Camelot Unchained

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• Developer: City State Entertainment
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• Engine: Unchained 
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• Current Status: In Development
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• Expected Release: TBA
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• Business Model: Subscription
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• Platform: Windows PC
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• Official Website
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What it Offers

Camelot Unchained is a unique realm vs. realm MMO. Players choose one of three realms to join, which will influence their race and class choices. You can be a Tuatha, Hamadryad, Empath, Fianna, Jotnar, Stonehealer, and more. Players must fight for resources and land, and coordinates attacks and sieges against enemy realms. 

What Makes it Different

There will be no real world money shops in the game. Gear and supplies can't all be bought by one NPC — players must find the masters of a profession to craft coveted items. The economy will be entirely player-run. All magic spells will be created by the player, and not the developer. Spell books and a set of runes are necessary.  

How to Get Involved

Register an account on the official website, become a part of the forum community, and pledge a minimum of $35 to receive Beta 2 access and the full game upon launch. 

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What do you think about these MMOs? Are you planning on playing any? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Crowfall

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• Developer: ArtCraft
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• Engine: Unity 5
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• Current Status: Pre-Alpha 4
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• Expected Release: TBA 
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• Business Model: Buy to Play
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• Platform: Windows PC
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• Official Website
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What it Offers

Crowfall is described as a "thronewar simulator" MMO. There will be elements of strategy, politics, survival, and kingship in this game. Every player will have their own kingdom. Combat is action-based. 

What Makes it Different

There are no instanced dungeons in Crowfall. With many different elements, the game is diverse and can suit any player. There are no levels. Upon creation, players choose a unique character archetype, such as Confessor, Forgemaster, Frostweaver, or Myrmidon. Every skill can be accessed, but its use may change based on archetype. Skills must be raised to quality for a promotional class, which can vary greatly from one's original chosen class. Players can also learn select disciplines.

How to Get Involved

Register on the official website and pledge a minimum of $69 to gain access to scheduled pre-Alpha testing. 

Chronicles of Elyria

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• Developer: Soulbound Studios
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• Engines: Unreal 4, SpatialOS
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• Current Status: Production
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• Expected Release: 2017
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• Business Model: Buy to Play (Pay for Life)
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• Platform: Windows PC
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• Official Website
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What It Offers

Chronicles of Elyria takes place in a medieval world where kingdoms, counties, and towns are run by players and NPCs alike. The game is an entirely open world where players must explore and settle in profitable areas to survive and thrive. Any griefers will be deterred by the law and jail time, which will consequently limit their playable life.  

What Makes it Different

Players start as a child in player- or NPC-run families. The game evolves over a 10-year storyline. Characters will never be offline with the help of programmable, offline character scripts. In addition, the game will run on a unique business model where the player must pay for a Spark for a new life every 10 to 14 months, when their character dies. 

How to Get Involved

Register an account on the official website, and check out the store to pledge your support for the game. Pledge a minimum of $40 to gain access to the full game upon launch. 

Dark and Light

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• Developer: Snail Games 
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• Engine: Unreal 4
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• Current Status: pre-Early Access 
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• Expected Release: TBA
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• Business Model: Buy to Play
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• Platform: Windows PC
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• Official Website
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What it Offers

Dark and Light is a fantasy sandbox MMO. Magic is a part of the world and the characterization of the game. In a dynamic story, the player must choose to fight for light or be consumed by darkness. 

What Makes it Different

According to the game's Steam page, there "are over 100 magical skills related to survival, exploration, defense, transformation, control, [and] attack." With no set classes, there is a growth system for players and NPCs alike. Both melee and magical weapons can be forged and mastered. Magic will be used whether a player is hiding from an enemy, constructing a house, or claiming land by changing physical laws. 

How to Get Involved

Become a part of the conversation on Steam. 

Epocylipse The AfterFall

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• Developer: Razor Edge Games
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• Engine: Unity 5
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• Current Status: In development
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• Expected Release: TBA 
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• Business Model: Buy to Play
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• Platform: Windows PC
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• Official Website
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What it Offers

Epocylipse is set in the year 2258. It is a survival MMO where humanity has been all but wiped out after an outbreak of an infectious disease. In this game, there is a day and night cycle, aging characters, faction wars, and a fully loot-able harsh environment. 

What Makes it Different

With aging comes perma-death, which means characters must find a heir before they pass on. The game is skill-based, so how well you play in the environment really matters. If the game isn't hard enough, you can enable optional rules that pose new challenges. You can play alone, with friends, or on servers. How you want to play is up to you.

How to Get Involved

Register on the official website to be a part of the forum community.

Conan Exiles

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• Developer: Funcom
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• Engine: Unreal 4
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• Current Status: Early Access
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• Expected Release: 2018 (full launch)
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• Business Model: Buy to Play
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• Platform: Windows PC
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• Official Website
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What it Offers

In Conan Exiles, players explore the land and civilizations of an ancient world where monsters truly do exist. The player must craft tools, buildings, and fight giant creatures to stay alive. They must also battle against the elements and watch out for deadly sandstorms.

What Makes it Different

This year, The Purge will be implemented. The Purge are enemy NPCs that will raid, pillage, and destroy everything they encounter. Players must work together to stop this deadly threat. In addition, players will be able to tame animals, and new systems —-- sorcery and settlement systems — will be introduced. The opportunities in this game will be limitless. 

How to Get Involved

You can purchase the game on Steam Early Access now for $29.99, or upgrade to the Barbarian Edition for an extra $30. 

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen

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• Developer: Visionary Realms, Inc. 
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• Engine: Unity 5 
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• Current Status: In development
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• Expected Release: 2017
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• Business Model: Subscription
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• Platforms: Mac and Windows PC
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• Official Website
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What it Offers

Pantheon is set on the fantasy world of Terminus, where many diverse civilizations, deities, and fantastic creatures rule. The world is designed to be challenging with tough monsters, plenty of exploration, and a reliance on friends and community. The planned weather system and enchanted areas add a survival element to the game not often found in MMOs. 

What Makes it Different

Death is meaningful. High-level characters can "retire" and pass a portion of their skills onto their children. Rare spells and items can only be found in unique locations, and can be locked behind an event. Visionary Realms is reinforcing an emphasis on group play by planning AI NPCs and player-run dungeons and regions.  

How to Get Involved

You can support Pantheon's development on the official website here. Pledge a minimum of $50 to gain access to the beta and full game. 

Ashes of Creation

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• Developer: Intrepid Studios
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• Engine: Unreal 4 
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• Current Status: Pre-Alpha
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• Expected Release: TBA 
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• Business Model: Subscription
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• Platform: Windows PC
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• Official Website
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What it Offers

Ashes of Creation promises a world "built to react to the actions of [the] players." Land can be developed anywhere and can be specialized for a certain purpose. There are many custom skills and abilities that ensure 64 unique classes. And there are multiple quest types that can change in real time. Players can fight in dungeons, raids, large-scale castle sieges, city defenses and assaults, and arena combat. 

What Makes it Different

The world is planned to be highly interactive. Intrepid Studios' Node System will control how the world is developed. This system will split the map into four distinct sections: Military, Divine, Economic, and Scientific. The many skill and combat choices will allow every player to thrive. Griefers in the open world are not expected to be a problem because of the game's in-depth flagging system. 

How to Get Involved

There will be a Kickstarter campaign for Ashes of Creation in approximately three to five weeks. There will be a countdown on the official website once the Kickstarter is two weeks away. Register your account now to stay updated on the Kickstarter and to begin participating in the forums. 

New MMOs are announced and released constantly. The genre is full of unoriginal World of Warcraft clones and overambitious or money-hungry developers who promise to produce an MMO to be proud of — and usually fall short. 

That is the fear, of course: that a game can sound fantastic on paper, but it's unlikely to ever deliver. If a game does release, it may be after years of setbacks and crowdfunding. And still, it can still be underwhelming. There can still be empty promises.

I get it. We're all afraid of getting our wallets emptied and our dreams dashed one more time for supporting — or simply hoping — for that one game that's going to change everything. But there's still hope for the MMO genre.

Let us show you why with these eight upcoming MMOs you should definitely be watching.  

Let's face it, the massively multiplayer gaming arena has become stagnant. With only a few exceptions here and there, anyone looking to join in on a new MMO can expect to see the exact same ideas churned out with slightly different graphical styles, from the beautiful but overly grindy Asian titles, to a slew of by-the-numbers fantasy games with the same basic quest layouts and crafting mechanics, they are all the same.

