Brother, studios aren’t going to plan or delay their launches and alphas around other game release dates. There’s so much planning that goes into a launch date, it’s not as flexible as some may think.
They made the cost barrier for people who really wanna test. They don't want people buying just to play when it's unfinished. So just wait for realise and monthly sub
You have to take into account A2 package gives 6 months ( 90 dollars) in game time as well as in game store cash plus skins. I don't care if they sell a stripped down alpha 2 key as long as key is not cheaper than the base price (no frills) of mine! I also heard on another channel that the stripped down alpha 2 keys will possibly not have beta keys it's just for alpha 2.
LOL, they aren't really "making money", they have a hard limit on what they want for player numbers. They will sell the "A2 only" keys cheap, but not give them out to everyone. If you have B1 or B2 package, you can upgrade to A2 package for the regular upgrade cost, but that includes cosmetics, store credits, and game sub time. OR you can just get the stand alone A2 key. Steven still has about 37 million dollars set aside for the games final three years of development and launch. They've already bought their studio, servers, etc.. I get that some people are skeptical, that's fine, wait and see. People that think it's vaporware at this point belong in Idiocracy however.
Yes, it is a good question as to why Intrepid will be offering additional Alpha 2 keys now at a reduced price. It would be too sinister of them to have planned this all along, so they probably have other reasons.
the new Tech breakthrough needs larger numbers. They had 200k and I'm guessing they want 300k-500k? Steven's new goal is multiple 500 vs. 500 battles on a server with 10k active players. Last year he didn't think it'd be more than 200 vs. 200 and then only one at a time. The new Network Stack, Architecture, AND 4 Thread UE5 they made allows for more possibilities. The fact they will be selling "A2 only" type keys means it's not about the money. LOL If they have a successful Launch, say 2 million people because there is no box cost and a month try is $15, that's the money.
@@Hat_Uncle Not about money huh? Well imagine how many players they can attract to the Alpha 2 to help test out their new tech by offering a free Alpha then??
@@christopherdaffron8115 likely less than half. Paid in means "more likely to test". It CERTAINLY was that way with A1. In A1 even the Twitch streamers were testing. LOL
Wait, did you say $250 ... FU#K THAT. I don't care if it's "only" $120 .. that is too much for a freaking online game that can go to crap at any time and have the company just up and shut down at any time with no repercussions. Thanks for making my mind up not to even both with this game or even watch streams of the game.
This was for people to go into the Alpha tests, not the full game. The game is going to be a monthly sub when it officially releases. They have consistently said that A2 will be a testing environment. If you don't want to pay the money, that's fine. Just wait till the game releases
yeah, it will be no box cost up front with a single subscription and no pay to win. No benefit to being in alpha other than testing early. Name reservations came with some of the preorder packs but thats for when the game is launching not during alpha 2 im pretty sure and it would only be per character one time on a single Realm or "server"
Unless is for content creator, streamers, who the hell would pay for something like this and the game sounds like so far away I still not believe this game will be release before 2030. By the that time all the hype is gone. They have great ideas don't take me wrong but the game is in so raw state.
Hear Hear! The Star Citizen monetization virus is spreading to other games that are both currently in development and even released. Elite Dangerous has caught on to releasing new ships for real money like Star Citizen, for instance. When a game developer rakes in over 700 million dollars from ship sales for a game that is still in alpha, you can't blame Intrepid for trying to charge players for testing their own Alpha.
@@christopherdaffron8115 I'm not blaming anyone, this is a way to finance ambitious projects from indie studios, which are not part of large video game companies.
@@trojancs16 I'm just glad it's not needed to fund this... people just forget that Steven originally earmarked $49mil of his own money for this. He has $37mil left because of sales, but the Real Money will come at Launch if it's successful, imagine no box cost, 2-3 million people saying "what the hell, I'll try it for $15 the first month". That's the real goal.
I think they should not sell A2 keys because for the reasons you stated Its not good to create content for a game thats not out Alpha is not what your looking for you will burn out and turn people off to the game before its remotely ready Ima be playing Darkfall when it releases on Steam (Copium Inhale) it has similar mechanics as AoC because both games were inspired by the same games. like Asheron's Call, and Shadowbane ect.
Am i the only one that thinks this sounds like they didnt get the response to the alpha test they were hoping for? Like they didnt make enough money from sales to justify the Alpha release so they are trying to make it up with lower cost hype. I rrally hope this games does well but paying for an alpha seems to sus for me.
you are not alone, I am sure, but I am not with you. I know the tech they talked about, I've been around forever and was in A1. The improvements have been vast, and A2 will see even more improvements over the year to year and a half it runs. I'd just suggest waiting if you are sus.
