Node leadership

There's going to be some level of power delegation and separation of powers that is absorbed by different player progression paths.[2] – Steven Sharif
Node leadership positions (also referred to as Node government positions, and Council members) are attained through seasonal titles that grant special powers and benefits within a node.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
- There are other node-based positions. Most of them relate to social organizational structures like the temple and the social organization building that the node might construct. Those are ladder systems of achievement that players can work through on a seasonal basis to achieve the highest level of that for the particular node; and by doing so they will then have titles bestowed upon them, which grants certain types of powers and benefits.[4] – Steven Sharif
- These positions are not chosen by the Mayor and have different duties, responsibilities, and privileges that are gained through separate progression paths.[2][3][4]
- They are council members that are not chosen by the Mayor but that have their own progression paths within certain nodes, that either have buildings for this, such as a temple that's been upgraded to contain like a Archbishop position depending on the node size. There are systems that need to come online for those to be in place, but will have separate duties responsibilities and privileges to what the Mayor has. So, there'll be a number of leaders within nodes.[2] – Steven Sharif
- Mayors.[8]
- Priests, bishops, or acolytes of temples.[4][9][6]
- Social organization positions.[4]
- Patron guild leaders.[6]
- Chief bounty hunter.[6]
Node elections

The village stage is a unique stage because that's when the government system comes online and all other stages past village there will have already been a cadence for the election system and it will follow that cadence, but after the initial village stage is completed there will be a one week period where players have an opportunity to establish citizenship at the village that also provides for the cooldown time that is- that would be present on players leaving another node to participate in in this particular node leveling up. But that after that one week period then there will be a one-week election process and then from that point moving forward will be the one month cadence that the node experiences elections on.[11] – Steven Sharif
Once a node has reached Village (stage 3) there will be a one week cooldown period before node elections begin.[11]
- This cooldown period allows players to establish citizenship at the village; which may require them to relinquish previous citizenship at another node.[11]
- Following the initial cooldown, there will be a one week election process, then from that point on, elections will follow a monthly cadence.[11]
- Node sieges may not be declared for 21 days following a node advancing to any stage.[12]
Node elections will occur on a monthly basis.[11][14]
- Election notices will be mailed to the accounts of citizens.[15]
- Only citizens of a node may participate in its elections.[7]
- Only node citizens may be elected mayor.[16][17]
- Only one citizenship may be declared per account, per server realm.[17][18]
- A king or queen can also become a mayor.[17]
Alpha-2 phase-2 node elections operate as follows:[19][20]
- Registration: Opens 5 days before the 1st of each month.[19]
- Voting: Runs from the 1st to the 5th of the month.[19]
- Unscheduled elections (UE): Triggered if a mayor loses citizenship, deletes their character, or is banned.[19]
- Election skipping: If the current mayor has served 20 days or less before an election, the election is skipped.[19]
Node election types
Mayors are chosen through different methods according to the node's type.[23][24][25]
- Academic node mayors are elected via ranked choice popular vote.[23][21][22]
- This was previously a single popular vote system.[26][24] Records of who voted for who are not published.[15]
- Divine node mayors are elected based on the citizen who earns the most PvE favor by completing religious quests.[23][21][22][26][24]
- Most of the devotion-oriented tasks are going to be on an individual basis and won't utilize outside support.[27]
- Economic node mayors are elected via a blind-bid auction where the citizen bidding the most money wins.[23][21][22][26][24] This is a gold sink.[28]
- Military node mayors are elected based on trial by combat. During the election week the node will enter an open-PvP battleground state for hour-long periods where candidates (and their citizen supporters) compete to gain points by killing opposing supporters and securing objectives. The highest point winner at the end of the week will win.[23][21][22]
City hall
- Town halls are default service buildings that come pre-built with nodes.[34][21][35][36]
- Mayoral commissions boards that list available Mayoral commissions are located near a node's city hall.[37]
- Commissions chests for turning in resources and materials for mayoral commissions are located near a node's city hall.[37]
- Players interact with Town Hall Administrator NPCs to apply for citizenship at that node.[ citation needed ]
Mayors

Mayors have a unique ability to elicit change within the node proper, either through the destruction of certain buildings that have been constructed previously, because there's a limited number of slots that buildings can be constructed within, or the kickoff of additional projects, or the certain types of policies that can be enacted, like... the changing of a tax rate. They all have a unified source of energy requirement and the energy requirement is a mandate.[39] – Steven Sharif
Mayors are chosen through different election methods according to the node's type.[23][24][25]
- Only node citizens may be elected mayor.[17]
- Only one citizenship may be declared per account, per server realm.[17][18]
- Mayoral leadership powers are granted via the use of mandates. These are designed to limit the ability for Mayors to grief their node.[16][39][8]
- Mayors won't be able to delegate their powers, but there are other node leadership roles with different duties, responsibilities, and privileges.[2][3][4]
- Previous mayors won't have any special system driven bonuses to help them get reelected.[40]
- Kings and Queens can also become a mayors.[17]
- Q: What stops a player from renouncing their node citizenship of an enemy node then bidding on your economic node mayoral election just to grief it after they get elected?