Games going free-to-play propped up the genre for a time, but even that seems to be failing to draw in huge numbers lately as players tire of talking to the village elder and killing X wildebeest time and again.

2016 in particular was a year marked by a lot of the same old, same old, dominated by World Of Warcraft's Legion expansion and the cluttered and overly complicated Korean MMO Black Desert Online.

All is not lost though, and there's hope for some serious game changers to arrive in the future. A handful of titles coming in the next year or two have the possibility of revolutionizing what it means to be an MMO, and thus saving this dying genre by injecting a fresh level of enthusiasm.

Key to this possible renewal are several game changing mechanics, from permadeath to survival elements.

Aging and Permadeath

Considering that developers want you to play in a living world for multi-year stretches, it's odd how few MMOs have tried to implement legitimate aging systems where infrastructure crumbles and characters die of old age.

Looking to fill that void and permanently change the gaming landscape is Chronicles of Elyria, an incredibly ambitious game that features a mechanic normally thought anathema to all things massively multiplayer: permadeath.

That's unquestionably a good way to get you invested in your character, knowing he/she's going to die permanently if you aren't careful. It also helps prevent the end-game boredom so typical of any MMORPG, as there will regularly be a new character to build up in a different way.

Like in real life, death is inevitable, as your character will age and eventually pass away. Further adding realism is how characters will change based on personal habits, from clothes getting dirty to bulges around the midsection developing if you eat more than you exercise. A much bigger look at this still early in development title is expected to be launched in just a handful of days at PAX East, so keep your eyes peeled!

On a similar note but with a different execution is Crowfall, featuring resetting campaigns that prevent any one player from always being on top and giving the player base a reason to keep going even after reaching "end game" content.

Squad-Based

If one character is good, five characters would be better, right? We've already seen some squad-based MMO implementation recently with Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade, and there's more of this style slated to come soon. It may not radically change everything about the genre, but it does expand the scope at least.

Long in the doldrums with no active news for years, it seems like Lineage Eternal is actually getting pushed towards a western release now and will put you in control of a four person squad. You primarily run one character at a time, with the others trailing behind, but you can switch between members of the group frequently, changing up the basic concept of one character at a time in any other MMORPG.

Did you dig the freedom and mass combat of Mount & Blade? The early access Tiger Knight takes that concept and puts it in a Chinese setting while offering each player a large group of soldiers to command in addition to your main character. It's basically online large scale warfare as the main game mechanic, allowing the Total War crowd to have its own historical warfare MMO.

Cross Genre

Once upon a time the term MMORPG exclusively meant something like World of Warcraft or Everquest. Nowadays the lines between massively multiplayer and other genres are starting to blur, with MOBAs in particular sitting in a position where they may as well already be called MMOs as well.

For instance, is Overwatch a "massively multiplayer" game? After all, it has no single player mode and revolves around large groups of players coming together for matches.

Now in beta, Mu Legend's aesthetics strongly bring to mind any of the huge MOBAs like League of Legends, and adds in a strong action RPG element to the massively multiplayer style.

Going a totally different direction while combining some of those same MOBA aspects is the upcoming Cloud Pirates, taking us off the ground and going up into the sky. Who doesn't want to be a sky pirate every now and again? Rather than upgrading your thief's skills or your warrior's sword, instead you unlock new airships, upgrade your cannons, and utilize new modules.

These cross genre games certainly aren't limited to online battle arena mechanics either, and its a good bet we'll see other styles continue to collide with MMOs in the future as developers break out of the typical massively multiplayer comfort zone. For something really unexpected, check out StarBreak, a Sega Genesis style platformer that also happens to be an MMO.

Survival Elements

The perpetually early access Ark: Survival Evolved is essentially already an MMO, even if it isn't officially labeled that, and has fewer players on a server than in a traditional massively multiplayer entry.

For those who want a true MMO experience where you can freeze or starve to death, there's the long, long, long in development Dark And Light, which curiously also features dinosaurs, extracting ingredients from the landscape, and has a very similar menu screen.

The survival genre is just getting started to be explored in a serious way in the MMO genre, and expect to see more of these types of elements added in the future and to become just as much of a staple as player economies and crafting.

Other Potential MMO Changes

It remains to be seen if the promise of these upcoming MMOs can truly be delivered. Talk is cheap (just ask anyone who bought No Man's Sky), while making good on all those development goals is much harder. With any luck we'll get something akin to what's been advertised, with aging, survival elements, cross-genre mash-ups, and squad-based play changing the face of the MMORPG world for years to come.

While the four major changes outlined above are very likely going to have a big impact on future MMO development, there are plenty of other welcome changes that could be game changers, like mixing offline with online (something Ultima: Shroud of the Avatar is currently working on).

There's of course the long shadow being cast by the sorta kinda MMO Star Citizen, which increasingly feels like it will never be released, so its hard to gauge how well its claims will be implemented and what sort of impact the end product will have on the overall genre.

Another style change that hasn't been implemented to the level it could is the non-combat focused MMO. Sadly, those that have been attempted so far -- like the now-dead Seed -- haven't managed to hit the big leagues yet, so combat remains a major MMO focus over other possibilities.

Which of these impending games has you ready to jump back into the massively multiplayer arena, and what's the biggest change you'd like to see the genre make in the coming years?

It's a pretty common sentiment that the MMO community is sick of its own games. Questing, tab targeting, objectively boring combat and content drop at end game all take a heavy piece of the responsibility.

Perhaps it's the current state of gaming technology that's holding the genre back,  or maybe it's the complication of vast economies and social networks. Could it be that our World of Warcraft overlords have made innovation difficult to market, or that free to play set ups and cash grabs have ruined the genre altogether?

Whatever the case may be, MMO players are currently suffering a long-coming IP drought and as an adoring and optimistic fan, I want to take a closer look at why. 

While I still manage to stay on the edge of my seat every time a new MMO is announced, the vast majority of my friends have long since given up. Chasing the next big thing can have heartbreaking consequences, especially when an MMO promises to be different, but barely is (which happens far [far] too often). 

For the purposes of this article, we must move past the founding fathers, past WoW and those companies that attempted something innovative within the 10 years after, and on to MMOs that have been developed more recently. We'll be mostly concerned with 2014 to present, as the releases from the last couple years knew they needed to be different, promised something different and then struggled to deliver. I'm talking Wildstar to present day and what it felt like to watch the genre tumble into oblivion.

In the 10 years following World of Warcraft our releases without hot bars or tab targeting is dismal. The combat has gotten slightly more creative, but a true action MMO has yet to gain traction. If you'd like to argue TERA with me, that's fine, but it is pretty heavily handicapped in a western market even with its progressive combat and doesn't showcase any other serious innovations.It's also worth mentioning Planetside 2, and I would love to see more FPS attempts, but it lacks quite a few MMO elements.

So we brush right up to 2014 and both Wildstar and ESO are claiming action combat.

We all remember thinking: "GW2 and SWTOR gave it a shot, but hey, that was several years ago. ESO is going to be exactly like Skyrim and it's going to be like I'm a crew member of the Firefly when I boot up Wildstar."

Wait, no. While both of these games had their merits, and their combat was a nice advance for the genre, neither can compare to action combat experiences in other genres.  

Unfortunately, the answer for why these games still don't feel like action games is a combination of can't and won't. Physical hit detection, or the core mechanic for realistic action in video games would be a huge tax on servers and a commitment from development. On top of that, many MMOers love the complexity a hotbar system allows. There's nothing quite like managing 20 hotkeys and three mob packs as an integral cog in your raid machine. So, to make the leap to a new combat system would require a serious investment for something half of the community may not actually want. 

To pile on top of our stale combat, questing is still an integral part of the MMO experience. There has to be a reason why there isn't a single big MMO since our 2014 benchmark that doesn't blatantly rely on questing and grinding. At least Guild Wars 2 and Rift gave it a shot. This solution to player progression is as old and stale as the Triscuit you found under the old refrigerator when you finally bought a new one last year.  So why does it still exist?

Psychology is the answer, my friends. MMOs must maintain a huge player base, and until the social aspect kicks in, they have to have a way to keep new players logging massive amounts of hours. In addition to the constant stream of rewards, the real power behind the quest log is our drive as humans to finish tasks. This is called the Zeigarnik effect and is a sure fire way to keep your player base engaged. The downside is that when mismanaged, bogged down by boring gameplay or broken mechanics, a full quest log is a popularly cited reason for feeling overwhelmed and ditching the game altogether. 

