Vision & pillars

Zoen is a browser + mobile action MMORPG set on the caravan roads of a desert trade basin. It has the social, shared-world feel of Silkroad Online, the build depth of Path of Exile, and the fast, chainable combat of a modern console ARPG. Up to 1,000 players share one map channel. Every fight has to read clearly and feel heavy, even on a mid-range phone.

◆The player fantasy in one paragraph

You sign the caravan ledger at Amber Gate as a Wayfarer. Your path across the Passive Atlas (the skill tree) decides who you become. A pure Strength path turns you into a greataxe Ravager, a greatsword Warblade or a hammer Earthshaker. Mixing Strength and Agility gives you twin blades or sword and shield. By level 40 you hold 8 skill picks. You spend them on new skills, or on ranks that unlock flashy facets, and you chain them by hammering Mouse1 like a console brawler. When life gets busy, Auto-Quest and Auto-Hunt carry you along the same road, using the same rules as manual play.

◆Five pillars (in priority order)

1. Combat that feels heavy and fair. Wind-ups you can read, impacts you can feel (hitstop, shake, reactions that depend on the skill), telegraphs that never disappear. The server owns every hit.
2. A build you authored. One Atlas, 18 weapon builds, 144 skills (18 finishers), 8 picks, 4 facets per skill. No class lock. Your path sets your weapons.
3. A road shared with a thousand others. Crowded towns, parties of four, world bosses every four hours, a monthly 16-player convoy, player stalls. Interest management keeps it smooth.
4. Plays anywhere, smoothly. Windows, Android and iOS apps (Low–Ultra) and the browser (Low–Mid). Budgets come first; quality scales from Low to Ultra without changing outcomes.
5. Respect for time. At least 7 days to level 40 even online 24/7, about a month for a typical player. Auto-Quest teaches the game, Auto-Hunt respects busy schedules, and endgame loops have caps instead of grinds.

◆MVP scope (what "done" means for the first release)

◆What "AAA-level" means here (measurable, not marketing)

A feature counts as AAA-candidate only when all of these hold. Each is checked by a logged test or a recorded owner review:

• Readable: anticipation of at least 0.25 s on heavy hits, a silhouette that reads at 64 px, and telegraphs visible on Low.
• Weighty: hitstop scaled by impact (35–110 ms), reactions chosen from impact against weight, and camera shake on a trauma curve. All of it is local presentation only.
• Synced: VFX and SFX land within ±1 frame (16.7 ms) of the server contact event in captured traces.
• Smooth: p95 frame time stays inside the tier budget on the three reference devices (see Performance).
• Fair: the server outcome is identical with feel effects on or off, and on any quality tier.
• Reviewed: a 5–10 s showcase clip per skill/monster, signed off by the owner.

◆Name, tone, art

• Name: Zoen. This wiki is the only source of truth (see Decisions).
• Tone: Dark caravan fantasy that is warm and never grimdark. Dust, lanterns, bronze, jade, silk.
• Art: painterly, semi-realistic. Silkroad Online classic meets Path of Exile. The accepted concept art in art/originals is the style reference (the art library lists every image with its SHA-256 provenance).