@@Hat_Uncle im nit saying the game has not made improvments. It just seems odd that they claimed their 250$ alpha was to keep it with people who were more vested in the games completion and the sudden drop in price would indicate their expectations of player backing was either under represented or not meeting some sort of finiancial expectation. Either way its not going to be taken as a positive from those of us who keep eyes on the total market not just singular games.
@@everlonggaming1966 That's a "kind of fair" take, but it also ignores things, like they GOT 200k Testers with the larger packages, over YEARS. As they spin up this Tech, the plan is to Test that tech capacity, so they need more than double the testers. How would they do that in TWO MONTHS, Other than offering A2 Only keys at a rate that is fair to the backer AND the new people? LOL
@@Hat_Uncle they set the time parameters for testing this tech if they wanted it done in 2 months they could offer an open Alpha test and have all the "testers" they would need for that. However, offering a paid Alpha test in the price range it currently is does not seem like its for testing purposes but for hype purposes or monetary gain. Don't get me wrong I'm not against the company making money. Just don't piss on my head and tell me its raining.
don't know what you are on about, more people is great news. Go from 200k to 500k and it'll be more fun. I got A1 access and am fine with it, they will only be getting A2 access, not even B2, B1 access. I have cosmetics, store credits, name reservation, and a year of play time already paid for. The A1, A2, B2, and B1 access cost me ~$30.
T&L just isn't a long-term threat. You'll be making a few videos on it - its pay to win, PvP zerging, and the huge falloff in population after about 2 weeks - 1 month. And I also don't think there's a big crossover in audience -- there are more people interested in T&L for sure, but the Ashes fans don't really care about Korean P2W games.
Ashes will Miss Out ON the Themepark Fans, but i think they can get and hold a Solid Sandbox enjoyers Playerbase. Still a niche Game. Curious If Steven does adjustments in regards to instanced content. Hope he Sticks to His Vision, even If the Game isnt for me 😊
250$ lol I have doubts about playing it or not, even for free, because there is nothing in it that I haven’t seen in an MMO, essentially it’s a reskin archage
@@hangman5918 node wars in almost all MMORPGs there are massive pvp battles in the open world, dynamic mixing of servers (if this is even true) how will it affect the game? minimal, the gameplay will be the same as now in other games, crowd against crowd. all these loud modes are just dust in the eyes, and in the game you will also sadly grind and pvp in the crowd, simply distributing skills to another crowd with 15 fps. you know this yourself, if you’ve seen the latest projects for 10 years, and if it’s more, then you know exactly what we’ll get in the end
@@SPR1G- so the AOC Project has to fail because other projects from other studios have failed in the past? By that logic, there can never be a good MMO in the future. So we just should give up and cry in the shower while remembering on our nostalgic times 15 years ago.
When an Alpha is legit competition for any full release game tells you the sorry state of MMO today. TaL is nothing more than another filler game. Paying for AiC alpha is a better value 😂
It isn't though is it. The concept of what an alpha and a beta actually is, has been lost. It's no longer a testing environment for feedback. Games use them now as early access buy ins for unfinished games that will help fund them to completion. AoC is trying to bring the literal meaning of an Alpha back. Should the people who are willing to financially back the game be given the opportunity to test it and give the most accurate feedback? I think yes.
I don't get the hype for this game. The combat is the old system from WoW. Tab targeting, auto attacks and 20 skills??? New World has the best combat of all MMOS, is a terrible sin that the rest of the game sucks.
Don't feel pressure that it might be in conflict with Throne - Ashes is not a complete game and Alpha is a limited time. Throne is releasing so will be there when Alpha Ends for you. Take your time and play Alpha, try and find everything that is needed for a smooth Ashes launch :)
@@cosm0850 ah maybe they do but it would destroy their numbers for some potential of new players at launch. If they don't at least make a wipe/reset of everyone then.
LMAO! Stop paying so much money for these online games. There is no game out there worth that. These companies definitely know who to target, and leave hanging. Shame.
the game would be amazing if it copy pasted gw2 combat lmfao. In current state its a worse version of that. Not to mention gw2 has s. Goes to show how dumb some people are dropping uneducated comments
How long has guild wars 2 been live? And comparing it to a game in alpha?? You are putting a decent professional boxer, who has never won anything, in the ring against a toddler. Of course the professional boxer would win that fight….the opponent isn’t grown up yet. Give this game some time before you bury it.
@@dpeters9897 gw2 released with the same combat. that was 10yrs ago. the character controllers fluidity at release is still categorically superior to what ashes is making. Just make you think maybe the difference is in devs skill not tech. If you press wasd in the game you will know.
