MapleStory reveals its next major content update that put the OP in MaPlestOry.
Monthly Archives: April 2013
SWTOR’s Battle for Makeb Has Begun!
SWTOR’s Battle for Makeb Has Begun!
Today, players in Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ are gearing up to take on the ruthless Hutt Cartel in an epic battle over the planet of Makeb, in the first Digital Expansion: Rise of the Hutt Cartel. With the start of Early Access, players who pre-ordered Rise of the Hutt Cartel by January 7, 2013 are starting their journey five days before anyone else, today!
In Rise of the Hutt Cartel players will battle a ferocious new enemy that has emerged from the shadows to challenge the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire for control. The dangerous Hutt Cartel will unleash never-before-seen Droids and monstrous battle stations that serve as powerful weapons of destruction. All of this, and new new weapons, armor, abiliites and 5 new levels of progression, raising the game’s level cap to 55.
Alongside Early Access for Rise of the Hutt Cartel, BioWare is also releasing the hugely ambitious new Game Update 2.0: Scum and Villainy. Scum and Villainy will bring exciting new Level 55 content to our high level players including a new Operation, all new Legacy Achievements, four Hard Mode Flashpoints, and much more. Also, players can now earn an additional 5% Guild XP Bonus for all experience gained while playing in a guild. Players can expect more valuable in-game bonuses and benefits for being in a guild coming later this year.
GunDogs  Furry Combat Action!
GunDogs – Furry Combat Action!
By Jordan Hall(ApocaRUFF), OnRPG Journalist
GunDogs is a dog-themed third-person shooter brought to us by OGPlanet. It’s far more than a simple shooter, though. To mix things up, there are also collectible card game elements thrown in. You could say that “it’s all gone to the dogs” now that the Union and the Empire have entered into open warfare and the dog-soldiers have begun slaughtering each other. If you have a thing for dogs, or just third-person shooters, this may be a game that you want to check out.
Customization
There really isn’t much customization in GunDogs, but that is what I expect from a third-person shooter. The customization comes from building your deck of cards, which gives you access to more characters to play, which have a variety of different abilities, weapons, and looks. Past that, however, you won’t get much choice in terms of customization. Don’t get me wrong, customizing your deck can be pretty fun, especially when you consider you are only allowed to bring three cards, or classes, into a game. But then again, there are only a few cards you really want to go for, as the others don’t feel worth it.
Two cards I got from opening two random packs
Graphics
The graphics in GunDogs are just “OK.” They are what you would expect from a shooter… from 2005. While I have no complaints with the way that the quality, I couldn’t help but think, “Is this the best they could do? It’s 2013, right?” while I was playing. I played the game on the highest possible settings and was far from impressed. Of course, I could assume the lack of quality was intentional due to their choice of a “comic book” art style. I just felt that something a bit more impressive shouldn’t be difficult with today’s tech.
“Do these textures really need to be this bad?”
Despite my gripe about the graphics quality, I enjoyed the art style the game used. It fit perfectly with the already comical idea of dogs fighting a World War II-type war. The “blam” will pop up when shooting, rather than numbers that might pop up in other shooters. One thing I liked quite a bit was the sprinting effect. I would frequently sprint just for the sake of seeing my dog get on all fours and feel like I was going very fast.
“Something about “Blam!” is just so satisfying.”
Controls
Thankfully GunDogs uses a familiar control scheme, so it’s easy to jump into the game and play. WASD keys to move, left mouse button to shoot, right mouse button to zoom, G for grenade – that sort of stuff. You can quickly and easily cycle between your weapons by using the Q key, which is nice. Another helpful feature is the on-the-fly mouse sensitivity feature which can be done with the bracket keys. Overall, the controls were smooth and I had no problem with them.
Community
The community in GunDogs is that of your typical shooter. You won’t find much love in it, but little bits of camaraderie can be found. Prepare yourself to receive lots of insults and hack accusations. But please, do your part not to perpetuate the hate. I’ll probably be giving the community here three stars.
