When thinking about what will set Ashes of Creation apart from other MMORPGs, one system immediately comes to mind: the Node System. This clever design will breathe life into the world of Verra, allowing it to dynamically evolve through the influence of player activity.
Node Stages:
Level 0 - Wilderness
Level 1 - Expedition
Level 2 - Camp
Level 3 - Village
Level 4 - Town
Level 5 - City
Level 6 - Metropolis
Node Types:
Divine
Economic
Military
Scientific
The content offered by nodes is determined not only by their stage but also by their type.There are four node types: Divine, Economic, Military, and Scientific Nodes.
One of the most crucial aspects of the Node type is how it affects the government system in place, the available narrative, and the amenities and services offered. Additionally, each node type unlocks a 'superpower' when the Node reaches Metropolis. Therefore, players should carefully consider their choice of Node citizenship.
Node Stages:
Divine Nodes are associated with faith and skill enhancement, overseen by Priests and fueled by Favour. This node type will feature a PvE favour system earned through self-devotion-oriented tasks. If you aspire to become the Mayor of a Divine Node, you should know that it is awarded to the citizen with the highest PvE favour. Once a Metropolis, Divine Nodes unearth a procedurally constructed 'mega catacomb' dungeon beneath them, intertwining with divine vassal Nodes, housing exclusive bosses with unique loot tables.
Economic Nodes focus on trade and commerce, presided over by Merchants. These nodes will have access to an auction house within their Market, helping keen buyers and sellers get the best deal and reach a wider audience. Winning a blind-bid auction will guarantee you Mayorship in this Node. Economic Nodes ascending to the Metropolis level activate the Linked Economy superpower, uniting their auction house listings with those of other Economic Nodes. Linked economies extend to include up to two economic metropolises and encompass the connection between the metropolis and its vassal economic Nodes.
Military Nodes are dedicated to combat training and class refinement, guarded by personnel who uphold Honor. If you are a PvP fan, then these nodes will surely pique your interest! To secure your role as Mayor, become a contestant in a trial by combat and emerge victorious over your competitors. Military Nodes yield the advantage of potentially enabling Bounty hunters and reducing the duration of corruption, a testament to their strategic significance in the game world.
Academic/Scientific Nodes emphasise artisan craftsmanship and construction expertise, guided by Scholars. If your goal is to excel in your artisan profession, engaging with NPC Merchants here will enable you to earn ancillary quest points that can unlock special abilities in your chosen artisan professions. The Mayor is elected by ranked-choice popular vote, so candidates should strive to make a good impression! Scientific nodes that have reached the Metropolis level unlock teleportation within their vassal network, which can extend across seas and include islands.
Node types remain standardised across all servers and maintain their static nature. For example, if an Economic Node were to be destroyed through a siege, it will still, and always will be, an Economic node. It is also important to note that the overall appearance of the node is determined by the biome it exists in and by the experience contribution of player races. For instance, if the majority of the player population contributing to the Node is Vek, the node's architecture will be influenced by the Vek.
Players will also be interested to know that there will be Nodes located along coastlines. These nodes will have influence over the services and questlines related to the sea and even have the potential to trigger events.
Let us not forget The Underrealm! These nodes and the node above them are directly adjacent but do not share the same Zone of Influence. The Underrealm node may 'bleed' into the surface node, indicating some influence.
Within the intricate landscape of our servers, there exists a network of developmental hubs known as Nodes. At the onset of the game's launch, players will discover 85 regular Nodes strategically positioned, complemented by an additional set of 15 castle Nodes, forming a total of 100 Nodes.These Nodes are fixed points within the world, enshrouded by Zones of Influence, which encompass ever-evolving geographic zones shaped by player engagement.
The game world is divided into regions, each containing multiple Nodes. As Nodes progress, they exert an impact on the content both within and around them. It's important to mention that Nodes are not player-created entities. Nevertheless, players assuming governance roles within a Node possess the authority to guide diplomacy, modify construction, and influence services within that specific Node.