The more recent end of our time period focus has been represented by two Korean ports, Archeage and Black Desert. While both are incredible games with vast open worlds, the western market just wasn't ready for the RNG. Luck heavily influences the player's end game experience, and when you combine that with economy breaking cash shop monsters, two beautiful games are a misery to play once at level cap. 

So ... money is clearly the driving force behind these two mechanics, and out of my stale list I hope the cash shop is the first to go. If anything, though, games in all genres are seeing steady increases in micro transactions and P2W. We must speak with our money and stomp out this pandemic once and for all, if that means snatching your mom's credit card from your little brother the next time he wants to buy a season pass, so be it. 

So I've hammered in what needs to change or go completely (still looking at you cash shop), but it wouldn't be fair not to include what should be added.

Forced Social Interaction - Make us make friends developers. The trend to cut down on how often an MMO player needs to interact with other players is disheartening.

Up the Difficulty - Sure, PVP will always be a great way to challenge players, but why is grouped content so much easier? Difficulty builds community and creates game attachment. I would never suggest not having lower difficulty options, nobody needs to be excluded, just give us a bit of unique range here. Repackaging old dungeons in harder formats fails to inspire.  

Focus on Expression - Mounts, pets, housing and gear are meant to express the player and show off to other people. Transmog, dies and over stocked cash shops are all cheap ways to mimic this experience. These systems should be challenging and creative, with lore and theme appropriate rewards. Make it easier to share and show off. #socialmedia 

Understand the player-pixel connection - Out of the list, this seems to be the most difficult to achieve. You guys will hate me for it, but convenience is the problem. How will a player learn anything about the village they just stumbled across in the jungle if they skip all of the dialogue? How will they make a connection with the pet they just tamed if it goes straight to some arbitrary storage system? How will they feel like adventurers if their map is already littered with shortcuts? 

Add more hidden areas and secrets in dialogue. Make taming pets and mounts unique and difficult, limit storage. Hide crafting and building ingredients. A player's attachment to an MMO is a plethora of interactions and memories. Stop taking them away for convenience without providing substitute experiences.

Ok, that's enough for the wishlist.

So we've made it to present day and we're looking at the horizon ... 

2017 appears to be a big year for MMOs, but will they break these old tropes? As an optimistic and die hard MMO fan, I'm always going to say yes. As a community, we are aware of the issues, and the developers have taken notice. Well, they took notice previously, but this time they've changed, I'm sure of it.

Some games currently in development that appear to be making an effort to think outside of the box:

• Camelot Unchained boasts PvP only progression and action combat. This would be quite a break from the high fantasy MMORPG mold. 
• Star Citizen will have a massive economy and world and FPS style combat. It is set to release sometime in the next 20 years. 
• Project Gorgon is truly trying to remake the genre and takes the cake for the most original upcoming MMO.
• Peria Chronicles is meant to take house building to the next level, and with the cancellation of EQ Next, MMO players appreciate something on the building horizon. 
• Worlds Adrift is a massive promise of a genre change, with a procedurally generated universe to mine and explore by airship.
• Crowfall is possibly the most anticipated of this list. The player joins long, strategic campaigns on procedurally generated worlds that have life cycles of their own. 
• Dark and Light may no longer be an MMO and I am salty. 
  

Our list of upcoming MMOs is so diverse it's borderline freakish. This should give us hope heading into 2017 that developers are interested in clawing their way outside of the pre-determined lines and on to something that will revitalize the genre.

I hope they will keep in mind that driving force that sets an MMO apart from other genres, and that's the ability to meet and interact with new people in every adventure. All of the innovations in the world won't matter if they continue to make grouping too easy, allow guilds to remain vestigial and implement mostly single player tasks. But, that is a conversation for another day.

Do you think our upcoming MMOs will break the mold? Are there any older ones that stand out as going against the grain? Let us know in the comment section below. 

Bless

Developer: Neowiz, Aeria Games
Current Status: In development
Business Model: Free-to-play
Official website

You got it right -- Bless is still not available in the NA/EU regions. Many rumors have been circulating the web in the first quarter of 2016 about the beginning of the closed beta test, but it didn’t happen after all. Finally, last week the developers addressed its fans, and here is what they said about the upcoming release (read the full text here):

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“As explained in our status update the US/EU release of BLESS has been pushed due to some rework being done by our friends at Neowiz to enhance player’s experience.”

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This means that we need to wait for at least another six months to be able to play one of the most anticipated MMORPGs of the year. If you still aren’t familiar with the game, then take a look at the trailer below.

What other anticipated MMORPG releases would you like to see included in this list? Share them in the comments section.

Tiger Knight

Developer: NetDragon
Current Status: Early access
Business Model: Free-to-play
Official website

Tiger Knight is a historical action MMORPG in the vein of Mount & Blade. The coolest thing about Tiger Knight is that it is not fantasy-based, but accurately depicts the ruling period of the Han dynasty of the Chinese Empire (221–206 BC).

The game utilizes a new and adapted Unreal Engine 3 and looks absolutely fantastic. Each player will be given a squad of soldiers rather than just one playable character to be used in the battles of epic proportions. So, can you imagine a PvP of 200 vs. 200? Well, that’s what you will get in Tiger Knight.

Crowfall

Developer: ArtCraft Entertainment
Current Status: Closed alpha test
Business Model: Buy-to-play
Official website

This mysterious Kickstarter project is still deep in the development and testing stage, but there are rumors that late 2017 is the time when we will see Crowfall in its full glory.

The world of Crowfall is divided into many segments, where each of them has its own separate campaign. Every next campaign becomes progressively harder, and the developers promise that they will take up to several months to finish.

This is a cloud-based MMORPG that hosts different rules for different worlds, where guilds and factions can create their own challenges for others to try out. The Voxel Farm graphics engine will be well utilized for these purposes, as it allows for procedurally-generated areas and structures. The destructibility system is also promised to be spectacular.

Twilight Spirits

Developer: Netease
Current Status: In development
Business Model: Free-to-play
Official website

Here is something different for you – an action MMORPG from the developers of Revelation Online. Twilight Spirits is a hack-and-slash game with tons of character customization, hence the RPG label. The game utilizes a never-before-scene graphics engine called Nirvana that makes everything look and move incredibly smoothly.

The main goal of the game is to kill as many dungeon bosses as possible, so the core component of Twilight Spirits is PvE. However, there is one mode dedicated to PvP, and that is Guild Battles. Currently, this game is considered a title that will change not only how we see action MMORPG games, but hack-and-slash games in general.

Dark and Light

Developer: Snail Games
Current Status: In development
Business Model: Buy-to-play
Official website

Here are a few interesting facts about Dark and Light:

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• It has been in development for the last 12 years.
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• It was almost ready, but then the development stopped.
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• Later it was completely re-designed by the new developer.
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As you see, it has quite a history -- but all this will be finally over next year when the game hits the shelves. Dark and Light has a huge world with a total area of 25,000 square miles. No wonder the developers even included the terraforming technology that allows you to change the biomes from cold to hot and vice versa.

Another cool thing about Dark and Light is that the day and night in the game change in real-time, as synchronized with your world clock – hence the title of the game. The characters will starve and get cold, so the survival component is very strong here. Other than that, this is your typical third-person MMORPG in a classical fantasy setting.

Peria Chronicles

Developer: Thingsoft
Current Status: In development
Business Model: Free-to-play
Official website

Peria Chronicles will be really interesting for all manga and anime fans, as it utilizes cel-shading technology, which makes everything look like… well, like manga. To be honest this MMORPG does look very beautiful -- just watch the trailer below.

The game won’t bother you with building tasks, but instead structures will naturally appear in the places where groups of players gather in big numbers. Every character will have a bunch of monster sidekicks, which means that it tries to appeal to Pokemon fans, as well.

There is a voting system in the game that allows for guilds to vote for new players or how to punish the naughty ones. Overall, it’s full of fresh ideas and ought to put a smile on your face.

Lineage Eternal: Twilight Resistance

Developer: NCSOFT
Current Status: In development
Business Model: Pay-to-play
Official website

Lineage Eternal has been in development hell for a very long time. It was promised to be released this year -- but as we can see even today it still didn’t manage to get to the closed beta stage. The fans are furious!

The developers once again promise to deliver the game next year, but should we trust them on this? Probably yes, since any further delay would simply kill the buzz for one of the most anticipated games ever.

It is interesting to note that Lineage Eternal: Twilight Resistance almost has nothing to do with the two original games of the cult MMORPG, but takes place 200 years after the event of the first game in a completely different setting.

