Monsters and Memories (Project_N) - Old School Indie MMO

Sloan

Molten Core Raider
227
1,225
Given the groundwork and "idea" of the game, I just dont see how they can get away from the "gamey" feel if they dont want to utilize instancing, dailies/weeklies, etc. that people say "ruined" WoW.

That Bone Construct "Cage" is just one example of what theyre working on and for that encounter, it seems fine for what it is. If anything, I think they should add more flare to that one encounter - like the group that "triggers" the event stabs the ground and a shield goes around group members, stunning them for a brief second - while the bone construct spawns, slams the ground, and everyone thats not in that bubble or w/e is grav fluxed out of the room. Presentation and all that.

Same with the raid boss that spawns in a sand storm. The group that triggers that boss makes an action of "hunkering" down in the sand storm, and everyone outside of that group is "feared" with blinding sand on their screen and they run to the perimeter of a "sand storm wall" before the fear ends. Unable to get back past that sand storm wall until the encounter is over.

Just two examples that come fresh to my mind with the limited bit that I experienced before stepping away from the game.

I dont necessarily understand what hes getting at, or trying to elaborate on.. with boss encounters being able to spawn every 15 minutes for example. But again, I'm not against most of the changes Ive seen taking place when it comes to raid bosses. Gamey or not.
Just let people compete for raid mobs and have a no petition for raid conflicts policy. Put in a couple spawnable raid encounters like pustulax so casuals can still do raid content. If people quit because they cant handle it then the vision of the game was bad and it will fail. They are leaning into sacrificing their vision of the game to cater to people crying, which is a very bad thing.
 
  • 4Like
Reactions: 3 users

Kithani

Vyemm Raider
2,521
3,598
Just let people compete for raid mobs and have a no petition for raid conflicts policy. Put in a couple spawnable raid encounters like pustulax so casuals can still do raid content. If people quit because they cant handle it then the vision of the game was bad and it will fail. They are leaning into sacrificing their vision of the game to cater to people crying, which is a very bad thing.
Unhinged p99 tardism has never been their vision if you read their FAQ
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

moonarchia

The Scientific Shitlord
<Bronze Donator>
32,083
63,456
Just let people compete for raid mobs and have a no petition for raid conflicts policy. Put in a couple spawnable raid encounters like pustulax so casuals can still do raid content. If people quit because they cant handle it then the vision of the game was bad and it will fail. They are leaning into sacrificing their vision of the game to cater to people crying, which is a very bad thing.
They are trying to make a commercially viable product. They will have to deviate from the vision pretty widely to make that happen. I am wishing them luck, but their ideal game is a mish mash of everything that the market has rejected for the past 25 years. Those "crying" people are the ones they need in order to keep the business afloat.
 
  • 3Picard
  • 1Like
Reactions: 3 users

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
<Bronze Donator>
8,258
21,478
Just let people compete for raid mobs and have a no petition for raid conflicts policy. Put in a couple spawnable raid encounters like pustulax so casuals can still do raid content. If people quit because they cant handle it then the vision of the game was bad and it will fail. They are leaning into sacrificing their vision of the game to cater to people crying, which is a very bad thing.

I don't see the point of not having ALL of them be a summoned encounter.

Everything Trent (Yeah I know...) has said in the past points to an idea that they want most the end content to be an "Effort" or "Work as a team within your group / guild" to achieve and I dunno why raiding has to be any different.

The interesting / concerning part to me is they are quietly / unofficially working on "RaidID" now, months before "RELEASE". Seems super against the wire.

---

Gatekeeping conversation-wise..

I kinda wanna see what a MMO would be like with a "group-centric" mentality. THJ did well, legends looks to be doing "Well?" both games are centered on small groups taking out raid targets, granted both "games" are focused on milking the autismo cash cows that circle EQ's rotting carcass...

The conversation has always been about "the journey" in MNM and not focused on some faceless (lol) Zerg guilds taking down content. (I dunno why they haven't implemented strict guild size limits given the focus is on group content...but thats another can of worms. *looks over at the guild roster approaching a thousand people* )

Most of the loot / drops in MNM are heavily dependent on lack of information and misinformation / disinformation anyhow, so, with enough time you will always have people sitting at a boss waiting for the window.

I dunno, I'll drop to your expertise on that one; Was Rampage super thrilled at contesting zerg guilds for world targets that were nothing more than tank and spank encounters? Sure the loot is great but man that shit was boring.

- Personally I think it would be a ton of fun if the encounters were like you said and weren't FTE, as well as; didn't have a fucking 8 HOUR window (set spawn time, reset only on quakes that would offset the boss 8 hours each week), had raid mechanics that scaled based on how many people were in the arena (could fuck with guilds in a Soft PVP manner), had gear that was comparable to the level the encounter was intended at with passives / procs (if they keep level locked) OR gave unique gear with passives / procs ( essentially side-grades / spec specific - if unlocked).
 

