Dragon Empires Interview

Logan Horsford , 2002-05-28

Dragon Empires is a MMORPG, which takes place in a world when magic is plentiful and the lives of humans and dragons intertwined. Its world is one of 100 lands spread over five empires, a world that can be ruled by player clans, one where uniquely player-to-player combat is always possible and a world whose strongholds are guarded and policed by fiercely protective dragons. We had the chance to do an interview with Codemaster's Peter Tyson to learn more details about the game.

RPGDot: Please give us your name and job title.

Peter Tyson: Peter Tyson, Community Liaison Manager for Dragon Empires. Going by the handle 'Calistas'

RPGDot: How many face models are there for each race (not counting the hair)?

Peter Tyson: We have a total of 60 face textures, 360 face feature variations and 165 different sets of hair!

RPGDot: "Dragon Empires breaks the mould with the importance of player to player combat to the game - it's open season on all the other players all the time..." Lets say a player goes on a murderous rampage and kills several other players. His head is called for. Describe the mechanisms coded into the game at release to assist the players in finding the murderer.

Peter Tyson: If the outlaw player strays too close to inhabited areas he or she will find himself or herself hunted down by the dragon, a fairly terminal affair. Other than that, players wishing to hunt these outlaws have certain ways and means of finding them, which I can't go into right now ;)

RPGDot: Will Dragon Empires have any mechanisms coded into the game to deal with griefers beyond the 'invulnerable NPC' mechanism? (a.k.a. 'dragons')

Peter Tyson: Yes, we expect griefing to be rare as there are other more meaningful ways to engage in combat that are much less punitive. However, we know there will be a minority who engage in this kind of activity. We have several mechanisms that will reduce their impact on the world. Unfortunately they are secret for now!

RPGDot: Any sort of reputation system built into the game for NPC's? PC's? Is it possible for PC's to get bounties from a game mechanism to go hunt down other PC's who have been naughty?

Peter Tyson: Yes, bounty hunting for rewards (both XP and material) is possible. Yes, there is a reputation system.

RPGDot: What is being done to move us from the widely perceived 'leveling treadmill' that most games (AO, AC, EQ, DAOC) embrace?

Peter Tyson: We hope that through a variety of methods of gaining experience and playing the game that players will be able to avoid the endless camping/treadmill which has driven so many of us crazy. Also, the meaningful combat between clans and cities will offer a fun distraction from leveling. O, and we don't have levels either ;).

RPGDot: In Anarchy online, you gained xps which gave you levels which gave you skill points which you bought skills with. Are you saying Dragon Empires is actually a purely skill based system like UO? I'm a bit confused on this. Perhaps an example (doesn't need to be real, just one to illustrate) would help.

Peter Tyson: While we do have XP milestones which translate to points to be spent on skills, such milestones don't result in big jumps in ability and aptitude. We have avoided using the other method, a skill-by-swinging-sword system, to avoid the overuse of macroing which has been rife in other games. Also, we are likely to allow players to spend their skill points as they wish. This way a trader type could keep a good selection of other skills and other types can switch careers more easily if they wish without having to start a brand new character.

RPGDot: Will repetitious killing of creatures be required to achieve skill in fighting?

Peter Tyson: Fighting creatures raises skill as does fighting players in some circumstances.

RPGDot: Will characters substantially lower level be able to defeat higher-level characters? In other words, if I had say six competent level ten characters, would we be able to defeat a lone level fifty character? Or would it be closer to Everquest where we had no chance of winning?

Peter Tyson: That's something that will be ironed out closer to beta and balanced further from there. I would say our goal is for a group of younger characters to have a chance against older characters. As we have a skill based system and not a level system it should be easier to achieve this goal.

RPGDot: Is it possible to become 'great at everything' or will the players have trade offs to choose from? (IE can someone master sword skill and several of the trade skills as well?)

Peter Tyson: It won't be possible to be great at every skill in the game. In general it is wise to focus on a few core skills. However, you can be a great merchant and still wield a sword, and vice-versa. Also, skills aren't set in stone so you can shift from different play styles over time if you get bored of one.

RPGDot: Are advances in crafting tied to the level of the character? IE is it possible to have a level one master tailor or must one go and adventure to get the points to spend in tailoring skill? If crafting is tied to level, is it possible to efficiently level up through non-violent means? (Efficiently is the operative word here).

Peter Tyson: With no levels if you want to focus solely on crafting or trading you can. You will even earn experience for doing so which means you won't necessarily get left behind simply because you don't want to bash monsters all day.

RPGDot: Does this mean that I can make XP through crafting? Can I become better at bashing monsters heads in through baking bread? [see above]

Peter Tyson: You can generate XP through trading, killing monsters, killing some players, etc. However, you won't generate XP through crafting as it is a fairly automated process that goes on even when you're logged off. However, crafters will still be able to raise their skill by using XP generated in other ways. Many will probably enjoy gaining XP through trading I imagine.

RPGDot: Are trade skills merely a money sink/hobby of the rich (ala EQ) or are craftsmen able to make things above and beyond what monsters can drop?

Peter Tyson: Trades are vital to the game. The majority of items in the game will be player made and players will have a full range of items to craft, including magical ones. Furthermore, you can start on the trading/crafting route from day 1 in game. While some monsters may drop particularly nice pieces of loot, the majority of ones item needs will be met by players through centralized city marketplaces.

RPGDot: Many games have attempted to slow their rate of level advancement by introducing downtime. Players are very concerned about it. In EQ, downtime was severe - up to 20 minutes. In DAOC and AO, it is under 1 minute. I view this as an excellent trend. If I was the most powerful fighter possible in your game and wanted to rest after a nasty combat in which I was nearly killed, how long would it take me to get back my full hit points? Mana?

Peter Tyson: We're still balancing these things but I will give you a hint on where we're leaning: I hate downtime too!

RPGDot: How customizable is the GUI? Are all of the keys remappable or are there 'fixed keys' (ala AO)?

Peter Tyson: We aim to have a very customizable GUI and the keys are remappable.

RPGDot: In AO, we were introduced to vehicles. These were not independent things that could be parked, stolen, sat upon, etc - they were very lame morphing of the character into the vehicle (i.e. man becomes car). In SOL (EQ) this will be repeated. In DAOC, their vehicles amount to buy ticket and sit on horse till it gets to the destination (whereupon it disappears) or jump off enroute. Will Dragon Empires have vehicles? Will the character models 'morph' into the vehicle, be forced to only go along vehicle routes or will the vehicles be completely separate from the characters?

Peter Tyson: At launch we're unlikely to have vehicles. Players will be able to move between cities in an empire via a teleporting pad that should give them the freedom to get to most major areas fairly easily. In time we would love to include player-controlled ships but this will be some time after launch.

RPGDot: Will characters be able (upon release) to make vehicles? Enchant items?

Peter Tyson: Make vehicles no, enchant items yes.

RPGDot: Player housing seems to fall into one of these categories - which most closely matches your games housing?