It should be complex, but not complicated

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Raph Koster is responsible for some of the oldest and most famous MMORPGs in the world. The veteran has been planning his next game, Stars Reach, for several years. In a new blog post, Koster talks about what you can expect from the MMO.

What kind of new game is this?

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by Karsten Scholz

Who is behind Stars Reach? The developing studio is Playable Worlds, which was founded in 2018 by MMORPG guru Raph Koster. Koster is an icon of the genre who played a key role in its creation:

For his latest project, Raph Koster and his studio have already received over $25 million in support in a single payment.

In a new blog post, the developer now explains what exactly the “pillars” of Stars Reach are supposed to be.

First trailer shows the new Star Reach

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Complex, but not complicated

In the long article, Koster discusses the development of MMOs as a genre. He admits that MMOs have at least felt like they have stood still in recent years. They have evolved into loot shooters, survival games and things like that that simply appeal to more players.

Stars Reach should therefore follow a few basic principles:

  • The MMO is intended to be as convenient as a Nintendo game while also having the depth of a sandbox MMO.
  • Proven game mechanics are intended to ensure that players can easily find their way into the game and immerse themselves deeply enough to want to stay – a bit like the rules of chess.
  • Controls and UI should be intuitive, simple and familiar.
  • Stars Reach is designed to run on many clients in order to work on as many devices as possible and connect players.

    • The developer also writes that Stars Reach is supposed to be complex, but: “I always try to distinguish between complexity and complication. There is a lot of complexity in a deck of cards […] but the basic shape of the deck is not complicated. Chess has only six different pieces, Go only one.”

    The article continues: “We want to build a game that has real depth and complexity that comes from combining simple things in unexpected ways.” Unfortunately, there isn’t much more information about his new MMO at this point. But Koster probably knows what he’s doing: MMORPG forefather explains what MMO means and what it entails

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