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June 14, 2022  Discord - Ashes of Creation

Intrepid CEO and Creative Director, Steven Sharif relayed a possible reveal for the upcoming Ashes of Creation livestream.

Regarding the June 30th livestream Steven said, "I've asked the community team to push the stream back to the 30th of this month, in an attempt to show a small combat update on basic weapon attacks and movement updates."

"If I approve the combat update for this month's stream, there is a 100% chance of dual daggers being shown."

Regarding the development strategy, Mr. Sharif said, "I have decided it is the best approach to show small combat updates, and illicit feedback on the direction taken. So we will be starting with basic weapon attacks, VFX, player root/split body movement and directional inputs."

June 14, 2022  New Hires at Intrepid

Tim Cox - Front End Engineer

Welcome Tim!

Tim is a graduate of Biola University. His beginnings as an analyst with Netcount and Word of Net, gave him a keen attention to detail and risk identification. This brought him to Sony Online Entertainment becoming a Senior Web Developer. 

Tim said his 15+ years there was instrumental in "developing customer facing and back-end applications for Sony Online Entertainment's extensive portfolio of online games for marketing, e-commerce, and online account management using the latest web technologies."

His work on the Playstation 3, creating and maintaining the registration flow and online store had him working in Tokyo, Japan.

Tim worked on the games of Everquest, EQ2, Planetside and DC Universe.

After Sony Online Entertainment became Daybreak Game Company, he went on to become a Software Engineer for

Netbrains, Inc. He developed front end code for use in web applications.

He spent the last four years working for Ambry Genetics as a Senior Front End Engineer and UI/UX Designer.

Tim is a Senior Web Developer with a proven record of quickly transforming design concepts into online interactive reality, with an expertise in dynamic web development using HTML, CSS, AJAX, JavaScript, Angular, jQuery, and other JavaScript libraries, who is versatile and adept at learning new technologies.

June 14, 2022  New Hires at Intrepid

Cameron Shepler - Senior Environment Artist

Welcome Cameron!

After serving as an Infantryman and Squad Leader in the US Army, Cameron went to Full Sail University earning a BS in Hard Surface Modeling.

He interned with the National Flight Academy then went on to do Stereo Compositing with Legend3D.

Cameron spent the next seven years working at Farsight Studios as an Artist and Lead 3D Artist.

His childhood gaming led him to the entertainment industry. Cameron is a huge Star Wars fan and he is also a freelance photographer. He says, "If it can be shot, I'll shoot it!"

Cameron said, "As a multi-industry artist, I find my passion in 3D modeling props and environments."

June 14, 2022 New Hires at Intrepid

Bruno de Araujo - Senior Technical Artist

Welcome Bruno!

Bruno earned his degree in Industrial and Product Design in Brazil. Hisinternship focused on Social Design. He spent the next four years as a Computer Graphics Artist for Flexiv.  Bruno gained expert knowledge of 3D Studio Max and V-Ray as a freelance CG Artist.

Work brought him to Canada where he would spend the next five years as a Lead VR Developer at Intergalactic Agency Inc.

He said "My strong abilities on the Unreal Engine 4, 3DS Max, Vray, Photoshop and Zbrush, along with my ever-growing curiosity and desire to constantly upgrade my tool inventory, were responsible for my growing within the company."

His time as a Game Developer then Creative Director for Offworld Industries in the Vancouver area allowed him to

become an expert in Unreal Engine.

Bruno became the Creative Director and CEO of Redstone Interactive (Massive scale online shooters). Creator of Beyond the Wire. Known for Squad, Post Scriptum and creator of the Nightstar series. 

May 27, 2022 Livestream. AOC revealed it's weather and seasons technology. Here are some impacts that will be felt in the game.

