Chronicles of Elyria

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Big Flex

Fitness Fascist
4,314
3,166
Permadeath. Random character powers, aging, player families. Pretty fuckin' Nito.

https://chroniclesofelyria.com/

To begin with, what makes Chronicles of Elyria tick is a new game engine called The Soulborn Engine. The Soulborn engine is built on five basic game design principles. These are:
  1. The world must be dynamic. If something in the world can change, either over time or through player interaction, it probably should.
  2. Hero status must be earned. Players must take risks, be heroic, and put their wealth, prestige, and even life on the line to be a hero.
  3. Skill is not just a character attribute, it’s a player attribute. Every action a character takes that requires a skill, must require some degree of player skill.
  4. There must be something drawing a player into the world. Each time the player logs in there are local, regional, and national conflicts unfolding that guarantees there is always something for players to participate in.
  5. Realism. The world should behave more like a simulation than a game, adding elements of risk and uncertainty, which evolve into dramatic situations and conflicts.

Here is a really good short video series on some of the concepts.

An Introduction to Chronicles of Elyria

The Engine that could change everything

Souls part 1

Souls part 2

Ageing and dying
 
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Harfle

Lord Nagafen Raider
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Why does the web address link no work???? I will not copy and paste to go look.
 

Blackwulf

N00b
999
18
Looks really cool; can't believe I wasn't following this one already. Do they have a funding total listed anywhere? Are they transparent about progress?
 
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Dandai

Lesco Brandon
<Gold Donor>
5,894
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The feature scope for this is just too unrealistically huge. It's a very safe bet that a lot of what they want to do will get cut or heavily altered by the time it ships. Best of luck to them. It'd be nice to have some variety in the MMO space.
 
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tkon

Trakanon Raider
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The feature scope for this is just too unrealistically huge. It's a very safe bet that a lot of what they want to do will get cut or heavily altered by the time it ships. Best of luck to them. It'd be nice to have some variety in the MMO space.

See, I know where you're coming from. EQ and WoW both did this though... I'm not saying they will or will not. There will be parts that lack where other games have already shown them the way. But they're putting focus on something that will honestly make the game THEIRS. Even if it crashes and burns, the amount of effort they put in to keep the community in the know and the feedback and implementation makes me excited.
 

Blackwulf

N00b
999
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I've been reading more about this game and watching some videos. I like that they're doing things differently with the soul system and quasi perma-death. When I first read about it, it seemed like you'd live a life, then die, then start a new life, with some benefits based on what you did during your previous lives. That sounded cool to me. Yesterday, however, I read this really long post about how you have to have children and manage a family and pick an heir, and all this other bullshit that just sounds annoying and tedious. Not sure how on board I'll be with all that. Blog - Community - Chronicles of Elyria
 

Maric

N00b
98
15
There is a certain tier and up video for Backers on the Official forum that is pretty damn good. The scope is nuts, but what they have already working is pretty impressive.
 

Treesong

Bronze Knight of the Realm
362
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Predicting the fail of a new MMO isn't exactly something that has bad odds and deserves credits, but still .

This truly was a Star Citizen wannabe with a much worse "fleece the whales" campaign.
 

forensic

Molten Core Raider
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They laid off three (3) people. Two programmers, one animations artist. Hardly a death blow.
 

Treesong

Bronze Knight of the Realm
362
29
They haven't produced anything playable yet. They have been creating mockups and eyecandy and mostly worked on getting up a Store, to try to keep the funding going, spurred on by dreamy blogs about cool features. And they have been shopping around for a publisher without success. Now they are laying of programmers and an animation artist from a team that isn't that big to begin with.

It's vaporware and layoffs in this phase is a pretty sure sign of things to come. Which is the much dreaded "Dear fans, with pain in our heart...." letter to the community.
 
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forensic

Molten Core Raider
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Normally I would agree with you but their financial situation is pretty clear. They aren't operating under the typical bullshit of Vivendi and EA. They're a profitable indie studio. Profitable businesses don't suddenly close.

Mass layoffs (usually 10-30%) in a subsidiary indicate that management may kill your studio. Laying off three non-essentials in an indie studio is not the same.

The fact that they are currently profitable from pre-selling virtual goods indicates their business is healthy, not that it is about to shutter.

They aren't even planning on releasing a 3D game first... they are profitable from selling pre-orders on their 2D game which they say will be fully built and played through before the release of the 3D game. Their 3D game is essentially a sequel to their 2D game.

If they can't push out their 2D game it will be due to a lack of talent not finances. So layoffs don't indicate much here. In fact cutting dead wood can be a sign of a well run team... how hard is it to at-will fire people in Washington? For all we know these guys may have not been worth their salaries and it's easier to eliminate the position than fire them.

If they were desperate they would take the lootbox deals they were supposedly offered (unless you think they're lying about being offered these deals).

The skepticism for this game should be based on just how ambitious their gameplay design is. They really are promising a lot. So maybe on that level it is vaporware. But somebody has to take these risks. No need to write them off yet.