- A: That sounds like a strategy! There are obviously going to be certain mechanics that when a mayor engages with its node, requires buy-in from the citizenship. So, the mayor is going to have a certain amount of mandate energy and that mandate energy can be spent on promoting certain policies, electing certain buildings to be constructed, choosing, certain trade agreements and alliances; and many of those things require the citizenship to buy in, through either voting or engaging with those systems to determine whether or not the mayor can successfully do those things. So there's a bit of a relationship between what the citizenship wants and what the mayor wants.[16] – Steven Sharif
- Players will be able to view a historical listing of mayors of a node.[41]
Mayoral caravans
Mayoral caravans (also referred to as Trade caravans, or Node-to-node trade caravans) are launched by Mayors to trade node commodities with other nodes in exchange for service building upgrades and bespoke buffs.[43][44][45][46][42][47]
- Just wait until the node-to-node trade system becomes available for Mayors, where you can now use your treasury to purchase node-specific commodities that can be traded on the node-to-node trade network and in return give you necessary resources from successful trade completions, where you can then spend those resources on bespoke buffs and upgrades for the buildings you have. So there's going to be a need to utilize that treasury of yours that you've accumulated to purchase these commodities that then can be traded on the node-to-node trade house.[43] – Steven Sharif
- Nodes answering node-to-node trade requests must have a trade agreement or alliance with the requesting node.[43][44][45][46][42][47][36]
- Node commodities are traded with other nodes via mayoral caravans.[48][21][49]
- Once the mayor initiates a node-to-node trade order with another node, a system driven caravan is spawned to transit the goods. These caravans will have a unique appearance specific to the node (of origin) and may appear on the map when they are launched (as a world event).[43][44][45][42]
- Those caravans that... are taking those trades will be very unique looking to the node; and we are considering the idea of showing the trade caravan on the map when it's launched from the node, if it's a part of that node-to-node trade. So, just thinking thinking about how many people are going to try to destroy that caravan to take the goods inside.[43] – Steven Sharif
Leadership powers

The government has a lot of say in the direction of the node's development. Directing assets, building projects, tax allocation, defensive ability etc. Players have the ability to not only create these cities, but they have the right of self-governance.[7]

Mayoral leadership powers are granted to mayors via the use of mandates.[39][8] Mayors are not able to delegate these powers to other players.[2]
- Initiate buy orders using gold from the node treasury.[21][49][50][47]
- Initiate mayoral commissions to aid node development.[21][51][50][39][52][7]
- Adjust node taxes.[21][39][53] This includes setting tax rates that apply to tavern games.[54][55]
- Tax money may only be used to fund node development.[56]
- Initiate service building construction and expansions.[21][39]
- Improving node defensive structures, such as stronger walls and gates, traps, and siege equipment.[52][57][58][59][7]
- Hiring mercenary NPCs to defend the node during sieges.[60][7]
- Declaring war on another node and rallying citizens to the cause.[61][52][36]
- Resources are required to declare a node war. These are able to be gathered through special mayoral commissions relating to war preparations.[61]
- We don't want mayors running around in Ashes of Creation just perma flagging the whole world into a state of PvP, well it's going to cost you some resources to do that.[61] – Chris Justo
- Set a message-of-the-day for the node.[62]
- Proposing node policies that are voted on by citizens.[63][64][52]
- Mayors won't have formal systems to carry out surveys/polls of node citizens, but they will be able to utilize node citizen chat or message-of-the-day services.[62]
- Mayors may have special color names in node chat channels.[62]
- Entering into trade agreements and defining routes between nodes.[65][21][63][36]
- Initiating Mayoral caravans to trade node commodities with other nodes in exchange for service building upgrades and bespoke buffs.[43][44][45][42][47]
- Mayors cannot denote players as enemies of the state.[67][68] Previously this was a potential option.[36][69]
- Nodes aren't meant to gatekeep other players who are not citizens of your node from interfacing with your node. Traffic to your node, fees that are associated with utilizing the node services that get applied to non-citizens are directly contributing and helping your node advance by filling your coffers.[67] – Steven Sharif
- Mayors are notified when their node is named on a siege declaration scroll.[70]
- The mayoral title unlocks special high-effect abilities and stats during sieges, wars, and events.[71][72][9]
- Mayors and lords of castles have spells they can use on the battlefield with high effect and long cooldowns for their teams.[72]
- Mayors gain new powers and responsibilities as their node advances.[25]
- Some leadership powers are specific to node type, biome, or dominant race, others are universal.[74]
- There definitely are differences... Some of the things that mayors can do are more universal, but then some systems have very specific if your node has a certain dominant race, or your node is a certain type, or it's in a certain biome. So there's even differences between where it is too.[74] – Chris Justo
- If a mayor does not make certain decisions within a set period of time then the system will make a decision for them.[76][77]
- Q: The idea behind all these nodes are awesome, but I wonder how it will actually play out in the live version. The problem is having player run or the problem with having player run towns is that people come and go in video games. So, will towns die out etc?
