Thank you to our entire community for being glorious! We hope that you enjoy this Q&A session with our Creative Director and some of our lovely community members. Thank you to ChibiBree, RitchieSH, and Simurgh for your time, and questions. We appreciate you all for your continued support of our development. It's going to be an adventure journey, and we love having you along with us!

@Cukees

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for really giving back to the community with this Q&A so early on in the development of the game. It shows you guys really care about your community!

@cruezie

Жыл бұрын

Have very much appreciated the constant stream of content over these past few years. Thanks to the whole team.

@MEneifal

Жыл бұрын

Margaret ur my spirit animal

@jaybash2944

Жыл бұрын

You guys are doing absolutely fantastic. Please don't get too mad at Steven, I also agree that the constant over-rewarding/glorification in modern MMOs really takes away from the joy of accomplishing something. Not to mention the whole good feeling behind leveling and getting gear. I think the biggest selling point that a lot of gamers don't understand is that the games that have monthly subscriptions have more revenue they can use to continue to build on a game compared to those without them. The fact that this game can continue to grow and develop into the foreseeable future is a very enticing thing.

@jonathanhughes8679

Жыл бұрын

I remember in EQ my guild was the very first on any server, to kill Vox. Got my ranger’s sword. Today’s mmorpgs have destroyed Community and that’s hurt the genre more than. When everyone wins and there’s never any failure it takes away the good feeling when you finally do win. MMORPG’s are about community. And we need something beyond the Trinity. A true group combat shouldn’t be a triangle but a 5 pointed star,Tank, Healer, DPS, CC and Buff/Support. Yes CC should do dmg,especially more than Support but support should be putting out buffs that help everyone in a different way. To help healers regen mana faster, buff DPS dmg for a short duration, tanks getting a short point blank shield. Etc.a good mmo doesn’t change just because a lot of people want instances. Why? Players seldom understand what they want.

If you guys nail in combat, Verra will be my new home for years to come. Congratz for the achievements so far

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

We shall do our best! ⚔

@martialis2974

Жыл бұрын

@MonsterCraft you just here to hate? You dont need to convince the people already supporting this game, because they literally dont care…

The Content Creators did a fantastic job with their questions and Steven, as always, held no punches to answer the majority. I think I speak for the whole community when I say, thank you for addressing alot of the concerns that have been on our mind for a long while. It may be a while until alpha 2 arrives but the transparency Intrepid continue to present keeps us excited and hopeful!

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

💕

@stevenjsharif

Жыл бұрын

Thanks brother.

@scythro_9995

Жыл бұрын

Our lord of copium hath spoken.

it's a good sign when Steven has an answer for every question with no hesitation.

Thank You guys for this opportunity!!! It was a blast!

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for being a part of our community! 🥰

Thank you Intrepid for providing the community with continued transparency and including us all in the development of this amazing game. As a member of Simurgh's Ashes Pathfinders thank you for answering some of the concerns we've had. I look forward to more excitement in the future with the up coming mage and cyclops streams. Much love. "Let them cook"

@mageczack

Жыл бұрын

Yo can you share what website Sim uses for dem botviews and followers? BTW did he got that transcript copy paste?

steven gave me goosebumbs when he answered on the question at 40:26 i love his opinion about that question to the very core

@Girlhead

Жыл бұрын

This is what I want!

I love the passion Steven has for the lore. It’s fun to watch him story the world while giving us bits and pieces to explore. It’s clear why he’s so good at running campaigns and leading groups through long form adventures. Can’t wait!

Steven is 100% right you have to have the opportunity to lose for winning to feel good! There was a twilight zone episode in which a guy died and he had everything he wanted he could not lose no matter how hard he tried the whole time he thought he was in heaven only to find out in the end it was hell.

@ccloudleaf

Жыл бұрын

Whoa, the Twilight Zone this good normally haha that sounds amazing.

All that's left is first person view for immersive encounters and of course taking pictures 📸 and this is my dream MMO!

GGz to all the content creators! so happy to see intrepid taking good care of the community, shout out to Margaret, Roshen, Vaknar, the CS team and all the mods ❤

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

Aw, thanks for the love! 🤗💕

Thank you so much again for letting Chibi come on the show, it was a blast being a part of this

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

Thank YOU for allowing us a lil of Chibi's time, and thank you for continuing to support our development journey.

