An interview with Allods Online: CBT4 and beyond

Allods Online has certainly gained some interest in the last few months since their closed beta began. Even if you've never played the game, you can't help but drool over the screenshots and videos we've been posting.

So what's the secret to their preliminary success? We contacted Darren Allarde, Associate Producer for Gala-Net Inc., and asked him a few questions. Okay, so we asked him more than a few, but we can't help it if we're excited to learn more about this amazing game! We learn why there is no mini-map, when mounts will be implemented, what Closed Beta Test 4 will bring and much more.

Part one of this interview can be found after the jump below, with a second part coming soon.
Massively: With Closed Beta 3 going full throttle, we're already thinking about Closed Beta 4. What can we expect with that third stage of closed beta?

Darren Allarde: First, thanks so much to everyone who's participated in the beta so far! The Allods gamers are quickly becoming some of the most awesome gaming fans out there.

If there's one closed beta you'll want to participate in, it's going to be Closed Beta 4. This is where we'll be unlocking the one thing that everyone has been waiting for - Astral ships!

Astral ship management, Astral exploration, further story development between the League and Empire, and new zones to explore – all for you to experience. There will also be a couple of major surprises for Closed Beta 4 that I'm not yet at liberty to discuss, but it'll be a whole lot of fun for those who experience it.

We also plan on having some pretty entertaining community events and will continue to do our sweet giveaways with Razer.

Is Allods Online designed to be more group-focused, or solo-friendly?

Definitely more group focused. Everything from quests, killing mobs, and experiencing the lore is designed with the intent that you're playing this game with other people. More specifically, group cooperation is absolutely essential when piloting an Astral ship and engaging in Astral combat. You can think of piloting an Astral ship like a game of chess, each player on the ship has a unique and important role - shooting cannons, piloting, controlling the engines, repairing broken parts, etc.

With that said, the game still offers a strong replay value if you plan on soloing most of the way through. Though, I'm sure many would agree that the MMO experience is most enjoyable with a group of friends rather than being a lone ranger.

What are the plans for mounts? Will we see them at release?

Mounts! Yes! Mounts will be available when we launch. Expect mounts sometime early this year!

We see elements of sci-fi in the Allods universe, but how far into science fiction does the game reach? For example, are there energy rifles, or mechanized weaponry? How about steampunk elements?

Personally, this is one of my favorite aspects about the Allods universe. Astrum Nival has done an amazing job taking fundamental fantasy elements that we're familiar with (e.g. elves, orcs, magic, etc.) and gracefully combining science fiction elements into the game. A dash of Arisen technology and weaponry, a spoon full of taverns with a steam punk influence, Astral ships imbued with magic, and so on.

Each part of the world really has its own unique feel. From the more traditional epic fantasy themed territory of Lightwood to the vast exploration of the Astral, each zone really has its own personality.

The original Rage of Mages game, of which Allods Online is based, was all about commanding small units against each other in a real time strategy environment. Will we see any NPC army management in this MMO version?

There's no direct RTS micromanagement here. No controlling hundreds of units on a large battlefield with a few clicks or anything like that. You won't have to worry about having superb StarCraft micromanagement skills for Astral space combat.

"It's not like Astrum Nival decided they would just skip these two features because they'd rather work on tweaking Goblinball."

Many players seem to be asking for two basic gameplay features: a mini-map and auto attack. While I can't agree with the auto-attack request, are either of these features set to enter the game before launch?

I knew these questions were coming! I'll start off by saying that these features are not currently in the game due to specific game design philosophies. It's not like Astrum Nival decided they would just skip these two features because they'd rather work on tweaking Goblinball.

There is no mini-map in Allods for three specific reasons:

Reason one, once players become adjusted to a specific zone or territory, there's little to no need for them to continue to monitor the mini-map. In fact, what ends up happening most of the time is that players will frequently press the "M" button to bring up the full map to figure out where they are. Astrum Nival has also added all the appropriate flags and markers in order to find trainers, quests, vendors, etc.

Reason two, mini-maps do not work well in multiple level dungeons and instances because a mini-map is flat. Mini-maps work well for a flat 2D space, but once you go up to the second or third level of a dungeon, managing a mini-map becomes a bit tricky.

Now the third and most interesting reason why Astrum Nival has decided to not go with a mini-map was more of a philosophical game decision. Once a mini-map is implemented, players tend to focus their eyes on a small portion of the screen, thus giving them little opportunity to experience and learn about the world as a whole. They end up becoming extremely reliant on a mini-map and lose an important opportunity to understand the direction of where things are.

