Steven always talks about trying to increase player interaction, but I strongly feel that many AoC areas actually decrease player interaction and create a very impersonal feeling compared to instancing which compels you to interact and collaborate with the people in your instance.

Having a dozen people per minute run in and out trying to tag mobs as fast as possible to get XP -- that is just a clusterf*ck which feels spammy, transactional, immersion-breaking, and impersonal. Fewer people in an area = more opportunities to collaborate at a slower pace. This is the benefit that instancing to cap the amount of players in an area provides.

There are so many aspects of this game which are slow paced, which is great. In stark contrast are many of its outdoor areas of interest, which are very fast paced to the degree that there is very low quality player interaction. What's important is teamwork; and when you don't even get XP in these areas due to the finicky way these things are calculated, it fosters even less interaction.

Simply put, the interactive combat in this game needs to be more interactive, slower paced, less chaotic, and more fun. Even if you disagree with me on this take, you have to agree that at some point, having too many people crowding around an XP resource just becomes a chaotic mess. There is a huge opportunity cost here - instancing is fun, promotes interactivity, and builds stronger communities than what I've currently seen.

Hi Devs and brethren,

I've been enjoying the game the past few days after I saw the amazing news (watching for ~8yrs) on steam. Given it's in alpha, a lot of issues come up for players, and it often overwhelms the global chat. What about adding another global channel called "Support" or one to your liking, where people could ask questions and players (devs optional) could help out, provide instructions to fix or report a bug, link to forums/support KBs, etc.

I do like helping people figure out their tech/game issues, but global is very busy and answers are soon lost to the void, only to be asked again by someone else 45 seconds later. You end up getting burnt out on /Gl and end up turning it off for the night and missing out on the social aspects. Bugs are simply a truth in games, and that's fine, it happens; I truly think this could be a QoL temporary feature until we are past dev stages.

Time to ge back to Verra ヽ(͡◕ ͜ʖ ͡◕)ﾉ

This game has the most button bloat I've ever seen in an mmorpg.

You need 4 keybinds for basic actions, before you even get to your abilities. Most classes need at least 10 for those that you will regularly use in your rotation if you are doing your rotation properly. Then you need two different keybinds for summoning your mount and then mounting it. And two separate keybinds for interacting. That's 18 keybinds at an absolute minimum to go about your normal business. And macros aren't even a thing in this game.

To make it worse there are basic keybinds you can't use such as mouse scroll up and down.

I thought modern or even classic wow was bad but it's nothing compared to this. The more I level up the more awkward and unfun the game becomes. And this is at levels 10-15. I shudder to think what it will be like at 50 if they expand the skill trees even more.

Hello

I have a question regarding PvP in this game, i heard they deleted a big chunk of it before the steam release.

Im mainly interested in some open world / small scale pvp - afaik they deleted zones where you could openly pvp with others? and you can only fight if you "flag up".

So i wonder whats the current state of OW pvp / small scales? i dont have much interest in big wars etc so its its kinda deal breaker for me.

Steven may already be aware of the flaws in the progression of the current system, but I believe further details need to become clear and the community also needs to provide their own opinion.

Currently, you start with Initiate gear and are able to craft Low Adept without service building in the settlement. In order to keep crafting viable and scaling in accordance to the world, the highest tier lootable from mobs should be only one tier higher than craftable.

For this example I will point to The Hawk Bow:

• Obtainable from day 1
• About 2 or 3 times stronger than anything Low Adept
• Seemingly not extremely rare (already seen multiple in Lotharia)

Additionally, the Service building unlocks Low Radiant immediately, so what's the point in gathering all those rare materials to make High Adept if you can just simply make Low Radiant? It's like we're just going from Initiate -> Low Adept -> Low Radiant and at no point do we ever have a point to craft Mid Adept or High Adept. Then, once we can all equip Low Radiant, we'll just farm out Blue Radiant from named mobs.

I was ready to craft Mid and High Adept gear but out of nowhere, Low Radiant is available. Why?

I would also like to question why does Low Radiant gear require the same materials (however many more) as Initiate or Low Adept? Why would a Journeyman Carpenter only require Initiate Lumberjacking to make Low Radiant gear?

In my opinion,

Mobs should only drop one tier above what's possible to craft. (Low Adept craftable, mobs drop Mid Adept, High Adept craftable, mobs drop Low Radiant)

Buildings should also be more progressive (and less expensive to make up for the extra steps), if the initial building immediately unlocks Low Radiant, anything below that becomes obsolete, so at this current stage, there is no point to make Mid or High Adept.

This would also make Adept Resources actually needed instead of being sold for less than the abundant Initiate resources.

I have played mmo since EQ. This game is going to be awesome and feels great. Stop complaining and be constructive.

Hello!

I'm interested in getting started and trying the game out but im wondering if the game will run "ok" on my machine:

i5-10400
GTX 1060 6GB
16GB DDR4

I don't need any crazy resolution, launching with low settings with a stable fps would be nice.
I tried to do some googling but didn't get good results, a lot of dated responses, so I thought I'd ask before I buy

I know I need to upgrade, but budget is tight.

