Pre-order packs

There are some who believe that power, prosperity, and abundance can only be achieved through the process of ritual blood sacrifice. According to the twisted ideology of The Unseen Order, the larger the sacrifice, the greater the gift of power and prosperity contained within it, but what happens when things go too far? What began as a small group of settlers, whose selfless and benevolent efforts were to increase the bounty of their community’s harvest, quickly transformed into an arcane cult with an insatiable hunger for domination and control. Today, the members of this dark and mysterious sect, The Unseen Order, are known for their endlessly complex rituals of blood magic. Each stage of a sacrificial rite must be performed flawlessly, in consecutive order, with a very specific set of tools, and the rarest of spell components. Upon the successful completion of the sacrificial liturgy, their people would thrive for many months, harvests would be bountiful, and numbers continued to increase. However, so did the ever-growing tally of innocent victims slaughtered by the cultists…^[1]

Pre-order packs were available from the Cosmetic store up until they ended on January 17, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific.^[2]^[3]

We offer cosmetics for players who wish to support the project early. The exclusive nature of the limited availability is something I think collectors value. If you buy cosmetics as an MMO player, I know I enjoyed if the cosmetic is rare and not every girl at the party is wearing the same dress. In addition, these cosmetics are used to populate the world through NPC variants and color/texture changes so their offering aligns with our production schedule. The good thing about these packs is they contain no P2W advantages and there is no box cost, so from a mechanics standpoint you do not need to buy them to excel in the game on launch. And also, there are comparable and subjectively more grand cosmetics achievable in game as well.^[4] – Steven Sharif

Pre-order pack tiers.^[5]^[6]

Pre-order pack cosmetic skins cycled monthly and are never available again for purchase.^[2] Apart from the cosmetic skins, the packages also included subscription time, embers (virtual currency for future cosmetics when the game is live), access to alphas and betas, and other perks such as name reservation.^[7]

Pre-order pack upgrades are possible for current pack holders for the difference in price.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Pre-order pack holders could purchase individual cosmetics (at the same or lower level as their pack purchase) as add-ons in the month that they are on sale.^[6]^[7]^[11]

These packs are completely optional and provide no vital components for succeeding in Ashes.^[7] – Steven Sharif

September 2023 - January 2024 (The Unseen Order) are the final pre-order packs for Ashes of Creation as the developers have reached their desired number of testers for Alpha-2. Read more in the FAQ.^[2]^[12]

Pre-order pack pricing and upgrades

Pre-order pack pricing.
Pre-order pack tier	Price.^[6]
Wayfarer pre-order pack	USD $75.00
Expeditionary pre-order pack	USD $150.00
Voyager pre-order pack	USD $250.00
Voyager plus pre-order pack	USD $375.00

The pre-order pack upgrade price is the difference between the new and old pack prices.^[8]^[6]

Cosmetics owned prior to upgrading are retained.^[13]
Cosmetics in the new package tiers in the month of the upgrade are gained.^[13]
Upgrades won't unlock cosmetic items in tiers that were already granted by a previous package.^[6]

Pre-order pack addons

Pre-order pack addon pricing.
Cosmetic item	Price.^[14]
Accessory	USD $5.00
Pet	USD $15.00
Mount	USD $20.00
Character costume	USD $25.00
Transport skin	USD $25.00
Freehold skin	USD $25.00

Pre-order pack owners had the ability to purchase individual pre-order pack cosmetics (at the same or lower level as their pack purchase) as add-ons in the month that they are on sale.^[6] ^[7]^[11]

Kickstarter and Summer crowdfunding backers can also purchase pre-order pack cosmetics as add-ons.^[15] This only applies to the current month's cosmetics and beyond.^[16]
In the month a pack is purchased, only the upgrade tiers will be shown on the shop. Individual items will be visible in future months.^[17]

Wayfarer pre-order pack

Wayfarer pre-order pack.^[18]

The Wayfarer pre-order pack was available from the Cosmetic store.^[18]

Access to future Beta-2 test phase
2 months of game time ($30 value)
$25 in Embers (in-game marketplace credits)
- 2,750 Embers total.^[19]
Collector's Touch

Expeditionary pre-order pack

Expeditionary pre-order pack.^[18]

The Expeditionary pre-order pack was available from the Cosmetic store.^[18]

Access to future Beta-1 test phase
Access to future Beta-2 test phase
4 months of game time ($60 value)
$50 in Embers (in-game marketplace credits)
- 5,900 Embers total.^[19]
Collector's Touch
Sanguine Siphoner

