Recently, Perfect World Entertainment announced that Forsaken World will be launching on the 9th of March (today!). As you may know, the Lore Hound crew has been checking the game out for some time, and you can see for yourself what we think of it so far. By the looks of it, we got at least a couple of you interested in checking this title out. For those of you who want more of an insider look at the game, we bring you an interview with Clifton Chu, Product Manager of Forsaken World. Today, we get some more details on the game and its features, Twong gets his question answered and we find out whether those damn Vampires really don’t sparkle.
For those that haven’t been following our coverage of Forsaken World, can you give us a quick synopsis of the MMORPG (in three or so sentences)?
Forsaken World is Perfect World Entertainment’s first game built from the ground up with the western audience in mind. Players can look forward to a darker, fantasy driven game with Dwarves that are more steam punk than drunk, Vampires that don’t sparkle and Stonemen, living, breathing forces of nature.
The beta phase has been pegged as the main reason to the early launch. What made you decide to launch two weeks ahead of schedule?
This has been our largest and longest closed beta to date and thanks to our active closed beta community, we were able to finish localization and polishing the game ahead of schedule. Given that Forsaken World has been our most anticipated game to date, we figured; why not launch two weeks ahead of schedule if the game is ready?
What kind of feedback has been the most unexpected or interesting?
We’re very fortunate to have such a dedicated and loyal fan base where they will try a new game and give feedback on not only what’s wrong, but how to fix it. One of the features that wasn’t originally planned for launch, but was requested by our players was the addition of the auction house. The auction house system was suggested by our players, and the developers were able to integrate that feature for closed beta testing as well as for launch.
Did anything that community members mentioned cause a major change or rethinking?
There’s always room for improvement in games and with MMOs, it’s more of a service than end product where we are constantly tweaking and improving features based on player feedback. Since Forsaken World was built with the western audience in mind, one thing that we weren’t expecting was the positive feedback we received from our Asian players who really liked some of the features that we implemented, and this is something we’ll keep in mind across all of our games.
Let’s go over some of the more interesting features of the game. Have you decided how the Gods system will be implemented?
The God system will not be available at launch. This feature is still under development and we are still deciding on how it will be implemented in the game so that it will be fair for all players and won’t be abused.
Can you expand on server progression and the server versus server content in Forsaken World?
The server progression is tied into the prayer system. As players pray, the server will unlock additional content for all of the players. Due to server configurations, there will not be server versus server content available at launch.
The Zodiac (horoscope) system is another interesting attribute of the title. Can you tell us its purpose and how it ties in to gameplay?
The Zodiac system is a fun way to customize your character and ties into the prayer system. Depending on what symbol the prayer system is on, you will get different items or experience points from the gods based on your own Zodiac symbol.
What functionality do guild bases have, besides being a cool hang-out spot and a place to trade with acquaintances?
The floating guild bases, not only serve as a cool place for your guild to hang out, but also as a place with guild-specific content such as quests, skills, fashion, gear and items. Furthermore, guilds are able to upgrade their bases and even charge outsiders an entrance fee into the guild base.
What motivated the inclusion of the Kindred race, along with the unique Vampire class? Come on, admit it, it was Twilight, right?
While not totally reliant on Twilight, we did see that there was a lack of vampires in MMOs and thought it would be a great race to introduce in Forsaken World. Vampires have a huge following including the Twilight crowd, and I think fans will have a lot of fun playing as one in our game.
Despite having a pretty in-depth pet system in the game, some of our readers found that the starter pets don’t do much else besides auto-attacking your target. Does their behavior get more complex later on, and is Perfect World planning to add more to this aspect of gameplay?
Yes, while the beginner pet mainly auto-attacks for you, as you progress through the game, you will be able to acquire and customize pets with different abilities. Later in the game, pets can be used to not only assist you in attacking, but also serve to aid you in battle by giving you health and mana.
How have the PvP systems evolved from Closed Beta/Open Beta? What can players who like to dabble in PvP expect from Forsaken World?
World PvP is an option that is readily available on our PvP servers. In addition, guilds can declare war on one another regardless of server PvP/PvE status. This allows players from different guilds to participate in open world PvP in a PvE server. Additionally, we will be implementing a new PvP Arena system with 3v3 and 6v6 group combat.
Forsaken World has a number of unique elements that make it stand out from the rest. However, you might get a feature that developers have put some effort into, but is generally overlooked by players. Are there examples of such features in the game that you’d like to herald before this week’s launch?
There are some small details that while not highlighted as a feature, nonetheless showcase our attention to detail, including the death animations for the different races. If you play as a Stoneman, your character will freeze into stone, fall and shatter while as a Kindred, you will clutch your heart and explode into a flurry of bats. In addition, if you are running low on health, the screen will warn you by glowing red, which really helps if you are squishy character.
Along with a number of standard instances, Forsaken World makes use of ‘events’. Can you tell us a little bit more about them?
There are tons of daily events that players can choose that range from typical raids to more casual, problem solving type of activities. One such daily event is the Nightmare Carnival, where players will have to navigate through a room filled with poisonous gas, compete in a variation of a Simon says mini-game and afterward use their characters to balance a weight platform filled with a random number of hobgoblins.
Any last words before launch?
Thanks to all of our closed beta participants that have helped us launch Forsaken World two weeks ahead of schedule. For those who still might be on the fence, we’d like to say that since our games are truly free-to-play, you have very little to lose by trying them, but a whole lot to gain, especially if you are tired of paying a monthly subscription fee.
Thanks for your time and good luck going live!