Gameplay
GunDogs is a lot like what you would assume a third-person shooter to be. You spawn, you run around, and you hope that you get to kill people before they kill you. There’s machine guns, rifles, rocket launchers, shotguns and grenades, among other possible weapons in your arsenal. Unfortunately, to me, the gameplay doesn’t feel innovative enough to be too interesting.
The one thing that GunDogs has going for it is the dog theme. Those people that truly enjoy animal-themed games will probably appreciate GunDogs a lot more than I ever could. Other than that theme, everything is pretty generic. The collectible card game is kind of neat, but didn’t stick out too much for me. If you haven’t guessed by now, I was not as happy with the game as I hoped I would be.
The combat is fast-paced and can be intense. There are a variety of weapons to choose from and each has its pluses and bonuses. My personal favorite was the rifle, as I could snipe with it if I wanted, or I could spit out an entire clip fairly quickly. It felt great getting headshot after headshot. After the rifle my favorite was the shotgun, simply because I enjoyed that I had to get up in someone’s face for it to be effective. Sometimes, a melee battle would break out, which is always exciting.
One major problem I had when trying to snipe someone was that my shots would often hit the side of a building or a fence, even if I thought my shot would be in the clear. This was partially because of the over-the-shoulder angle, but also because everything seemed to have a tiny bit of an invisible barrier around it. It could be extremely frustrating when you line up the perfect headshot, only to have your shot be stopped by a balcony and then have your target turn around and take you out.
“As you can see, my cross-hair is quite a distance from the lamppost, yet I still hit it.”
Like most shooters, GunDogs seem to suffer a case of the Over-Powered Explosives. Every game I played seemed to be non-stop rocket and grenade spam. And if it’s not rockets, it’s shotguns. People would often blindly shoot into buildings in the hopes that they would land a kill. More often than not, they would. Which brings up another gripe – the death sound. I had to mute the sound in the game because the constant generic death sounds were starting to give me a headache.
“A grenade to the face always does the job.”
On the topic of collectible cards, it’s an interesting way to do progression. Like most collectible card games, you will buy packs, open them, and get cards. It’s luck of the draw which card you get from the pack, and you may not be able to use the card right away. To use a card, you have to be of the required level of the class the card is in. It is to be expected that the better the card, the higher level you will need to be in that class. A rough idea of the classes you will encounter: Rifle, Shotgun, Medic, Rocket launcher, and machine gun.
Conclusion
The one thing GunDogs really has going for it is the dog theme. People who enjoy animal-themed games, or just like the fact that you sprint on all fours, will find the most satisfaction from the game. Those that are looking for a new and exciting experience will most likely be disappointed. The collectible card part of the game is a way to spice things up a bit, but I wonder how much money you’ll have to pour into the game to get the really good cards? Overall, GunDogs is free to play and it can hold its own in this genre so I would say give it a try if you’re looking for a new third-person shooter.
Features: 3.5/5 – Nothing really new, but I enjoyed the features that were included into the game.
Customization: 2/5 – Basically non-existent. Used to be that this was expected from the genre, but with games like Loadout coming into the market, you have to give us something to keep up with the competition.
Graphics: 3/5 – I understand that the game has comic-style graphics, but I feel that they could have been better.
Controls: 5/5 – Not a complaint by me in this department. Smooth and functional all the way.
Community: 3/5 – Your typical shooter community.
Overall: 3.5/5 – Not mind-blowing amazing, but definitely worth a try if you’re looking for a new game.
OnRPG Shotgun News 4/9: SWTOR, Star Citizen, Guns of Icarus, and Much More!
OnRPG Shotgun News 4/9: SWTOR, Star Citizen, Guns of Icarus, and Much More!
By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Elder Scribe
Star Wars: The Old Republic Rise of the Hutt Cartel Launches
Today marks the official launch of the first digital expansion to Star Wars: The Old Republic, Rise of the Hutt Cartel. The long awaited addition of same sex relationships, the new planet Makeb, five new levels, seeker droids and much more.
