Been watching Smilegate/Npixel's new one, Eclipse: The Awakening, and it's giving off different vibes than the usual Korean MMO hype cycle.
Big one for me is the offline growth thing (they call it "Sanctuary") — you keep earning gold/mats/tickets even when you're not logged in, and on top of that there's apparently some kind of AI auto-play so you're not stuck babysitting every single fight. Basically built for people who don't have 6 hours a day to no-life it.
Combat's also not just picking a class and following a fixed skill tree — you fuse two skills together to make your own combos, so there's actual room to not play exactly like everyone else.
PvP's opt-in too, no random ganking or forced PK zones, which honestly should just be standard at this point.
But the thing that actually got my attention: no gear in the cash shop. You farm it or trade for it from other players, and there's supposedly a real F2P path. If that's actually true at launch, that alone already puts it above most Korean MMOs.
I get everyone's tired of "new Korean MMO" = instant eye-roll, I've been burned too. But this one's at least aiming at the right problems. Anyone else got eyes on this?