Interview with Merit Circle
We sat down with David Edgecombe, lead developer at DomiOnline — an MMORPG that’s building on Beam. We talk about the evolution of the gaming industry, the development of DomiOnline, the current challenges and trends in the gaming industry, and how blockchain plays into all of that.
Before working on DomiOnline David wasn’t into web3 at all. But when he started learning about blockchain in gaming, he saw the potential straight away. “Playing around with it is nothing but fun. What we’re trying to do is to make it simpler. The goal is to make it more user-friendly, so that it can go mainstream. “
David got his computer science degree in University, which landed him his first job in the gaming industry; he started at an agency that worked on client projects. After years of gaining experience, he made the move to Jagex, the company behind the popular MMO RuneScape, a game he had played since he was young.
"I loved that game and had been playing it since 2006. They asked me to work on the RuneScape mobile project, which was amazing. How do you port a 20-year-old MMO onto mobile phones? It was a huge undertaking."
After he completed that project, he moved on from the company and started his own — Ocean View Games, a video game development agency. Not too long after he started, he received a message from Pellek, co-founder and CEO of DomiOnline. Pellek asked David if he wanted to work together. “And the rest is history.”
The development of DomiOnline
DomiOnline is an MMORPG set in a medieval fantasy world where there is no level cap or skill cap, and where death has severe consequences. Players explore dark forests and mountains, facing mythical creatures. They engage in quests, battles, skill mastery, and form alliances.
David has been working on it since 2021. “It’s been a really fun project to work on,” he said. “It’s cool to actually build the whole game from scratch. Normally you don’t get that level of creative freedom.” The project takes inspiration from some of the builders’ favorite games — World of Warcraft and RuneScape. “And we kind of incorporate the best of both.”
When asked if the goal is to be like legendary games like those two, or to be in their own lane. David doesn’t shy away from his dreams. “It would be nice to even surpass them. It’s a dream. You want the product to be successful. I think we’ll be successful. But we shall see.”
The upcoming release
The first release of the game is coming close. What can we expect? “We’ve been closed Alpha for ages, which means we’ve let a select group of people in. We want to make sure we have a quality game.” They’re always developing and expanding the game. “Before, we had day and night. Now, we have rain, thunder, snow, you name it.”
"When you first join the game, you get put on this small island with an NPC that holds your hand as you emerge into this MMO. After there are no hard rules — you make your own journey. If you want to cook something? Go for it. If you want to go and kill monsters? Go ahead."
But it doesn’t end there. The team is clear about where it’s heading. “In the future, there will be game events. A Christmas event or an Halloween event, for instance.”
David gets visibly excited just talking about what the game will be. But he’s most excited to just boot up his PC and play it himself. “To login and see people playing the game and having fun. We’ve been closed for so long, so there’s not many people yet. I’m excited to have the flood gates open and just watch people play and see what they do.”
He says this will also help the game get even better. “We might find that people like combat the most. Or maybe just skilling.” They plan to use this feedback to steer the game in the direction the users want. “It would be nice to see what players do, where they get stuck and what they love, and build the game accordingly.”
The evolution of the gaming industry
David is not just excited about the future of DomiOnline itself, but about where the gaming industry is headed over the next decade as a whole.
He thinks there will be more live services in gaming. “That’s the buzzword that’s been mentioned a lot.” He mentions Fortnite as a pioneer, with its ever-changing seasons and live events, such as the Travis Scott concert. “More streaming,” is another prediction he makes. “You don’t need a PlayStation.”
"You just stream it from the internet. Like Netflix, but for gaming. And that opens up a lot of possibilities, because now you can have a massive data center rendering your game."
The intersection between blockchain and gaming
Before working on DomiOnline David wasn’t into web3. But when he started learning about blockchain in gaming, he saw the potential straight away. “Playing around with it is nothing but fun.”
“I think the possibilities for NFTs and play-to-earn and things like that are extremely exciting. And I do feel like even traditional studios such as Ubisoft, Activision, and EA Sports will start to look at that.” Hinting at a future where we might see big games like GTA on blockchain.
But we’re not there yet. “What we’re trying to do is to make it simpler. We’re not forcing it on you. The goal is to make it more user-friendly, so that it can go mainstream. At the moment it’s a bit of a learning curve getting used to it,” implying that over the next few years this curve will be flattened.
David says that this is what Merit Circle is doing so well with Beam. “Making sure that it is as easy for gamers to just play around with a game that is using Web3 elements, without even realizing it.”
There are no limits to the potential of blockchain gaming, and DomiOnline is approaching it in a unique way. While the game is still in Alpha, development is going extraordinary and we can expect a public launch soon. With the builders having decades of experience in the industry and a true love and passion for MMORPGs, DomiOnline is one to watch.
Originally published on Beam Medium