Guild Wars 2 Adds Leadership Boards
ArenaNet has been talking about leadership boards for GW2 for some time now and now they’ve finally arrived. At the moment you can look at the top 100 players for Pvp, WvW, and Achievement points for both NA and EU servers alike. In the future they would like to expand the functionality, but for now at least you know who you have to beat to get to the top spot. You can check them out now by going to https://leaderboards.guildwars2.com/en.
Star Citizen Shows Off Flexible Men
A new video has been released by Cloud Imperium which shows how Human Male characters move. The minute and a half video goes through various ranges of motion all of which will be repeatable in Star Citizen, approximately. Have a look at the video for yourself.
Blizzard Buys IGN Pro League Assets
The troubled IGN Pro League has had it’s assets and technology snatched up by none other than Blizzard. While the terms of the agreement haven’t been released it is known that the IGN Pro League staff will be heading into either a new Blizzard group in San Francisco or the already existing Blizzard eSports team.
Guns of Icarus Online Adventure Mode Q&A
The Guns of Icarus Online development team have put together a 13 minute long video in which they answer questions put forward by backers of their current Adventure Mode Kickstarter campaign. They don’t take themselves too seriously, but they do answer a lot of important questions.
TataBlitz PvE and PvP Revealed
More information has been revealed about Gogogogo.com’s third person shooter TataBlitz. And this time its all about the two types of combat available, PvE and PvP. In PvE players group up to defeat crime lords inside arenas. While PvP is a bit more complicated. You can pick between Deathmatch or Capture the Flag. In Deathmatch you’re put on one of two teams who go head to head until one team has been completely wiped out. While in Capture the Flag you have to…well capture the flag, 15 times. Flags will spawn randomly in one of three places on the maps and while carrying a flag you are completely reliant on your team to keep you safe.
Crystalline Entity Returns to STO
Data wouldn’t be pleased if he heard that the Crystalline Catastrophe was making a return as part of an all new event in Star Trek Online. From April 11-May 2 players will be able to go up against the Crystalline Entity in the Holodeck as a 10 man encounter. Players will also be able for the first time have access to the new Event Reputation system which will allow players to track their progress through future seasonal events.
The Banner Saga: Factions Multiplayer Review
The Banner Saga: Factions Multiplayer Review
By Jason Harper (Hhean), OnRPG Journalist
Made by three ex-bioware guys in a shed somewhere in Texas, Factions is one of the first generation of kickstarter babies to see the light of day. Set in a land not too dissimilar from Viking inhabited Scandinavia, Factions is a free to play multiplayer tactics game that sets the groundwork for the rest of the upcoming Banner Saga franchise. While Factions is currently in a finished state, the game will gain additional content accessible only to those who purchase the upcoming single player episodes.
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but you certainly can judge Factions by its introduction. After booting up the game for the first time you will be treated to a beautifully crafted cutscene that sets the stage for the game, while also giving context for the game’s tutorial. You are established as a warlord helping a city’s jarl cull the various warring chieftains who would do him harm. Playing the part of these vicious cutthroats and thieves will be your online opponents.
Before dealing with the scum that threatens this good city, you must first assemble six of the holdfast’s fiercest warriors. Varls are massive horned giants that take up four squares. They can either be the game’s heaviest hitters or its burliest tanks. Raiders are normal sized men that grant defensive bonuses to units around them, while also having special abilities that can shatter an enemy line. Archers are women who attack from range, excelling at picking off weakened targets and denying areas of the battlefield.
With their warbands gathered, two viking warlords head to the Great Hall to do battle. The rules of their contest are simple. One has their forces enter the battlefield from one side, and the other enters opposite them. Once battle is joined, the warband with no warriors left standing is the loser. Surrender is for the weak!