1. Seasons will affect the spawning table of animals and npcs.
2. Loot tables of mobs will be affected.
3. Trade routes may be changed because mountain passes are blocked, etc
4. Certain resources may not be available in some areas while other regions will have them.
5. You'll visually see the seasons about to change.
6. Animals and mobs may change color with the seasons.
7. Freehold crops may need to be harvested or planted in haste because of weather changes.
8. Geographical differences like more rain instead of snow in certain climates.
9. Weather affects skills and abilities like the type of spell damage and the size of an AOE.
10. Visibility distances will change.
11. Ambient changes like feet splashing in the wet grass and puddles forming on level ground from the rain.
12. Leaves falling from trees, dust devils, snowdrifts and POI area entrances iced in.

There's much more! Check out the Livestream with the developers video.

Riverlands Seasons

Full May 27 Livestream

May 10, 2022  Ashes of Creation revealed it's first floating building (that we've seen) in this month's cosmetics offering.

The Aerospire freehold building cosmetic floats above the ground. It is supported by "the arcane protection of Essence" and an "undulating pillow of stabilizing magicks."  

  The  Aerostone Vault caravan skin floats as well - as it "glides on a pillow of warding Essence"  We have seen gliding mounts that hover above the ground before - the Glimmering Geode and the Maelstrom's Crown.

What makes this building so exciting?  The pre- apocalypse home of the sentient avian race, Sladeborne, was supposedly floating islands in Verra's skies. (Sep 3, 2017 livestream)

If this technology can be applied to floating cities in-game, it could make for some great content or an expansion - post launch!

April 29, 2022 Livestream

Steven, in regards to watching the Internal Town Hall Presentation:

 "Sometimes I feel like my mind is on the precipice of just breaking in half when there's

just what I have to cover on a daily basis from my schedule. There is so much to be excited about

that this team is working on - and not only that they are working on, but that they are creating

in such a way, that is unlike any experience that I've had as a gamer and as an MMO player.

I'm just so incredibly excited!"

Reminders:

There's a desire to have Unlockable Features in Character Customization: 

You have a scar that was obtained from participating in a particular siege.

You have a tatoo because of your cultural background or because of a quest that was acomplished.

Studio Update

Since Jan 1 Intrepid Studios have hired 23 new people. Many are also MMORPG gamers and fans of the project.

They are adding graphics, logos and signs inside the studio to prepare for being able to record

some videos with the team.

Steven announced that they have met their first milestone of the year from a development standpoint. This will be trickling out for us over the next few months.

Design & Engineering:

The Node Layout Tool is getting some adjustments in levels 4, 5 and 6.

Consistency, especially in player housing and specific service building types.

Requirements for variable topography for sections and districts of a city.

The AI systems are being worked on from the perspective of what the Alpha Two creatures

need to have for multiple actions in the behavior tree. 

The huge endeavor of designing the combat has been ongoing for several months including

the prototypes of weapons not seen in Alpha One. Great care is being taken to not share

combat iterations until it's in a presentable state.

There has been a lot of work on physics including mount controls, flight and gliding mechanics,

ship buoyancy, vehicle movement, and seige weapons.

A lot has been done on the networking side of things, the backend, platform, web services

and support for the gameplay engineers.

They have been working on itemization and crafting; including Land Management and the effect

harvesting has on the land. Surveying in the gathering profession will be a tool to be utilized.

These will be prototyped in Alpha Two for testing.

The node pod team has also been working on service buildings, node superpowers and the reliquary system. A lot of work has been done on relic passive and active benefits, gameplay, reliquary theft and sabotage.

The event system is how content gets introduced into the world in a fluid, natural and

progression based way. The world reacts to player activity. Predicates must be met before a

particular story arc or event can kick off.

Events are wide ranging in what they can be: A plague, natural disaster or an npc or monster

faction response. If you don't stop the advancing stages of these, then they will have an affect

on your day to day activities. Events can be associated with real world or in game holidays.

Enemies can even have a hate list for certain buildings either because of it's defensive nature

or its relevance to the story.

Events can also be connected to a POI (Point of Interest) as precursors to node attacks,

nearby threats and even rivals of the existing order.

