Video Interview with Paul Barnett over at Curse Gaming

[observer]

A great interview in which our favourite developer once again excitedly gives us a lot of tasty morsels to ponder over, full of wonderful little insights including and not limited to: some information on in-game travel and loading screens!

Full Story Here (http://www.curse-gaming.com/en/war/interview.html).

[wingzero]

lol that was a good invterview got a lot more info out of that one thanks for the link

[Krauser]

I love this guy! He got way too much out of Paul that was good stuff. Though, I hope there isn't a huge ream point grind like there was in DAoC, puts the WoW R14 grind to shame.

[dutch_gamer]

I haven't a Skippy Scooby Doo!

[Shillen]

1) Open beta at the start of 2007? That can't be right at all. There's no way they can sustain open beta for nearly an entire year before release. Maybe he meant stress testing, not open beta.

2) Talking about the "end game" and saying grinding is inevitable got me down a little bit. I believe you can remove the grind if you don't design the game around the "end game". But it appears they're going with a grind and designing the fun part of the game around being max level.

[Gorgeras]

I you don't plan for the 'endgame' there will be very little to do in endgame , which is marginally worse than a grind.

You actually remove grinding by creating a strong in-game economy like EVE did; capitalism is where lazy but smart people can get rich and that is how endgame progression should work to some degree.

[Shillen]

I you don't plan for the 'endgame' there will be very little to do in endgame , which is marginally worse than a grind.

You actually remove grinding by creating a strong in-game economy like EVE did; capitalism is where lazy but smart people can get rich and that is how endgame progression should work to some degree.

Sorry, but I think you're only talking about a specific type of grinding. i.e. Killing mobs for money. I'm talking about the level grind, where you do a repetetive task to in order to level up, instead of doing what you would do if you just wanted to enjoy yourself. I don't think that's related to the economy at all.

And I didn't say not to plan for the end game. But there shouldn't be more to do at the "end game" than there is at the "middle game". All stages of the game should be equally fun. You shouldn't have to "work" to reach the fun part of the game.

[Makova]

LOL Paul Barnett is God.

He delivers a complete lack of new information so flamboyantly and energeticly that you walk away satisfied. Easily the best front-man in recent memory.

[Osiris`Moon]

When he talks about end-game he is talking about RVR not WOW Raid Instance Grinding.Like he said,WAR is a game that is based around RVR and alot of the things you do in PVE will have an effect on the RVR aspect of the game.When did he say there would be nothing to do at End-Game because i never saw it.

The best parts of DAOC RVR system is what he mentions and if you go by that there will be plenty to do at end game.:p

[Seldaren]

Open beta at the start of 2007? That can't be right at all. There's no way they can sustain open beta for nearly an entire year before release. Maybe he meant stress testing, not open beta.

Uh, sure they can. I would actually say you've got it backwards, they can't possible support a year-long stress test, that'd be a little wacky. But year long beta sounds about right.

The first part will likely just be the Dwarf vs. Greenskin zones. Then at some point a couple months later, they'll change it to Empire vs. Chaos, then a couple months later HE vs. DE. Then a couple months later, combine all three into one giant mess, open it completely for a stress test/publicity sort of thing.

And I think when he says "open" beta, he doesn't mean "free for everyone". It'll still be something you have to get invited to, or win a spot in.
It'll be "open" in that people will be allowed to talk about it, the NDA will be relaxed somewhat, stuff like that.

Seldaren

[Shillen]

And I think when he says "open" beta, he doesn't mean "free for everyone". It'll still be something you have to get invited to, or win a spot in.
It'll be "open" in that people will be allowed to talk about it, the NDA will be relaxed somewhat, stuff like that.


That's my point. If not everyone can join then it's not open beta. Removing the nda does not make it open beta. Also, stress testing starts with a rather small tester base. They only have to put stress on one or two servers at first and they can switch them in and out and stress them that way. They'd only need about 2000 simultaneous users if that. Either way he mistated when he said "open beta".

edit: I also noticed that he mentioned "leveling" a lot in that interview. I think some people are expecting a skill-based system where you gain skills by using them. I don't think that's the case. I think it will be an experience/level-based system. You just have choice in what order you gain skills in for your class. I wish they had asked a question regarding character advancement.

[Y'vess]

The only thing that bothers me about that interview is the suggestion that the UI will be "given" to the community to do what they want......I think the ammount of ui hacking that went on with WoW should teach developers its not a good idea, but thats for another thread I guess.