The game will have an isometric view (just like the original Lineage), and each zone will accommodate up to 1000 players at the same time with the possible PvP battles of 40v40 and 100v100. Lineage Eternal introduces a completely new interactive system called “Drag and Hold” that allows for a very simple yet effective way of controlling your character.

All the dungeons and raids will be procedurally generated, so you will never stumble upon the exact same location twice. We’ll see if the mixture of old and new ideas will bring any benefit to the game, but that’s going to be clear only next year.

Chronicles of Elyria

Developer: Soulbound Studios
Current Status: In development
Business Model: Pay-to-play, Pay-per-life
Official website

Chronicles of Elyria is a truly original project -- it is an MMORPG with sandbox elements and unusual approach to character development system. The heroes not only level-up and learn skills, but also gradually mature by getting gray hair and becoming one step closer to death. Hence, the business model that allows you to pay for the life of a character until it dies.

The world of Chronicles of Elyria is reminiscent of medieval times with all their glorious castles and pristine nature. Now, imagine that there are no classes in the game -- you create a character and develop it in any way you like. You can become a king, a simple farmer or even a witcher -- it’s up to you.

The project has been kicked off with the help of the Kickstarter campaign and is currently awaiting for the closed beta to start. You can register and wait for your invitation right now. It is really an unusual project and that’s what makes it so interesting.

MU Legend

Developer: Webzen
Current Status: In development
Business Model: Free-to-play
Official website

MU Legend is a sequel-prequel to MU Online that takes you a thousand years prior to the events of the first game. It has been in development since 2009 and is currently open for closed beta registrations.

The game combines both the elements of MOBA and MMORPG, which makes it a truly ambitious project. It introduces four new classes: War Mage, Dark Lord, Whisperer, and Blader. All classes have various abilities and skills that allow for some really creative hybrid builds.

MU Legend offers two types of PvP arena battles: 1v1 and 10v10. Also, there is a separate mode for guild battles. This one has launched and can be played for free.

Lost Ark

Developer: Tripod
Current Status: In development
Business Model: Free-to-play
Official website

Although Lost Ark is another clone of Diablo, it is extremely well done. It has been in development for the last two years and is set to be released early-to-mid 2017. The game is now only available in South Korea, and if the closed beta is successful there, it will be opened to the rest of the world.

The most interesting thing about Lost Ark is that all areas within the open world of the game are fully available from the get go. However, some of the areas can be restricted if you take specific quests to accomplish.

Lost Ark has a strong PvP component with several types of arenas for both small and massive battles between the in-game guilds. Another cool thing is the possibility to play card games in the taverns, which is truly a great addition to any modern RPG game.

Revelation Online

Developer: NetEase
Current Status: Closed beta
Business Model: Free-to-play
Official website

Revelation Online has been in development for the seven long years, and finally it will be officially released worldwide sometime in early 2017.

Currently, you can sign up for a closed beta and see what the game offers.
The world of Revelation includes a whole set of quests in the air, on the ground, and under the water -- all of which become progressively more difficult. The story is full of surprises and the characters are some of the most bizarre you have ever seen in any MMORPG title.

It also includes the standard PvP arena, dungeon raids, crafting and trading systems, and other typical MMO game modes. Despite the lack of new ideas, Revelation Online looks very impressive and it will definitely find its audience.

The year of 2016 has seen a huge increase in players coming back to their favorite MMORPG titles. Obviously, the biggest return has been to World of Warcraft with its new amazing expansion -- Legion. We all remember how Blizzard lost half of its subscribers just a year ago, and now they register numbers as high as over 10 million.

The other two games that strongly retain their playerbase are Final Fantasy XIV and Guild Wars 2, both having over 7 million subscribers. And some new titles have also seen some success, such as Black Desert Online and Blade & Soul. However, their numbers are not even close to the tried-and-true giants of the MMORPG scene.

Does this mean that there is no room for new massive multiplayer games anymore? Not at all! There are actually many great projects waiting to be released in 2017. Some of them are still in development, some are in closed alpha or beta stages, but all of them should be ready to see the light of the day next year. And some of them can certainly be played for free.

Here are the 11 most anticipated MMORPGs of 2017 that you should be looking forward to.

The video game developers of ArtCraft have revealed early artwork of their newest creature for Crowfall, the Myrmidon. But that's not all, for the Myrmidon has also a new power kit that ArtCraft has revealed to us. Due to the fact that this is still in development, the Myrmidons appearance is still not final, so expect the look to be improved.

The Myrmidon is meant to be a melee character, so players can send these creatures to the bulk of the battle, and with their new abilities, they just might be unstoppable. A list of the Myrmidon's powers include, Bull Rush, Pulverize, Bloodied Swipe, Gore, Colossus Smash, Arcing Slash, Cast Net, Net Pull, and Berserk. They also have an iFrame power called Raging Bull, which gives the Myrmidon temporary invulnerability to harm, and the ability to charge into a group of enemies and knock them on the ground. Finally, the Myrmidon utilizes a new resource type called Fury, which also improves it's fighting ability, and it even regenerates quickly.

With this information on the Myrmidon given to us, players of Crowfall can expect to have a valuable soldier in their army. 

While some shutter their servers when player bases bottom out, the total number of MMOs actually continues to grow as players freely hop and skip between competing massively multiplayer franchises.

Last year we took a look at no less than 11 different MMOs expected to drop in 2016 (although some of those are now clearly going to be delayed), all of which players are looking forward to dabbling in and perhaps even switching to entirely after dropping their existing MMORPG fix.

Stagnation And Fleeing Players

Looking at the comments across our articles here and especially in the forums of any given massively multiplayer game, its clear we've hit a rut in the genre. People are tired of the World Of Warcraft formula, but they also don't necessarily want to see existing games radically changed, either.

If you want to see an MMO that's had its membership plummet and review scores sharply drop, just look for any of them that significantly changed up the class structure after years of play. Sadly, even F2P games aren't immune to the stagnation within the scene, with many games are dropping subscription fees entirely to save themselves but still seeing their number of players freefall anyway.

 Subscription fee? What subscription fee?

While the traditional big names struggle to keep players, other games closely connected to the massively multiplayer scene muddy the waters and pull gamers away. For instance, is a MOBA also an MMO? They essentially serve the same purpose, but require less of a time sink and offer more exhilarating play in smaller, more manageable chunks.

Then there's the precursors to the graphical juggernauts of the 2000's and onward – text mased MUDs (Multi User Dimensions), some of which are still very much worth playing today.

Obviously in the graphics-obsessed era of Xbox One vs. PS4, these games are sadly never going to reach the player bases of any graphical MMO, from the lesser played titles like Lord Of The Rings Online all the way up to king of the hill, World Of Warcraft, no matter how excellent the writing or engaging the gameplay.

How Can The Genre Lure Back Fickle Players?

Its always possible that the upcoming Warcraft movie will boost sales of the Legion expansion and re-invigorate the player base, but at best its unlikely to be more than a band aid as the game hemorrhages players with each new iteration.

 The MMO franchise's savior, or just a temporary boost?

Like it or not, a serious change to the base formula is needed if any of the slew of upcoming MMOs want to succeed. Some of the most interesting changes already in the works actually aren't coming from the huge name publishers, but rather from indie developers making use of their best resource – the player base itself – to see new ideas come to fruition.

The crowd funded Chronicles Of Elyria in particular is trying to completely change how we think of some of the core MMO principles.

The addition of permadeath is specifically getting a lot of buzz, both positive and negative, in this upcoming multiplayer fantasy game. Aging is another component that's been added in, with your character growing old and eventually dying over months of in-game time.

Ambitious changes are promised, but will they be able to deliver?

As a concession to the basic rules of video gaming (and I suspect to avoid riots from angry players), a permanent soul with continuing attributes will move on between characters as they die, either from old age or violent combat. So while you will have new characters somewhat regularly, there is still some continuity even with the permadeath feature.

The announced reset mechanic in upcoming title Crowfall serves a similar purpose, but is presented in a different way. With this system, the campaign resets after a certain amount of time or a particular “win condition” is met, so the game continues to be interesting over time instead of having one player or group of players always at the top.

It remains to be seen if that will actually work out, or just frustrate the people who have put in tons of hours to dominate the game.

 More potential for invigorating changes - or extreme frustration

Power To The Players

Another major component missing from the MMO formula is the option for actually unique and game-altering user generated content. The lure of a persistent world is that it persists while you interact with it - so why can't we actually make any meaningful changes?

