Trials of Ascension, Kickstarter

[ITPaladin]

In case it hasn't been talked about here, and I didn't see anything searching for Ascension, there is a Kickstarter MMOG with the kid gloves taken off at

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/forgedchaos/trials-of-ascension-a-truly-innovative-mmorpg

home page http://trialsofascension.com/home/

This game supposedly was in prototype stage in the early 2000's, shown to various publishers that liked what they saw except for wanting it to be dumbed down; made easier, which the devs didn't want to budge on (sounds like Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa vision changes he gave into). They had a website/forums and a passionate following apparently.

You can read about all the ideas here http://trialsofascension.com/guide/

I especially like the hard-to-achieve, but powerful-if-achieved, magic user, as well as the various post-launch non-humanoid races (raknar, dragon, doppelganger, etc).

It is a 100-count perma death system with an unconscious buffer based on your fortitude/stamina. You can read about the benefits they view of their perma-death system in the guide. There was another link that I can't seem to find/remember for other reasons.

 

[GassyTheGoblin]

In case it hasn't been talked about here, and I didn't see anything searching for Ascension, there is a Kickstarter MMOG with the kid gloves taken off at

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/forgedchaos/trials-of-ascension-a-truly-innovative-mmorpg

home page http://trialsofascension.com/home/

This game supposedly was in prototype stage in the early 2000's, shown to various publishers that liked what they saw except for wanting it to be dumbed down; made easier, which the devs didn't want to budge on (sounds like Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa vision changes he gave into). They had a website/forums and a passionate following apparently.

You can read about all the ideas here http://trialsofascension.com/guide/

I especially like the hard-to-achieve, but powerful-if-achieved, magic user, as well as the various post-launch non-humanoid races (raknar, dragon, doppelganger, etc).

It is a 100-count perma death system with an unconscious buffer based on your fortitude/stamina. You can read about the benefits they view of their perma-death system in the guide. There was another link that I can't seem to find/remember for other reasons.

Excellent ! Thank You ITPaladin !!
Here's to hoping Trials of Ascension happens

 

[pontifex]

wow, watched the video on kickstarter -
no way to tell where you are in the game? lol - how is that helpful If you don't know where you are, how do you get anywhere?

no way to communicate with other people unless they are within yelling distance? lol
so no guilds in this game? no guild chat. No party chat?

no showing of character's names, you get to name them yourself? lol & wtf???? how do you know who you're talking to? How does naming someone else help? "hey sir derpsalot, want to go quest together? hey, sir derpsalot, can you hear me? hey are you listening? hello? helloooooo???" meanwhile the guy's name he's trying to talk to is actually Legolasxxx69.

No fast travel. so it's a Friday night and you and your friend want to quest together but you're on opposite sides of the world. no problem, we'll meet up in game on Sunday afternoon. lol

24/7 GMs in game to host events and take control of monsters, etc. - bahahahahahahaha - the game's been in development since early 2000s and they are asking for kickstarter support ($750,000 in 1 month and all they have so far is $85,000) and they are going to pay to have 24/7 GMs? lol!

so i get that it's more realistic without those things and I get they want to make an mmo that isn't easy mode, but really? that just seems like artificially making it difficult to just do basic things.

 

[SMOGZINN]

wow, watched the video on kickstarter -
no way to tell where you are in the game? lol - how is that helpful If you don't know where you are, how do you get anywhere?

Well, before people had minimaps we had real maps, and then did things like follow roads to destinations. Maybe that will be how people navigate in this game...

no way to communicate with other people unless they are within yelling distance? lol
so no guilds in this game? no guild chat. No party chat?

All they are getting rid of is global chat and any special chat systems. So that yell becomes regional chat, say becomes local chat, and whisper becomes group chat. Guilds will just use out of game chats systems, like most already do.

no showing of character's names, you get to name them yourself? lol & wtf???? how do you know who you're talking to? How does naming someone else help? "hey sir derpsalot, want to go quest together? hey, sir derpsalot, can you hear me? hey are you listening? hello? helloooooo???" meanwhile the guy's name he's trying to talk to is actually Legolasxxx69.