Otherwise as always Paul makes you want to play the game.

[Loner]

What's all the new stuff he talked about?

I think it mostly consisted of "We got the best people working on it" and "It will rock".

Still, he's fun to listen to. :)

[Loner]

The only thing that bothers me about that interview is the suggestion that the UI will be "given" to the community to do what they want......I think the ammount of ui hacking that went on with WoW should teach developers its not a good idea, but thats for another thread I guess.
That depends on what type of API you have access to. You can make the UI completely customizable without changing the basic functionality (kind of like Daoc, but in a smarter way). What causes all the silly mods in Wow is that end users have access to the LUA script API, which I think is bad design.

I dont know if Blizzard have changed how the UI works, but they have restricted access to a lot of functions, which implies that there is a interface between the LUA API and the game UI (which is a better way of doing it). It's just that Blizzard allows access to far too many functions still.

[Nerror]

1) Open beta at the start of 2007? That can't be right at all. There's no way they can sustain open beta for nearly an entire year before release. Maybe he meant stress testing, not open beta.

Players and devs think differently when they hear 'Open Beta'. Open beta is the phase of beta that isn't only in-house anymore. It doesn't mean anyone can join. Players often consider this closed beta, because only some get invited to it. What players often consider open beta to be is the last couple of weeks of everyone-can-join-and-play stress-testing.

So, open beta at start of 2007 means the first players get to beta test it then, but only a select few.

[Excommunicate]

Nice to see he's not spazzing out talking about a bunch of nonsense and straining his voice this time. His answers seemed to be fairly honest too (the grind admission was surprising).

1) Open beta at the start of 2007? That can't be right at all. There's no way they can sustain open beta for nearly an entire year before release. Maybe he meant stress testing, not open beta.

The stuff that starts this year is closed beta testing. Only people who are invited to it through whatever means will be able to participate. I am sure that guy who quotes devs all the time, miber or whatever, can find you the quote where they say the beta for this year will be very limited access, aka. a "closed" beta.

The open beta for 2007 is when anyone can go to fileplanet and download the beta client and play. And it'll last only a month or so. It is a stress test, in addition to being a marketing thing.

So, open beta at start of 2007 means the first players get to beta test it then, but only a select few.

Don't believe you've got it there. Internal, in-house testing went on with WoW too (the Alpha) and only Friends & Family and no external players were involved. Then in March of 04 or whatever it was, they started the beta, but the only players not a friend or family member of a Blizzard employee who really got in were people on the Blizzard Friends list at that time (including Yours Truly) or the douches who run crappy websites for these games to get a free beta pass. So the beta was very, very exclusive at first and not many people got to play it.

Then months later it goes Open Beta and any jerk could download the client and play. But until that point the beta was exclusive in the sense that you had to actually get picked by Blizzard to play it.

[Gorgeras]

Shillen, EVE also had the answer to non-grind level progression: you continued developing skills offline.

My personal view is that endgames should be rid of altogether. There should be no set level cap and when your level gets gets extremely high, development happens extremely slow. Repeated failures in-game should reduce level but quickly return back to top achieved level when fortune changes.

Or there can be something similiar but not exactly like buddy and sidekick systems used in games like City of H/V, where grouping with an Orc Warboss should make every Orc in the group far more powerful.

[Shillen]

The stuff that starts this year is closed beta testing. Only people who are invited to it through whatever means will be able to participate. I am sure that guy who quotes devs all the time, miber or whatever, can find you the quote where they say the beta for this year will be very limited access, aka. a "closed" beta.

The open beta for 2007 is when anyone can go to fileplanet and download the beta client and play. And it'll last only a month or so. It is a stress test, in addition to being a marketing thing.


This is right. But my point is that if the game is releasing at the end of 2007 then open beta cannot start at the beginning of 2007, like Paul Barnett stated it was going to in the video. I think he just used the wrong term and I didn't mean to start a whole debate over it as it isn't a huge deal.

[Makova]

This is right. But my point is that if the game is releasing at the end of 2007 then open beta cannot start at the beginning of 2007, like Paul Barnett stated it was going to in the video. I think he just used the wrong term and I didn't mean to start a whole debate over it as it isn't a huge deal.

