Spirit Tales Launch Interview
By Bryan King (Bryan), OnRPG Journalist
Answers by Elliott, KoramGame Community Manager
Spirit Tales, developed by X-Legend and published by KoramGame, prides itself on being “the cutest fantasy game ever”. I recently got a chance to sit down and speak to Elliott, Community Manager of KoramGame about this upcoming title, and how it will use its “cute” niche to take the MMO market by storm.
Hello Elliott, please introduce yourself to our readers.
Hello Readers! I’m Elliott, Community Manager for Spirit Tales. I’m pretty much the one running the events, posting on our forums, Facebook, Twitter, and just about everywhere else. Some readers might recognize me from some other games I’ve worked on in the past, but I’m guessing most haven’t! I’m really proud to be a part of Spirit Tales, and I hope to see everyone come online on May 10th.
Can you go into depth about Spirit Tales’ storyline?
The basic story behind Spirit Tales is that a vast continent was formed sometime in the past and life eventually blossomed forth and flourished there. Over time, certain tribes of people came to inhabit the land and lived in peace and harmony for countless millennia until one day, spurred on by greed and ambition, the tribes of the North attacked. The Southern tribes, finding themselves caught within the shadow of the Northern onslaught, were forced to retreat to the southernmost reaches of the continent – to the rich and fertile, Autumnal Grove. There, within that final haven, the last hope of their people lies in the hands of the Glorious Shield, a resistance force made up of valiant and fearless individuals from each of the Southern tribes.
We feel like we hit a nice balance between story, quest line, and exciting gameplay elements; something our users can easily see just by playing our game.
Spirit Tales was developed originally in Taiwan, and was recently brought to North American shores in 2012, what did your team do in order to best fit this game to its new audience?
We have taken the game in a direction that tailors more to the American and European audiences by incorporating the market needs into the overall picture. So a lot of the content will be separate from other versions of the games already released in different regions of the world. For example, we’ve added more depth into the story line, provided more information to help guide users, and hosted community events exclusive to the Spirit Tales name. And that’s only the beginning. We have many new features in the pipeline that will really differentiate our game from any other.
Can you go into detail about the “pet capture” system in Spirit Tales?
Of course I can. Basically, nearly every in-game monster you come across in the world of Spirit Tales can be captured, trained, and evolved. Because you can have multiple pets in the game, the interaction between players and pets then becomes two-fold; one pet can be used in a way that boosts your character’s stats, while another may be summoned to fight right alongside you. Outside of these two interactions, players can train their pets, evolve them (which is actually something different than leveling them up), and refine them into an even stronger version. Also, the pet system is not only limited to world monsters, but also dungeon bosses and rare event monsters.
What other features separate Spirit Tales from other F2P games?
We have been very open and transparent with everything in the game, including making the game as easily accessible as possible. We made it easier for players to find what they are looking for and what it takes to move forward in the game. We also included a full drop list for every monster in the game where players can just click one button to see everything a mob will drop. We also don’t hide things like enhancement rates; we have the percent chance of success right on the interface.
Our goal is to get people playing our game, not wasting their time with fillers and time sinks. Even though these tweaks sound small and unimportant, we know a lot of gamers out there who will care about the nitty gritty details of a game.
What classes does Spirit Tales offer? What differentiates them all?
To begin with, Spirit Tales places a huge emphasis on the individual, apart from their specific class. As of right now, players will have six main classes to choose from though and over 40 million different character customization and costume options that coincide with this. The six main classes are Fighter, Shaman, Warrior, Archer, Assassin, and Sorcerer.
What differentiates the classes from one another has to do primarily with party role as well as damage and weapon type, along with the tribe they belong to which dictates their overall appearance.
Typical player reacting to news of launch delay
How has your community responded to the Open Beta delay so far?
