Communities, of course, play a very important role in a massively multiplayer online game. Motivated to create a fresh gaming experience with Atlantica, we felt we had to come up with something unique for the community side of our game, to go along with our other innovative features, the turn-based action and the mercenary system. What we came up with is the nation system.

There are two types of community grouping in Atlantica: guilds and nations. Guilds aren't anything new to MMO gamers, although Atlantica's guilds offer features not typically found in other games, like guild crafting. But it's the second type of community we've created that is something we believe is unique. So please allow me to go into some detail on the nation system, and what we hope to do in the future to make it better.

The nation is the largest form of community in Atlantica, created when up to 10 guilds combine forces. With guilds having a maximum of 50 players, there's the potential to have a nation of 500 players.

When your guild joins a nation, you get immediate perks. You can begin to use one of the "Town" quick slots in your inventory, even if your guild does not control a town. And for the king of the nation and the leader of each member guild, they can utilize the King's Judgment, which allows them to go up to any player in the Atlantica world and engage him or her in battle, in order to strip that player of some of his or her equipment.

But the best parts of being in a nation are being able to undertake a nation dungeon or going to war against another nation. The king, which is the guild leader of the nation's leading guild, can lead his fellow countrymen into one of the nation dungeons, Tower of Babel and the Ghost Ship of the Caribbean. Inside these areas are overwhelming forces, and it will take the large numbers of a nation to finish one of these successfully. Coming later this month is the third nation dungeon, Alcatraz Prison.

Finally, a king can choose to declare war on another nation. If the other nation surrenders, it must pay tribute. Otherwise, it's a free-for-all for one week, as players on opposing nations can attack each other at any time. The war then culminates with the final battle held on Saturday, when each nation tries to conquer the capital of the other nation.

Nation Building

Some players have raised some constructive criticism on the nation system, and we're working to improve it. One concern was the difficulty in leveling up a nation. So more nation experience points will be gained from nation dungeons and wars. I Also, so that the activities of a guild will have positive effects on its nation, experience points will also go to the nation when a member guild clears a guild dungeon.

In addition, there were little rewards for nations to increase its level nations, so they weren't motivated to level up their nations anyway. We're trying to fix that by coming up with some incentives, like a nation warehouse, giving players more storage space. The nation warehouse will allow players to put items they acquire from King's Judgments directly into the nation warehouse. But the use of the warehouse and how it relates to your inventory will be based on the nation level. Expect more details on the nation warehouse in the near future. And expect more rewards based on your nation's level, similar to when your guild's level goes up.

Also, expect changes in how a war takes place. Currently, not too many wars are being fought. Also, a guild doesn't lose control of its town when it loses a war. That just doesn't sound right when it comes to nation warfare. So we're thinking of ways to make wars more frequent and fun, so that they can become notable in-game events. And we hope by doing so, this process will bringing the Atlantica community closer together.