November 19, 2007

Warrior Epic’s Brice Lucas chats about the new free-to-play MMO
By Michael Lafferty

“Each adventure is like a puzzle that needs to be solved with what your party brought to the mission”

Another MMO is coming soon to a PC near you and this one has some unique features that set it apart from the host of titles vying for dominance in the space. Warrior Epic is a free-to-play MMO that sports not only a robust online multiplayer component, but players can also play it as a solo campaign as well.

And at the cornerstone of the game is the building of each player’s Hall, which can be likened to a multi-room castle that has quite a bit of functionality, which rolls over into (and affects) gameplay. Intrigued, GameZone got in touch with the folks behind the title, Possibility Space, and Brice Lucas, the title’s community manager, took a few moments of his time to tell us more about the game.

Question: The MMO genre is a bit crowded and, quite frankly, many of the titles flooding into the space are merely clones, offering up nothing that is new or different. What is unique about Warrior Epic?

Brice: For starters, it is free to download and play and you do not have to pay anything at all in order to have a satisfying experience with our game. This is a completely different business model than players are accustomed to.

Game-play wise, Warrior Epic is not your typical MMO. You do not have to dedicate your life to our game in order to achieve a sense of accomplishment. Our quests are designed to be completed in 10-15 minutes, so you can take an hour and play a few quests, or you can play for eight hours and complete several quests. Either way, the player will make progress in the game.

Our development team does not pack its bags after our game launches either. New content such as character classes, quests, items, types of game play, realms, etc. will be added every month. Another feature of our game is the Download on Demand (DoD) technology it utilizes as a delivery system. Anyone will be able to go to the Warrior Epic Web site (www.warriorepic.com) from anywhere in the world, download a very small (~300kb) .exe file, and can be in game within minutes. All of the user account information is stored in our servers, not locally, so all of the player's account assets will be available immediately after downloading.

Tell us about the customization options of the characters. Are there different races or will a player’s uniqueness be determined by profession and outfitting within that profession? Do professions follow linear skill trees, or can players really work with a class to create an avatar that may be somewhat unique? Does gender matter is combat prowess or even in the choice of profession?

Brice: The primary focus in Warrior Epic is in the development of a player's “Hall.” The Hall serves as a sort of “stronghold” where new room upgrades can be added, war trophies can be displayed, and warriors can be housed.

We have much more variety than other games, the player does not just build a single “hero” character and focus all of their time into building that single character up. By working on several warriors at once, the player gets to experience the game from multiple directions.

As you progress through the game more Warrior Classes will become available, thus giving your Hall greater diversity and making you a more desirable companion for questing in online groups.

Each Warrior Class will be fully customizable. Players will be able to outfit their Warriors with a huge array of equipment, on top of the ability to choose from a very diverse selection of physical attributes such as hair, skin, and eye color.

The skill trees are not completely linear. As a player advances, at certain level intervals abilities will become available to them. It is up to the player to determine what skills to invest their hard earned skill points in.

Each warrior class has its own set of proficiencies which are reflected in the physical appearance of the warrior. For example, the Pit Fighter class consists of huge, super-buff male warriors. These warriors pack a devastating punch but have less agility than say, the Devotress, who is fast and lands a lot of blows but lacks the innate strength of a Pit Fighter.

Does the game follow a story line or is it entirely quest driven? Quests typically follow a formula that includes fetch, kill x amount of something and so on. Does Warrior Epic break out of that mold?

Brice: There are both Campaign quests and “Adventure Mode” quests. The Campaign Quests follow the story of the game, whereas the Adventure Mode quests can be used to build strength and resources prior to continuing on the primary Campaign.  

We really want our game to remain attractive to players for an extended period of time. This type of interest would be hard to retain if our quests were limited to the stereotypical “hunter/gatherer” quests that are found in many of today’s MMOs. Our development team is constantly coming up with new ways to challenge the player. Some missions will be straightforward in that they will have to seek out certain items in order to gain access to a new part of a level. New quests and game content will be added to Warrior Epic monthly. We are completely dedicated to bringing new challenges to the players and keeping the game fresh with new and innovative quest models.

Tell us a bit about the financial model you are using? Is the game charging a monthly rate, or will it be free to play?