Events can be closely associated with story arcs and storylines and used for PVP objectives,

situations and battlegrounds. Players can be notified about events through the UI window,

but they can also discover them by audio cues like trees falling in the forest. Unaddressed

events can grow to be regional, nodal and global. Visual cues like blizzards, etc. may occur

which could affect crops, roads and travel.

Events can be level based depending on the predicate trigger or even higher level, attracting

an influx of players into the area. Events can be driven by the state machine - in progress,

active state, inactive, cooldown and disabled.

Environment

The team has been working on Py' Rai home concepts and how they interact with the environment. Some In game Aela ruins from the Riverlands was shown.

A tease of the Seasons Technology was revealed.

I addition to some character art, the Beetle Mount and the Scorpion Boss were introduced.

Naval Info:

Ship components and classes based on Ramming other ships was confirmed.

Pets/Mounts Info:

Emotes like hugs, patting, etc was confirmed.

Livestream

March 31, 2022  The amazing first pass for the Alpha Two Character Creator has been shown in the livestream.

Character Creator Preview

Livestream

Feb 25, 2022  Py'Rai Reveal and Animal Husbandry info from the livestream.

Livestream

Jan 24, 2022  AOC's New Senior Community Manager is Ry “Roshen” Schueller.

Roshen: "Hey all, Hail and well met! Today is my first day with the Intrepid Studios team. I’m excited to be here in San Diego, and getting to know the Ashes of Creation community. Starting at Intrepid feels like a reunion to me as I come back together with great people I know from previous roles, working together on a variety of different games.

I’m an old school MMO player with way too many hours spent in game worlds like EverQuest and World of Warcraft. It’s games like these that are the reason I was motivated to work professionally in the gaming industry. I started my professional gaming career on the tabletop side of things, working on games like the World of Warcraft TCG. From there, I moved to Sony Online (which later became Daybreak Games) working on the EverQuest franchise and other titles. I’ve also worked at other studios, on MMOs like New World and Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis.

Digital worlds and the communities we build around them matter. I’m stoked to be a part of the Ashes of Creation Community Team, as we build something special together in Verra, and outside of the game in all of the places online where gamers hang out today and in the years to come.

My first few days here should be pretty chill, so if anyone wants to chat it up, this thread is a great place for us all to get to know each other.  Thanks!

Jan 2022  Michael Bacon announced that he is leaving Intrepid Studios.

Michael:  "Hi guys and gals of the Ashes of Creation Discord Community, I just wanted to jump on here and say thank you for the almost 6 years of support and love you have all shown me while I was working at Intrepid Studios. I am still overwhelmed, humbled, and completely blown away that you hold me in a place in your hearts after all this time. 

Saying goodbye is never easy, and out of all the projects / companies I have worked on and for, I have never come close to having witnessed a community as warm and friendly, and as cool as you all are. From hanging out with you here on discord or having the honor to have met some of you at Pax shows, you have all been just wonderful, and it's been my honor to have been part of this community. 

As for me departing the project, it's hard, but I just want to say a few things...

Though I have appreciated the love and support, and I'm flattered that you hold my work in such high regard, I really do, no project of this magnitude is defined by one person. I have always mentioned and maintained every time someone has credited me for the quality and aesthetics of the environments in Ashes of Creation, the reality is the whole team is really responsible for it, and the environment team at Intrepid consist of some really amazing talent.

What you have seen over the last 5+ years is a collection of talented folks that have come together to provide the quality of those visuals, and though I do/did have a hand in steering/contributing/collaborating to that effort, it really is a team effort, and will continue on to be bigger and better as the game moves on towards completion. 

The art styling has a lot to do with Ryan Richmond, our lead concept artist who is a brilliant visionary, and has defined so much of the look of the game. We have an Art Council that consists of Ryan, the Two Chris' Atkins and Meyers, Jim, our amazing VFX lead, as well as Steven of course who all share a voice in all aspects of the art in the game. 

Trystan has been a huge part of every landscape you've ever seen in the game. He's a powerhouse and has been integral in most of the world building efforts. This will continue moving forward. 