- A: We incorporate as part of those designs certain fail-safes, certain protections, certain automated progression that takes over when some of those decisions are lacking or are not made; and those decisions can be defaulted. Now, of course, that would have a deleterious effect on the direction that a particular node might want to go, because they're going to be doing default behaviors, or default actions, as opposed to something that might be in line with the strategic objective of that particular node, or the specialization that the node has previously been attempting to do. But that is why we have a regularly recurring election period where players can take the reins of power and can elect someone else to come in and participate and re-right the ship, so to speak. So it is absolutely a component of having player-driven mechanics that there is an opportunity for things to be less than ideal, or less than strategic when certain bad-faith actors or people leave, but there are safeguards in place.[76] – Steven Sharif
- Mayors and node governments use city hall to visualize and control activities within their node. These capabilities will also be available via mobile/web interface.[8]
Node policies

Nodes have a number of slots that they get to employ as Government policies that are enacted and chosen by the mayor and voted on by the people; and certain policies get unlocked by certain happiness states of the factions within the node; and those happiness states are predicated across different achievements that can happen in the world story arcs that get finished; bosses that get killed around you; new buildings that get constructed: Lots of different things can contribute to that happiness value: Number of citizens; number of citizens you've had leave; number of houses that might have been foreclosed upon. There's lots of different things that influence it, but when the happiness is met at a certain point- and even without that happiness you can still have policies that you get to enact regardless. You may choose policies that do certain things for the node; and this is a big strategic decision that the node has to almost agree on because it's voted on by the citizens within a short time period, but elected by the outstanding mayor; and when you deploy a policy it confers benefits to the citizens, or to the area, or to specific buildings, or to the mayor.[64] – Steven Sharif
Node policies affect a variety of node functions, such as taxes and fees, building and zone buffs, and node-to-node reputation activities, such as trade agreements, and node wars.[83][21][63]
- The intent is that there are varying degrees of influence that are very powerful depending on the policy that we're talking about, depending on the mandates that the Mayors exert in order to utilize those policies.[83] – Steven Sharif
- Mayors propose node policies that are voted on by citizens within a 24-hour or shorter time period.[21][63][64][52]
- Policies are voted in if the majority of voters approve of them.[84]
- Mayors can utilize their available mandates to bypass policy votes.[21][63][39]
- Mayors may also be able to take emergency actions depending on certain predicates that get met. This might allow them to reduce the voting threshold or voting time for policies.[84][64]
- There are a limited number of policy slots available to be proposed.[21][63] Some policies occupy multiple slots.[64]
- Node policies that are deployed will provide benefits to various aspects of the node, its citizens, its ZOI, its vassals (in some cases), specific buildings, and to its mayor.[84][64]
- Certain policies may affect the visual appearance of the node.[85]
- Some of the benefits you can receive by being a vassal of a certain parent is access to a policy that your node not might not normally have access to; and in fact you can also unlock an additional policy slot based on certain conditions that the parent or Sovereign node may have access to in their reliquary, or in their achievement systems, or in policies that they've elected. Some policies occupy multiple slots and it's almost like a card structure. You have each of these policies that live on a card and you get to select that card- throw it into the slot it goes out to the citizens to vote on within the 24-hour or sometimes shorter period. The mayor has emergency actions they can take right depending on certain predicates that get met and if an emergency action occurs they may be able to spend their influence as mayor within their term to set up a policy for a vote within an hour's period of time; and citizens in that way they can sneak it through a bit.[64] – Steven Sharif
Policies are unlocked by various conditions within a node.[21][63][64][52]
- Node level.[21][63]
- Node type.[21][63]
- Dominant node race.[21][63][64]
- Building choices.[21][63][64]
- Location of the node.[21][63]
- Events, such as node wars and node sieges.[84][21][63]
- Node happiness.[21][63][86][87]
- Achievements based on the completion of story arcs.[64]
- World bosses that are defeated.[64]
- Node citizens gained (or lost).[64]
- Node housing foreclosed upon.[64]
- There's a lot of different things that policies can influence; and policies exist within certain denominations. You have some policies that might be reflective of the culture that the node is representing; and you get access to those cultural policies. You have some policies that might become available because you've constructed a certain building type and now you've attracted a guild of NPCs that are weapons smiths. You might have some policies that are social organizations representative- you only get to build one social organization or Temple: which religion does the node follow. All of these are customization points that the city gets to choose and now you as a citizen get to identify the city that best aligns with your progression within the game and your game style and gameplay.[64] – Steven Sharif
Node layout and style

The layout and architecture within a Node’s development area are determined by influential race. For example, a stage 3 Node with the majority of player contribution being Py'rai would have a Py'rai village with Py'rai architecture. Most NPCs would be Py'rai elves, and offer questlines within the Py'rai narrative.[25] – Margaret Krohn
Each player’s contributed experience is flagged with their character race and other identifiers. When a Node advances, the race with the highest experience contribution determines the Node’s style and culture. This style and culture change can happen at every Node Stage. For example, if a Node advances to Level 2 - Encampment Stage and 51% of all experience was earned by Ren’Kai players, the Node will be a Level 2 Ren’Kai Node. If that same Node advances to a Level 3 - Village Stage Node, but the Py'Rai contributed 62% of all the experience earned, then the Node will be a Level 3 Py'Rai Node.[88] – Margaret Krohn
