Q: What is Abyss Online?
A: Abyss Online is an upcoming open-world sandbox MMORPG. It will have a full PvE world with a main story, dungeons, and raids, equalized arenas for competitive PvP, and dedicated open-world PvPvE battlegrounds for larger fights and territory control. It is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 by the indie studio Old World Labs.
Q: We see you advertising PvP, I hate PvP, can I play your game?
A: You do not have to PvP in Abyss Online to enjoy the game. We are building intricate open world player housing systems, a dynamic crafting and resource system, a player created economy, Non-PvP zones and instances, a pet system, and more. Our plans for mobile and browser development are focused on these experiences, we have no plans to implement PvP features on mobile.
Q: What kind of server system will Abyss Online have?
A: We are using a new system that connects servers globally via Amazon and Unreal. It optimizes latency between servers as needed so players worldwide can fight seamlessly. We have stress-tested with up to 40 concurrent players. Ping is around 70ms, sometimes 140ms globally, but we are tuning skills to work well at those latencies. If you are located near Singapore, Washington DC, or central Europe you will have a competitive ping. If the population grows substantially, we will add more servers. If issues arise, we may add regional servers, but we strongly prefer one global world. We have planned our growth with experts at Amazon for nearly 2 years.
Q: How big is the game world?
A: We have maps of varying sizes; we are starting with a smaller 250 sq km open world map with instanced arenas and dungeons via queues. If the population explodes, we also have a larger map ready. Even the smaller map has a lot of open exploration.
Q: How does the class system work?
A: There will be 11 classes at launch, each with 3 subclasses, bringing a lot of diversity. All gear is available to every class, so you can mix and match as you please. A tank priest in heavy armor? Go for it!
Q: How diverse and interesting will the quests be?
A: We have developed an AI-assisted procedural quest and dungeon generation system. It will dynamically create content based on in-game events and your past actions, remembering you and your choices. Over time, it will create fully-fledged dungeons. It's still in testing but will go live in phases this Winter.
Q: Will there be world bosses?
A: Yes, we already have raid bosses, including a dragon. Some will be PvE only, others allow PvP. So, both playstyles are represented.
Q: How do the arenas work?
A: The equalized arenas will scale players to max level, provide arena-only gear, and fully unlock all build customization options for players to compete with. Players will be able to level and gear their characters through arenas for the open world. Leaderboards with seasonal rewards will also be added.
Q: Will there be PvE content like dungeons?
A: Yes, there will be a variety of PvE-only content. An AI-assisted procedural system will dynamically generate quests and dungeons based on player actions and world events. There will also be raids and an infinite dungeon that scales in both difficulty and rewards.
Q: What is the character progression system like?
A: Every class, subclass, weapon and armor type, infusion, individual skill, crafting discipline, and life skilling path will have their own skill trees to level and customize. Leveling will start out fast, then slow down as players progress.
Q: What are some of the main features?
A: Key features include a robust player-driven economy, dedicated full loot open world PvPvE battlegrounds, guild and faction warfare over territories, equalized arenas, dungeons, raids, player housing and customization, pet breeding/taming, and fluid hybrid tab/action combat.
Q: What can we expect at launch for player housing?
A: Pre-designated zones will allow building anywhere. Houses can be shops, farms, storage, and more. Set fees at your crafting stations for other players. While not essential, player housing enhances immersion.
Q: What monetization is planned?
A: Buy to play the base game and expansions, mandatory monthly subscription, and Rubies as premium currency to spend on account services such as server transfers, name changes, appearance revisions, cosmetics, and vanity items. Players will not be able to purchase power at any point with Rubies. We are anti-P2W.
Q: What is the ETA for localization?
A: This will be a focus over the holiday season. Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, and Mandarin are coming first due to popular demand.
Q: What is the story behind the game's development?
A: Abyss Online originally started under the name Metagates and planned to utilize blockchain elements for trading skins, founder rewards, and tracking rarity of items. However, the team realized that integrating blockchain was not core to the gameplay experience they wanted to create. They rebranded to Abyss Online and shifted focus fully to building a next-gen MMORPG.
Q: What is the unfiltered story behind the game’s origin?
A: In August 2021, my friends and I grew restless waiting for a new MMO. We started a self-funded project on Discord called Metagates, creating basic arena combat and an open world with a basic social element. We started hosting weekly PvP events.
Within weeks, gaming veterans flooded our Discord after trying our free, rough online demo. When asked how we'd fund ongoing development, many suggested blockchain as it was popular in 2021. One night as a joke, we created and individually named 2222 pixelated poops to sell ironic packages modeled after Kickstarter rewards, poking fun at blockchain culture.
We never expected many sales, nor did we even promote the idea. But surprisingly, our satirical poop sold out during a dev stream, raising ~$100k from crypto gamers overnight through sales in January 2021.
As poop prices ballooned 5x-100x, new supporters complained limited rewards wouldn't sustain the game long-term. We expanded products with an anti-hype cash shop to ensure sustainable entry points while still preserving collector rarity. Those products never sold out.
Ultimately, we attracted fans, friends, and angel investors who would support us with or without blockchain. Over two years, we hired the best developers to train us and work on the project beside us to perfect our game and expand it into our full vision.
Though we considered blockchain a feature initially, after closely evaluating the market for years, we do not see it properly happening in our initial vision. We remain focused on creating a great game first and blockchain is a distraction from that.