MMO design philosophy, player types, and mobile support

The discussion presents a broad design philosophy for Scars of Honor centered on combining strengths from established MMORPGs, addressing genre stagnation, and treating mobile support as a supplement to the main PC game rather than a separate replacement.

Borrowing strengths from other MMORPGs

Scars of Honor is described as taking inspiration from several games rather than trying to imitate a single title. Specific comparisons include:

• World of Warcraft for combat, especially PvE and PvP responsiveness
• Guild Wars 2 for mount design and movement
• Final Fantasy XIV for storytelling

The stated goal is to combine strong ideas from multiple MMORPGs and then add a distinct Scars of Honor twist.

Different player types

The game is described as needing to appeal to different kinds of MMORPG players rather than treating the audience as a single group. Examples include players focused on PvE, open world content, leveling, talent systems, dungeons, or PvP.

This leads to a marketing and presentation philosophy in which different features should be shown to different audiences. A younger audience may respond more to skill-based battlegrounds and familiar competitive formats, while veteran MMORPG players may care more about talents, leveling, dungeons, and deeper progression systems.

Battle royale influence as an onboarding tool

The discussion argues that MMORPGs are no longer the default genre for younger players. Because of that, Scars of Honor may use familiar structures from popular modern games, such as battle royale-inspired skill battlegrounds, as a bridge for new players entering the MMO genre.

This is presented as an outreach strategy rather than a replacement for core MMORPG systems.

Mobile as a supplementary platform

Mobile support is defended as a practical way to increase player activity and accessibility, provided it is implemented well. The preferred model is not a separate mobile-only version with disconnected progression, but a shared character experience where time spent on mobile still contributes to the same game.

Examples of suitable mobile activities include:

• relaxed crafting
• gathering
• light social play
• low-intensity side tasks

The main platform is stated to be PC, and the next test is expected to focus on the PC version. Mobile is described as a supplement rather than the primary platform.

Critique of mobile game stigma

The discussion acknowledges that many players distrust mobile games because much of the market is dominated by low-quality or heavily monetized titles. However, that criticism is separated from the idea of mobile as a platform. The argument is that a well-made mobile client with intuitive controls, no intrusive ads, and shared progression can still support an MMORPG effectively.

Free-to-play spending patterns

A general monetization observation is made that in free-to-play games, only a small minority of players spend money, while most never do. This is treated as normal and acceptable, with examples from large free-to-play games used to support the point.

Leveling as a genre problem

A strong criticism is directed at the way many MMORPGs handle leveling, describing it as a chore before the "real game" begins. Scars of Honor is said to be developing a different approach tied closely to the game's Scars theme, intended to make solo progression more engaging. The exact design is not fully revealed in this discussion.

Source

• Recording: Discussing the new Major Scars OF Honor Event + Playing GW2 and dropping Spoilers!
• YouTube: Watch on YouTube
• Published: Sunday, August 31, 2025 at 8:54 PM UTC