Roads

Road blocked by an environmental hazard due to a caravan event in Alpha-2.

Our road system in-game is essentially driven by pre-placed routes that lead to this main artery of what was once the ancient highway system of Verra; and from there there are roads that become exposed when nodes advance; and we call those veins. They come off the main artery and then as nodes advance there are points of interest as Jeff was discussing earlier. These POIs that exist around the world and some of them share coverage with multiple nodes, but depending on which node advances to the stage that activates the point of interest it'll create these capillary roads so to speak that then stem off of the node itself. So you go from the main artery ancient road that's large- that runs through different zones and whatnot- and that breaks down into the veins that lead to the specific encampments and villages and towns that then spawn off separate capillaries that lead to the points of interest in these areas that are hunting grounds. Those are not exposed initially and they come online as players advance the world. – Steven Sharif

Roads adjusting to adjacent node progression.

As nodes advance, these pre-laid road spots that exist connecting every possible route between certain node structures is going to adjust and adapt, both its material presentation, the type of roadwork that's present: It'll move from dirt road type, to perhaps a brick road, to perhaps some super ornate beautiful metropolis style road that will adjust around the world according to how these node structures begin to populate and advance. – Steven Sharif

Roads in Verra are both pre-generated and player influenced.

• The largest roads are referred to as arteries. These are remnants of what was once the ancient highway system of Verra.
• As nodes advance smaller roads, referred to as veins, connect the arteries to the nodes.
• Depending on the stages of node advancement, capillary roads will stem off the node to connect to points of interest.
• Roads or pathways are not worn into the landscape by repeated traffic over the same area.
• The quality, safety, and maximum transportation speed of roads is influenced by node building upgrades, policies, relics, and the level of nearby nodes.

Q: Could you upgrade roads in the node to upgrade the roads and speeds of caravans?

A: Absolutely. So that buff that you saw is a buff that can be changed in the world based on the world state. Some of those world state interactions include certain types of relics that the nodes which govern your area might have access to and might be actively employing. Some of it might have to do with policies: You might be able to extend the guard influences across the road radius further out for certain nodes if you have certain policies. You might be able to enhance and empower those guards through itemization choices that are granted by building upgrades that the node selects to build. – Steven Sharif

Different seasons and events may affect access to various roads.

• Pathways that are open during summer may be closed during winter.
• Seasonal affects may cause obstacles or blockages to the transit of goods via caravan.
• Caravan events can cause roadways to be blocked off or hostile mobs to spawn to attack the caravan.
  • Obstacles may present barriers on roads that players must remove or bypass to allow transit of goods.
• Water turning to ice in winter, enabling players to walk over the water but blocking access to what is underneath.
  • Ice will make roads bumpy and slippery.

يلفسلا ملاعلا routes will open or close dynamically (based on node states).

• The location of Underrealm entrances throughout the world is focused around natural geographic choke-points that exist above ground. This provides alternate subterranean routes that can be used by caravans, raids, and other player activities.

• Not all entrances to the Underrealm will be open at the same time. This can shift dynamically (based on node states) that cause different routes to open up, which may be more or less advantageous than other routes.

Caravan components can be utilized to improve on-road or off-road speeds of caravans.

You will travel faster over roads, but that obviously comes with the increased risk of running into other players or monsters that are blocking the road. – Chris Justo

ةرحلا may not be placed in close proximity to roads.

Trade routes

Mayoral caravan launched by a mayor to establish a trade route with another node.

For example: this node over here might have access to cotton as a resource and when that node processes that cotton it might be some very nice type of linen that only that node, or very rarely nodes would have access to. So when you initiate a trade route, you're bringing its supplies that the mayor has requested because they're trying to build, let's say a specific type of service building, or they're trying to unlock a blueprint that they have access to now to build up their node. – Steven Sharif

Trade routes in Ashes of Creation refer to.

• Roads for the transit goods via the caravan system.

