Irth Online: An Interview with Magic Hat Software
John 'Deljarum' Downing and Brian 'Dhruin' Turner, 2006-01-16

The last couple of years have been difficult for small MMORPG projects, but Irth Online managed to go against the grain and quietly launched last November.  Sporting a skill-based character development system, interactive environment and a deep crafting system, we talk to Magic Hat Software to see if the release met their expectations, where the game is at and why players should take a look. 

MMORPGDot: First, please introduce yourself and tell us how Irth Online came about.

Tony Pungitore: Hi I'm Tony, one of the Irth Online developers. Thanks for having me. Irth Online came about as an idea. The idea was to make a new MMO that would return to some of the basic features and mechanics that the original and truly great MMORPG's had but using new technologies and adding our own uniqueness. So we gathered some MMORPG friends that shared our philosophy, and MHS was formed. Initially work began in the basement of one of the developer's homes. In about two year's time, the game was released.

MMORPGDot: Congratulations on the live release of Irth Online. Now that it's out there, what are your thoughts on it? Have you accomplished everything you planned to, and has the release lived up to your expectations?

Tony Pungitore: Yes and No. The game will never be finished in the sense that development is over. We have a game that we intend to evolve over time. The game is loaded with features, mechanics and content in its current state, but development plans for the future are as aggressive as everything that is already in the game presently. The release date was chosen to be a point at which we believed players could have fun with the game now. But ongoing development continues.

MMORPGDot: What was the pressure like to get Irth Online released? Was it as polished as you would have liked?

Tony Pungitore: The pressure to get the game released was an economic reality that could not be avoided. It would have been pleasantly relaxing to take more time, but most of us work best under pressure. Pressure often manifests increased productivity and efficiency in the workforce. Deadlines are good.

Was it as polished as we would have liked at release? Absolutely not. We released for two reasons, 1) Because we thought it was a point at which players could enjoy the game, and 2) Because we made a promise to the public that we would.

But we did have small issues at launch that needed, as you say, polishing. So we came up with a couple of offers that balanced out the purchase price. Players were not required to purchase the game at all but rather could take a free trial account. If players did choose to purchase the game they received two free months of game play. And also if players purchased the game they were not required to sign up for the subscription. This was a message to the public that said, its really not about the money, although that is important, it's really about the game and our commitment to make this the best experience that we can possibly provide for the Irth Online community.

MMORPGDot: Your reactions aside, how has the overall player response been? The game is still in, more or less, the honeymoon period - have any major issues popped up that you didn't expect?

Tony Pungitore: First of all, we have the greatest community of any other MMO out there. The IO community is our greatest resource. Our community is actively involved with game development and they help us at every turn to refine mechanics, content and features. So things pop up all the time from the community and as a result the game is on a perpetual course of improvement.

The greatest thing for us is to take a player concern and turn it into player praise. One issue that the players considered major at release was no tutorial. The game was not released with a tutorial so players had to refer to the manual. Players want a manual as a reference and not as a learning tool. Players want to learn to play by playing. So we came up with a tutorial for them and they praised us.

Initially players said that combat was too slow. So we revamped combat and players applauded.

So sure there were issues and to some extent there will be others in the future. But the community has learned that we are responsive and intend on rectifying any issue that arises to the community's satisfaction.

MMORPGDot: The Cyclops was recently added as a playable race - quite early in the game's life. Can players expect such large additions to happen regularly, or has the Cyclops been in the planning period for quite some time and intended for release?

Tony Pungitore: Players can expect continuous development. As I said earlier development has not subsided. We have huge features planned in the near future and others in the distant future. Cyclops was in the planning stages since August 2005 and it became ready shortly after release.

MMORPGDot: The lands of Irth Online - at least in the beta test - were rather barren. The cities themselves were rather populated, but the areas between them were sparse, with long horse rides for players and little scenery other than trees and the occasional rock. Have they been filled in since beta, or is a good deal of that space reserved for player housing?

Tony Pungitore: A significant amount of the landscape is now developed as compared to what it was during beta. But yes a portion of the world has been reserved for player housing and guild villages. Every player gets a free house in a player run village and if you have enough members in your guild you get your own village. The villages are built to specification and players will be responsible for decorating the landscape themselves. So some of the world is still waiting for player development.

MMORPGDot: Have there been any live events since release? What kind of events can players expect to see, and to what degree can they participate or affect the outcome? Do you any specific plans for the holiday season?

Tony Pungitore: We have only had two so far and they were relatively simple in design. Some of the future events that we have planned are very intricately detailed and relate directly to the storyline. We had initially planned on implementing in depth live events right away but have postponed them until a soon to be announced date.

MMORPGDot: Apparently the storyline may evolve differently on different servers - is that actually happening at this stage and can you give us an examples?

Tony Pungitore: We haven't implemented different server types yet. The only server type we are using right now is "Role Playing Light." The next server type will be a hard core role playing server.

