Forgotten Runiverse Game Whitepaper
What is Forgotten Runiverse?
Forgotten Runiverse is a vast and magical MMORPG unique in its player-owned and driven world and economy. In Forgotten Runiverse, players are able to create their own stories and experiences with extensive crafting, exploration, and crafting systems that form a vibrant, ever-evolving world for MMO players and blockchain enthusiasts alike. The Runiverse is here to create a life-long community and is developed by game industry veterans with experience at Blizzard, Ubisoft, Capcom, Digital Extremes, Nexon, TinyCo., and others with support from web3 visionary partners such as Magic Machine, Polygon/ Offchain Labs, Dialectic, 776, Deeze, Soby, and Fiskantes.
This document outlines the core game design and the ways in which Forgotten Runiverse will make use of tokenized land to provide players with a magical gameplay experience. The phrase “Create to Earn” manifests itself in many ways throughout the design principles explored below.
Game Overview
Developed by Bisonic, Inc., Forgotten Runiverse is a free-to-play, web-based pixel art MMORPG inspired by Magic Machine’s Forgotten Runes Wizard Cult. As a web3 fantasy experience, Forgotten Runiverse will feature a “create to earn” economy where players are able to claim full ownership of any item they create in game by minting it to the Ethereum Blockchain.
The gameplay and experience of Forgotten Runiverse draws from mechanics of other great games such as Runescape, Chrono Trigger, Stardew Valley, Ultima Online, and World of Warcraft. Unlike these games, however, Forgotten Runiverse seamlessly integrates player-owned land as a core part of its gameplay design enabling players to enhance their experience and opening a new path to earning in-game resources. Through a novel incentive system, players will utilize their land to improve the experience of fellow players while earning ever higher bonuses for the value that they create. Land is a universal part of the player experience that provides resources used to craft items, level up characters, and unlock content.
Surrounding the technical details of gameplay design and is the mythical realm infused with community-created lore and experiences known as the Runiverse. Within this vast fantasy world, players may choose to journey alone or in groups to discover its endless possibilities - battle, gather resources, craft weapons, decorate homes, construct and manage buildings, socialize, and more. The Runiverse is a place of adventure, danger, and endless discovery for gamers who have the courage to explore and unearth the hidden treasures that await them.
To begin the adventure, a player must create a game account which they may then link to a crypto wallet. Players not connected to a wallet can enjoy the core of the game as a free to play MMORPG, while players who use a crypto wallet can enjoy additional features like Land Ownership and Management, an NFT Marketplace, access to the Secret Tower and Wizard Styles (if they own a Wizard in the original Forgotten Runes 10K collection).
Onboarding the Masses
It is the aim of Forgotten Runiverse to mirror as closely as possible the more traditional onboarding of large-scale free-to-play MMORPGs to create an engaging and rewarding experience for traditional gamers with no blockchain experience. In our view, interacting with the blockchain will become a natural part of the gameplay experience for players as they produce content in the game and decide to take full advantage of the ownership that blockchain provides them. We see our future as mass-adoption through low barriers and familiar content with new benefits and experiences for players.
As a live-service game, we foresee a long future of ever expanding content for players to experience.
Game Rollout & Expansion
The Forgotten Runiverse is a live-service game. As an initial introduction to the magic and wonder of possibilities of the Runiverse, the Open Beta will deliver an initial array of quests, enemies, and craftable items across a portion of the overall world map. Similar to other MMOs and live-service games, more content will continue to be developed and released to expand the world that players can experience and the variety of enemies, quests, items, and features of the game. The exact content and features that will be added may change over time to align with feedback from the community and the overall direction of the lore and stories created by the Forgotten Runes community.
