Dark Age of Camelot Interview
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GB: The social aspect of any MMORPG has been one of the genre's biggest appeals. Are you planning on making this an essential part of the playing experience in DAoC, especially for those (most of us at some point) who wish to take a break from fighting? Will there be shortcut commands such as /reply and an array of animated emotes such as /dance or /laugh? Matt: Absolutely. We need to have special emoting commands and animations to go along with them - especially for when you meet someone from another realm and want to make your favorite rude gesture at them.
GB: PvP is a serious issue, loved by some and hated by others. Mythic's creative approach to realm-based PvP (by high level players) might be exactly what we've all been waiting for. How is Mythic going to deal with complaints that one realm is more powerful than the other because their classes/skills/spells are overpowered? Will classes/skills/spells be (nerfed) during the course of the game to balance PvP?
Matt: We'll always do what we have to do to make the game balanced. If we slip-up and introduce a bug or imbalance that makes one class too powerful, we'll have to take steps to make sure that the problem is fixed. I'd rather have some disgruntled players whose characters have been nerfed than a completely imbalanced game that is fun for no one. Of course, our job is to make sure that these problems don't happen in the first place.
GB: Aside from Realm Points, is there anything else a character might benefit from by partaking in PvP? Can you loot the opponent's equipment upon his/her death? If so, will it be one item (like EQ), all items (like UO), or coins only? If not, what detriment is there to being killed via PvP?
Matt: We really want players to jump in and experience PvP, and it's been our experience that if you introduce significant looting, then most players won't want to take the chance. So, you won't be able to loot items or equipment, but you will be able to loot their (heads), which will translate into Realm Points, and maybe a cash reward from your Realm. There will be little or no detriment to being killed in PVP, except, of course, for the aggravation of being teleported back to your bind spot.
GB: With the exclusion of PvP, will there be enough to do in Camelot to captivate the high level characters' attention and keep them busy? Once a large portion of the server population becomes high level, how will Mythic handle overcrowding of the high level areas? Do you plan to restructure low-level areas to be viable for the ever-growing high level crowd (such as Verant's manipulation of Splitpaw to a higher level dungeon in EQ)?
Matt: We'll have to keep creating new expansions and high-level dungeons as time goes on. However, the focus of the game at high levels will always be the PvP (capture the flag) aspect of Relic stealing and shrine defense.
GB: Will a player's realm choice make him or her an enemy and (killed on sight) to anyone including merchants and guards in the opposing realms? Or will there be exceptions (such as neutral NPCs and monsters within the enemy realms who are friendly to all or more than one realm)? This could affect long campaigns against an enemy realm if there were no options to repair items or otherwise maintain healthy troops.
Matt: There may be some exceptions (mostly for quest steps that take place in enemy Realms), but for the most part, enemy Realms will be quite dangerous for the player.
GB: With each realm being a large world of its own, bind stones will be an important step for any long-distance traveler, especially for forays into enemy territory. Will the bind stones for each realm be usable by all, or are they realm-specific? If they are realm-specific, will there be any bind stones in the game that are usable by all realm characters?
Matt: This is a question that will have to wait for extensive PvP testing and player comment. We simply don't know yet.
In conclusion, I'd like to issue a sincere thank you to Matt and all the people at Mythic Entertainment for making this interview possible.
