Interview, Part Two

Codemasters' Community Manager discusses their upcoming game

RF Online is being imported to an English-language market by the Codemasters, a British game company. This sci-fi, anime, mech world has gained a lot of attention in recent weeks. To go with the Q&A, we also have two exclusive screenshots. Find out more from Rowland:

RvRvR is certainly a vital feature of the game and with 3 warring nations, a very interesting one. The key resource in RF Online is the mining area at the center of all 3 warring nations. Within this mine there are rare and valuable ores which can be processed into essential additions for weapons and armour. To gain control over this area, there are huge battles that occur every 8 hours and involve all races fighting it out for control. Group play is essential and guild play will come into its own within the game. I expect to see some great strategies being displayed over time.

PvP combat has a reward system within itself. By killing other race characters you will gain Contribution Points that will add to your overall ranking within the race. The top ranked players in any race have the opportunity to become Race Leaders, and sit on the Racial High Council. Privileges include being able to speak to the entire race through chat, coordinating attacks at the vital Core Mine Battles, being able to chat to other Race Leaders, forming allegiances with other races and having the ability to wear epic items.

All in all, the Player Versus Player element of the game will play a vital role in RF Online and will reach further as we update the game and add new content.

Instancing seems to be a very popular term at the moment :) The game world as it is very open with minimal instanced quests. We do have an instance portal that allows you access to the Battle Dungeons to experience some seriously fun and timed combat runs. It’s great for practice sessions with friends, family and pets.

The Specialist class within the game is a crafting class. These guys/gals play an important role in supplying the front line with all-important high-end armour, weapons and ammo, plus provide services that no other player can do himself or herself. They also play a vital role in PvP in providing support.

The Accretia do lack one thing that the other races have…sex. But for some perverse reason they do possess a lot of sex appeal…call me weird. Each class of Accretia looks different with the sleek looking ranger classes, to the bigger chunkier warrior classes. As you level your character you will find that you will find, buy or borrow armour that starts to distinguish your character from the others, armour getting grander as you change job skills and find your true calling.

RF Online brings something different to the genre. Yes we have fantasy. Yes we have sci-fi in space. Yes we have sci-fi on planets. It’s either one or the other. Here we have a game that fuses these elements together and doesn’t do a bad a bad job of it either. It feels right having your traditional magic classes fighting against hulking mechs, who in turn are being bombarded with laser cannons and rockets. Even the weapons find a merging of magic and technology to give you something different, that doesn’t look half bad either. And you get to battle with hundreds of players at the same time at the same place on a colossal level. (didn’t want to use the word “epic” there ;) )

Indeed there will be a monthly fee for RF online. The money from the fee is used to pay for the costs of hosting the service required for an MMO. With a full time team maintaining the servicing of the servers, providing customer support on and off line, a GM team providing regular events, plus the cost of developing the title further for the updates and content upgrades, there is a lot of cost involved. More than most realize when catering for such a huge number of players.

It’s time for a change. Have you ever wanted to climb inside your own huge stomping mech, have you ever had the urge to play a character that looks like one of those robot dudes from a manga comic? Well this is your opportunity to do all that, plus get to meet a lot of new friends on your journey to well being.

Oh and you’ll get to chat to me about half naked women, cookies and half naked women.

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