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July 17, 2021 There are secrets hidden in the World of Verra in the Ashes of Creation Alpha One Test!

When you first create your character, take a look at the bottom right on the ground. There is a sandal sitting there. This Easter Egg is a nod to Steven, the Creative Director who lives in San Diego, California, USA. He is known to wear sandals a lot and this has become a running theme with hidden sandals appearing in the game.

Monoliths made of a silver metal and retaining a triangular shape appear throughout Verra. Their purpose is unknown at this time.

Jumping games that lead to lootable containers or a way to complete a quest by avoiding multiple mobs have been discovered in game.

There are hidden caves containing mysteries that you can discover in Verra.

You may even find hidden mobs that only appear when you run up a ridge or climb to a certain area.

None of these appear on the map, but thanks to the Alpha Testers, we have listed some of them below. Enjoy!

Jumping Puzzle - Winstead

Jumping Puzzle - Drythorne

Pirate Cove Hidden Cave

Easter Eggs - Hidden Boss

Sept 16, 2021 Wynne McLaughlin is the new Senior Narrative Designer for Ashes of Creation. He will be working for Intrepid Studios remotely.

Wynne was the lead writer and narrative designer for The Elder Scrolls Online. He worked for Zenimax Online Studios for nine years.

Wynne, who is originally is from Peabody, Massachusetts, attended Salem State College and then UMass Amherst.  He and his wife Cathy resided in Stewartstown, Pennsylania.

He loves dogs and cats whose fun names have included Chula, Sammich and Queso (a ginger tabby cat).

Wynne McLaughlin worked as a Writer for 20th Century Fox Television, a screenwriter for Promark Entertainment and a Game Writer for Westwood Studios/Electronic Arts.

Wynne has also been a Senior Designer, working at Warthog Texas/Gizmondo, NCSoft/Austin and a World Designer at Bioware/Electronic Arts/Austin.

Mr Laughlin is also a novelist. He was influenced by the Sweeping Western Saga writer Larry McMurty and the Epic Fantasy writer,  Brandon Sanderson. In 2015, his first book, "The Bone Feud", won him an IBPA award for "Best First Book".

One of Wynne's favorite quotes is on perspective; “It's all about perspective. The sinking of the Titanic was a miracle to the lobsters in the ship's kitchen."

We at Verra Caravan are excited to see what Wynne will bring to Ashes of Creation!

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In addition to ESO, shipped game titles include STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC, TABULA RASA, COMMAND & CONQUER: RENEGADE, EMPEROR: BATTLE FOR DUNE, RED ALERT 2: YURI'S REVENGE, and the PS2/Xbox console title PIRATES: THE LEGEND OF BLACK KAT.

Writing credits include the Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie JOHNNY 2.0, the HBO World Premiere Movies TERMINAL JUSTICE: CYBERTECH PD and FIST OF THE NORTH STAR, and several episodes of 20th Century Fox Television's detective drama Silk Stalkings.

Sept 24, 2021 AOC Livestream.

 The Intrepid Studios Team is currently working on the following areas:

• SSO (Single Sign On)
• 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication)
• General Security
• Support Designs
• Mobile Version of the support page and production of it
• Legacy Asset cleanup
• Node R & D of Landscapes, Towns through Metropolises.
• Systems Overhauls and Evaluations from post A1 feedback
• World Landscape Development and it's pipeline reevaluation
• Tools/Feature Overhaul post A1
• Landscape Edit Layer Tech including non-destructive workflow
• Systems Documentation for Animated Buildings (Construction, Damage and Siege Features)

May 10, 2021 The Alpha One Non NDA Test has been moved to July. The Alpha One Preview Weekend  is July 9-11, Alpha One July 14-Aug 13. Intermittent NDA Spot Testing May 14 - July 9. 

According to Steven Sharif, Creative Director, " First, with the inclusion of siege systems and the combat backend revamp, our internal code-lock dates slipped a bit and ate into our QA and optimization timelines."

  Second, our timeline for the move back to the studio has been accelerated, and this would have put our move-in dates in the middle of the June test window. 

 Finally, several new expansion launches for other live games were announced that would have coincided with our test starting June 1st. We estimate roughly 25% of our current testing pool are active players across these titles combined. This fact presents us with forcing our testers to choose between participating in our testing environment (which will be a long and arduous responsibility), or playing an expansion with their friends in other popular titles. As I outlined earlier, this testing period is an important one. It will require not only participation, but also the attention and feedback from both our testing audience and the broader Ashes of Creation community and general public. "

Read the full Schedule Announcement here.