Node layout and style is determined by several factors:[89][90]
- The way that the node system is built is that they can exist across a spread of 18 biomes, but at the same time have to represent the cultural influence of these cultures that are intrinsically a part of a specific biome.[91] – Steven Sharif
- Environment (biome) and location of the node.[91][89][90]
- A node's footprint is a 1 km2 development area where a node's buildings are located.[92] Nodes can adjust the local topography of their footprint to fit the aesthetic and mechanical requirements of the node.[93][94][95][92][96]
- Some parts are determined by the area it's in. Some parts are determined by the type it is. Some parts are determined by the race it is; and then the rest of it is determined by the mayor.[90] – Jeffrey Bard
- Race that contributed the highest percentage to the node's advancement will alter the racial appearance of its buildings, NPCs, props, and narrative systems.[93][97][98][99][89][88][90][100][101]
- All nodes, whether they're associated with a castle or associated with normal node structure, has cultural influences that replicate over to the buildings that are produced and the NPCs that are present.[103] – Steven Sharif
- The rest is determined by the node's mayor.[90]
- It should be possible for a node to complete several building projects within a mayor's one month term in office.[104]
Cultural influences

We have essentially sets that exist across all races; and each race that dons those armor sets is going to have their own racial influence on the presentation of those particular sets. So that's something that's unique in how each of the races get diversified. Additionally, the more that one particular race contributes to a node's development, it's going to manifest in that particular node's architectural influences. You're going to see the architectures of those races become manifest within the nodes as well: That's another way that we diversify each race and we present each race's culture in the game as through those architectures, through those props that exist, through the tailoring of the armor sets that the NPC might wear, to the different factions that exist. Factions will have their own affiliation with different races as well. Each race will also have some different nomenclature when it comes to the lore, or comes to locations in the world. They're going to have their own language influences as well: The way they speak is something that's going to be distinct between races; when you have dialogue trees with particular NPCs. So all of those things really go into setting an immersive world where the cultures have their own identity.[98] – Steven Sharif
Cultural influences manifest in many ways, from node and gear aesthetics to NPC languages and lore.[97][98][106][88]
- The cultural influence over a node serves as one of our types of predicates. So when we talk about dynamic content, when we talk about world spawners changing based off of these things, like narrative structures changing based off of that story arcs changing based off of that: Those all get informed by this predicate of cultural influence. Cultural influence is determined by racial contribution toward node development... Racial progression still serves as a very important piece of the predicate system, which influences our narrative structures.[97] – Steven Sharif
- Gear appearance of certain armor sets is influenced by the player's race.[98]
- Node layout and style is influenced by the race that contributes the most to that node.[97][98]
- There is an attrition and that attrition on experience and influence is heightened based on the performance of the race in the world. So if all these nodes are Orc nodes then their attrition rate is very high to compete with the cultural establishment of new nodes because they have more influence in the world and a popular opinion is against them in their outlying regions that they do not have influence in.[107] – Steven Sharif
Constructible node buildings

The important thing with the service building system for us is that it's a way to shape your node like a character; and to give you an exclusive niche that you can carve out in the world; or a niche that you fight over. If you go down this weaponsmithing path and you build your node to be this mecca of weaponsmithing and the node three doors down builds it, there's reason for you to conflict over it. They're taking your business. Or maybe you are in a zone and there isn't a weaponsmithing thing anywhere near you, and you do want to start to carve that path for yourself to make your node a place people visit and come to.[35] – Chris Justo
Service buildings within a node are either default buildings that come with the node, or they are constructed buildings, which are initiated by the mayor and built by players.[21][35][108][109][110][111][112] Service buildings are further broken down into two main types:[21][35]
- Active service buildings are service buildings that players directly interact with. These are further broken down into Artisanship, Business, Magic, Player housing, and Political categories.[21][35]
- Passive service buildings provide passive benefits to the node or its zone of influence. These buildings are broken down into Civic, Cultural, Fabrication, Scholarly, and Vocational.[21][35]
- Constructed service buildings are available to every type of node in every location. Where the uniqueness comes in is in some of the default buildings like your node-type building.[113] – Chris Justo
Service buildings are upgraded by expansions, which are unlocked through the placement of passive service buildings.[21][35]
- Building expansions unlock higher tier workstations at the cost of dedicating service building plots.[114][110]
- Node service building expansions specialize the building through a tech tree based on the stage of the node.[115][116]
Service buildings incur a regular maintenance cost of node commodities and gold from the node treasury in order to continue operations.[21][117]
NPC racial interaction
- NPCs will react differently to different character races.[118]
- Languages will be distinct between NPC races and in the lore.[98]
- Certain quest givers and NPCs may only be present at nodes with certain cultural influences.[119]
