Dungeon Runners: Developer Journal
When talking about the subject of this developer journal, MMORPG.com asked the Dungeon Runners Development Team one simple question: What's so great about Dungeon Runners? As you can see, the development team has a very enthusiastic take on the answer.
When you compare Dungeon Runners with many of the other online games currently available in the market today, you instantly see its accessibility, easy-to-play design and brand of humor that sets it apart as a unique, fun gaming experience. Developed internally at NCsoft, Dungeon Runners' was intended to let anyone have an enjoyable fast-paced massively multiplayer experience, with no extra cost to the player.
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This free aspect of Dungeon Runners is just part of its overall charm. Unlike most other massively multiplayer online games, Dungeon Runners does not require an online fee to play, nor does it cost anything to acquire initially. All a potential player has to do is download the game, create a free account, and start playing. It's that easy. On top of that, you can create as many game accounts as you want, so in essence you can have as many characters as you want. System requirements are low and the game runs on most modern machines easily.
Which is not to say there isn't an online fee available for the game. We call it Membership. For $5 US a month, a Member can gain access to better equipment, a bank vault for storing even more items, and several other gameplay advantages (some of which are still being implemented, such as voice communication for groups). Members play in the same game world as regular non-Members and Dungeon Runners has remained fundamentally the same, but Membership exists as an added incentive to those who get a lot out of the game. Moreover, the cost is a lot less than most other MMOs.
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In any event, there's plenty for all Dungeon Runners to do. There's a lot of dungeons (instanced locations that randomly generate), tons of weapons, armor, and other goodies to pick up, and gobs of monsters to kill. In addition, you can converse with other players and get together in groups for the really tough dungeon areas. With monthly updates to the game, more and more content is being added to Dungeon Runners all the time, and players get to continually experience new challenges, new upgrades and new items to horde. It also doesn't take long to do anything--you can wipe out a dungeon level and complete missions in just minutes.
Speaking of items, when you first look your inventory you might get a handle on Dungeon Runners' distinctive sense of humor. We've taken the usual fantasy slant on attaching exciting and heroic adjectives to weapons and armor and turned the concept on its head. What might have been the "Crossbow of Speed" in a normal game is now the "Steaming Cardboard Scrap Crossbow of the Wasp" in Dungeon Runners. This extends to nearly everything in the game, from the addled and sometimes self-absorbed non-player characters and vendors you meet in your travels to the widely varied titles your persona acquires (such as the "Energetic Noobie Obsidian Mage").
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Dungeon Runners is also very easy to play--aside from movement keys there are a couple of attack keys, some inventory keys, text chat and that's pretty much it. Dungeon Runners also sports a cool classless skill system. While you start out choosing from one of three prototype character classes (Fighter, Ranger, and Mage), the skills and abilities you can purchase from that point allows you to build your character to be whatever you want it to be.
As you can see, we made Dungeon Runners to be a fun game that you can just pick up and play at any time. You don't have to worry about subscription fees, bank-breaking system requirements, or time constraints. You can fit short or long game sessions into your schedule and fit your gameplay style to your character easily. Finally, we added a real sense of humor to the game just to take the edge off. The result we think is a pretty good start, and the future is bright for Dungeon Runners.
Article By:
The Dungeon Runners Dev Team