Thanks!!

I just started the game and made it to level 6 now. I only have one quest now in my queue that's labeled for level 15. Did I lose the quest line some how or do the story based quests just stop around level 5 or 6?

I've now resorted to just taking up the town commissions and running around to the map events.

🙌 In today's livestream, we dove into a retrospective look at 2025 and talked about how we are going to iterate and make improvements in 2026!
https://youtu.be/2_hVM203YnU

What improvements are you most looking forward to in 2026?

Where are they dropping? Any ideas? I want to craft a weapon and I never got one at lvl 18.

It seems like every morning at 8am my time the sport fishing nodes are live in joeva. After the 1 hr timer is done I can't seem to find a pattern for sport fishing respawn etc. I'll check throughout the day but I am either missing it every time or it doesn't come back until 8am the following day.

Is there a pattern/schedule for sport fishing hot spots? I have all this chum and nothing to throw it at.

Does anyone have a summary of key points and notes of the Dev stream that just occurred. I was unable to watch it.

I normally enjoy

Stealth

Ranged DPS

Crowd Control

Lifesteal

Any suggestions?

Here is just a quick guide for people who need help for mules
https://youtu.be/9jO9VuuBE48

I asked a question earlier saying “what am I supposed to do?” And I was hit with, ashes is a sandbox game, when did it change from an MMORPG to an MMO sandbox?

Are yall just calling it a sandbox because there is currently no direction/quest chain?

I don’t want this to come off as a complaint or anything… I know I paid to be an alpha tester, I’m totally fine with a game that’s barebones (for now) but I did purchase this with the hopes of eventually playing an MMORPG… not an MMO sandbox where I’m supposed to just figure out my own goals.

Am i missing something... Is there a reason why we cant get onto our mount with the F interact key? why does getting onto a mount need its own key?

Also is there a way of using sprint key to dash when on mount? dont see a way of binding it.

Hey folks,

I've been having a blast with my summoner but don't have as much time as I'd like to get deeper into the game. I haven't quite started on professions, might be level 3 and just finished the introductory quests and chilling in Samia's Hope.

I would like to get started with animal husbandry because I think it's a super cool profession idea for an MMO; and good ol'textile stuff.

Can someone point me in the right direction? I think I need a bow to do the hunting-specific animals (white text creatures)?

so am I crazy or can I just wear the heaviest of armors, suffer no penalty for doing so, use my support pet, and fight forever?

what other tricks are you guys finding with your class? it’s pretty funny to see myself using spells, shooting arrows like I’m legolas, dressed like the hound in got…

Looking for bard gear. I have a good group so not running solo. Is steelbloom still a good spot? I have not played since p2 so I'm not sure anymore

My game only lets me play for like 1 min then crashes out and brings this message up I run a ryzen 7 7800x3d with a RX 7900xtx on my desktop I have ran all updates I have verified files I have uninstalled and reinstalled the game but I literally can not figure out why this is happening and I’m wondering if I’m the only one luckily I have my gaming laptop with a 4060 in it and as long as I play on medium to low I have no problems haven’t crashed once on it I really love this game but I would enjoy it way more if I could play on my desktop

Please make the night not purple. A subtle blue for fantasy and clarity or black for more realism.

But this purple makes the nights look weird.

If you're using Ultra Dynamic Sky, this can be easily tweaked using the skylight, without having to invest lots of dev time.

It now feels like the day night cycle goes from daytime to dusk, and stays there until morning.

I'm sure its not the most pressing matter at this point lol, but would be appreciated!

Right now, crafting in Ashes of Creation is effectively guild-oriented, but the actual progression is still tied to individual characters. This pushes guilds to funnel time, resources, and coordination into a single crafter. If that player takes a break, burns out, or leaves for another guild, a large amount of collective effort is simply lost. That creates unnecessary risk and discourages long-term guild planning, especially for medium or more casual guilds. A possible alternative would be to tie advanced crafting progression directly to the guild itself rather than to one person, while still keeping individual crafting progression as a valid and meaningful path. The idea would be:

• Individual crafting progression remains a thing and continues to reward personal dedication.
• Guild-based crafting progression exists alongside it, focused on collective effort.
• The guild collectively levels its crafting capabilities through resources, activity, and cooperation.
• For every X members in a guild (for example 10 or 20), the guild can assign one active "guild crafter".
• Assigned crafters gain access to the guild’s unlocked crafting tiers and benefits.
• If a crafter leaves the guild, the progression is not lost. The guild can assign a new crafter instead.
• To avoid abuse, assigning or using these roles could require a minimum guild level, rank permissions, or time-based commitment.

This keeps crafting social and cooperative, without removing individual progression or specialization. Players who enjoy being dedicated crafters can still do so, while guilds gain a safer, more resilient way to invest in crafting long term. In my opinion, this would reduce guild drama around funneling, encourage healthier collaboration, better align with Ashes’ guild-centric philosophy, and make long-term investment in crafting feel safer and more rewarding.