June 18, 2021       Kira Cosmo (Ireland)

A "10 year Video Game Industry Veteran who wrote on their bucket list that they

 wanted to be a twitch partner one day..."

Kira Cosmo , with her Italian roots in Brooklyn, New York, traveled to the West Coast for a Pax Event and found a career.  Her jobs included working for Apple, Disney World and after a ten hour interview - having only the clothes from a VIP Pax event to wear, landed the job at Hulu.

In the early days of Wildstar, she began streaming about the game -including guest appearances by the developers. This led to her getting a QA job at Carbine Studios (Wildstar). When Wildstar started shifting, she joined NCSoft Gaming (Lineage, Guild Wars), then on to Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo, Warcraft). and eventually to LucasFilm Games.  (One regret, she says, is getting a Guild War 2 tattoo...)

Twitch

YouTube

Instagram

Twitter @KiraKiraCosmo

Irony Smithy (Canada)

A "Canadian Forces Veteran who's traded his combat boots in for his sea legs! Sea of Thieves is my main game, but will be transitioning to Ashes of Creation, an upcoming MMORPG when the time comes!"

Iron Smithy is a Twitch Affiliate and YouTube Streamer.  He is also a Pipelinegg Q1 Scholar, Streamloots Partner, Father of two, gamer and entertainer. 

He streams 6 days a week.

Tuesday - 19:30 - 23:00 EST

Wednesday - 11 - 15:00 EST

Thursday - 11 - 15:00 and again at 19:30 - 23:00 EST

Friday - 19:30 - 23:00 EST

Saturday - 19:30 - 23:00 EST

Sunday - 19:30 - 23:00 EST

Twitch

YouTube

Instagram

TikTok

Twitter @IronSmithyTV

Krojak (Canada)

A "Lifter, Gamer, Constant Dreamer. Poster of Daily Content. Hater of Pickles and Mustard.

 Defender of the Kros. The fast talking, energetic ginger beard from Canada."

You may remember Krojak from the early days of Ashes of Creation. His informative videos and contributions to the podcast "From The Ashes" made him a popular Content Creator.

Krojak retired his Ashes content to form new channels to be able to be a Content Creator full time, vowing to remake AOC videos when the Alpha Testing opened up. His videos under the name Kro on Youtube have received millions of views - four million on one video alone!

Krojak has quite the following on TikTok and has now kept his promise by beginning Ashes of Creation content once again.

Twitch

YouTube  

TikTok  (Kro Channel)

YouTube (Kro Channel)

Twitter @KroIRL 

July 11, 2021  Thousands were able to experience Ashes of Creation this weekend. The Alpha One Preview was a technical test to gather data, find bugs and test core systems. Testers were able to do a wide variety of quests, some minimal  gathering/crafting, exploration in the A1 Map and Siege Wars.

The month long Alpha begins July 14th.

May 5th, 2021 Alpha One Access Sale is now available through Jun 30th. You can purchase an Adventurer Pre-Order pack in the shop at  the Ashes of Creation website. You get the following:   

• Access to Alpha One test phase
• Access to future Alpha Two test phase
• Access to future Beta One test phase
• Access to future Beta Two test phase
• 11 months of game time ($165 value)
• $150 in Embers (in-game marketplace credits, NO P2W!)
• Steelreef Pauldron
• Geyser Glider
• Maelstrom's Crown
• Mail of the Fathom's Fury
• Coral Courser
• Boundless Basin
• Name Reservation
• Cost is $500 or Upgrade your current package. See more info on the AOC news page.
• $165 11 months of game time 
• $150 Embers 
•   $15 Pet
•     $5  Accessory
•   $25 Freehold Bldg
•   $25 Costume
•   $25 Ship
•   $20 Mount
• Totals $430 which leaves $70 for A1, A2, B1, B2 and Name Reservation!
• Con: Remember, you are testing the game, not playing it.  Pro: You can help shape the game and add valuable input not to mention maybe finding bugs that no one else might!
• More Info

March 12, 2021 

NDA: 

All Bravers and Intrepid Pack Holders.

