Redmoon is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) with an anime style. It mixes martial arts, weapons from swords and bows to guns and grenades, with psychic skills, in a game world that spans both planets and cultures. Through a mix of technology, magic and martial arts, there is a variety of action and combat. Players can form groups and even armies that take enrich game play. This enables experienced players to help those less able, and in return gain allegiance and future adventuring partners with potential complimentary skills. Redmoon is based on a 18-volume Korean comic book series, that centers around the conflict between the protagonist of the story, Aguilas, and those who would stand against him. The original story has the major characters: Azlar, Philar, Destino, Sadad, Jarexx, Canon, Lunarena, Kitara, and Lavita pitted against Aguilas and follows their exploits on both Earth and Signus… The first part of this story can be downloaded from the Redmoon Online site for free.

In between the playing sessions with Redmoon I got the chance to talk to Kevin Hannah from the American division of JCEntertainment, the creators of Redmoon. Here is what he had to say:

RPGDot: Could you tell us in your own words what RedMoon is about?

Kevin: RedMoon falls into the category of Massively Multiplayer Online Games, but brings players into an original anime-style Science-Fantasy world, and as such offers existing players something different while also introducing anime fans to online game play. It mixes martial arts, weapons from swords and bows to guns and grenades, with psychic skills, in a game world that spans both planets and cultures.
The story, based on a 18-volume Korean comic book series, centers around the conflict between the protagonist of the story, Aguilas, and those who would stand against him. The original story has the major characters: Azlar, Philar, Destino, Sadad, Jarexx, Canon, Lunarena, Kitara, and Lavita pitted against Aguilas and follows their exploits on both Earth and Signus. Ultimately the resistance lead by these characters prevail. We now give the players a chance to build upon the characteristics of these major characters to create their own persona and launch into adventures starting on Earth where they are pursued by Aguilas's minions; so in order to survive they must defeat Aguilas, which will take much more than just fighting monsters or even individual effort!

For game play purposes we have split RedMoon into 4 "stories" all of which have their own game setting and a degree of unique game play (see our Website]News]In Development for content and release dates):

Story I: Beginning of Destiny, is set here on Earth as the players already fighting monsters sent to Earth by Aguilas must endeavor to find a way to get to Signus. We already have 80+ maps that cover urban, island, desert, Himalayan, and dungeon settings. In the near future we will be adding a Casino to allow players to play mini-games.

Story II: To Signus, allows players to take side adventures into Outer Space.

Story III: Rebirth of the Sun, is set on the surface of the planet Signus, where secrets are revealed to the players that allow them to truly begin the fight against Aguilas.

Story IV: Unfinished Story, takes players to the Sky Castle, floating above the planet, where they can finally become the Sun. But once they take up this mantle can they hold on to it?

This allows us to build not only a large game world but also one that includes variety beyond just "different countries".

While the original comic books are being translated (they will be released starting in May in both Adobe e-book format and print) we've posted a summary on our website at http://www.redmoononline.com/comicbook.htm. This is a first draft and we will be working more on it to improve readability…

RPGDot: How many developers are currently working on RedMoon?

Kevin: We have a combined team of 10 artists, programmers, etc. working on RedMoon as it develops over the next 18 months.

RPGDot: RedMoon is already being played for some time in Korea. Why did you decide to bring it to the American market?

Kevin: With the success of RedMoon in Korea it was a natural evolution to take it to the U.S., as well as Europe and other parts of Asia. Moreover it allowed us to set up U.S. operations in preparation for introduction of JoyCity (our flagship Massively Multi-user Online Community, or MMOC to coin another acronym) later this year…

RPGDot: How many active RedMoon players are there currently in Korea?

Kevin: We have over 800,000 registered users in Korea, with 6,000+ players online concurrently! Since service start a couple of months ago we now also have 50,000+ registered users in Taiwan, with major plans to expand into China and Europe besides the U.S.…

RPGDot: Is online game playing in Korea different from online gaming in the USA or Europe?

Kevin: The biggest difference is that 70% on online game play takes place in game cafe's rather than from players PC's at home. Also the infrastructure is much further ahead in terms of broadband access (although this is not an issue for RedMoon that plays well over 56K modem).

On a game play level existing players in Korea did not have an issue with a very simple, open PK system. It looks like there are more U.S. players who take pleasure in victimizing other players. In Korea, those who wanted to "prove themselves" were content to take on other players in the Battle Arena where the loser doesn't actually lose anything, or fight things out as an army. Consequently, we're considering introducing the refined PK system I describe later.

