Cytuj:
1. We have heard that the Syncopate company is negotiating with XLGames to purchase the distribution rights of ArcheAge in Russia. Many gamers would like clarification on this and if there are any other companies which would are potential suitors to distribute the game in Russia. Do you plan to release ArcheAge in other countries at the same time as in Korea or will gamers in other countries have to be patient and wait?
–> We have not initiated any discussions with any Russian publisher. We have no launch schedule as of yet, but we will continue to diligently develop the game. =)
2. The second question is related to ArcheAge’s revenue model. Is it going to be P2P or F2P? If you are not ready to answer this question now please let us know what payment way you personally think is preferable.
–> We have not made any decision regarding the business model, but we are open to each market’s needs. Enjoy!
3. We do not know much about the PvP system. We just know a little about the PK system and castle sieges. Please tell us more about castle ownership and if there will be any bonuses related to this? What kind of penalties should we expect from death in PvP?
–> Players can take over a territory and build his/her own castle. Even players who are not a member of the landlord’s guild or similar group can build houses and live in the territory. A little bit of tax will have to paid in this case, and this will be the income of the landlord. Other guilds or groups can take over the landlord’s territory through sieges. If taken over, the players who have been living in the territory will, depending on the landlord’s decision, continue to live there as is or have to pay higher taxes. There is no penalty for PvP between different guilds or groups (there may be certain rewards in some cases). But there will be strict penalties for PvP between groups within the same faction (e.g. going to jail for a certain time, being expelled from the faction and becoming a pirate faction if continuously repeated). A pirate faction can be an enemy force of all factions.
4. We would like to clarify if there will be any battlegrounds in ArcheAge?
–> This is just in an idea stage. We are thinking of implementing a battleground system so that more players can easily experience PvP. But the aforementioned landlord/territory system will be separate from this battleground system.
5. What about clan politics? Is it possible to influence the world any other way besides sieges?
–> We call clans expeditionary forces. They can conquer territories and engage in war. Whether an expeditionary force is an enemy or ally depends on how the relationship is built between them.
In the beginning, players will belong to the NPC’s faction, but later on players can build their own expeditionary force and create a new faction.
6. We do not know anything about the dungeons. Could you please tell us about PvE system and about the dungeons in particular.
–> We are developing dungeons, but we are trying to make them slightly different than that of other games. Of course, PvE specialized contents such as raid will be possible in these dungeons.
7. Our gamers were very impressed by the video with sea battles. Again we do not know much about them. What type of ships will be participating in the game? Is there going to be any motivation to explore the ocean and islands?
–> Diverse ships will be added over time (e.g. fishing boats, large sailing boats, etc.). There will be unknown creatures living in the sea, undiscovered islands, and there may be something deep down the sea.
8. End-game content is a big headache for all developers. What kind of activities you offer for high-level players?
–> Taking over the resources that are only available in the original continent, the profit that can be made through them, and the castle sieges to fight over such profits are all continuously recyclable content. Of course, we will constantly provide additional dungeons, items, and so on.
9. Achievement systems are a main feature of many games. Do you plan to implement it in ArcheAge?
–> We are developing a territory achievement system and fame/title system depending on players’ activities (these will be achieved through both PvP and PvE).
Cytuj:
# Do you plan to have in-game mechanisms that promote role playing?
–> We are trying to improve the class system to make each player’s role in combat (e.g. tanker, healer, damage dealer, etc.) more clear. Social-wise, players will be able to enjoy role-playing by creating families. At a later stage players can form expeditionary forces (called guilds in other games) and engage in extensive role-playing within that group.
# Will be the game cater to hardcore gamers, casuals, or both? Can you tell us something about the leveling curve, whether it will be steep or not.
–> Our initial target was to satisfy both hardcore and casual gamers, but the contents currently available makes the game feel a bit more hardcore. However, we are going to develop the game so that casual gamers with less time to spare can also enjoy the game. We will make the experience curve go up smoothly so that the game progression is not extremely difficult.
# In the videos we’ve seen, it seems most professions, including shipbuilding, were automated. Will these professions have some sort of gameplay, like a minigame? Or is success based on simply pressing a button…as we are accustomed to in most other games?