Amazing as always! Steven is actually an artist with words, the way he paints images in your mind with just a few sentences is incredible! Can't wait for more!

Great Community Q&A episode. Would love to see more of these in the future. Great Job!

Very happy that Steven confirmed dialog choices will be impactful.

Where's Narc😢😢

Yup. Imma a need a new rig for this one. Steven and the entire team has something special brewing. It has been fun to listen to their interviews. I know it’s a cliche to say, but you can really hear the passion they have for their game in the livestreams. Keep up the great work Intrepid!

That "IT SUCKS ASS!" sure came from the heart! 😅 And we 100% agree with you, Steven.

Forever wishing intrepid, the devs, gamers, and all those connected to the project much success. It feels good to be a part of what I believe, is one of the greatest success stories to continually path the mmo way. *cheers*🎉🎉🎉🎉

Why the hell NARC is not here?

The most immersive and engaging MMO I played was high risk (dangerous) and pretty much required joining a group, so I agree in general (that said, Darkfall lacked many social systems and spaces to retain a good community. Likewise for Mortal Online of course). I have good hope for Ashes of C. due to the nuanced and rich design.

@hxdcm

Жыл бұрын

Darkfall had so many great things going for it, client was a bit buggy but the combat was fun including hopping, inventory strategy with all the bags within bags and weight, mounts that could be stolen or die & do damage, ship combat, cannons, city takeovers, spying, heck even being able to "climb" trees was great... and night really had an impact on visibility

@Baraz_Red

Жыл бұрын

@@hxdcm We could climb trees? I played for years and do not remember that. :P Anyhow, I had a blast in Darkfall and played it pretty much everyday, even though I sucked! The ship combat was definitively a highlight in my book.

@hxdcm

Жыл бұрын

@@Baraz_Red yes with the base wand spell that could do some knockback, if aimed at your feet could make you jump pretty high. Couldn't "climb" every tree but a lot of them and other objects. And don't feel like you're bad, the "good" players also macrod nonstop to get their skill levels up and exploited mob pathing to gear up to be a lot stronger comparatively so it was hard to catch up ... Still very fun at the time & hope some of the features are implemented into AoC.

@Baraz_Red

Жыл бұрын

@@hxdcm Oh, climb in that sense. :P OK

Many very interesting questions and very enjoyable video all around, the content creators did a great job and Steven is always a joy to listen to, he just radiates passion and charisma. (Hope that coughing gets better soon!) Good thing you addressed the freehold cosmetics, some people were starting to get too heated about that topic, hope it get's resolved soon.

Love all the statues that Steven got on the stream.

bon courage aux développeurs , continuez comme ça ! on attend tous ce bijou de mmo en france !

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

Aw, thanks! 💖

Thank you so much for this informative community engagement! Intrepid Studios continues to emblazon my heart...

Timestamps were really helpful. Thanks!

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

💪💪

Ty guys. Love it.

Steven, thank you for the honest feeling you showed us (this caught my attention to this project), and the Intrepid team for all your hard work. I'm waiting for the release, the same as millions of people around the world but believe me or not, the journey we have had so far has been much more enjoyable than some modern MMORPG. The development process is about more than just transparency. It is about your sharing part of the team life with us!

Amazing information as well as a genuine feel of community and passion. Great job everyone 👏🏽

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! We are glad to hear you enjoyed it! 🤗

Loved this Q&A, it answered a lot of questions I had! Excited to see how the rest of the development unfolds in 2023

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! We can't wait to share more of our journey with you! 🤗

How was Narc not invited to this?

@mrandreasranasen

Жыл бұрын

This isn’t the first and last show they’re having with content creators. I’m sure they’re inviting the more popular ones closer to Alpha2 or Launch.

Any update on the tavern system? I'm extremely excited just to run a tavern, hand out quests and provide buffs/bonuses to adventurers.

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

We plan on sharing more detailed information in the future so please stay tuned. 🍻 💕

Where is Narc?

@FaithSeeker_

Жыл бұрын

Not in the video, that for sure. It was already fine and enough with those 3 people.

