Hello folks!
It's been a while since we posted news, as usual we've been working in the shadows in order to get ready for the next beta phase. We still don't know when it's going to happen but it's definitely somewhere on the horizon. A lot of work has been done since the first test in march and we still have a number of different aspects to talk about.
One of the big tasks we've been tackling recently is dialogue writing. In Ashes of Phoenix, non player characters fulfill different roles. First, most of them are standing in faction headquarters, guarding it, selling equipment and providing various services to faction members. Naturally, a big part of the dialogues are directly related to those matters, but there are also quite a number of characters in all the headquarters who are looking for certain items to fulfill their needs, be it the long lost golden locket of their only daughter, a set of marked cards to tip the odds in the casino in their favor, or the good old rubber doll to indulge in more secretive activities. It is up to the player to find out how to get the most out of his regular trips to the core, rather than just dropping everything off at the designated merchant.
There are more elaborated quests as well: some characters have a lot to say about themselves, their factions and the world, and even more thanks to the Persuasion skill that will unlock new answers. We also plan some characters to play an active role in the war to come: through global quests available to the whole faction, you will have the opportunity to collaborate in order to bring your side closer to victory. That's the type of quests and dialogues we want to focus on in the future.
As for repeatable quests, we implemented the Random Assignment feature which enables you to complete many different and largely randomized missions, be it alone or with a group of friends. We'll talk more about the random assignments and our plans for the future in the next post so stay in touch!