Yesterday afternoon, the 40-odd-member Phoenix Labs team held a Reddit AMA on Dauntless. Let’s run down the highlights!
- There are no hard dates attached to the different phases of beta and no details on wipes are available yet. The devs aren’t saying whether test progress will transfer to launch.
- Zero plans to come to Steam.
- Ranged weapons “and something else” are under construction. Phoenix wouldn’t talk about more except to say hammers are “getting love.”
- Damage and efficacy display, especially for combos, is something the devs are considering and seeking feedback on. Ditto hunting/gathering balance, flares, consumables, and weapon appearance evolution.
- A question about hardmode was met with a vague response.
- Housing and a replay feature are “possible in the future,” but the devs made no promises.
- “We are definitely looking froward to supporting guilds and know they will be an integral part of the community. More details at a later date.”
- Drop debugging, parties, UI improvements, and party matchmaking are all happening.
- The lack of minimap is intentional for atmospheric purposes. Don’t expect one.
On the topic of rivalry with Monster Hunter Online:
“It’s no secret that we’re big Monster Hunter fans ourselves so it’s great to see a new game coming. We’re seeing a huge number of players from other genres and games crossing over — just goes to show: There’s always room for good games!”
Finally, regarding the business model,
“We want to bring Dauntless to as many people as we can and to hold ourselves to a high standard for keeping the game vital and operational for years to come. And F2P is the best way to do that! […] We are firmly against pay to win and are not planning to allow the purchasing of materials. We are currently mainly focused on cosmetics.”