Desperately wish Narc can appear on one of these in the future! ❤ love these style of Q&As. Great job all round! Massive respect to Steven for this. I loved his responses around design philosophy and refusing to budge on his core principles for the game based on old school games. And not having to bend for any board etc. That answer is half the reason I'm so excited for this game. I still have major concerns about the risk that the ability to kill other players will just lead to mass griefing and that the corruption solution just simply won't solve that. I love risk and reward. But I hope the system is open to being looked at in future if its simply doesn't stop that from happening. I would also love PVE servers that potentially remove that entirely. I'm happy to give it a go as I love the idea. But as someone with ADHD and my reaction times being quite slow, even if someone else is the same level as me its unlikely I'm going to be able to fight and react as quickly as they are. And worry there will be no protection for people like me. But I certainly wouldn't want you to change your design philosophy for me as I get everything you are going for and I love it. Just worried as dont want to be constantly getting wrecked whilst out enjoying the world 😂❤

It's kind of crazy to have a game of this scope with this much development updating alongside the community.

Oh man I can't wait.

Freeholds in Alpha 2....I cant wait! :D I might be testing that the entire time haha

I love how he let his passion slip a couple times. No hard feelings when talking shit comes from the bottom of ones heart. And I loved the dictatorial tone he took when saying "the scope and vision of the game is not at the discretion of the committee" this man is a man of passion. I imagine he would do great in politics if he weren't as honest as he is.

"It feels good to lose sometimes". In an indirect way yes. The losing itself always sucks, however the reward from winning after losing (on the same subject) feels more rewarding than it would have if you'd have won right away. Happiness earned the easy way never lasts long. Happiness earned through hardship is nearly indestructible.

I wonder if you plan to implement AI in the far far future? Like, for example, in NPC dialogue. Even now you can set up an AI avatar to talk to you in any voice you want.

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

Our team is always looking into the latest technology to see what would make sense for us to implement in-game!

@MelFright

Жыл бұрын

@@AshesofCreation That's what I like about you guys.

@MelFright

Жыл бұрын

​@@Nimsik -Heroes of Might and Magic 5 size cities. -Digging tunnels -Trenches -Contract quest given by other players -Using trees as a jumping platforms if you are agi character-Ninja style -Executions in Downed state (like in GW 2) -Permanent afflictions like vampirism or lycanthropy -Communion with the ghosts in a style of Dungeon Siege 2 -minigames in taverns (dice, cards etc) 👹

thank you for this epic video

The closer anything gets the more heat you feel. Keep it cool Intrepid! We got your back

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

🔥 Bring on the heat. We're here for it.

So my problem with a "non healing support" they need to be able to buff their team to the point where the team does as much or more damage than they would have if they had an extra dps instead, and in most cases this is never achieved, so it ends up just being better to bring the extra dps than a bard

Will the Cosmetics from the Voyager Plus Pre-Order Pack be separate or will it be an Entire Costume. Example The Boots from 1 Pre-Order Pack can be matched with a Different Pack's Hood and Chestpiece?

I'm happy to commit my time to testing this game, because you clearly take that feedback on-board. Unlike other projects, cough cough.

I have only recently started following the Ashes monthly updates, but have noticed that in almost every single one of them Steven has some reason why he's coughing. Hope he's taking care of his health.

@Synkronist

Жыл бұрын

It's been that way for years. He doesn't seem sick though, it might just be his diet or something else causing the coughing. He WAS sick this week, but I mean generally he doesn't seem to have anything long term.

@AuxxiliaryATC

Жыл бұрын

He has been that way for the 4 years ive been following the project. It might be a condition he has medically and/or he talk so much in meetings and throughout the day everyday for his company that it strains his voice. Im not entirely certain.

@markcooban

Жыл бұрын

He does it to tactfully clear his throat and buy time to think of adequate responses. Aside from today, because he's probably actually sick rn lol.

Combat iteration is what is going to keep Ashes from launch for years (should go back to promised tab targeting). What if you don't want to do processing on a Freehold since you can only master one crafting system and processing is only 1/3 of choices, and some parts of Freehold are dedicated to a "processing" placement? Experience debt in A1 was so massive that some people had to delete their characters and start over - might consider making a defeat penalty less punitive. Good questions were asked; thank you to CCs.

