When a company claims it’s “doing something different” it is often hyperbole. Chronicles of Elyria, the upcoming MMORPG from Soulbound Studios, understood that. Instead of fluffy marketing speech about how adding a new spell completely changes the game the company opted for more hardline changes. Out goes the normal business models. That’s plural. CoE doesn’t buy into subscriptions. Nor does the company want to float on the whims of free-to-play. They’ve checked that for a modified version of ArenaNet’s pay-to-play model. Grab a copy of the game and you can play. For a year. That’s when another core trope is shaken. Your character will die on its 365th day and outside a few souls with enough power, you’ll need to purchase another copy of the game to resurrect the fallen’s soul in another toon. Crazy, right?
Has your mind been blown yet? Doesn’t matter. Those tidbits are just the warm up for our interview with Jeromy Walsh, the creative director for Chronicles of Elyria. There’s plenty more to discuss, including the living world, character scripting, the states of death and exactly what your character does when you decide to take a break. Dig into it all after the cut.
Nice little intro to CoE. A little information that isnt completely accurate. The average lifespan will be between 8-14 months. There isnt a one size fits all lifetime. Dying a lot will reduce lifespan, while living a healthy and peaceful life in the village will mean you get every day out of each Spark of Life. I encourage everyone to head over to the Chronicles of Elyria page and register on their forums. Read up one the design/development journals to get as much info as possible. There is also a very active IRC that is filled with people always willing to help answer questions. If people are feeling generous feel free to use my friend code E9B1C9 when you register. This wont give you anything, but it does help me out. If not, no harm done, still go over and register and follow this great game in development.