MMORPG: C9 is entering a crowded MMO space. As an action MORPG and free to play, what features of C9 do you feel will excite veteran MMO-ers, as well as attract and appeal to people who have not experienced MMOs?
C9: For veteran MMO-ers there are two aspects of C9 they can enjoy. One is the strong PVP content with precise controls and the variety of combos. The other is the “Intrusion” gameplay in PvP which allows players to intrude into other player’s instanced dungeon to take over the map and goods. Players with less experience in MMOs and PvP may learn the basics through the tutorial and start practicing for the combos and skills through PVE dungeon runs.
MMORPG: What level must you be to play PvP?
C9: At level 10, you can go through a tutorial for PvP with an NPC. It takes only about an hour or so to reach level 10, so you can play PvP quite early in the game.
MMORPG: How does the PvP matchmaking work?
C9: The “grade” system shows other players how good you are at PvP. This grade shows over the avatar’s head and also shows up beside your name in the room making system so you know how good the team is that you are playing against. We are improving our systems all the time, but currently, there is only true match-making in the one vs. one matches.
MMORPG: How does the observation mode work in PvP?
C9: Our largest room size is 16 for 8 x 8 games, so for those games, there can be no observers if the game is full. Otherwise, all the other slots can be filled by observers. So a 4 x 4 match can have 8 observers, for example.
MMORPG: Do you earn different gear from PvP as opposed to PvE? Will players have to play one or the other to gain the best gear in the game?
C9: There isn’t any ultimate universal gear which works well in both PVP and PVE situations. When you play PvP, you earn arena tokens. Currently, the tokens can be traded for PvE gear, but when the PvP only set items are released into the game then players will want to use them to purchase PvP specific gear if they want to do PvP.
There are different difficulty levels in dungeons and the rewards also scale. For example Hell mode will give you access to Hell level armor sets and ingredients for crafting.
MMORPG: PvP looks to be a really important part of the game. Will you comment?
C9: Well, there is plenty of content for PvE players with multi-level difficulty dungeons, but we do have tournament plans. In August, we are planning the EU competition, the October the North American and in December, we will have the world finals for our 2012 C9 tournament.
MMORPG: What is the next advanced class to come? How do players try out another class? Can they change classes?
C9: The next advanced class coming is the Berserker in August, with more classes to come. Some have been released in Korea but not global. You cannot change classes, but you can level another character to 20 to try out the class. If you already have one character of one class above 20, we provide a little help to reach 20 faster for the next one.
MMORPG: Is there much difference between the Korean and the Global game?
C9: Currently, global has the most up to date content and patches. It won’t be much behind from now on. We’ve had to tweak some systems and storylines to make them more suited for the global audience. There is a lot of difference from what the game was “back in the day” but now, the localization will be done at the same time as development and there won’t be very much difference in game content.
MMORPG: Describe the leveling process for us.
C9: At level 10, you become an “elite” of your class and PvP opens up for those who want to play PvP. At level 20, you choose to specialize in one of the advanced variations of your class. At level 45, you get better skills. At level 50, you can get Ultimate Fury.
One tip, don’t just grind dungeons. Quests will give you quite a bit of experience to help get you to the cap.
MMORPG: Tell us more about the cash store and what can be bought there.
C9: At Webzen, we don’t believe in “Pay to Win.” The things you can buy in the cash shop are cosmetic and convenience items such as bank space upgrades, health and mana potions, skill re-set scrolls and resurrection scrolls.
However, some things like the potions and rez scrolls do drop in game. As for the skill re-set, we provide a free reset at level 20. If there are any skill changes, we will provide a free re-set also to all players.