–> Currently crafting works by simply pressing a button. We intended to combine various minigame mechanics, such as clicking the mouse at certain time, but it was not fun. That is why it has been simplified, like it is now.
# How important will crafting be in the game? A player can devote himself exclusively to crafting and have a good time?
–> In the current design it is impossible to level-up through crafting only. Additionally, certain levels are required for higher level recipes. Gold is also needed. Hence, I think some combat and leveling will be necessary.
# Can a player evolve and prosper without having engage in battle?
–> No, it is not possible.
# About leveling skills….how does that work?
–> In the current system, players gain 1 skill point every 2 level-ups with which they can learn a new skill. In the case of already learned skills, players can upgrade them.
# Will the PvP continent will be entirely controlled by the players? What about the game economy? How do you expect the political states will affect the game?
–> In order to protect fresh players coming into the PvP continent (we call it the original/ancient continent) for the first time, there will by a small area controlled by NPCs. Players can conquer the inner regions, zone by zone. Each zone will have some main resources and the expeditionary force that has taken over the zone will control the resources as well.
# Is ArcheAge a dynamic world? For example, if a city is regularly attacked, can it be destroyed? On the other hand, if people build a small settlement can it become a fortified city/village?
–> We plan to maintain the two southern continents as static worlds for newcomers and players who do not like PvP. However, on the original/ancient continent, players can build villages as well as castles which can also be destroyed by other players. We have not yet considered monster attacks destroying settlements, though.
# Do you have plans about implementing a user-generated content system? Like in CoH/CoV, where quests can be made by players?
–> We have discussed various related ideas, but nothing is concrete as of yet.
# We have seen in the videos that players can destroy structures in the environment (bridges, etc.) the burning question is: will these objects will regenerate automatically after a while or through the work of players rebuilding them? If is possible that players build bridges, roads, etc., can they build it wherever they want or only at specified points?
–> Some structures will be regenerated automatically in specific places such as dungeons, but buildings constructed by users will not be regenerated. We have considered ideas about allowing users to build bridges, roads, and so on, but nothing is concrete at this stage.
# Players can PK, right? If so, do they have some kind of real risk or only the typical death penalty, such as a debuff?
–> Yes, players can choose to PK. It is not final yet, but we plan to have different types of servers. For example, there will be a PvP server where you can even PK characters of your own faction or alliance and a separate server where you can only PK those of the opposing sides. We do not want to make the death penalty too harsh. As of now, we are considering temporary debuffs. If a player chooses to PK, he/she will gain some criminal points. If the criminal point accumulates up to a certain point the player could go to jail for some time. If the player continues to accumulate more criminal points, at certain point he/she will be expelled from his/her faction and become a pirate. A pirate will have some restriction in enjoying some common contents. However, there will be no penalty such as loss of stats. And besides, the player can always rejoin the faction through other activities.
# Will the shipyards that have been in videos be only in the NPC cities, or can players build shipyards?
–> As of now, we have not considered allowing players to build shipyards. Most of the crafting tools needed are in the NPC city, but small crafting tools (e.g. anvil, mannequin, etc.) can be purchased or crafted by players for them to own and place in their houses.
# Players can build their own fortified settlements/villages/cities?
–> Players can build their own territory, provide it to other players for housing and collect taxes in return. Players can hire NPCs as vendors and build up a city-like atmosphere. But there is no separate system allowing colony or city construction. It is a collection of smaller systems.
# Can all objects in the game be crafted by players? Or will some weapons and armor be achieved only in PvE/quests/dungeons?
–> Most of the items can be crafted by players. However, there are special items that can only be gained as rewards from dungeons, PvE, or PvP.
# Although people often ask about content, we think a MMORPG success stems from the quality of it’s content, not quantity. Should we expect a big game with lots of content and bugs that will be fixed later, or a smaller game with less problems at launch but little content at first and more later?
–> A quality game with contents constantly updated would be ideal and that is what we are trying to do with ArcheAge. Personally, I think players should expect and wait for a fun game. =)