  You might have a mountain pass and during winter that mountain pass is always closed and so the trade routes on land change with caravans and that's something that can not only exist on a cyclical level but also dynamically based on player activity.

• Economic relationships between nodes established by Mayors or node citizens.
  • Agreements are established to trade commodities that are unique to particular nodes or node types via NPC-driven caravans.

From a diplomatic standpoint the ability for the mayor or citizens to set up NPC routed trade routes between nodes as a trade agreement or as a diplomatic process. – Steven Sharif

• An aspect of naval content.

Seasons blocking roads

Ashes of Creation Seasons in the Riverlands.

Part of the triggers that can create seasonal change is not just time related for each of our biomes, but they are also indicated by events that occur on the server. Whether that be certain raid bosses forming, or a relic being acquired by a particular node and being activated to change potentially the weather out of a winter state into a spring state: and the reason why a node might have interest in doing that of course is because weather and the seasons also affect skills and abilities. – Steven Sharif

Seasonal change teaser.

Seasons affect different zones (environments/biomes) based on their location in the world.

• A majority of environments will experience either two or four seasons, excluding corrupted areas, which is considered a "season" itself.
• Some biomes will have seasons that are less (or more) temperate. For example: Northern, Southern and Tropical regions. Other biomes will have fixed climates.
  • Biomes that are affected by seasonal cycles may experience drastic visual differences between seasons.
• Events may radically change the current season a zone is in, or elongate it. This includes weather changes.
• There will also be magical seasons where you might be in a tropical zone and suddenly it's snowing.
• رصانعلا, crop cycles, buildings, and crafting mechanics might gain certain buffs or debuffs in certain seasons.
• Ocean and underwater areas will not have seasonal changes.

Winter might have a spawner that activates on a road that spawns at large fallen tree and players who see that will have an opportunity to go up and exert some type of one-time action that helps in removing that tree and it might require X number of people to do that before the tree gets removed; and that as an example is not beneficial for the transit of goods because as caravans require- well they don't require but they move better on roads and if that tree were present let's say blocking a road that led to a bridge per-se that they would have to off-road. – Steven Sharif

• Different seasons may affect access to various roads.
  • Pathways that are open during summer may be closed during winter.
  • Seasonal affects may cause obstacles or blockages to the transit of goods via caravan.
  • Water turning to ice in winter, enabling players to walk over the water but blocking access to what is underneath.
    • Ice will make roads bumpy and slippery.
  • Seasonal flooding is something the developers are talking about internally, but will not be present in Alpha-2.

Freehold placement on roads

Alpha-2 freehold placement.

There'll be a variety of predetermined parcels of land in each node's zone of influence; and once players acquire their freehold permit they'll be able to lay claim to any available parcel in the issuing node's region so- and by region we mean... the total combined territory of a node and all of its vassal nodes. So, if you acquire a freehold permit in the metropolis of a huge region, almost 20% of the map, you'll be able to lay a claim to an available parcel anywhere within that region. So it gives you a lot of freedom if you're able to acquire the permit from a metropolis. – John Collins

Freehold plots require a bound deed (permit/certificate) from the parent Village ( ﺡﺮﺴﻤﻟﺍ 3) or higher node in order to place the plot.

• Freehold deeds are obtained through completion of a Lord's quest to ascertain worthiness for lordship over an estate.
  • The freehold quest's level requirement is 50. The level requirement is subject to change based on testing.
  • There will be more deeds than estates.

That was for a time a lively debate on our design team about whether or not there should be a level gate essentially from even preventing the potential for ownership. The reason why I chose to keep it at level 50 for now is because there are alternate systems that provide access at lower levels through permission setting. So it's one thing to own the home, it's is another thing to access the contents and to continue progression. Let's say, in the processing profession, you might want to gain mastery in: that mastery process leaves the nodes at around level 30 in the leveling experience for a processing profession; and so one of the debates on the design team was whether or not we should reduce the level requirement down to level 30 so that there's a seamless transition from node-based processing progression and the Freehold capability of progression. – Steven Sharif

• Deeds may only be used to place a freehold if the deed holder successfully wins a freehold auction for an estate.
  • Citizens and non-citizens can bid on estates.
  • Bidding for estates within predetermined baronies was not mentioned previously.