Regular Nodes can appear as one of 7 stages and one of 4 types.
To a player, these will look like the usual settlements you see in other games. As you travel to different locations such as expeditions or camps, you'll interact with NPCs, pick up and complete quests, defeat mobs, and gather resources, among other things. However, when a player engages in activities within the node, like the camp, and its zone of influence, they contribute experience to the Node. This contribution enables the Node to progress to a higher level once it meets the necessary requirements. In turn, this progression unlocks new and unique content within the node and the surrounding area, including new buildings, amenities, and quests.
Ashes of Creation's world manager algorithm plays a crucial role in orchestrating the game's dynamic elements. It ensures a balanced and engaging experience for players, covering everything from hunting and gathering to quests and resources.This algorithm maintains equilibrium while responding to player behaviour. It affects prices of items, resource availability, and territorial expansion, all influenced by this intricate system. By blending the effects of player actions and algorithmic management, the game world remains vibrant and ever-changing.
The Expedition stage can be quickly achieved, granting players access to basic NPC vendors and functions. However, things become particularly interesting when a Node reaches the Camp stage (level 2). If the neighbouring Node also reaches the Camp stage or remains at the Expedition stage, the Node that advances to the Village stage (level 3) first becomes a Sovereign Node, expanding its zone of influence to encompass its neighbour, which becomes a Vassal. These Sovereign nodes may also be known as Parent Nodes or Regent Nodes within the community.
Upon becoming a Sovereign Node, it sets a cap on the maximum progression of its neighbouring nodes. Consequently, these neighbouring nodes limit the progression of their own vassal nodes within their zone of influence. It's important to note that the progression of neighbouring vassal nodes, while capped, doesn't mean they cannot continue to thrive and maintain significance. They must remain one level below the Sovereign Node and await the dominant node to progress to the next stage or be destroyed.
Sovereign nodes receive taxes and hold authority over vassal nodes, and vassal nodes are influenced by the government, alliances, wars, taxation, and trade of their respective Sovereign nodes. However, Sovereign nodes have the capacity to offer federal assistance to their vassals, among other benefits.
This symbiotic relationship fosters collaboration and cooperation, with benefits flowing from the Sovereign to its Vassals. The vassal system enables nodes to support each other's development while preserving their distinct identities and roles within the world. These intricate mechanics of vassalage underscore the importance of alliances and collective progress.
Expeditions and Camps, although they function similarly to vassals in terms of progression caps, are not technically vassals because these node stages do not require citizens. Think of these nodes as dependents, relying on the Village node. In the event of a siege, if the Sovereign Village node were to be defeated, the dependent Camps or Expeditions would also fall.
For those wondering, a Metropolis (Level 6) can support a maximum vassal network of two Cities. Each of these Cities can, in turn, have a vassal Town and a vassal Village. Additionally, each Town can have its own vassal Village, and the Villages can each have vassals in the form of an Expedition or Camp.
Let's take a closer look at what is happening with experience. Nodes accumulate an experience deficit daily, determined by the node's level; this is referred to as node atrophy. This deficit is deducted from any experience earned on that day. If there is still an experience deficit after deductions, it is then subtracted from the node’s experience pool. Therefore, if a node isn’t attracting enough player activity to negate the deficit, it will naturally begin to disable systems within the node. If a deficit threshold has been reached, and a number of services have been disabled, the node may de-level. On the other hand, if a node gains more experience than its daily deficit, it will add to its total experience pool. If a node is at cap and is a Vassal node, its excess experience will be transferred to its Sovereign Node.
We've briefly mentioned citizenship before, but what is it exactly? In Verra, players can travel all over the world, visit all the nodes, and explore content, but they can only be a citizen of one node. Node citizenship is a nuanced aspect that combines financial responsibility and strategic choices. While there's no strict cap on node citizenship, there exists a soft cap, which is intricately tied to the stage of the node and the timing of a player's entry.
