MMORPG: Congratulations on the return of Arcane Saga to the North American market. Can you tell us what it is like to bring the game back?
Jon-Enée “Neume” Merriex: It’s a crazy and wild ride. We’ve been pouring over pages and pages of changes and pages and pages of feedback from the original release. We’re excited to bring an improved version of the game after spending a lot of time evaluating the feedback from players. We think they’re going to really enjoy what’s in store for them.
MMORPG: What were the core elements to Prius Online that players really connected with?
Jon-Enée “Neume” Merriex: I think there are many different things that are appealing in our games. Based on posts from our Facebook page, players seem to remember their classes/jobs the most. Our job system has always been very diverse and that really gave players a strong connection with the game.
Other than that, there are mounts and Anima, and players really dug both. I think the biggest complaint with the original game was the fact that Anima wasn’t a major part of combat – something we’re changing. As far as mounts go, players seem to remember the myriad mounts the game has. From Cinderella’s carriage to oozes, there is a mountain of mounts to ride.
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MMORPG: What content can players expect to find that is different in Arcane Saga?
Jon-Enée “Neume” Merriex: We’ve changed many things. This is a delicate balancing act because ultimately, we do not want the game to feel different. In my opinion, if we do this right, players will return and not be sure why the game feels better, but they’ll definitely know that it is.
One thing we’ve changed is the job advancement system. In the previous version, you needed to unlock higher level jobs. Now, jobs become available through the quest system. Jobs have different functions – some are for partying, some for soloing and some for PvP – and you get them just as you need them.
Another change is the first 50 levels. You read that right; we’ve revamped almost every quest from levels one through 50. It’s a lot of change, but we hope it makes leveling much clearer so players don’t get to a point where they feel they don’t know where to go next.
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MMORPG: Are there some additions to the game that you feel it needed to connect with the North American audience?
Jon-Enée “Neume” Merriex: Absolutely! We’re going to be adding a “Dungeon Finder” system. Especially at end game, dungeons and arena PvP become as important as Castle Sieges, but we found that players don’t always group well outside of their circle of friends. This time around, we’re planning to help them along by helping to group them together for adventure.
MMORPG: Arcane Saga has open world PvP, something a lot of our readers enjoy. Can you tell us what you are working on for the PvP players with the new launch of the game?
Jon-Enée “Neume” Merriex: At launch, we’ll be adding a PvP server and PvP Jobs which players can level. We’ve also built a pretty aggressive update schedule that will allow us to release more PvP content throughout the year, including a revamped Castle Siege and Arenas. PvP will not be part of the planned beta tests, as we want players to experience the PvE content first.
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MMORPG: What is the biggest addition you are making to the game with the re-launch?
Jon-Enée “Neume” Merriex: With the level of changes we’re making, re-launching is the biggest addition. I’m currently working my way through 15+ pages of changes so far and we’re not even in alpha yet. I think though the biggest addition is something I’ve been told I can’t talk about yet… I can say it involves mounts…
MMORPG: Will the character structure differ with the new game? What can players expect when they log in?
Jon-Enée “Neume” Merriex: For the most part characters will remain the same. We streamlined some abilities and stats – nothing major. The biggest change I think players WILL notice is that when you log in the first time, you immediately have access to all skills for your Job. This is a big, big change and something that is vastly different from pretty much every MMO on the market.
For Open World PvP, it helps level the playing field as now the big protection and offensive skills are available from the get-go. They may not be as powerful as a level 70 (the current max level) character, but they are there when you need them.
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MMORPG: The game is set to launch fairly soon for 2013. What do you want to say to fans about launch?
Jon-Enée “Neume” Merriex: Re-launches rarely happen, so this is going to be something special. We’ve put a lot into the game and made many changes, addressing feedback from players and implementing their requests, and this is just the beginning.
Plus we’ll have punch and pie!
MMORPG: Can players expect updates for the second half of 2013 with Arcane Saga?
Jon-Enée “Neume” Merriex: We already have a monthly update schedule planned for the first year. We’ll be releasing all new dungeons, jobs, skills, items, PvP content, events and levels. So there is a boatload of content on the way after launch.
