ZU Online - Q&A With the Zu Team

How much has the Chinese Cinema impacted the design and world of Zu Online?

First of all, the quest system was designed as an imitation of the narration of the movie. Secondly, we referred to the movie for graphics inspiration.

What level of character personalization will there be?

The five classes in Zu Online have totally different skills and combat modes. Every class feature is irreplaceable in the game. In addition, we added talent systems, which means that the same classes will have different directions to develop.

Will the casual gamer be able to stay competitive in Zu Online?

The time when players needed to be online for long periods of time to stay competitive in a game has past, and instead they only need to participate in various interesting activities we’ll be holding, which will enable them to have gain a lot of experience and rewards easily. Online games should be entertaining instead of tiring.

Will there be a crafting and gathering system?

Crafting in the Zu world is a Tradeskill, and there are materials for fusing, equipment forging, equipment attribute enhancing, and equipment potential power arousing, and this part is worth players’ study. One part of gathering is to collect the required materials for a tradeskill, the other part is to collect the items via the Commercial Travel system.

Will there be any larger scale “bosses” that require coordinating multiple players to defeat it?

Every boss is endowed with an AI, if players want to defeat it, they should know about bosses’ skills, tactics and even their background, so they may discern a weakness.

It was mentioned in a previous interview that killing low level players carries a heavy punishment, does that still hold true?

Yes , it does, we want to grant our players a comfortable environment to grow their game knowledge and also maintain a harmonious in-game environment, over indulgence in PK can make some players feel a sense of frustration.

Will players that spend more in the Item Mall gain an unfair advantage?

We have thought over this point before we make items, and all items sold in the Zu Item Mall are based on the principle that it shouldn’t affect a fair in-game environment as much as it possibly can. How much players spend in the Item Mall is not the determinant reason for strong or weak characters, the determinant reason is based on how much players understand about the game and how much players are good at game controls and strategy. Efficient use of skills and materials can be just as effective as obtaining items from the Item Mall

How do you see a free online game fairing against some of the pay per month competitors?

The Online game field needs more exploration and innovation, and compared with the pay per month competitors, the free online game mode is popular with operators, and has a large market. Generally speaking, making money via a free mode mainly relies on additional services. With the development of new technology, more new operation modes will be released as the industry continues to evolve. As to which charge mode should be used, it depends on the specific features of the game.

Is there “faction” grinding?

Yes, there is, and the following answer can also be a supplement to the former question. The Zu world has been divided into 3 factions, Tai, Wu, and Xun , and they are opposed to each other, and it’s evident that players will feel a stronger sense of achievement by killing a player from a hostile faction than by picking on a player on the same side. This also helps to create a harmonious environment where older players will help newer players grow to help maintain faction strength.

Other free online games seem to focus on the “martial arts” theme, how will Zu Online stand apart from them?

Some ancient Chinese features and legends have been absorbed into this game, to totally immerse players in a fantasy Chinese environment.