| Alpha | Closed Beta | Open Beta | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Playtime | 160hrs | 320 hrs | 500 hrs |
| Avg. Playtime | 30-50hr | 120-180 hrs | 120-180hrs |
| World: Player Progression | Level 15 | Level 25 | Level 50 |
| World: Wild Areas | 6 | 36 | 36 |
| World: Cities | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| World: NPC Areas | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| World: Dungeons | 3 | 10 | 21 |
| World: Dungeon Stories | 9 | 20 | ?? |
| World: Quests | - | 80 | 200 |
| Building: Housing Architectural Styles | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| Building: Service Buildings | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| Building: Gathering Station Types | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Combat: Spells | 21 | 153 | 200-300 |
| Combat: Specializations | 22 Standard + Elite Enemies | 42 Specializations | 63-84 Specializations |
| Combat: Standard + Elite Enemies | 22 | 40 | 40-72 |
| Combat: Bosses | - | 10 | 21 |
| Combat: PvP Areas | - | 1 Free-for-all PvP Area | 2 Narrative PvP Arenas + 1 Free-for-All PvP Area |
| Combat: Ranked PvP Matchmaking | - | - | Yes |
| Crafting: Crystal Recipes | 21 | 153 | 200-300 |
| Crafting: Equipment Pieces | 65 | 420 | 840 |
| Crafting: Decoration Recipes | 10 | 60 | 200 |
| Crafting: Physical Materials | 24 | 43 | 43 |
| Crafting: Spiritual Materials | 21 | 26 | 43 |
Only 70,000 Land Plots will ever exist in the Runiverse. Given the live-service and expanding nature of the Forgotten Runiverse world map, this means that only a portion of those Land Plots will exist at the Open Beta release, and more will be incorporated as the game world expands. The map below illustrates this where a portion of the world is unrevealed or ‘forgotten’ - as the game expands, the shroud will pull back to reveal new areas, experiences, and playerowned plots. In this way, early plots will be improved from the initial release and take advantage of game growth and updates. The initial launch of plots in the Runiverse will be the most central to the game’s initial playable areas and content. As the game grows, we will release new plots up to the world limit of 70,000 plots spread across the entirety of the Runiverse.
[ Example map of the game world illustrating the initial discoverable portion of the world. ]
The World
The entire planned world of the Forgotten Runiverse is massive at over 200 km2. In the initial release of the game, the explorable world will span almost 76 km2 and be composed of 36 different Regions, each with their own unique visuals, enemies, resources and experiences.
[Picture of world]
Each Region has a unique set of Essence Strengths aligning them with Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Wind, Chaos, and Light. These Essence Strengths determine how many Material Extractions are available for each Material Type within the Region. As one might imagine, this means that some regions like the Far Jungle might be richer in resources like wood, while other Regions like the Eagle Peaks might be richer in ore deposits. Across the Runiverse, traversable land within regions will fall into the following types:
The Wilderness
The Openness corresponds to all the vast open spaces within the World that Players can explore. In the Openness, Players will find Player-owned Plots, Gathering Nodes that can be harvested, enemies they can fight to gain experience and resources, and Areas of Interest (which can be Quest-related Locales or Dungeons).
Wild Areas
Wild Areas correspond to special zones where Players can encounter thematic challenges and rewards (e.g. a dark, spooky graveyard).
NPC hubs
Throughout the Runiverse, Players will come across NPC Areas—Small, non-instanced NPC Hubs where Players can find Quests and Tradeposts. Upon release, there will be 7 of these accessible to Players; Zaros, Kobold's Crossing, Fur Gnome Town, Hedge Wizard Encampment, Evermoore, and the Sacred Pillars.
Cities
Cities are large, partially Player-owned Hubs that are accessed through a special interface when you're close. Each city is composed of a number of NPC Areas (which correspond to unique Districts or Areas of Interest) and a number of partially Player-owned Neighborhoods.
Each City has a special NPC Area called the "Commercial District" where Players can find beginner level Service Buildings of every type to start their journey. For release, the Runiverse will have 7 Cities:
- Markertropolis: Ruled by greedy aristocrats, the Red Wizard’s capital is home to the Stock Sanctuary, where Players will eventually participate in a simulated stock market to earn rewards.
- Evershine: Known as the most hedonistic of places, this city is home to the Yellow Wizards and the Runway, where Players will be able to show off their looks and compete for prizes.
- Cerulean Academy: Organized under the mantle of The University, the Blue Wizard’s home is a place where Players will be able to share their knowledge and learn the stories of the world.
- Gardenoa: Dedicated to preservation of the balance within the world, the Green Wizard’s city protects the Green Vault, where Players will eventually be able to grow their own gardens.
- Alessar's Keep: Home to the Great Zoo, where Players will eventually be able to display Bosses they've defeated. Calista's Citadel: This colorful City houses The Arcade - a smorgasbord of minigames.
- Goblin Town: What some might term a troublesome pile of clay, Goblin Town is not for the faint of heart (as evidenced by The Pits, where Players can enroll in PvP).
Land Plots
Land Plots are player-owned and operated areas of the game with their ownership deferred from ERC 721 NFTs on the Ethereum Mainnet. Their specifics can be found in section 1.4 Land. These plots can be located in The Wilderness on the general world map, or within the instanced Capital or Large Cities of the game and are integral to the common player's progression and game experience. Each plot of land is owned and operated by an individual in the player community and represents a unique opportunity for the owner to gain materials or improve their gameplay experience and strength. While some common and early-game progression in crafting and specialization are available in NPC Areas, higher-level progression can only occur through player-owned buildings. Land Plots are just one of the ways in which players will shape the look, feel, and utility of the world of Forgotten Runiverse.