You loyal retainers each have three important resources they have to manage. Their strength, Armour and Will. While going in for the kill seems your best option, considering which resource to hit offers some interesting choices every time you strike. As a character’s Strength is both their health pool and attacking power, it is the most obvious thing for the inexperienced player to go after. However, an attacking character only deals damage equal to how much their current Strength exceeds an enemy’s Armour, so it is often necessary to whittle down their Armour before hitting Strength. Since armour has no effect on their attacking power though, it can often be necessary to hit an enemy just to try and bring their strength total below a nearby ally’s armour, shielding them from harm. Hitting the right resource at the right time can often be the difference between glorious victory or shameful defeat.
Will is that extra sauce you can add to your characters, granting your warriors bonuses just when you need it. When attacking or moving, you can consume a point of Will to get an extra point of damage or move an extra square. Characters get a very limited pool of will, so choosing how you use it will set the pace of a match. Do you hold it in reserve to smash down a heavy hitter on the enemy team, or do you use it as quickly as possible, hoping your foe will be caught on the back foot as you steamroll forwards?
Will is also used to trigger one of your warrior’s activated abilities. These special skills grant added depth to experienced players who create teams to capitalise on different ability combinations. To give a couple of examples of some of the possibilities the game grants from just a single character on a team, the Shieldbasher can smack another character away from them with their shield. They could use this on an allied Backbiter, knocking him forwards before he uses his ability to dash through enemy targets, turning him into a one man missile. Alternatively, you could bash an enemy frontliner through a pool of burning pitch laid down by a friendly Siege Archer, dealing massive damage while also cutting them off from the rest of their team.
The game’s mechanics appear simple at first, but offer a great amount of depth. There is little luck in its combat system, so it has more in common with Chess than XCOM. The only time a dice roll comes into play is if you are knowingly attacking a target with a higher armour than your character’s current strength. You don’t lose matches by happenstance, you lose matches because you used the wrong ability at the wrong time, put the wrong person in the wrong place, or weren’t able to capitalise on an enemy’s mistakes.
It’s also no chance that Factions has some excellent visual and sound design. Every character looks like they could fit into a one of the hand drawn Disney films of old. The game’s sound takes a minimalist approach, fitting the Viking theme well. When music starts playing, it’s all horns, bellowing and drums. It would have been tempting to go the route of Skyrim and add in a bunch of orchestral themes to give a sense of grandeur to the proceedings, but the game instead opts to keep things grounded with a thematically appropriate soundtrack.
While the game has great mechanics and aesthetics, Factions is crippled by its own free to play model. The game really opens up when you have access to the advanced class abilities, but you don’t begin the game with access to any of the advanced characters. It will take a player at least ten matches of Factions to get a full roster of advanced classes, and that’s assuming they win every single game they play. While matches can be varied in length, it took me just over four hours to get to the ‘real’ game. It’s a time investment that many people aren’t going to bother with, so they’ll likely never see the ‘real’ game hidden inside Factions.
On the up side, their model does not allow players to buy power, and doesn’t lock content away from free players in any fashion. A paying player can only buy the game’s in-game currency, or different colour options for the various classes. Once you’re past the initial hump, the game’s F2P options are one of the most fair on the free player I’ve seen, since there’s not even a separate currency for paid and free users, it all comes under the one currency of Renown. You can even unlock aesthetic options for free, only half of them are gated behind a paywall.
Another irksome thing about the game is that friends earn no renown when playing against one another. This is a system that actively discourages you from recommending the game to the people you know, and absolutely hammers its ability to gain players through word of mouth.
Unsurprisingly, the game has a tiny user base, which I don’t see growing with any speed while these issues remain in place. This can make the queue times fairly long for a game that needs to find only one other human being in the world. When you do get into a match most people have little reason to chat, beyond the odd “Nice move” and “gg”. The lack of any cooperative or team aspects to the game limits the need for communication, so it’s not the ideal game to go and make friends in. When people talk, they’re quite polite and helpful, but you’ll only get a sense for the passion some people have for the game on its official forums.