Storylines will evolve differently on each server. For instance, we had implemented an epic quest in beta, which will be implemented again soon after a couple of mechanics are refined. Epic quests give players an opportunity to change the history of the planet and they also give players the chance to gain notoriety. The quest planned for re-issue has been revamped like this; The Morbus Leader Shantimar captured the Arcadian Princess. The Arcadian princess subsequently escaped from Shantimar's clutches. All civilization leaders ask their citizens to find the princess. If the Morbus or Mezoteks find her, she will be sacrificed to their Empowering Source of Wonder. If The Avarians find her, she will be sold back to the Arcadian King. If the Arcadians find her she will return to her place of honour by the Arcadian thrown and seek retribution against Shantimar. If the Arcadians find her on the RPL server, and The Mezoteks find her on the HCRP server the outcomes will be entirely different and the course of world history will not be the same. The player who ultimately finds the princess will become famous and will become part of Irth lore, and each will be different on each server.

MMORPGDot: Various articles have quoted a significant level of player interaction with the environment and an advanced physics system as two unique features - can you expand on these items and how they really affect play?

Tony Pungitore: The level of interaction with the environment is enhanced. For example if you see a tree you can chop it down, harvest the logs and all is left is a stump. If you see cotton you can pick it. If you see an item or rock you can pick it up and throw it. You can pick up anything set as interactive and throw it if you have the strength. If you see water you can take a swim. If you see an herb you can harvest it. If you find a rock you can mine it. If you see a lamp you can light it. You can chop down a tree, mine a flint and make a campfire in the wilderness. Then you could cook something over the open flame and buff up your character to prepare yourself for battle. If you see an animal you can try and tame it. If you see a horse you can mount it. Etc. It is very interactive and we will be adding more and more interactive items as we progress.

The physics system is more of a potential than a current reality. We are set up to have items and objects affected by gravity, velocity, momentum, etc. but are not using the system to its full advantage yet. Once fully implemented, it will simply enhance immersion in the game.

MMORPGDot: Irth Online is PvP outside of the neutral city zone - can you give us an overview of the PvP system, factions and resources? What options do players have who don't want to participate in PvP combat?

Tony Pungitore: There are three PvP civilizations who are at war; The Arcadians, The Mezoteks and The Morbus. Players are asked to advance their civilization through combat and conquest. There is one Non-PvP civilization called Avraria which is made up of immigrants from the PvP civilizations. Players are able to switch civs from PvP to Avaria or they can switch from Avarian back to their civilization of ethnic origin.

There are literally hundreds of resources that players can gather. There are nearly 100 herbs alone, not to mention numerous varieties ores, gems, woods, rocks etc. There a multiple varieties of hides to skin and leathers to tan. If players do not want to engage in PvP combat there is plenty of PVM available. There are numerous hunting grounds as well as scattered and roaming beasts. There is also an abundant number of crafting professions to develop. If you see an item in game you can most likely craft it and if you can't you'll be able to soon. There are approximately 7,000 items in our database that are currently craftable by players and we are adding more at regular intervals. Aside from crafting, players can dye their clothes, tame a wild beast, decorate their homes with player tools, take a quest, find secret places, and focus on developing any of the 50 professions that are currently in game.

MMORPGDot: You have an open skill system rather than classes - how does that remove the grind as claimed in terms of practical gameplay?

Tony Pungitore: It removes the grind in the sense that players do not have to do anything that they do not want to do. When playing a predefined character based on class, players have no choice but to level the character in a prescribed fashion. Now certainly we do have procedures that players need to follow to develop a skill. But Character development systems are isolated by individual skill components and not by prescribed sets of static and linear attributes that define a class. Therefore if the player feels that developing a certain skill is a "grind," then he or she has the freedom to let it go and to focus on developing one or a combination of many skills that he or she feels better suits their playing style. The fact that players choose what they will develop for their own characters removes the feeling of a "level grind" for it is all based on their freedom of choice.

MMORPGDot: Effective soloing is a priority for some of the top MMOs in the current market - does Irth Online cater to soloers? If so - how? If not, why did you take that stance?

Tony Pungitore: We have come up with systems that both solo and group players can enjoy. If you are a solo player you will enjoy the following features. You get your own private home free of charge. Do with it what you will. Decorate it, organize it, or keep it a mess. The choice is yours.

Explore the gigantic world and gather all the resources on your own. You don't need anyone but yourself.

Because you choose what skills you develop, you can choose to develop skills in a manner to take your product from gathering to the marketplace without any outside involvement from others.

As an example, if your goal is to bring high level bandages to the market place you could examine what you would need. There are about 200 varieties of bandages. The best bandages are made from different fabrics soaked in alcohol and potions. So you would first need to develop skills at herbalism and skinning. You would go out into the world and pick cotton, collect wool from sheep, collect silk glands from spiders and razorwurms, and harvest applicable herbs.

