Project: Gorgon 1.0 — An old-school MMORPG that turns veterans into pigs (temporarily) to protect

This caught my attention because MMOs that trust players to explore are rare – and Project: Gorgon doubles down with weird, meaningful systems and a fresh-start plan that actually tinkers with player behavior: it temporarily turns long-time players into pigs to protect newcomers. That’s both bold design and a community experiment worth watching.

Project: Gorgon 1.0 – Old‑school exploration, free‑form skills, and a fresh‑start server with a porcine twist

Key takeaways

• Project: Gorgon leaves early access at 1.0 with new character models, Statehelm (the capital), level‑100 skill caps and many quality‑of‑life systems.
• It remains a throwback: no locked classes, free‑form combat and crafting, persistent NPC inventories, player writing/inscription, and deep, sometimes permanent choices (druid/lycanthropy).
• Elder Game will open a fresh‑start server to separate newcomers from vets – accounts older than Dec 1, 2025 with 40+ hours of playtime will be forced into an unremovable “support pig” for the first week.
• There’s a free demo (level cap 15) and a 25% Steam launch discount through Feb 4; the full price after sale is $24.99 / £20.99.

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Publisher|Elder Game
Release Date|January 2026 (1.0 launch)
Category|Exploration-driven MMORPG
Platform|PC (Steam)
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Project: Gorgon has been a slow burn since entering early access in March 2018. Its 1.0 milestone is less a flashy reboot and more a consolidation of eight years of the game’s design ethos: give players tools, not handrails. New character models and the capital city Statehelm are the headline changes, but what matters most here are the systems that encourage genuine discovery and player-driven interaction.

That means persistent shop inventories to recreate a living economy, readable books and notes you can write into the world, and NPCs with goals that reward creative problem solving rather than rote quest following. Combat and progression are equally open-ended: there are no classes, and you can mix swordplay, animal handling, necromancy, grappling and crafting as you like. The result is an old‑school, emergent playstyle where choices can lock you into long-term consequences — a druid vow or a bout of lycanthropy changes how your character plays for good.

The pig rule: design experiment or community salt?

Elder Game’s fresh‑start server is a sensible response to a common problem: new players want a clean world, but developers don’t always want to wipe progress. Their answer is to create a separate realm — and to blunt veteran advantages by temporarily forcing seasoned accounts into a “support pig” role. Specifically: accounts created before December 1, 2025 with more than 40 hours of playtime will be transformed into an unremovable pig for the first week on the fresh server.

That sounds jokey on the surface, and Elder Game leans into it: “We’re calling this the ‘support pig’ effect,” they say, pointing out pigs have valid support abilities. But it’s also a clever nudge. Rather than banning veterans or artificially nerfing stats, the devs impose a playful constraint that (a) slows early power racing, (b) encourages veterans to help newbies in a visible, low‑threat capacity, and (c) creates emergent social dynamics — imagine a rush of pig healers turned reluctant mentors.

There are downsides. Some longtime players will see it as punitive and might skip the fresh server entirely. The measure only applies to accounts above a modest 40‑hour threshold, so players who want to bypass the rule can create new accounts — though that’s not an ideal solution for most. The change also doesn’t prevent resource hoarding after the initial week, so it’s a temporary gap‑closer rather than a long-term equalizer.

Why this matters for players

• Newcomers: If you’ve been waiting for a fresh world, now’s an excellent moment. The server will keep you insulated from veteran gear and knowledge for at least a week, and the free demo lets you test the feel before buying.
• Veterans: Expect an odd, short-term handicap if you hop onto the fresh realm. If you enjoy social, quirky design, it’s a fun experiment; if you want to dominate right away, stick to the legacy server.
• MMO watchers: This is a nice example of a small studio using behavioral design and playful mechanics to shape social outcomes — less heavy‑handed than full wipes and more creative than simple XP multipliers.

Project: Gorgon’s launch price is $24.99 / £20.99 with a 25% Steam launch discount through Wednesday, Feb 4 (buy now: $18.74 / £15.74). The demo caps at level 15 but preserves your character if you upgrade later — a low-friction way to see if its old‑school systems click for you.

TL;DR

Project: Gorgon 1.0 is a lovingly odd, systems-driven MMO that prioritizes exploration and player freedom over handholding. The fresh‑start server and the week‑long “support pig” for long‑time accounts are a playful, pragmatic way to protect new players and nudge community behavior. It won’t please everyone, but it’s exactly the kind of experimental design I want to see from a small, passionate MMO team.