You mean you're thinking 'open beta' is 'free preview'. Eh, you're right, but it's just a slip of the tongue. He probably meant 'letting the outsiders in beta' but caught himself at the last moment. After the whole custard/sky debacle I can't really blame him.:D

[1337mojo]

I bet he was wearing scooby doo boxers.

[Drunkenmaster]

Hahahaha, Love him, he can make anything sound good, even if the information itself is old :)

[valo]

Ive been waiting for a few weeks for that interview to be approved so I could watch it :D
nice one curse you got loads more info from him than I expected.

shameless plug. we need more people in #curse-war and #warhammeronline on irc.quakenet.org :D

[Vash108]

Are they still making the Paul squeeze dolls? /Squeezes "Custard raining from the skys"

I hope the beta is long, and it will be a good release with few problems and bugs. And hopefully a finished game, with ou thaving to add huge pieces every few months.

Not that im saying its a bad thing I just dont want it to release and have to wait 3 months for a certain aspect to be added that was stated for release, like other games.

[Seldaren]

I also noticed that he mentioned "leveling" a lot in that interview. I think some people are expecting a skill-based system where you gain skills by using them.

E3 and the information that came out around then pretty well nipped that concept in the bud.

We now know that there are Four Tiers, with Ten Ranks per Tier. This effectively equals your "level".
We also know there are four Exp bars. Primary, Secondary, Racial and RvR. (not completely positive on "racial" and "RvR" ones though, that's sort of a guess).
We also know there are "skill packages" that are somehow used, but we don't know much more than that.

We're supposed to hear more about Dwarf and Greenskin careers this month, hopefully that'll clear lots of things up :) .

And I really doubt the beta starting in early 2007 is going to be the beta that just anyone can go to a place like FilePlanet and download.
That beta likely won't start til around the middle of 2007 I'd imagine.

Seldaren

[Cu_Werik]

Ive been waiting for a few weeks for that interview to be approved so I could watch it :D
nice one curse you got loads more info from him than I expected.


We had a lot of questions, unfortunately we didn't have time for all.
I hope we have managed to pick the best questions and all of you are pleased with the interview.

[Griot]

As was mentioned, open beta is entirely dependant upon your point of view. If you are on the inside looking out, open beta starts when the first non-Mythic employees join the process. If you are on the outside looking in, it starts when there are no restrictions on who can participate.

[Shapechanger]

EDIT: Merged both threads. ~Kilrogg

[dutch_gamer]

Don't mind this post. :p Two threads apparently got merged into one.

[Ruinx]

Thank you for linkage!

I <3 Paul Barnett 4ever.

He sayeth of the PvP system "If you're really good, you'll do really well!". This is the most important system in a PvP system for me, and this whole interview is a beautiful thing. Especially where admits the levelling system isn't perfect :D

[Excommunicate]

He sayeth of the PvP system "If you're really good, you'll do really well!". This is the most important system in a PvP system for me, and this whole interview is a beautiful thing. Especially where admits the levelling system isn't perfect :D

If intentions were actions... well, the chicken breast I'll be making into chicken fingers tonight would already be thawing in the sink, and I wouldn't be sitting here writing this post.

[Makova]

If intentions were actions... well, the chicken breast I'll be making into chicken fingers tonight would already be thawing in the sink, and I wouldn't be sitting here writing this post.

Shame you don't have any chicken then innit?

[Vendettus]

This Interveiw is just "phat" ;) Paul has definetly entertaining-qualities, they should give him his own show.
I especially liked the part with "Go and f**k the WoW flightpath system!", at least he said somthing like that, using the word "rubbish" about a dozen times.

Go on Paul, do more Interviews and marry me if you can find the time ;)

[Ruinx]

If intentions were actions... well, the chicken breast I'll be making into chicken fingers tonight would already be thawing in the sink, and I wouldn't be sitting here writing this post.

This is certainly true, but laziness at home, and designing a game a specific way are kind of two different things.

Let me put it this way, if chicken is the analogy of choice. Paul Barnett has just specifically promised to make spicy chicken. This is quite different from the fried chicken served by many developers. Even if he doesn't manage to do it, at least they'll have been trying for it, which is more than could be said of, say, Blizzard, who were quite content to develop perfectly balanced HvA where, if you were good at it, you'd do well, then dump gear so overpowering on it that skill became nearly meaningless, and who are currently continuing with even more ridiculously overpowered gear.

