The sandbox MMORPG Fractured will enter Early Access on Steam on September 15. The CEO of Dynamight Studios revealed to us during a presentation at gamescom what the developers plan to do before and after that.
What is Fractured anyway? Fractured Online is a dynamic sandbox MMORPG. It divides its game concept among three different races, two of which will be available at the Early Access launch on September 15.
Because your race determines how you experience the sandbox MMORPG in Fractured Online.
- The Wildfolk live on their own planet and are completely peaceful. Here, players cannot attack other players, which is unusual for a sandbox MMO. This is the PvE path of the game.
- Humans live on the second-largest planet and will also be available from September 15. They are meant to provide a middle ground between PvE and PvP. Here, you can harm other players, but there is a moral system that can even throw you in jail.
- The demons have the smallest planet. Things get serious here. This race is entirely focused on PvP, and you even gain experience for killing other players. Additionally, the demons come with full loot. This race is expected to be added only at the full launch of the MMORPG.
If you travel to other planets, the same rules apply to you as to the native beings there. A demon cannot simply attack anyone on the Wildfolk’s planet, while a Wildfolk must be very cautious around the demons.
The new trailer prepares you for the Early Access launch:
Exploration is key: To learn new spells in Fractured Online and thus evolve, you need skills. You obtain these from monsters that use them. To eventually have all abilities, you will have to have been practically everywhere.
For example, there are skills that you can hardly obtain without PvP among the demons. However, the developers emphasize to us that there will not be any individual skills that are essential for a build. If you can’t get that one fire spell, take one of the other 40, according to the CEO.
But there is one way, and that is the asteroids, about which the team of Fractured Online has also told us more.
Asteroids as a new PvP endgame, but also for players who don’t like PvP
What are asteroids? The asteroid feature is an endgame activity primarily designed to attract PvP fans. However, it also offers PvE lovers a chance to get all the skills they want.
How often exactly you can travel to these asteroids is currently still uncertain. However, they are expected to be frequently occurring events that remain in the game for a short time. Then players from all races can travel to the asteroids and fight for control points.
The asteroids have a procedurally generated surface that takes on a random biome existing in the game. If you as a Wildfolk don’t want to roam around among the demons but want that skill?
Then an asteroid that features the demon biome could be the solution for you.
How does it play? Each asteroid has a control point around which present factions will fight. The one who controls the point when the event ends will win. This means it is primarily aimed at PvP endgame fans.
If you win such a round, you will receive “Asteroid Control Points” with which you can buy cool rewards. Among other things, relics for your guild hall, which will permanently and passively buff each member of your guild. So the asteroids are definitely worth it.
A completely new biome, which can also occur on asteroids, has been exclusively shown to us by the CEO of the developers. You are in a kind of treehouse high above a foggy forest. Although we were not allowed to take pictures of it, it definitely whets the appetite for more.
Launch and Early Access – What else is coming?
What will happen until the launch? With the Early Access launch on September 15, the Wildfolk will be the first significant addition since the beta to the MMORPG. And with them, a completely new planet that can impress with new biomes and another open world.
Fractured Online is expected to remain in Early Access until mid-2023 before the game is finally released. During these months, the developers want to finish the demons and work on the “New Player Experience”.
The CEO tells us that he has observed in tests how new players felt abandoned after the tutorial. If they lacked the urge to explore, they would quickly leave the game. The Dynamight Studios want to improve on these aspects and guide new players better.
What follows after the launch? Although it is still quite a way off, the developers have already revealed plans for that at gamescom. A system will follow “sometime in 2024” where you can be reborn.
This will allow you to take a good path as a demon and a bad path as a Wildfolk once you reach the maximum level in the game. Then a long questline will follow, during which you can decide to switch factions.
Then you start again from scratch, but with slightly better stats. However, the exact plans may change significantly by the time the feature is ready.
What do you think about Fractured Online? Are you excited for the MMORPG and what features do you find particularly interesting? Or do you see little potential in the game? Feel free to let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO.
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