As part of our continuing coverage of Webzen titles being showcased at GStar 2011, MMORPG.com's Richard Aihoshi had the opportunity to find out more about Continent of the Ninth Seal, or C9. C9 is a new in-development MMORPG from webzen. Richard sat down with C9's producer, Choong Gil Yoo, and product manager, Denis Kim. Find out more about Continent of the Ninth in this informative interview.

As an introduction to Continent of the Ninth Seal, what is its basic premise or concept? What are its high-level design goals, and what types and balance of gameplay does it aim to provide / emphasize?

C9 (Continent of the Ninth Seal) is a RPG game that shows extreme action. If you see users playing C9, it looks like a 1:1 action game, but there is more to expect from it. C9 is a game that allows users to interact and explore an unknown world with friends. Most of RPG games are focused on leveling characters, but C9 is more based on actions and has a dynamic action control system. Also, C9 is improved on Community, Guild, PvP, Item Farming, Level Up, etc.

Three Key points to the game: Unrivaled Action RPG, Variety of Skill Combos, Precise Controls.

Read more of Richard Aihoshi's Continent of the Ninth Seal First Look Interview.

i wish this game come out fast,faster than u think xD

WEEEEEEEE!!! Another Korean grinder.

No, I kid cause I love.

But while it looks good I don't think it will really be breaking any new ground. Like so many before, have to wait and see if the letter matches the content.

Playing an über slaughtering machine could be fun for a while. Pretty decent looking graphics and gameplay, could get boring after a while but what the heck. F2P no doubt, so beware of the wolf!

Originally posted by Dedthom

WEEEEEEEE!!! Another Korean grinder.

No, I kid cause I love.

But while it looks good I don't think it will really be breaking any new ground. Like so many before, have to wait and see if the letter matches the content.

the game is almost 3 years old now. the gameplay is far above everyting else, TERA is a  slightly dumbed down version of c9 combat. it's heavily instanced though, like the first Guild Wars. 

Originally posted by EnZeEnd

i wish this game come out fast,faster than u think xD

Same here. Been following it since 2008/2009 and no word till half this year when WebZen dropped it on their 'visions' page. But instead of giving C9 priority, WebZen thought R2 would be the one to release first :(

Well, lets wait patiently till C9 is finally released and then hope it's not a Pay2Win cash-shop game...

Originally posted by fony

Originally posted by Dedthom

WEEEEEEEE!!! Another Korean grinder.

No, I kid cause I love.

But while it looks good I don't think it will really be breaking any new ground. Like so many before, have to wait and see if the letter matches the content.

the game is almost 3 years old now. the gameplay is far above everyting else, TERA is a  slightly dumbed down version of c9 combat. it's heavily instanced though, like the first Guild Wars. 

Then how come they say the game is in development, can't be both.  My guess this is a different game than you are talking about.

Just wish the eastern developers would show more imagination in their designs, we certainly are not getting that in the west at the moment.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Originally posted by fony

Originally posted by Dedthom

WEEEEEEEE!!! Another Korean grinder.

No, I kid cause I love.

But while it looks good I don't think it will really be breaking any new ground. Like so many before, have to wait and see if the letter matches the content.

the game is almost 3 years old now. the gameplay is far above everyting else, TERA is a  slightly dumbed down version of c9 combat. it's heavily instanced though, like the first Guild Wars. 

Then how come they say the game is in development, can't be both.  My guess this is a different game than you are talking about.

Just wish the eastern developers would show more imagination in their designs, we certainly are not getting that in the west at the moment.

i was playing the Korean version in 2009, end of discussion. this game is not new. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyHjV0QkYIk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJJ0_iFt7zs

EDIT: same exact trailer as the one posted in the article and recently uploaded to mmorpg's YT account...from 2008:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-gkFL7G8ow

zzzzz another asian grinder

Originally posted by arctarus
he didn't answer the cash shop question completely, when ask what items is in the cash shop that's different from in game, he skip.


so did cash sell weapons and armor? or any p2w items?

item reinforcement sounds like the typical rng which can be found in aion and Tera, zzz...

and when he say there's no gender selection, meaning warriors only male and shaman female?

yep. big downfall of the game. there is a robust character creation...but you can't pick your gender which is very stupid. i haven't played it since '09 so idk what the cash shop looks like now. i never bothered with it back then, don't even know if it existed.

Instanced to death

Pay-to-Win

No gender selection

3 strikes already.

Wow, this actually isn't eastern trash. This looks like something that has actually had some development put in it. I am looking forward to it. Though, if the client is only 1.5GB or something like that I will know it was all for not.

Originally posted by MrBoots

Instanced to death

Pay-to-Win

No gender selection

3 strikes already.

I dont agree with the instanced to death part as being a strike cause that is that way for multiple reasons and isn't really a flaw but a gamestyle choice. But pay to win and no gender selection are strikes.

this is 1 of the best games i have ever played. i love this type of hack and slash. Trully Amazing! looking forward to the english version!

Looking forward to it... but its a bit late in my book, best combat system i have ever played tho.

I currently have a level 63 on the Korean version (current max level). This game is probably less pay to win than other games.. There are two sets of armor that you can wear. One is the regular set, and one is the cash set. Cash set does not give any stat bonuses. You can buy soul stones from the cash shop however that give very minor bonuses. There are no cash weapons. Also, the average person in the Korean version can afford to buy any cash shop items with gold. Prices are reasonable. The problem with non-Korean versions of games is gold sellers. The cash shop is very fair and not game-breaking at all. They just have to find a way to keep out gold sellers. 

Believe it or not, the current situation in the Korean version is that cash shop prices are quite cheap but standard weapons/armor are super overpriced (because of drop rate). Also, there is not really any grind. Especially at higher levels where  the goal is to complete story quests to unlock more story quests and to obtain quest rewards (including more skill points). I got to max level and still had story quests left over. The main motivation for levelling is just PVP. Also, I look at my experience bar much less than other games I've played. 

The real win is when you are really lucky and find a unique weapon. Now that is sometimes extremely overpowered.. and "win". People never sell unique weapons, so cash can't help you there at all.  Luck will bring you further than any cash.

Heavily instanced? Not as bad as you think. There is an option to turn "intrusion" (lv 25+) on for a 25% experience boost in the dungeon. The number of people in the dungeon party * 2= the total number of people allowed to intrude you. So you could have an epic fight at the boss battle. It is quite fun and not something I have seen before in other MMOs. You also get 5 lives a day and you can get more lives from opening daily quest reward boxes. You can still play a dungeon with 0 lives, just if you die you must leave. 

One thing I really hope they bring back is the 1v1 duel. Currently you cannot request to fight anybody in town. You must go to the PVP channel and make a room or do ranked matches. 

If all they do is bring over a translated Korean C9 (with no cash shop changes) it will be a good game.  List of cash shop items in Korean version: skill reset (about $12), extra resurrection scrolls ($10 for 100), books for unbinding weapons from character, books for unbinding item upgrade lock, cash set (looks only), soul stones, soul gear (for resetting the second stat on soul stones), inventory space upgrade (about $1 for 6 spaces). You can also get event sets (limited time cash shop set) + a set of soul stones for about $27. 

But really, a good set of soul stones is nothing compared to a good unique weapon.