Path of Exile Interview
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Can you talk about the plot a bit? Is there a world lore and story?
Erik: The story is more of a personal journey the palyer has. We tell much of the story with visuals and art. Atmospheric.
Jon: One issue with MMORPGs is that you can't really save the world, since then the next guy comes along and saves it the same way. Inevitably, we have to go with more of a personal journey than one bent on saving the world. Also it fits with the theme of the world.
You start the game exiled from your homeland. You've been thrown off a ship and washed up on a beach, and you're immediately attacked by monsters. The initial challenge is just survival. Over the course of the game you want to find out more about what's happened.
Erik: You'll find small clues here and there about what's happened. And why this is a post-apocalyptic world. The continent.
Chris: We've planned out the vibe we want to get from the game, with certain design goals. We want there to be a lot of horror elements. We want the player to feel stalked by the monsters. We want there to be lonely parts and scary parts.
Erik: It's a very cut-throat world.
Chris: For example, when monsters drop items it's first to get them gets them. It's a harsh, difficult world. You have to be prepared for it. We're not babying the players.
Erik: The equipment reflects the dark, gritty world. For example, we don't have oversized shoulder pads. Armor is actually functional.
And a snip from part two:
Are there classes that are well-paired?
Chris: It's good to have a tank in front and the ranged attacker behind, certainly.
Jon: The natural tactic is that. We're expecting people to come up with spell-caster tanks, since that's possible with the variety of equipment and skill gems we're putting into the game.
Chris: There's a lot of stuff in our skill system that's designed to allow you to help other players. One of the things we have are support gems. There are ways to buff party members. You could put a Buff skill into an item linked to something like a War Cry. And when you cast the War Cry it would affect all of your party members. Not just you. And you can add other effects like Increased Radius, or Increased Duration, so the effect would last really long.