@basse9914

Жыл бұрын

Have you seen Blue Protocol? People are loving the combat system. Sadly, I think MMOs have no choice but to move beyond solely tab targeting because it flat out feels like shit for new players, and old players.

Here is a question (and my concern): I have noticed that the caster classes have some long animations when they cast certain spells. Is there a chance this can change before release? Especially for PvP it feels like a recipe for disaster to be stuck in place for so long. And in general I didn't like the floating/flying animations for some of the spellcasting of Mage and Cleric. I would prefer something more grounded (pun intended).

@foedgger1339

Жыл бұрын

As long as that makes the skill more powerfull than the ones with short animations It shouldn't be a problem imo.

Ah, Ashes of Creation... be safe friend, don't you dare go hollow.

This is the greatest video I've ever seen on KZread. Steven is the most passionate person about something I love so much it's exhilarating

This becoming like star citizen, waiting for it forever.

Why doesn't anyone ask about itemization will items have cool fun stats or will they be just same boring main stats but higher numbers?

Will you be able to acquire skills that aren't a part of your classes? Like special skills through quests or enemies. And as a summoner, will you be able to equip your pets with items? Like a legendary weapon/armor you don't use lol

So excited for bard it's ridiculous. Can't wait to build a Siren.

56 y/o that played all those launches..... half way through but love the answers so far

Is there any chance that you're gonna implement a first person mode? Just for adding another perspective when walking around social areas like towns or in your own house. It brings a huge depth of immersion to the game and most mmorpg's have it. It's not supposed to be used for combat (although you can if you like dying lol) so there is no need to worry about balancing issues, people are smart enough to know that it isn't for combat and if they are not they are gonna find out quickly enough. A very simple way to add this is to do it like in ESO or WoW where you simply allow the view distance/camera to be zoomed in to the point where you are looking from the front of your characters face and forward. This seems like a small thing but it adds so much to the immersion of the game 😊

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

First-person point-of-view may be able to be achieved by zooming the camera, but the game is fundamentally third-person.

@Goji_Bear

Жыл бұрын

@@AshesofCreation And that's all well and good. That's the entire point of my argument, that the idea is to add another level of immersion to some players without changing the formular. I hope you will consider it :)

@anunnaki4145

Жыл бұрын

​@@AshesofCreation I agree with op. I love taking pictures in beautiful areas in games! It's also an industry standard, in fact I can't recall a single MMO that doesn't have it. All of the following MMOs are fundamentally third person aswell but still have that feature: WoW, FFXIV, ESO, GW2, BDO and I believe ArcheAge had it aswell. Oh well, if it's not a feature on launch then I'm sure it will get made as an addon

Doing it right, in MMO’s the world should be the character.

Steven is so passionate. I wish any of my clan leaders in L2 had this spirit :3

I haven't seriously played an MMO since City of Heroes 😬 I've been waiting for this game since it was announced 😵 taking so long

players being able to use blood magic sounds insanely good

Most important question when is alpha 2?

Жыл бұрын

lmao

@Aquablecs

Жыл бұрын

I mean you’re not wrong

@wolfparkour

Жыл бұрын

No, its not the most important question.

@kevinportu

Жыл бұрын

@@wolfparkour yes it is u dumbass. Or you want this to be star citizen 2.0? What's worse is that they have released early access packages for alpha 2 that go for like 500usd with also a schedule for alpha and upcoming tests. Yes delaying things due to unforseen problems/improving things is acceptable. But they have delayed this almost 3 years now and no announcement for alpha 2 date. At this point the game is in star citizen ground where either you need to cryptowait years or jump into another game and call your early access lost. Cause seriously at this pace chances are that they soon will announce another migration to a new unreal engine client or will keep delaying things for another 5 years and slowly will turn into star citizen.

Will you incorporate GPT AI technology in NPC building?

@DvlFIG

Жыл бұрын

Bruh, what?

Who made the outro?