- Depending on the cultural influence of the node activates certain types of quest lines and/or sponsors. Some of those are shared, some of those are general. Some of those relate to a progression path that is a first time user experience. Those will be constant across all culture types. Some of them, however, are predicates that spawn when certain story arcs and/or events, or commissions or buy orders become present within the node; and those might change based on the cultural influence of the node. So there is a separation between those populations.[119] – Steven Sharif
Node sieges

As some areas in the world grow, others will fall. This is the foundation of the living, breathing world that is Ashes of Creation, where players will have the ability to make important decisions that matter in the longevity of an area becoming a city, or whether to siege a rival town. Rise above the ashes, create the world around you, and be a part of the story that unfolds because of your actions and decisions.[88] – Margaret Krohn
Node sieges enable players to destroy nodes starting at Village (stage 3).[88] This paves the way for new development and access to the locked content in surrounding nodes. Due to this dynamic, political strife and intrigue play an important role in the structure of the world.[122][123][124][125][126]
- Sieging nodes will not be an easy task for the attackers. Cities and metropolises will have a considerable defensive advantage.[127][126]
- We do want there to be some semblance of advantage for defenders, because losing your node is a pretty big deal, but but at the same time we do want it to be a fight that is winnable by either side to some extent.[127] – Margaret Krohn
- PvE-oriented players will have alternative ways to participate in sieges, such as fulfilling buy orders and mayoral commissions to fund the siege, or constructing siege weapons to support either the attackers or defenders.[128]
- If you own a home in a node and you don't want to see that home destroyed, you need to defend that city![129] – Steven Sharif
- Lower level characters will have usefulness in mass combat that does not depend on their level, such as manning siege weapons, helping repair fortifications, bringing proximity-based buffs to key positions, using stealth or scaling walls. These types of things are relevant to the tide of battle and do not require the player to be max-level or have high combat stats.[130]
- There will be systems that mimic some of the mechanics of sieges, but there won't be practice sieges.[131]
- The majority (~80%) of content in Ashes of Creation is open-world but there may be instanced battles within castle and node sieges where specific groups can participate in small, short-duration objective-based battles for specific waypoints.[122][132][133][134][123][135][136][124]
- Node sieges will be released as part of Alpha-2 phase-2.[120][121]
- Alpha-2 node sieges will be open-world, but there will be a temporary registration and approval process for both attackers and defenders to manage the number of participants during testing.[137]
- The MVP (Minimum Viable Product) release for node sieges is targeted for the end of March 2025. This iteration will not incorporate node destruction but instead will offer other rewards for successful node attacks/defenses.[138]
- We are going to be putting in a temporary kill zone. So there will be registration on behalf of the defenders and on the attackers that will have an approval process for the attacker who laid the siege scroll and for the defender whose node it is to approve participants. If you're not on the registration list and you're in the vicinity of the fight, you will have a countdown and then you'll be murdered unless you leave the area. So, that's a temporary solution to ensure that we can keep the numbers at around 250 to 300 players roughly for these events until we get higher capacity capability.[137] – Steven Sharif
Node wars

Scholars are going to spawn across the POI. They'll be marked on our map and they're going to increase the time it's required for the enemy to channel; and drop a hefty amount of the materials we need to turn in to be able to channel ourselves.[140] – Chris Justo
![]() |
Friendly node |
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Enemy node |
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Node war objective |
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Controlled POI |
Mayors may declare war on another node and rally citizens to the cause.[61][52][36]
- Different node war types can be declared by the Mayor.[141][142]
- It costs resources to declare a node war. These are able to be gathered through special mayoral commissions relating to war preparations.[61] Additionally, Mayors may only declare war on nodes with sufficiently low Node-to-node reputation scores. This requirement may be disabled or reduced for Alpha-2 testing. Accordingly the frequency of node wars in Alpha-2 will likely be higher than in the final game.[143][144]
- We don't want mayors running around in Ashes of Creation just perma flagging the whole world into a state of PvP, well it's going to cost you some resources to do that.[61] – Chris Justo
- Node wars can be declared at any time, but node war events will only spawn during server prime-time.[145][146]
- Node wars are structured into phases, and each phase consists of events. Winning phases and events offer long-term and short-term rewards.[150]
- A war contains phases and phases contain events. So, there are conditions to win a phase and then there are conditions to win a war. Winning a phase gets you some amount of in-the-moment rewards and some more long-term rewards. Winning events gets you some amount of in-the-moment rewards and long-term rewards. And then the war is the massive objective that you're competing to towards.[150] – Chris Justo
- Node wars affect reputation between the warring nodes.[21][63]
- We have conditions that you can set between nodes with regards to either nodes being friendly with each other and acting trade alliances, or they can declare war on nodes similar to how guild wars may function in different games, where those citizens become hostile to each other based on the player government that's elected in the particular node. So those systems all cater to allowing a conflict that's meaningful and that also provides a non-imbalanced relationship between stronger guilds and not as strong guilds.[151] – Steven Sharif
- Q: Are there any plans to have upkeep cost to war in addition to the initiation costs? It would be incredibly compelling to know that crafters and gatherers would have to work double time to ensure that the war can go on, or even stop supporting the war if they find it unnecessary.
