Age of Destiny Expansion Interview

MMORPG.com:

Give us some history on the lore of "Age of Destiny."

Martin Tan:

It all begins with an oath...

The crackling of flames and the shrieks of human anguish fill the night sky. As the young man stared painfully at this scene of carnage, he wondered how this burning village of death and despair was once the peaceful place he called home. The reason, of course, was war. Once upon a time, the village and the rest of the Middle Kingdom lived harmoniously. The country was filled with noble souls, powerful and benevolent dragons, and great warriors who possessed legendary artifacts and protected the citizens from harm. Unfortunately as time elapsed, the human vices of greed and selfishness eventually surfaced. With complacency paralyzing the good and the evil rising in power, China was plunged into war. And war, as they say, never changes. As the death toll grew and the country became engulfed in turmoil, the need for heroes to rise up was greater than ever. The young man who watched his village burn to the ground knew what he had to do, and embarked on his journey to fulfill his destiny. Along the way, he received training from the great Kung Fu Masters of the time, and gained skills and equipment to aid him in his quests. He traveled to the faraway lands of Su Zhou and Yan Tomb in search of the ancient artifacts and the Legendary Dragon who would bring peace back to the land. Throughout his journey however, he encountered dangerous enemies and powerful warlords who would stop at nothing to control the power for themselves. Against these hopeless odds, the young warrior had no chance to survive on his own...

And so the warrior shouted throughout the land, and his call echoed the cries of the citizens, who implored the remaining men and women of courage and honor to rise up. From that point on, more and more heroes emerged, joining each other to battle the ever-growing evil and to aid in each other's quests in achieving their fullest potential. Though the warriors all came from different walks of life, they were bonded by the oath that they all took, to one day rescue the Legendary Dragon "Bladewind" and restore order to the land. Together, they experienced many triumphs but also many defeats. With each noble sacrifice came the passing of another great warrior. And so the call to arms still rings clearly throughout the Kingdom, for brave souls to take up the quest and fulfill their destinies by taking the Dragon Oath. Only one question remains, will you answer the call?

MMORPG.com:

What is the most exciting part of the expansion for the development team?

Martin Tan:

The most exciting part of the new expansion, in my opinion, would be the Artifact Weapons and the flying Dragon Mount we named as "Bladewind". For people who have watched the movie Avatar and dreamed of owning a flying mount, here is your chance to make dream come true: in Dragon Oath: Age of Destiny, our dragon mount Bladewind looks the same as the one in Avatar and is even more powerful. And also as it is true in the movie, only the stoutest and bravest warriors are qualified to tame one!

MMORPG.com:

How will the dragon mount help players? What will players need to do to get one?

Martin Tan:

The dragon mount "Bladewind" is certainly one of the biggest (literally!) additions in the expansion. The Legendary Dragon is an enormous and extraordinary mount with razor sharp claws and a massive wingspan that produces dust storms in its wake while increasing the player's speed by 70%. Players who obtain this creature will certainly get other players attention while flying across the map, and can even take a companion along for the ride! It will drastically help players to level because of its incredible movement speed and the ability for it to carry two people. Another great thing about the dragon mount is that you don't need to buy it! It's available to players through Lucky Bingo and Master/Apprentice relationship points.

MMORPG.com:

Explain the choice to upgrade the power of new weapons in the game?

Martin Tan:

The Artifact Weapons in the game really give the players a newfound sense of power. There are 4 different Artifact Weapons available to players: Melting Falchion; Traceless Sword; Blue Silver Circle; Windstone Fan, each with their own properties and special abilities. In order to obtain Artifacts, you need to gather other key materials and craft them into your desired LVL of Artifact. When questing in the game, you will come across items called "Flawed Pendants" and "Divine Fragments". You can combine these 2 items to develop what's known as a "Flawless Pendant". With Flawless Pendants, you can create Artifact weapons. Though these weapons are game-breaking, they make the game a lot more fun for players.

MMORPG.com:

Will these new weapons be hard for players to get?

Martin Tan:

The new weapons in the game aren't too difficult to get. There are a number of different quests that players can take part in to obtain an Artifact Weapon for themselves. We're not gonna make players strain themselves by running 5 hour instances, we want the prerequisites to be fun and engaging.

MMORPG.com:

Tell us about Yan Tomb and Swallow's Dock? How do these zones impact players?

Martin Tan:

Yan Tomb and Swallow's Dock are flat-out amazing. Yan Tomb is a dark, evil dungeon that is 9 levels deep. Each level is protected by an army of minions and a sub boss. On the bottom level of the Tomb resides old King Yan, the demonic defender of the instance. Armed with his flaming sword, he destroys all who attempt to infiltrate the core of his tomb. If you somehow manage to defeat him, you'll receive King Yan's Pearls, which can be traded for very rare and powerful armor pieces. Swallow's Dock is an event in the game that truly makes player's feel like they're part of a movie. Players get to trek through multiple stages of a large scale attack on the Song Dynasty. The presentation of the event is out of this world.

MMORPG.com:

How does the Ice Space zone work? Will players need to log off there to rest?

Martin Tan:

The Ice Space zone is a place where players can come to gain experience in a calm environment. If you've ever felt like building up experience without having to go out and kill things, this is the place for you. You don't need to log out to gain your experience either; you can stay online and hang out with other players in the zone.

MMORPG.com:

Talk about the new quests in the game. How will they benefit players the most?

Martin Tan:

The new quests in the game benefit players by giving them a more in-depth look into the Dragon Oath story. All of the quests are incredibly rewarding in terms of weapons and armor sets and extremely important to the player's progression. The quests themselves all lead towards tons of weapons or pieces of armor, so nothing is pointless in this expansion. Everything is catered towards helping the players get fully-equipped with new items.

MMORPG.com:

What other plans do you have for Dragon Oath in 2010?

Martin Tan:

We have many exciting features, events, items and quests planned to be added in 2010. We will launch another major expansion for Dragon Oath in August and will keep doing numerous in-game events for each festival through the year. The first to expect after our major expansion is the Valentine's Day Events. Keep your eyes peeled for these great new features.

MMORPG.com:

When is the expansion expected to go live?

Martin Tan:

Dragon Oath: Age of Destiny will go live on Feb.2, 2010.