Make My MMO: The Thargoids should win Elite Dangerous (September 30, 2017)

This week in MMO crowdfunding, Elite has finally begun to sound “dangerous” indeed. After just a few days of owning players, the alien race that “returned” to the game’s universe in its long-awaited 2.4 update has finally begun suffering casualties at the hands of players. In fact, it appears the first player to down one of the Thargoids’ ships was none other than the player who caused the massive drama over last spring’s Salomé event. This is because time is a flat circle and karma is literally dead. It’s not entirely clear that the Thargoids are really the bad guys here, but when has that ever stopped us before?

On Massively OP, we chatted with Camelot Unchained’s Mark Jacobs, who explained just how the game’s social systems will differ from what MMORPG players are used to.

Star Citizen also continued inching along the path toward alpha 3.0, reducing its bug count last week by two.

Meanwhile, Legends of Aria began its final alpha, Shroud of the Avatar patched up to R46, Albion Online released Joseph, Valiance Online posted its latest roadmap, OrbusVR discussed its artificing skill, City of Titans posted the finale to one of its lore series, and Pantheon gave players a look at how its art is coming along via stream (thanks, Reht!), plus Brad McQuaid explored his vision for the Holodeck future of the MMO.

Read on for more on what’s up with MMO crowdfunding over the last week and the regular roundup of all the crowdfunded MMOs we’re following.

Elite Dangerous

Recent MMO crowdfunding news

Camelot Unchained’s Mark Jacobs on guilds, groups, and the social systems that make an MMORPG go ’round - Over the weekend, the studio behind crowdfunded RvR MMORPG Camelot Unchained released a hefty chunk of its ongoing beta one document, revealing extensive insight into the way the game's social systems…

Elite Dangerous’ 2.4 update today heralds ‘The Return’ of the Thargoids - When Frontier's servers return to service today, Elite Dangerous will have a shiny new update. Patch 2.4 The Return promises "more mysterious and exciting things," a plain allusion to the…

Star Citizen is down to just five critical issues to tackle before the Evocati see alpha 3.0 - Another week, another countdown to Star Citizen alpha 3.0, and we are getting close. In this week's Around the Verse, Cloud Imperium says it's still got 5 issues left to…

Crowfall clarifies Kickstarter ‘proof-of-concept’ statements - The folks at Procedural Worlds have a new interview-slash-testimonial from Crowfall Lead Environment Artist Jon O'Neal, in which he talks up that company's enviromental design tools as employed in the…

Brad McQuaid: MMO devs are ‘making the very, very early foundations of the Holodeck’ - Pantheon and MMOs like it are bringing our dream future one step closer (or at least, Lt. Barclay's dream future), Brad McQuaid suggests in a new interview this week. MMORPG veterans know McQuaid…

Shroud of the Avatar’s R46 is live, with a stealing update, better load times, and plenty of polish - Shroud of the Avatar's 46th Release is live today, the first monthly update in which Portalarium says it is beginning to "truly focus on [its] top 10 priorities for launch."…

Legends of Aria begins final alpha - Rest time's over, boys and girls, so dust yourself off and get back into the thick of the alpha. In this case, it's Legends of Aria and its final alpha…

Camelot Unchained strives for a well-rounded experience as it focuses on siege gameplay - In making the transition from limited-focus tests to larger siege gameplay to the long-awaited beta, the team behind Camelot Unchained is "sprinting" as it rounds out the MMO experience with…

Crowfall’s Raph Koster explains why MMO systems stagnate and die - The man who pretty much wrote the book on many MMORPG systems shared another piece of keen insight about a pitfall in many competitive systems. In a short blog post,…

The Stream Team: Devs deliver a newbie guide for Legends of Aria’s final alpha - It's the final alpha! Do do do do do do do do do... sing it with us! Legends of Aria just started its final alpha test today, with lots of…

Crowfall details the obdurate Stoneborn race - The Stoneborn of Crowfall are not dwarves. They sometimes get referred to as dwarves, but it's a ridiculous name because they're as large as normal people. They're also not a…

Elite: Dangerous players are putting together fragmented accounts of fighting the Thargoids - One of the first players to encounter the Thargoids in Elite: Dangerous provided a video of the encounter, and the bad news is that it doesn't go well for the…

Albion Online adds 5v5 PvP arenas with today’s Joseph update - The long-awaited Joseph patch has just landed in Albion Online, its first update since its launch this past summer. Albion heard you liked PvP, see, so it's adding a side of…

Crowfall introduces the half-elf race, promises racial choices offer ‘significant gameplay elements’ - Remember this lovely ranger lady from Crowfall's original concept art? We sure do, since we're pretty fond of using it. Turns out in the new split archetypes system, she's a…

Shroud of the Avatar preps 46th release, focuses on ‘player direction’ inside the world - It's almost the end of the month, and you know what that means: Shroud of the Avatar's monthly update. R46 is due out this Thursday, a day after the current…

