The new free-to-play MMORPG Scars of Honor (PC) aims to put the community at the center of development. The developers at Beast Burst Entertainment also promise to become the first “true” free MMORPG. What is known so far is shared by us from MeinMMO here.
What is Scars of Honor? The game will be a classic open-world MMORPG that focuses on interactions between players. The following content is planned by the developers to be available at launch:
- 2 factions, 8 races, and 10 classes
- Procedurally generated dungeons and raids with ever-new mechanics and content
- Player housing, where everyone has their own address
- Crafting system, where your profession is tied to your house so that players can contact you when they need something
- Guild wars, arenas, and open-world PvP
- Bounty hunting mechanics that allow you to put bounties on other players
- No items that provide a gameplay advantage for real money
Why is this so exciting? Scars of Honor is currently still in a very early development phase, and that is good for you. The developers emphasize repeatedly how much they value community feedback. They themselves are MMORPG players and are tired of the empty phrases from other titles.
Every new update and new mechanic is presented and discussed in the forum and on Discord. The developers promise that every suggestion will be read. So you already have the opportunity to shape basic game mechanics without any cost.
For example, players requested open-world PvP in the forum, which the developers initially had not planned. Now there will also be open-world PvP in the game. To take revenge on players who are simply too strong for you, you can put bounties on those who killed you. Other players will then actually receive your gold for hunting and killing the nasty player.
In this video, the developers explain more about the content and motivations behind the game:
The community as the center of development
What approach do the developers pursue? In an interview with YouTuber imPansy, the CEO of Beast Burst Entertainment explains why the community is so important to the team (via YouTube). He himself has been an MMORPG player for 15 years and knows from personal experience how annoying it is when developers ignore player feedback.
But not only in the development of new mechanics and game content, but also in the game itself, the focus is on the interaction between players. “You play the [MMORPG] to experience cool things together with many people.”
As a solo player, Scars of Honor will probably not be your game. Most things in the game can only be done with multiple people. As the developers recently confirmed on reddit (via reddit).
In order for this interaction to run smoothly, Scars of Honor will completely refrain from all pay-to-win content. Every player should be able to play completely for free and have no disadvantages compared to other players. To guarantee this, the developers want to publish the game themselves at all costs and thus not let themselves be influenced in the monetization.
What does interaction in the game look like? Since we have not yet seen finished gameplay scenes, we have to rely on the statements of the developers here. According to them, there will be three main aspects in the game:
- PvP: There will mainly be guild wars in addition to open-world PvP and arenas. You will be able to conquer nodes in the world as a guild and must then defend your castle against attacking guilds. If you dare, you can even hold multiple castles simultaneously.
- PvE: In procedurally generated dungeons and raids, you will have to play together in a group to master the ever-new mechanics and enemy types of the generated dungeons. Whether there will be a holy trinity is still unknown.
- Professions: If fighting is not for you, you can dedicate yourself to one of the professions in the game and then sell your products to other players. This should happen in your house. You will buy a shop, with a real address in a specific city, and run it.
When is the game coming out? Scars of Honor is still in its infancy. So far there has only been a single alpha test, which had no content other than walking and chatting. Two more alpha tests will follow, and then two beta phases before release.
If you want to be part of the next tests, you can create a supporter account and thereby gain access (via Scars of Honor). The supporter account can currently be purchased for €9.99 (16.011).
There is still a lot to do for the eight-person team behind Scars of Honor. Therefore, a release in 2022 sounds rather unlikely.
While you wait for Scars of Honor, you can check out another of the 13 best free-to-play MMORPGs!
