Project NT

Perhaps a new Fantasy Life
Your first question is probably what is Project NT? Good. You should be asking that and I like you more for it. Project NT is a game by ThingSoft under Nexon that bears a close resemblance to the 2003 game Mabinogi. It has updated graphics and looks to have strong interactions between the player and the world beyond just combat.

So what can you do in Project NT? To be entirely honest, no one is sure yet. Not only is the game not out for beta testing but any information that is available is in Korean which makes it hard to get your hands on. Don't worry though, Nexon already grabbed the rights to publish this in the US and Europe so we can expect releases at some point.

For sure we will be able to:

• Build villages, economies, schools, etc. etc.
• Grow and even remove towns based on our activities
• Have interactive, skill based combat* 
• A unique and strange skill development system
• Have immersive relationships with NPCs
• Use non-combat skills to produce goods and interact with the world

* We'll see whether or not this is true. Sorry for the skepticism.

"Project NT is the codename of ThingSoft's upcoming cel-shaded Anime themed MMO. The game features Pokemon battle related system. Every time you kill monsters there is a small chance of you capturing them Pokemon style. There are no classes in Project NT, instead, your skills are determined by the monsters you come across. You can learn new skills by fighting different monsters and use skills by summoning monsters into battle."
- MMOsite.com

A big concept behind Project NT is that the game devs cannot keep up with the never-ending demand for new content by players. No matter how large the development team is, they cannot crank out new content as quickly as players can consume it. The solution is to essentially crowdsource it. Players make their own villages, shops, businesses, etc. etc. and other players interact with them and help them grow. It'll be like playing the Sims with friends, but in an MMO and with strong RPG elements.

"The game will also allow players to create their own maps, villages, personal space, economy and even fulfill political ambitions!"
- MMOculture.com

How they'll pull this off is hard to say. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say it'd be through instances rather than trying to predict how large of a world they need in a static environment. If you've ever played an MMO before then you know what an instance is. An area generated for you on demand rather than existing beforehand. Some instances are permanent, such as Homesteads in Mabinogi, or non-permanent such as raids in World of Warcraft or RP areas in Guild Wars 1.

Now your next question is, if you're into the whole Fantasy Life thing anyway then why not just play Mabinogi Heroes or Mabinogi 2? The answer for that is simple: these are not fantasy life games. Mabinogi Heroes, also known as Vindictus, is an Action RPG with no non-combat roleplaying elements to it. There's just fighting. Mabinogi 2 is similar, especially with its nickname being Mabinogi Arena. Players literally just spend the game fighting monsters in an arena or watching other players fight in an arena. Not the same type of game at all.

My apologies for bringing up Mabinogi so heavily, it's just that most MMOs and games in general steer away from the whole non-combat thing. Everything is fighting monsters 24/7 or making gear to better fight monsters. Sometimes these games spice it up by including fighting players too. Aside from Ultima Online and Mabinogi there just haven't been many alternatives. Shroud of the Avatar looks promising though and that's another game that you should keep on your list of games to check out.

More updates as information becomes available.