War of Dragnorox

[realsubtle]

Huh, had never heard of this.

https://www.mmobomb.com/news/new-dyn...orox-announced

Well, here’s something that’s definitely different. Today, Developer Triune Studios revealed an in-development MMO titled War of Dragnorox. This game, described as “an ever-changing, dynamic player-driven, true MMORPG”, is set in a world where magic is the enemy and any who uses it must be dealt with in the most permanent of ways. (We’re talking about killing them.) The good news for players is that that doesn’t include you, because you can’t wield magic on your own. The best you can do is use potions or possibly trap magic-using creatures and force them to do all that for you.

The lack of player-used magic isn’t the only thing that makes the game different. In fact, the big feature is that whole “dynamic” thing. Unlike most MMOs, War of Dragnorox has done away with instanced dungeons in favor of a Dungeons and Dragons-style experience where staff working as Dungeon Masters control elements of gameplay through the back-end, spawning mobs and treasure, triggering traps, opening secret passages, and more. It’s definitely an interesting concept.

Part of me wants to scoff at the idea of magic being evil and players not being allowed to use it, but I have to admire the insane levels of ambition here. Instanced dungeons have become the enemy of fun in MMOs, and GM-event dungeon mastering is a truly wild and ambitious concept.

Unfortunately, I am pessimistic about this, because the concept sounds unthinkably labor and time intensive on the part of the staff. Surely so many wages could not be financed from a retro-trip game, no matter how interesting or innovative.