This is workable, and cool. What you do is not give a person a name until they introduce themselves. It might be something you have to type in, but I'm betting it will quickly become a command. "/introduce target" will give your name to the target and from then on they will see your name above your head on their UI, and you will retain the ability to rename people as you like, so Legolasxxx69 can become Legolas the Jerk, and SirLagALot can become James-IRL.

No fast travel. so it's a Friday night and you and your friend want to quest together but you're on opposite sides of the world. no problem, we'll meet up in game on Sunday afternoon. lol

Either their world is going to be really small or they are going to have a fast travel system a lot like Warcraft where you have to catch a train/cart/blimp or whatever to the next town. What they are saying is that you won't be able to teleport around the world on a whim. I still bet that by the end of the beta they have something similar to the hearthstone. I understand their argument about convinces taking away the challenge, but some convinces make a game more fun.

24/7 GMs in game to host events and take control of monsters, etc. - bahahahahahahaha - the game's been in development since early 2000s and they are asking for kickstarter support ($750,000 in 1 month and all they have so far is $85,000) and they are going to pay to have 24/7 GMs? lol!

I'm betting they have a small group of payed GM's, but for the most part they end up crowedsource them instead of pay them.

so i get that it's more realistic without those things and I get they want to make an mmo that isn't easy mode, but really? that just seems like artificially making it difficult to just do basic things.

The no-fast travel, limited ability to chat, and limited knowlage about other players are going to make the game interesting. The real problem they are going to have is with their open PVP system with looting of PCs. There are going to be people waiting to noobs to walk out of the noobzone to gank them.

 

[ITPaladin]

wow, watched the video on kickstarter -
no way to tell where you are in the game? lol - how is that helpful If you don't know where you are, how do you get anywhere?

As Smog said, it is back to the original MMOG basics. EQ didn't start out with any GPS map. Guess what: When LoTRO was released there were NO quest pointers. So many people asked where such and such was yet the directions CLEARLY STATED WHERE TO GO. This is a symptom of this "gotta have it now and I refuse to read it" gaming generation. People such as myself that were in it from closed beta constantly asked people that asked the same question over and over, "Did you bother to read the quest description?".

no way to communicate with other people unless they are within yelling distance? lol
so no guilds in this game? no guild chat. No party chat?

Smog's reply...and you are reading way too much into this when the devs have already answered your question(s) on the website, but you are not reading them.

no showing of character's names, you get to name them yourself? lol & wtf???? how do you know who you're talking to? How does naming someone else help? "hey sir derpsalot, want to go quest together? hey, sir derpsalot, can you hear me? hey are you listening? hello? helloooooo???" meanwhile the guy's name he's trying to talk to is actually Legolasxxx69.

It would help you to name someone along with their skill/race as a note perhaps (Joe the carpenter, Tricksie the Doppleganger [beware], etc)

No fast travel. so it's a Friday night and you and your friend want to quest together but you're on opposite sides of the world. no problem, we'll meet up in game on Sunday afternoon. lol

same as Smog

24/7 GMs in game to host events and take control of monsters, etc. - bahahahahahahaha - the game's been in development since early 2000s and they are asking for kickstarter support ($750,000 in 1 month and all they have so far is $85,000) and they are going to pay to have 24/7 GMs? lol!

The game has not been in development since early 2000s. They had a prototype they showed around and then gave up when their ideals would have been compromised too much to look like any other MMOG out there. The KS version has been scaled down. They will not have 18 races etc.

so i get that it's more realistic without those things and I get they want to make an mmo that isn't easy mode, but really? that just seems like artificially making it difficult to just do basic things.

Magic in LoTR is rare and in other fantasy type lore, where people must travel far and wide to seek out a great wizard, but mainstream MMOGs have made it as common as dirt.

I look forward to the struggle if the game sees the light of day.

http://www.toa-wiki.com/wiki/ToA:Developer_quotes_(Magic_&_Spells)

 

[ITPaladin]

You got 13 days, what do you get?

Another fun MMOG, you should pledge.

WoW heads don't bother 'cause you can't score.

