The War Z is a game that has been gaining a lot of traction here at MMORPG.com in recent months. We were lucky enough to catch up to Sergey Titov to talk about The War Z to find out a lot more about the game, its ups and downs, and its progress into beta. See what he's got to say and then leave your thoughts in the comments.

MMORPG: The War Z continues to grow in popularity. What do you think is the game's appeal to players?

Sergey Titov: Well of course there is the zombie factor, but apart from that I think that players enjoy having the freedom of exploration within an open world and the freedom to utilize the tools within that world to create their own style of play.  For example, some players prefer the "lone wolf" strategy of exploring the map and scavenging for items, avoiding other players and opting only to engage zombies.  Others prefer PvP either going at it solo and stalking other players or grouping together for larger scale firefights.  Either way, the game has appeal to both styles of players.

Read more of Garrett Fuller's The War Z: More Than Just the Zombie Factor.

When he touched on customer service, he did not touch on the Permabands that happened to non-hackers using TS3 overlay, as well as Steams overlay, that happened on Friday Evening.

With people spamming support tickets and thier saying please don't flood our support system you know what you did. Great Customer Service.

Honest question.

Is WAR Z really growing in poularity? because after the initial blip it made on the gaming radar it kind of faded away.

I bought the 20 dollar founder title.....played for a month and a half. It was fun, I havent played in about a month and a half now. Going to wait for the release and see if anything gets better.

When I left the game it was pretty much just a free for all death match. There really isnt any thing in game to make people want to work with eachother so everyone just runs around shooting one another. No one teams up because there are too few zombies, and the zombies are WAY TOO easy to kill with a hammer (2-4 smashes to the head) no real percs to teaming. 

Maybe when they come out with more zombies or more challenging "boss zombies" which force people to team up and more maps I will come back to it. So far the game is cool and can be great if the devs play their cards right.

I also was really wanting the "lvling system" to come out too.....kinda redundant running round collecting stuff that will just be cleaned out come server wipe. 

I enjoyed most of the time in game.....but the hacking got really bad and it was impossible to play with people walking through walls, and super sprinting, and invisible, flying, ect, ect...

They came out with a patch that was suppsoed to get rid of the hackers....well it worked for 2 or 3 days then they started flooding the servers again. I still continued to play but began becoming less interested. I eventually stopped playing after they kept postponing any of the features they where supposed to be coming out with like friends and clans. 

I cant wait till more of the game content comes out upon release, I will def. be jumping back in to the game once there is more content!

I personally had a horrible customer experience with their devs and CS unfortunately. And I don't see it changing any time soon either. 

As far as the zombie factor goes, it needs to be much more than a factor or it will come off as just another FPS with a zombie add-on. The devs need to step up and get it in gear or the game will fade to black in no time.

"We’re launching what we call the “Foundation Release” on December 17th. IE –we won’t be in Beta anymore, yet as with all online games now days this will not be the end of the development, but just the beginning. It just means that at this point we believe that game has all the BASIC features we want to see there."

This just verifies the "scam" as the features they're boasting on their website won't be in the game @ launch, if the launch is indeed today.

the Onlything that holds me back is, Everything I hear is that you don't worry about the Zombies, its the other players that are the Problems.

If thats the case, I plan to steer clear of this game.

Gaining my foot...  This game has lost many a player.  As new people buy into the hype, they are sorely disappointed by what they find.  This game is just War Inc with a new skin and some zombies in the background.  It is a PVP gankfest and the zombies dont even factor into the game as they are easily avoided or killed with a flashlight.  Some of the worst AI I have seen in a game. 

All Sergy does is talk a good game.  If you want a poor version of a FPS where you start with a flashlight while most of the server population has a sniper rifle or assault rifle then give Sergy your money.  If you are looking for an actual zombie survival game, then look elsewhere.  You can even go to the official forums and see all the anger towards this game and the fact that it is just a poor PVP game and zombies have little or nothing to do with the game.

PvP gank fest, full of hackers, cheaters and player killers. The Zombies are the least of your worries.

Avoid! Avoid! Avoid!

So far the best zombie survival game on the market is still 'Dead Island' and I've played every zombie game out there. If you are looking for a true zombie game experience this is the title to look at.

So far from what I've read from all the beta players that have been posting is to steer clear of this title. Why waste time and money on garbage when there are better titles out there.

thi sgame is nothing but crap. FILLED with hackers. and all out PvP with NO ASPECT AT ALL on survival...i bought a $40 pack back in the day gave the game 1 month...i then demanded a refund and got it. I dont support a company that has currupt developers and lies,insults there community. *check there game forums*

Love how there adding all these new features but yet have said NOTHING about fighting the MASSIVE hackers infested world that is this game....

I pitty anyone who buys this game thinking this is how fombie FPS should be....

Originally posted by darkmyth78
Right now this is nothing but a pvp kos kill fest. it is a standard fps with zombies in the background. The zombies are no threat and until they make them so, this will not change.

Exactly why I stopped plating the game. It was supposed to be about surviving zombies and weapons were supposed to be hard to find. Now they've added more weapons? Not the way to entice me back.

"FPS gankfest"

-Wraithone

^Sadly true.

--I got the game early on because I love the core concept.  I became extremely proficient in surviving and collecting great gear by myself, knowing when to take risks and where the best equipment can be found. I could have easily become one of these gankers and have killed plenty of players who chose to just kill other players for loot. I understand why they do it - you can get some of the best loot this way -- of course, many do it just because they can even to a freshly spawned newb character with nothing but a flashlight and the clothes on their back.

However, the developer greatly misses the mark because the threat in the game really becomes ganking parties, not zombies.  The game needs WAY more Zombies so they become a such a threat that you actually hope to run into another player to increase your chances of survival.

The game also needs features, GOALS for communities to band around.  Right now, it's essentially just a hoarding pvp gankfest.

I really wish it would be more about helping each other survive and trying your best to forge a safehouse with others and maintain resources to keep everyone alive.

I'd even consider going as far as disallowing players to kill each other and having NPC Bandit groups which would raid settlements developed by player communities.

DAYZ is already doing what this game is doing.  It'd be nice if this one were more different.  Just my 2 cents :)

I've been playing since the October alpha, and I'm still having a blast. This has kept my attention for longer than the other mmo's that have come out recently. I think I got bored with Guild Wars 2 after a month.

The nice thing I find about this game is the excitement it can create. Nothing gets your heart pumping more than hearing the foot steps of another player outside, and knowing if you die you lose everything.