There’s always an appeal to getting to experience untrodden ground. To see a world still in its early stages, before most have set foot on its shores. Developed by Dynamight Studios and published by Gamigo, MMORPG Fractured Online is currently in its beta stage, with the intent of releasing later this year. While not in its finished state, potential players can become part of the beta by purchasing founder’s packs from its website, so a small player base does exist already. Fractured Online held a free week event a little while ago, so it seemed a good opportunity to take a look at this new world and what it may offer potential explorers.

Gameplay

I set out, made one of a couple of characters I would try out, and was tossed into the tutorial world where I and any other new players’ would-be adventurers were taught the basics of the game. How to collect, craft, and fight.

Fractured Online is, in many ways, a survival game as much as it is an RPG. Your character will need to eat, rest, and maintain a comfortable temperature in order to be acting at full capacity, and with no NPC merchants waiting round to part with food or clothing, most of those things need to be acquired by mowing down the local wildlife and looting their bodies.

Indeed this is a major theme in Fractured Online. Those expecting the more typical fantasy MMORPG fare, running to NPCs for quests, a world that needs saving, NPC merchants standing reliably in one spot with an everlasting inventory, may be surprised. Arriving in Syndesia, the human world of Fractured does not yield NPCs ordering you around. In fact, in my time playing I found no NPCs at all. After getting a tutorial text showing me how to make some battle gear and kill bandits, I was dropped into the middle of a continent and left to chase whatever goals I wanted. 

The progression system forgoes the traditions of XP in a few key ways. For a start, the XP stand-in for Fractured,  Knowledge Points, or KP, draws more from finding new things than they do from killing enemies or repeating tasks. Slaying a wolf might give you a few KP as you learn more about wolves, but you’ll get more than three times the KP by discovering a kind of plant you’d never seen before, which at low levels is probably an easier endeavor once you reach the main game areas, because a lot of the enemies are absolute beasts and getting overwhelmed is very easy. This can be quite refreshing, as it incentivizes exploration over grinding out the same low-level enemies. That said, there is a reason to be wiping out the creatures of the game area, and there are things to do aside from wandering around picking dandelions, and this is drawn from the player-driven structure.

Trade within Fractured Online is wholly determined by other human beings. Players can leave orders of certain items, often in bulk quantities, and set the rate of pay. Other players can find these jobs at settlement marketplaces and contribute to large orders for coin.

A lot of the world of Fractured is, in fact, determined by players. Guilds are able to purchase and claim lands, build resources in settlements they own, and have a big impact on the shape of the world. In Syndesia, PVP is a potential mechanic, and players can be robbed of resources. Killing other players does attract consequences, with a bounty hunting system leaving player killers open to being struck down.

Expectations

An updated roadmap has been put in place by Dynamight Studios detailing what they hope to introduce in the run-up to the full release. This includes new worlds, new player species, and updates to the crafting system that forms the backbone of a lot of the item acquisition.

What is more likely to have a big effect on the gameplay experience itself is going to be the growth and general climate of the player base going forward. With a big emphasis on player interaction, directly or indirectly, growth in the active community is going to shape the experience.

Dynamight has made a valiant, if risky, choice of putting a great deal of influence over the world into the hands of players themselves. With guilds able to create and rule regions, a PVP bounty hunting system, and a player-driven economy. It needs to remain active to thrive, though also needs to avoid devolving into a toxic mess. PVP-free worlds are set to be a big part of the game, and new players get some hours of invulnerability, possibly to try and avoid newbies getting picked off by would-be serial killer PVP characters. During the beta gameplay, the community appeared overall pleasant and helpful, but as many developers have discovered, there is little telling how a player base will shake down in the long run.

Verdict

Fractured Online is a game that has distinguished itself so far from the sea of competing MMOs with its heavy community focus. It is possible, with the tools the developer has put in place, to create a vibrant and ever-shifting world where players can make a genuine impact.

It’s an admirable idea, though it seems like a lot of how the game will turn out will be down to whether the players are active and whether their interactions can keep things interesting. If they can’t, you may be faced with an empty, or impenetrable world. If they can, it may prove to be something you can keep playing on and on. Only time will tell.