New Sandbox MMORPG War Of Dragnorox Will Feature Real-Life Dungeon Masters

Oregon-based indie developer Triune Studios has announced their flagship game War of Dragnorox, a new sandbox title that promises classic MMORPG principles with the flexibility and unpredictability of tabletop RPGs. The upcoming MMORPG will feature real-life dungeon masters who will play a big part in shaping the game world and controlling in-game events.

“Every single day there are events, quests, resources crafted and harvested, mobs to kill, items to build up, zones to unlock, bosses to fight all controlled by live Dungeon Masters on the backend of the game who are constantly evolving the world, elevating the story and personalizing your adventure.

Actual real life ‘dungeon masters’ are constantly controlling gameplay and elements within the world. Spawning hordes, special mobs, treasure, triggering traps, opening secret passages and increasing the dynamic nature of the adventure. No day or dungeon run is the same.”

The game is set in the fictional world of Morgath where players will have to work together or against each other to defeat Dragnorox and his minions. The game is inspired by classic MMORPG mechanics and will be devoid of loot boxes, microtransactions, or pay-to-win elements of any kind. Every piece of item and gear in the game can only be obtained through in-game activities such as killing monsters, crafting, and running dungeons among others.

“We have a very strict no microtransactions ever policy because of our passion and funding,” assured Creative Director Josh Caba. “This game isn’t about the money. It’s about the passion for the genre and if someone gets a sweet flaming sword in the game, you will know they pulled that off a dragon and not from their wallet.”

War of Dragnorox is a passion project of Caba and has been in development since 2016 by a team of 7 developers. The game is being privately funded by a single person who shares the dev team’s love of classic MMORPGs like World of Warcraft Vanilla and EverQuest.

Triune is looking to release the game in September 2023 with an ambitious list of features at launch, including 19 endgame raids, over 30 unique zones to explore, 7 playable classes, class customization, a crafting system, and a choice of first-person or third-person views with a minimalist UI. Of course, there’s also the promise of a constantly evolving world and real-life dungeon masters to curate and control in-game content. It’s worth noting that the game will also be free-to-play. How Triune will profit from it without microtransactions or an initial buy-in is anyone’s guess.

Testing is expected to start soon which interested players can sign-up for on the official site. The game is also now available for wishlisting on Steam. Full beta, however, is still at least a year away says Caba. “We're about 85% complete with world build, need to wrap up a few other systems and rework combat a bit more and then we'll be ready for polish and test,” he said.

Josh Caba himself shows off actual gameplay footage highlighting the upcoming game’s dynamic world, combat, progression, and more. You can check that out right down below.