping into Ashes of Creation is after five years of development, Ashes 101 has been designed to function as an educational resource so new members of our community can get up to speed and participate in the intricate, detailed discussions members of the Ashes community love to have. Since learning about Ashes of Creation is like drinking out of a firehose, this page presents the information about Ashes of Creation in a particular order, one that will help you absorb as much content as quickly as possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
I put the Frequently Asked Questions page together because a lot of people have the same questions over and over, ironically justifying the name of frequently asked questions. There is nothing wrong with having any of these questions, most of the new players do. In fact, these are probably the best questions to have. I just feel bad about giving people a 10 second answer to a question when they probably want, and deserve, a little more information. I will be updating this page as we get new and different frequently asked questions.
The World of Verra
The World of Verra is complicated. It is a world with several different types of world divisions that together create a complicated web of terms. If you do not learn these divisions right the first time, you may end up confusing your Zones of Influence with your Castle Regions. The World of Verra page and The Crash Course video together are short and sweet; designed to ensure you have a solid understanding of the world division terminology. Plus, there is a little lore sprinkled in the video, since I know some people love lore.
Combat System Overview
The Combat System in Ashes of Creation can be confusing for new players. Many players are accustomed to games either Action-based combat or Tab-Targeting combat. Ashes is seeking to do a hybrid blend of Action and Tab skills, unlike pretty much every other MMORPG on the market except for maybe Guild Wars 2. This one is worth the read and/or watch so you can catch up on what Intrepid is trying to do with the combat system.
The Nodes System
The Node System is the core system of Ashes of Creation. Every other system in the game (Housing, Artisan, Caravans, Guilds, PvP, Arenas, Bounty Hunting) all interact with the Node System. If there is one system you want to get smart on when dealing with Ashes of Creation, the Node System is it.
The PvP System focusing on Corruption
While Ashes of Creation is a game with a number of Open World PvP Systems, it is not technically a PvP sandbox. Steven calls Ashes of Creation a Themebox or a Sandpark, because the game has several themes in it, and PvP is one of those themes. A big part of Ashes is going to be the open world PvP and the different PvP themes; however, in order to guarantee the game does not become a gankbox the corruption system is in place to ensure players have to accept severe consequences if they want to kill other players whom are not willing PVP participants.
Conclusion
After you cover the FAQ and these four core areas, then dive into whatever content you are most interested in. Remember, if you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, do not hesitate to get in touch with me. I am happy to answer questions for players as questions drive my content.