We recently had a chance to interview David Allen (President and Co-founder of Quest Online) and Hue Henry (Alganon Lead Designer) about the upcoming MMORPG Alganon which set to release on Oct 31st. Check out the Alganon interview below.
1. Your website mentions “custom dynamic quests”. Could you elaborate on these custom quests and will they be in the game at launch?
Our quest system allows us to check for multiple different character attributes (or even account or world-wide attributes) and change a player’s available quests based on these criteria. This allows for us to design quests that, based on player choices and the state of the world, are different for each player. This system allows us to not only setup simple quest chains, but also to create a system where custom quests are available based on player choice.
While the system for these quests will be in at launch, they will not be used to their full capacity right away. We know that if we create content where a player’s actions choose a personal nemesis, we are actually denying them access to the content where that character is not their nemesis. We know that if there is a choice where all rewards are identical, the choice doesn’t have much meaning. If the rewards are different, players may feel regret about their choice because they missed out on the reward they wanted.
For these reasons, we are greatly limiting this content in our release content. The content available at release is a foundation and introduction to the game that is meant to be available to all players. In the future, when we add additional content, we plan to use this system to adapt the player’s experience to their own personal choices.
2. You seem to have an aggressive patch/expansion schedule planned post-release. I know that the first expansion will include new races and classes. Can you give us any more insight into what is planned for the early expansions of Alganon?
Alganon at launch will be a complete game, with more features and content than many other MMOGs on the market, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop there. Alganon was built to grow with our players. We have more than two years of expansions and new features already planned, and our goal is to release an expansion every 6 months. Upcoming expansions will include new races, classes, instances, domains, and more.
We also have some unique plans between expansions, such as the upcoming “Dawning” event that begins at launch. We feel that our players are as important to the lore of Alganon as any NPC or fictional character we create, and so we want them to be a part of the story of the world’s evolution. Content will be added prior to these expansions that allows players to take part in opening the expansion, and the effects our players have on the world will be added to the permanent history of the game, so that future players can forever remember the heroes that came before them.
3. Alganon has to compete in the very crowded fantasy MMO space. What is the “killer-feature” that Alganon brings to the table to make it stand out?
If there is one core feature that sets Alganon aside from the other MMOGs it’s the study system, the ability to set character progress that takes place regardless of whether or not you’re online. This is very cool because it rewards players for being a part of the game, not just for playing. If players have real-world commitments, such as work, school, or family, they can take care of those commitments and when they return, they will find that their studies have opened new content, alternate forms of play, and increased the power of their characters. As long as they remain subscribed and keep their studies queued, they will continue to advance and be rewarded.
4. There has been a bit of noise on various forums and even in your beta test channels about Alganon being “another WoW clone.” You guys seem to have taken those comments well, but does it bother you at all to have your work dismissed in such a way?
It only bothers us because it may keep players who would love Alganon from playing the game. I hate to think that someone would miss out on a game they’d love to play because someone jumped to the wrong conclusion and posted it on every game forum they could find. That bothers me, but the fact that people think our game is similar to the most popular MMOG of all time, does not. I see it like forming a band and having everyone compare you to The Beatles, or building your own car and being told it’s very similar to a Ferrari, or being told that the novel you wrote is like Lord of the Rings, except with different characters, a different plot, and it doesn’t take place in Middle Earth.
There is a reason WoW is successful. It is full of fun gameplay encounters, has a deep and well-written lore, and has beautiful scenery and world-design. Alganon is full of fun gameplay encounters, has a deep and well-written lore, and has beautiful scenery and world-design – but our gameplay encounters, our lore, and our world-design are very different. Alganon is all original content, and as long as people play and enjoy the game, that’s what counts.
5. On your website, you indicate that you will proceed with a controlled release, allowing a limited number of subscribers into the game each month. How many keys will you be creating each month? Are you concerned that you will discourage would-be subscribers who cannot get in at release?
We’re currently re-working some of our BETA policies to bring more players to Alganon. This will become apparent over the next few weeks as we work with IGN to distribute more keys.
Although our numbers are “limited,” it does not mean they are “small.” Every MMO release has the same issues, and many of these releases are due to extreme numbers of players hitting the servers simultaneously. We just want to let players know that we may be handling those issues by limiting our release, rather than simply letting these numbers ruin the experience for everyone. We would rather have a smaller subscriber base that truly loves the game, than a larger subscriber base that does not.
6. Who drew the wonderful in-game world maps?
Doug Shuler, or lead concept artist. He is also responsible for the wonderful concept art seen on our website!
7. In your explanation of the Deity and Crusade system, you indicate that you will have gods controlled by paid, in-house staff directing their followers into wars of conquest. This feature sounds awesome on paper, but difficult and costly in reality. Will role-played deities and crusades be in at launch, or is this a long-term goal? How will you deal with the possibility for favoritism?
Technically, it’s not very difficult, it’s simply entity control. We already have a tool called GOD that allows the CSGM to do a whole myriad of things. Allowing certain CSGMs to embody a deity and enter the world is more about policy – what they can and can’t do, and that’s something we’re still finalizing.