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Interview with Pierre-Yves Deslandes, PR Manager of The Chronicles of Spellborn
Thank you for participating in this Q&A. To start off, please tell us your name and function within Spellborn International Ltd.
If you would have to explain The Chronicles of Spellborn to someone completely new in the MMORPG genre, what would you say?
An important feature of an MMO is the amount of quests. How many will there be available at the launch and what type of quests will there be? What will make The Chronicles of Spellborn stand out from other MMO's?
Immersion is an important element to most MMO’s, some companies even use ingame cut-scenes to keep the player interested. Will something like this also be used and if so, could you give us an example?
Will players be able to enter buildings in the towns and villages or will everything happen outside in the open?
As a follow up to the previous question, is player housing still included at launch or will it be added after release? If it’s still included at launch, what sort of new options will players have?
It seems the developers in general are not a fan of time sinks, especially with the crafting. In previous MMORPGs you usually needed to waste your resources on hundreds of worthless items just to get that one item you really wanted. How has TCoS dealt with this problem?
Since the combat is something where you have to aim instead of select an enemy and bash some buttons, will the damage be different based on the part of the body that you hit?
Will players be able to do some Spellborn tasks outside the game itself, for example chatting or reading ingame mails through a website?
Will you have an internal GM team to have game related events or will it be outsourced to an external company (i.e. Alchemic Dream)?
What sort of payment methods will there be available for the game? Will players have the option to buy gamecards in a local store, for those who don’t own a credit card?
Some months ago it was announced that a North-American publisher was interested in the game and a letter of intent was signed. Can you shed some light on this or will we have to wait until a certain event?
Will there be different methods to buy the game besides getting it at the local store? For example a digital download option on the official website or third party services like Steam or Direct2Drive?
Will there be a special edition of the game? If so, will it be limited and is there a chance to tell us what we can expect to see in it?
As a final question, if you would have to pick a favourite class, which one would you select and why?
Thank you for this interview and I hope to see a successful launch of The Chronicles of Spellborn!
Hello Fragland! I’m Pierre-Yves Deslandes, PR Manager for The Chronicles of Spellborn!
If you would have to explain The Chronicles of Spellborn to someone completely new in the MMORPG genre, what would you say?
Well, MMORPGs as we know them today use two main game mechanics. The first being the auto-targeting of the enemy, where all your attacks are aimed at the opponent, the damage being calculated by hidden percentages, or so called dice-rolls. The second revolves around acquiring powerful gear with statistics embedded into said equipment which in the end makes the character stronger and greatly influence the combat itself.
In Spellborn, we are not using any of these two. Rather than having statistics decide the outcome of the battle, the players themselves are in control. This is possible thanks to our manual aiming system. In Spellborn combat you have to aim at the enemy to damage it. There is a reticule and each time you want to debuff or damage it, you have to aim at it. With this system, we empower the players so that when they win a battle, it’s thanks to their own skills, and not because of random percentages and lucky critical hits. The fact that the equipment in Spellborn doesn’t have any statistics further reinforces this. Straight from the start, you can choose among a very wide range of clothing, armours, and weapons. Since they don’t have statistics, players can virtually wear the same outfit from level 1 to 50 without being less powerful. Again, we don’t want hidden percentages or random dice-rolls to have influence on PvE or PvP combat. What matters are the player’s skills, only. You can feel the adrenaline rushing through your body in PvP combat, because you know the enemy also has to aim to at you to win, but because you aimed better and used skills in a strategic approach, you won, and that is the best reward.
In Spellborn, we are not using any of these two. Rather than having statistics decide the outcome of the battle, the players themselves are in control. This is possible thanks to our manual aiming system. In Spellborn combat you have to aim at the enemy to damage it. There is a reticule and each time you want to debuff or damage it, you have to aim at it. With this system, we empower the players so that when they win a battle, it’s thanks to their own skills, and not because of random percentages and lucky critical hits. The fact that the equipment in Spellborn doesn’t have any statistics further reinforces this. Straight from the start, you can choose among a very wide range of clothing, armours, and weapons. Since they don’t have statistics, players can virtually wear the same outfit from level 1 to 50 without being less powerful. Again, we don’t want hidden percentages or random dice-rolls to have influence on PvE or PvP combat. What matters are the player’s skills, only. You can feel the adrenaline rushing through your body in PvP combat, because you know the enemy also has to aim to at you to win, but because you aimed better and used skills in a strategic approach, you won, and that is the best reward.
An important feature of an MMO is the amount of quests. How many will there be available at the launch and what type of quests will there be? What will make The Chronicles of Spellborn stand out from other MMO's?
We have above a thousand quests in Spellborn. Ranging from normal quest chains making you explore the world, to quests which are deeply tied to the lore. You can expect major parts of the already known background story of Spellborn to take a total unpredictable turn while playing. And that’s very cool, since what you take as granted in the Spellborn world is far from being like that. There are lots of smoke mirrors, intrigues and hidden conflicts envenoming the Enclave. Players are in the center of the action.
Immersion is an important element to most MMO’s, some companies even use ingame cut-scenes to keep the player interested. Will something like this also be used and if so, could you give us an example?
All in-games cutscenes we have at the moment are in-game matinees played to either give an immersion feeling to the player or to give some hints on what to perform at this given moment. I can’t give a fixed number on how many Spellborn will feature since we are currently polishing them.