Voyager pre-order pack

Voyager pre-order pack.^[18]

The Voyager pre-order pack was available from the Cosmetic store.^[18]

Access to future Alpha-2 test phase
Access to future Beta-1 test phase
Access to future Beta-2 test phase
6 months of game time ($90 value)
$100 in Embers (in-game marketplace credits)
- 13,500 Embers total.^[19]
Collector's Touch
Sanguine Siphoner
Sacrificial Remnant

Voyager plus pre-order pack

Voyager plus pre-order pack.^[18]

The Voyager plus pre-order pack was available from the Cosmetic store.^[18]

Access to future Alpha-2 test phase
Access to future Beta-1 test phase
Access to future Beta-2 test phase
9 months of game time ($135 value)
$125 in Embers (in-game marketplace credits)
- 16,250 Embers total.^[19]
Collector's Touch
Sanguine Siphoner
Sacrificial Remnant
Remnant Sympathizer
Remnant Servant
Drain Dwelling
Name reservation

Cosmetics

Rime and Regal‎ pre-order pack cosmetics.^[20]

We are very transparent in the business model of subscription with cosmetic only marketplace... I respect and understand the opinion of rather having a box price in-place of cosmetics, but that is not the direction I’ve decided to take. After weighing the benefits to the game and its population, I believe a lower barrier to entry is healthier in the long run, and the steady content release and quality of the product will sustain the retention for subscription and in-turn provide a healthier content release strategy for Ashes.^[7] – Steven Sharif

Cosmetics offer different (but not better) ways to customize your experience in Ashes of Creation.^[21]^[22]

What you can buy for cosmetics are different, they're not better. It's not that you need to purchase a cosmetic in order to look good in the game. Visual progression within the game is on-par with the cosmetics that we would sell. We are not preserving the best looking cosmetics for our shop cosmetics, they are just going to be different.^[21] – Steven Sharif

There are no pay-to-win gameplay benefits from any purchasable items.^[23]^[24]^[25]^[7]^[26]^[27]

All skin cosmetic items are cosmetic items only and do not grant the user any other benefit. The lore text is flavor text, and background of the creatures and items in the world of Verra.^[20]

Types of cosmetics:

Equitable cosmetics, both from a quantity and quality standpoint, are achievable through in-game means.^[28]^[29] Cosmetics achievable in-game will be on-par, and in the case of legendary skins, even more elaborate than shop items.^[30]^[25]^[7]

I want to make sure that equitable cosmetics both from a quantity and quality standpoint are achievable through in-game achievements. Time, effort should let you be happy with what you can accomplish.^[29] – Steven Sharif

In my opinion quality of cash shop cosmetics should be equal to in game achievable cosmetics, but offer a diverse selection of unique looks.^[31] – Steven Sharif

There will be legendary cosmetics that are only achievable in-game that will never be offered in the cosmetic shop.^[30]^[25]^[7]

The most grand looking cosmetics will be from in-game achievement only.^[32] – Steven Sharif

There will not be recolors or material swaps on the monthly cosmetics as a means to populate in-game achievements.^[30]
- There will be variants of the monthly cosmetics for NPCs and Mobs.^[30]^[4]
- Component pieces of cosmetic armor may be reused in other in-game achievable gear sets.^[30]

From an armor standpoint, we cut armor sets up into many different pieces. These pieces can sometimes be used as part of other sets, that may include helmets, wrists, gloves etc. So while you will not see an achievable white version of the corvid castigator set in the game for example, you may see its shoulder piece used in another set, or its leggings, or wrist piece used in another set (not every piece as to form the whole set, but perhaps a couple pieces). This would be difficult to notice at first glance, due to the material, texture and color variation used, but this modular approach to content creation makes achieving a wide variety of looks achievable for an MMORPG of our size.^[30] – Steven Sharif

Different variants of store purchased cosmetic creatures (Pets and Mounts) may exist in the wild.^[33]^[34]

While the exact same skin will not be available again in the future once it's gone from the Shop, these skins are all variants of creatures that you can expect to see across Verra - so perhaps you will find one with a similar style in-game!^[33] – Sarah Flanagan

Cosmetics can be used by all races but there may be slight variations to make them work with the body builds of each race.^[35]^[36]

There will not be mascot looking/furry cosmetics.^[37]