I dare you to have Narc on one of these panels :P

These comments are mainly from the "tower of coughin" stream last week. They are a few of my ideas for your game and what I'd like to see. 1. Loved the idle stance option that really gives you your styling. Was thinking it would be cool to pick / earn / learn different stances and allowing the option that your character changes randomly or after like a crit hit or something from previous fight your 2nd or 3rd stance. (2). NPC's / MOB area; towns etc. these should be active, living , breathing, leveling and advancing. ( Warcraft, Star Craft - VS NPCs ) (3): Further moving the mark: Lets say that Orcs fight between themselves and even kill each other, the winning orc ( team ) should level up becoming stronger, at one point add new skill or ability and even a class change, maybe he had a 1H weapon and now picked up the other weapon ( better ) from an enemy and is a duel wielding orc with a war cry that will buff his group should your party attack. (4) One more step to this idea is your team is fighting in the tower of coughin and area defeated, you respawn, regroup and fight your way back to the area your souls were taken to find that the group you had fought against has some different about them, one has a new chest plate and using a 2H axe now and another has a new set of boots and a staff you wonder if this is the same group when you realize they are using what looks like gear your team was using, then you hear a war cry as the orcs rush you they start to glow. really love this for like undead mobs putting on bits and pieces of your gear making them stronger and way move immersive (5) I think the mobs should level up, open skill trees etc. progress in magic, offence and also affects drop rate or quality. (6) MOB's having look outs. (7) Mages mass casting a bigger MOB. - Necro +++ . (8) also suggest checking out some of the other UR5 stuff coming out just for general review. (9) Maybe if the Monster levels up to high he gets capped and becomes more nomadic and starts to travers the world to continue to level , or not maybe you just have a nomadic mob period ( dragon, cyclops, blood mage group, werewolf pack ). (10) Golem building itself to be stronger be it undead , elemental or blood as it moves through area killing or feeding on things. (11) are you using your class list for evil class development in the world - blood / chaos ? (12) Don't hold back graphics & content (13) in games like warcraft and start craft after the NPC builds and advice they send out concurring groups to advance and take over, this pace would be way to fast but the idea of living npc townships keeps the threat alive. (14) the ncp townships waring between themselves create a lot of interesting dynamic as well.

@kimberlydobbins1551

Жыл бұрын

btw you owe me apha 2+ access if you use my idea =)

I bought the 75 dollar preorder. Sucks I can only get beta 2 invite.

NO NARC!!!!!!

Ashes really reminds me alot of the world from 'Reincarnation of the Strongest Sword God'..

@dawnwriter18

Жыл бұрын

Literally thought the same thing!!!!

Ya just waiting to see if it's going to be on ps5 or not but if it dont still looking good😊

🖤🖤🤘🤘

yay

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

🙌🏽

Bard will allow me to relive my support days in EQ

lol, where's Narc?

1:10:20 fuck yes, fuck yes, fuck yes , fuck yes

Just make sure to have some sort of unique endgame experience. Every game has dungeons and raids. Stand out if you can. Game sounds great and looks good.

@JustMe99999

Жыл бұрын

What do you propose as an alternative to dungeons and raids?

@mr.gameandteach7197

Жыл бұрын

@Just Me labyrinths. These can go 3 ways, a labyrinth can be an entire endgame focused activity with mechanics, bosses, mechanics and bosses, and everytime you go in, they change. It's procedurally generated. Now I'm not a game developer and I don't know the first thing about how logistically of a nightmare it would be, but that's an idea. The other way labyrinths can go is being an encounter in a dungeon or raid. The labyrinth would change its path every time so you would get a new experience. Gamers are always trying to speed run so make it a requirement to beat it and not skip it. And the 3rd way is labyrinths have so many options. But this sort of activity in a game like this would remove the repetitive nature of the grind. What do you think?

I have been one of the people hyped for this for a while. I can say that I am beginning to doubt this game now with how long it is taking to produce. Missing your opportunity here for sure, can't take 15 years to make a game. I know what ur saying, but hear what I'm saying...Nobody waits half their life for a game to come out, they move on.

How do you deal with a level 35 gathering in a level 50 area with help of a level 50 player? You kill the level 50 player guardian and leave the level 35 to die from mobs. The natural order of things.

45:30 FACTS

is Steven okay? Always seems like he's sick.

