Interview @ OGaming.com

OGaming.com has recently posted an interview with Marko Dieckmann, CEO of Duplex Systems, the developer of the Sci-Fi MMORPG Face of Mankind. The interview is 17 questions long and answers questions about the roots of the game, the industry, programming, and about himself. Here's a part of the interview:

FOMK OGaming: How did the idea of the game come about?

Marko Dieckmann: That's a long story.

It all began nearly 3 years ago. I've always been very enthusiastic about online gaming and the fact how players can have true influence on a game world and its story.

At that time the first science-fiction based massively multiplayer games where in development and it was interesting to see how things evolve. But I also saw many, many aspect that I disliked, such as the fact that all players where dependent from so called skill systems. They made these games work, but they also limited their freedom to play their roles.

That was the point in time, where the idea of Face of Mankind slowly began to take shape in the outer regions of my brains. When the lightning bolt to create an own MMOG hit me, I was standing hours after hours in front of the window, stared at the valley and thought about how all this could be accomplished. I even mumbled to myself and was very excited. Some would have called me a little bit crazy at this time.

Later then, I discussed the idea with a few of my friends and colleagues. There were tons of issues and problems to discuss, but the basic system seemed to work out. It was the weeks in autumn 2000 where the game system was drafted on paper. In 2001 the actual development of Face of Mankind began.