[miber]

Just watched it, and thought it was a pretty good interview.

Good questions, and for the most part, answers I wanted/was expecting to hear. Only odd thing that stood out was talking about crafting as just improving upon items, rather than creating items.

[Karigaut]

Brilliant! There is no way you can not like this guy.

The airport story really made me laugh :)... and hate WoW :)

[Perp]

thx for the post... good stuff

[Excommunicate]

This is certainly true, but laziness at home, and designing a game a specific way are kind of two different things.

Not really. At least my chicken is now in the sink. Where's all the long-lost promises of other developers? My statement was meant to be pretty general. Developers and their promises tend to be a bad mix.

Let me put it this way, if chicken is the analogy of choice. Paul Barnett has just specifically promised to make spicy chicken. This is quite different from the fried chicken served by many developers. Even if he doesn't manage to do it, at least they'll have been trying for it, which is more than could be said of, say, Blizzard, who were quite content to develop perfectly balanced HvA where, if you were good at it, you'd do well, then dump gear so overpowering on it that skill became nearly meaningless, and who are currently continuing with even more ridiculously overpowered gear.

Well let's not get out of control here. Hyperbole doesn't make your argument any more compelling. I have played WoW extensively in the past and I know what you're saying, that skill doesn't matter much, isn't true. Gear does make a difference, but skill does matter. And good PvP'ers do tend to beat bad PvP'ers, gear aside.

We know that WAR will be a game that has equipment which does matters, after all. Hell, the answer to the crafting question makes it pretty clear that gear will count, because people will be enhancing it through trading, which they wouldn't do if it didn't matter. So obviously gear in WAR will make a difference, and if there's a big gear difference the fight might be very lopsided. So, y'know, at any rate, their intent is for skill to matter, sure, but it'll only take you so far in a fight. The question is really, then, how far it'll go before it's the gear that decides a duel. And it's that balance between gear being cool and rewarding and useful and PvP being largely skill based that I'm skeptical about them achieving.

[Ralzar]

Just watched it, and thought it was a pretty good interview.

Good questions, and for the most part, answers I wanted/was expecting to hear. Only odd thing that stood out was talking about crafting as just improving upon items, rather than creating items.


Was thinking the same. Perhaps the crafting system uses completed armour/weapons as materials?
So you have a shield and a bunch of nails and combine it into a spikey shield for example. Or you have two armours which you can combine to make a slightly stronger armour.

[miber]

We know that WAR won't be a game that has equipment which doesn't matter, after all.I've always wondered where people got the idea that it wouldn't. Sure, I'd like for it not to, but I haven't specifically heard anything to deny that.

Also, as long as equivelent gear is attainable by different methods (PvE, PvP, solo, raid, casual, hardcore, etc) then items won't play a huge role - because it wouldn't be hard to get "geared up." It's when you need to put in huge amounts of time, or are forced to do something in particular for the best gear - when gear disparities start playing a large role.

[Excommunicate]

There is no way you can not like this guy.

Now that's just silly. I find his voice grating and while this interview wasn't bad, the one at E3 was just weird. Little too wired up that bloke is. Plus he was spending more time on long-winded dramatizations to explain something than actually answering the questions in a useful way.

[Trump]

Shillen, EVE also had the answer to non-grind level progression: you continued developing skills offline.


EVE's system is hardly an answer. Although that may be more because of poor implementation than it being a bad idea.

EVE requires that you wait around for a year of real life time before you can compete on fairly even ground, but still you will be at a disadvantage against players who bought and account 3 years ago.

It's beyond idiotic.

[Excommunicate]

I've always wondered where people got the idea that it wouldn't. Sure, I'd like for it not to, but I have specifically heard anything to deny that.

Did my double negative throw you off?

Also, as long as equivelent gear is attainable by different methods (PvE, PvP, solo, raid, casual, hardcore, etc) then items won't play a huge role - because it wouldn't be hard to get "geared up." It's when you need to put in huge amounts of time, or are forced to do something in particular for the best gear - when gear disparities start playing a large role.

If gear is too easy to attain then Mythic loses a big way of keeping people in the game. As much as people , they like having gear that's difficult to get because it keeps them reaching higher and higher. If it's easy to get "geared up", the game will suffer more than if it's easy to gear up. Making really good gear rarish makes it more rewarding which keeps people playing to try and get it. Making it easy to get makes it unrewarding which makes it just standard-fare and pretty lame-duck.

