The Lost Relics Xmas event has arrived again.
The format of this year's event is very similar to the halloween event that we had a few months ago. You can collect loot boxes called presents and a holiday virutal currency called Kringle Coins in order to get a chance at various forms of blockchain loot.
By grinding dungeons in Lost Relics, you'll also be able to complete some event quests which will reward you in additional coins and loot boxes.
A new boss has been added to the game, which players will have to find "teleportation scrolls" in order to access. Other scrolls are added too, name scrolls that will bestow new titles upon players. Personally I'm still rocking my Transcendent titles from the halloween event.
The State of Lost Relics
I probably won't be grinding a lot during this event.
There are a lot of admirable things about the event. Cliff, the dev, has offered a variety of new loot opportunities and some fun new features. A holiday boss is a great addition to the event.
However, ultimately, this is another thin layer of makeup on the same exact video game experience. I started playing Lost Relics during the Easter event much earlier this year. The game really hasn't changed at all since then.
There are relatively small changes, and they are usually presented as large updates. The biggest updates involve a reshuffling and rebalancing of enemies around the map, as well as enemies being updated and new enemies.
One Man Dev Team
It is genuinely impressive that one man can run a game of this size. The foundations of gameplay, the progression and combat, are reasonably good.
But it isn't early 2021 anymore. We're heading into 2022. Since the Easter event, when hype and DAU for Lost Relics peaked, there was far less competition. Since then, MIR 4 launched and ate a BUNCH of Lost Relics's core players -- players who, realistically, are unlikely to come back.
What happens when more real time action games enter the fray? When Mirandus, Guild of Guardians, Ember Sword, Illuvium, Untamed Isles, and a bunch of other games come out? These games have full development teams, well funded, working to bring a large-scale experience.
It just feels like Lost Relics is lost, trying to appeal to a large scale audience but only offering a small scale experience. I do not think one developer, even one as talented as Cliff, has any chance of creating a satisfying MMO experience that will stand up against the competition that's coming in the next 1-2 years.
MMOs NEED to offer a big experience
MMOs, especially ones like Lost Relics that are explicitly grindy, NEED to provide valid gameplay rewards for that grind. You need a ton of content, lore, and new updates to keep players engaged.
When you ask players to grind 30+ hours a week just to maintain a high level of skill or level progression in the game... you owe those players a LOT of value.
Money in a play2earn game can be part of the value, but not all of it -- the gameplay itself needs to be incredibly rewarding if a game demands so much time and energy from the player.
Right now, Lost Relics doesn't. At first it feels exciting, but almost every player burns out across a 6-12 month time window.
Falling Further Behind
With each season, Lost Relics falls a little bit further behind.
Right now, I feel kind of bad even pointing it out -- like I'm ruining the fun or being mean about it. But I think given another year, Lost Relics might really fall far behind the cutting edge of play2earn development. It just doesn't feel like the pace of development is going to be sufficient to maintain a large community of dedicated players.
And without being able to maintain a large community... it's tough. For me, the vast majority of my friends have moved on from Lost Relics. I like the game, but not enough to grind endlessly while my friends move on to greener pastures.
So, for me, unless something big changes, I probably won't grind Relics this event -- or maybe any events going forward. I still haven't sold a single one of my NFTs I earned in the game. I'm in no rush to do so. But I don't have a great feeling about the future unless something changes with how Cliff is running the project.
It just doesn't really make sense to keep playing with the way things are. I wish it did... I want to keep supporting the game.