Nevergrind - HTML5 Action RPG

Maelfyn · #1 03-19-2015, 04:44 PM

Hey guys, I wanted to share this game here at P1999. I've been developing it for over 30 months in my spare time. Nevergrind is like a cross between classic Everquest, Diablo 2, and Phantasy Star. In fact it was originally designed to be a lot like Everquest. Everything from zones, quests, races, classes, and even NPCs. But over time it changed due to IP concerns and a desire to eventually monetize. Nonetheless, the game is still heavily steeped in Everquest stuffs. Check it out and see what you think. Maybe finish a few quests in between corpse runs or medding to FM. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Nevergrind

Right now game data only saves locally, but I launched a Kickstarter in part to celebrate the launch of server accounts which come out next month. It's also free-to-play aside from some premium features. Any feedback you have would be cool, too.

Nevergrind on Kickstarter

loramin · #2 03-19-2015, 05:24 PM

Looks interesting, and I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor.

Personally however I think I'll pass, because:

A) it seems like the entire game is just the "fight" sub-section of a real RPG
B) I'm not a fan of the name. Maybe the title is a clever riff on meta-game design, but to me ... I want to immerse myself in a fantasy environment; I don't want to just "not grind". I didn't start playing EverQuest because I wanted to grind, I joined because I wanted to quest forever [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

But that's just my two cents, hope you find lots of folks who feel differently.

pharmakos · #3 03-19-2015, 05:58 PM

nevergrind has the pharmakos seal of approval. been playing this for almost two years now, and it has come a long way. it started out using all art from classic EverQuest (here's an old video of a Vox fight from back in those days https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8GF7Dkppoo). now Maelfyn has all original art and lore, here's a video of what its like now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djnBBZ6tv4E.

the kickstarter already has $1000 pledged to it after just a day and a half of being open, which surprised me a lot, but is pretty awesome IMO.

and yeah loramin, NeverGrind as a word is almost the opposite of what this game is. can pretty much grind forever in this game.

jarshale · #4 03-19-2015, 06:09 PM

Any game with some sort of f2p currency always makes me wary. What are these Never Crystals in the rewards?

Manticmuse · #5 03-19-2015, 06:21 PM

Will definitely check it out. I really wish Iksar was a choice though.

Millburn · #6 03-19-2015, 06:55 PM

You can't just keep bringing this to my attention all willy nilly like you keep doing Maelfyn. Each time you do I dump like an entire week into it.

Maelfyn · #7 03-19-2015, 07:54 PM

The Never Crystals are the in-game currency which will be used to purchase premium features. They won't be in the game until server accounts are released. They'll also be transferable to other future games I make (if any). In any case the game will still be completely f2p on normal difficulty.

Maelfyn · #8 03-19-2015, 07:55 PM

Loramin, if I add an overworld and random battles a la Final Fantasy, will you like it more?

loramin · #9 03-19-2015, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maelfyn [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Loramin, if I add an overworld and random battles a la Final Fantasy, will you like it more?

Well, first off I'm not sure you should even listen to my opinion [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] I mean, look at Tetris: you could say "well that's just the /gems part of EverQuest without all the other good parts", but (obviously) Tetris mops the floor with EQ in terms of popularity. Similarly here, plenty of people would probably love a pure-fight game.

For me though what it all boils down to is just having some imaginary meaning to the fights. That could come in the form of a Final Fantasy-esque overworld, or it could be something entirely different. But at the end of the day I want to rescue a princess (and kill the monsters guarding her), or deliver a message a bard gave me (and kill the monsters in my way) or save up coins (that I get by killing monsters) to buy a magic sword +42. I don't want to just kill monsters.

When I think back on RPGs I've enjoyed, from Fallout 3 to EverQuest and even back to Wizardy, I remember enjoying more than just the tactical challenge of the fights. I also enjoyed exploring dungeons, seeing a new world, and talking to NPCs.

TLDR; my opinion is worthless, but if you want it then give the fights some meaning, somehow.

Maelfyn · #10 03-20-2015, 06:22 AM

Oh, I hear you. You definitely have a valid point. If I had more time and a bigger budget this game would have an overworld. At one point I actually started working on a sprite map for the overworld tiles, but ended up deciding against it. I probably never would have finished if I put the overworld in. But maybe I'll add it later. Who knows?

In any case that's the reason I focused on the battles. Plus it's a browser game and I think people expect more simplicity from a browser game. Though I'm sure HTML5 games will become more complex over time. I could basically make any 16-bit RPG in HTML5 if I had the time and budget.