Into the Echo, the MMORPG from from ETLOK Studios, bills itself as "a time travel odyssey" and built around recapturing a sense of wonder and discovery that made many people love MMOs in the first place. There's an official teaser out that also marks the opening of pre-alpha signups.
The Into the Echo teaser doesn't really give away much, but it does offer a glimpse of what this world might feel like. The studio offers that they are working to combine features and mechanics like resource collecting, crafting, combat, and an emphasis on social experience in a game they say is "designed for longevity" and will emphasize community.
The game takes place on a planet called Raava, and the history of the planet over time is key to the premise, including cosmic events that changed it and gave its people an ability called Qen. There is, of course, a time travel element and what that really means isn’t entirely clear just yet. The teaser does show someone literally going into the Echo, but we have to wait to find out more what that means. Besides the planet and the team's desire to make it feel like it has real history, there is a potentially promising take on customization too.
Into the Echo aims to include lots of individuality in customization, beyond just looks. So it sounds like instead of just a handful of archetypes, you'll be able to make who you play your own. It's on this basis that the team envisions the MMORPG as part of a larger media universe. More than just a media universe, the team says the goal is to create something you feel like you’d want to live in.
If you're interested in testing the pre-alpha, you can head over to the Into the Echo site and sign up here.