Korean players also appear to be much more keen on forming armies...

RPGDot: What did you change about RedMoon for the American market?

Kevin: Besides translation and review/update of the PK system we have made some slight modification to things such as the speed at which players gain experience (U.S. players are not as patient in working up their characters).

RPGDot: This year we will see the launch of several 3D online role playing games. Compared to that the 2D graphics in RedMoon might look outdated. What's your opinion on that?

Kevin: If you have exciting, compelling game play tied to a deep storyline then technology (in this case 3D graphics) will take a secondary role. You also have to factor in that 3D games require higher levels of hardware (3D accelerators and hefty CPU's) that not everyone has. In most cases for the upcoming games you will probably also need broadband access (which eliminates 88% of the U.S.).

RPGDot: I've played the beta of RedMoon and found it's a lot of addictive Hack&Slash. I know there will be quests at level 100 or so, but that takes some time to get there. Is RedMoon intended to be straight forward Hack&Slash or am I missing something?

Kevin: In Story I, set on Earth there is a larger degree of combat in order for players to become proficient as well as forming groups and getting grips with army play. With the release of Story II that takes players to Signus (where the majority of the story is set) the degree of role-playing will increase dramatically as players are faced with joining the resistance, siding with Aguilas, navigating politics, etc.

RPGDot: Can you tell us what the advantages (and disadvantages) are to group together with one or more other players?

Kevin: Start forming groups and alliances now as when you get to Signus players will not be able to succeed on their own. We are implementing group quests, bonuses for group kills etc. that go beyond the fact that in some cases, even on Earth, you will find it harder working alone.

However, there will always be a place for the mercenary who wants to hire out their skills to the highest bidding army!

RPGDot: RedMoon has the concept of an army. How are they created and what can one do with them?

Kevin: In the world of RedMoon, it is possible to for players to create their own armies. Each army can then occupy and army hall, have a unique identifying crest, and personal message board. Once an army is created, other players can then be recruited to it. From there, alliances can be forged with other armies to help enhance the online gaming experience. New recruits can be invited to the army halls in order to train and become valiant warriors. Every player has the potential to become a great fighter.

To create an Army, players should go to the lobby of the Army Building, located on Street2 and access the computer there. Your character's level should be at least 200 in order to create an army. The first ten subsequent players should be at a minimum level of 150. Access the computer in the lobby to begin creation of your Army.

There are a total of 20 Army Halls in the Army Building. To occupy one, an initial deposit of $500,000 must be made, with a monthly payment in the amount of $50,000 for rent. Army Halls of enemies can be obtained by defeating other armies in battle.

The Commander of an Army pronounces a declaration of war against another Army by accessing the computer in the lobby. After a certain amount of time, the war will then start automatically. Unlike dying when fighting a computer enemy, no penalty occurs when a soldier is killed in battle. After a war is over, levels and points are determined on whether a player's Army emerges victorious or is defeated.

We invite all players to experience the fierce wars waged in the world of RedMoon.

RPGDot: At default player killing in RedMoon is turned off. I can turn it on if I want that. Is this the only way to do player killing (or prohibit it) or will there be separate PvP and non-PvP servers also?

Kevin: The existing PK system allows you to switch it on and kill any other player outside the safe zones (Street 1, 2, and 3, or inside any building). When you do this a penalty is imposed whereby your name turns black for a period of time to indicate to other players that you are a PK'er. We are also introducing a new special item in the next patch that allows you to identify other players that have PK ON but as yet have not killed another player (or the penalty time has expired).

We are looking to implement a new system along the lines of: With the PK switch OFF: Player name is displayed normally. Player cannot be attacked by any other player EXCEPT while they are in any dungeon (where they can be attacked by any player). This equates to having dungeons as "high risk" areas to visit!

With the PK switch ON: Player name displayed in yellow. Once turned ON it cannot be turned OFF for a period of 1 minute after engaging in combat (to prevent players attacking and then switching it off to protect themselves when they are losing). This allows a player to attack any other player who does not have the PK switch OFF, i.e. their name is either yellow or black (so easily identifiable), in any area. A player's name is displayed in black once they have killed another player. Now the PK switch cannot be turned OFF. This player is now identified as a "killer" permanently.

The only exception would be in the Battle Arena, where as now, any character can fight any other character without loss of experience or items. At a later date we would introduce a quest that would allow a "killer" (i.e. name in black) to repent and turn the PK switch OFF again, and return their name to normal display.