Mrniceguy

Blackwing Lair Raider
1,226
-265
They are trying to make a commercially viable product. They will have to deviate from the vision pretty widely to make that happen. I am wishing them luck, but their ideal game is a mish mash of everything that the market has rejected for the past 25 years. Those "crying" people are the ones they need in order to keep the business afloat.

They're trying to meet a niche unserved market that the developers themselves are part of, making this WoW/FF with worse graphics, AI and less content isn't going to do that.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Kirun

Buzzfeed Editor
21,856
19,233
They're trying to meet a niche unserved market that the developers themselves are part of, making this WoW/FF with worse graphics, AI and less content isn't going to do that.
There's a reason it's unserved - the market for this type of game in 2026 is dozens large.

Copy/pasting "member berries" from EQ isn't a viable business plan. Even EQ itself had to pivot to stay afloat. TLPs are a vastly different thing than what EQ was in '99.
 
  • 1Like
  • 1Truth!
  • 1Dislike
Reactions: 2 users

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
<Bronze Donator>
8,258
21,478
Copy/pasting "member berries" from EQ isn't a viable business plan. Even EQ itself had to pivot to stay afloat. TLPs are a vastly different thing than what EQ was in '99.

I wonder about this, the beta has like 30,000 accounts "Activated" and this is their monthly:

1785515141224.png


I wonder what the stats will be after the next update that adds the Deep and a couple more races.
 

Mrniceguy

Blackwing Lair Raider
1,226
-265
There's a reason it's unserved - the market for this type of game in 2026 is dozens large.

Copy/pasting "member berries" from EQ isn't a viable business plan. Even EQ itself had to pivot to stay afloat. TLPs are a vastly different thing than what EQ was in '99.

Yes most MMOs made in the past 10 years have been made by people that wanted to maximize profit first and gameplay game second.

Games that have been gameplay first and profits second are almost always more enjoyable to play. If they changed to profit first and gameplay second this will just end up as a shitty version of WoW and i'm not interested in that.

I haven't played a game this Immersive in a decade and i'm absolutely loving it.
 

Kirun

Buzzfeed Editor
21,856
19,233
Yes most MMOs made in the past 10 years have been made by people that wanted to maximize profit first and gameplay game second.

Games that have been gameplay first and profits second are almost always more enjoyable to play. If they changed to profit first and gameplay second this will just end up as a shitty version of WoW and i'm not interested in that.

I haven't played a game this Immersive in a decade and i'm absolutely loving it.
Yeah, it's weird. Almost like a business has to actually make a profit to stick around. Weird how all the "for funsies" projects just can't seem to stay afloat...
 
  • 1Truth!
Reactions: 1 user

Kithani

Vyemm Raider
2,521
3,598
I wonder about this, the beta has like 30,000 accounts "Activated" and this is their monthly:

View attachment 635846

I wonder what the stats will be after the next update that adds the Deep and a couple more races.
It’ll be interesting to see EA for sure. I think there’s a reasonable argument many have “quit” until EA but there’s also a fair number that may be checking the game out and may not sub when it costs $
 

Mrniceguy

Blackwing Lair Raider
1,226
-265
Yeah, it's weird. Almost like a business has to actually make a profit to stick around. Weird how all the "for funsies" projects just can't seem to stay afloat...

What alternate universe are you living in?

Many of the most successful games of the past 3-4 years have been Gameplay first games. BG3, Hogwarts, Palword, Elden Ring. They all focused on the vision and stayed away from things like scummy MTX and mechanics focused on maximizing profits over gameplay. The best selling MMO of all time was raking in cash when it was gameplay first.
 

Kirun

Buzzfeed Editor
21,856
19,233
What alternate universe are you living in?

Many of the most successful games of the past 3-4 years have been Gameplay first games. BG3, Hogwarts, Palword, Elden Ring. They all focused on the vision and stayed away from things like scummy MTX and mechanics focused on maximizing profits over gameplay. The best selling MMO of all time was raking in cash when it was gameplay first.
Because those products had a clear vision and executed it.

MnM is doing a "paint by numbers, how did EQ do it in '99?" design doc. They have no idea what they want the game to be and when unsure, they just answer their questions with - "Like EQ!".
 
  • 1Moron
  • 1Picard
Reactions: 1 users

Araxen

Golden Baronet of the Realm
11,360
8,837
I wonder about this, the beta has like 30,000 accounts "Activated" and this is their monthly:

View attachment 635846

I wonder what the stats will be after the next update that adds the Deep and a couple more races.
Most people aren't playing because barely any of the class revamps are in. I'm sure they've taken a hit from EQL too. Things will bounce back once all the revamps are in. I know I'm not playing till all the revamps are in.
 
  • 2Like
Reactions: 1 users

fanaskin

Well known agitator
<Silver Donator>
58,743
144,178
I wonder about this, the beta has like 30,000 accounts "Activated" and this is their monthly:

View attachment 635846

I wonder what the stats will be after the next update that adds the Deep and a couple more races.

They took the raids out, there's no high level dungeons, there's literally nothing to do at 60 atm.

i've already got BIS before hitting 60.

EA is going to be AT LEAST 2 years by the looks of things.