Being a citizen of a node grants you special access to additional content unique to that node. This may include lower tax rates, reduced node fees for services, access to unique NPCs and vendors offering unique enhancement stones and stat migrations, access to specific buildings and upper-tier crafting benches, the weekly allotment of core materials from the node's reliquary, buffs from specific events, the acquisition of titles that further enhance the advantages of citizenship, relic and policy benefits, and more.
To become a citizen of a node, several conditions must be met. First and foremost, the node must be at least a Village. Secondly, you must own a form of housing. There are four housing types: inns, apartments, static housing, and freeholds. Once you own your home, you will be eligible to claim citizenship.
Upon obtaining citizenship, a player gains access to the benefits offered by the node. However, it comes with an upkeep cost, as you will now pay taxes to your node and a citizenship due. These figures will fluctuate depending on the property type you have and the level of your node.
You can choose not to have citizenship to a node, but you’ll miss out on the many benefits.
Citizens are not locked into a Node, and if they wish to renounce their citizenship to claim elsewhere, they can do so by visiting the Town Hall. Once the citizenship has been renounced, the player enters a registration cooldown period and will only be able to apply for new citizenship once the cooldown period is over. Remember, you will not lose your housing, only your citizenship.
Now, this isn't the only way a player can lose citizenship. If the node you are a citizen of becomes destroyed in a siege (yes, this can happen), the player becomes a Refugee. Refugees are able to claim citizenship at another node without a cooldown.
Oh and don’t forget, players can only be citizens of one node per an account!
Once a Node reaches the Village stage, players who become citizens have an opportunity to become part of the node's government through various roles. As we've already mentioned, one prominent role is that of the Mayor, carrying numerous responsibilities such as controlling the types of buildings constructed, managing active mayoral commissions, buy orders, and tax rates.
Moreover, there are other positions like priests of a temple, patreon guild leaders, or chief bounty hunters. While we currently lack specific details on these roles, it's essential to note that Mayors are not the sole government positions; each of them carries distinct responsibilities. This immersive political system empowers players to actively contribute to the direction and growth of their Node.
The Node's Government not only influences events within your Node but also shapes its relationships with other Nodes through various political actions. Your Node can engage in trade agreements with others, facilitating the transit of Mayoral caravans for resource transfer between nodes. In cases of deteriorating relations, the Government can declare Node wars. It's worth mentioning that Node wars cannot be declared on Nodes within your Vassal network. However, you can rally your Node alliance to fight alongside you.
Lastly, your Node government can opt to declare a siege on another Node, offering opportunities to overhaul the content provided by Node systems and granting other Nodes a chance to progress. Of course, this depends on whether you and your fellow citizens are prepared and powerful enough to defeat your opponent's Node!
I would like to conclude by looking at Nodes and Intrepids Design Pillars.These design pillars help ensure that Ashes of Creation maintains a consistent vision and delivers the intended PvX player experience:
1. Engaging and Immersive Story: The Node System enriches the world of Verra by enabling dynamic changes, creating a living and evolving narrative based on players' influence on nodes.
2. Reactive World: Nodes progress and change in response to player interactions, influencing not only the surrounding area but also the whole of Verra. Every server will be unique because of the reactive nature of Nodes.
3. Player Interaction: Nodes serve as social hubs for many players, offering rewarding reasons to visit them. Players are encouraged to interact through elections, trade, artisanship, and roleplay within nodes. Furthermore, nodes foster dependencies between one another, encouraging alliances and introducing mechanics such as trade agreements, node wars and sieges.
4. Player Agency: Players have agency over the development and progression of nodes. Their choices and activities directly impact the growth and specialisation of nodes, ultimately granting access to content that, in turn, offers unique character customisation.
5. Risk vs Reward: The Node System introduces risks and rewards, such as the benefits gained from citizenship, including reduced taxes, unique NPCs, and more, as well as the possibility of losing citizenship if a node is destroyed in a siege.
We hope we've clarified some aspects of Nodes with our guide. If you'd like to explore deeper into the world of Verra, we highly recommend visiting the community wiki, which is linked on our main guide page!
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