The plot attributes that take place in reserve calculation are further explained in Economic Inputs.
Land
Land Plots are a core part of the game experience. Across the entirety of the Runiverse, only 70,000 plots will ever exist. For plot owners, each plot works as a resource accumulation pool where the value lies in the utilization bonus for one to many players. As other players interact with the land to gain resources or make use of buildings, the plot owner will gain a bonus of gold or resources for each interaction. Each plot can be uniquely identified by its size, location in the world and material deposits. The plot size determines the number and type of buildings that can be placed on plots to provide value to the player community and owner, as well as the scale of material deposits it could hold. Beneath the very soil of each plot of land lies Materials whose type and abundance are dictated by the plot's size and location within the world. Below is a breakout of the types of plots available in the Runiverse.
| Plot Type | Size | Total in World | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homestead | 8x8 | 52,500 | |
| Settlement | 16x16 | 16,828 | |
| Village | 32x32 | 560 | |
| Town | 64x64 | 105 | |
| City | 128x128 | 7 |
Land Uses
As a virtual real estate system, plot owners will be able to earn from their plots either passively by assigning usage rights or actively through taking steps to improve and manage land to benefit the broader game community.
Passive yield from plots is possible by granting building rights to other players, though this form of bonus will generally be lower than from active management and improvement of a plot. Plot owners have the absolute freedom in decision-making when it comes to which permits are granted in the plot, to whom, and at what price.
A plot owner may improve their return by actively managing their land and using it to add value to the broader community in four ways:
| Land Use Type | Description | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Community Resources: Gathering Stations | Upgradeable buildings that allow players to extract materials from a plot's reserve. | |
| Community Progression: Service Buildings | Upgradeable specialized buildings that are vital to item creation, player progression, and trading purposes. | |
| Travel Network: City Stones | Large structures which connect the plot to the world's fast travel system. | |
| Personal Expression and Utility: Houses | These buildings allow players to store items and express themselves through customization and decoration. | |
| Social Hubs: Guild Halls | Upgradeable buildings that serve as hubs for socializing and commerce while granting their members special benefits. |
As with any other in-game asset, buildings can be minted to the Blockchain. One important difference between buildings and other in-game items is that while in-game items generally will only exist within a player's control in their inventory (sometimes represented as equipped items on a player's character) or storage, buildings are generally erected in plot areas which may be under the control and ownership of other players. To manage this physical constraint, buildings can be converted into Miniatures and saved into the Player's inventory. In this way, buildings are managed in the same way as any other item and minted into the Ethereum Blockchain.
The plot size also determines how many buildings can be on it. For example, the smallest plot size (8x8) can only accommodate a small gathering station. In this way, distinct plot sizes guarantee distinct yields for plot owners. The full extent of buildings that can be added to a plot can be found in the Appendix.
Land Material Deposits
Each plot of land can be upgraded with a Gathering Station to allow for the extraction of materials from the plot. The type and quantity of materials on the plot are determined by the Essence Strength of the plot (see World) and the global multiplier. Generally, interaction with player-owned plots through Gathering Stations will be the most efficient way for players to gain physical materials (see Appendix for the list of all world materials) in the game, and therefore makes plots and their deposits highly valuable components of the game economy. In order to encourage a symbiotic relationship between Owners and regular Players, we have devised a system that rewards Owners according to how much their Plot/Gathering Station/Service building is used.
Every 3 hrs, the world calculates a reserve of each physical material in each plot and in each region. This reserve is dynamic and fluctuates over time to represent the supply and demand of each material. The way the world estimates a plot’s Material reserve depends on the Plot’s Size and Region and on two other values which are independent to the Plot; Global Multiplier and Modulator.
- Size: The bigger a Plot is the larger its reserves. A Plot's reserve size is directly proportional to its value.
- Region: Each Region of the world has specific Material properties which are inherited by the Plots on it.
- Global Multiplier: A value that fluctuates depending on the scarcity/abundance of a resource in the Game's economy. Each Material has its own dynamic Global Multiplier (which affects that Material's abundance in the Wild and in Plots) and is determined by the supply and demand of the resource.
- Modulator: A value determined by Economy Design which helps fine tune how much Material influx there is.
