GDC 2008: The Chronicles of Spellborn
Find out what you can expect to see when this amazing game debuts!The game includes many different systems we’ve all come to expect from an MMO in this day in age. Housing is planned post release, there is an in game mail system, guild system, PvP rankings, and a depth of world which is incredible.
Lore of the game is deeply ingrained and quests are intended to draw players into it, utilizing the high house (faction) system that makes up the Enclave of the Five Sacrifices. Quests will uncover the intrigues and different ideals within the five separate houses, but what players are given as they learn about their different ideals may not be what’s hidden under the surface. Let’s not forget the Spellborn credo: “What lies hidden... WILL be found!”
Last week, at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), I had a chance to sit down with Pierre-Yves "Mirage" Deslandes, public relations and community manager from The Chronicles of Spellborn. The team from Spellborn International Ltd. attended the conference looking for a U.S. publisher, having established a UK, German, Korean and Japanese publishing partner. *Insert fanboi begging for someone in the U.S. to publish this astounding game here!*
Pierre was amazing to talk to, and one of the first things that we discussed was the customization options, both visual and class specific, as you advance through the game. He said, “From level one to fifty, if you want, you can stay with the exact same equipment, and that will not make you less powerful than any other, at your exact same level.” He then showed me a mage character that was decked out in some seriously impressive looking plate mail. Needless to say, my jaw dropped.
This game is a visual knockout! If you haven’t yet seen the screenshots, and videos, from our site, or the official site, it’s definitely something you have to look at. Never fear, the screenshots are not doctored. The world really is that stunning.
And while giving almost complete in game customization control to the players, user created modulers (mods) will not be allowed in the foreseeable future.
So how does this customization carry over to gameplay? Since there's no auto-attack option, it’s really not going to get you anywhere since, if you stand directly in front of the mob, chances are you’re going to die. Parrying and weaving are player skills, using their keyboard and mouse commands to take full control of their avatar and their path through the world. Using a more traditional first person shooter game mechanic, your position in relation to the mob’s will determine whether damage can be done or not. Also agro, as we know it now, is not going to appear in the game.
One great example I was shown was a boar attacking a character in the forest of Slywood. When the character strafed and moved to the side of the animal, there was no way to be attacked, so the boar simply turned and tried to attack again. By using skill and staying out of range of other nearby creatures one could defeat their enemies with a minimum of injury.
Enemies have a chance to drop what they are currently wearing, so if a passing humanoid has an awesome spear you want, kill it! If they drop the spear, it will be in un-equipable, damaged condition. Taking this spear to an NPC who can fix it will result in an appraisal that tells you the required items needed to have it repaired. If you needed boar tusks, you’d run out and kill the nasty things. If it is a resource that needs to be gathered from the world, some areas are within Player versus Player (PvP) areas, or can be traded for with other players. When you acquire all the needed items the NPCs will actually fix the item for you! If you want the color changed, a fee will be assessed by your local NPCs as well.
Another incredible game play option offered is Player versus Player (PvP). When asked about how PvP will be handled Pierre said that “Pretty much the whole world will be PvE (Player versus Environment) there are some zones that are PvP but you’re going to see it. Actually you are going to see it in the chat window: Entering PvP zone in 10 seconds…and counting down”
Some of the PvP areas include the green district, mines, and caves that contain resources players will need to harvest, along with other areas as well as an Arena, with ranked and unranked competitions that will add more chances to participate in the PvP experience for those who just can’t get enough.
Skills are another great way to customize your character, and not every character type, or arch-type will have all skills. Level one finds all players with three common basic skills, and the arch-type you choose at character creation gives access to two more skills, out of four, that you will start with. As you level, your skills become more powerful, so even at the highest levels of the game, you may find yourself using good old standbys. These skills include healing for all classes of the game, with different skills and abilities.
Your skill deck should never be constant however. One of the greatest mistakes a player can make is approaching each and every combat situation with same deck, tactics, and spell or skill availability!
Skill decks are player created with 6 rows of 5 slots per row. How to arrange these skills which include opening and closing combos is going to be up to the player, and will drastically identify both their play style and decide their success within the world.
As combos are successfull built, the outcome increases in positive effects for the player. If a combo is interrupted (by missing a shot), you start back at square one, with no effect being given. If you are able to successfully complete a combo the effects are decided upon by the opener, finisher and all of the skill choices you decided to use in between. The skill system is incredibly hard to describe, but when looking at it in first person, it was rather intuitive!
Obviously every MMO comes with its own learning curve, and some are steeper than others. Spellborn is approaching this with a very basic beginning. The skills you start with will allow you to understand how the systems work, without overwhelming you. As you grow you’ll have time to come up with a style that works for you, but in the beginning you’ll have a chance to figure out combat.
