Chronicles of Elyria is one of the most exciting MMORPGs currently in development. However, in recent months, there has been very little news about the game. Where does it stand at the beginning of 2020?
What is special about Chronicles of Elyria? The sandbox MMORPG from Soulbound Studios is considered highly ambitious and aims to give you the opportunity to lead a virtual life and create your own dynasty.
The following features stand out:
- A massive world with many kingdoms. It should take 48 hours to traverse the world on foot.
- Lots of freedom in character development. You can live a life as a merchant, craftsman, adventurer, or ruler of a city.
- An aging process where your character gets older and dies. Therefore, you must father a successor.
- Role-playing as one of the most important aspects of the MMORPG.
- Housing that is to be integrated into the open world.
The innovative ideas were well received by players. On Kickstarter, Chronicles of Elyria reached the desired $900,000 in just 10 days. With founder packages and Kickstarter, over $3.5 million has already been raised.
What is the current state of the MMORPG? Chronicles of Elyria is currently in Pre-Alpha, without a playable version. So far, there is nothing to see of the game aside from some scenes in developer videos, although the release was originally scheduled for 2017.
The MMORPG struggled for a long time to find a publisher and implement its ambitious visions. They ran out of money, and initial employees were laid off.
The latest news and updates on Chronicles of Elyria did not focus on the progress of the game, but rather on claiming territories that are supposed to exist later in the MMORPG, and other browser events.
Some players already doubt that Chronicles of Elyria will ever be released.
Many events, but no finished game in sight
This is what happened recently: In August, there was an event called “Searing Plague”. It is a browser game where players could either contract the plague or become immune to it.
The tricky part: Players who had already purchased a founder version had an advantage. They could use cash shop items to heal and also heal other players. Still, the event was a success.
The other headlines surrounding Chronicles of Elyria mostly revolved around money. In April, the first players chose their lands, for which a founder package was required.
A special advent calendar for $95 also received negative feedback from some fans. They wonder why so much money can already be spent on shop items without knowing if they will even receive them.
What are the major problems? Besides the publisher search and the money factor, there is still a big problem with Chronicles of Elyria: the engine.
Originally, the MMORPG relied on SpatialOS, the “wonder technology” that is supposed to allow for massive worlds. For cost reasons and because the engine does not deliver 100% of what the developers expected, Chronicles of Elyria is working on its own engine. However, that costs time.
What’s next? Currently, it is hard to say when a playable version of Chronicles of Elyria will finally be released, as almost no new information is being published.
On Reddit about the MMORPG, you currently only find memes or old quotes about promises that were not kept. A Reddit thread compares the progress from 2017 with that of 2019 and concludes that development seems very slow compared to previous years.
Currently, the outlook for Chronicles of Elyria does not look good. However, the developers are still holding on to their ideas and the game. Perhaps we will learn more about the status of the MMORPG over the course of 2020.
