It was pure chaos when the Ember Sword playtest opened on Tuesday morning (UTC). Hundreds of level 1 players spilled into the spawn zone like ants.
But even with this massive surge of players into Solarwood, the only one of the world’s four nations open for the test, the game held up well; there was next to no lag or latency.
Ember Sword is a social sandbox MMORPG built on the Immutable X blockchain. The NFTs (unique digital assets) are land and collectibles.
Players explore the vast game world collecting resources, crafting and trading items, and try their luck in PvE and PvP battles.
The world’s other three nations – Stormwall, Duskhaven and Everwinter – will each have their own distinct landscape, culture and history.
The first thing I did in the playtest was hunt for resources and level my character. I wanted material for equipment and weapons.
In the first 30 minutes I was able to build some advanced armour and slay a massive bear named Pu. I randomly started to fight this beast and was lucky that another wanderer was nearby to help me bring down the beast. I most definitely would have died if not for them.
During the playtest, only so many players were allowed in at once and only for 30 minutes at a time.
The first run went so fast I was surprised when my time ended. I got straight back in the queue, time and time again.
As I was grinding through my sessions, multiple community members and Ember Sword staff joined in and watched us play. Even the game-master, Ember Sword’s community manager, was there to answer some questions.
As the sessions went on I built all the high-tier gear and was pretty strong compared to my enemies.
Overall, the game was a very smooth experience and I only encountered one really bad bug when I got stuck in the ground at the start. (I resolved this situation by using an ability to blink out.)
The game felt like it was full of players. There were more than 750 players waiting in queue at times, which I’m estimating meant people were waiting about an hour to get in, which is a good sign. People were coming back and trying to play more.
Ember Sword is a game that draws you in as you battle these creatures and robots in Solarwood. But the quest lines are pretty basic and the creatures were a little too easy to battle. None of these enemies were classified as bosses, so I’m guessing there will be more challenges in the future.
For a browser-based MMORPG, game-maker Bright Star Studios did a decent job of all the elements that make these games engaging. The accessibility of this game should draw large crowds in the future.
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