The MMORPG War of Dragnorox relies on old-school feeling, hard raids, and dynamic battlefields. However, the combat system was too boring for the developers themselves. So much is changing now that not even the name remains the same.
What kind of game is this? First of all, to keep everyone up to date. War of Dragnorox has not only changed basic game mechanics but also its name. The MMORPG is now called Eternal Tombs, but at its core, it is still the same game.
Eternal Tombs aims to offer an old-school experience that is modern in appearance. This is mainly supported by Unreal Engine 5 as the foundation for the project. In addition, you will regularly compete with developers. The MMORPG offers the following features:
- Dynamic battlefields where a Dungeon Master, controlled by a studio employee, takes control of the game world and challenges you daily
- Every day there will also be different events, quests, and resources in the world
- Minimalist UI without damage numbers, map, etc.
- Sandbox open world without clear guidelines and with tough opponents. Eternal Tombs is intended to be a challenging game
- At launch, there will be 19 different raids
- Little magic, much physical damage, also with the 6 different classes
- Progression mainly happens through equipment. The perfect armor can make you up to five times as strong as other players at the same level
- A slow tab-targeting combat system that is reminiscent of early genre classics
You can see the first trailer for the game here:
What is different now? The “tab-targeting” combat system has repeatedly caused headaches for the developers, as they mentioned in a QA on Discord. At some point during the development of the combat system, they realized that it wasn’t very much fun.
“Without the nostalgic feeling of being in a game you’ve played for over 20 years, the combat system was incredibly boring and tedious,” the developers said in their response. Instead, they are now working on a system that is supposed to be “incredibly fun and absolutely unique.”
With such a significant change to one of the foundations of the game, they wanted to give the entire project a new name to represent this massive change. Moreover, they have always had “mixed feelings” about the old name.
The entire game will be presented in detail next month
What will happen with the game? Next, a complete presentation of Eternal Tombs is scheduled for August, as they recently announced in a teaser trailer. Whether this will happen at gamescom is questionable. However, the timeline might fit.
Originally, the game was supposed to be released in Q3 2023, but that is probably no longer the plan. The developers’ website states, in response to the question about the release date: “We somehow keep making a wrong statement, so for now, we won’t make any at all. It will come when it’s ready.”
Otherwise, the original vision of the game remains intact, as does the fair payment model. Eternal Tombs is set to be available with a subscription of around €10 per month, but it will not feature any pay-to-win mechanics or an in-game shop. There is also no Kickstarter program; Eternal Tombs is 100% privately funded.
You can watch the teaser trailer and a snippet of the new combat system here:
How are the fans reacting? Quite positively. The comments under the teaser trailer are filled with excitement, and even the change of the name is well received.
- JaggedWinter says: “I like the new name; it gives me the idea of exploring dungeons with friends. With the old name, I always thought more of a book than a game.”
- Shanebrain writes: “This looks really good; I’m looking forward to seeing more.”
- Rykkeanu asks if the new combat system will also have real-time blocking, to which the developers respond: “you know the answer,” which we should interpret as “yes” at this point.
- CastPasFaux says: “I really can’t wait; hurry up!”
The comments all come from the comment section of the above-linked YouTube video.
What do you think of the new name? Do you like Eternal Tombs? And do you enjoy the restructuring to a new combat system? Does a fast fight with beautiful Unreal Engine 5 graphics still qualify as an old-school MMORPG in your eyes? Or is it just a wild mix? Feel free to let us know in the comments here at MeinMMO.
