Gaming industry veteran and co-creator of the legendary RuneScape, Andrew Gower, recently released his new MMORPG called Brighter Shores. The game attracted a maximum of 15,920 players online, and the number of positive reviews was 71%. Although this result cannot be called a failure, the new product received a lot of criticism for one non-standard solution.
One of the main reasons why a significant number of users leave negative reviews for Brighter Shores is the non-standard progression and skill system. In the game, each new “episodic” zone has unique professions, and players have to learn new skills from scratch. According to Gower, this approach was implemented to make each episode interesting and accessible to everyone, regardless of experience or amount of time spent. However, the innovation has caused many questions and dissatisfaction among users, since it disrupts the usual sense of constant progress.
Aware of the current situation, Gower appealed to the players not to judge the game harshly and to give it a chance. In his blog, he emphasized: “Your efforts are not in vain, progress is not reset and does not lose significance when moving to a new episode!” According to the developer, professions from previous episodes remain relevant and you can always return to previous zones to use and improve them.
Gower noted that this approach is intended as an alternative to the popular solutions of other MMORPGs, where the content gradually becomes outdated and becomes less relevant for experienced players. In Brighter Shores, the developers intend to avoid so-called “dead content” by making all the episodes interconnected. For example, resources and items collected in one zone can be used in other episodes, which encourages players to regularly return to the starting locations.
Andrew Gower, who previously championed the idea of long-term character progression in RuneScape, admitted that the new approach may prove challenging for players accustomed to traditional grinding. According to him, the team created a “breadth and depth system” where, instead of linearly completing one episode and moving on to the next, players can freely move between zones, deepening their skills in any available professions. He stressed that the innovation may seem strange at first, but his intention is to create a feeling of “freshness” and a new experience with each episode. However, the developer admitted that the system requires improvements and better explanation so that players can understand all its capabilities.