As they've said, the game is a PvE and a PvP game. It's not just a PvP game. They're not doing something totally revolutionary here. Even their level system will be, by their own admission, pretty much standard. So I'm not sure what motivation they'd have to abandon a tried-and-true method of keeping people involved like making good gear hard to get when the rest of the game is going to be pretty much what we're used to anyway.

[miber]

Did my double negative throw you off?I don't think so.

"We know that WAR won't be a game that has equipment which doesn't matter, after all."
Which is saying that WAR will be a game where equipment does matter. I read you're "after all" as meaning "in spite of expectations" - that you didn't think that would be the case. Whereas I always expected equipment to matter, as I haven't heard otherwise.

I've gotten the impression from others that they've believed gear wouldn't play a large role, either, which is why I wonder where they got that idea.

[Rohan]

Don't let Excommunicate's posts get you down, he doesn't like people. :p

Anyways, good interview overall... Paul always gives a good laugh.

My favorite quote:

"Until somebody comes up with a better system than a numerical leveling system were stuck with what we got... if you got a better system and you think we should have used it. then all you have to do is do the following: Get 50 million dollars, then spend it on a game using your clever system and then when you proved it, I will personally write a letter to you saying well done, you're better than us."

:D

[Azrayne2.0]

If gear is too easy to attain then Mythic loses a big way of keeping people in the game. As much as people , they like having gear that's difficult to get because it keeps them reaching higher and higher. If it's easy to get "geared up", the game will suffer more than if it's easy to gear up. Making really good gear rarish makes it more rewarding which keeps people playing to try and get it. Making it easy to get makes it unrewarding which makes it just standard-fare and pretty lame-duck.

As they've said, the game is a PvE and a PvP game. It's not just a PvP game. They're not doing something totally revolutionary here. Even their level system will be, by their own admission, pretty much standard. So I'm not sure what motivation they'd have to abandon a tried-and-true method of keeping people involved like making good gear hard to get when the rest of the game is going to be pretty much what we're used to anyway.

Because the game will function similar to DAoC, where PvE is not the primary focus, they've said already that by max level you'll be at least 80% focused on RvR, for the average player, unless for some reason you choose not to participate.

This isn't going to be EQ or WoW where they expect players to join huge raid guilds and farm instances night after night hoping something decent will drop, so you can use that loot to get better loot to get better loot.

This is an RvR game, you gear up, you go out, you blow people up and smash heads in. If perpetual pve is what you're after, go look into WoW or EQ(2) or Vanguard.

They're not going to make the mistake of forcing people to perpetually pve, or to go through a massive PvE grind once they hit level cap, just so they can compete in RvR. They made that mistake with ToA, and it was a massive part of what killed DAoC for so many people, and they've as much as come out and said that it was a huge mistake and that they ed it up.


On another note, I was pretty impressed with most of what he said (Paul's quite a character, funny guy), and it looks like this game is shaping up pretty well from what he's saying. I got my hopes up that we where going to get more info about RvR reward system when the guy asked about it, but at least what he said (about working off what was best in DAoC's system) sounds pretty promising for a RR/RA type setup alike to what worked so well in DAoC.

Nice interview, pretty informative.

[Bolg]

LOL loved that interview! I gotta say I'm happy and sad all at once. I'm happy that we saw PB share his wisdom and expertise on the matter of WAR, I'm sad that he doesn't share it more often like posting here on the forums.... Why doesn't he ever post on the forums I wonder? He obviously reads them from what he said in the interview (I'm not sure if its this forum)... but I'm sure he reads them.... so why doesn't he post on here?

It would be fun and great for game info and morale boosting to hear from PB every now and then on here, I think.

With that I have to change my sig now...

[TClonewolf]

EVE's system is hardly an answer. Although that may be more because of poor implementation than it being a bad idea.

EVE requires that you wait around for a year of real life time before you can compete on fairly even ground, but still you will be at a disadvantage against players who bought and account 3 years ago.

It's beyond idiotic.


Just curious but how long ago did you play EVE, and how long did you play it? My experience with the game has been completely different. It has been the only MMO to date where a first year can make a solid impact in game and pvp almost from the beginning of the game. Also seems to me from your statement that you didn't really give the game a chance and didn't find a corp. [or at least a good one to join] the game wasn't meant to be a solo game through you could do it, you missed out on a lot of the beauty of EVE if you didn't join a good corp.

