Mr. Finnegan's Anarchy Online Interview
posted at 12:43 PM on Monday, December 4th, 2000
Introduction
| Did you know...? |
| When you die, you get "cloned" at the level you were when your last cell culture was taken? So don't forget to do a spit swab before you head out to shoot space-rats! |
| |
| System Requirements: |
| Minimum: -Pentium 233MHz MMX
-32 MB RAM
-DirectX 3D card. Recommended: -Pentium II 333MHz
-64 MB RAM
-DirectX second-generation 3D card. |
| |
| Relevant Links |
| -Official Site -Crossroads of RubiKa |
The Corporation's own Mr. Finnegan got a chance to shoot some questions to that wily Norwegian Andre Wigmostad
from FunCom, makers of the upcoming sci-fi ORPG Anarchy Online. The resulting answers followed, though they had to be heavily edited to references to pickeled herring and other depressing Norwegian cultural things.
1) How does Anarchy Online distinguish itself apart from current other
MMORPGs, and others that are currently in development as well?
- Science fiction. Anarchy Online will probably be the first MMORPG with a
SF game world. This will give new opportunities for items, weapons and
stories to tell.
- Story. Rubi-Ka, the game world, will have a past, present and future.
The game-play is shaped by the conflict between Omni-Tek and the rebels.
The players will help shape the story of the game.
- Social interaction. The team has the focus on making a social gaming
environment where more than combat will be important. Scripted body
language, teams and player organization is a part of the game-play.
- Auto-generated quests. Quests will not only be static tasks, they will
be dynamic. Characters should always be able to find something
interesting to do.
2) One of the most popular questions asked: how are you going to handle
the PvP (Player Versus Player) aspect of the game?
We have a multi-layered strategy for PvP in Anarchy Online:
Player-killing will be handled in different ways depending on what area
the character is in. Inner cities have mood-manipulating drugs in the
air (popularly known as Happy Gas), that prevent all player-killing.
Civilized areas around the cities have guards that will react to player
killing. In political areas a player will only be able to attack
opponents from the other side in the Omni-Tek/clan conflict. War zones
in the wilderness will be free-for-all.
It will be possible to play an interesting character without having to
go into the wild areas with PvP. The risk is up to the player, but the
character will be rewarded for going out in the wilderness between
cities.
There will be no rewards, or just small ones, for player killing.
Questing, monster killing and fun game-playing is more rewarding,
regarding xp and items, than player killing.
A majority of the player-killing should be quest and story-related. When
player-killing has a game world-related motivation and all involved
players know the risks, we think this activity could be quite fun.
3) How will Anarchy Online cater to both Role Playing and Non-Role
Playing players? Will players who Role Play fair better than those who
value leveling and PK'ing more?
It is possible to play the game without role-playing, but I think it
will be difficult to succeed in the organization or be a part of the
story without some role-playing. In this way we want role-playing to be
rewarding to the players who choose to participate in this gaming
style. These are some of the features that I think will be helpful to
role-players:
- A story that will unfold during play based on events and the players'
reactions on this.
- The possibility to script chat and body language.
- Character organizations that are supported in the game-play.
A Non-Role Player that knows how to gain level fast will get rewards for
this, but will probably miss out on some of the Role Player rewards like
positions of authority in an organization.
4) You describe some of the game play with this quote:
"Teamwork is rewarded in gameplay, with experience and skill bonuses. To
work together benefits both low- and high-level characters. A
long-lasting team will evolve through the reward system."
The cohersion to play together has been both a blessing and a curse in
EverQuest, since it is hard to find a group to play with at times if you
are using an undesirable character in either level or class. In
addition, high ranking characters are severly handicapped when not
fighting in a group.
If you do intend to enforce group play, how will you work towards
preventing a similar problem? Will such a problem not exist in AO? If
not, why?
There should always be something interesting to do for a solo character,
but such a character shouldn't expect to be able to solve the same tasks
and fight the same monsters as a team. The well-balanced group will
naturally be able to solve more difficult quests and combat more
difficult monsters. Group play will not be enforced, but we will have
features that make it easy to team up, even if there are a wide variety
of levels and professions.
One feature that I think will make it more interesting to go solo, is
the dynamic quest system. Alone or in a group, there should be quests
available for your character.
5) I've heard that each character will be provided with an 'apartment,'
or personal area, within the city or locale of their starting area. What
can you do/store in this area? How will you ensure personal security of
items within?
All apartments will be absolutely secure against any theft. In each
apartment there will be a space where your character could place a
limited amount of items.
6) The current list of proffessions in AO are these: soldier, martial
artist, engineer, agent, adventurer, Bureaucrat, Enforcer, Doctor, Nano
Technician, Trader, and Meta-Physicist. How will you strike a balance
between all of these diverse classes?
Don't forget the Fixer :). We are aiming for a game that have more options than
fighting. Then we will have to include professions that reflect this.
How this works out is something we will have to observe during beta. If
necessary we will change the balance between the professions.
7) Anarchy Online has a four year long storyline, which ends with the
conclusion of the struggle between the two opposing sides in the game:
the corporation known as Omni-Tek, and planetary rebel clans. Will the
players play a dynamic role in the evolution of events, or merely
participate in the developing storyling in a secondary position (such as
fighting in a scripted battle that was designed to occur).
There are a lot of elements of the story we know will be unable
to control, like what side will become most popular and who will lead
the different organizations. Things like this will influence on the
direction of the story.
The storyline is planned around a story arc that consists of big and
small events. The story will develop according to the reactions of the
players. Of course, there will be story characters that we control. I
think there will be discussions among the players if they reacted in the
correct way and there will be discussions among the fans about the
development of the story. But we will have employees working continuously
on the story during the game, and they will be influenced of the outcome
of former events.
8) Based upon the changing timeline, will the physical geography and
terrain of the planet change with it? To cite an example of this,
Omni-Tek is continually attempting to terraform more of the planet. Will
we see evidence of their efforts with the passage of time?
Yes. [That was concise... -ed]
9) I hear that players can protect their belongings when they die with a
form of 'insurance' that the can purchase at center locales. Can you
elaborate?
In the cities there are insurance booths. A player is able to buy
insurance for the items that is brought to this booth. How fast the item
is returned to a resurrected character depends on how much he has been
willing to pay, from instant retrieval to several minutes. In the
meanwhile, other characters will be able to loot the body. The insurance
will not work on items that have been looted from the body.
10) For the last question, something fun. When taking a break from heavy
sessions of coding, scripting, and testing, what do you do to kick back?
Playing more Anarchy Online; it is all the fun we need now :o)
At support we are using a DVD-room in the cellar with a big screen and
an awesome sound system. That is quite good relaxation between shifts.
Anarchy Online is currently in beta testing and is expected out in the Spring or Summer of 2001. For more information, check out The Crossroads of Rubi-Ka.
|