The sadly dead Pathfinder Online was sold on this premise, but never made it to full release to see the promise fulfilled for players carving out their own petty kingdoms and making alliances or going to war.

For another look at how this oft-overlooked notion can play, there is the F2P and super cutesy Trove, which mixes Minecraft gameplay into a massively multiplayer world.

The problem with user generated content working well is in finding the right balance between reasonable limits and absolute freedom, and its a balance that hasn't quite been nailed yet.

 When you give players freedom, this is what they spend their time on.

With absolute freedom to build new settlements and change the environment, you quickly run into pornographically arranged buildings dotting the landscapes and every city being named using a racial or homophobic slur.

On the other hand, placing restrictions on what players can and can't create to avoid those issues leaves many feeling like the entire system isn't particularly worthwhile. 

Radically Redefining MMO Expectations

The newly released Starbreak is an MMO in which no really talks to anyone else, but you all work towards beating difficult SNES-style platforming levels.

It's a concept that hasn't really be done in the massively multiplayer style before, and fans of classic and difficult gameplay are flocking to it in droves, with up to 100 characters at a time capable of all tackling a level together.

I can't help but think with a few extra features and a bit more of the RPG elements added in, Starbreak (or something similar to it down the line) could explode and dominate the MMO landscape.

Old genres can become new MMO phenomena

In another twist, that particular game totally culls out scamming, spamming, and many other annoying aspects of trading in MMOs by having absolutely no ability to sell your equipment and no trading between players. Not everyone will dig that and it probably wouldn't work for a fully fleshed out fantasy world with in-game economies, but frankly it solves a ton of problems by avoiding them altogether.

Starbreak certainly isn't the only direction an MMO could go to pique the interest of jaded players though. The upcoming Warhammer 40,000 based title Eternal Crusade features missions that are squad-based and primarily PvP-focused, shifting away from the standard solo or group PvE mechanic.

Tree Of Savior on the other hand (which is sadly not accepting new players at the moment until some major bugs are fixed) doesn't particularly change the formula, but it does present it in a completely different visual style, bringing to mind the chibi watercolor flair of PS1 RPGs.

Sometimes a reskin is exactly what's called for

What We Want To See

While some of the upcoming MMO entries are slated to make tweaks to the standard recipe, there are still more changes that would be welcome, as well as elements of existing games that aren't being utilized enough.

Even with these absolutely massive worlds, there always comes a time where your max level character has explored it all and there's no challenge in the earlier locations.  Post-game content only goes so far, and players end up bored after grinding for the best equipment or mastering the crafting systems, and something has to shake up that element of the genre.

To keep players logging in we need more than daily grind quests: we need a legitimate reason to keep returning to old areas after hitting the level cap.

Whatever that reason might be, from dynamically assigned quests to areas that change over time with updates to something else that hasn't even been dreamed up yet, it also has to be available for solo players whose friends have moved on to other games (as the utterly dead state of world vs. world in Guild Wars 2 can attest).

Even before the dreaded level cap arrives, more MMOs need to focus on making quests and endless battles seem unique and remain interesting no matter where you go.

Although the previously mentioned Guild Wars 2 isn't doing great on the WvW front, that game still does a phenomenal job with interesting PvE. All the dynamic events going on and the various renown quests you can complete even if you are higher level than the current area pull you into the game world, and its a style that should be implemented in other titles.

GW2 gets a lot right, but a few things wrong

Besides varying the grind to keep it interesting (or better yet, entirely ditching the grind altogether), upcoming MMOs would do well to take cues from other other multiplayer genres that absolutely addict players, from the trap-laying, crystal defending Dungeon Defenders to the fast-paced MOBAs like Heroes Of The Storm.

Despite lacking gigantic worlds to explore, these games manage to keep players hooked over long stretches, and there are plenty of fantasy or sci-fi MMOs that could cull some of those ideas and work them into the core gameplay.

How Can This All Even Happen?

If we want a perfect MMO that immediately hooks a player base and doesn't ever lose their interest, the fact of the matter is that we can't rely on the big-name studios any longer. Nobody is going to put in the money to create a serious WoW-killer with how risky the MMO business is at this point.

So what does that leave? Some serious crowd funding action that will need to be spread far and wide. AAA massively multiplayer games are massively expensive to create and typically take 5 – 6 years to reach a fully playable status. Throw in the fact that they arrive lacking the depth and breadth of content found in existing MMOs, and any developer faces a seriously uphill battle with a new game. 

While clearly new MMOs need to take chances by trying different mechanics, rather than continuing the same pattern, most publishers aren't going to invest in something without a proven track record with so high a risk of failure.

That's where the community comes in with crowd funding – although even that can be a gamble, just due to the huge amounts required. Even a truly high Kickstarter goal of $1 million wouldn't cover the full development cycle of a major MMO. Outside investors would still be required, unless developers can come up with new ways to scale back production while somehow still offering an engaging and unique experience.

Of course, as anyone who backed Star Citizen will tell you, there's also a risk there on the other end with having too much capital and nobody to put a definitive timetable into effect. Despite being the highest crowd funded game of all time, the perennially delayed Star Citizen still has no clear release date anywhere on the horizon.

This had better not flop when it releases in 2082!

Creating an MMO based on a popular franchise could definitely help bring in interest (the love for the Warcraft RTS games is absolutely a huge part of why WoW took off), but that's still no guarantee of success, as MMOs based on Final Fantasy, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Star Wars, and more have all failed to dethrone Blizzard's dominance.

For this once-beloved genre to flourish again, we need a massively devoted developer absolutely in love with the style that is willing to take massive risks, knows what classic elements of the formula to keep in place, and is able to secure funding for a truly polished title.

It's a tall order, no doubt, but with the right programmers and a devoted fanbase willing to make it happen, I'm confident something truly innovative is on the horizon.

Sound off below - what would your perfect MMORPG look like, and how do you think the genre needs to change?

The coming year is bringing an absolute storm of new massively multiplayer worlds, with a heavy focus on the fantasy side this time around. Unfortunately some of those games that fans have been looking forward to for years probably won't arrive as expected.

One of the biggest upsets comes from Pathfinder Online, which is technically available in an Early Access version, but isn't finished and is unlikely to ever actually be completed. This one hurts for me specifically as I've been a huge fan of Paizo since long before the pen and paper Pathfinder RPG came to dominate the roleplaying landscape.

It was a gamble to begin with as a book company ventured into developer territory, and sadly it didn't pay off. All but three of the employees working on Pathfinder Online were just laid off, and there's been a lot of discontent from beta players about the ruleset going a different direction than expected, focusing on PVP in a way the base Pathfinder rules really don't support. Of course its always possible some other publisher will pick it up, polish it off, and get it released in full format, but for now if you want a Pathfinder PC experience, you'll have to instead look towards the upcoming Obsidian-developed rendition of the Pathfinder card game instead.

In another cancellation with a silver lining, the World Of Darkness MMORPG officially got a stake through the heart now that White Wolf has been bought out by Paradox Entertainment. While that's a downer for fans of huge online worlds, that's also a plus for fans of the various World Of Darkness lines, as it means we'll likely get some Vampire, Werewolf, or possibly even Mage single player games in the near future.

Last off, the newest iteration of Everquest, simply titled Everquest Next, is now solidly in development but doesn't have a specific release date or even basic window. There's not a ton of solid info yet, other than that it will be a re-imagining of Norrath rather than a sequel game in the exact same setting.

What MMORPG are you most excited about diving into next year, and what didn't make this list that you think should have been added? Let me know in the comments!

Bless

Another Korean developed fantasy title, Bless is shaping up to be an excellent addition to the 2016 MMORPG lineup for fans of anything from Lineage to Lord Of The Rings Online. This one looks like it will hit all the classic tropes, from the JRPG graphical styling to the large class and race combination covering everything from elven wizards to cat folk rangers.

Crowfall

This crowd-funded game with a slick, stylized graphical theme aims to blend a real time strategy with a persistent MMORPG, described by the developers as a “throne war” simulator.

The ideas for mixing together those opposing genres are intriguing, with different campaigns available that will last for several months of real time before wiping out and moving on to another iteration. Stay tuned for a lot more info on this one to come shortly as a release date is nailed down.

Albion Online

Closed beta starts at the end of the month for this upcoming free-to-play fantasy entry. A strong focus is being placed here on player interactivity with the economy and locations, with shops carrying primarily what people have previously sold and areas changing based on player conflict.

