Darewise Entertainment's Life Beyond, a Blockchain MMORPG, has opened The Hub to everyone, granting access to a persistent social area that's now available 24/7. Initially exclusive to token holders, The Hub aims to foster community interaction and serve as a testing ground for upcoming features. But given our previous experience with Life Beyond's gameplay demo, it's worth approaching The Hub with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Situated within Columbus1, an exploration vessel hovering above the planet Dolos, The Hub offers players a chance to connect with others through holographic avatars. Though interactions are currently limited, Darewise Entertainment plans to regularly add prototypes of upcoming features, such as avatar customization, combat simulations, and building simulations, based on player feedback.
The Hub's release schedule began with access for Founder Key holders on March 22nd, followed by Life Beyond NFT holders on March 27th. As of April 6th, The Hub is open to everyone, with minimal system requirements that include Windows 10 64-bit, 8 GB RAM, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB or AMD Radeon R7 370 DirectX 11 with 2GB VRAM.
Our previous experience with Life Beyond's gameplay demo revealed a game with potential but plagued by numerous issues. The Alpha version offered access to the main hub, where players could form groups and engage in a handful of mission objectives. However, limited features and a lack of teaming made the experience feel somewhat barebones.
Despite its issues, Life Beyond did show promise, featuring unique level design and intriguing class abilities. Currently players will not have access to those features as of yet, but there is potential there for all players to access those systems in the near future. The game's developers, Darewise Entertainment, have been open to player feedback and previously have outlined a roadmap for the game's future development, and have mostly kept on track through their various updates.
As The Hub opens its doors to all players, it's important to keep in mind that it is still a work in progress. While the current offerings may seem sparse, with only a chat and dance system, stunning views of Dolos, and information about corporations on the planet, there is potential for growth.
But the question remains: can Darewise Entertainment deliver on the promise of a fully functional Blockchain MMORPG? With The Hub's evolution relying heavily on player feedback, it's crucial for the community to actively engage and communicate their ideas for improvement. After our experience in the last Alpha test, we were excited for the prospect that Darewise may deliver, especially due to the fact they were opening the game to all players, without any NFT or Crypto sales. Since that time, Darewise has opened limited mints of their Founders Keys, NFT Jackets, and various partnerships over the past several months.
Life Beyond's journey to beta and beyond is a long one, and only time will tell if the game will overcome its growing pains, especially the pains of GameFi’s walled garden that has seen somewhat of a stagnation since many of the most popular blockchain protocols have struggled to gain traction again after their all time high around Q4 of 2021. This includes an extreme decline in gaming NFT trades throughout 2022 and 2023 according to blockchain data aggregator TheBlock.co. In the meantime, as players embark on their adventures through The Hub, it's essential to approach this new development with caution and tempered expectations.
With the opening of The Hub to all players, Darewise Entertainment has taken a step toward fostering community engagement and addressing concerns about the game's development. As we've seen in the past, Life Beyond has shown potential and a willingness to improve. But whether this potential can be fully realized remains to be seen.
As we have yet to see any viable mainstream blockchain MMORPG it's worth keeping a close eye on Life Beyond and The Hub's development. For now, it's up to the players to shape the future of this ambitious project and determine if Life Beyond can truly live up to its name.