You would next develop a weaving skill and spin your cottons, wools and silks into bolts of fabrics. If you need money in the meantime you could throw any of the resources or bolts on the auction house.

Next you would develop a brewing skill and an alchemy skill and make some distilled alcohol and some basic healing and energy potions.

Next you would develop your Pharmacy skill and turn your products into bandages and begin to sell your products to healers. Or maybe you are a healer as well and you can take care of your own needs while battling monsters and untamed beasts.

Again you have done it all. You did not need anyone but yourself.

Also if you are a solo player there are a number of quests that you can take that cater to the solo experience.

There are a variety of hunting grounds. While some are designed for groups, some are also designed for singles that will not be inundated with groped monster attacks.

MMORPGDot: Realistically, much of your target audience currently inhabits another online realm. Why should they switch to Irth Online? What can you offer that some of the bigger titles can't?

Tony Pungitore: Well I could probably ramble on here indefinitely. So rather than ramble, I'll list ten of the reasons why I think MMO enthusiasts should check us out and what we're offering that is not commonplace in other MMO's. Mind you, if you asked one of the other developers the same question you could get ten different answers, so here goes.

1) In Irth Online, the community is one of our developers. If you want to play a game that prioritizes the player experience by virtue of allowing players a voice for future development then we are the game for you. We're not a big corporate conglomerate with disconnected executives that sends out superficial appeasements on occasion because we have to. There is nothing superficial about our relationship with the community. We need them. We rely heavily on their opinions and their direction. They are of vital importance to us. They're more like educated friends and business partners than a customer base. We are closer in disposition to the community than we are to game developers. We are from the MMORPG community and the game was developed with the community's guidance. This is a long term operational philosophy and the community will continue to guide ongoing development.

2) Player freedoms through an open skill system. We allow the player to customize their own playing experience. Everything we add or change must satisfy this litmus test. "Within reason, will this feature, mechanic, or change in design, improve player freedoms or will it restrict them?"

3) 50 professions to develop and you choose what your character will be not us. Our professions were not quickly thrown together so that we could say, "there that's 50!" They are intricately designed with limitless possibilities for expansion. Cooks can make over 200 recipes, Jewelers over 200 pieces of jewelry, Pharmacists make 200 bandages, Brewers over 200 beverages, Alchemists over 500 potions, Scribes can make 400 spell scolls and 900 recipe scrolls, Engineers can make over 1,500 crafting diagrams. With about 7,000 items to craft and others being added routinely there is almost no end to the level of crafting professions that players can enjoy.

4) Free Player Housing. Everyone gets a free house in a player run village.

5) Free Guild Villages. Guild villages built to player specification. You decorate the landscape.

6) Players have the freedom to choose from PvP or Non-PvP. If you want to change from one civ to another you can.

7) High levels of interaction with the environment.

8) We have a proprietary game engine to give the game a unique look and feel. It has proven to be extremely reliable and dependable and also opens up possibilities of features and mechanics that we haven't yet come close to exhausting.

9) Storyline development that centers on the player characters. The players become the central part of the story.

10) The single greatest community in all MMORPG's combined.

Finally, thought it's still early in the game's life, how do you see Irth Online expanding from release? How will you keep Irth Online from suffering the same fate as many other titles of late?

We have so much content that we want to add. We're in this for the long haul. Development has not slowed and ongoing added features will surely hold the attention and interests of our players. Irth is not a game where you ever level out and complete it. It is truly a persistent world with a dev team that is ready willing and able to perpetuate the game world's evolution.

Irth is personal to us. We're not big business tycoons. We're not marketing geniuses. We're not able to re-direct our focus on another project. We have no desire to censor the community and implement shallow damage control statements. We're not victims to shifting corporate sentiments and changing executive priorities.

From a big MMORPG dream in the basement of a small New England home in Westwood, Massachusetts came together a group of friends exactly like the community we serve. Against all odds, with friendship, family, and unwavering persistence Irth has made it to the marketplace. We are a different game. We are different by virtue of the inherent humble origins from whence we came. Irth is not only important to us, but is important to every little dreamer in the world, who stands in the face of Goliath and still dares to dream at night in the darkness of a basement bedroom.

We are small and insignificant in relationship to the power and influence of our competition. But we have different sentiments. Our weakness is our strength. While money would be nice, we're not in it for the money. We're in it for the game.

MMORPGDot: Is there anything you'd like to add in closing?

Tony Pungitore: Yes there is. Give it a try. It's all we ask. You can play for free with a trial account. If you like it, open an account. If you don't like it tell us why so that we can make it better. Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to tell your readers about Irth Online. It was great fun.

Thanks to Tony for answering our questions and Dan Milewski for his assistance.

Special Offer

If you are interested in purchasing Irth Online, Magic Hat Software has made a special offer for MMORPGDot readers.  Head here and enter these codes for a $5 off discount:

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