Also a lot has changed to make skill learning better, implants, tier two learning skills new bloodlines. I am not attacking you but most people who knock the game have never really played it long enough to realize what a truly great game it is.

Anyway, Sorry about the off topic statement as far as the interview it was alright I guess nothing surprising or interesting but he seemed honest and to the point even if it was kind of dramatically. Loved the statement that he would make when he didn’t know much about the question that was being asked or at least the question he pretended not to know much about. I do not know a Scooby doo about that :lol: , I will have to start using that in RL :lol:

[Blhurr]

Good stuff there.

New points for me were:

1) Crafting as a modifier for acquired equipment, viable at the end game.

2) 2 factions but 3 fronts that need to be accounted for and defended, sure it makes sense, but clearly they are thinking about the game in terms of a 3 way balance where both sides are going to have to constantly pay attention to all three but in doing so you maybe leave a front weaker than the rest that your opponents team can exploit.

3) Confirmation that leveling hasn't changed much and doesn't seem likely too. Which is fine as long as you make most of it fun, a la WoW.

[Ravanos]

I love the honesty and the way he presents it in a "in your face" type way. The fast travel thing is dead on in most MMOs lol.


and he's right in MMOs its almost inevitable to have some sort of grind.

[Loner]

If gear is too easy to attain then Mythic loses a big way of keeping people in the game. As much as people , they like having gear that's difficult to get because it keeps them reaching higher and higher. If it's easy to get "geared up", the game will suffer more than if it's easy to gear up. Making really good gear rarish makes it more rewarding which keeps people playing to try and get it. Making it easy to get makes it unrewarding which makes it just standard-fare and pretty lame-duck.

As they've said, the game is a PvE and a PvP game. It's not just a PvP game. They're not doing something totally revolutionary here. Even their level system will be, by their own admission, pretty much standard. So I'm not sure what motivation they'd have to abandon a tried-and-true method of keeping people involved like making good gear hard to get when the rest of the game is going to be pretty much what we're used to anyway.
I was going to respond to this, but then I found a post...
... saying what I was about to say. (http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showpost.php?p=102072&postcount=45)

[Midwinter]

Nice interview and reasonable questions. It's a small shame there wasn't really any new information although the crafting as upgrades puzzled me a little. Paul's enthusiasm is, as per usual, captivating.

[Vendettus]

Now that's just silly. I find his voice grating and while this interview wasn't bad, the one at E3 was just weird. Little too wired up that bloke is. Plus he was spending more time on long-winded dramatizations to explain something than actually answering the questions in a useful way.

The point is he wanted to make the interview enjoyable and funny for us and he did quite a good job doing it. Just answering straight would mean to say "yes, it's like this and that" or "no, we do not plan that" oder at most times "I am not allowed to tell you anything about it". That is the point with games in development and even after that...
At least it is cool that Mythic gives us a few new pieces every week, although I have to admit it can never be enough ;)

[Ares]

I dont mind there be grind spots in the game, good way to farm money is to grind and they shouldnt remove it from mmorpg's. As long as you can also gain exp (same amount or even more) with RVR and doing RVR quest in RVR zones.

And i like the crafting idea, make your armor and weapons stronger by crafting.. make the effects wear off after a while and crafting economy is constistant.. And everyone can have same good items as long they can pay the crafters. (and the looks they like because they can make the weapons they like as good as others)



But i didnt understand this part:

2 factions but 3 fronts that need to be accounted for and defended, sure it makes sense, but clearly they are thinking about the game in terms of a 3 way balance where both sides are going to have to constantly pay attention to all three but in doing so you maybe leave a front weaker than the rest that your opponents team can exploit.

What do they mean by this and how its gonna solve population unbalance.
Say 1 faction has 200 people others only 90. BTW my native language isnt english so maybe i missed something.. but i dont see it.
(What i see is this: 200 moving to humans main city .. say 50 defending other 40 taking land of the dark realm(they prob to weak to take capital), the 200 got the capital, got some cool items .. kill the 40 attackers and move to dwarf town)

[Nerror]

What do they mean by this and how its gonna solve population unbalance.
Say 1 faction has 200 people others only 90. BTW my native language isnt english so maybe i missed something.. but i dont see it.
(What i see is this: 200 moving to humans main city .. say 50 defending other 40 taking land of the dark realm(they prob to weak to take capital), the 200 got the capital, got some cool items .. kill the 40 attackers and move to dwarf town)

Population balance is a slightly different thing than what Paul was talking about I think.

