Eldramoor: Haven in the Mist aims to expand MMOs in the VR space
Resolute Games last week launched a new Kickstarter for a VR MMORPG set in a medieval fantasy world, called Eldramoor: Haven in the Mist. Within a very short amount of time, the game has shot past its initial goal, with plans to launch on both Meta VR and SteamVR headsets at some point in the future. According to Resolute, Eldramoor is an attempt to build on MMOs previously launched in VR, to open a space for a niche but still expansive audience.
Resolute launched the game’s Kickstarter on June 24, where it hit its initial goal of $25,000 in under two hours. At the time of this writing, it had accrued around $95,000, hitting four out of its five revealed stretch goals. The Kickstarter describes the game as having “deep class customization, skillful profession games, and a hundred ways to relax and have fun with your friends.”
Lynn Souza, Resolute’s founder and CEO, spoke with GamesBeat about the process of creating an MMO for the VR space, and making a game with community first. “VR feels more real in interacting with people. That’s why we wanted to stay in VR, and all of us are from the VR world. The connection feels more real than a pancake game. And, quite honestly, we wanted to give the community that we love a home.”
Souza, speaking with GamesBeat, mentioned several of Eldramoor’s predecessors in the VR space, including Orbus and Zenith. Several developers on Resolute’s title have worked on those games previously or at least played them. “We’ve played the VR MMOs. We’ve built the VR MMOs. We’re really in tune with the community — we are the community. That’s helped with developing the game.”
Building a VR space big enough for an MMO audience
One of the facts about Eldramoor emphasized both in the studio’s literature and by Souza herself is the welcoming nature of the world. The game’s Kickstarter also emphasizes the game’s customization options. “Expressing yourself is part of the human experience, and VR provides an incredible medium for doing so. Eldramoor takes full advantage of this by providing body options, outfits, and accessories—none of which are gender-locked—so you can truly be yourself, or whomever you want to be!”
The in-game world features five biomes that players can explore at will, each with their own NPCs and quests. They can choose from three different races and four different classes, with a huge list of spells and skills at their disposal. They can also change classes at will, and partake of multiple jobs including smithing and harvesting. The point of the game is to pursue the life you prefer within the world.
Eldramoor also offers multiple accessibility options to ensure the game is playable for as many people as possible: “Robust comfort settings ensure that everyone can move, fight, and play regardless of motion sickness, colorblindness, or sound sensitivity. Intuitive gameplay motions and a guided new player experience allow anyone to pick up a controller and play.”
Souza said that VR offers users a space where they can socialize without some of the pressures of “It really gives people a safe space to interact, and in today’s world where there’s so much anxiety, we felt that it was important to do this in virtual reality. That’s our world, and those are our people.”