It should also be noted that forming armies will require players to turn the PK switch ON, and as I've described armies will play a huge role as we take game play to the planet Signus.

RPGDot: I like playing RedMoon. However I don't have more time than 1 to 1.5 hours a day or so. I level up very slowly which means I don't get to see a lot of other areas in RedMoon. Is RedMoon geared more towards the power player?

Kevin: We want to appeal to both types of player by making RedMoon game play challenging and rewarding enough no matter what length of time you play, and as I mentioned we are updating the system to make experience gain faster so that you won't find it as frustratingly slow.

RPGDot: I have positive experiences from other players trying to help me levelling up. On the other hand there are also those players who steal my kills. I'm afraid there is nothing to do about that in online games or is there?

Kevin: Unfortunately, as you say, there is little you can do programmatically to successfully police "looting" and other harassment by fellow players. We do have GM's and councillors watching for such behaviour (and you can report other players via email or through our website), but we suggest this is a good reason to form a group to protect yourself, and fight back against such behaviour. If we judge a player to be engaging in excessive "looting" or PK'ing then we can sanction by suspending or permanently revoking their account... as an absolute last resort.

RPGDot: Too help me out a little, what different kind of areas can there be visited in RedMoon?

Kevin: As I described we have 4 stories with various settings. Currently Story I set on Earth has over 80 different maps spanning cities, desert, mountains, and dungeons. We are continually expanding to keep the game fresh...

RPGDot: Suddenly after I reached level 10, I got personalized messages from creatures. Saying that they were send to kill me and such. Is there a special reason for doing this or is it just a very nice touch?

Kevin: We have 3 types of Quests in RedMoon. The first and most in-depth occur when to hit Level 100, 200, 300, etc. but we also have random monster and NPC quests to keep things interesting.

RPGDot: How many beta testers are there at the moment?

Kevin: We have over 60,000 registered users with about 1,000 maximum online concurrent players.

RPGDot: When do you think that the current beta test will end?

Kevin: We are taking RedMoon to commercial service in parallel with release of the comic books (as the story is so important) and completing translation of all supporting materials such as Play Guide, Strategy Guide, etc., as well as release of Story III that takes players to Signus. We expect this sometime in June.
Note - In Korea we were selected by the Korean Ministry of Information and Communications as their national tournament MMOG, recently held at the Koex exhibition centre in Seoul. The first round ran from 11/18/00 to 11/30/00, and saw 1500 players narrowed down to 165. The second round on 12/2/00 reduced the competitors to 24, who then played the final round on 12/7/00 with the winner walking away with a trophy and $3,000 out of total prize money of $40,000. We will be looking to run similar events here in the U.S.

RPGDot: After the beta ends can we keep on playing RedMoon? And how much will we have to pay to play RedMoon then?

Kevin: The software will continue to be free when we start commercial service, but there will be a $9.95 per month subscription fee.

RPGDot: Thank you for the interview. Is there anything else you want to say to us?

Kevin: I'd like to mention our upcoming 'flagship' product JoyCity which represents the fulfilment of our vision in creating a truly Massively Multi-user Online Community (MMOC), where gaming and community meets content and commerce. Already in beta in Korea with registered users fast approaching 1,000,000 we expect to bring JoyCity to the U.S. starting in 3Q01. Within JoyCity you create a persona to live out your dream life, meeting friends, living in an apartment, eating, playing games, nurturing pets… but beyond such simulation we add content. I can watch streaming video content on my TV, read an e-book, or listen to music… and I can invite my friends over to watch or listen with me! I can take my character to visit any one of our "content towns", whether it is music, movies, books, sports, cooking, etc., where I can experience a vast world of differing content. But to complete the picture we are adding true E-Commerce to G-Commerce (game commerce involving "cyber money"). Imagine wandering down a street lined with bookstores. As you enter one you can pull books from the shelves to review the title, see excerpts, etc. However, you may also see other people in the store who you can chat to about their recommendations. Once you've made a selection you can take your books to the register, pay for them, and leave. The books you purchased will be delivered to you! Maybe you'll order pizza and have it delivered to your door while you continue to play…

Also, as we move into the latter part of 2001 and 2002 we will be releasing our next massively multiplayer online game based on a state-of-the-art 3D engine as used in Jamie System's (wholly owned by JCEntertainment) Axis - a truly awesome multiplayer head-to-head (Quake meets MechWarrior) combat game, that will be released here in the U.S. in the next few months. All I can say is watch this space!