Lets goooo, look at steven on the thumbnail handsome young man

@AshesofCreation

Жыл бұрын

🤗💕

Hi there

Meaningful death penalties create respect for the “E” in PvE. It’s really important. I could probably do without de-leveling, though. Let’s not be barbaric. 😅

@D3athlyV1sag3

Жыл бұрын

De-levelling would be an incredible GitGud scenario wherever your path of gameplay takes you. I think it'd have to be carefully implemented especially in terms of open PvP. Then again, there'll still be a sense of prestige for skill when you do prepare properly. The game system is naturally not designed for casual players but neither for hardcore players. It's going for a PvX balance. Probably going to be one of the truest PvX mmorpgs to ever hit the market. It won't be difficult or easy.

I'm really hopeful for this game (and I'm a backer). However, history shows us that most PvP games start out great, and then become impossible for new players to join and catch up, so the playerbase ends up being pretty niche and/or shrinks over time. I'm also not sure I'm a fan of griefers being able to fuck up your raids; or the non-instanced raids just being controlled by a couple of top guilds.

Wheres Narc

So, is this game going the route of Star Citizen? Certainly seems like it.

Sounds like this game has a lot of predicates.

Is Steven sick, every video he is always coughing?

My son and I still remember our worst deaths and near deaths in Everquest1. They were gloriously infuriating, epic, and most of all fondly memorable. ##$%#* the care-bear #$#((@ 🙂 Edit: We were in there on day 2 (gave it a day for the expected tech train wreck to clear)

@anunnaki4145

Жыл бұрын

It almost feels like you are in Sword Art Online 😂

Release this game before I'm dead please

I legit would love to see a GameStop release party for AOC when it releases haha! Sadly those days are gone for MMORPGS :(

Trophies for all 😂…. You sold me on AOC

Escape from tarkov player here. The opportunity to lose everything makes the moments you win feel like sex.

Can we expect to hear a release date soon?

Action combat doesnt work in an mmo and makes the holy trinity obsolete. Please just do good tab with a lot of tactile abilities.

see yall in 2051 for Alpha 2

@kevcat4581

Жыл бұрын

you have hopes that it will be so soon?

Жыл бұрын

vaporware doenst have further development, only marketing stunts

@dromihetes

Жыл бұрын

We will play it soon ! Right after Star Citizen launches.

Bring back the resident bard 😔

The guy looks like obi wan:)

Based on what I have heard about the "XP Debt" system, I am not a fan. In my opinion, death is a reasonable penalty for not achieving a goal. Introducing XP debt might discourage players from venturing into uncharted territories due to the fear of dying and accumulating more XP debt. Nevertheless, it could be linked to the corruption system, where the higher your corruption level, the more XP debt you accumulate.

@MuvvLuvv

Жыл бұрын

I'm playing a ff11 private server right now and there is losing xp and de-leveling. But it feels great it makes the world grounded and not a them parky. Like there is actual fear and you take precautions when adventuring.

@hxdcm

Жыл бұрын

I played FFXI almost 2 decades ago, wild that it's still kicking around. Yeah the XP/ deleveling was a nice feature. Made things more challenging and fun. Was always a thrill avoiding the trains in the group leveling areas. Such a great game :)

@JustMe99999

Жыл бұрын

I kind of agree; there is a reason that games moved away from this. I played EQ and DAOC which had it, and it makes levelling up a pain in the ass.

Too bad Narc wasn't invited though he is more popular than the present ones...

I'm really happy with the answer on incorporating 'old' systems. Psychologically, it's always made sense to me to increase the value of goals and rewards by adding BALANCED risk. I'm so sick and tired of dogshit theme parks where there's no point to any rewards for me. I think most people deep down feel that way except a minority, despite complaints.

@JustMe99999

Жыл бұрын

I don't think it's a minority. It's why WoW was and is the most popular MMORPG in history.

@basse9914

Жыл бұрын

@@JustMe99999 then why was it more popular when it was less of a theme park?

@JustMe99999

Жыл бұрын

@@basse9914 It has always been a complete theme park... it kind of invented that genre for MMOs.

@basse9914

Жыл бұрын

@@JustMe99999 OK well even under your strange definition it became more theme park and got less popular.

@JustMe99999

Жыл бұрын

@@basse9914 My "strange definition?" lol What part of WoW has been Sandbox? It NEVER has. It's the game that literally started theme park MMO's. It' loss of subscriptions (yet it's still by far the most popular MMO, and the next two below it are also theme park) have nothing to do with what you're suggesting... there's a lot more competition now, especially from F2P games that didn't exist before.