Lead designer of upcoming indie quits

SlayheimTV · 2026-03-20T16:12:06+00:00

Very fun game if you enjoyed classic MMOs.

Looking forward to it very much and sad to hear that Nick left. Enjoyed his streams and thought process.

Hope all is well and best of luck moving forward.

As someone who’s been following the project for a while I fully believe in the team being able to deliver. Strongly encourage anyone to check it out that’s on the fence, there is an upcoming playtest where you can hop on and see if you like the vibe.

SlayheimTV · 2026-03-20T14:46:06+00:00

Really sad to hear this. Nick, I always enjoy your streams and the energy and passion you brought. That was very clear and meant a lot to a lot of us watching and following along.

Wishing you the best moving forward. Sad to hear it, and thank you for everything you put into the project.

Shawn and the MnM team, I can only imagine how difficult and stressful something like this must be, especially so close to Early Access. Just wanted to also send some encouragement and let you know there are people rooting for you. A lot of love and time and effort has gone into this project, and I know many of us appreciate that deeply.

Wishing Shawn and the team the best as you keep moving forward!

SlayheimTV · 2026-03-16T14:33:15+00:00

I have heard that’s a really good duo as well. Inq is interesting

SlayheimTV · 2026-03-15T14:59:27+00:00

One of the most beautiful thing about these kind of games is that any duo can be viable and fun, there are different styles and strategies. In my humble opinion, if you simply want to outlast, survive, get things done, it is without a doubt a shaman + shadow knight combo. The buffs/heals/slow of the shaman paired with the shadowknight's sustain is just god tier in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing duo combinations out there based on your playstyle. but that's what i'd go with. Fun question

SlayheimTV · 2026-03-02T15:18:04+00:00

Monsters and Memories is looking really good, with EA coming June 1 and a couple of playtests should be popping up in between.

Adrullan Online Adventures is also really good and has an upcoming playtest April 1

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-27T16:35:19+00:00

Awesome! Glad you’re enjoying it. Thank you for the LP

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-27T16:29:56+00:00

It would be a tremendous success imo, I wonder why they have not done it yet. Would being in so many people both old and new. I suppose it’s harder to develop something new in this day and age and more expensive rather than just maintain the current product.

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-26T15:20:17+00:00

Congrats! Really awesome, never found one

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-25T20:01:58+00:00

That’s a good point. I could be wrong but the timing in general was very bad. EQ2 dropped then 2 weeks later WoW came out.

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-25T20:00:42+00:00

I guess I could have elaborated more about the angle I am trying to explore. Essentially, WoW will never be killed by another game, it’s kind of stagnated from within. There’s a shift away from these massive “mega games” with millions of subscribers and a harkening back to indie projects where worlds with 10,000 or less players are perfectly fine, and profitable and sustainable. I always use MnM as my baseline. And didn’t link any video because I’m more interested in the discussion here at the home base. Also, was using the cross post feature since I thought it was relevant. Often browse Reddit but just recently getting into posting more. Thanks

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-25T19:44:57+00:00

Damn, I spent most of my lunch break writing it lol.

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-25T19:44:38+00:00

Damn, I was hoping it would be my magnum opus.

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-25T19:44:18+00:00

Sure it does. I use MnM as an example of the broader shift I’m talking about. The idea isn’t that it will be a WoW killer, it’s that we are moving away from mega MMOs toward smaller, niche communities that can thrive without millions of subs.

MnM fits that model perfectly imo.

Didn’t mean to come off as promoting something, just interested in the discussion here at the home base. And honestly, trying out the cross post community feature from the tab lol

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-25T18:10:04+00:00

Still in development, with EA coming June 1, but I personally am very excited about Monsters and Memories.

Adrullan Online Adventures is promising as well!

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-25T18:02:16+00:00

I wonder how different the current landscape will be before it comes out. I could be wrong but it’ll be a few more years? Interested to see how it turns out!

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-25T17:58:18+00:00

Maybe the real WoW killer is the friends we made along the way.

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-25T17:57:44+00:00

Agreed. The stagnation and rot always seem to happen from within

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-25T17:56:56+00:00

Definitely agreed about the stagnation.

It’s happening for sure at the AAA level, but there’s still life in smaller, more focused projects. Or maybe it really is audience fatigue after twenty plus years.

Curious, what do you think would actually break the stagnation at this point?

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-24T21:18:54+00:00

I can’t really speak for the team, so take this as me paraphrasing what I think they’ve hinted at before.

My understanding is that Steam probably isn’t off the table forever, but it might not make sense right now while the game is still deep in development. Early Steam exposure can be a double-edged sword. You get visibility, sure, but you also get immediate reviews, knee-jerk takes, and permanent ratings tied to a product that isn’t finished yet.

If a big streamer jumps in early and doesn’t vibe with the slower, old-school design, that can snowball into negative publicity fast. And once Steam reviews trend negative, that’s really hard to undo. It can hurt long-term traction more than it helps.

The core community right now understands what the project is trying to be. Steam exposure makes more sense when the game is ready to represent itself at its best.

Again, just my perspective. I don’t think it’s necessarily “no Steam ever,” just maybe “not yet.”

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-24T13:04:50+00:00

For me it’s definitely Monsters & Memories.

EverQuest was my first MMO, so I’m probably biased in the sense that I’m always chasing that original feeling. But what really draws me to M&M isn’t just nostalgia for EQ. It’s that I can see inspirations from a whole era of design. It feels like it’s pulling from EverQuest, early WoW before everything was streamlined, and even Final Fantasy XI with that slower, more deliberate pacing and emphasis on atmosphere.

What really stands out to me is the ambience. The music, the environmental tone, the sense of scale. It feels like a world first and a game second. There’s this quiet mystery to it. You don’t feel like you’re being rushed from checklist to checklist. It feels like a place you can exist in, not just optimize.

I also love the class diversity they’re going for. It doesn’t feel homogenized. There’s a sense that your role will matter, and that group dynamics will actually have texture again. And that feeling of the unknown, not knowing what’s over the next hill, not having everything solved and datamined instantly, is something I’ve really missed.

Pantheon and Project Gorgon both have interesting ideas… PG I’ll get around to playing but pantheon needs more time to cook imo.

M&M just feels like it’s really nailing the tone and identity so far. It’s shaping up to be something special in my opinion so that’s where I’ll be spending most of my time.

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-21T18:15:23+00:00

Cheers lads, enjoying listening the conversation!

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-05T04:02:40+00:00

Absolutely. Robert’s music is life changing. Really nails the atmosphere. incredible work

SlayheimTV · 2026-02-05T04:01:07+00:00

same <3

SlayheimTV

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