Pax Dei Post Tells You All The Things The Game "Isn’t", Just So There's No Confusion

While most game developers tell you what their game is and move on to other business, Mainframe Industries is taking a slightly different approach with Pax Dei. Yes, their new post on Steam titled “The vision behind Pax Dei: The game we’re making, part 1” does state what the game is – a social sandbox MMORPG with a living world structured around game pillars tied to different playstyles. Before it gets to that, though, it tells potential players everything the game isn’t. Perhaps the goal is to weed the audience out ahead of time.

The first part of the post informs potential players that the game is not a theme park MMO, a “medieval simulator”, a survival game, or fast-paced. What does this mean? Well, the theme park bit means that NPCs won’t just be handing out quests as long as you find the one with the marker over its head, and that zones and gear are not gated behind levels. You just have to figure things out on your own.

As for the medieval simulator, the post notes that the game is inspired by the European Middle Ages and the myths of the time, but that it’s not trying to be historically accurate or take place in reality.

If you’re looking for a survival game, Pax Dei is probably not it, despite sharing traits with survival games. You’re not going to have to worry about maintaining things like hunger, thirst, or sleep, but you will start with nothing and you will have to craft and build things. Perhaps if you’re looking for survival-lite, this’ll be the game for you.

As for “it’s not fast-paced”, that is pretty much what it sounds like. You won’t be clearing the content in a few days or a week. Although, it probably won’t matter that much since there’s no max level to reach anyway. They’ve also made resources less accessible, so players won’t be able to just go grind in a single area. That, of course, will slow down crafting and building.

One other thing that fell on the “what this game is not” list is single-player. Players can still have a solo experience, but playing in groups is encouraged – and required if you want to do the most difficult content.

All that said, what you have instead is a non-linear game where everything happens in the open world. One without things like instanced dungeons or solo content that separates players. The game features homesteading gameplay, adventure gameplay, and civilization-level gameplay. The first is gathering, crafting, etc. The second has players exploring the Wildlands and engaging in both PvP and PvE. The last has players working together building… well… civilization. The examples listed include production, building a Cathedral, or starting a war – as one does.