Will players be able to enter buildings in the towns and villages or will everything happen outside in the open?
You can enter specific buildings in towns, villages, and even outside if such building is present. That includes taverns, and shops where players can respectively buy food and drinks giving them a nice buff, and to craft items, repair broken looted equipment pieces, inserting sigils, and buying class-related skills.
As a follow up to the previous question, is player housing still included at launch or will it be added after release? If it’s still included at launch, what sort of new options will players have?
Housing, even though announced in the past, will not be featured at release. We don’t forget about it though, since it’ll be implemented in the future of Spellborn.
It seems the developers in general are not a fan of time sinks, especially with the crafting. In previous MMORPGs you usually needed to waste your resources on hundreds of worthless items just to get that one item you really wanted. How has TCoS dealt with this problem?
We sure dealt with this issue, since in Spellborn, every players can craft any things they want, provided they have the recipe, the ingredients and a forge or blacksmith shop located nearby. No need to craft hundreds of waste items, just get the recipe of an item, gather the ingredients needed to complete the recipe, and craft it, done!
Cool thing is that we have a realistic loot system. Animals drop animal things (tusks, fur…), and hostile humanoids NPCs can drop what they wear. When you do loot such item, it’ll be broken. Go to a forge to get the blacksmith appraise the item and give you the recipe. After getting the recipe, it’s a matter of trading with friends or venturing out to gather the ingredients. Once everything is in your hands, go back to the forge and the NPC crafts the item for you. This system is easy, and allows everyone to craft what they need and want and any time they deem fit.
Cool thing is that we have a realistic loot system. Animals drop animal things (tusks, fur…), and hostile humanoids NPCs can drop what they wear. When you do loot such item, it’ll be broken. Go to a forge to get the blacksmith appraise the item and give you the recipe. After getting the recipe, it’s a matter of trading with friends or venturing out to gather the ingredients. Once everything is in your hands, go back to the forge and the NPC crafts the item for you. This system is easy, and allows everyone to craft what they need and want and any time they deem fit.
Since the combat is something where you have to aim instead of select an enemy and bash some buttons, will the damage be different based on the part of the body that you hit?
No, Spellborn doesn’t have special hitboxes with different damage levels, so in essence, no headshot. The only case is for “backstab” skills. In the Rogues archetype, some skills have a backstab component, which means you’ll do more damage if you hit the enemy from behind. Even backstab skills can be used and inflict damage from the front, it’ll simply do even more from the back. But that’s about it for special “hitboxes”, nothing else.
Will players be able to do some Spellborn tasks outside the game itself, for example chatting or reading ingame mails through a website?
We planned to have the feature where players could read their in-game mail from a dedicated internet page. We found some security issues during the course of development and are still looking into implementing it again with the fixes for release. It’s not sure, since we’re very busy with other things which unfortunately scale higher in the priority list.
Will you have an internal GM team to have game related events or will it be outsourced to an external company (i.e. Alchemic Dream)?
We have a team of GM, Yusho, speaking English, French and German. We also have our own internal Customer Support Team working very closely with Yusho.
What sort of payment methods will there be available for the game? Will players have the option to buy gamecards in a local store, for those who don’t own a credit card?
Yes, gamecards can be option, even though for specific regions it’s going to be the publisher’s call. In general, we’re going to offer the starting zone of The Chronicles of Spellborn as a free2play zone. It means players will be able to test this zone for as long as they want to. Note this zone is part of the full game and not some special location. Higher level players will be there. Besides being restricted to certain zones and levels, players who enjoyed the free2play zone, can easily decide to go for a normal subscription and lift of the limitations. Then the game becomes Pay2play. To sum up, download the client for free, try the zone, and if you like it, go for the subscription. The idea behind this zone is to offer as much time as possible for people to experience our combat system and our world. The usual 14 days trial used in other games isn’t enough for that.
Some months ago it was announced that a North-American publisher was interested in the game and a letter of intent was signed. Can you shed some light on this or will we have to wait until a certain event?
The great reveal has happened! It’s Acclaim. Acclaim will release the game in North-America, UK, Oceania and other countries.
We are delighted to have them onboard with us. We can only learn from their experience!
We are delighted to have them onboard with us. We can only learn from their experience!
Will there be different methods to buy the game besides getting it at the local store? For example a digital download option on the official website or third party services like Steam or Direct2Drive?
Yes, as I said just above, the client will be available for free download. We haven’t decided the third party services we might possibly partner with yet.
A box will be available for retail too. In fact only the Special Edition box will be available for purchase.
A box will be available for retail too. In fact only the Special Edition box will be available for purchase.
Will there be a special edition of the game? If so, will it be limited and is there a chance to tell us what we can expect to see in it?
Indeed. This Special Edition box is actually the only box to be sold in retail stores. It will contain the game (what a surprise! ), some special items (for the looks), a map/poster of the world, an artbook and 3 months of free play. The price will be below 40€.
As a final question, if you would have to pick a favourite class, which one would you select and why?
I’ll go for the Skinshifter, even though I now really like the poison master class Deathhand. Yet, Skinshifter can take the appearance of other hostile factions and infiltrate camps without being attacked. It can even shift into a plant! In addition, it has some nice backstab skills. Who would be scared of a plant? Well, who knows, it might be a Skinshifter waiting for the perfect moment to strike with all its deadly force!
Thank you for this interview and I hope to see a successful launch of The Chronicles of Spellborn!
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