Raph Koster continues outlining the design pillars for Stars Reach. In the latest round, he dives into intentional optimism and welcoming, how heavier topics fit in, and the importance of community.
The first thing he mentions in the latest design blog (H/T Amaranthar) is the setting of Stars Reach: An Endlessly Explorable Fun Retro Sci-Fantasy Universe. With this, he adds that the real world is dark sometimes and the game is going to be “visually appealing, brightly colored, and have a tone of optimism and enjoyment”. However, this isn't limiting, since he also says that the world that they're creating will “accommodate melancholy, mystery, and even fear” All within the overarching optimistic atmosphere that is intended to provoke feelings of open possibilities and to be a place players enjoy spending time in.
They’ve chosen retro sci-fi, because that calls back to a time when people hoped and believed in the possibility of science and humanity and dreamed up what we might accomplish. This retrofuturistic style works to convey that hopeful optimism, and those dreams that we collectively had. This is a deliberate choice, which Koster expands upon, talking about science fiction's postwar changing relationship to technology, from pessimism to ambivalence and even grim.
Because hope and optimism are overarching design pillars, that there's no room for serious or dark themes or elements. There is, but overall, the game “lean[s] towards wit, caricature, and gentle humor” and “takes things lightly” while not using or looking for cheap jokes or slapstick or anything cartoonish.
Koster also dives into some of the lore, which also drives home that point, since the central theme is about a second chance in a new galaxy full of possibility and terraformed worlds for the player species after plundering and destroying their homeworlds. There are questions to consider, including what happened, where the Old Ones went, will people make the same mistakes again? How do you deal with the aftermath of a genocidal species that destroyed thousands of planets?
While the game will be bright and seek to convey optimism and hope, you can see they are not avoiding heavy topics or questions. and of course, player choices will shape some of the outcomes and maybe answer some of these questions.
This goes into his point about gameplay, including how they want players to create as much as possible and to impact the world, evolve, and makes everyone want to come back even if they spend some time away.
There's much more about the economy, progression, and more of how all of these fit into not just providing enough content for people to take off and do their own thing inside of an mmo, but the importance of community and how they will support that.