You're going to see a little bit of change and this is one of the first ones: that these are predetermined locations that exist around the node or under its vassal structure that you will have the ability to bid on; and to give you a sense there, this allows us to customize a bit of those predetermined parcels, like a Sherwood Forest type of example. – Steven Sharif

• A deed holder who has won an estate auction may then claim the estate from within a barony in that node's ZOI, including the ZOI of any of its vassal nodes. Placement of the plot is enabled by using the deed item in a player's inventory to get a top-down view of the estate, then selecting the desired location for the plot.
  • Players can manipulate the orientation of their freehold plot.
  • Successful placement of a deed gives the player access to their empty freehold plot and shed.

It'll basically be an item in your bag; and once you get to your parcel, you claim that piece of land and then once it's claimed you'll be able to use the item to go into top-down view and layout actually exactly where your freehold will go on that parcel of land. You'll have a lot of freedom, so a lot that will be going through looking at your whole area of land you now own claim to and then deciding where the best spot to put your freehold in there would be. – Kory Rice

• Freehold plots must not be placed in close proximity to any of the following:
  • Pathing routes (Roadways).
  • تانازنزلا and other points of interest (POIs) regardless of advancement.
  • Event spawn areas.
  • At least ~100m from other freehold plots.
    • Previously this was stated to be ~150m from other freehold plots.
  • Hard terrain features, such as mountainsides or cliffs.

• The more advanced a node is, the more freeholds can be built within its ZOI.
  • Ample space will be available to place freeholds in the ZOI of a village node.

• Collections of freeholds placed in close proximity are still considered part of their parent node and do not become a separate node, other than via roleplay.

• Adjacent freeholds do not share any bonuses with their neighbors, but guild halls owned by partron guilds may confer benefits to surrounding freeholds.

Caravan pathing

System driven caravans (also referred to as Quest driven caravans) are system spawned caravans that are used for trade routes between nodes.

.ﺔﻴﻟﺎﺤﻟﺍ ﺮﻳﻮﻄﺘﻟﺍ ﻖﻳﺮﻃ ﺔﻃﺭﺎﺧ ﻲﻓ ﺓﺩﻮﺟﻮﻣ ﻥﻮﻜﺗ ﻻ ﺪﻗﻭ ﻦﻳﺭﻮﻄﻤﻟﺍ ﻞﺒﻗ ﻦﻣ ﺍﺮًﺧﺆﻣ ﺔﻴﻟﺎﺘﻟﺍ ﺕﺎﻣﻮﻠﻌﻤﻟﺍ ﺾﻌﺑ ﺪﻴﻛﺄﺗ ﻢﺘﻳ ﻢﻟ

• These are initiated by players with a diverse choice of routes and launch windows, making them difficult to zerg.
• Initiating a caravan from one node to another will create a PvP objective that players will need to defend while it moves along its chosen route to the selected destination.
• Roads will upgrade as nodes advance. Different roads will dictate the speed and type of caravan required (off road vs on road).

The caravan system is designed to be initiated by the player. Which means, information of the caravans launch time and route, should be a closely guarded secret. Routes will also be diverse, and the world is large, so it might behoove you to scout the route ahead before a launch. Fast travel in our game is also limited, which means unless the guild had knowledge of your plans before hand, it is likely that they will be unable to organize and travel to a location. As far as mass guilds securing trade routes, there is always a bigger fish in the pond. Also caravans will have limitations on carrying capacity and launch windows that will segment mulitiple caravans by several minutes, which would space out the caravans, making it difficult to "zerg" a defense. – Steven Sharif

Trade agreements

Mayors can enter into trade agreements with other nodes to facilitate trade between the nodes.

• There are a limited number of trade agreements that a node can have.