It's important to remember, Ashes is a NO-BOX COST subscription only game, with an optional cosmetic marketplace. This achieves a few things from a monetization model. Having a lower barrier to entry for players to try the game when they don't have to fork out $60 for the box price is good, our box price is 0$. This also places an emphasis on the game's retention and our continual updates and content creation to keep players playing and staying subscribed (a put your money where your mouth is sort of philosophy for us as a company). It also means players don't have to spend $60 every time there is an expansion.^[30] – Steven Sharif

Is there an answer that satisfies everyone? Nope. And that's ok. We are open and transparent with our philosophies and business model. You know what you are getting with Ashes and to me, given my experiences in other games, it is a nice breath of fresh air.^[30] – Steven Sharif

Costume and pet cosmetics don't have a level restriction. Building, ship, caravan and mount cosmetics require an in-game item to be obtained first to apply the cosmetic.^[38]^[39]

I know there have been quite a few questions regarding cosmetics over the years. As we get further along in development, we'll be providing more specific information regarding what specific buildings, items, etc., you can place each cosmetic on. We'll update this for all past items.^[40] – Margaret Krohn

Cosmetics are not tradeable with other players but can be reassigned to other characters (alts) within the same account.^[41]^[42]

Cosmetic store

Ashes of Creation cosmetic store.^[3]

There is going to be legendary cosmetics that can be earned and achieved in the game through the game systems, but that's going to take a significant amount of effort and work; and those cosmetics are going to be on-par with the cosmetics offered in the marketplace... What that does is it provides additional revenue to the company so that we can continue to fund the development of content as well and bridge the divide that not having a box cost would have and not having any pay-to-win mechanics whatsoever.^[25] – Steven Sharif

The Cosmetic store enables players to purchase Cosmetics for use in Ashes of Creation.^[43] The cosmetic store offers limited time, limited quantity items to help sustain game development.^[29]

Equitable cosmetics, both from a quantity and quality standpoint, are achievable through in-game means.^[29]
Nothing in the cosmetic store will be pay to win.^[26]

Nothing in our shop will ever be pay to win as we believe this practice greatly hurts the MMORPG genre.^[26]

Cash shop cosmetics will offer a diverse selection of unique looks.^[31]

I want to incentivize purchase in the cosmetic shop for sustainability of what expansions we have intended, since we are not a box cost. I want to incentivize purchase by offering limited items: limited time, limited quantity, so you have confidence that when you purchase them, they won't be offered later on in some other way.^[29] – Steven Sharif

All cosmetic store items will be non-tradeable.^[42] There will be no gifting mechanism for cosmetic items.^[44]

I don't want cosmetic items that can be purchased from the market to be transferable... because it is in a way a transfer of money for potentially something in-game.^[44] – Steven Sharif

Skins

Cinderhorn Steer pre-order pack cosmetic mount skin.^[45]

Providing these limited options that collectors out there like when it comes to achieving and/or purchasing cosmetics. It means something I think when players make that decision to purchase or they go through the rigorous portion of achieving those things in game that it is not just everywhere around them and becomes meaningless at that point.^[24] – Steven Sharif

Cosmetic skins are Accessories, Buildings, Caravans, Mounts, Pets, and Ships that are sold in the cosmetic store.^[46]^[47]^[48]

Skins are cosmetic items that do not grant the user any benefit.^[49]^[20]

Cosmetic skins are only be able to be applied to things that have already been earned, crafted or found within Ashes of Creation.^[50]^[51]
- Certain cosmetic skins require specific items or item tiers have been achieved in-game before they can be used.^[52]^[39]^[50]^[53]^[38]

Owning cosmetics does not guarantee the acquisition of the item the cosmetic can be used on. Players must still achieve the corresponding item/building.^[50] – Steven Sharif

The lore on store cosmetics is flavor text.^[20]

Caravan skins change the appearance of an in-game mount and in-game caravan that are hooked up to each other.^[54]^[55]
- The caravan and mount skin components are not able to be utilized separately.^[54]^[55]

The best cosmetic skins will be in-game achievable.^[56]

The best skins will be in-game achievable (obviously “best” is subjective, so I’d say the most ornate and detailed/unique).^[56] – Steven Sharif

NPC variants

NPC variant of the Harvest Guard pre-order pack cosmetic skin.^[57]

NPC variant of the Corvid Castigator pre-order pack cosmetic skin.^[57]

There will be variants of the monthly cosmetics for NPCs and Mobs.^[30]^[4]

We've mentioned this before about what the cosmetics do, but all of those pre-order pack items allow us to create the world. They're the NPCs in the world. They help us make NPC variants. The clothing and costumes are costumes that we'll be putting on NPCs. You're actually helping us create the world.^[58] – Margaret Krohn