Maximizing land bonuses To maximize the resource bonus from a plot, the owner will need to take an active interest in the overall game state, economy, and the location of their plot within the world. Materials in the world will dynamically refresh as they are gathered and secondary market sales means demand will vary over time for each resource. A plot owner may find that at certain times it will be more beneficial to run a Gathering Station on their plot for scarce resources, while at other times, or in other locations, a centrally located plot may be better served acting as a service building for the broader community to use for crafting, hence earning the owner higher resource returns from the tax they gain from each crafted item. Similarly, being involved in an in-game Guild may further incentivize other players to make use of an owner's plot and further generate incremental returns for the owner while also benefiting their social group.
Land Sales and Distribution
Land in the Runiverse will be Minted on the Ethereum Mainnet and distributed to ensure a broad level of ownership across both private partnerships and throughout the community. Through a combination of direct land sales and transfers such as our Private Land Sale or Community Land Sales, and opportunities for the broader community to earn plots through events and engagement activities, we plan to make ownership of Runiverse Land an achievable goal for anyone who truly loves what we're building. Land can be considered to exist in four states:
- Unminted: If a Land Plot is not included in the ‘known’ world yet, it can be considered to be ‘unrevealed’, i.e. it is not owned by any users, its location in the world is not known, and it is not yet minted onto the Blockchain.
- Minted: Revealed: A Revealed Land Plot is fully owned by a user and exists within a currently playable location in the game, so all the unique properties are known such as the exact coordinate location in game and resource allocation. These plots can be sold, transferred, or used in-game.
- Minted: Allocated: This is a special case for plots in the collection granted to our earliest supporters. If a Land Plot is Allocated, it has been minted to the Blockchain, but is restricted from being sold or transferred by the owner until it has vested. The unique properties of the Land Plot are not yet known such as its coordinate location in game or resource allocation. These Land Plots may exist within the currently playable map of the game, or in an as yet unrevealed location in the expansion map.
- Minted: Vested: This is a special case for plots in the collection granted to our earliest supporters. A Vested Land Plot has been minted to the Blockchain and can be resold or traded by the owner. Depending on the release state of the game, the unique properties of the Plot may not yet be known such as the coordinate location in-game or exact distribution of resources. These Land Plots may be in an existing playable location in the game, or in an as-yet unrevealed area of the game and can therefore not be actively used in-game. Once their location in game is known, they can be considered Minted: Revealed.
Partner Land Sale
This initial sale of land occurred on April 13, 2022 with a small initial group of partners including Dialectic, 776, WENEW (now part of Yuga Labs), Libertus Capital, Kenetic Capital, Placeholder, FutureCorp, 1confirmation, Fiskantes, Deeze, and Soby. This sale consisted of 10,924 Land Plots. These Land plots were minted and delivered to partners as Allocated Plots on January 20, 2023. To ensure a level of fairness with public sale owners, these plots vest (become transferable) on a linear 2-year schedule. Of these plots, 50% or 5,462 will exist in the initial “Open Beta” world map. Over the course of this vest, some plots will become Vested while others will be Revealed Plots.
Distribution of Private Sale Land Plot Sizes
| Type | Number |
|---|---|
| Homesteads | 7,457 |
| Settlement | 3,304 |
| Village | 131 |
| Town | 31 |
| City | 1 |
Partner Land Allocation Across Game Release
| Plot Release | Homesteads | Settlement | Village | Town | City | Total Plots |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Open Beta Release (50%) | 3,729 | 1,652 | 66 | 16 | 1 | 5,464 |
| Total Land Allocated | 7,457 | 3,304 | 131 | 31 | 1 | 10,924 |
Community Land Ownership
We view the decentralized ownership of land as integral to a healthy game experience and community. With that in mind, we plan to ensure that the community and engaged users are able to claim true ownership not only of their in-game items, but also of a significant portion of the Land available in the Runiverse. Our initial plan was to offer a public sale of land, but with the instability in the market since our private sale the team has determined that the best route forward is to begin by offering our most dedicated players and community members the opportunity to own Land by engaging with the gameplay experience. It is our goal to make sure that Land is useful for the entire community and not available exclusively to what traditional game publishers might call 'Whales'. With a finite amount of land available in the Runiverse and our plans to continue expanding the game world, there will continue to be future releases of Land which will be made available through Land Sales, community rewards, or gameplay rewards.
Bisonic-Retained Land
A portion of Land in Forgotten Runiverse will be minted and retained by Bisonic to grant to valued partners and for the Bisonic team. Our goal with this Land allocation is to align its use with positive incentive structures for the community and partnerships to benefit and enhance the overall game experience and player base.
Gameplay Loops and Systems
The Runiverse is built upon three interconnected gameplay loops (the Ownership Loop, the Combat/Gathering Loop and the Exploration Loop) which cater to different player types.