• Mayoral caravans may only be initiated between nodes with trade agreements or alliances.

• Trade agreements affect reputation between the nodes.

.ﺔﻴﻟﺎﺤﻟﺍ ﺮﻳﻮﻄﺘﻟﺍ ﻖﻳﺮﻃ ﺔﻃﺭﺎﺧ ﻲﻓ ﺓﺩﻮﺟﻮﻣ ﻥﻮﻜﺗ ﻻ ﺪﻗﻭ ﻦﻳﺭﻮﻄﻤﻟﺍ ﻞﺒﻗ ﻦﻣ ﺍﺮًﺧﺆﻣ ﺔﻴﻟﺎﺘﻟﺍ ﺕﺎﻣﻮﻠﻌﻤﻟﺍ ﺾﻌﺑ ﺪﻴﻛﺄﺗ ﻢﺘﻳ ﻢﻟ

Mercenary guilds will be a viable way forward for different organizations. I think there will be a lot of business to be had with that; and one of the systems in our trade agreements is creating an escrow for those particular type of arrangements that we're looking into. – Steven Sharif

مامتهالا طاقن

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              ﺔﻤﻳﺪﻗ ﺔﻤﺟﺮﺘﻟﺍ ﻩﺬﻫ ﻥﻮﻜﺗ ﺪﻗ

نقطة إهتمام  جديدة (مثل  الدهاليز  و زعماء العالم) تظهر  بعقد(بشكل) متطور. هذا المحتوي  يتكيف مع  تطور  المناطق الموجودة به.

• سوف تتغير الكثافة.
• صعوبة المحتوي سوف تتغير.
• قد يتغير المحتوي بلكامل , إعتمادا علي ما يتطور وكيف يتطور .
• أنواع جديدة من الوحوش وإختلاف القصة (المهمات).
• فقط بعض الدهاليز سوف تصبح متاحة في حالة أن العقد تطور لمراحل معينة .
• القصة(المهات) داخل الدهليز سوف تعتمد علي قوس المهمة التي تتكون من الطرق المختارة عن طريق نظام العقد.
• الجوائز في المناطق و الدهاليز سوف تكون مقيدة بتقدم المنقطة الموجودة بها.

الدهاليز المحيطة و النقط الاخري حول الخريطة سوف تتأثر بتطور العقد. فقط بعض الدهاليز سوف تصبح متاحة إذا طورنا العقد إلي مستوي معين. القصة(المهات) داخل الدهليز سوف تعتمد علي قوس المهمة التي تتكون من الطرق المختارة عن طريق نظام العقد الجوائزفي المناطق و الدهاليز سوف تكون مقيدة بتقدم المنقطة الموجودة بها . علي سبيل المثال لنفترض أن البشر طورو عقد في المنقطة ج, و أصبحت مجموعة من المهمات متاحة مما يقود اللاعبين إلي أكتشاف دهاليز المناطق المجاورة .ولنفترض أن هذا العقد تم تطويره في منقطة صناعية… قبل تطور العقد , كان هذا الدهليز متاح… ولكن الأن نفس الدهليز أصبح يمتلك وحوش جديدة و تغيرت جوائزه لتصبح جوائز تستعمل للصناعة بسبب تطور العقد . وربما , قد يظهر زعيم جديد في غرف مختلفة من الدهليز التي سوف تحتوي علي مغامرة مختلفة و مهمات مختلفة , مثل شئ غامض مع مهمة للحصول عليه والمهمة يمكن فقط قبولها إذا تطور العقد إلي نقطة معينة في منطقة معينة , حول العالم . نظامنا واسع جدا, بما يتعلق ب الترابط و كيف يتأثر العالم بللاعبين.

Corrupted areas

Alpha-2 corrupted area in the Riverlands biome.

We just saw a corrupt zone and that zone becomes corrupt after a period of time in which players are not addressing some issues that arise through certain events or through certain story arcs; and that corruption can spread and corruption changes the spawners for resources and for monsters; and that has a fundamental effect on the resource economy of the game. – Steven Sharif

Corrupted areas (zones/points of interest) can dynamically evolve with the progression of nodes and story arcs.

