With Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore, a new MMORPG aimed at hardcore players was released on May 1st. However, many issues occurred in the first few days, including a complete rollback. Now the developers want to make another attempt, but there is bad news.
What kind of game is this? The MMORPG is reminiscent of classic titles like Old School RuneScape – both in gameplay and content. There is an extensive skill system, all items are crafted by players, and generally, team play is supposed to be important. There are also many quests and dungeons. Visually, it strongly resembles a title from the early 2000s.
Additionally, there is a special hardcore approach. If you die, you lose your equipment, which can then be picked up by any player. So far, you had to pay a subscription of €9.99 per month or €300 for a lifetime subscription for this adventure.
How did the release go? At launch, over 1,800 users played simultaneously (via SteamDB). This is not a bad value for a niche MMORPG with this graphics. However, few were impressed with the game concept:
- There was criticism for slow quests, dozens of NPCs without dialogue functions, and drops that feel like placeholders.
- There were numerous bugs and performance issues.
- Some players experienced accidental double charges for the subscription.
Ethyrial therefore reset the servers and held a full relaunch on May 12, which had only about 700 simultaneous players. In the meantime, the player numbers are now only in single digits. Only 28% of the reviews are positive.
The developers wanted to steer the course with an elaborate roadmap, but it is questionable whether this will succeed.
MMORPG becomes a “passion project” with the switch to Free2Play
What do the developers say? In a statement, it is mentioned that some changes are planned. It starts with adjustments to class balance, loot in the open world, and dungeons as well as the “enemy placement” in the game. There will also soon be a server merger so that all characters can interact at one location.
A major shift will be the transition to Free2Play without any restrictions. When exactly this change will take place is not known. Currently, the lead developer is away from work due to “tragic circumstances within the family.” His return is currently awaited.
Moreover, there is bad news surrounding the publisher.
The studio has sat down with this and discussed the future. It was agreed that ending the collaboration is the right step:
Although Freedom was an invaluable partner for us and helped us throughout the process, we were unable to deliver the expected level of quality that both Freedom and we wanted to achieve. Therefore, it makes no sense to continue the relationship with Freedom Games at this point.
The developers also announced that Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore will henceforth become a “passion project.” This sounds a bit like the developers are going to pursue other work in the future and will only run the MMORPG as a hobby.
What do you think about the course of Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore? Have you ever looked at the MMORPG or were the subscription, graphics, and hardcore approach too off-putting for you?
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