The Ashes of Creation Director battles players as a PvP “raid boss” in his own MMORPG

With Ashes of Creation With Alpha Two now in full swing, we finally get a much more substantial look at the ambitious and long-awaited new MMORPG. With ongoing tests already scheduled to last until mid-2025, there is still a long way to go. Still, it’s been a lot of fun watching it unfold, and this weekend kicked off in style with the game’s creative director and Intrepid Studios founder Steven Sharif appearing in-game as a godlike figure to battle his own large-scale community . PvP showdown.

Ashes of Creation Alpha Two finally started last weekend, and now that players have gotten their bearings and are beginning to realize the intricacies of the game. MMORPGlooks like the developers are having a little fun. During a live stream from Twitch’s most watched streamer Ashes of Creation, Jason Thor Hall – known on the site as “PirateSoftware” – revealed that the game’s creator was battling a large group of players on his server, essentially acting like encountering high level PvP raid bosses.

During the stream, Hall, a former Blizzard developer who now runs indie studio Pirate Software, is alerted to the presence of Sharif’s character “GMSteven” and travels to the map to join the fray. Surrounded by dozens of players, Sharif’s level 50 character sprints at speed, throwing deadly bolts of lightning and destroying players in moments as they gradually whittle down his impressive health bar. You can watch the fight in the video below, starting about two hours and 40 minutes after the stream began.

Because of the chaos it causes, GMSteven is affected by Ashes of Creation player corruption system which dulls the effect of a character’s abilities as they kill an increasing number of other players. It also means they’ll drop gear on death, making it a particularly juicy target. Finally, after a very long fight, GMSteven collapses. But this is just the beginning of the shenanigans.

“Though my flame is now extinguished, rejoice not too soon, creatures of shadow and darkness,” Sharif writes in the game’s public chat, “for I am Verra, the fire of the dawn, and my essence is bound to the cycle. of creation itself”. Verra is the name of the world in Ashes of Creation, and the message is clear – it will return. Indeed, it doesn’t take long for him to reappear, teleporting in front of Hall’s character, but a few minutes later (this happens around the three-hour mark in the stream).

Speaking in character, GMSteven demands an explanation for this act. “So you chose to oppose me,” he writes, “to set your power against the flame that gave birth to worlds.” Faced with essentially a god in the game, Hall decides to adopt a respectful tone and explains that he and his fellow adventurers were trying to heal GMSteven during the fight before he struck one of their party members in the chaos. Seemingly swayed, Sharif invites Hall’s character to follow him into a nearby room.

There, he commands Hall to “Speak, mortal, and let the deepest desires of your heart be known before your maker. Stand without fear, for I am the flame that ignites dreams and the fountain from which all life flows. If your desire is worthy, aligned with the essence of creation, you will receive a gift from the eternal flame itself. Let your voice carry the truth and the fire will answer.”

After careful consideration, Hall, who also runs a ferret sanctuary, decides the best course of action is to request that ferrets be added to the game. “Very well, mortal,” replies Sharif, “allow me a moment in the river of time to consider your request.” While he says this decision will take time, he offers a gift in the meantime, spawning a selection of ducklings around the room and giving Hall a mount.

The gods, of course, can be fickle, and so shortly after a bolt of lightning strikes Hall’s character, killing him and his new mount and leaving her unable to be summoned for ten minutes. Sharif then brings Hall back into the room, where the ducklings have multiplied by the dozens – if not hundreds – and asks him to find the one “who can fulfill your deepest desire.”

After much deliberation, Hall concludes that the “duckling” in question must be GMSteven himself. Unfortunately, this seems to be the wrong solution and is answered in turn with another fatal bolt. Hall thinks, “Am I the duckling? I’m definitely cooked.” In a final act of mysterious meddling, GMSteven appears one last time, cleansing the curse of death-earned experience from Hall’s character and his party members before flying away for good.

Seeing members of the development team interact with their community in such a unique way is a lot of fun and a great way to sustain interest in the ongoing alpha test. FF14’s Naoki Yoshida has previously admitted that he likes to play on an account unknown to the community and keeps it so secret that he can’t even join his guildmates for potential encounters. This might be a more reckless approach than that, but it sure is a fun one.

Ashes of Creation Alpha Two phase one is currently underway, phase two is set to begin on Friday, December 20th. Sign-up keys start at $100 and don’t include access to the full game once it ships – but if you’re interested, you can learn more here by official website.

There are even more new MMOs you can get involved in the meantime – or maybe try one of the the best multiplayer games on PC right now.

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