Tribal Review – Culture and Lore

Concept art showing the tribes of Chronicles of Elyria.
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While the Echo has been quiet for the last few months the Soulbound Studios team have been exactly the opposite. They have all had their noses to the grindstone. Hopefully, you have been following the comprehensive updates they have released on their progress. So comprehensive in fact there was little for me to add. (That and I had my hands full with a new addition to the family!) However, over the last couple of weeks the team have been dropping information on the Tribes we will see in the game and with that has come juicy lore which I am going to compile and speculate on here! This first article just rounds up the basics about the Tribe system and looks at the impact of player actions on their lore and culture. Continue reading →

Opinion – The Frustrations of Early Production

Screenshot showing the town of New Haven in the snow in Chronicles of Elyria.
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Disclaimer: This is an opinion piece, if you are looking for facts and details this is not the article for you.

You might have noticed that this site has been rather quiet as of late. I wanted to talk about why. It is not because I have lost interest in the game, far from it, it is simply that the information we are getting at the moment in the game updates is pretty straight forward. Here is a new image, here is an update to the store, they are not topics that I feel need much discussion. That means that Chronicles of Elyria is in that tricky middle phase of development. The ideas have been shared but the details are not ready yet. That can cause frustration in the community, and it is that frustration and my thoughts on it that I want to talk about today. Continue reading →

So you want to be a… Bounty Hunter

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So you want to play Chronicles of Elyria? But what do you want to be?

This new series looks at some possible professions, trades, and ways of life, giving you inspiration while looking at the detail we have for the mechanics of the game. It is available both in video or text depending on your preference. They are the same, mostly, so no need to read and watch! Please do remember that Chronicles of Elyria is in development, that means the information we have is not always exhaustive but is always subject to change.

This week’s profession will appeal if you have an interest in Player vs Player combat out in the open world. In being a defender of justice bringing lawbreakers to face trial. A blade for hire that can aid those who have had personal contracts broken. What about being the muscle that helps enforce the contracts that might not be of an entirely legal nature.

So you want to be a… Bounty Hunter? Continue reading →

Akashic Records – Celestial Sisters and the Virtori

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Soulbound Studios have a released a new layout for their updates and I was happy to see one of the topics they will cover on a regular basis is lore. In fact, this week’s KickStarter update did indeed include some more gorgeous concept art of the characters in the games story and an explanation of who they are believed to be. Though that is not all we have for you this week as we managed to get Jeremy ‘Caspian’ Walsh to drop some lore over in the IRC channel too.

One important thing that Caspian also confirmed was that the lore we are getting is just a part of the overall fabric of Elyria. There are many different religions in the game, in fact, he confirmed there would be five of them! They all have different beliefs of the world, different explanations for what is going on. Neither we as players nor our characters know which is the ‘true’ story of Elyria. For example:

Only the Qin recognize the Qindred, per say. Their belief that all Mann-kind has descended from Qin is a belief held by them alone.

Speaking of Qin, why don’t we meet two more:

Concept art showing Anelica and Luna, from Chronicles of Elyria. Continue reading →

Akashic Records – Ring of Erathor

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There have been many big announcements coming out in the final hours of the KickStarter. Significant partnerships seem to be the theme of the day. Partnerships between Soulbound Studios and Improbable, developers of SpatialOS which is the most outstanding technology (which I will not cover because it goes right over my head apart from being utterly great news). We had a World Interation Video that not only demonstrated the way we connect with items in Elyria, but also the partnership between the thief and the shadows. And now we have lore describing what might be the most heartbreaking partnership I have read of for some time.

This lore also came with art. Deamon, the God of Fire. Or perhaps we should refer to him as the Qin of Fire now that we have some more information about the different religions of Elyria and a slight update in the spelling of Kin seen before. The art depicts his terrifying form forging a ring, a ring that has a deep story to it.

Deamon, Qin of Fire, concept art from Chronicles of Elyria. Continue reading →

Annoucement: KickStarted!

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With 20 days left for you to give your backing to Chronicles of Elyria, they have already hit the $900k target they have set themselves. This is great news for all involved. All those over at Soulbound Studios and all of us wanting to play the game!

Congratulations! $900k achieved!

Chronicles of Elyria reaches their Kickstarter Goal

Oh and I got married, had a honeymoon, and I am now back to bring you more regular updates.

 

Announcement: KickStarter is Here

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It is time. The KickStarter has begun.

If you have read anything about this game and thought it sounded like something you wanted to play, please think about backing. If you have seen a video and thought it was a world you wanted to go into, please think about backing. This is not going to get made without the support of the players, and I am sure there are a lot of us that really want to play this game. Players who want to see Chronicles of Elyria made. Players who want to see Soulbound Studios ideas realised. Players who want to live out their MMORPG fantasies. Please consider backing if you can afford to.

You can visit the KickStarter page here.

Journal Abridged – Bolstering & Earn-to-Play

Assassin and King concept art from Chronicles of Elyria.
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With just days left until the KickStarter, which is on May 3rd so get ready, we have been given an incredibly interesting Developer Journal to chew over. Like the last Developer Journal, this one too concentrates on the business model to an extent, however, perhaps an anti-business model might be more accurate. This is about balance. Balancing those who have less time but more money with those who have more time but less money in a way that ends up with everyone having a darn good time!

If you want to read the Developer Journal in full it can be found on the Chronicles of Elyria website, or you can read on for the Journal Abridged. Because we will be diving in with the far shorter bullet pointed version. Continue reading →

Akashic Records – Lore Video

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We have had gorgeous videos introducing us to the world, the team and some of their technical capabilities. Now though we have had the video that really matters, Lore. The topic of the video is rather apt for this series of posts as it is the Akashic Records themselves. What are they? Why do we go there? More importantly, where do we go from there?

Finally, we do not have to read what Anara Starsong has to say, we can hear her tell us herself.

So now you have watched that on repeat, for an hour if you are anything like me, let’s see what we lovely lore we have learnt! Continue reading →

Mega Muster – The Team, Children and Snow!

A narrow street with carts and goods rom Chronicles of Elyria.
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Yes, it has been a quiet few weeks here at the Echo but Soulbound Studios have been far from silent. In fact, we have an awful lot to cover including two videos (which has now become three while I was writing!), two Q&As, loads of social media and there has been chatter on the IRC too. So you better get ready, grab some tea, and settle in because this is going to be a long one!

In chronological order we are going to be covering, deep breath now; priests, barbers, tattooists and who are those people over at Soulbound Studios and what are they doing? Children, self-defense, artifcats, relics and of course snow! Continue reading →