All the 3d Environment artists on the team are so, so good. Adam, Harold, Brandan, and Hal to name a few. We did a complete sweep of env props for the Empyrean, Kaelar, and Dunir races ranging from camp level up to Village stage this last year, like over 400+ props or so, and they all look so very good, and really starting to define the aesthetic of those races. Just a crazy amount of work that went down there over last year. 

All the foliage and rock work for the Tropics biome and other biome enhancements for Alpha 1, Mia was the one that knocked it out of the park! 

Devin contributed a significant effort to the Terrain creation for A1, lighting, atmospherics, etc. 

Brian Gans did an incredible job with most of our tech work, water, rivers, etc. 

Again, it's really all a team effort...

My influence will remain, but will be embellished on, and made better over time. Intrepid is constantly evaluating and re-evaluating to make all aspects of the game better, and this will continue until Steven's vision is complete, but even then, the vision isn't entirely Steven's; it will be a sum of all its parts which include ALL the people who have worked on it, shaped it and influenced it. I have no doubt the end product will be magnificent.  

Mat Broome left as character lead, and the character art / mounts in the game have never looked better! This is due in part to Chris Atkins taking the reins, embellishing on Mat's foundation and taking it forward past him, with the help and fantastic work of his awesome character team. 

Jincy is just a phenomenal character artist. She's done such tremendous work on the project since her arrival a couple years ago, its both inspiring, and scary just how good she is. 

Manny, another of our insanely good character artists, his contributions are so, so good. 

The Environment team will grab the ball and move it forward from where I left it, that much I can guarantee, and they will deliver a world for you that will exceed your already high expectations.  

So, in closing, I want to thank Intrepid for everything, and I want to thank you all for being the absolute best community a MMORPG could ever dream of having. You all are the best. I will continue to follow the project and pop in from time to time to spend time with you, though you may find me under the moniker GoDD (Ghost of Dirk Diggler) lol..Mia gave me that title at lunch yesterday. heh, I don't plan on being a stranger if you'll have me. :-) Love you all so much and take care. "

Dec 23, 2021 Ashes of Creation announced that it will be migrating to Unreal Engine 5.

UE5 Preview

UE5 Walkthrough

Livestream

Nov 6, 2021 During the 24 Hour Livestream Fundraiser for Extralife and Rady Children's Hospital, three videos of some Lore was revealed. Below are the videos for you to enjoy.

Lore Part One

Lore Part Two

Lore Part Three

Oct 29, 2021 During the Livestream, Steven showed the Dawnbreaker Mount Cosmetic with in - game variations that are possible using the Animal Husbandry System in Ashes of Creation. This session also included weather and seasons technology from the game.

Check out Reydan's video on the AH Update 

Here is the full livestream 

Sep 29, 2021 The Big Cheeked Giant celebrated his 100th episode with an interview with Steven Sharif, the Creative Director of Ashes of Creation.  The Discussion Round included BCG, Stackerson and Yoni.

BCG: Question >  What is one of the key experiences that you want new players (people who have never played MMORPGs before?

Steven: "First and foremost... just being able to meet new people, being able to be introduced into a community - a social environment. To discover people that you would not have met before as you become part of guilds or a faction or walking into a dungeon and (looking for group) the whole LFG mentality.

That's probably my favorite aspect of MMOs. There are other nostalgic components like getting a rare

drop - off of a monster and visibly seeing your power level increase because of that drop and being the only person that got that drop - that's a fun thing!

 Having roles that are integral to experiencing content and being that specific role that people are looking for. Being able to provide that progression because you were able to fill a spot in a group of strangers. I think that's a cool

experience.

 To complete something that no one has done before - like downing a boss or finishing a dungeon or going out there and being the first to do something. I think that's pretty cool, too.

Exploration - being the first person to reach a mountaintop and look at a vista and post that. Discovering hidden gems or Easter Eggs in the game that the developers placed secretly. There is so 

much in MMOs that I have nostalgia over from the games I've played originally."

To hear the more from Steven:

 Big Cheeked Giant 100th Episode

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!

--------------

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