It’s full Steam ahead today for Chronicle: RuneScape Legends as the CCG-meets-tabletop game not only launches but launches on Steam. To celebrate, devs will start a multi-hour streaming extravaganza at 1:00 p.m. EDT, showing off the various game modes, offering tips and tricks, and more.
You don’t have to wait until then, however, to hear about what to expect as the game leave beta behind; I sat down with Senior Designer Peter Brisbourne to chat about life, launch, and everything. Well, at least the launch.
Better than beta
If you played Chronicle in open beta, you won’t notice any huge content changes in the launch version; the sixth legend, Morvran, won’t join the roster until summer. The alterations to most systems, like card crafting, happened already throughout the betas. What you are more likely to notice is a decrease in bugs and increase in stability. Brisbourne noted that the majority of final preparations for today was centered on optimizations and squashing a whole host of bugs.
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t any changes. Those who play outside the United States and England will see — and hear — a noticeable change as the game has been localized into eight more languages. Chronicle has been translated into Russian, German, French, Polish, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. “We’ve seen a really, really good uptake in different parts of the world,” he told me. “So we wanted to make sure that we could really build Chronicle to support those players and make sure they have the best possible gaming experience.”
A new season
Today’s Steam launch also kicks off a new ranked season that will run until June 30th. Each new season will offer new rewards, so there’s incentive to climb your way back to the top each month. As Brisbourne put it, “There’s always a new reason to get back into ranked mode; there’s always a new thing up for grabs.” Those who play in ranked also take advantage of the recently released improvements to this mode, including the new card back you can earn that will change as your grow in ranking.
Steam-y goodness
Of course, with the game being on Steam, there are a slew of new achievements (40 to be exact!), Steam trading cards, and badges for players to earn on that platform. It is also very easy to switch to Steam if you’ve already been playing in the betas — without losing any of your earned badges or progress. I know because I did it! Unlike most other MMORPGs that require another code or numerous steps to connect your different version or launcher, Chronicle ensures that all you have to do is click the “link to existing account” button that will appear after launching Chronicle on Steam for the first time; out in your password once and it’ll be automatically remembered the next time you play from your Steam library. The transition was seamless, and the game ran really smooth when I played. If you want to give it a go, go right ahead. And remember, the game is free-to-play.
With the addition of Chronicle to the Steam library, the devs expect an influx of new players who might not have noticed the game before. Brisbourne emphasized that the devs will be just as active in reading and responding to feedback on the Steam groups and forums as they have been on their own forums. As with all the RuneScape games, player feedback is very important and highly valued. “We believe Chronicle is a new generation of CCG. We’re really excited to hear what players have to say when they’ve played a little bit of Chronicle and find out how different it is to other card games out there,” Brisbourne said.
If mobile is more your cup of tea, Brisbourne said that work is currently being done to offer the game to both iOS and Android. After the launch settles, more attention will be focused on those platforms, and devs will start talking more about that later on in the year.