Utilizing an “Easy to learn, hard to master” system, you learn to aim, damage enemies and dodge at first. Then you chose your sub-class. This allows the difficulty to be approached little by little, and gives even the slowest learner (like me) a chance to get with the game!
The game is almost completely quest based for experience, and while killing mobs may be fun for you, the return experience will not be worth it for people looking to level in this manner.
The intrigues and storylines of the world can be quest chains that span many levels, or be a single quest that never goes any further. The quest log tracks accepted quests and completed quests, so you can track the storyline and lore as you go, as well as going back to see what you’ve done.
Group quests are available, and quests can be shared if the prerequisites are met. You can level from one to fifty doing solo quests. You are going to miss social group aspects, and some lore or world areas, but it can be done!
Inventory space is set for you from the beginning, and you have more space than you’ll ever know what to do with! Believe me, I don’t have a single character in any MMO that isn’t a pack rat. I wanted to kiss Pierre for making that many slots available! Also included in my complete love affair with the inventory system is the fact that as you adventure you can break items down to their core components. While this isn’t always the best thing to do, sometimes selling just isn’t an option when you’re in the middle of the world killing with a group of people you can’t just abandon. The final aspect of my adoration is that quest items are kept separate from your regular inventory, so you’ll never run out of space just because you do 30 quests that require items all at once!
Body slots are abilities that are sub-class unique, and are controlled by the f-keys. There are between ten and fifteen available to each sub-class, but only five can be equipped at a time. Body slots add a visual effect (for example tattoos for rune mages and scars for blood warrior) to each character, in addition to being usable as an ability. Some body slots provide procs. When the requirements for their effect occur, their ability is automatically used. Only one body slot at a time can be actively used, and more become available as you level.
I asked if I was going to have to wait for a U.S. release to be able to play, or if the tables had finally turned, and I was going to have to do what overseas players have been doing for years - finding someone to send me a boxed copy and logging onto servers that were not designed for my playtimes and connection.
He said that was probably my best bet, because the European release is really close, but in the U.S. it depends on finding a publisher, and how quickly the login, servers, and payment system can be setup, after details are worked out and the papers signed.
I have to touch on the graphics one more time here. They were truly breathtaking. I was only shown the area of Slywood during my time with Pierre, but something about the UI (user interface) caught my eye. While the different windows can be locked in place, or unlocked so that they slide off the screen automatically and stay there until called for, the player cannot place them in the location of their choosing. The locking affects the life meter, the map, and the chat window. However, the quest log and inventory windows can be moved.
MMOs that chant “customization” but fail to deliver basic UI controls irritate me, but, to be honest, it didn’t bother me as much here. The UI is clean, and the windows were in pretty standard locations. I’m fairly certain not being able to move them is going to bother me, but it certainly won’t be a deal breaker!
Moving onto the amazing system that rewards living, instead of penalizes dying, we have the Personal Experience Points, or PeP system. These points are awarded in PvE, and are reset upon death. Rewards are built up as you kill enemies and remain alive, with each of the five different PeP tiers giving greater rewards.
While some will complain that this is indeed a death penalty let’s look at it from a different perspective. This reward system gives those who are cautious and careful a reason not to rush into battle. It also gives those of us (well, me) who explore and tend to die off faster than fruit flies a chance to have fun! Gone are the days of armor durability payments and corpse runs! Each death here will only result in a reset of the PeP points you’ve earned since the last time you died.
All mobs within the world are going to attack you. Some, such as horses, and cows, and birds are going to run from you, but anything else will attack. This system is called a predator/prey system. If you approach a bear, you’ll see visual clues that you’re entering his visual range, and as you move closer he will attack you. This enables characters to both be a part of the world, and also allows complete interaction on the part of the players, to really immerse themselves in their time here.
The game includes many different systems we’ve all come to expect from an MMO in this day in age. Housing is planned post release, there is an in game mail system, guild system, PvP rankings, and a depth of world which is incredible.
Lore of the game is deeply ingrained and quests are intended to draw players into it, utilizing the high house (faction) system that makes up the Enclave of the Five Sacrifices. Quests will uncover the intrigues and different ideals within the five separate houses, but what players are given as they learn about their different ideals may not be what’s hidden under the surface. Let’s not forget the Spellborn credo: “What lies hidden... WILL be found!”
The Spellborn team is now about fifty people strong, and their hard work and dedication clearly shows in an incredible game that has the depth and polish required in a game about to release across the globe. I only hope it will release here in the U.S. before to long!
My thanks to Pierre and the entire staff at Spellborn for a great addition to the MMO genre and a game that I hope will be around for many, many years. Also thanks to the folks at Bohle who facilitated getting my interview time moved around after GDC security decided not to let me in!
By Becky “Tovin” Simpson and CM Wordaen
