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Adellion: Interview - part 2
Wouter "Hyrrix" Ryckbosch, 2003-10-29 
Following the first part of the interview with Paul Hutson, about his company's mmorpg Adellion, here's the second part. The first part can be found here, while the introductory preview about Adellion can be found over here. I'd like to thank Paul Hutson for his co-operation on this feature and for dedicating his time to answering my questions. Here we go!
MMORPGDot: In what ways can players affect the world and landscape around them?
Paul Hutson: The players can build cities, fortifications and much more into the world - they can chop down trees, plant fields and remove rock from an area... however, all resources in the world are finite - so players will have to be careful. MMORPGDot: Adellion features permadeath, albeit with a lot of safety measure built in. What effect do you think permadeath will have on player actions?
Paul Hutson: I believe players will be much more careful with their characters - they won't always seek to fight everyone they meet or run into every dangerous situation there is. It will bring real excitement to those that 'toy' with death - and real fear to those that don't want to meet it.
MMORPGDot: Permadeath also makes the concept of grief-play much more important. What ways are there in Adellion to control grief-play? How will you prevent high-level players (or groups) to kill lower-level players for no particular reason?
Paul Hutson: Adellion will be very different to current MMOGs, players will be much more careful with their character - and those that do kill others will be hunted down by the players, it will more or less rely on player justice.
Of course no one character is stronger than another combat wise - any new player could take out a very experienced player (although it is unlikely), therefore even griefers could be killed. MMORPGDot: How important are crafting and tradeskills in Adellion?
Paul Hutson: Very important - it is the main focus of the game for many people, the goal in Adellion is not just combat but all things related to making an economy run well. MMORPGDot: Has anything been done to make the crafting process more exciting than in most other mmorpg's? Will resource gathering be required?
Paul Hutson: You have to find and harvest the resources in Adellion - perhaps even protect some resources from those who would want to steal it.
MMORPGDot: All levelling in Adellion happens beyond the scenes, with the skills only fluctuating a limited amount per day. I asume this has been done to avoid the so-called level-threadmill? What kind of character management and customization during the game can we expect then?
Paul Hutson: The reason we have hidden all of the stats is to make the players actually focus on roleplaying their characters rather than gaining levels. You will be able to see the types of things you character knows how to do from a menu - but that is all. MMORPGDot: In Adellion players can achieve pieces of land and even gain control over NPC hirelings to protect their holdings. Will every player ultimately have his own private NPC army or is the amount of possible NPC's under control limited? How does a player control his army?
Paul Hutson: There is a limit to the number of NPCs you can have under the control of a single player - and the cost of holding on to military units is high, so there will only be a few with enough NPCs to attack someone else.. and they better have the resources to support it - because their military won't like not getting paid ;) MMORPGDot: Should we expect the PvP to focus largely on small player-encounters or more on large battles with over a hundred players on every side?
Paul Hutson: That is much in debate - we don't know how the players are going to meet in the world. I think there will be small skirmishes at first which, given enough time, will grow into full cultural wars/battles. MMORPGDot: How tactical should we expect the combat in Adellion to be? To what extent can you control your NPC troops in combat?
Paul Hutson: The NPC troops will be controllable in movement, formation and target. Beyond that it will take time for your troops to get messages if you are a long way from them.. there is a tactical element to the game, for instance well fed troops will do better, those on high ground will do better... etc. MMORPGDot: What reasons will a player have to fight for? Do PvP actions actually matter: can you defeat an opponent or is it simply an endless chain of encounters?
Paul Hutson: Every encounter will mean something to the world - for instance, towns can be sacked and taken over, cultures can expand, or die out... everything a player does will effect what happens. MMORPGDot: How does the process of taking over (or destroying) a city work?
Paul Hutson: You need to get rid of all the guards in the town then hold several key positions to take the town over... then comes the task of trying to convince the citizens that you are the right person for the job... it will be hard to take over a new town and stay in power. MMORPGDot: What ways of transportation will there be in Adellion?
Paul Hutson: There will be several ways to move around the world - i.e. Boats, Canoes, Horse, Cart.. MMORPGDot: Thanks for your time!
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