Intermittent Alpha One Preview Spot Testing March 19 - June 1  (Full Wipe)

No NDA:

All Alpha One Testers and Official Content Creators. 

1 Week - Alpha One Preview

May 14 - May 21  (Full Wipe)

No NDA:

All Alpha One Testers and Official Content Creators.

1 Month - Alpha One

June 1 - June 30  (Full Wipe)

Learn More

March 10, 2021 Ashes of Creation announced this: "We are currently looking for volunteer moderators to help support our French, German, and CIS" (Commonwealth of Independent States) "communities here on Discord! 

If you or someone you know would like to share their passion for Ashes of Creation, please feel free to fill out our application form here: https://forms.gle/YRaq9suhBL7wizoy6

Our team will be reviewing and replying to moderator applications in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly!" 

Discord:  LieutenantToast#1337 

Michael Bacon is the Lead Environment Artist for Ashes of Creation. He is beloved by AOC fans for his humor, pragmatism and talent. Many who followed AOC early, bonded with his "Bacon" memes in livestreams and his coverage of PAX.

Michael grew up in Portland, Oregon. In 1984, he was one of six students chosen out of the entire Portland Metro School District to attend art courses with the TAG Art Program with the Portland Museum of Art. He continued that program for 2 years.

1987-1988 Michael spent a year in Jtue Studios under the personal instruction and study of the Art Instructor, Frederick Teubner.

He has spent over 20 years in the Video Game Industry working on just about every console and PC environment. Michael pursued his carreer as a Lead Artist/Art Director taking jobs in Oregon,

Florida, Washington, Colorado, Illinois and then in San Diego.

Bacon, as he is affectionately called by his fans, worked at Sony Online Entertainment for 10 years before joining Intrepid Studios. His skills are extensive including Character and Environment Art, Game UI, Animation and Rigging, Sound Design and Music Composition, Game Design and Story Writing.

Michael is fluent in many software packages: Maya, 3DS Max, Z-Brush, Photoshop, NDO, Headus, Painter, Premier, After FX, Sound Forge, Pro Tools, Audition, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, Texture Packer, Hansoft, GitHub, Alienbrain, Perforce, Unreal Engine, CoCoos2d Engine, Torque and Unity Engines, Crazy Bump, XNormal, TimelineFX, Spine, Microsoft Word, Final Draft, Sketchbook Pro, Sonar, Sprite Illuminator, Scrum, Agile, etc.

He loves working on fun projects with his kids as well as video production, playing music and jamming with his friends, video games, cooking and "watching bad movies".

Here is his impressive list of titles he has worked on:

2016 Monsters & Marshmallows™ (iOS, Android, Xbox One and PC) Big SHiny Games LLC.

2016 Retro Assault™ (iOS, Android, Xbox One and PC) Big SHiny Games LLC.

2015 EverQuest II® Terrors of Thalumbra™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2014 EverQuest II® Altar of Malice™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2013 EverQuest II® Tears of Veeshan™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2012 EverQuest II® Chains of Eternity™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2011 EverQuest II® Age of Discovery™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2010 Clone Wars Adventures™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2010 EverQuest II® Destiny of Velious™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2009 EverQuest II® Sentinel’s Fate™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2008 EverQuest II® The Shadow Odyssey™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2007 VectorBlast™ (PC/NetJet) Hasbro INC.

2007 EverQuest II® Rise of Kunark™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2007 Saints Row II™ (Xbox, Playstation 3, PC) Volition INC / THQ.

2006 EverQuest II® Echoes of Faydwer™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2005 EverQuest II® Kingdom of Sky™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2005 EverQuest II® Desert of Flames™ (PC) Sony Online Entertainment LLC.

2005 Pirate’s Gold™ (Casual PC/Mobile) Static Reactor Games LLC

2005 Saints Row™ (Xbox, Playstation 3, PC) Volition INC / THQ.

2003 Goblin Commander™ (Xbox, Playstation 2, Game Cube) Jaleco Entertainment LLC.

2002 Trailer Park Tycoon™ (PC) Jaleco Entertainment LLC.

2001 Duke Nukem: D-Day™ (PS2 Cancelled) N-Space INC.

2000 Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes™ (Playstation) N-Space INC.