- A: Not necessarily within the war context, however I think the crux of that question is, how do we include material resource requirements, active artisanship, engagement, all of these other gameplay systems: How are they interconnected with a political event like war? And the way we achieve that is obviously there are things that can enhance your war preparedness or your war efficacy through the use of unique weapons during war. Unique upgrades to your guards by supplying resources to the barracks so that you have stronger guards at your headquarters, or weapons and shields and armors that can be utilized through the barracks system. In addition, vehicle support for sieges. There's a lot of different ways where crafting and artisanship plays a role as enhancing, not necessarily maintaining, a particular war or feature.[152] – Steven Sharif
- Killing the Mayor and other special positions within the opposing node, such as heads of religious or social organizations, will accrue more victory points during the war. These positions may also have powerful abilities that can be used during war and sieges, such as Mayoral skills.[3]
- Q: Will there be a scoreboard detailing the most active participants achievements during the node war. Things like: players KDA, damage, healing done, objectives, etc.
- A: You'll be able to see yours for sure and you may be able to see others if they opt-in.[153] – Steven Sharif
- Social organizations quests will either be cooperative or adversarial based on the war status of their parent nodes.[149]
Node politics
There won't be a civil war mechanic within nodes but there will be scope for internal political conflicts; such as undermining the current leadership and disrupting trade.[154]
- The only way to remove an elected mayor prior to the end of their term is by destroying the node.[155]
We want consequences to matter and if that person got elected then you need to work within the means of the mechanics to get them unelected.[155] – Steven Sharif
Trade agreements
Trade agreements are established by Mayors to trade node commodities between nodes via mayoral caravans.[43][44][45][46][42][47][36]
- There are a limited number of trade agreements that a node can have.[45]
- Mayoral caravans may only be initiated between nodes with trade agreements or alliances.[45][42]
- Trade agreements affect reputation between the nodes.[21][63]
- Guilds may enter into trade agreements within a guild alliance.[156]
- 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.[157] – Steven Sharif
Trade routes

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.[46] – Steven Sharif
Trade routes in Ashes of Creation refer to.
- Economic relationships between nodes established by Mayors.[46][42]
- Trade agreements are established to trade node commodities between nodes via mayoral caravans.[43][44][45][46][42][47][36]
- 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.[46] – Steven Sharif
- Roads for the transit goods via the caravan system.[158]
- 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.[158]
Taxation

As the node levels up, you're gonna get access to deeper controls on the taxes, so that you as a Mayor can incentivize players to come to your node to do certain things. If you're a node that loves smithing, you're probably going to want to lower your taxes on artisanship to incentivize players to be here. But then you might want to drive up taxes on other avenues that players aren't necessarily coming to your node for, but are using out of convenience.[164] – Chris Justo
Mayors are able to set a generalized node tax rate as well as overrides for different activities within their node. Mayors gain additional taxation controls as their node advances.[164][53]
- Amenities tax override.[164]
- Artisanship tax override.[164]
- Commerce tax override.[164]
- This may include taxes that apply to tavern games.[54][55]
- Property tax override.[164]
- Freehold property taxes scale according to the number of freehold building permits issued for that freehold.[165][166][56]
- Citizenship dues and property taxes scale based on the stage of the node when a player became a citizen.[21][167][168][169][151]
- The goal is to exert financial pressure on node populations by making taxes increasingly expensive as nodes advance, rather than putting in place hard population caps.[168][169]
- Node tax rates will be visible on the world map by hovering over a node location.[170]
- Tax revenue only goes toward funding node development. This cannot be withdrawn by the mayor or any other player.[171][56]
Regent nodes take a cut of taxes from various activities that occur within their vassal node structure.[171][172]
- This tax doesn't necessarily impact the individual citizen, because citizen's tax levels are determined by their node, but the node's finances are affected by the taxation levied by its parent nodes.[172]
When a node reaches stage 3 (Village) and a player run government has formed, all player housing will pay taxes.[173]
- A player's tax charge will be determined by the number of structures built on their plot.[166][56]
- Freehold taxes are calculated based on the number of permits issued for buildings on a freehold.[174][175][165][166][56]
- Buildings that require permits will have additional upkeep costs.[174]
- Maintaining businesses requires licensing and payments to the node your Freehold is associated with. This permitting system allows for a certain number of buildings to be constructed on a Freehold. Permits can be obtained from the same node the Freehold was certified from, and buildings that require permits will have an additional upkeep cost.[174]
- Housing foreclosures result from failing to pay property taxes or other fees.[174]
Visuals
See also
References
- ↑ Video, August 31, 2023 (49:05).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Interview, January 19, 2025 (1:17:48).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:50:04).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Livestream, September 29, 2023 (1:07:01).
- ↑
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Livestream, July 26, 2019 (1:20:48).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 MMOGames interview, January 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Livestream, November 17, 2017 (9:49).
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:52:45).
