The Labyrinth is the working title for a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG). At this point in time, The Labyrinth is simply a concept I’ve been designing since roughly 2006 and I figured it was time to put it on paper (so to speak).
I will get into more details as I start transcribing notes and documents to the site but the elevator pitch is that The Labyrinth is a dark, epic fantasy. It is a game that will share many familiar mechanics from other MMOs, including both “sandbox” and “theme park” games.
The primary focus of The Labyrinth will be on social interactions and systems that support emergent gameplay. At the end of the day, I truly feel that the true magic of an MMO is created by the players and community(ies) that build itself around the game when it is properly being supported by the teams that create and manage the game.
The other main feature is where the name of the project comes from, the Labyrinth. There is the main game world and then the other realms that players can venture to. What binds them and makes travel accessible is the Labyrinth. Much like the ingenious works of Daedalus, it is a giant plane (or planes, none really know) that has paths and doorways between the realms. Some of these are more permanent while others are transient.
Before diving in too deeply on what it is (or rather, could be), I do find it useful to detail what it is not trying to be to help set expectations and alleviate misconceptions.
- It is not a game looking to be the “WoW killer” or looking to dethrone Final Fantasy XIV.
- It is not going to be a game made for every gamer.
- It isn’t a theme park game but it is also not the ultimate sandbox.
- It won’t have an amazingly voiced narrative (and probably little to no voice-over).
- It will not be a technological marvel that is pushing the envelope on how realistic an MMO can look and perform.
- It won’t have a deeply narrative quest system.
