I recently had the opportunity to interview Hermann Petersheck producer of Jumpgate Evolution at Netdevil. Being that the inteview was a bit long, this is not a complete word by word transcript, but instead just the juicy parts.
Q: Going back to the original Jumpgate, which used a classic cockpit/first person perspective, what was the reason for changing this to a 3rd person/chase perspective as seen in the recent footage at PAX?
A: We didn’t actually change it, we added that to it. The reasoning was we wanted to appeal to more diverse kinds of players. There is first person mode in the game right now, but we haven’t done cockpits yet, which we plan on doing it.
Q: Players travel throughout the game by using Jumpgates. Does this work like StarTrek where I can “jump” my ship from one area to another at anytime or do I have to travel to a designated area to use a physical gate to make jumps?
A: There like portals, you fly to them and you jump to whatever that next area connects to.
Q: So no warp drives?
A: We might do something like that at some point, but it’s always kinda dangerous adding teleports to a MMO because there’s value in travel time. What I mean by that is if it takes you a while to get somewhere in order to get something of value, if you take that time of travel away you have to make sure that balances against the reward. We might do something like a warp drive at some point, but it’s not planned right now.
Q: It seems that PvP has made a recent revival with Warhammer Online and Age of Conan. How does your PvP system work?
A: We are planning a couple of different things. One is where you’re just fighting someone in open space and you gain XP from it. Then there’s battle space, sort of an arena type system that’s scenario based where there are clear objectives for the players. So the first one were working on is with two Capital ships approaching and you have to take out the other person’s Capital ship before they take yours out. So it allows for huge ships in space to fight each other with huge amount of people on either side. That’s an instanced space sort of PvP scenario.
The original game had a thing called beacons where you would convert the beacons to your side for your nation and based on that you would get certain benefits. For example posting auctions would be cheaper or repair costs would be lower based on how much space you controlled. So that would give people focal points to go after and there’s a sense of owning a certain part of space. Those might be outposts that are defended, if you own them the defenses would fight for you.
Q: Will there be open PvP servers?
A: We’ve talked about that a lot internally. Most MMOs do the standard PvE with designated PvP areas then servers that are Open PvP, but we’ve talked about mixing them some way. Possibly a flag based system where at character creation the player would chose what sort of experience they wanted. So when you make a character you can choose hardcore mode and you play together with other players with different rules. I don’t know if it will work on not, we’ll have to see when we test it.
The thing I hate about the PvP server solution is that these kinds of players are over here segregated from these other players and there segregated because they want a different gaming experience. Is it possible to allow the two groups to play with different rules in the same world or is that confusing. I don’t know the answer to that. Those are the types of ideas we’ve had.
Q: Scenarios have been a big hit in Warhammer Online allowing gamers to join PvP battles from anywhere on the map. Does Jumpgate Evo plan on anything similar?
A: They did that so perfect so that is something we would want to do. Normally you go talk to a guy who represents the PvP arena and you have to get in queue and sit around a wait, that’s boring. I really like that solution so I plan to do that type of thing. I love that instant PvP solution.
Q: How does Jumpgate Evo handle player death? Will there be looting?
A: Right now when you die your stuff is damaged and you go back to the last station you were in where you have to pay to have your ship repaired, but you don’t lose your equipment or ship. As far as rewards, I like the idea that PvP gives you similar rewards to PvE. So in other words if I defeat you in battle, I get XP points, maybe a bounty and you can do a loot roll against players and have them drop different stuff. I think were going to stay away from the, I kill you, you’re going to drop all your stuff and I’m going to pick it up, simply because it’s so fraustrating for the victim.
However as I eluded before we contemplated the idea of this sort of, hardcore mode sort of thing, so if you play in that mode the rules are different, so then if you do die maybe you’ll lose your stuff or ship, but in exchange you’ll advance more rapidly. Right now for the normal type of game play, you don’t lose items.
Q: Being a space combat MMO there will obviously be comparisons between Jumpage Evolution and Eve Online. Is your game better?
A: I don’t like the word better, I’ve played Eve quite a bit and I actually like it, a lot. I think it’s more like we’re very different. We’re trying to create a different type of space experience, which is more an action kind of game where you’re flying in your ship, you’re engaging in combat that is skill based, it’s more of an intimate kind of experience. Were not necessarily trying to beat Eve, were trying to create a different type of experience.
how will the economy work if you dont lose stuff when u die.. Once everything is made for everyone you will only have to repair and manufacturers lose their job.
Also. how will different game modes work in a mmo.. You cant have hard core mode for some then put in easy mode(god mode) for others.. people will abuse this for sure.. for instance, spying.
You say you are trying to make a space action based mmo. But I dont think you know who you are trying to sell this game to. You want the pvp crowd, but you limit the pvp to something like CS or battlefield.. PVP without meaning will not attract you the EvE crowd. We the pvpers are tired of this crusade of dumbing down games, and making them easy just to please carebears. Eve is the only game devoted to true PVP. the rest is just silly. And I dont even like EvE.