Unlike many games with matchmaking systems, the game does not ask you to confirm you are ready when it finds a match for you. Due to the long queue times, this can often mean matches start pre-emptively or even when a player is AFK. I’ve played against a number of dummy opponents who clearly got fed up of waiting before leaving, granting me an incredibly dull victory.
Factions is a game worth checking out, but likely not one worth investing money in. No-one will blame you for not making it past the dull initial grind, but at least pop it on sometime and bask in the game’s excellent opening cutscene. The single player releases to come will likely be excellent, building on the good framework set down by Factions. Hopefully the game will get a larger userbase after people react positively to the later releases.
The Banner Saga: Factions is currently available through Steam, and is absolutely free.
The Banner Saga: Factions
Factions is the free multiplayer release of The Banner Saga, a role-playing, turn-based strategy game putting you in control of a clan of battle-hardened Viking warriors. Build your customizable team of fighters from an ever-growing roster and battle online against friends and enemies across gorgeous landscapes in combat that feels like nothing you’ve played before.
Features:
Build Your Team: Name, upgrade, and train an entire clan of warriors to gain Renown, the uniform currency used to make all purchases within the game.
Unique Art Style: Inspired by Eyvind Earle, a prominent Disney animator in the 1950s, the cutscenes and gameplay look straight out of a fairy tale storybook. Except the fairy tale is about Vikings!
RNG-Free Tactical Combat: Don’t expect luck to carry you through this one. Every decision you make has impact and does exactly what you think it will do. Victory means you planned and reacted accordingly at all times.
Expanded Storyline: Upcoming single player campaigns will continue to expand and build a living world.
Gloria Victis Enters Pre-Alpha Testing
Gloria Victis Enters Pre-Alpha Testing
Gamers who were lucky enough to win keys in the various Gloria Victis contests and giveaways are now among the first to experience the indie Medieval experience of Gloria Victis. This early test only features a small Cliffside village and forested surroundings but the graphical improvement from prior images is astounding. For the rest of us interested in trying the game out though, Stage 2 of testing is a mere week away.
Stage Two of the Pre-Alpha will involve an update of two large maps, mobs, quests and possibly include a sneak peak of its sandbox crafting system. Gloria Victis will also be launching a fundraising campaign to ensure more server capacity to maximize the number of players able to jump in and test it out. Keep an eye out as MMOHuts and OnRPG will be hopping in during this stage to get you our Early Access impressions during this stage!
Initial reactions from Pre-Alpha testers has been positive with most comments pointing out the impressively built landscapes, realistic day/night and weather cycles and related lighting effects, and approving comments on the early stages of comment.
Those looking to ensure their spot in the alpha testing should keep an eye out on their official Facebook Page for upcoming giveaway opportunities. And be sure to check out our updated gallery of images.
Grimlands now on Kickstarter
Grimlands now on Kickstarter
After the announcement of Grimlands’ cancellation by publisher gamigo AG, developer DRAGO Entertainment has launched a campaign on Kickstarter to raise the funds required to finish the post-apocalyptic Shooter MMORPG true to its original vision.
In development at Polish studio DRAGO for over five years, Grimlands is an innovative mix of MMORPG and First- or Third Person Shooter. Thousands of players explore a huge open world that was laid in ruins by earthquakes and face the daily challenges of this deadly environment: Scarce resources fuel the PVE and PVP fights and force players to craft every item by themselves. Without level- or point-restrictions, players create their individual avatar just by playing in their favorite style and learning skills by using them. Clans fight over key locations in the game world using armed vehicles for support. Choosing if they want to be a lone wolf or trade and band together with other players is just one of the many parts of the sandbox-style gameplay.
Despite positive feedback on the last two Beta tests, a strategy-shift from development to distribution has led gamigo AG to cancel Grimlands. Following strong fan-support, the development team aims to finance the remaining work by turning to the community on Kickstarter.