• Harbingers that exist on Verra as dungeons are where The Ancients are capable of pushing into the material plane. They can continue to do so under the guise of the effects of corruption as it spreads.

• These are sources of NPC events that players need to address before they grow out of hand.
  • Players need to participate in these events to stop the spread of corruption and hold back the intrusion on the material plane.
  • If players fail to address these corrupted areas, the frequency of NPC events against their node will increase. These can lead to node buildings and services being disabled, increasing the node's vulnerability to node sieges.

It can be a very detrimental thing if corruption is not addressed; and that's the intent of corruption, is to present a challenge to the players that if not addressed it becomes exacerbated and a problem over time. – Steven Sharif

• Corrupted areas do not confer corruption onto a player. Only pvP related activities lead to player corruption (in the flagging system).

To degree your mortal coil, as we call it, or what some might consider a soul from your character's perspective within this story- can be influenced and can be changed into a shape that's more in tune with corruption; and that's through doing PvP things you can accomplish that. – Steven Sharif

• Corrupted areas will likely be impacted less by seasons and weather.

When it enters the corruption state outside of weather, in that corrupt state, you will probably see a little bit less of the influence of the season because really it's adopting that corruption, which in-and-of-itself is a season. – Steven Sharif

• Corrupted areas will spawn variations of mobs and resources.
  • Corrupted resources are only available in corrupted areas or during certain story arcs.

Underrealm routes

يلفسلا ملاعلا node concept art.

One of the aspects of the Lore behind the Tulnar was that in the pantheon of gods that exist- having foretold the future through the Goddess of Fate to the Goddess of Creation- these areas in the Underrealm were created in to allow for refuge for which the gods knew would be left behind that couldn't make it to Sanctus. So that was a pre-thought there in the creation of the Underrealm to facilitate that realm where refugees could seek. – Steven Sharif

Alpha-0 Underrealm Sharptooth cat mob concept art.

We plan to have the Underrealm really pervasive throughout the game itself, a part of the open world. It will introduce some unique elements such as the type of monsters you see, the type of crops you can grow and houses you can have. – Steven Sharif

The يلفسلا ملاعلا is a rich environment where bio-luminescence abounds in the fauna and flora that exist here. These deep caverns and underground valleys provide new destinations for civilization to develop. Bringing the node system into the depths of the world may awaken darker creatures than the surface.

• The Underrealm is estimated to be not too much bigger than 100 km² in area. It is not contiguous space across the entire map. There will be areas that are obstructed by chasms or other features.

The expansiveness of the Underrealm itself is quite large. It does persist across across a lot of the playable game area that's above ground. So there are alternatives in the Underrealm for passages and traversal throughout the world. – Steven Sharif

• The location of Underrealm entrances throughout the world is focused around natural geographic choke-points that exist above ground. This provides alternate subterranean routes that can be used by caravans, raids, and other player activities.

The Underrealm is intending to be bespoke segments of Underrealm territory that are available around areas of choke-point in the world map that are above ground, which are provided for caravan transit across the world. So those caravans as they're approaching these choke-points on land, they will have alternate route options to go down into the Underrealm and to try to traverse that space, as opposed to the choke-points. – Steven Sharif

• Not all entrances to the Underrealm will be open at the same time. This can shift dynamically (based on node states) that cause different routes to open up, which may be more or less advantageous than other routes.

• There will be bodies of water such as rivers and lakes in the Underrealm that house unique species of fish.
  • There won't be boats and other water vehicles in the Underrealm.

There will absolutely be Underrealm lakes and rivers. Those will be locations and very important ones for unique material goods like certain types of fish that players will be able to go down and fish with. But there will not be the use of boats and vehicles within the water- water vehicles of the Underrealm, at least not for launch. – Steven Sharif

See also

• Trade routes
• Seasons
• لفاوقلا