Brice: Warrior Epic will be free to download and play. There will be small fees for a variety of customization that will be available in the game – customization such as new hair styles or a cool tattoo for one of your Warriors. Some equipment will also be available for purchase, but it is important to note that the best gear will be found in game via drops and quest rewards. As the game develops new warrior classes will also become available, for which there will be a small purchasing fee.

We want the financial aspects of our game to be as transparent as possible, but readily available to any player that wants that “unique” warrior in their Hall. Players do not have to spend a single dime in order to enjoy Warrior Epic; we want everyone to have fun with our game.

Tell us about the combat systems? Does the game employ target locks and magic missiles? Can plays avoid or dodge attacks? What is the death penalty like?

Brice: A great deal of attention has gone into the development of the combat system in Warrior Epic. The players must use strategy and teamwork if they want to survive. Each adventure is like a puzzle that needs to be solved with what your party brought to the mission. Skills and abilities must be used cooperatively for added effect in the quests.

Our combat system uses both target locks and area-based attacks. Some spells and abilities will affect a specific radius around the point that the ability was targeted. Others will target and “home in” on a specified bad guy or party member. The “magic missile” type attacks can affect a single target or the area surrounding the target, depending on what ability was used. Warrior Epic is not a recharge game, so good strategy must be used in order to survive.

During a quest, you essentially have three “lives.” After the third fall, the Warrior's Spirit transcends into the Spirit Sanctuary in your Hall. At this point you have two options ... you can resurrect your warrior and move on with him in the game, or you can let his spirit reside in your sanctuary. If you choose the latter of these options, the fallen warrior will then become available to you as a type of “uber attack” in your quests. You can call upon its spirit and, depending on the type of warrior and the warrior’s strength at the time of death, it will come to your aid in battle. These “spirit summons” can be very powerful and are exciting to watch.

Does the game have crafting? If so, will crafting produce items noticeably better than drops or will the gamer be better off with drops and quest rewards? How is the game’s economy handled?

Brice: No crafting system has currently been implemented in Warrior Epic, however there is a very interesting “buff” system that is in place.

A players “Hall” is a place similar to a castle. As the player advances in the game, Hall upgrades will become available. For example, in order to have more than a single warrior in your Hall, you must first acquire a barracks. Examples of other rooms that will become available to your hall are a Library, Fighting Pit, and Target Range. These rooms will buff things such as strength, casting wait time, defense, etc. Some of the buffs acquired by the host's Hall add-ons will be shared with everyone in the party when they accompany him/her on quests.

Will there be clans? If so, what will be the benefits of being in a clan?

Brice: Clans and group play are not only encouraged in Warrior Epic, they are essential in the later parts of the game.

Does the game have PvP or is this a PvE experience?

Brice: Warrior Epic does have PvP, but we have not announced the details yet. Rest assured, it will be cool.

What type of graphics engine are you using and what did it enable you to do that will create a bit of eye candy for players?

Brice: Our unique distribution mechanism required a completely new approach to how our games are written.

We are using a state-of-the-art graphics engine, which has enabled us to design a game that looks amazing and runs smoothly on just about any machine (Sorry Apple IIe). This is possible because we have some of the best artists in the world creating content for our games. By investing in hand-painted assets and relying less on rendering, we have been able to remove a significant amount of overhead requirements from the user’s computer. Keep in mind also, for those gaming-PC enthusiasts out there, that there will be graphic options that can be cranked up for higher-end machines.

What elements of Warrior Epic are your favorite and why?

Brice: I really love the game play of Warrior Epic. When you join a large game with friends, the game increases the difficulty of the quest so you are constantly on your toes. The spirit summons are also fun to use. Just when you think your party is about to wipe, a couple of players will summon the spirits of fallen warriors to unleash a devastating attack that will literally save the whole groups life.

When will people be able to play Warrior Epic?

Brice: We are planning a Closed Beta in the next few months. Anyone that is interested in participating should go to http://www.warriorepic.com and register. It is important that the email field is filled out, that is how we will contact selected participants for the closed Beta. Also, the name that you register on the site will serve as your User Name in Warrior Epic, so register quickly and get the name you want!

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