@@xecor4450 I haven’t played it at all yet. Looks very interesting, though. I played guild wars for a smidgen of a bit, didn’t love it or hate it. Hopefully these folks can get some of the mechanical aspects of the game tuned-up, if they are lacking…. It is looking pretty neat to me.
Brother, studios aren’t going to plan or delay their launches and alphas around other game release dates. There’s so much planning that goes into a launch date, it’s not as flexible as some may think.
Well, most of the original Alpha 2 people probably died of old age. :D
well, some of us ARE getting long in the tooth as the kiddos said once upon a time. LOL
if i decide to test the game, it’d still be the beta test. i’ll wait and see if A2 is successful before deciding to buy the beta package.
see, that's a smart move for you. I've been in since A1, but tell people all the time, WAIT, unless you LOVE testing things...
I bought my way in to alpha 2 quite a while back. I'm perfectly fine with folks getting a better deal today. It's the early adopter curse.
They did mention that the actual date will be announced during the next podcast.
I have been saying September 30th 2024 for three years now. Only time will tell how good I actual am at these types of things.
@@Hat_Uncle I'll let you know what i predicted as soon as they announce it. ;)
@@rigamorti99 LOL, fair enough. I've just been posting on this game for five years.
@@Hat_Uncle Since you are good in predictions, tell us when you see Beta and most importantly the release-launch of the game!
@@Skull7Prayer sure, start of Beta will be near February 15th 2026, release around Thanksgiving 2026.
Would love to play the game, and you're right that I'm less interested in content until I can play. Side note they can eat my whole butt asking 250
They made the cost barrier for people who really wanna test. They don't want people buying just to play when it's unfinished. So just wait for realise and monthly sub
@@mazmundie I get why you’d want to limit your alpha players but that just gives off big Star Citizen vibes to me
For fairness, I hope the price for A2 is the price of the voyager pack minus the months of in game time (like if it was 9 months, 135$ less).
You have to take into account A2 package gives 6 months ( 90 dollars) in game time as well as in game store cash plus skins. I don't care if they sell a stripped down alpha 2 key as long as key is not cheaper than the base price (no frills) of mine! I also heard on another channel that the stripped down alpha 2 keys will possibly not have beta keys it's just for alpha 2.
Yes, A2 "stand alone keys", as I'm calling them, will be cheap, but only for A2.
If that's the case there will be outrage unless it's communicated well enough that even blind people could see it.
LOL, they aren't really "making money", they have a hard limit on what they want for player numbers. They will sell the "A2 only" keys cheap, but not give them out to everyone.
If you have B1 or B2 package, you can upgrade to A2 package for the regular upgrade cost, but that includes cosmetics, store credits, and game sub time.
OR you can just get the stand alone A2 key.
Steven still has about 37 million dollars set aside for the games final three years of development and launch. They've already bought their studio, servers, etc..
I get that some people are skeptical, that's fine, wait and see. People that think it's vaporware at this point belong in Idiocracy however.
Are they years away from release ?
At least 3 years Minimum
When is this game releasing?
Yes, it is a good question as to why Intrepid will be offering additional Alpha 2 keys now at a reduced price. It would be too sinister of them to have planned this all along, so they probably have other reasons.
They fibbed about having sold enough alpha 2 keys at the higher price. They need the money.
the new Tech breakthrough needs larger numbers.
They had 200k and I'm guessing they want 300k-500k?
Steven's new goal is multiple 500 vs. 500 battles on a server with 10k active players.
Last year he didn't think it'd be more than 200 vs. 200 and then only one at a time.
The new Network Stack, Architecture, AND 4 Thread UE5 they made allows for more possibilities.
The fact they will be selling "A2 only" type keys means it's not about the money. LOL
If they have a successful Launch, say 2 million people because there is no box cost and a month try is $15, that's the money.
@@Hat_Uncle Not about money huh? Well imagine how many players they can attract to the Alpha 2 to help test out their new tech by offering a free Alpha then??
@@christopherdaffron8115 likely less than half. Paid in means "more likely to test". It CERTAINLY was that way with A1. In A1 even the Twitch streamers were testing. LOL
@@Hat_Uncle Well then, they should charge twice as much for the new Alpha 2 keys. You know, pay even more means " even more likely to test". Right?
Wait, did you say $250 ... FU#K THAT. I don't care if it's "only" $120 .. that is too much for a freaking online game that can go to crap at any time and have the company just up and shut down at any time with no repercussions. Thanks for making my mind up not to even both with this game or even watch streams of the game.
