What makes a game fun?
Most of us have been in MMOs where we enjoyed certain aspects of the game, aspects where the developers just got it right, where it was enjoyable and kept our interest. But how about a game that takes the 'best of', what the others have to offer, and rolls it up into one package while adding a few innovative ideas of their own?
Alganon is unique in that this game benchmarks great ideas from others in the field, folds in new features that have never been used before, does it right, and makes it fun.
Unmoderated Info recently had the opportunity to sit down with Mathew "Berek" Anderson, Community Manager for Quest Online, and he answered many of the questions we had. Specific questions such as, "Will service reps actually have the tools to fix game issues," "How will exploiting, hacking, gold-sellers and spammers be handled," "How will subscription keys be handled," and "Will there be a queue to get in game?" These and many more were answered.
Over the last few weeks Alganon has had several reviews/interviews from MMORPG, RPG Vault, GamersHell, Curse, and others. While I think they’ve done a great job in explaining certain aspects of the game, I wanted to approach it from a different angle and ask some questions that are not only important but ones that haven’t been asked before.
UI: Can you give us an example of a feature in Alganon that has not been used in an MMO before?
Berek: When someone asks "What makes your game different?" they are generally looking for a laundry list of features. They want us to say things like "you can dual-wield your guildmates like a pair of bastard swords," or "squad-based combat with realistic cover calculations", or "our flying mounts shoot lasers out of their testicles" but, unfortunately, we can't promise any of those.
It isn't some bulleted list of never-been-seen features that makes Alganon great. What makes Algnaon worthwhile is that we put together the best features from the genre, and then made them more fun. Sure, you may run into a feature that you've seen in another game, but it still has unique qualities in Alganon. When someone says to you, "Hey! This is just like this other game," you can say "Yeah, but Alganon did it in its own way that really stands out from the crowd.
More importantly, we care about our players. I know that Unmoderated.info isn't a site for people who want to sit around and talk about their feelings, but I also know that it exists because you want to be heard, and most other game companies refuse to listen. Well, we listen. Does that count as a feature that has not been used in an MMO before?
If [that doesn't count], here's a quick feature for that list:
Our Study system allows for players to grow their Characters over real time, rewarding the player for being a Subscriber, not just playing the game. This allows casual players who have had their character studying for a year to have bonuses above and beyond what a power leveler can achieve by racing to max level. The system also allows players to "build out" their characters focus and enhancing key areas of playability.
The Library system makes detailed information on in-game content available within the game itself to any player. This includes being able to look up any quest, item, creature, skill, ability, or study, and get detailed information. No more wandering around for two hours trying to find an obscure spawn location. We focus the player on where they need to go to do what they want. Very cool stuff. The hook-in to the quest system is very important as well, always giving the player direction. They never have to worry about not knowing where to go. On top of that, our library scrying system allows players to actively participate in gathering information on items, creatures, and areas of exploration. Every time someone looks up a quest turn-in, or the rarest sword in the game, or the name of the boss that drops that sword, they will see the name of the last player to scry that item. Maybe it was you. Maybe it was someone you know. Maybe you should go scry that item so your name is back on top.
Families is another feature players are excited about, a system that generates "instant community" among a like minded group of players.
UI: How will subscription keys be handled for new accounts and will there be a queue for people waiting to get in the game?
Berek: If you've ever tried to play an MMO on launch day, you know that these launches run fairly smoothly. The problem is, everyone wants to play an MMO on the day they get it. You get the game, you get it installed, and you want to jump in and play. On launch day, nearly 100% of subscribers all try to log in at once. They clog the servers. They make things laggy. They make the game less fun than it is designed to be. So, MMO companies launch with as many servers as they can. They attempt to spread users out across those servers, and they cross every set of fingers they can find.
A few weeks later things have calmed down, and the percentage of subscribers online at the same time drops. Even though their number of subscribers may not change, the reduction in the percent of subscribers online at the same time makes the servers feel empty. Empty servers are less fun than full ones.
We know this. We also know that Alganon is designed not to take up every waking moment of your life. We want our players to continue having a life outside the game. This can exacerbate the "empty server" problem. So, to counter this, we are planning a controlled release. Instead of opening the flood gates and letting everyone in at once, we are releasing a limited number of subscriptions at a time. This allows everyone to play the game "on the day they get it" without overloading the servers, and, when the servers start to return to a normal use level, we can release another block of subscriptions, and let more people into the game, again, without overloading the servers.
Plus, it allows us to pay more attention to those who get in the limited release. Alganon was designed to grow along with our community. It was designed so that we can take a look at what our players enjoy most and give them more of that. The limited release will allow us to focus that growth.
