As you kill monsters, they drop mana and health “bubbles,” which are just shiny blue drops in the world that glom to the player if they walk close enough. Characters don’t regain health or mana on a regeneration like most games, but instead must keep moving and collecting those bubbles to heal, unless they have the appropriate spells or potions. It’s a novel approach that runs against what the average MMOer might be used to, but I’m all for anything that keeps me playing and doesn’t keep me waiting.

On the downside, they made a decision to shoot people back to the start of the dungeon after death. It made for a lot of running since I, admittedly, really sucked at the game for the first while.

The camera was also a problem, but one they freely admitted they were still working on and was very much not final. At dinner that night they even mentioned they’d made some additional changes from the afternoon’s build. The game is a point and click game, which is necessary due to the number of avatars one tends to control. It has a completely free and customizable camera that can do everything from following the player over the shoulder to a far back isometric view.

Unfortunately, to get anywhere seemed to require a lot of movement of that camera and could be rather aggravating. That said, between now and launch, they are aware it is a huge priority and with a little polish, I have no doubt they can get past this hurdle.

The initial setting of the game is Ancient Greece. The Eidolon class, on the other hand, has a heavy Egyptian flavor, which will be the site of their first expansion.

“It’s actually a reason we went with a mythology angle for this game,” added Lead Content Designer Amanda Flock. It allows them to expand out each expansion with an identifiable historical theme.

Aside from combat and collection, Mytheon also features crafting. They call it the Stoneforge and it ties into the collection game. Players can make and combine stones with recipes gained through adventure. Each new stone requires three components: a rune, which is bought in the world; a casing, which is a drop off a caster; and a gift, which drops off a main boss. It also takes in-game gold, but it is important to note that basic stone crafting has zero RMT component.

They also have a stone lottery where people can toss in unwanted stones and get something random, but more suitable. The better the stones they toss in, the better the return. It’s an interesting way to deal with unwanted, but expensive loot.

They will also feature PvP combat. At launch, this comes in two forms: duels and scenarios. The duels are basically what they sound like. Challenge someone, fight, done. The scenarios are a bit more involved. They are larger areas and usually have some PvE content in the way for the players to fight their way through to get to each other. They are matched and ranked.

Mytheon is also one of the rare American developed and designed free-to-play MMOs. The game will be free to play, with microtransactions built in. Players can purchase additional elixirs from the store that do things like improve experience gain, or even booster packs of stones. Many of these things will be available in the world too – there are potions that drop for example that act much like many elixirs – but are there for those who prefer the convenience.

Much of their RMT content will revolve around aesthetics. They used a sword as an example. A free player can get a sword that is statistically identical to what an RMT player can buy. The only difference is that the RMT guy’s sword might look a lot cooler.

At launch, the game will feature 30 levels. Petroglyph intends to release Mytheon in early 2010.