Brighter Shores is a new and upcoming MMORPG created by Andrew Gower and set for release November 6th 2024. Now, if you dont know who Andrew Gower is, he has quite the track record. He is most well known for one of my favourite MMORPG games growing up, and is still one of my favourite games of all time. That game is Runescape.
Professions
The core of this game is going to revolve around professions. Now, there isn’t very much information on this game currently, but ive dug up as much as I can so far. There are a multitude of free to play professions to begin with including: Fishing, Forager, Chef, Woodcutter, Miner and Combat professions. There are even more professions available on members including: Merchant, Detective, Leather Worker, Alchemist, Stonemason, Blacksmith, Mine Fighter and Watchperson.
How will professions work?
First up, lets have a look at the inventory:
Looking at this inventory one of the first things you can see is a number next to and icon in the bottom right of each item. There is speculation that this is indicating the level required and the profession required to gather this resource. other speculation says this is possibly the quanitity of the item. There is also different colour coding on each item which possibly suggests the code refers to it either being a gatherable item, crafted item or combat item.
Below is a great video discussing this in more detail by Fringe-Patriot-Gaming:
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrWUaE9wj88
It is also speculated that the capes appear to grow in four different stages reflecting how far a long the journey in the profession and individual is. Its still unclear what each interval is, and it is also unclear the max cap for each profession, but it is believed to be 300+. Hopefully professions will be more packed with content and progression in this professions will be more meaningful. One of my gripes with runescape over the years was that skills just began to feel lackluster and all the content within them was outdated. To get 99 fishing, you really only had about 3 options and variation in what you caught. It is my hope that these professions add far more variation to the game which would increase immersion immensely.
My hopes for the game
I come from an Old School Runescape Background. I began playing Runescape back in 2006 and have been on and off ever since, I absolutely love the game and it holds a special place in my heart. With that said, it ahs changed a lot over the years (as all games should), but it has begun to move away from what it was that made it special to me. I remember back in 2009 when i got 99 woodcutting, just how amazing it felt, back when people used to follow you around and ask how long it took, or for some spare gp. Over the years skills in OSRS have become less useful, unless you’re an ironman. Unfortunately for me I don’t enjoy playing ironman and the skills seem pretty much pointless on a main unless you’re going for a 99. The skills in OSRS have just seemed to have lost their magic for me over the years.
I have high hopes for Brighter Shores. First of all its in the trusted hands of Andrew Gower, who has proven he can make a pretty bloody good game. He also has had the added benefit of seeing where Runescape went right, and also where it went wrong over the years. I think he will bring that new found knowledge to Brighter Shores. Not only that, but this game is a passion project for Andrew, He is a gamer building a game for gamers.
This might be a controversial point, but i personally hope there is no type of Grand Exchange in this game. I think being the one who goes out and gathers materials, and then also seeks a buyer is so immersive and fun. I think games these days are becoming more about getting to the end goal rather than ejoying the journey. A mechanic that forces players to slow down and smell the roses may not be a bad thing.
With that said, one of my fears is the lack of marketing this game has had and how important it will be to capture gamers attention from the get go. MMORPG gamers are pretty loyal in their games they play. It will take a pretty amazing game to pull OSRS players who have spent literally years building up their accounts away from OSRS. This can also be said for World Of Warcraft players, Final Fantasy Players, or any other players for that matter. It will have to not only draw players in, but also retain them.
Wrap it up
I really think this game may be a breakout game that none of us are expecting. I think Andrew Gower is an incredibly talented game developer who now has years more experience under his belt. I suppose we will see in the next 6 days. I can’t wait!
Other Great Videos
Video by Brighter Shores Central discussing his feeling about the game
Video by Graphic talking more about professions
Video by MMOs.com 2 gameplay trailer