And the game is balanced in such a way that the forces of destruction are incapable of assaulting on three fronts at once. It’s the old World War Two analogy, you can’t win a war if you fighting two fronts.

I am curious to know what this means, exactly, in terms of game play. What is it that prevents this? Is it an actual game mechanic that says that if you have captured a specific objective in one zone, then you can't capture the equivalent in the two other battlefronts? Someone call Paul Barnett please! :)

[Midwinter]

I am curious to know what this means, exactly, in terms of game play. What is it that prevents this? Is it an actual game mechanic that says that if you have captured a specific objective in one zone, then you can't capture the equivalent in the two other battlefronts? Someone call Paul Barnett please! :)
It confused me too. At first I thought he simply meant that it will be so hard to take a capital city you'll need every man available (and thus if you try to attack two at once, you'll fail on both). This is, obviously, a silly (and impossible) guess. Clarification would be good.

[Vervayne]

Population balance is a slightly different thing than what Paul was talking about I think.



I am curious to know what this means, exactly, in terms of game play. What is it that prevents this? Is it an actual game mechanic that says that if you have captured a specific objective in one zone, then you can't capture the equivalent in the two other battlefronts? Someone call Paul Barnett please! :)


There could be a game mechanic preventing an assault on three fronts, but also perhaps he is suggesting that the races will have to work together to get anything done.

[Ares]

Population balance is a slightly different thing than what Paul was talking about I think.



I am curious to know what this means, exactly, in terms of game play. What is it that prevents this? Is it an actual game mechanic that says that if you have captured a specific objective in one zone, then you can't capture the equivalent in the two other battlefronts? Someone call Paul Barnett please! :)

Personly i hope the world is devided in zones you have to own first to open travel (teleport)
hmm this gonna be hard to explain but i try:
See the world as a spider with only 6 legs (6 races) in each feet there is a zone with a capital city .. every leg has alot of zones. To get to an enemy capital you have to own all zones on your leg, move through 1 big zone in the centre you cant capture only with a town you can capture with a portal stone in it (body), then have to win every zone of the enemies leg(say dwarf leg) to get to the capital of the dwarfs.

You can port to all zones owned by your realm and have a direct line to it. So to stop an enemy force who is trying to capture the dwarf capital, Humans and high elves can port to the zone next to the neutral zone (body) then capture a zones behind (on the leg of dwarfs) the enemy force and attack them from behind when they reach the zone with the attacking force. So porting to the main force isnt possible. This with some extra penalties like supply line is broken you cant ressurect anymore, will force the attacking force to split op in 3 forces .. or 5:
-1 To defend the zone(3) on end of their own legs (capture zone of dark elves top leg and they cant port anymore and rez)
-2 To defend end of leg of dwarves
-3 The attacking force that is capturing the zone in the leg

[Blhurr]

Well it seems clear to me that the three fronts will be backed up by the three racial parings lore. So those fronts will "look" like each of the races are fighting its paired opponent even though "players" can likely choose any front at any time at the end game.

Ostensibly there is going to be some game mechanic that prevents a faction from attacking on all three fronts at the same time. Maybe creating a breach on one front takes some inertia away from the breach of another front. While one front gets easier for the attackers to penetrate another front gets easier for the defenders to defend, a sort of three way teeter-totter. Granted I'm just speculating but I've seen three way battles before and how they might be facilitated.

[ezze]

I must say, they defintely got the right PR guy for this game.

Every interview I see him in, hes always doing a great job, and I cant wait for this game to come out.

[Karigaut]

Now that's just silly. I find his voice grating and while this interview wasn't bad, the one at E3 was just weird. Little too wired up that bloke is. Plus he was spending more time on long-winded dramatizations to explain something than actually answering the questions in a useful way.

... allright let me rephrase: "there is no way I cant like this guy" ;)

[AlienOverlord]

I think there was some useful information that could be gleaned from Paul's entertaining ramblings.

For one thing I was glad to here that zone loading was going to be contiguous. You'd sort of expect 3rd gen MMORPGs nowadays to do that, but it's still nice to hear it confirmed. That could mean that going into buildings doesn't require load screens either which would be nice (I thought that was rather lame in DDO)