“When gamigo announced they would no longer fund the development of Grimlands, we were all shocked, given we had spend more than five years on this game and are finally so close to release”, explains Lucjan Mikociak, Head of Development at DRAGO Entertainment. “However, at the same time the numerous outcries from Press and Players around the globe convinced us that the market eagerly awaits our title and that we have to keep working towards launch.”
On the decision to turn to Kickstarter, Mikociak comments: “There is no way around it: Big games need big money. Since gamigo stopped funding us in January, we have survived thanks to friends and family support. However, in order to properly finish the game by year’s end, we need further funding of 650.000 USD. After talking to several publishers and investors we feel only Kickstarter allows this without compromising our vision!”
OnRPG Shotgun News 4/8: Grimlands, Yitien, and City of Steam
OnRPG Shotgun News 4/8: Grimlands, Yitien, and City of Steam
By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Elder Scribe
Grimlands Moves to Kickstarter
After the announcement that Grimlands would shut down by publisher gamigo the developers DRAGO Entertainment are turning to Kickstarter to raise the funds required to finish the post apocalyptic shooter. They made this decision after receiving huge support from the fans. There are 24 days to go in the campaign to raise $650,000.
Yitien Beta Approaches

The beta for Teamtop Games and Reality Squared’ Asian themed MMO Yitien starts tomorrow. But players can sign up for the browser based game now by visiting the official website. Also keep an eye out for beta packs at OnRPG later today!
City of Steam Dev Journal Heads Into the Wilds

Things seem to be settling back to normal at Mechanist after an exciting month of PAX East and GDC. And to get back into the swing of things the dev team are talking about new public areas that lie between suburbs. The Wilderness. Huge open zones with creatures that spawn everywhere when you least expect them. Included the dreaded boss. (See image above)
Crowd Funds: Interview with Camelot UnchainedÂs Mark Jacobs
Crowd Funds: Interview with Camelot Unchained’s Mark Jacobs
Questions by Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist
Answers by Mark Jacobs; City State Entertainment Co-Founder
For the first official article in the new Crowdfunding focused column, Crowd Funds, I got the pleasure of interviewing Mark Jacobs from City State Entertainment, the minds behind Camelot Unchained. He has famously worked on everything from Godzilla Online to Dark Age of Camelot. And his new game currently called Camelot Unchained has been causing quite a stir. As of right now on Monday, April 8, 2013, not even a week into the Kickstarter campaign City State Entertainment is just shy of the 1 million dollar mark; that means they’re almost half way. And while Mark is undoubtedly a very busy man with all his rubber ducks and running a business I had the pleasure of asking him a little bit about the Camelot Unchained Kickstarter campaign, business choices, and much more.
Hi Mark, thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few questions. Congratulations on getting the Kickstarter campaign off the ground, it looks like it is going to be a huge success.
Hey! Thanks for the kind words but we’re not there yet. We are certainly off to a great start, but we also had the advantage of having a lot of people excited about our game before we launched the Kickstarter.
So lets get right into it. What made Kickstarter a viable option for City State Entertainment? Why did this become the route you decided to take instead of a more traditional publisher?
As to why we didn’t want to go to a publisher, there are really three reasons. First, we wanted to keep ownership/control of our IP. As the number of publishers has dwindled, they have gotten ever more insistent about owning all or a big piece of any game they publish. I’ve fought against that my whole career, and I wasn’t about to give in now. Secondly, Camelot Unchained is a risky venture because it is a niche, tightly RvR-focused MMORPG with no PvE. That’s not an exciting prospect for most publishers.
Third and most importantly, we wanted to make our game for our backers. I have no interest in trying to make WoW 2.0 or an F2P MMORPG. My interest is to make a great, RvR-focused MMORPG that doesn’t have to figure out how to monetize every aspect of a player’s experience. I don’t play MMORPGs like that, and I don’t want to create them.
Why did you decide to go with so many reward tiers? Was there any worry that it might be too complicated?
