Cabal Online Europe Interview: Getting Into the Updates for OnRPG
Questions by: Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist
Answered by: Anthony Smith
OnRPG: Hello and thank you for giving us the opportunity to bug you guys! We on OnRPG were pretty curious with the game updates of Cabal Online, the two new dungeons, Illusion Castle and Steamer Crazy. So far, how’s the reception of the players to these two new dungeons?
Both Illusion Castle and Steamer Crazy have been welcomed by the players as signs of the direction that the developer team want to take with the dungeon design. Illusion Castle’s free camera view and unique cavern-like feel, and the challenging nature of the solo Steamer Crazy are the most-praised aspects if we go by player feedback.
OnRPG: Can you tell us how Illusion Castle and Steamer Crazy fit into the whole story of Navareth?
Illusion Castle ties in with the main story of Cabal Online, involving one of the key NPC’s from the story quests who have gone missing. The player is tasked with entering one of the main Strongholds of one of the strongest monster Clans to go and look for this NPC.
Steamer Crazy is not connected with the main storyline, but thematically it ties in with the area where it is located – a wasteland populated with semi-sentient machines. We cannot give away more than that without spoiling the dungeon!
OnRPG: Aside from the requirements, dungeon type, location and the entrance item what are the differences between these two new dungeons?
Illusion Castle is a group-dungeon, with several boss-encounters, hidden quests and mind-boggling challenges to overcome. It is set inside a huge maze of caverns for players to explore and provides some of the best loot that is to be found within the game.
Steamer Crazy, on the other hand, is strictly a solo dungeon with a choice of three difficulty settings – easy, medium and hard. The dungeon is literally set on the back of a moving train, and the player has to fight through specific objectives in a limited amount of time. The dungeon is fast, frantic and is certainly not for the feint hearted.
OnRPG: How many new monsters were introduced at the opening of Illusion Castle and Steamer Crazy? What were the things you considered when you were thinking of the monsters you would include in the dungeons? How much effort do players need to exert to take down the monsters found on Illusion Castle and Steamer Crazy?
The monsters inside both dungeons are members of the two monster clans serving as the opponents. Inside Illusion Castle the players will find themselves pitted against much stronger versions of the monsters from the Phantasmal Clan, and the bosses are all new – both in appearance and abilities and tactics. Inside Steamer Crazy players will find some of the Metal Clan monsters at the start, and all new monsters in the second part of the dungeon.
OnRPG: What were the things you considered when you included the New Epic Weaponry, Lycanus as drop items in Illusion castle?
The Lycanus weapons are very special. Unlike any other weapons available in-game at the moment they come with three bonus options at the same time (the normal is one), and they are character-binding once picked up. They have the potential to be some of the most powerful weapons in Cabal, so they were made binding to compensate and to protect the market. Of course, you will also notice the fantastic appearance of these weapons – they are really raising the bar as far as aesthetics are concerned.
OnRPG: Where did the title Lycanus come from? How does it fit to the whole Cabal lore?
Lycanus weapons can only be obtained from one specific location: Players have to defeat Kaneph Lycanus, the final boss of the Illusion Castle dungeon. The weapons are therefore named after the foe that drops them.
OnRPG: Will the new equipment affect the game’s balance? Why or why not?
Lycanus weapons have the potential to be very powerful, but to compensate for this they are bound to the character that picked them up. They are also not that easy to find, so given the current state of the game they will not have an adverse effect on the game balance and will in fact improve the gameplay experience for many players.
OnRPG: Included in the recent changes in the game is the revamped UI, why did you do so?
The revamped UI is only the first part of complete interface revamp, and it provides a much cleaner, more modern-looking UI for the game. It was one of the areas really in need of improvement, with a general consensus among users and developers that the old user-interface was simply too “cluttered”. Furthermore it now allows 24 skills on the skill quick-slot (expanded from 12), a much-needed change with all the skills players now have available to them.
OnRPG: Did the players request for the UI changes or were they were taken from observations by the Cabal Team? How did you get the response from the players?
Creating ‘skins’ that changes the appearance of the default game UI is one of the activities the Cabal community is known for. The most popular of these ‘skins’ changed the appearance of the UI to a much more modern looking one, and the developer team saw that there was a need to improve the UI appearance. They also took the chance to improve the functionality of the UI, offering more skill slots, and quicker access to important functions with the new UI.
OnRPG: Will there be any updates for low level characters in Cabal in the future? Why or Why not?
We just received several updates aimed at improving the game experience for new and lower-level characters. Several ‘training’ dungeons were introduced that are essentially easier versions of the higher-level dungeon instances, and can give fantastic equipment for low-levels as reward.
We have also recently added a 7-day bonus to all new players of the game, with additional experience, access to the premium channels and extra inventory space. It should certainly help new players begin their adventure in the world of Nevareth.
Inventory Space
OnRPG: Were the changes included in the Illusion castle, Steamer Cazy update necessary? Or were they geared to providing a more convenient game system for players?
The changes that came with Illusion Castle were implemented to give a better gaming experience for our players. Cabal is constantly evolving and improving, and we have a very active developer team. The changes such as the improved UI and the improved party system are 100% aimed at creating a better experience, to make playing Cabal smoother and more fun.
OnRPG: What do you consider was the biggest game system change you did in this update? Why do you think so?
The Party System was completely re-created for this update, giving players several much-requested and much-needed abilities, such as being able to form parties across maps and channels, and in perhaps the one function requested more than any other: Players in a party can now re-enter a dungeon instance if they disconnected while inside, without having to pay a second entry fee. The reaction of the Cabal community to this feature was also overwhelmingly positive.
OnRPG: Are these changes also present on the other servers of Cabal Online? Or are these only exclusive to the Europe server? Why or why not?
With the exception of the Korean service all other versions of the game (including the European and US) receive updates at the same time.
OnRPG: Will there be any more major game updates in 2010?
Without wishing to give too much away we have a very active development schedule for 2010, much of which we have yet to announce. To give a small flavour, the next patch, just released in Korea, added two brand new dungeons, new equipment, a daily quest system and major changes to the party search system.
OnRPG: Thank you for your time!
