Each week, we scour the internet for all things indie MMO-related, so you don’t have to. This week, our own Nick Shively shared his experiences with the Ember Sword and Ravendawn playtests, City of Titans shows off some of its updated zones, and Headstart access starts for Mad World. Plenty of other stuff is also going on, so let’s quit wasting time and get started with this week’s Indie MMO Spotlight.
Anvil Empires
According to a Discord post, Anvil Empires’ first Pre-Alpha Test was a success. For those who didn’t get a chance to join the Pre-Alpha Test, there are more tests coming up soon.
BitCraft
Along with their regular Twitter vignette, Tyler Cloutier, co-creator of BitCraft, has a new blog post in which he talks about the team’s vision for BitCraft and how they plan to handle free trade and the inevitable real money transactions it spawns. TL;DR - he naively believes they can dissuade players from making RMT by balancing the game so that needed goods are always priced low enough that players won’t want or need to pay real money. He obviously doesn’t understand just how lazy many gamers are.
Enjoy a lazy day! pic.twitter.com/OXhrlkXsHK
— BitCraft (@BitCraftOnline) April 18, 2023
BRITARIA
Reaper Games, the studio behind Britaria, has been renamed Moonglow Games. There was no word on whether Dread Coin would be renamed.
Cinderstone Online
A new patch will be introduced next week. The patch will introduce dynamic trading, global and personal merchant quests, and player orders will be added as a new way to trade.
City of Titans
Along with updates to the Avatar Builder, there is now a dedicated launcher for Mac OS. Another blog post has some screenshots of the city zones that have been updated for UE5
The Cycle: Frontier
Update 3.2.0 went live this week and is full of bug fixes and weapon changes. Tharis Island has been updated and is now open, and Dadum’s final questline is ready and waiting for eager Prospectors.
The Day Before
It’s been a month since we got that awesome spa video, and Fntastic has finally broken the ensuing silence by announcing yet another release date. The new absolutely last, never gonna change again, set in stone, ain’t gonna budge no matter what release date is November 10, 2023. The team is working on getting The Day Before listed on Steam, and they also teased a Beta Test (no mention of paid or unpaid) as we get closer to the release date.
Ember Sword
Ember Sword held its first Alpha Playtest this week. The test was open to everyone, but if you missed it, you can dev gameplay videos on Twitch and YouTube. Or just see what our own Nick Shively had to say about his time during the playtest.
Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore
Ethyrial: Echoes of Yore posted a release date announcement video this week. According to the video, Ethyrial is set to release on May 1, 2023. Ethyrial will be available on Steam, and it was announced on their Discord channel that there will be F2P servers available at launch for players to try before they buy a sub that grants them access to the entire game world.
Gloria Victis
Update 357 was one of those ho-hum patches that focused on fixing things instead of adding new stuff to the game. The update notes do have a WiP section, so it is still worth your while to click the link and read what the team has to say.
Mad World
Although the official launch is April 27th, Early Access opened up on Friday for those who purchased Gold, Platinum, and other Founder Packs that granted 5-day early access. Bronze and Silver Founders can start their journey today, Sunday, April 23rd.
Prosperous Universe
Michi goes solo for Development Log #382 and has very little to share other than the fact that he is working on things and will have more to show at a later date. It may not seem like much, but the fact that the PU team sticks to their weekly log posts, even if it is only just to say hi, shows a sense of dedication to the players.
Ravendawn
Open Beta 1 is now over, and more than 45,000 players gave Ravendawn a look. For anyone wanting to provide some feedback on their experience, you can fill out this form. If you didn’t get a chance to check out the Beta, our very own Nick Shively shares his take on Ravendawn in his Beta Preview.
Starbase
Signups are open for a 3v3 PvP tournament that will be held one weekend (TBD) in May. There will be a 3000 ton weight limit per team, and you can sign your team up by filling out this form.
Tatsumeeko
Tatsumeeko’s Weekly Devblog covers the upcoming art style revamp, augmented combat animations, and a progress update for the projects the team is currently working on.
Wild Terra 2: New Lands
Update 2.2.342 is now live. Fishing has a new interface and is now divided into zones: sea, river, desert, and dungeons. You can see all of the changes in the changelog.