It was and remains a risk, but I wanted to put together the many tiers as a thank-you to the community that has been so supportive of us. This is my way of expressing my deep appreciation for that support. If it works out for us, fabulous, but I’d rather risk confusing some people than disappointing them.
What made you decide to publish your Foundational Principles? Is this something you think all MMO studios should do or is it something that has come about because of Kickstarter?
I always tried to create similar documents at Mythic Entertainment, whether it was for Warhammer or other games. By publishing them beforehand, we helped to build buzz among the community by showing them the kind of game we wanted to create. As to whether other MMO studios should do that, it’s up to them.
There has already been discussion in the community of what possible stretch goals there might be. Do you plan on having any? If so what sorts of things might they include?
Absolutely! As to what they are, well, the most obvious ones are additional races and classes. As to some of the others, that would be telling.
Do you foresee Kickstarter letting you do anything particularly unusual with the game now that you are free of publisher input and “answer” to the fans?
Absolutely! This game is based on the principle that we don’t need to design a game that has to attract 1M players to be successful. It also means we can take chances with the game design going forward because again, we are not trying to appeal to 1M players or a publisher who thinks certain ideas are too risky for this type of game.

The Kickstarter campaign has started. Were you surprised by the huge rush in the first few minutes?
Not at all. Thanks to all the wonderful support we have gotten from the players and sites such as OnRPG, our Kickstarter got off to a really great start.
Now I’d like to break away from the Kickstarter campaign and talk about the game itself.
Character customization has come a long way through the years, from getting to only pick a hair style in the old days to the amazing detail today with facial structure and even fingernail length. How important is this to you and how much of it will we see in Camelot Unchained?
Oh, we are so going to have a fingernail slider! Andrew is already working on it. After that, he’ll move on to the earlobe and eyelash ones, then the most important of all, the extra cheese and bacon slider! In truth, we don’t consider any of that important for Camelot Unchained. We have no interest or desire to try to compete for the title of “prettiest MMO of the year” or such stuff. Our engine is being designed to do one thing better than anything else, put more good (but not outstanding) models on the screen at one time while still maintaining a good framerate and fluidity of gameplay. If we can’t do that, we will fail.
Do you think you are taking risks having a monthly sub model in this age of apparent F2P ?
Absolutely, but only if we were trying to make a game with a broad appeal. I don’t hate all F2P games, just the ones where you are either meant to feel like a loser if you don’t immediately cough up some dough, or worse, that you are playing what used to be called, in arcade game parlance, a “quarter sucker”. That’s why I don’t play most F2P titles – and don’t get me started on “pay to win” games or I’ll really go off an rant.
What do you think is the special factor that breeds realm or faction pride, instead of just picking from the menu so you can play the game?
The first step is to create three different realms, each with a strong backstory and unique physical appearance, and to separate them geographically. Next, make sure that we won’t have mirrored races, classes or anything like that. What we are going to have are realms, races and classes that can stand on their own and are different from each other. Once you’ve done that, make sure there is plenty of motivation to fight the enemy (easy as we are a RvR game), but also to hate them; we will do this as well, and that’s only the beginning of the story.
Finally, if there was one thing you could say to fans or potential fans to convince them to support Camelot Unchained what would it be?
If you are looking for a game where RvR isn’t the endgame but the only game – a game where your choices matter and where the developer is not only willing to risk his time but also his own money, then the Camelot Unchained Kickstarter is waiting for you.
Once again I’d like to thank Mark Jacobs and everyone else who made this interview possible. Including you guys the readers! If Camelot Unchained sounds like your kind of game there is still plenty of time to back it. And if they really do get a bacon slider in, it might just win tastiest game of the year at the end of the year awards in December. I would put that one to max.
Can’t get enough of Camelot Unchained? Be sure to catch our over 40 minute detailed interview with Mark to get a deeper understanding of the founding principles:























