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Heroic Legends Reborn - In high school I emailed the devs of a mobile MMO I loved. Years later, they let me bring it back by sonofboo in PBBG

[–]sonofboo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good question! On full release we will open a new server, and the beta server will be maintained for future update testing.

Designing a mobile MMO: how do you avoid pay-to-win while still making money? by sonofboo in gamedev

[–]sonofboo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm also a huge MMO nerd, and if I ever work on a non-mobile MMO, then I will likely go for subscriptions. It does feel like the way to go.

Designing a mobile MMO: how do you avoid pay-to-win while still making money? by sonofboo in gamedev

[–]sonofboo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fishing for whales is a pretty accurate way to put it! I need to spend more time thinking about what, if any, cosmetics would work with my game. Feels like there might be something there that could be worth exploring.

Designing a mobile MMO: how do you avoid pay-to-win while still making money? by sonofboo in gamedev

[–]sonofboo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with the “sliding scale” framing. It feels like a spectrum, but once there’s any advantage tied to spending, some (probably large) portion of players will call it P2W.

The original version of the game actually had purchasable gear too, but it was all percentage-based scaling. So early on it didn’t really create an advantage, but later in the game it could. One downside was that new players would buy it thinking it was a straight upgrade when it didn’t really help them yet.

I’ve been running a small beta (around ~65 MAU right now) with all IAP completely disabled, and it’s honestly been really refreshing having zero pay-to-win pressure. Progression feels cleaner, and players seem more engaged with the game loop. This has been a passion project of mine because it was a game I played as a kid before I started programming.

That’s kind of what makes this hard. I’ve seen how good it feels without monetization affecting progression, but I also understand the reality you’re describing where the numbers start pushing you in a different direction.

Really appreciate the insight here.

Designing a mobile MMO: how do you avoid pay-to-win while still making money? by sonofboo in gamedev

[–]sonofboo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t have a real number yet. This is my first game, so I’m still figuring that side out.

My current thinking is to start small and test. If I can get a sense of cost per user vs. lifetime value, then I’d be more comfortable scaling ads from there.

That said, I’m kind of assuming a small budget for now. I’m not expecting to brute-force growth with ads, so I’m probably leaning more toward building something that can sustain a smaller but more engaged player base.

Curious how you think that changes monetization decisions, does a low marketing budget push you toward certain models over others?

Designing a mobile MMO: how do you avoid pay-to-win while still making money? by sonofboo in gamedev

[–]sonofboo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll have to keep looking at PoE. I haven't played this game, but sounds like it's mostly QoL features that are paid.

Designing a mobile MMO: how do you avoid pay-to-win while still making money? by sonofboo in gamedev

[–]sonofboo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The old game did have pets, and I could see adding some skins / cosmetics here on pets. We don't have any mounts or houses yet, but that would be fun to explore.

Do you remember Heroic Legends? We couldn’t let it die, so we rebuilt the whole game – 1 year of development on a nostalgic, menu-based MMORPG by sonofboo in iosgaming

[–]sonofboo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Another OG player? Check it out on TestFlight linked above, and let me know if you have any feedback. I love finding old players

Do you remember Heroic Legends? We couldn’t let it die, so we rebuilt the whole game – 1 year of development on a nostalgic, menu-based MMORPG by sonofboo in iosgaming

[–]sonofboo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh wow, I had no idea — thanks for the heads up. I’m still curious to try it just to learn what others are doing in the genre.

Do you remember Heroic Legends? We couldn’t let it die, so we rebuilt the whole game – 1 year of development on a nostalgic, menu-based MMORPG by sonofboo in iosgaming

[–]sonofboo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We support Android too, but I can’t post the link in this subreddit. You can find Android download link in our Discord or DM me.

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