Swords of Legends Online has been in beta for a few days now and is currently generating discussion. No other game has been discussed so intensely in the largest general MMORPG forum on Reddit for a long time. Hundreds of comments revolve solely around the new game.
What is Swords of Legends Online? The MMORPG was actually released in China back in 2017 but is only now slowly making its way to the West. Swords of Legends Online places a strong emphasis on story, quests, and lore.
With a strong focus on PvE and a close connection to Chinese folklore, the class design and aesthetics are particularly striking features of this MMORPG. Other important features include:
Most content is designed for the maximum level, which can be reached over a longer leveling phase. Swords of Legends Online has been playable in China for four years already but is currently generating huge discussions here.
Too much hype, too little hype – Beta sparks discussions
What players are talking about: On the MMORPG Reddit, there are currently several threads about SOLO. Most of them don’t have particularly high ratings but have one other characteristic: lots of comments.
Looking at the threads, you see that upvotes are between 50 and 60%, with some threads garnering over 450 comments. Apparently, the MMORPG is polarizing, as reflected in the titles:
- one player claims that SOLO has “not been hyped enough” and sparks 462 comments (via reddit.com)
- another player states that SOLO is “overhyped” with 194 comments in the discussion (via reddit.com)
Other threads also have masses of comments. SOLO is thus one of the hottest topics in MMORPG Reddit for a long time.
What is being praised? Some of the most frequently mentioned positives include the loot system and class design. Healers, for example, are true healers who can even summon fairies to assist and have no DPS abilities at all. A refreshing experience.
Even critics praise the classes, their various builds, and play styles, along with the challenges they provide. Hathaway_Noa, for instance, praises: ‘The class design is intricate and the skill cap of the classes is high’ (via reddit.com). Correspondingly, the graphics are said to look great on high settings.
The payment system is also fair. In SOLO, there is no pay2win. The shop offers only cosmetics without any impact on gameplay.
What is being criticized? Many players are annoyed that they have to go through a relatively boring leveling experience before they can reach the endgame. Leveling is part of an MMORPG, and in SOLO it is comparable to WoW or ESO, but something is missing.
Swords of Legends Online places so much emphasis on endgame content that leveling tends to suffer a bit. Some players find the vast areas to be lifeless and feel that they are too dull and sprawling even without mounts and flying creatures.
Moreover, performance is still lacking. Even with a good system, one cannot always play smoothly. In the beta of Swords of Legends, there were also issues with the servers.
MMORPG players are hungry for something new
The user Neeko2lo comments under the praising thread: ‘Please […] stop elevating such mediocre games to the pedestal. Have a little pride, this genre can do much more’ (via reddit.com).
The response from user Xrel: ‘Maybe 2030, good luck with waiting. Maybe another 30 years will age you and waiting for the perfect MMO will make you less cynical.’ Both comments received more upvotes than the original post.
From the discussion between the two users and the subsequent comments, it is evident that the MMORPG community desperately needs new content. There have been few noteworthy releases in recent years that have survived long enough to retain many players.
Partly for this reason, players keep returning to the major players like WoW and ESO that have been around for many years and are still being developed. However, when comparing to Battle Royale or even Survival Games, there has been significantly more new content recently for fans to check out.
SOLO demonstrates quite well that the MMORPG market is far from saturated. Players want new content so much that even “mediocre games” can succeed. The consensus is: one should not always expect the perfect game, but be willing to make compromises.
Those wanting to play new MMORPGs must overcome their aversion to Asia
Have you played Swords of Legends Online yet? What is your impression of the new MMORPG? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