2000 Danger Girl™ (Playstation) N-Space INC.

1999 VS.™ (Playstation) Aramat INC./ THQ INC.

1999 WCW vs. NWO™ (Ninetendo 64) Aramat INC./ THQ INC.

1998 Dead Unity™ (Playstation, PC) Aramat INC./ THQ INC.

Intrepid Studios has hired some of the most talented people in the industry; both new and veteran. They are hiring more positions now. If you are interested or know people who are,  check out Intrepid Studios.

Mar 4, 2021 AsmongoldTV took a break from streaming. "A lot of the reasons I took a break, especially towards the end is, I mean a really big reason is

burnout. I think that I was just extremely burned out from screaming and this had been kind of building up for a while."

His IRL friends and friends that he knows online could kind of tell that he was getting fed up.

After playing World of Warcraft for 15 years, Asmongold said that he probably felt like he was wasting his time for only about 20 days.

He says, "I think that taking breaks

does give me the ability to mentally reset and then also to redirect myself and the direction that I want to take my content."

In a recent video, he addressed some of his reasons and said this: "One of the big reasons why I took a break is I've had a lot of really bad, personal (**it) going on in my life and I've tried to keep a lot of this offstream."

Asmongold said that he was having fun, but over the past few months he was feeling aimless and directionless - wasting time and not doing what his audience deserved.

During his break he talked about the fun of playing games like Valheim (playing 200 hours) . "I want to try to step outside of doing my normal content and actually trying to do things a little bit different and really try to give it the old college try - actually try to make good content about other games - really try to enjoy other games."

Ashes of Creation:

"I've found that whenever I take these breaks, I'm always surfing around trying to find that next game that's going to give me that feeling. By the way, guys, it's going to be nice because in just a couple weeks now, we're going to have Ashes of Creation Alpha, which is going to be non-NDA. I will be playing

that on stream and I'm very excited about that!"

Asmongold, we are looking forward to your streams!

For more:

"Why I Took a Break From Streaming and What My Plans are Going Forward."

Asmongold's Twitch

AsmongoldTV Ashes of Creation Playlist

WolfheartFPS is a content creator that covers Ashes of Creation.

  When he was 15 yrs old he discovered World of Warcraft and became addicted;

even faking being sick to skip school and play. As an adult, he starting his YouTube Channel in 2011 with vocal covers.

 In 2015 he joined the Thailand  based band, "In Vice Versa".

2016 found him traveling to Bagkok, Thailand making videos there and in other parts of Asia as the band toured.

 In 2018 he released First Person Shooter Videos and later Coop and MMO's.

He is best known for his Baldur's Gate videos. 

Of the Content Creators for Ashes of Creation, not including the big players; AsmongoldTV and TheLazyPeon, WolfheartFPS comes in at the number 7 slot for the most views of Ashes of Creation videos at 141k views.

 His "All Classes & Races in Ashes of Creation MMORPG | Explained" video from Nov 2020.

You will enjoy his recent Ashes of Creation News series.

WolfheartFPS Ashes Playlist

The Ashes of Creation release date for the live launch is yet to be announced. The Alpha One Playtest Schedule is as follows...

ALPHA ONE PREVIEW 

 PRE-TEST 1  NDA

December 18 - 21, 2020  (4 days) Full Wipe

PRE-TEST 2  NDA

February 19 - 22  (4 days) Full Wipe

PRE-TEST 3  No NDA

March 19 - 26  (1 week) Full Wipe

ALPHA ONE

April 6 - May 6  (1 month)

ALPHA TWO (Persistent Alpha) TBA

BETA ONE TBA

BETA TWO TBA

GAME LAUNCH TBA

Alpha 2, Beta 1 and Beta 2 can be purchased here. 

Feb 7, 2021 

Crafting will not be available in Ashes of Creation Alpha One.  According to Steven Shariff, CEO and Creative Director,  "Crafting, honestly will not come online in any sense of it's true form until Alpha Two."

In an interview with the Ashen Forge (Ep 46) Steven said:

"Alpha One has essentially what are intended to be the core loop of crafting meaning the collection of materials, the translation of those materials into processed goods, and then the use of those processed goods into item acquisition." 

"That's the core gameplay loop that's currently present in Alpha One, but those are mostly facilitated, kind of piggybacking the merchant systems right now, and not actually using the real crafting system and that's just because crafting hasn't been completed in a form that can be implemented in Alpha One, but it will be for Alpha Two. So what's present in Alpha One doesn't really scratch the surface of crafting."