With all that said, since a mini-map has been such a requested feature, Astrum Nival is brainstorming new features that players have requested but also make sense for the game. The idea of a map overlay is in consideration.

Now for the auto-attack portion of the question. The idea of auto-attacking makes sense for the first few levels of the game when your character only has 2 or 3 different skills. However, as you level up, even as early as 10 or 12, you'll have enough skills to cycle through that your basic attack becomes obsolete, hence making auto-attack superfluous. The strategy on how you use your different skills at the right time will be a primary focus of combat.

Again, it's important for me to note that these features aren't in the game because engineers are being lazy or we'd rather play Rock Band on our breaks. There have been significant debates and real thought as to whether or not these features should be included.

Keeping a community coming back for more is always difficult -- especially in a free-to-play game. What strategies does your community team have for keeping players interested?

Community engagement is a huge part of what we want to do.

One thing I'd like to mention is that we really do care to hear what the players think about Allods. You can easily reach out to us on Twitter (@allodsgame) and believe it or not, we read every single e-mail and forum suggestion. We really value well thought out player suggestions that make sense for Allods. In fact, we send many player suggestions directly to the developers. It's important for people playing this game to know that Allods is in it for the long haul.

Beyond us constantly engaging and working with the Allods community, you can expect many in-game events that will be coordinated by our Game Masters. We also intend to have major world events that tie directly into the lore and story of the game.

Allods seems to be a perfect setting for roleplayers. Do you plan to implement strong RP features in the game?

Absolutely. If there's one positive thing that we can lift our heads high and say proudly, it's that the lore and story of the game is very compelling. Players that read every line of quest text and want to create a persona that lives and breathes in the world of Allods will definitely be in for a treat. I can tell you that we've spent countless hours localizing every quest, mob, zone, and item in the game to properly convey the story that Astrum Nival intended to tell.

Will the item shop be used for the normal non-imperative game content like cosmetic items, travel, inventory space and XP bonuses, or will there be certain game mechanic advantages you can purchase?

The initial set of cash shop items in Allods will be items that are built to assist players throughout their quests. You can expect items like bags, mystery boxes, rune removal kits, fashion and decorative items, talent respecs, and so on. We can expect to eventually see XP bonus items in the future.

I'd like to say that managing the cash shop in a subscriptionless game, especially one like Allods, can be very tricky. We have to be extremely mindful to introduce items that do not allow players to buy success, but instead assist them throughout the game. Also, items that we introduce into the cash shop that directly affect the game mechanics will be items that are well thought out and make sense for the game. We're not just going to throw some wacky 500% health and mana increase potion into the cash shop just because we think it'll make us a lot of money.

"It's important for game developers to face-lift concepts that people are familiar with."

What would you say are the biggest problems cursing most modern MMOs? Has the Allods Online team taken steps to avoid these problems?

This is a tough question to answer! I don't feel half as important to be able to credibly critique games this way, but I'll try answering this question to the best of my abilities from the perspective of both a gamer and a person who works in the industry.

There are three over-arching issues in MMOs that need to be addressed to create something new and exciting.

Compelling content is the first issue that comes to mind. Often, an MMO will play well for the first 10 or 20 levels but lose its luster towards the end-game or even midway through. There are a lot of game design issues that need to be considered when you structure the beginning, middle, and end of a game to ensure that the game synergizes, stays entertaining, and flows smoothly.

Another issue that I see is a lack of focus. Sometimes I feel like an MMO will have an identity crisis and spread itself too thin between its initial core features. They attempt to incorporate so much that you lose focus as to what the game is.

Lastly, there tends to be a lack of game design integrity. From character design, UI control, lore, and story, I feel that a lot of MMOs aren't trying hard enough to do something beyond what's already out there. I will say that World of Warcraft can be looked at as the platinum bar of MMO gaming. Blizzard and WoW do so many things right that it's hard not to say "hey, we should have that in our game". In fact, you could argue that since there are so many things that WoW does right, why not borrow their design style, especially when 12 million people are already familiar with it?

But going with the "why re-invent the wheel" philosophy isn't necessarily going to cut it if you want to create something new and exciting. It's important for game developers to face-lift concepts that people are familiar with, but it's even more important for the developer to challenge themselves and create something unique and enjoyable – something that can hold its own as an original intellectual property.

Thanks so much for your time!

Look for part two coming soon!