- ↑ Livestream, March 28, 2020 (1:01:34).
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Interview, March 27, 2020 (6:03).
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:01:00).
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Livestream, April 30, 2024 (1:06:36).
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Interview, May 11, 2018 (50:05).
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6
- ↑ Livestream, August 16, 2024 (1:03:45).
- ↑ 21.00 21.01 21.02 21.03 21.04 21.05 21.06 21.07 21.08 21.09 21.10 21.11 21.12 21.13 21.14 21.15 21.16 21.17 21.18 21.19 21.20 21.21 21.22 21.23 21.24 21.25 21.26 21.27 21.28 21.29 21.30 21.31 21.32 21.33 21.34 Blog: Development Update with Village Node.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (24:54).
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 Interview, November 10, 2024 (29:18).
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Node series part II – the Metropolis.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Blog - Know Your Nodes - The Basics.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 Interview, July 19, 2020 (26:54).
- ↑ Livestream, March 26, 2021 (1:18:26).
- ↑ Livestream, October 31, 2023 (1:35:22).
- ↑ Livestream, November 19, 2021 (51:56).
- ↑
- ↑ Interview, March 27, 2020 (09:05).
- ↑ Livestream, March 26, 2021 (1:17:20).
- ↑ Podcast, May 11, 2018 (52:20).
- ↑ Video, August 31, 2023 (33:07).
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 35.5 35.6 35.7 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (50:25).
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4 36.5 36.6 36.7 City hall.
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 Video, May 31, 2024 (10:02).
- ↑
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 39.5 39.6 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (31:44).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (37:35).
- ↑ Livestream, September 29, 2023 (1:05:44).
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 42.2 42.3 42.4 42.5 42.6 42.7 42.8 42.9 Video, July 15, 2019 (2:12).
- ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 43.4 43.5 43.6 43.7 43.8 Interview, January 19, 2025 (43:43).
- ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 44.4 44.5 Video, September 29, 2023 (2:59).
- ↑ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 45.4 45.5 45.6 45.7 45.8 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (2:10:23).
- ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 46.3 46.4 46.5 46.6 Podcast, September 29, 2021 (8:38).
- ↑ 47.0 47.1 47.2 47.3 47.4 47.5 Livestream, June 30, 2017 (53:57).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (1:02:35).
- ↑ 49.0 49.1 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (59:43).
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 Interview, July 8, 2020 (1:04:05).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (39:17).
- ↑ 52.0 52.1 52.2 52.3 52.4 52.5 52.6 Livestream, April 29, 2022 (27:42).
- ↑ 53.0 53.1 Livestream, March 28, 2020 (1:03:38).
- ↑ 54.0 54.1
- ↑ 55.0 55.1
- ↑ 56.0 56.1 56.2 56.3 56.4
- ↑ Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:22:40).
- ↑ Livestream, January 18, 2018 (37:05).
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (59:11).
- ↑ 61.0 61.1 61.2 61.3 61.4 61.5 Video, May 31, 2024 (4:24).
- ↑ 62.0 62.1 62.2 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (35:23).
- ↑ 63.00 63.01 63.02 63.03 63.04 63.05 63.06 63.07 63.08 63.09 63.10 63.11 63.12 63.13 63.14 63.15 63.16 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (44:21).
- ↑ 64.00 64.01 64.02 64.03 64.04 64.05 64.06 64.07 64.08 64.09 64.10 64.11 64.12 64.13 64.14 64.15 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:12:40).
- ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (2:20:34).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (29:04).
- ↑ 67.0 67.1 Interview, October 14, 2024 (12:25).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (30:41).
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, December 23, 2021 (1:30:34).
- ↑ 71.0 71.1 Video, May 31, 2024 (57:56).
- ↑ 72.0 72.1
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (41:15).
- ↑ 74.0 74.1 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (28:30).
- ↑
- ↑ 76.0 76.1 Video, September 29, 2023 (1:52).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (29:33).
- ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (2:09:43).
- ↑
- ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (36:05).
- ↑ Livestream, May 19, 2017 (36:09).
- ↑
- ↑ 83.0 83.1 Podcast, October 12, 2024 (19:59).
- ↑ 84.0 84.1 84.2 84.3 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (47:43).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (49:13).
- ↑ 86.0 86.1 Livestream, April 7, 2023 (1:19:41).
- ↑ 87.0 87.1 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:17:04).
- ↑ 88.0 88.1 88.2 88.3 88.4 88.5 Blog - Know Your Nodes - Advance and Destroy.
- ↑ 89.0 89.1 89.2 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (39:17).
- ↑ 90.0 90.1 90.2 90.3 90.4 90.5 Livestream, September 27, 2018 (53:06).
- ↑ 91.0 91.1 Livestream, February 25, 2022 (41:00).
- ↑ 92.0 92.1 Livestream, October 14, 2022 (52:31).
- ↑ 93.0 93.1 Interview, March 7, 2025 (38:47).
- ↑ Livestream, January 2, 2025 (39:26).
- ↑ Podcast, October 12, 2024 (16:48).
