Apparently, being the dungeon master of an MMORPG is a job. Or at least it’s a job for the upcoming game War of Dragnorox, a sandbox title from developer Triune Studios that promises a boatload of dynamism thanks to the influence of real-life dungeon masters ticking off events in-game.
An overview video helps to lay out War of Dragnorox’s setting, a world where magic is evil and a villainous wizard by the name of Dragnorox is assaulting the land, using introduced magic to twist the hearts and souls of creatures. Incidentally, this means that magic use is not an option for players; poisons, magic items, or elemental skills exist, but magic casting technically does not.
The video offers some early alpha gameplay previews of two of the game’s classes while referencing “hardcore MMORPG” mechanics like corpse runs, “hard” death penalties, group and guild-based design, and a lack of instancing. The video also notes that endgame will be raid focused, as the devs “love raiding” and assume that it will take players “several years” to obtain a full set of best-in-slot kit.
An overview from the game’s website further elaborates on War of Dragnorox’s ambitions, noting the game’s dungeon masters can constantly shape the world, adding things like hordes, special mobs, or treasure, triggering traps, and opening secret passages. The game will feature 30 zones with no level scaling, no world map, and no auction house, though there will be player-to-player trading. The game also emphasizes immersion with a minimalist UI that lacks things like flying damage numbers or a minimap. Finally, the devs promise that there will be no microtransactions of any kind, though how the game will be monetized is not explained.
War of Dragnorox has no release dates firmed up yet, though the game’s Steam page eyeballs a planned release date of September 1st, 2023. The video promises the team is “pushing hard on development” while the official site lets interested players sign up for an upcoming beta. The aforementioned overview video can be watched below.
