MMORPG: Is there a particular audience you are targeting (roleplayers, hardcore PvP, etc.)?
Rise of Agon: Darkfall: Rise of Agon is a game that provides the player themselves the ability to assume many different playstyles. This game takes place in a massive open-world, and gives players the chance to get engaged in politics, crafting, naval exploration and warfare, territory building and conquest, dungeon exploration, and many other things. WIth a full loot, free for all ruleset put in place there will always be a risk versus reward to many of the actions that players engage in as well. On top of that, anyone who is sick of the status quo of MMORPG combat and wants a more fast-paced experience will find a combat style like no other in this game, both in PvP and PvE.
To answer the question, Darkfall: Rise of Agon will be a game that welcomes many walks of life from the hardcore PvPer, the roleplayer looking to explore the ocean on a boat, to the politician planning his next move. Those looking for a place to become a prominent crafter or renowned trader will find a home in the vast world of Agon. This game is not your typical MMO and we feel there are many players out there looking for just that.
New Dawn: In immediate terms, we are targeting the playerbase that was hyped by the idea of Darkfall in 2009 but was let down by its implementation.
New Dawn will be an empire building game. This means it needs to be equal parts PvP, PvE and Industry. So in general we are aiming for the virtual world players that enjoy PvP and PvE, but also the explorers, crafters and traders that were a bit forgotten in the original game. We aim for Industry activities to be a rewarding and engaging as full time playstyles.
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MMORPG: What is your plan for monetization?
New Dawn: We will be going for a traditional model, with a box price and a monthly subscription.
There will be subscription time objects to trade between players, and some account services like race changes, but we will stay away from any cash store and will not have any paid expansions.
Our initial pricing will be at:
20€ for the box, which will come with 2 months of subscription. (1 for each phase)
10€ per months.
As the quality of the game improves, we will gradually improve the box price, similar to how indie games like Minecraft or Mount and Blade have marketed themselves. One thing we intend to keep is the 2 months of subscription per box purchase; they will just be contiguous once we have switched to our Live model.
Once we have implemented all the changes we deem necessary for Darkfall to be a sustainable game, we will then change the subscription price to be closer to the industry standards with bundles to reward long term users.
Rise of Agon: We will be releasing a few Founder packs for those that want to get involved in our early development stages and for long term followers of the game who want to gain access at greatly reduced costs. Once we go into our Public Beta anyone will be able to get into the game for a reduced monthly subscription. Beyond that, subscriptions will be our standard cost after launch. We also have plans to implement a donation page which will offer prestige items and other cosmetic rewards/services in recognition for those who support our development. However, we have a very strong stance against selling items that offer combat advantages in game.
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MMORPG: Do you think there is a large enough audience to support two titles based on the Darkfall IP and for each to remain financially stable?
Rise of Agon: We believe the sky's the limit when it comes to the Darkfall franchise. There is great potential for exposing new players to a kind of game they have never experienced before. It will ultimately be up to us to make sure as many players as possible understand how unique Darkfall: Rise of Agon is, and staying committed to our community interaction will go a long way in helping that along. The audience for this type of game can be massive, as there are truly no other games like it.
At the end of the day, our company was founded by professionals who have a strong passion for the very idea that Darkfall stood for. We are more than excited at the simple fact that we get the chance to turn Darkfall into the game we’ve always wanted it to be, and we believe there are enough players out there willing to join us on that journey to keep the project going. Rest assured, we plan to work tirelessly at taking the game we all loved, and bringing out its full potential for the world to experience.
New Dawn: In short, yes.
Both titles have a very different approach and mindset, and ultimately, very different goals. Once their main changes are implemented, the interested audiences will not be the same. Both projects have merits and both can be sustainable financially if they play their cards right and find their user base.
While former Darkfall players will be split between the two initially, this community always had a tug of war between two types of population and we expect that allowing each title to focus on one side of it will allow for a much more complete experience that will have better retention rates and will provide more choice to the players in between.
After all is said and done, we were all Darkfall players. We are glad to see that Rise of Agon managed to get the licensing too. We wish them best of luck in their endeavor.
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MMORPG: Where do you see your version of Darkfall a year from now?
New Dawn: In one year, we expect to have a game that is sustainable and ready to switch to its final world.
During our InDev period we aim to
- Fix the alignment system, providing a much more relatable virtual world with logical player interactions.
- Fix the player progression, power gap and grind issues that plagued the original release.
- Fix the economy and all the exploits that made it unstable.
With these tasks completed, and with our community agreeing that the problems are solved, we’ll have the stable foundation necessary to expand Darkfall into the amazing game it can and should be.
Rise of Agon: We expect to have the majority of changes we want done to the existing game’s features to be completed within the first year. Our goal is to also resolve as many issues and bugs that the original title had, as well as greatly enhance the new player experience. We will be preparing for our official launch, which is scheduled for 2017, and the game will be in a state where we can focus more on new content as well as many other areas we want to tackle.