@Darius
If u dont know ,shut up and bugger off!
I still play Jumgate Classic and its the best Space MMO at this time. Ok Graphics is old but this will change in Jumgate Evolution. PvP coud be done in every server Version because of unregulated Space!.
So i coudnt await to play Jumgate Evolution
Regards Spawn-sc
To be honest I won’t play this game as it stands from what I just read. I only play one mmo eve currently because it has such a great pvp mechanics set. Not dropping loot and having your ships destroyed will destroy the market in-game as well as make your game wow in space. This is highly disappointing. If you don’t want carebears to cry their sweet tears then have a “learning” high security zone for them to exist in, it works fine for eve and give the pvp’rs the freedom that keeps them subscribed for years.
EvE isnt a PvP Game i play eve since launch and i have a 50 mill skill char but the fights are still point and klick, thats no PvP in my thoghts.
The economy works still for traders if u loose youre ship or not because Stations every time needs minerals and components for building stuff. So if u want to be rich u coud be in JGE.
The PvP Zone is unregulated like in eve the 0.0 Sectors. If u want to stay safe dont go there.
You coud do same Things in regulated Space.
Regards Spawn-sc
Wow, i’m crushed.
I’m an avid JG fan from it’s earlier version, but this new game sounds horrible. Safe zones, PvP flags, randomized loot drops, meaningless death…
Please NETDEVIL rename this game!!! This is NOT jumpgate anylonger. JG had balls. This game is watered down neutered crap.
This is what happens when you put a guy in charge who has no idea what the original game was about.
Oh well.
They are still working on many of the core game features, so nothing is set in stone yet. We’ll keep you updated as we get more info.
If items decay or loose durrability points the no item loss on death is ok. Otherwise It kills crafters as was proven in SWG before they added the decay system.
PvP and PvE players in a group together doing stuff don’t mix as has been proven in early Everquest 1. when the PvP people get jumped it leavs the PvE people in a bad situation especialy if the group is in a big fight, which has allways been when the PvP people get engaged. Many other things get wonky when the 2 mingle. A PvP server is the only solution. On PvE servers unreg space is the only valid place to PvP, regulated space should never allow PvP.
I played the Original Jumpgate when it was first released and loved it (after a while I changed jobs and lost track of the game). I also tried EVE and Earth and Beyond (if anybody remembers that mmo) and they were both essentially point and click harvest then sell to market sims (like Spawn-sc said) that just weren’t even that same idea as Jumpgate. What I think lots of people miss is the fact that you can’t compare EVE to Jumpgate anymore than you would compare SimCity to a Flight simulator. The joystick aspect is what brings out the real flavor of the game which to me was always Descent in a wide open MMO world. So my point is the PVP aspect IS the reward in and of itself, the xp from combat is just a nice bonus. The idea is “I took out Pilot X !! woot !” not “Yay I get all that loot the guy had”. And then on the flipside, “Crap he got me this time, but at least I don’t lose everything and I can get back out there and take him on again once I get repaired.” To me it sounds like the team working on Jumpgate Evolution has it just right and they are focusing on the action that is going to be the true draw of the game.
Just my 2 cents
This article touches on a bunch of hot-button issues.
1. There will, in all likelihood, be open-pvp servers. This has been established in multiple other interviews.
2. Right now it sounds like ND is leaning towards an decay system to remove items from the economy, rather than a loss-on-death system. Both, if balanced, achieve the same thing.
3. I’ll agree that if they go with the Warcraft system of item retention, it will upset a lot of players. Warcraft’s economy has always been stunted because of it. True item decay, just like item loss (when production levels are properly ramped up), allow for a vibrant player economy. If the WoW school of thinking is pursued, the economy will be just as stagnant as it was in Blizzard’s well known title… minus the consumables.
Give this a little time for balancing in beta. Scorch and Hermann are very careful to say “right now” because they mean the current build. Tweaking the economy can’t happen with only 50 people playing the game. That part really needs to wait for more like 500 to even approach statistical relevancy.
Sounds good so far, as the guys said EvE and JGE are 2 different games i love the way non EVE players think its just a matter of clikc and press a button, its not PvP in EvE takes tactics and situational awereness to be good at it
But anyway JGE will make a nice change to EVE, but i think the risk vs reward system in EVE is better
Item loss on death would be my choice. Either remove it from the game or leave it in a wreck to be salvaged. That way good pilots are rewarded by keeping their gear and potentially getting new gear from those they kill. Those who lose in battle actually face losing items, something that I have always found gets the adrenaline going just a little.
For the crafters this means large markets to fill near areas of heavy conflict. War escalations see higher demand for minerals and construction.
