Is innovation (creating something radically new within the RPG genre) the real issue and focus for the team? Even this early on, what is the one aspect of the game you see as groundbreaking?

While the concept for Hellgate: London is quite different from what we’ve done in the past in many ways, there are some specific design philosophies that we would incorporate into any game we did, and those are easy to spot in our current game. We place a strong design emphasis on focusing on what’s fun, throwing out what’s not, and iterating, iterating, iterating!

Some of the more important elements are making the game simple to learn and easy to play, while offering amazing depth and replayability based on highly randomized and then customiseable content. Also, we make sure that we keep going over the game and its design every step of the way so we can do everything possible to make it as much fun as it can be.

We’re also taking some standard RPG game mechanics and trying to push them to new heights. We’re working on some very unique ways of allowing players within the same class to have very different paths they can take with their characters, even if they have chosen a similar focus for their skills or spells. The massive amounts of customization to individual items through the use of Mods is also something that should have players who love collecting, building and crafting something unique really excited.

Basically, we envision a game that we would love to play, and then we make it. We think that fans of our past games will see this and appreciate it. Gamers can expect an exciting, compelling, addictive experience with a strong multiplayer component and a lot of content to keep them coming back for more and more and more.