This was for people to go into the Alpha tests, not the full game. The game is going to be a monthly sub when it officially releases. They have consistently said that A2 will be a testing environment. If you don't want to pay the money, that's fine. Just wait till the game releases
That was for cosmetics, store credits, A2, B2, B1 access, and a year's sub paid. The new A2 keys will be for A2 only and cheap.
People unwilling to dump money into it aren't the customer they want 😂
@@RealDragonFerret weve only bveen waiting 9 years...
lets go this is great news
They've already sold 200,000 A2 keys, i expect a glorious shitstorm if meshing doesn't work.
@@Sang-Je source? Last we heard was over 100k Jan 2023
Is ash a subscription game? How much will it retail? More than alpha? Are there benefits to get in alpha like reserving names?
yeah, it will be no box cost up front with a single subscription and no pay to win. No benefit to being in alpha other than testing early. Name reservations came with some of the preorder packs but thats for when the game is launching not during alpha 2 im pretty sure and it would only be per character one time on a single Realm or "server"
Unless is for content creator, streamers, who the hell would pay for something like this and the game sounds like so far away I still not believe this game will be release before 2030. By the that time all the hype is gone. They have great ideas don't take me wrong but the game is in so raw state.
Well, Star Citizen started it all, and apparently many games in the future will copy it. A way to finance ambitious projects.
Hear Hear! The Star Citizen monetization virus is spreading to other games that are both currently in development and even released. Elite Dangerous has caught on to releasing new ships for real money like Star Citizen, for instance. When a game developer rakes in over 700 million dollars from ship sales for a game that is still in alpha, you can't blame Intrepid for trying to charge players for testing their own Alpha.
@@christopherdaffron8115 I'm not blaming anyone, this is a way to finance ambitious projects from indie studios, which are not part of large video game companies.
@@trojancs16 I'm just glad it's not needed to fund this... people just forget that Steven originally earmarked $49mil of his own money for this. He has $37mil left because of sales, but the Real Money will come at Launch if it's successful, imagine no box cost, 2-3 million people saying "what the hell, I'll try it for $15 the first month". That's the real goal.
As long as the game stays in an unreleased state they can run their studio and still pay investors without touching their capital@@Hat_Uncle
I think they should not sell A2 keys because for the reasons you stated
Its not good to create content for a game thats not out
Alpha is not what your looking for
you will burn out and turn people off to the game before its remotely ready
Ima be playing Darkfall when it releases on Steam (Copium Inhale) it has similar mechanics as AoC
because both games were inspired by the same games. like Asheron's Call, and Shadowbane ect.
Am i the only one that thinks this sounds like they didnt get the response to the alpha test they were hoping for? Like they didnt make enough money from sales to justify the Alpha release so they are trying to make it up with lower cost hype. I rrally hope this games does well but paying for an alpha seems to sus for me.
you are not alone, I am sure, but I am not with you. I know the tech they talked about, I've been around forever and was in A1. The improvements have been vast, and A2 will see even more improvements over the year to year and a half it runs. I'd just suggest waiting if you are sus.
Money problem is the last kind of problem that can happen in this project.
@@Hat_Uncle im nit saying the game has not made improvments. It just seems odd that they claimed their 250$ alpha was to keep it with people who were more vested in the games completion and the sudden drop in price would indicate their expectations of player backing was either under represented or not meeting some sort of finiancial expectation. Either way its not going to be taken as a positive from those of us who keep eyes on the total market not just singular games.
@@everlonggaming1966 That's a "kind of fair" take, but it also ignores things, like they GOT 200k Testers with the larger packages, over YEARS.
As they spin up this Tech, the plan is to Test that tech capacity, so they need more than double the testers.
How would they do that in TWO MONTHS, Other than offering A2 Only keys at a rate that is fair to the backer AND the new people? LOL
@@Hat_Uncle they set the time parameters for testing this tech if they wanted it done in 2 months they could offer an open Alpha test and have all the "testers" they would need for that. However, offering a paid Alpha test in the price range it currently is does not seem like its for testing purposes but for hype purposes or monetary gain. Don't get me wrong I'm not against the company making money. Just don't piss on my head and tell me its raining.
To be honest this is a hit in the gut of the people who paid more previously.
I bought the most expensive pack, and it is, but I'm happy that my friends will be able to join now
don't know what you are on about, more people is great news. Go from 200k to 500k and it'll be more fun. I got A1 access and am fine with it, they will only be getting A2 access, not even B2, B1 access. I have cosmetics, store credits, name reservation, and a year of play time already paid for. The A1, A2, B2, and B1 access cost me ~$30.
