Fractured Online’s recent acquisition by Happy Cauldron Games opened up transition process for the MMORPG, and the first “State of the Studio” video is here, laying out an overview of the new team’s plans, from improved combat to meaningful progression, and using more of the rich lore throughout.
The new video was shared to Discord. In it, Happy Cauldron’s Duncan Davis gives an overview of their goals for the game and the transition process for Fractured Online’s assets and services.
We get a rundown of broader plans for Fractured Online’s future. First up, combat. They want to pick up the pace, make the game more in line with modernized action RPG combat, more fluid and more responsive. They’ll do this in a number of ways, but first, they’re looking into long-requested WASD movement and potentially controller support.
Another focus is progression. Fractured Online was designed more laterally and, while some of the initial progression systems were rich and layered, the team made changes and design was not conducive to getting large enough numbers of players and retaining them. Happy Cauldron will work to create valuable and meaningful progression systems and to overhaul the experience. They’ll be giving more info and details later.
PvP will continue to be a big focus. Sieges and other PvP aren’t going away, but they want to offer more, including new guild territory conflict. PvE will also see improvements. Progression improvements will help both sides.
They’re also looking to add variety to buildings and the process. What this could look like are having a variety of prefabs that you can use as well as modular granular building options. Davis currently also works for Mojang, so a variety in building options is not unfamiliar. In addition, the options and choices could extend to decorations as well as essentially customizing your houses and what you build. Expect time testing it to make sure everything is integrated well. They want to tie it into the PVP aspect too and not just in the traditional sieges.
Another thing tying all of this together is an emphasis on lore. Dynamight created lore that they have never revealed and they plan to use that as well as expand on it. If you’ve been following the game since the early days, you will remember lore reveals and promising story elements. There were also three planets and other lore-based content that they couldn’t make work on release. Time to unite the MMO and the RRPG elements.