- ↑ Livestream, February 26, 2021 (1:12:18).
- ↑ 97.0 97.1 97.2 97.3 Interview, October 20, 2024 (1:10:00).
- ↑ 98.0 98.1 98.2 98.3 98.4 98.5 Livestream, March 31, 2022 (4:57).
- ↑ Podcast, April 11, 2021 (29:47).
- ↑ Interview, May 11, 2018 (54:34).
- ↑ Livestream, May 26, 2017 (21:23).
- ↑ Podcast, April 11, 2021 (23:36).
- ↑ 103.0 103.1 Interview, May 11, 2018 (47:27).
- ↑ Livestream, July 29, 2022 (1:13:09).
- ↑ Livestream, June 26, 2020 (45:32).
- ↑ 106.0 106.1 Interview, February 7, 2021 (33:00).
- ↑ 107.0 107.1 Interview, May 11, 2018 (1:00:19).
- ↑ Video, August 31, 2023 (2:59).
- ↑ Interview, July 9, 2023 (1:32:45).
- ↑ 110.0 110.1 Livestream, May 19, 2017 (33:57).
- ↑ Livestream, January 20, 2018 (38:17).
- ↑ Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (51:49).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (56:18).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (52:56).
- ↑ Video, August 31, 2023 (34:37).
- ↑ Livestream, March 31, 2022 (1:13:00).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (57:23).
- ↑ 118.0 118.1 Podcast, April 23, 2018 (29:56).
- ↑ 119.0 119.1 Interview, July 9, 2023 (1:35:28).
- ↑ 120.0 120.1 Livestream, November 27, 2024 (19:51).
- ↑ 121.0 121.1 2024-11-27 - Development Update with Alpha Two Giants and Demons.
- ↑ 122.0 122.1 Interview, November 10, 2024 (13:47).
- ↑ 123.0 123.1 Livestream, April 28, 2023 (1:28:14).
- ↑ 124.0 124.1 Interview, June 13, 2021 (36:38).
- ↑ Interview, May 11, 2018 (44:20).
- ↑ 126.0 126.1 A reactive world - Nodes.
- ↑ 127.0 127.1 Livestream, February 28, 2025 (28:10).
- ↑ Livestream, January 11, 2025 (22:09).
- ↑ Video, April 30, 2017 (5:31).
- ↑ Interview, July 8, 2020 (1:12:51).
- ↑ Twitch Bustin - Practice Sieges?
- ↑ Livestream, July 3, 2024 (1:59:34).
- ↑
- ↑ Podcast, May 10, 2024 (46:50).
- ↑ Livestream, March 31, 2023 (1:00:16).
- ↑ Livestream, January 28, 2022 (17:50).
- ↑ 137.0 137.1 Livestream, November 27, 2024 (1:22:39).
- ↑ Livestream, February 28, 2025 (28:54).
- ↑ Video, May 31, 2024 (53:55).
- ↑ Video, May 31, 2024 (50:16).
- ↑ Video, May 31, 2024 (21:14).
- ↑ 142.0 142.1 Video, May 31, 2024 (17:03).
- ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (2:19:06).
- ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:40:25).
- ↑ 145.0 145.1 Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:48:21).
- ↑ 146.0 146.1
- ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (2:10:48).
- ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:52:02).
- ↑ 149.0 149.1 Interview, July 19, 2020 (24:34).
- ↑ 150.0 150.1 Video, May 31, 2024 (1:04:30).
- ↑ 151.0 151.1 Video, April 5, 2018 (41:48).
- ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (1:44:55).
- ↑ Livestream, May 31, 2024 (2:12:38).
- ↑ Livestream, May 24, 2017 (40:50).
- ↑ 155.0 155.1 Livestream, June 28, 2019 (1:26:14).
- ↑ Livestream, January 11, 2019 (1:04:32).
- ↑ Livestream, 2018-04-8 (AM) (18:59).
- ↑ 158.0 158.1 Video, May 27, 2022 (17:15).
- ↑ Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:26:58).
- ↑ Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (1:20:03).
- ↑ Livestream, August 23, 2017 (28:22).
- ↑ Livestream, May 17, 2017 (30:53).
- ↑ Kickstarter - We Just Broke $1,500,000!
- ↑ 164.0 164.1 164.2 164.3 164.4 164.5 164.6 Video, August 31, 2023 (28:04).
- ↑ 165.0 165.1 Interview, July 9, 2023 (54:46).
- ↑ 166.0 166.1 166.2 Livestream, June 30, 2023 (1:45:22).
- ↑ Livestream, August 31, 2023 (15:51).
- ↑ 168.0 168.1 Interview, July 9, 2023 (38:14).
- ↑ 169.0 169.1 Interview, March 27, 2020 (0:30).
- ↑ Livestream, September 29, 2023 (1:11:22).
- ↑ 171.0 171.1 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:10:16).
- ↑ 172.0 172.1 Interview, May 11, 2018 (57:02).
- ↑
- ↑ 174.0 174.1 174.2 174.3 Blog: Exploring the Boundless Opportunities of Freeholds.
- ↑