This MMOG has so much more.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIfu2A0ezq0

 

[OCNewbie]

Funding for this project was canceled by the project creator 13 minutes ago.

Just saw the above

 

[ITPaladin]

yeah...will keep on the forums and hope for a retry with better marketing/videos, prototype gameplay, etc

The ideas are nice. I really like the mage path and other things.

 

[lupi]

first time reading this thread, game sounds like it's full speed ahead on the failtrain.

 

[ITPaladin]

I'm sorry to hear you are not up for a challenge.

 

[pontifex]

Just saw the above

they wanted $850,000 in a month and only had like 10% of that halfway through. after 2 kickstarters that didn't quite come out the way I expected, I don't think I would do it again. I think a lot of people might feel that way now.

Also the dude in the intro video didn't seem like he was very excited for his game.

 

[ITPaladin]

they wanted $850,000 in a month and only had like 10% of that halfway through. after 2 kickstarters that didn't quite come out the way I expected, I don't think I would do it again. I think a lot of people might feel that way now.

Also the dude in the intro video didn't seem like he was very excited for his game.

750k was the goal, and this was their first Kickstarter.

Personality doesn't make a game, but unfortunately other people's impressions you can't control.

Shroud of the Avatar made over 1.9 million in 30 days of a 1 million goal.

Let's not even talk about Star Citizen.

 

[lupi]

Yes, I can't take the challenge of supporting a game without any defined purpose, except stating you will have to form in game communities or the game will wipe you out. Sounds thrilling.

 

[ITPaladin]

Yes, I can't take the challenge of supporting a game without any defined purpose, except stating you will have to form in game communities or the game will wipe you out. Sounds thrilling.

Where does it say you had "to form in game communities or the game will wipe you out"?

Look at Eve Online. It is not theme park as well and does quite well with its subscriber base.

Heck, even Mortal Online is still running.

 

[lupi]

On the description of settements and lack of solo player'ability.

 

[ITPaladin]

On the description of settements and lack of solo player'ability.

Nothing there talks about "being able to solo", "solo", "playing solo", etc

That entire section is how settlements are made, run, being part of kingdoms, etc.

You apparently never played any "sandbox", "open world", "open pvp", type games such as Mortal Online, and one other with "Online" in its name with similar MO gameplay in a fantasy setting that escapes me.

 

[lupi]

Nothing there talks about "being able to solo", "solo", "playing solo", etc

That entire section is how settlements are made, run, being part of kingdoms, etc.

You apparently never played any "sandbox", "open world", "open pvp", type games such as Mortal Online, and one other with "Online" in its name with similar MO gameplay in a fantasy setting that escapes me.

The kingdom and its settlement(s) are the absolute core of gameplay in ToA. Sure, some of you are all about playing the loner, the bandit, the man above the law and, well... good luck. Seriously, good luck, we'd love to have some of you succeed at that! But for pretty much everyone else, the settlement is where you put down your roots, build your private home, meet like-minded folks, and begin your adventures in TerVarus. And most of all, with the help of NPC guards your king, queen, or lord has hired, it'll be a safe refuge in the dangerous world of TerVarus.

 

[ITPaladin]

The kingdom and its settlement(s) are the absolute core of gameplay in ToA. Sure, some of you are all about playing the loner, the bandit, the man above the law and, well... good luck. Seriously, good luck, we'd love to have some of you succeed at that! But for pretty much everyone else, the settlement is where you put down your roots, build your private home, meet like-minded folks, and begin your adventures in TerVarus. And most of all, with the help of NPC guards your king, queen, or lord has hired, it'll be a safe refuge in the dangerous world of TerVarus.

You are reading far too much into that Kickstarter page (which btw you didn't even bother to say that is where you were reading it from...I had to Google some words). No where does it say that you can NOT solo as you first said.

 

[lupi]

you're right, it just says good luck (at it).

 

[ITPaladin]

It (the playability) really is no different than any of the other open world, open pvp, skill-based games like MO, Camelot Unchained, etc. I wish those games had what this wants to be.

I mentioned they need an attractive spokesperson with marketing skills like Star Citizen, and Olivia Pope for their next attempt.