The overall aesthetic and siege-based combat against large groups of attackers almost gives off a MOBA meets MMORPG feel. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of this one in particular, and while waiting for some beta game play to drop, check out a video from the developers below.

World Of Warcraft: Legion Expansion

Following the Warlords of Draenor update from back in 2014, Legion will be the sixth expansion to the MMORPG that just won't quit: the world-famous World Of Warcraft. If you're still clinging on to the most famous multiplayer fantasy game of them all, Legion will raise the level cap to 110, pop in additional areas and dungeons, and even offers up a new demon hunter class.

H1Z1

We've had post apocalyptic MMORPGs and zombie-based shooters, but now the two finally collide, allowing you to live in a persistent sandbox world overrun with the undead. Scavenge supplies from dead cities, avoid hordes of shambling zombies and above all, be afraid of your fellow man!

If The Walking Dead is a weekly event for you, you'll want to get in on this title that's already available in Early Access through Steam. Unfortunately the game suffered from negative reviews over reports of hackers and exploits in the early days, and hopefully that gets resolved before the final release in 2016.

Camelot Unchained

Partially funded through a Kickstarter campaign, this successor to Dark Age Of Camelot will focus more on PvP over the PvE that so many games highlight these days, as large realms of players come into conflict.

Rather than going for dwarves and elves, the three major factions focus on berserker vikings, Arthurian knights, and the fae-inspired Tuatha De'Danann. If you want to be part of a band of brothers battling against foes from a rival faction who lack in chivalry and honor, this one's for you.

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues

A legend returns as Richard Garriott arrives with the spiritual successor to Ultima Online, one of the first true MMORPGs to actually catch on and show what could be done with the genre. As a bonus to fantasy fans, Tracy Hickman of Dragonlance fame is handling the story design in this re-imagining of the standard multiplayer dungeon-stomping good time.

Of course there's the usual massively mutliplayer aspects, but in an interesting twist, the game can actually be played entirely offline for those who don't want to interact with other players, and a separate mode is also being implemented where only your specific friends show up in your instance of the game world.

Black Desert

It's been a long development cycle so far for this upcoming sandbox entry in the MMORPG genre; its development has been going for almost six years now, and beta testing has been open in Korea since all the way back in 2013.

A finished product is finally expected to launch for European and North American fans in 2016 as that development draws to a close (or at least to a low simmer, as work on massively multiplayer games never really ends). For fans of the high fantasy genre who want to fling fireballs while laying siege to an enemy castle, this is the big title to look out for next year.

In a promise that is hopefully delivered on fully, the huge and seamless environments are reportedly going to be much more interactive than in the standard MMORPG, and of course the visual appeal is worth mentioning, with both the environment and characters showcasing a high level of polish.

Star Citizen

It's been a crazy roller coaster ride following Star Citizen's development, from the huge ups of the crowdfunding campaign and massive hype to the lows of some very negative articles about what's going on behind the scenes. Whether you believe it's never coming out or were swayed by the negative press, there's no denying that what Star Citizen proposes is a very ambitious melding of different genres, aiming for total immersion in a near future space society.

While it remains to be seen if Cloud Imperium Games can deliver on the promises made, a mashup of first person shooter, space combat and intergalactic economy simulator in a persistent world sounds like an excellent time if the game actually arrives next year as projected.

Lineage Eternal

Although they have a sizable and dedicated fan base, the Lineage games have been oft-maligned for their unnecessary level of grinding and absurdly inflated prices for even basic gear. We'll have to see if any of that will change in latest entry Lineage Eternal, which has been in development for several years without any major updates, but is expected out finally next year.

Based on the footage and brief snippets of info that have made it online so far, it looks like Eternal is going more of a hack 'n slash route, with a greater focus on large scale battles with significantly more enemies on the screen at any one time.

Warhammer 40k Eternal Crusade

It was beyond time for this to happen: the eternal war raging through the grim darkness of the 41^st millenium hits the MMORPG circuit! Now entering closed alpha, Eternal Crusade pits Imperial Space Marines, the forces of Chaos, Orks, and the enigmatic Eldar against one another in mission-based, third-person combat.

Eternal Crusade is reportedly redesigning the standard MMORPG quest system to be quite different from the overused genre norm of approaching someone in a city and having them ask you to kill X number of enemy Y. Projected to see release in 2016, the base game will have to be bought like any other, but it will also be available without a monthly subscription fee (as they put it in Orkish terms, it will be “Free to Waaaaaagh!”)

While the ever-evolving hive of the Tyranid is listed as a faction, it seems like they'll again be the enemy and sadly not a playable race – an option that's been missing from most Warhammer 40k titles. You can all fight for that desiccated corpse emperor on his broken throne, but I'm going to spill blood for the blood god and spread the glory of Chaos!

Looking back at the genre's beginnings, who would have ever thought such a staggering number of massively multiplayer titles would be available today? Or that a lot of them would be thriving? While some have fallen to the wayside, many of the biggest names are continuing on a decade or more later, somehow still finding hundreds of thousands or even millions of players to populate their servers.

Not only has the number of MMOs steadily increased over the years, but overall interest in them continues to climb from gamers who normally prefer other styles, in no small part due to the gradual shift towards a free-to-play model. Most notably this year, Wildstar just went the free route and Guild Wars 2 is still going strong using that strategy.

The advent of Early Access titles is also a boon both for the genre and (more importantly) for the players, as it ensures quality titles with strong mechanics will get the funding and word of mouth required to thrive, while those games that are more half baked either get the extra attention needed to succeed or they fall by the wayside.

Despite those advantages, there have been some major speed bumps in the industry, with a handful of anticipated titles getting cancelled or failing in early access. Looking forward to the year ahead, you can expect more to succeed than fail as expansions to classic games arrive, long-running series finally enter the MMO realm, and entirely new IPs arrive to shake things up.

If you want to know about more highly-anticipated games coming out next year, don't forget to check out our looks at the best horror games, first person shooters, and RPGs coming in 2016.

Hopefully, you’ve heard that Crowfall hit its Kickstarter goal this morning.

Congratulations to the team at ArtCraft. It’s not an easy feat to raise $800,000 in 72 hours. On Wednesday morning, Crowfall launched its Kickstarter campaign. Within its first 24 hours the game was more than halfway funded, then just a few hours ago, it passed its goal. And whether or not Crowfall is ultimately a successful game is yet to be seen, but it did crowdfunding right.

Crowfall isn’t the only game to do crowdfunding right. Double Fine did a wonderful job with Broken Age. Arguably, it can be said that Star Citizen did it right, too. However, some games that came out of Kickstarter, even the ones that hit their funding goals didn’t exactly win in the end.

What makes a good Kickstarter campaign? What was so right on about Crowfall’s Kickstarter?

Crowfall hit the mark: openness about outside investment

Crowfall’s Kickstarter campaign actually started well before we even knew that the game would even have a Kickstarter. As is mentioned in the Kickstarter video, developers Gordon Walton and J. Todd Coleman did have money to begin the game. Besides much of their own money, Walton and Coleman mention that they did have investors to begin the campaign. As much as I’m sure designers would like to start with nothing when jumping into the Kickstarter campaign, that will only spell defeat in the end.

Crowfall also started advertising and building hype for the game before we even knew what it was or who was involved. The first teasers for Crowfall in December didn’t even mention the name of the game, but rather they teased the feeling of the game. This is the first teaser:

Where did we go wrong?

There was a time when our industry took CHANCES.

Our games didn't have to appeal to everyone, and we didn't judge ourselves solely on mass market success.

The amusement park games, it's impossible to lose. With sandbox games, it's impossible to win.

If you can't win and you can't lose, then

What's the point of playing?

Just like Double Fine’s campaign prior, this began its Kickstarter campaign by finding the gap in the industry. Kickstarter is not designed for the mass market. They are meant to show that a lot of people are still interested in niche ideas. And this is where Crowfall started. It’s also where Broken Age started, and The Repopulation started there, too.

Another thing Crowfall did, which can backfire if not done carefully, is keeping parts of the game under wraps. In a column called Transparency, it might seem hypocritical to say that I believe that games should keep anything secret. But the idea behind this secret wasn’t strictly to prevent people from find out what’s going on, instead rather helped build hype for the game.

Setting backer expectations

Another item that I believe worked in Crowfall’s favor was that the focus was on the team making the game. Before the details of the game were released we learned that Walton, Coleman, and MMO industry icon Raph Koster were working on the game. Double Fine’s game had industry great Tim Schafer, Shroud of the Avatar had spaceman Richard Garriott, and Star Citizen has the Wing Commander himself Chris Roberts at the helm.