UI: Secondary roles appear to lend flexibility to changing conditions; will we be able to re-spec our secondary role or are we limited to one secondary role without change?
Berek: Secondary roles were designed for exactly the type of flexibility you expect. Players will be able to re-spec their secondary role at a cost. The cost exists to encourage players to stay with a secondary role they are good at. There are few things worse than finding out that the person you depend on to do their job correctly just respecced in to that role for the first time this morning.
UI: Will there be enough points to max-out a secondary role or will we have to pick and choose carefully within that role?
Berek: There will be enough points, and we suggest that players do so. The design is that players will choose a secondary role and max it out completely - thus becoming as good at that role as any other class capable of that role. A Frost Magus is designed to equal a Protection Soldier in multi-target (AoE) tanking. Not "come close", not "almost be able to" - but to do the job at exactly the same level of efficiency.
UI: Can you explain the Kudos system and how Quest Online might prevent the spamming, or false award, of Kudos?
Berek: Each month, players will be given a limited number of Kudos they can give to players on their friends list, so as to mark those players as good at a certain role or gameplay concept - such as "good leader" or "good tank" or "good healer." These Kudos are anonymous, and do not appear immediately, so players will never know exactly who the kudos came from. The limited number of kudos prevents spamming, and the delay makes attempting to "trade kudos" a risky venture. It's important to note that Kudos don't award any gameplay advantage, or even access to content or goods. You can have just as much fun in Alganon with no kudos as you can with a million.
UI: How will consignment quests work, and will player-made consignment quests have a filter for sorting by level/rewards?
Berek: Players will be able to access the consignment house and place an order. Using the library, or items in their inventory, or searching for an item by name, they can choose an item to request, a number of these items they want, and a price they are willing to pay. They can also choose if they want all of the items at once, or if they are willing to pay for them one at a time. When they place the order, the money, plus a small fee, is removed from their inventory and held in escrow.
Other players can then search the consignment house to see what is being requested. If you have the item or items in your inventory, you can select an order, and click "fill". The item will be removed from your inventory, placed in the mailbox of the person who placed the order, and you will receive the payment offered.
There is always the risk that someone else will return with the item first, so you will want to think of filling consignment orders as a race against every other player on the server! If you can get the items, and get back to the consignment house before anyone else, you can make a good deal of coin filling consignment orders.
UI: Will MyAlganon display a character's off-line study progression?
Berek: Yes. You will be able to log into MyAlganon and view your character's study progression.
UI: Could you explain the transportation/travel aspects of Alganon? Will caster type classes have the ability to open portals for self/group travel?
Berek: One of the design goals of Alganon is to get you to the fun as quickly as possible. However, there is the concern that in their attempt to race to cap, players will do their best to skip the fun. So, we need to carefully balance the amount of "instant transportation" available. Our current design allows any player to summon a friend or party member using a purchasable portal item, rather than limiting this ability to caster classes. However, this is one area that is very likely to change.
UI: How will Quest Online handle exploiting, hacking, gold sellers, and gold spammers?
Berek: Very seriously and with no leniency. You exploit, hack, spam gold selling ads, and other serious offenses in the game and you are banned, plain and simple.
UI: How will customer service be handled in-game and out of game? Will service reps have the tools to fix issues?
Berek: We've designed our customer service tool, which we call the GOD System, to provide our CSRs with all the tools they'll need to handle the problems they may come across.
UI: Is there anything else you can tell the readers of Unmoderated.info about Alganon?
Berek: We're here, listening. We appreciate the input. We know that users of this site are very PvP oriented, and so we are paying close attention to your posts, here and on our forums, as we design the Crusades system. It's a while down the road, but we are always interested in your input and ideas. Keep posting, here, and on our forums, and we'll keep reading what you post.
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I’m impressed with the ideas coming out of Quest Online. Having features such as the study system, the library system, secondary roles, and families are opening this MMO in avenues which I haven’t seen readily available in others on the market. While some aspects of these ideas may be present in other offerings, I have not seen them all tied together in one place before.
Other games I’ve played were essentially ruined due to hacking, exploiting, gold sellers, etc. The hard stance that QO will take in this regard is refreshing news. Couple that with the tools CSR’s will use to instantly fix issues and you have a winning combination of customer service.
It is speculation at this point as to how PvP will shake out but I am glad to see that our voices are being heard and what we post is taken into consideration. For me, like many of you, I want a reason to PvP -- not just mindless hack-n-slash. If QO can develop this part of the game, in the right manner, then they are going to have me as a customer for a very long time.
Check them out over at:
alganon.com
Alganon - for the casual and hardcore gamer
03-27-2009 09:00 AM
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