The Repopulation’s next patch is on the way, and so is more visual lore - Fans of The Repopulation have been waiting for the game's next patch for a little while, but it shouldn't be much longer now. A new post on the official forum…

Pantheon

Campaigns and crowdfunded MMOs we’re watching

3001SQ (Société des Mondes Virtuels) – Kickstarter unsuccessful. Work continues.
AdventureQuest 3D (Artix Entertainment) – Raised 368k; beta began Oct 2016.
Albion Online (Sandbox) – Launched July 2017.
Antraxx (Team Antraxx) – Kickstarter canceled.
Ascent: The Space Game (Fluffy Kitten Studios) – Successful KS. Fully launched 2016.
Ashes of Creation (Intrepid Studios) – Successful KS.
Broke Protocol (Cylinder) – Unsuccessful KS. In free early access.
Camelot Unchained (City State) – Kickstarter successful; open donations/packages.
Caribbean Conquest (Invenio) – First KS canceled, second ended unsuccessfully.
Contested Space (Zon)
Crowfall (ArtCraft) – Kickstarter win, open packages, Indiegogo crowdfunding ongoing.
Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound) – Kickstarter successful, open packages.
Citadel of Sorcery (MMO Magic, Inc.) – Open donations.
City of Titans (Missing Worlds Media) – Successful KS; launch planned for fall 2018.
Descent Underground (Descendent Studios) – Successful KS.
Divergence Online (Stained Glass Llama) – Three campaigns; now in KS early access.
Dogma: Eternal Night (Prelude Games Factory): Kickstarter over, donor preorder packs.
Dragon of Legends (Thrive Games) – Successful Kickstarter.
Dual Universe (Novaquark) – Kickstarter funded, now has donor platform. Alpha delayed.
Eco (Strange Loop Games) – Funded, now in alpha.
Edengrad (Huckleberry Games) – Kickstarter funded; in early access.
Elite: Dangerous (Frontier Developments) – Funded and launched.
Empyrion Online (Eleon) – Kickstarter canceled; launched on Steam early access.
Epic Space (EpicSpace.net)
Ever, Jane (3 Turn Productions) – Now in open beta.
Global Adventures (SubaGames) – Kickstarter funded.
Gloria Victis (Black Eye Games) – Open donations, no end date; in early access.
Greed Monger (Greed Monger) – Abandoned, multiple times now.
Grim Dawn (Crate Entertainment) – Funded and launched.
Guardians of Ember (Runewaker) – Funded and launched.
Guns of Icarus (Muse) – Funded and launched.
Hero’s Song (Pixelmage) – KS canceled; Indiegogo. Canceled w/ refunds.
Infinity: Battlescape (I-Novae Studios)
HEX (HEX Entertainment) – Funded and launched.
Legends of Aria (Citadel Studios) – Kickstarted as Shards Online. Currently in alpha.
Life is Feudal (Bitbox): Indiegogo ended. Currently in beta.
LUX (Chimera) – Kickstarter canceled.
Maestros of the Anthymn (String Theory) – Kickstarter canceled.
Mekria (Infinity Online Studios) – Kickstarter canceled.
Midair (Archetype Studios) – Kickstarter successful.
Nebula Online (Mizar Games) Kickstarter canceled; launched in November.
Neo’s Land (NeoJac Entertainment) – Open donations, no end date.
Novus AEterno (Taitale Studios)
OrbusVR (Ad Alternum) – KS funded March 2017.
Overpower (Hydrant Games) – Kickstarter unfunded; heading to early access.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (Visionary Realms) – Open donations, no end date.
Pathfinder Online (GoblinWorks) – Doom, mostly.
Planet Nomads (Craneballs) – Kickstarted, early access launched sans multiplayer.
Pixel Starships (SavySoda)
Project Gorgon (Elder Game) – Kickstarted in three tries + Indiegogo. In alpha.
Pumpkin Online (Monique) – Downgrading from MMORPG.
The Exiled (Fairytale Distillery) – fka Das Tal; 2015 KS unsuccesful. In Steam early access.
The Realm: Reawakened (Stephen Nichols) – Ongoing GoFundMe.
The Repopulation (Idea Fabrik) – Kickstarted twice by A&B. Back in alpha
ROKH (Darewise) – Kickstarter canceled; now in early access.
RUiN (Tarhead Studio) – Kickstarter successful.
The Stomping Land (Alex Fundora) – Abandoned.
Sacrament (Ferocity Unbound) – Kickstarter failed; Patreon ongoing.
Shadow’s Kiss (Clockwork Throne) – Ongoing Patreon.
Shroud of the Avatar (Portalarium) – Successful KS. Soft launch July 2016.
Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium) – Ongoing donations/packages.
TUG (Nerd Kingdom) – In middle of year-long revamp after funding surge.
Vigor Roads (NeuronHaze) – Kickstarter unsuccessful; early access planned for 2017.

Valiance Online roadmap

It's been awhile, but here is our latest development roadmap update! #indiedev #gamedev #gaming pic.twitter.com/jXvDv9jtNe

— Valiance Online (@ValianceOnline) September 25, 2017