Crowfall also set realistic goals. The developers know what it’s going to take to get the game made. The Repopulation, another MMO Kickstarted rather recently, ran with its first campaign with a really small goal of $25,000, which confused the hell out of anyone who knew anything about the cost of making an MMO. The company did another one that was only set for $50,000, which still made people wonder what the designers were thinking. Crowfall was realistic about how much it needed to make the game. In reality, it’s still probably low, but it’s more realistic at $800,000 than The Repopulation was at $75,000 total.

The backers for Crowfall know exactly what they are getting into. Of course, we can’t expect everyone who backs the game to read all the fine print, but it’s all there. If all the details of the game are not laid out on the Kickstarter page, then a Crowfall has an amazingly complete website to check out everything the game has to offer.

Keeping up the good work

Of course, Crowfall just started, and if time tells us anything there will be mistakes made along the way. But mistakes are OK if they are fixed promptly and fairly. But what things should Crowfall do to avoid some possible mistakes.

For instance, it is in Crowfall’s best interest to remain open about what it’s doing and how development is coming along. As we saw with Double Fine, the backers were able to see the progression of Broken Age as it grew. When things came up that the studio wasn’t expecting, then Schafer would make a video and explain what was going on. Of course, there was some backlash, but that didn’t really cause too much trouble for the game as a whole.

Assuming Crowfall can stay on the course that it’s on, then there will be little for backers to complain about. Unfortunately, creative mediums need to have some fluidity. Under normal development, we can see the whole course of a game change from what it was originally intended to be at the beginning. Kickstarted games can’t do that.

Ask Peter Molyneux. His game Godus shifted from a regular game you’d play on your PC or console to a mobile game, and the backers revolted in a horrible way. The actions of some of the backers was inexcusable, but the sentiment was understandable.

I’m looking forward to watching Crowfall develop.

I usually don’t back Kickstarter projects, but this one looks like it might actually be worth my time. It fits a niche I am really interested in. Even if the game falls on its face after launch, it will be worth the investment just to see the game made.

Crowfall dropped its vision on Kickstarter 4 days ago, at the time of writing, and they just reached their goal of $800k this morning. This up-and-coming "Throne War simulator" MMO has started a wildfire in the gaming community, with dissatisfied MMO fans screaming for more diversity. The WoW-Envy of recent years has been truly uninspiring for gamers for the past ten years, and it seems like a change of pace is not only desired, it's demanded.

Individual backers have even been throwing thousands of their own dollars at Crowfall:

"Just bought your highest tier [$10,000]! I believe in you all keep up the great work!

".... I feel every penny is well spent, and like us all we want to see this come to fruition."

-Talrune, Kickstarter Comments

With ArtCraft Entertainment's Crowfall Kickstarter Goal now met, they decided to introduce two stretch goals to the mix:

Crowfall Stretch Goal 1 - $1.0M

Upgrade Visual FX, Female Centuars

The first goal is quite simple: they want to hire a graphical FX specialist. Right now, ArtCraft Entertainment has their 3D character modeller creating all of their special effects. With an FX specialist, not only will the FX look visually stunning but their current 3D designer will be able to go back to character models, which means new gender variants of gender-locked races.

Crowfall Stretch Goal 2 - $1.3M

Mounts and Caravans

In the core module of Crowfall, transporting materials currently consists of using your players inventory — which, if you haven't noticed, uses a Diablo-style grid space. Your inventory will fill up really quickly if you're trying to gather a lot of resources to, say, build a castle. This is where mounts and caravans come in — to transport your hard-earned goods. Just be careful not to get attacked on the way back!

Congratulations, Crowfall

ArtCraft Entertainment hit an outstanding $800k with Crowfall less than 72 hours after the Kickerstarter campaign launched. With 26 more days to go, who knows what heights they could reach? It looks like the community really wants it, but will it stay hot?

Crowfall is a new MMO that was unleashed on Kickstarter yesterday, promising features that have never been heard of in an MMO before, let alone seen put to the test.

Its unveiling brought a wildfire of fans to Crowfall's gates, agonizingly awaiting its anticipated release in Winter of 2016. It claims to be changing the MMO genre as we know it: a bold claim for any man since the release of World of Warcraft. The question is, will Crowfall succeed in changing up the MMO game?

Is Crowfall the MMO We Desperately Need?

To answer that question, we first need an understanding of MMOs, what defines them, and what the history of MMOs looks like. If you are anything like a young Autumn at the age of 12, the only thing you know about MMOs is what it stands for: Massively Multiplayer Online Game. So what makes an MMO?

What is an MMO these days?

Other than the fact that you're playing an online game with loads of other people, MMOs are exceedingly difficult to categorize. One might assume that League of Legends is an MMO, but it isn't—it's a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). However, there is one word that stands out when you compare the two genre's: 'Massively'. What is it about a game that gives it that extra letter 'M'?

The term MMO was originally coined to reference one of the first online graphical-based games, Everquest. Everquest is what we call an MMORPG, and a pretty hardcore one at that. Obvious RPG elements aside, what made this game different from League of Legends is the massive, seamless world. Although the word 'Massively' came around in part because of the size of its player-base, it had a lot to do with the size of the world and the sense of virtual space.

Think about it. In League of Legends, you're often stuck in the middle of a lobby, waiting for a game to start. Everquest doesn't have any lobbies—all of its spaces are virtual. Everything you needed was provided to you within the virtual space, not in some lobby before the start of the game.

For the sake of this article, an MMO is defined as a game that offers a multiplayer experience through the exclusive use of company-owned servers (unlike Minecraft) with a complete virtual space in which players can interact. Crowfall fits that bill rather nicely, so let's move on.

The History of the MMO

Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, the MMO was still a budding concept. People weren't expecting to make excessive amounts of money off of this weird new style of playing games, so they stuck to making games that they wanted to see. The MMO market was beginning to fill up with a small variety of games, and it was rare to see somebody trying to clone an idea when they could just as easily come up with their own. There were no preconceived notions about what an MMO should be.

Fast forward to November of 2004, World of Warcraft has just been released, and all the little gamers get sucked into it like a vacuum. Blizzard is suddenly making billions of dollars in the MMO market where other companies have only scored in the tens of millions.

At this point, most companies even considering the MMO market have massive WoW Envy. MMOs began to pop up left and right, promising the pivotal MMO experience, hoping to tap into a niche somewhere. A lot of finished products turn out to be a World of Warcraft reskin with a somewhat entertaining idea that WoW didn't incorporate and isn't really worth all the trouble in the first place.

It would be ignorant to claim that every single MMO coming out anymore is just another World of Warcraft, because that's not strictly true. There are some games coming out that break away from the mold but inadvertently end up using WoW ideas anyway without anybody realizing it.

In more recent years, MMOs have seen the adoption of live-action combat with the increase in general internet speed. Despite MMOs receiving an overhauled combat system, they are still having difficulties breaking away from that mold. TERA, of any note, is like World of Warcraft but with a completely new combat system.

Will Crowfall Finally Break the WoW Mold?

At this point, MMOs are starting to feel stale to people who've stuck with the genre for so long. As time goes on, I find myself slowly gravitating away from MMOs out of exhaustion. I was so excited for the Elder Scrolls Online, I thought it was going to change the MMO scene only to be proven wrong by a terrible WoW clone with an Elder Scrolls skin. It's really hard to trust MMO developers these days.

One major thing that Crowfall has going for them is that they are Kickstarting their project. Kickstarter, while it can be easily abused, will effectively keep them away from the publishers who want the game to be more like World of Warcraft. Since the people who want it to become a WoW clone are effectively out of the picture, ArtCraft Entertainment can work on making the game they want to create.

Endgame

One notable aspect of a WoW clone is the perceivable end game: the raids, the dungeons, the gear crafting. Once you reach max level, the game changes completely—and some people would rather keep progressing. At the moment, there is no sign that characters in Crowfall even have traditional levels. We know that you can train your skills by using them, but that's about it.

Player-Crafted Landscapes

Another thing that makes Crowfall stand out is the player-made worlds. By the time Crowfall's core module is released, there will not be a single map that is handcrafted by developers. Eternal Kingdoms, the only permanent land in the game, are completely player owned and shaped. The Dying Worlds of the Campaign are procedurally generated and will reshape themselves over time.

Instances

Crowfall boasts the complete and utter lack of instances: a mechanic used to get players and their party into a space made just for them. Some people argue that the Eternal Kingdoms and Dying Worlds are essentially instances, but I beg to differ. Instances are areas where tens of millions of people could be all at once, and you would never know.