One day in Feb...

Steven Sharif - four years ago on Feb 26 -  gave an epic speech as Sorcerer, guild leader of The White Order in Archeage, to an alliance that included Tea Time For Kittens. He gave the speech before a siege battle. ..

RPG

In an interview with The Lazy Peon in May of 2017 Steven said, "I will admit, I like to RP a little bit. RPG is a huge part of the MMO experience. That's why it's an MMORPG genre. I think it's fun for my community, my guild, to experience their leader doing a little RP speech before the battle. Actually I took that speech from Independence Day; I just kinda changed it to be more reflective of the game."

Why Create Ashes of Creation?

Steven Sharif, Creative Director, said: "I spent the last 25 years of my life being a gamer. The genre that always interested me the most was the MMORPG genre. It's something about the aspect of that massive community that you really don't experience anywhere else in any other game. The ability to interact with thousands of people from across the world...  People who you would never have gotten to meet or spoken with before."

"As my gaming history progressed, I got to play pretty much every MMORPG under the sun and I just loved, always, that community aspect of what made MMO's great.

 Over the past several years I was kinda upset with the way that the industry was treating this genre. It became like super pay to win and this total cash grab atmosphere and it felt like they were not putting in the tender love and care that the genre was deserving and I wanted to change that. I wanted to represent the gamers' passion from a developers perspective."
THE SPEECH (DarkPirate)

THE INTERVIEW (TheLazyPeon)

For those of you hoping to play New World while you wait for Ashes take note... New World announced that they are moving the Launch Date from  Spring 2021 to  August 31, 2021.

  "We considered this decision very carefully but need to take the time to add new features, tune, and polish. We are committed to delivering a high quality experience.

  With this launch date, closed beta will begin on July 20th. Please visit our development blog at the link below to learn more about our roadmap and new features such as five-player Expeditions, the 20 vs. 20 Outpost Rush, and an additional territory, Ebonscale Reach."

Get the full story  from Amazon here.

Who is TheLazyPeon?

TheLazyPeon is a Streamer and Youtube Content Creator now living in Pattaya, Thailand; best known for his ( First Impressions "Is It Worth Playing" ) videos. In August of 2015 he reached his first 100k subscribers.

Ashes of Creation

On April 14, 2017 He released his ( Ashes of Creation: MMORPG Overview "Why I'm Excited" ) video. It currently has over a million views...

The Lazy Peon then appeared on the May 15, 2017 Ashes of Creation livestream. Steven asked him, 'What makes you love the MMORPG genre?" The Lazy Peon said: "I really love MMO's for the whole multiplayer aspect - the feeling of being in big, epic battles. It's something that you can't recreate in any other genre -  hence why I'm really into MMO's - I'm a bit of a PVP fan personally."

On July 18, 2020 TheLazyPeon, taking many hours, created an in depth video about Ashes called ( "Genuinely The Most Exciting upcoming MMORPG - Ashes of Creation" ) on Youtube. This seminal work attracted the attention of more high profile streamers and Youtubers such as Asmongold TV, Summit 1G, TimTheTatman Two and Shroud. It created a Hype Explosion for Ashes of Creation.

TheLazyPeon, now has nearly 600k subscribers and the video now has over 2 million views....

MOST EXCITING VIDEO (TheLazyPeon)

May 15, 2017 Livestream  (VisualizeZ)

Feb 26, 2021 Ashes of Creation has a new look to their website. Working with Valor Software (based in Ukraine) which was named a Top Development Company by Clutch, Intrepid Studios have updated their website design. 

This soft launch of a more marketing oriented front page is just the beginning.  Steven Sharif, Creative Director, said "We have a lot of features on the plate that we want to include on the website. Not just quality of life features but also some pretty in-depth, fun integrations to the game as well. We're going to go a little bit beyond the norm of what MMORPGs and or even game studios in particular offer through their web presence." 

According to Margaret Krohn, the Community Marketing Lead for Ashes, They plan to have more in depth info such as lore, races, classes etc but also a turntable to spin the character around plus - character creation and  functionality pages for guilds - recruitment, schedules and more including mobile phone access. A detailed article for the roadmap for what features lie ahead will be forthcoming.  Margaret's team will also be expanding to include a Jr. Community Manager, more Customer Service Support Staff and a Social Media Manager.

Ashes of Creation Website