Risks and open questions
Risks
| Risk | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| First-person combat against many enemies being confusing | High: it is the heart of the game | All of Phase 1 to validate before any network |
| MMO scope for a small team | Very high | Alpha = the 4×4 km block around Lumen (2 regions, 4 classes); launch = Chapter 1 (25); the complete 1,120 km² world (20) grows by blocks, later |
| AI reference creating an impossible real-time visual expectation | Medium | Own light guide in Phase 1; adjust the goal to what the engine delivers |
| Server cost and ongoing maintenance | High | Measure cost per player in Phase 2 before scaling up |
| Dynamic light for all times of day and weather costs more than a fixed scene | Medium | Measure the five times of day and rain already in Phase 1 |
| Dynamic events feeling repetitive | Medium | Few well-made types, varying by time, weather and region |
| Real-money economy turning into a pyramid (income paid by those who join later, as in Axie Infinity) | Very high | Earnings only from purchases between players and from buyback (20% of cosmetics revenue), no fund issuance; strong sinks; withdrawal cap; simulation before opening (see 08, 14) |
| Token or NFT being considered a security (CVM/SEC) | Very high | Legal opinion before any sale (no sale planned); do not promise income or yield; no vote on treasury; non-custodial studio |
| Bots and account farms | High | Production limits, detection, KYC for withdrawal |
| Players who only want to earn turning the game into boring work | High | Fun proven before the real economy (Phases 1 to 3); tier 2 is optional |
| Console stores prohibit or limit NFTs and crypto | Medium | Launch on PC (own launcher + Epic; Steam not planned); on console, only tier 1 |
| Minors in contact with real economy and voice | High | Economy, token, NFT and voice only for verified 18+; minors play without the economy; age rating |
| All buildings being enterable multiplying art cost | High | Modular kits and procedural furniture (see 10) |
| Cheating in action combat | High | Authoritative server from Phase 2 |
| Open PK driving away newcomers and becoming harassment | High | Wide safe zones, karma, reward cap, measure dropout from the alpha (see 23) |
| RMT (selling gold, items and accounts for money) | High | Transfer limits, KYC per eligible account, currency of each market defined (see 08, 14) |
| Indirect pay-to-win (money → token → power items and land) | High | NFT only cosmetic and deed, never power; top-tier items bound on equip; power cap per tier; no purchasable source of chance (see 08) |
| VR motion sickness (dodge, falls, mount, boat, flight) | High | Comfort profile per mechanic and early testing (see 03) |
| Server scale (clan wars and full cities) | High | Target: 10 thousand per world, ~500 per region, 50×50 in clan war (decided, 05) |
Questions for the project owner
Answered on 2026-10-26: see 00-decisoes.md. The questions below remain as history.
- Platform: PC only, or console too? Browser is out (UE5 does not run well there).
- Studio monetization: subscription, one-time purchase + expansions, or free with cosmetics? And what share of the market fee goes to the studio?
- Team: who will do art and modeling? The project depends more on art than on code.
- Name: decided: Yvaldis (see
00). - PvP: stays out of the launch, as proposed?
- Always first person, or an optional external camera (as Skyrim allows)? It would help group combat, but changes pillar 1.
- Deadline and budget for Phase 1.
- Day cycle: length of the game day (proposal: 2–3 real hours) and whether the time is the same for the whole server (proposed) or varies by region.
- Codename: changed from "Noturno" to Yvaldis (see
00). - Own token or stablecoin in the market (see
08)? And the preferred network, if any. - Funding: selling land or NFTs before the game exists is common in this market, but it is the path with the most legal and reputation risk. It stays out of the plan, unless you decide otherwise.