Instances are the reason the dungeons you enter are empty and seemingly untouched by any other player. Neither the Dying Worlds nor the Eternal Kingdoms count as an instance. They are both locations that you can go to meet up with other players, whether they are in the same party or not.

Factions

Admittedly, the faction system used to separate players into three distinct moral roles harkens the World of Warcraft bells, but factions appear to have more depth than simply "you are all enemies, now kill each other." Not only that, but under the three factions there are twelve unique deities to side with, which may or may not flesh out faction-life even further.

Quests

Crowfall isn't scripted. While NPCs will probably find their way into the game, it's unlikely they will make it as quest givers. I imagine if any NPC tried to tell a Crow what to do, they would get a sword through their face. This is a War of the Gods, and their champions don't have time for slaying and collection quests. 

Crowfall likely won't have any NPC-generated quests. If any quests even make it into the game, I don't think they'll ever depart from the Eternal Kingdoms.

Crowfall - The MMO We've Been Waiting For

Even if Crowfall isn't really your cup of tea, the simple fact that it exists will inspire developers to take risks with MMOs again. In the next few years, we are going to start seeing games pop up that makes us rethink how we define the MMO genre. Crowfall will bring about an insurgence of fresh ideas that may not have been possible until recently. 

We're going to see MMOs offering dramatically different styles of gameplay as opposed to the cookie cutter WoW gameplay we've come to expect.

Crowfall is breaking the WoW mold and proved to us yesterday that these new ideas actually hold a strong place in the world. The hard part is over: Crowfall has been unveiled and the MMO community is accepting it with open arms. It won't be long before we start seeing fresh MMO ideas popping up out of the blue, to fill in the niches that have yet to be tapped into.

As of the writing of this article, the Kickstarter for Crowfall has been out for a little under four hours. The game already has over $300,000 raised and is on pace to possibly cross the finish line tonight or early tomorrow morning with a goal of $800,000.

For those that are not familiar with the game, Crowfall is a Sandbox PvP MMORPG by ArtCraft Entertainment that seeks to bring skill back to the genre. The team equates it to Risk where guilds and players seek to control worlds while competing against those of opposing factions and, in some cases, their own. 

The question all Kickstarter MMOs face is the same Crowfall faces, do the crowdfunded rewards make the game Pay-to-Win even at this early phase? It’s one that received heated debate on the forum and won’t go away anytime soon. My hope is to bring some clarity to the discussion and offer my opinions on the matter.

The Tiers

Before diving super deep, let us go over the rewards and tiers in the Kickstarter.  For the sake of this post not being a book report, I will condense the rewards to generalities.

• Your standard rewards: Early Access (higher backed amount, earlier the access), Digital Copies, Name in Credits, Digital Soundtrack, Digital Art Book, Weapon recipe set (cosmetic) VIP Membership (higher backed amount, longer the duration), Weapon recipe set (cosmetic), Reserve Character name, Forum badge icons, Statue, Access to expanded colors for Guild Heraldry, Reserve Guild Name, Name a fallen monarch, Name a location, Starting titles, Studio tour, Monthly Q&A, and a private dinner with founders.
• Rewards that may impact gameplay: Additional character slots, Exclusive Stronghold for personal kingdom (small-large), Cottage for personal kingdom (can be multiple), bonus tax-free parcels for personal kingdom (5-80), Divine Cathedral, Villa for personal kingdom (can be multiple), Manor for personal kingdom (can be multiple), Imperial palace, your own campaign.

Discussing the Rewards

The rewards that seem to impact gameplay are the ones that are at odds with a segment of the community. It is hard to argue against the claim that some of the rewards give advantages over other players that are just starting out. Being able to have tax-free parcels does mean that upkeep might be significantly less than what others may be able to garner through regular play. The real question though is if it gives people enough of an advantage to be what we would classify as Pay-To-Win. 

All of the rewards thus far are ones that do not seem to affect combat directly, instead influencing some of the money sinks or upkeep. This may become a bigger deal with guilds but that over time may even out as people use up their free parcels and the world's reset.

VIP membership entitles you to passive training but those are available through subscribing as well and are limited to three characters in total. The extra character slots will not be able to take advantage of passive training on all of them as they only count towards three characters currently. Any training on characters after that will have to be obtained through normal play. Then there are Kingdom plots themselves.

If you managed to back the game at a level where you got starter game access to these plots, you will have a leg up in some manner. The question of what these plots give or add to your kingdom is the problem. We really do not know a lot of what will be there or what bonuses will come from having them. There is a small amount of information behind them but they are one of the big unknowns. Tag that one with a maybe.

But really, it’s too early to tell.

We have yet to see what they have in mind for their cash shop. ArtCraft stated it will not be Pay-To-Win and that all of the items will be cosmetic. Whether or not they stick to that is something we will not know for sure until they cross that line. We are just going to have to take their word for it before we see evidence of such. 

Right now though, I only see small advantages that will wash out as temporary bonuses and not what can be called Pay-To-Win. That said, I invite you all to give your own opinion in the comments section below. Everyone’s is different and offers a different points of view that I would love to hear.

Note: For 100% transparency, I backed the game on Kickstarter. 

Over the night, Crowfall was finally unmasked to the world on Kickstarter with a nice 7 minute introductory video and a great description that shows us what the game is all about. The developers have finally unveiled their ideas into the wild, and it's spreading like wildfire. Crowfall plays uniquely into the RPG and Strategy genres in a way we've never seen before for an MMO.

Their Kickstarter goal of $800,000 may seem like a stretch, but there isn't a minute that goes that doesn't see some sort of increase to their pledged funds. At this rate, it seems likely that they will reach their goal this very day.

Essentially Crowfall achieves this Throne War MMO through three main concepts: Time, Destruction, and Power.

Time - Eternal Heros, Dying Worlds

In Crowfall, your characters are persistent but the Campaign worlds are not. Players all called Crows, and they travel from one Campaign world to the next to participate in a War of the Gods.

Campaign worlds are set to last for about one to three months, or until a winning condition is met. During the time, the world will cycle as if it were alive with seasons and nature and death. Through the course of the Campaign, the world grows more and more sinister as its consumed by a horde of undead dubbed the Hunger.

At the end of Winter, a Campaign ends and the world will go offline forever. Players can travel back to the Eternal Kingdoms—player-ruled lands that last forever but have a significant lack of resources—to divvy up their loot and plan for the next Campaign.

Destruction - Everything Changes

Crowfall is a Voxel-based game that allows you to change the world as you see fit. Craft your weapons, armors, secure a running fort, forge player-made (or otherwise?) alliances and conquer the worlds of Crowfall.

Crowfall's Campaign worlds are procedurally generated, so there will never be a lacking of worlds and you should never fall to the same world twice. I wonder how far the procedural generation will go, and how deeply it could create campaigns in these dying worlds.

Power - Your Kingdom is Your Seat of Power

Unlike the Campaigns, the Eternal Kingdoms are permanent and completely managed and owned by players. Monarchs could, if they so desired, divvy up their kingdom into provinces and allow other players to rule over those lands.

While Kingdoms are massive, with mountains, lakes, rivers, ancient ruins, and monster camps, but they have very few resources. To gather resources, you must travel into the Campaign worlds.

Crowfall - Throne War PC MMO

Crowfall is described as "Game of Thrones meets EVE Online". While this is a really lovely comparison, it gave me a really strong traditional Dungeons and Dragons feel. In Dungeons and Dragons, you have these epic Campaign worlds that are ever-changing and dynamic, which is displayed extremely well through Crowfall's Campaign system. This wouldn't work well in an MMO without making the worlds temporary, and the developers do a great job of explaining why that is in the video above.

Want to learn more about Crowfall?

They have constructed a nice and detailed page on Crowfall's official website describing the game rather well. It's an interesting read, with plenty of links to YouTube clips for those who want to get a better picture.

Now that you've seen what Crowfall has to offer, what do you think? Is this the fresh start the MMO's need or is this going to be another Elder Scrolls Online?

Today, we published and broadcast our new video talk show covering the next great gaming experience - The Dragon Chasers cast.  Like many gamers that have been ruined for all future games thanks to the likes of World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, or some other game changer, we seek new games and hope that one day we will be satisfied again.

Current games to track are things such as Star Citizen, Crowfall, Dreadnought, among others.  So, we hope to track/obsess over the new games that are coming out, gain and maintain relationships with the developers, and host an interactive discussion with you - the gaming community.