T&L just isn't a long-term threat. You'll be making a few videos on it - its pay to win, PvP zerging, and the huge falloff in population after about 2 weeks - 1 month. And I also don't think there's a big crossover in audience -- there are more people interested in T&L for sure, but the Ashes fans don't really care about Korean P2W games.
this game is no better than tl, just promises and the gameplay is the same if not worse
Ashes will Miss Out ON the Themepark Fans, but i think they can get and hold a Solid Sandbox enjoyers Playerbase.
Still a niche Game.
Curious If Steven does adjustments in regards to instanced content. Hope he Sticks to His Vision, even If the Game isnt for me 😊
So i only for the Aloha 2 Test? Nah man
Maybe cheaper but the subs ?
Thanks
250$ lol
I have doubts about playing it or not, even for free, because there is nothing in it that I haven’t seen in an MMO, essentially it’s a reskin archage
Node wars? Dynamic Server Mashing? Dynamic Weather System? Caravans? ... are you serious?
@@hangman5918 node wars in almost all MMORPGs there are massive pvp battles in the open world, dynamic mixing of servers (if this is even true) how will it affect the game? minimal, the gameplay will be the same as now in other games, crowd against crowd.
all these loud modes are just dust in the eyes, and in the game you will also sadly grind and pvp in the crowd, simply distributing skills to another crowd with 15 fps.
you know this yourself, if you’ve seen the latest projects for 10 years, and if it’s more, then you know exactly what we’ll get in the end
@@SPR1G- so the AOC Project has to fail because other projects from other studios have failed in the past? By that logic, there can never be a good MMO in the future. So we just should give up and cry in the shower while remembering on our nostalgic times 15 years ago.
Paying anything to be a quality tester is hilarious.
my thoughts exactly!
Unless you are having fun.
Well if you wanna be part of the journey and you are excited to play early it's def worth it...
When an Alpha is legit competition for any full release game tells you the sorry state of MMO today. TaL is nothing more than another filler game. Paying for AiC alpha is a better value 😂
It isn't though is it. The concept of what an alpha and a beta actually is, has been lost. It's no longer a testing environment for feedback. Games use them now as early access buy ins for unfinished games that will help fund them to completion. AoC is trying to bring the literal meaning of an Alpha back. Should the people who are willing to financially back the game be given the opportunity to test it and give the most accurate feedback? I think yes.
I don't get the hype for this game. The combat is the old system from WoW. Tab targeting, auto attacks and 20 skills???
New World has the best combat of all MMOS, is a terrible sin that the rest of the game sucks.
Don't feel pressure that it might be in conflict with Throne - Ashes is not a complete game and Alpha is a limited time. Throne is releasing so will be there when Alpha Ends for you. Take your time and play Alpha, try and find everything that is needed for a smooth Ashes launch :)
I thought they were going to leave the alpha open up until launch?
@@cosm0850 ah maybe they do but it would destroy their numbers for some potential of new players at launch. If they don't at least make a wipe/reset of everyone then.
@@BubbaSvensson Yeah, launch will be a wipe
@@cosm0850 Oh, nice then it sounds like a fun time to experience and be a part of all the development fixes and changes all the way into launch :)
you can read in the AOC Wiki that Alpha 2 will last until Release. Alpha 2 will directly go to BETA 1 and BETA 2 and after that to Release.
LMAO!
Stop paying so much money for these online games.
There is no game out there worth that.
These companies definitely know who to target, and leave hanging.
Shame.
Fluro colours and flashing pixel combat, suitable for children 12 years or under.
Cutting out a lot of the gaming audience there.
Combat looks awful, it and paste from GW2. Tab targeting sucks, moved on from that. Action combat with hit boxes and s or gtfoh
Luckily You don't need to play it. Why watch if no/low interest
the game would be amazing if it copy pasted gw2 combat lmfao. In current state its a worse version of that.
Not to mention gw2 has s. Goes to show how dumb some people are dropping uneducated comments
How long has guild wars 2 been live? And comparing it to a game in alpha?? You are putting a decent professional boxer, who has never won anything, in the ring against a toddler. Of course the professional boxer would win that fight….the opponent isn’t grown up yet. Give this game some time before you bury it.
@@dpeters9897 gw2 released with the same combat. that was 10yrs ago. the character controllers fluidity at release is still categorically superior to what ashes is making. Just make you think maybe the difference is in devs skill not tech. If you press wasd in the game you will know.
@@xecor4450 I haven’t played it at all yet. Looks very interesting, though. I played guild wars for a smidgen of a bit, didn’t love it or hate it. Hopefully these folks can get some of the mechanical aspects of the game tuned-up, if they are lacking…. It is looking pretty neat to me.
Imagine paying to play Alpha 2 of a pretend game that you already gave money in advance to create haha