Introductory Interview

MMORPG.com:

Tell us about the lore in Battle of the Immortals. How do you cross reference pantheons of old gods?

Jon Belliss:

Battle of the Immortals takes place in historical geographical locations, such as Atlantis and Easter Island. Since players will cross this virtual globe, it makes sense to incorporate all the corresponding mythological influences.

There is a strong Norse influence--as a player, you are trying to recover artifacts and gear that were scattered after the Ragnorok, to prepare for the brewing war between the immortals

MMORPG.com:

How does your PvE system work towards player competition? Will players really battle to fight epic bosses?

Jon Belliss:

When a group goes in to take down a dungeon boss, it isn't always an instance where they are the only group. There can be another party that you will have to battle, not only for the spoils within the dungeon, but in some cases for the very right to engage the final boss.. It's basically PvPvE, and it definitely adds a very complex layer of group strategy.

MMORPG.com:

Give us some hints on the classes in the game. How will classes match players style?

Jon Belliss:

We've actually given a sneak peek at our classes at our blog. ? But to summarize, there are five classes: Berzerker, Champion, Heretic, Magus and Slayer. The Berzerker, Champion and Slayer are the melee classes and the Heretic and Magus are magic based classes. Each class definitely has a unique style that will appeal to certain styles of gameplay. The pet system will allow players to further customize their class in order to match their preferred style of play.

MMORPG.com:

How does soul gear work? How hard is it to acquire these items?

Jon Belliss:

Acquiring Soul Gear can easily become a player's major objective in the game, as it will be the key to success in the massive PvP battles. Soul Gear is crafted from items that players obtain through key dungeons and instances. These will start out fairly easy, then evolve into more and more difficult challenges as the player progresses.

MMORPG.com:

Explain the Zodiac system and how players can use it to progress.

Jon Belliss:

The Zodiac system allows you to select a birth date while creating a character, which will provide different bonus skills later on in the game. A Gemini will receive different skills from a Virgo or Capricorn, for example.

MMORPG.com:

What type of PvP is in the game? Are there factions or will player guilds battle each other?

Jon Belliss:

The PvP in Battle of the Immortals consists of duels, group battles, and battlegrounds. Lastly there is territory wars where guilds can compete for ownership of the game's territories. It's an intense game.

MMORPG.com:

How is the game shaping up for closed beta? Where do you see the main focus of testing?

Jon Belliss:

Our closed beta is right around the corner, but it's shaping up very well. We have a major focus on localization, not just in terms of translating, but adjusting quests and systems for a Western audience. And of course, there is the standard, watching out for bugs and glitches, that sort of thing. An interesting aspect of this process is cleaning up the user interface or UI. If you write a sentence in Chinese and translate it into English, it will be 50% longer on average. This means that a button that fits only two Chinese characters won't be able to fit a five letter English word. In short, a lot of work goes into modifying the game's UI.

MMORPG.com:

What are your plans for 2010 with beta and launch?

Jon Belliss:

Right now, our plans are to launch closed beta, gauge our user feedback, and make changes the game in order to address user concerns. Once launched, we'll be ramping up for the open beta launch with the lessons learned from the closed beta.

MMORPG.com:

How can players find out about beta and how to sign up?

Jon Belliss:

Players can check out the Battle of Immortal website at http://boi.perfectworld.com/. They can also check out our blog here, which lists how to sign up for an account and where to snag a key. We hear MMORPG is a good place to get one.

MMORPG.com:

What is your favorite part about the game as a developer?

Jon Belliss:

The development for BoI is unlike any of the previous titles I've worked on. The development team is very receptive to local users' tastes and gaming behavior. We've already been able to tweak a wide variety of things in order to optimize the game for North American users. This includes small things like increasing the rate at which players level up, and big things like adding entirely new game features and battlegrounds for the US audience. So in short, my favorite part is BoI's international flexibility.