Developer Round Table Pt. 3

MMORPG.com:

How much inspiration for the Estate system was taken from the Player Controlled Town system from SWG?

Anthony Castoro:

It’s a direct descendant. Having designed that system, this is just an improvement over what we did there.

MMORPG.com:

It seems like the use of housing in MMOs has always been fairly limited. You can store stuff there, show off trophies, maybe even set up shops and craft. You’ve stated Estates are going to be so much more than that… But what other ideas do you have, what else can really be done with housing, regardless of how big the area is?

Tim Schubert:

As hinted at above, there are a lot of things we have in mind for the player estate system. Everything from resource gathering to Ludus/Gladiator training to crafting. We also want to do a government system based around the idea of the Roman senate, which will key off of the player estate system. And of course there are also PvP raids. And for the more peaceful, decorator types out there, the estates will be incredibly customizable.

Phil Tittle:

: There’s no shortage of things we can use the player estate for: minion improvement, quest hub, character buffs, etc. It is really key to the overall game-play of Gods and Heroes; it’s the center of player activity.

MMORPG.com:

I love that you guys are doing a lifetime subscription offer. It’s not a limited time offer like other games in the past have done is it?

Anthony Castoro:

We will have to see how it goes, it’s undecided at this point if we’ll keep it around indefinitely or remove it after a limited time.

MMORPG.com:

For those who haven’t been following along, can you tell us a little about the Praetorian Guard program?

Donna Prior & Shannon Drake:

The Praetorian Guard system is a volunteer street team of sorts. They are chosen from applicants. Criteria is based on how helpful they are on the forums, in-game and even out on social media sites like Facebook. During open beta, the Praetorian Guards will be boosted in level and given some flashy gear so they can help out the newer players. As a smaller company, we can’t really spend the massive marketing money that some of the bigger companies can. As such it is very important to foster a very friendly and helpful player community. It has been proven time and time again that people will keep playing a game longer if they really enjoy the community, if they have some great people to play with. We really want to focus on and take advantage of that.

MMORPG.com:

Can you give some specific examples of where the Praetorian Guard has made a direct impact? A change that was made to a class based on their feedback for example?

Donna Prior & Shannon Drake:

Back when we were talking about, and planning, the level of mature content that should be in the game, the Praetorian Guards gave a lot of great feedback about what fit well in the story/world versus what just felt gratuitous.

Question:

(LordSmada) Even though closed beta is ending, there are a lot of sites still handing out beta keys it seems. Do those have something to do with the open beta? Will it be a true open beta, meaning anyone can download and try it out? Or will it be more along the lines of the recent trend of having an open beta but it’s still limited to a set number of people/keys?

Tim Schubert:

There are a set number of keys, but there are more than enough for everyone who could possibly want to demo the game.

Phil Tittle:

Anyone who wants in gets in. Any unused closed beta keys still floating around out there, since some sites still have some remaining and are still giving them out, will transfer from closed beta to open beta. If you were in closed beta you can expect an email with an open beta key.

Question:

(LordSmada) What can you tell us about end game content? Are you following the example of WoW, where we’ll have to run through things over and over? Or can we expect something new/different?

Tim Schubert:

There may be some repetition, sure. But there are also a lot of other end game options, which the player estates will be a big part of. And also keep in mind that Gods and Heroes will launch with the first 30 levels of content. Additional levels will be added with content patches, so the “end game” if you will, will be continuously shifting. And the early player-base will definitely help determine the direction of the future content. And the main reason for repeating those dungeons over and over is naturally the loot. The loot in Gods and Heroes won’t be as set. There are some specific loot pieces that are on set monsters in set dungeons, sure, but there is also a very robust randomly generated item system. You may very likely find a much better randomly generated blue items for your class/build than the purple you’d have to farm the dungeon over and over in hopes of getting.

Phil Tittle:

More open than WoW. Player estates will be a big part of end-game. And there will be continued releases of new instances, dungeons and other content. There are a large number of things that will expand and extend the end-game content post-launch.

MMORPG.com:

We know the starter area and the estates are instanced, how much of the game world outside of that is instanced as well?

Tim Schubert:

Just the dungeons. The outside world is just one large, open world. The technology is in place so that multiple instances of specific regions, Rome for example, can be spooled up if needed, but that shouldn’t ever need to happen.

MMORPG.com:

Would you consider the game to be more item-based or more skill-based?

Tim Schubert:

We’re actually trying to balance on the fence between the two. Skill definitely plays a big factor. Especially when it comes to minion management. There is a HUGE difference between just setting your four minions to auto-engage and letting them do their own thing, versus individually controlling them and issuing commands throughout the battle and using them to their fullest. A very skilled player who does that will definitely come out on top over the former who let his minions run on autopilot, regardless of the EQ involved.

Phil Tittle:

I feel it is actually fairly balanced, with a slight lean towards the skill end of the spectrum.

MMORPG.com:

(Poll) What is your favorite model in the game?

Team:

Anthony Castoro: The new Minotaur Tim Schubert: Megalesius Phil Tittle: Medusa, Megalesius Donna Prior: The Evil Tree Folk monsters, Megalesius, Neptune concept art Shannon Drake: The half gorilla, half horse dude and Medusa