Combat/Gathering Loop
[combat image]
he Combat/Gathering Loop is the core loop of Forgotten Runiverse and will be the one most thoroughly experienced by players. Generally, players will engage in combat to earn rewards such as XP and recipes, then combine those recipes with materials they have gathered from the world in order to create new, more powerful items and to further improve their character before returning to combat with increasingly stronger enemies. This loop ensures that Players are constantly interacting with Buildings erected by owners as these quickly become fundamental to player progression as they are the most efficient way to gather materials, and are required to reach late-game character specializations and to craft higher-level gear
As can be seen in the diagram above, there are three complete points of overlap between the Owner Loop and this one: Material Gathering, Unlocking and Upgrading Recipes and Creating Items.
- Material Gathering: Though Players can find Physical Materials in the wild, Gathering Stations on Plots are by far the best way for Players to reliably find the resources they need, and also to find Rare Materials for end-game recipes.
- Unlocking and Upgrading Recipes: When moving on from early game content, Players will require Service Buildings of a higher level to create the recipes they need to progress. Because of this, it is essential to the game’s economy that Players use Buildings provided by Owners, and that Owners provide them to Players.
- Item Creation: The creation of new Items is the final goal for Players in the Runiverse, be it a rare Decoration or a Weapon with amazing Stats, and as such it is vital that Buildings exist which can cater to the specific item needs of every type of Player—hence Plots.
Exploration Loop
[Image of orbus riding mount]
This loop is a core part of many MMO experiences and revolves around the Journal, the player’s in-game record of what they’ve done, who they’ve met, and where they’ve been. Players will add entries to their Journal in a number of ways:
- Quests: Known and experienced in-game as Rumors, Players will unlock and complete quests to learn more about the world and earn rewards by interacting with a wide-variety of NPCs and in-game locations.
- Regions/Areas of Interest/Cities Discovery: Players are rewarded for discovering new areas. These include History Tidbits, Famous Characters, and more.
- Other Journal Entries: Players unlock lore entries as they explore the world, complete quests, and talk to NPCs.
Players will also be able to complete Guild Quests and expand their Journal through collective endeavors.
Furthermore, the game will encourage Players and Cult members to contribute to the world through a voting system which allows certain tales in the Book of Lore to become new NPCs and Rumors which will become part of the Journal.
Owner Loop
[Image of Chuck wizard crafting]
This loop is the loop that Plot and Building enthusiasts will be more concerned about and focuses on making Property a central part of gameplay as it intertwines with both exploration-driven and combat-driven players through:
- Material Gathering: Building Gathering Stations are profitable for Owners or Players with building permits because it not only allows them to extract the Materials they need but it allows them to benefit from a reward system that tracks the extractions performed at the Station (by any player) and rewards the Owner accordingly.
- Item Creation: In the same vein of Gathering Stations, Service Buildings track Building usage and reward Owners accordingly. Players will need to make use of Player-owned buildings on Plots in order to access higher-level recipes and equipment.
- Player Progression: Players will use Mage Halls (a service building available to Plot Owners and Players with Building Permits) to unlock Character Specializations. These Specializations are fundamental to Players and their progress throughout the Runiverse. Whenever a Player specializes, the owner of the Hall obtains a reward.
Player Progression Detail
Below you can find a table explaining the different stages of Player Progression and how they relate to Service Buildings (specifically Mage Halls) on Plots.
| Stage | Level Range | Specializations | Abilities | Required Mage Hall | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 - Novice Wizards | Lvl 1 to 15 | No Specialization | Can only use Basic Abilities | Mage Hall Tier I | Can be Public or Player Owned |
| Stage 2 - High Wizards | Lvl 16 to 30 | 1 Specialization | Can use Basic and High Abilities | Mage Hall Tier II | ONLY Player Owned |
| Stage 3 - Heart Wizards | Lvl 31 to 45 | 2 Specializations | Can use Basic, High, and Heart Abilities | Mage Hall Tier III | ONLY Player Owned |
| Stage 4 - Soul Wizards | Lvl 46 to 50+ | 3 Specializations | Can use Basic, High, Heart, and Soul Abilities | Requires specific Mage Hall (not specified) | [Ownership not specified] |
As you can see in the table above, Players must use Mage Halls built on Plots to reach the higher levels of play. Though Players can earn their first Specialization in Public Mage Halls (found in NPC Cities), only a limited pool of these is available in Public Mage Halls. Obtaining rarer ones requires unlocking it in a Player-Owned Hall.