Devastation Online

***Devastation Online*** (sometimes formatted as *Devastation: Online*) is an upcoming sci-fi fantasy MMORPG conceived by Ryan Nurse and Animatron Studios. Set in a near-future Earth, the game takes place several months into an invasion by a race of evil alien machines called Devastators. Humanity has split into two factions; the Planetary Defence Force (PDF), who oppose the Devastators, and the Steel Heaven cult, who believe the machines will bring about a new, "pure" age of humanity.

First conceived in May 2010, *Devastation Online* is considered to be one of Nurse's most ambitious projects. Despite its long development time, the game has not yet entered full production, though significant amounts of planning have been undertaken, including an extensive (though unfinished) world map. Nurse himself considers the project to be little more than a pipe dream, and has admitted that it will likely never see a full release.

## Gameplay

The game uses a turn-based co-operative battle system inspired by that of *AdventureQuest* and the defunct *Toontown Online*, with both players and enemies able to join fights at any time, up to am arbitrary limit. Players have a limited amount of time to choose an action; stronger, faster foes have quicker turn limits, and if a player does not select an action in the allotted time, they will forfeit their turn. The game's PvP system is designed to combat griefing: PvP fights are permitted only between players of different factions, and only if both players are flagged for PvP and both agree to the fight. A Colosseum also exists where these restrictions do not apply, though both combatants must still agree to the fight. Players do not lose money or items if defeated in PvP and there is no penalty for declining a fight.

Players can only have one weapon equipped at a time, though they may freely switch between them without using their turn. Weapons can be either Melee or Ranged; Ranged weapons are generally more powerful, but require Ammo in order to fire. Players may also set a maximum of six Specials, or magic attacks, that can be used during battle, though there is no limit to the number of Specials a player can learn. Specials can be learned via level-up or via certain other means, and require Special Points (SP) to be cast during battle.

Stats are mostly equipment-driven; HP and SP are the only stats affected upon leveling up. Each weapon or Special has its own attack power, which is then multiplied by the player's PATK or MATK, the opponent's PDEF or MDEF, the opponent's resistance to that element (if applicable), and then finally by any other applicable bonuses to calculate the final damage dealt. The game's other stats are Speed, which determines turn order and length, and Evasion, which determines (as a percentage) how likely the player is to dodge an attack.

Outside of battling and completing quests, the game contains a large amount of side content. Players are able to mine various Ores and Gems from caves: Ores can be smelted into Bars or Plates, while Gems can be cut to produce smaller Gems. These items can then be either sold for profit, or crafted into various items and equipment (which may also be sold for profit). Fruits can be picked and blended into Smoothies, which provide temporary stat boosts when consumed. Performing these actions repeatedly raises the player's appropriate Skill Level for that Skill, allowing them to (for example) mine rarer Ores and Gems, and produce Smoothies with stronger, longer-lasting effects.

Each player has their own unique Barracks room; they may buy numerous pieces of furniture or décor with which to furnish their rooms, some of which provide benefits such as storage space. Players visit each others' rooms but may only redecorate their own. Various public-domain works of fiction, as well as various pieces of world lore, can be read at Libraries, and players can also publish their own works of fiction. The game includes its own in-game trading cars series, Super Eggz; players can buy, trade and collect cards, and challenge other players to trading card matches.

## Races and Factions

### Races

* Human: An inhabitant of Earth who has taken up arms either for or against the Devastators. Humanity is further divided into two sub-races depending on initial alignment:
	+ Human (PDF): A human who started out as a member of the PDF. More magic-oriented.
	+ Human (Steel Heaven): A human who started out as a member of Steel Heaven. More physical-oriented.
* Reaver: A race of alien scavengers who arrived on Earth to plunder its resources. They have low HP but high speed and evasion. They are the only race able to join all three main factions.
* Dae'lora: A race of aliens whose home planet was attacked and severely damaged by the Devastators. They arrived on Earth prior to the Devastator invasion to help humanity prepare and fight. They are magic-oriented.

### Factions

#### Main Factions

* Planetary Defence Force (PDF):
* Steel Heaven
* Reavers

#### Sub-Factions

* Thieves' Guild
* Mages' Guild *[name subject to change]*

*[other sub-factions may be announced]*

## Content

### Planned launch content

It is unclear exactly how large the game world will be at launch, and how many quests will be available, but the world will be "fairly large" and include dozens of weapons, outfits, Specials and so on. The level cap is planned to be 50 at launch.

### Planned expansions

Several pieces of expansion content are planned for Devastation Online. These include: the ability to travel to Dae'lora and help the people there recover; the ability to travel to the Reaver Homeworld, and possibly other planets; more playable races; and player-run in-game radio stations.

Arguably the biggest piece of expansion content is the planned ability for players to build their own Devastator-style pilotable mechs using various parts, which they can then use in-battle. These mechs would have powerful armor, weapons and physical attacks, but the player would not be able to use Specials while piloting them.

### Cancelled content

Initially, it was planned that players could salvage parts from Devastators and build their own weapons, but this was cancelled due to being to complicated. One feature that was suggested in March 2015 was the ability to drive cars in-game, allowing faster traversal of the game world, but this was quickly scrapped due to the potential for griefing, such as players forming roadblocks with their cars or deliberately hitting other players.

## Trivia

* The Planetary Defence Force was originally named the Earth Defence League (EDL), but the name was changed to avoid association with the English Defence League, a far-right political organization.