Ashes of Creation explains how Nodes help expand its reactive MMO world

You might've spied Tyler chatting about Ashes of Creation last month—Intrepid Studios' upcoming classic-styled MMO that boasts permanent change, cycling seasons and a neat-sounding caravan trading feature than infuses PvP elements with its market economy. The developer has now explained how Nodes, and how players use them, will affect its reactive world.

So what are Nodes in Ashes of Creation, exactly? A lot of things, explains Intrepid via its blog.

"Nodes are a pre-set location, wrapped in a zone of influence, in our world that can form into towns of different sizes," so reads the blog. This covers everything from small camps to sprawling metropolises, with size ultimately determined by the contribution of players and how far they decide to advance any given Node.

"Players do not create the footprint of a Node," adds the blog, "but within that footprint they do have the ability to own land."

Here's Intrepid with some of that in greater detail:

"Players who are part of the government for a specific Node will have the ability to modify building types and services further, but for the most part, a Node will grow along its own specific path (think about this more as NPCs building these towns out, rather than PCs individually putting buildings and walls up)," adds Intrepid. "A Node’s contribution area is larger than the actual town itself, allowing for players to adventure while building upon the town.

"We call the contribution area the Node’s 'Zone of Influence,' and it’s the area where players help to advance the Node they are in."

Interested in any of that? Registration for Ashes of Creation's alpha and beta access is open now—head this way to sign up—and more videos can found via its official site.