No item loss and a form of item decay means no peaks and troughs in market and instead a steady flow of trade. A good fighter still loses his gear at the same rate as a bad fighter which does not seem fair.
Unpredictable markets open the option for savvy traders. Imagine an environment where a trader could get wind of a major offensive in an area. He makes his guess on which side will suffer the most losses. After analysing the kind of equipment they use he buys up some stock and moves it to the area just in time to cash in on those “ZOMG I need to get back out there now, sure I’ll pay 20% over market for those guns rather than flying 4 gates to get them cheaper”.
I think that is a cool way to blend combat with non-combat play (not the same as PvP / PvE).
Lets stop calling them deaths and maybe it will make more sense. There was NO character death in Jumpgate Classic and from the sounds of it nor will there be in Jumpgate Evolution. Death is the wrong term to use as your character does not die and so if you can survive your ships demise it seems logical to assume so will your equipment.
I think non loss of equipment on a death will be a very good thing. It makes the game more playable and less work like, therefore people will be more inclined to participate in pvp and so the pvp elements of the game will flourish.
Anything else will place the better pvp players in a position to dictate the activities of less able pvp players and you start niching pvp then and ultimately the game itself.
+1 for non equipment loss from me.
Well, tbh I could not wait till JGE starts. However with this interview I’m greatly disappointed. Maybe my wishes clouded my reasoning, I awaited JGE to be like EVE but with real piloting skill’s. Real dogfights.
Ideas mentioned here are something that will keep me and my team away.
Unfortunate it seems that like EVE recently, JGE turns more to carebear system, rather than world where everybody can be killed, looted etc.
No risk – no fun.
Darius: Why is it that you feel that people who dont have the same gameplay objectives as you don’t deserve to be able to play? Carebears pay their subscriptions too and have just as much right to play in the way they want to. This is why there are different server types. As for combining the two, I dont see the problem except the possibility that somehow non-flagged people could become tangled in a dogfight and influence it in some way.
I agree with Rabidfish. Some of you are just selfish people who want the game to fit YOUR gameplay, and screw everyone else. I, for instance, play games as a way to relax. I come home late from work (something some of you probably don’t know what it’s like) and the last thing I want is to spend part of my evening fighting.
I played the first Jumpgate, and loved Episode 1 because you didn’t have to fight all that often. You could be a miner, an explorer, a “beacon-changer”, a carrier, and so on. When Episode 2 came out, I was greatly disappointed because flying in space wasn’t safe anymore and all the stupid fighters kept defending the turn for the worse with silly arguments like “ask someone to escort you”. Well, when you don’t live in the US, and have no one online when you play, that’s not even an option, is it?
I left the game completely, for the reason I couldn’t relax with Jumpgate anymore. Now, Jumpgate seems to be coming back in this “Evolution” incarnation, and I truly hope it will be an evolution, and one thing I’m looking forward to is to see if people like me can play this game again. If so, I’ll be one of the subscribers, for sure. If not, they’ll won’t have me paying for it, not one cent.
Space is a large place, so take your fighting elsewhere – it’s not wanted everywhere (and I’m not talking just about PvP, but PvE as well).
@ Ravenous: Why is it selfish to want ONE game where we can be excited? Where you have to play smart to avoid fights? where you have to play well to win fights? There are plenty of games where you can relax, point click. Where time spent in the game replaces skill. Ok, actually, I take that back. Pretty much all MMO’s require skill and they all get better over time, but the kind of skill I’m talking about it is the skill that’s transferred directly from your hand to your joystick to your spaceship. This differs considerably in excitement (for me at least) from the skill of…say…tanking or pulling mobs or being a good dps player. There are very few twitch-oriented MMO’s…actually none that I count as true MMO’s. The market is flooded with games for carebears imo.
JGC was the only game where I felt my blood pump when I was playing it. It was exciting. I wasn’t even all that combat oriented. There were plenty of times when I got attacked by pirates or opposing factions while mining, exploring, trading. They added fun for me, not stress. It was exciting trying to get away. Even if I failed I wanted to come back and try again. Even hunting flux could be fun if you tried to hunt outside of what you were supposed to be able to hunt. Out of all the MMO’s I’ve played I still miss Jumpgate the most.
I live in the US and the times I used to play had very few people on as well. This was because my job was second shift and I got off from it at around 2:30 am. So you don’t have an escort? Adjust your play style to suit your circumstances. It seems to me that you’re the one who wants to play the game only one way and have a game that accommodates you. If you can be unattackable…that completely ruins it. For me anyway. In JGC you got bounties for shooting down people who weren’t looking for a fight. I thought that worked well enough. I think with some minor tweaking the bounty system would still work.
Net Devil is free to make the game they want of course and I’ll probably try it. But the ideas expressed in this interview make me think it won’t be as exciting as JGC was. Then again maybe they’ll fix it all in testing. God I hope so. I’ve been SOOOO bored.