With the announcement of the delay of open beta, many players were upset, which was understandable. However, we are certain players will realize that Spirit Tales is worth the wait and that we made the right decision, even though it was difficult to do. We are really appreciative of the patience of our community with regards to this, and plan on rewarding them accordingly.
What PvP features does Spirit Tales have that is sure to enthrall your audience?
Spirit Tales has PvE Arenas where players can take on waves of monsters in a coliseum-like setting, 5v5 PvP Arenas for individual players along with teams, and PvP Tournaments that span multiple level brackets where players can earn special prizes. Last, but definitely not least, we have the soon-to-be-famous 1v5 PvP Arena where a player can transform into a dungeon boss to take on up to 5 players in a brilliant display of Spirit Tales uniqueness.
Cash shops in free to play games have been quite the topic lately, with many MMOs switching to a F2P format, and the MMO community is split in terms of how to better improve this economy to keep paying players and non-paying players in mind. What has your team done in terms of keeping the entire cash shop system balanced?
Well for one, we have made 100% of the game content available to all users, regardless of whether or not they pay. We will never withhold any sort of game content from users behind a “paywall.” Furthermore, we have made certain that all the items available in the Item Mall are fully tradable, making every item available to users in this way. In addition, X-Legend, the developer of the game, has been closely monitoring the economic impact and has exclusively designed Spirit Tales to be extremely balanced in terms of gold sinks and gold income.
What is your target audience for “Spirit Tales”? Many players may be taken aback by the “cutesy” setting. What do you have to say for many users who may feel that way?
Our target audience is basically any MMORPG fan that likes a fun, vibrant, and fast-paced game complete with community involvement and loads of content. Although Spirit Tales is a game that’s chalk full of adorable creatures and captivating colors, there’s much more than meets the eye. The gameplay is fast, in-depth, requires complex strategies, team work, and character control to be most effective. There’s plenty of content in both the PvP and PvE side of things that’ll satisfy any type of gamer.
The game’s “Guild Islands” feature seems quite enticing; can you go into detail about this to our readers?
As we all know, guilds have had a long standing tradition in most MMORPGs; providing players with the ability to socialize with both old and new friends alike. With that in mind, Spirit Tales has taken the whole guild tradition in an exciting new direction with Guild Islands. Members can build a guild that’s entirely one-of-a-kind by working together and constructing special add-ons. Players can also forgo upgrades entirely to make the Guild Island a simple getaway from the hustle and bustle of everyday MMO life.
Can you tell us a bit about the newly announced sweetheart system?
A huge and often necessary part of the MMORPG experience is building relationships with other players. This unique social system allows players to take their in-game relationships in a non-traditional direction by giving them the opportunity to partner up and even find “love” with a character of the opposite or the same sex. Providing both depth and an increasingly fun atmosphere to the game, players that choose to become a part of the Sweetheart System will unlock exclusive features and upgrades. In essence, the Sweetheart System allows players to take new or existing relationships to a fun new level, or just reaffirm those special ones that some players may already have.
What new changes have been added as of the official launch on May 10th?
What players can expect is that the level cap will be raised to 45 on the day of launch, and will be increased shortly after. There will also be 1 new zone, 2 new daily dungeons, and a Sigil Stone System that allows players to upgrade their equipment by providing bonuses to specific skills or stats. There will also be pet refining and evolution, along with new legendary (purple) equipment from world bosses and dungeon bosses made available during open beta.
Are there any major updates coming up for Spirit Tales?
As it stands right now, we are planning to have a very aggressive and rapid content release schedule, but we can’t give away too much detail about this right now. However, our first update will be less than one month after our open beta launch. That’s all I can say!
In one sentence, tell our readers why they should visit st.koramgame.com right now.
Every visit to our website will earn you bacon and a lolcat! (Not really, but come visit anyways!)
Is there anything else you’d like to tell our readers?
Register for a free Spirit Tales account at our official website. And be sure to like us on Facebook for exclusive giveaways, event information and so much more! I hope to see everyone on May 10!