The new MMORPG Rulers of the Sea promises a lot on paper. The historical MMO wants to take you into the year 1750 and let you do almost everything there. We at MeinMMO summarize.
What is Rulers of the Sea? The MMORPG takes nothing less as motivation than to give you the whole world as a playground. Set in the year 1750, this historical MMO seeks not only fun but also knowledge that you will need to influence the game world.
For this to work, you will not just level up in Rulers of the Sea. It’s, as with much in the game, much more complicated. You play not only one character but a whole family. Each member of your family can take on different jobs/careers, which are roughly the classes of the MMORPG.
So far, there are 40 of these jobs, ranging from the nasty pirate to the cunning spy to the lawyer who can defend the pirates in court. But to become a lawyer, the game first sends you to school.
When you level up, you essentially unlock a new course at the university. You must then actually attend this and pass a test to progress. These courses are supposed to provide you with real knowledge about the 18th-century world.
What features are included? Rulers of the Sea has a whole range of ideas targeting hardcore players:
- The entire world as an open game world
- Over 40 jobs from shipbuilder to lawyer
- 156 different factions and over 760 cities
- Realistic day-night cycle
- Historical setting that also aims to impart knowledge
- A legal system where you can even end up in jail
- Water and land battles over territories that can belong to players
- The ability to play multiple characters within a family
- Become a commander of your own crew, which you could even sell
Here you can watch the first trailer:
The world of the 18th century as an open-world sandbox
How does the game world work? A highlight of Rulers of the Sea is the game world, which encompasses the entire Earth and even takes time zones into account. The day-night cycle in the game adapts to the real world.
So when it is dark in Germany for us, it is also dark in in-game Germany, but not in in-game America. This should encourage players to join a nation in the game that is close to their own. Thus, the developers want to portray the various cultures of the world in the game.
For this to work properly, you can choose one of 156 factions in Rulers of the Sea, which divide the 760 cities among themselves. With a bit of luck, you might even start in your hometown in 1750.
Why is this important? The individual factions and cultures play a role not only because of the different times of day but also because there is no global economy in Rulers of the Sea. Similar to the beginning of the MMORPG New World, each city has its own economic system.
Since the cities are sometimes several hours apart by ship, it is essential that players take care to keep their own economy running. Or to specifically sabotage it if you want to earn your money as a trader in other regions.
Rulers of the Sea wants to give you the opportunity to play whatever you want.
The community is impressed, but there is a catch
What do fans say? Rulers of the Sea promises a lot but has not been able to show much yet. The game is currently still in a very early development phase, which does not make the team’s approach any less impressive.
- User Khairinoa writes (via YouTube): “This is something I have always dreamed of in gaming. It sounds like a huge project. I would really like to see actual gameplay before I give financial support.”
- Mrsparkle001 is also impressed but skeptical: “This looks incredibly good. I hope it can meet its ambitions. There have been many games with lofty goals that they never managed to achieve.”
- Similarly, Bestevaer says: “What an extremely brilliant concept. I’m really looking forward to seeing where it ultimately leads.”
When is the game coming out? This is currently hard to say. In their roadmap, the developers have indicated the release for the fourth quarter of 2023, but so far this remains uncertain.
The game started in 2016 as a one-man project and only gained real momentum in 2019. However, the game has not yet been able to secure a major sponsor, which may make it difficult to implement the ambitious goals of Rulers of the Sea. However, we are curious and will keep you updated.
What do you think of Rulers of the Sea? Do you think the developers have set their goals too high, or do you consider the project realistic? Would you want to play such a historical MMORPG at all, or does the idea of having to go back to school for a level-up not appeal to you? Feel free to let us know in the comments here at MeinMMO.
A game with a somewhat different approach is Toram Online, which launched with over 500 billion character combinations.
