In case you do not know,
Age of Wulin is an upcoming martial arts MMO being hosted by gPotato Europe. Don't
ask me if there will be IP blocks, I do not know lol. Along with Perfect
World's Swordsman Online, these are the 2 most anticipated martial arts
MMO this year in China. Developed by China studio, Snail Games, the
Chinese server has yet gone into Open Beta. Just recently, the big boss
of Snail Games, Mr Shi Hai, had a Q&A session with one lucky
reporter. I am just going to summarize the main points said into point
forms for easier viewing.
Click here for the official English website! Mr Shi Hai is on the left in the picture below if you are curious.
1. The game has been in development for around 3years, with 2 major changes made in its course so far.
2. Mr Shi Hai said the game is not suitable for those who are already polluted by the typical "garbage MMO".
3. When creating each
character, there will be 8 "novels" for players to choose from. This
actually means there will be 8 different main storyline for players to
choose from. There will be over 10,00 quests, 26 different scenarios
(main storyline scenario, world scenario, clan scenario etc), over 80
big and small martial arts factions, over 10,00 NPCs and around 1000
NPCs involved in the main storyline.
4. In the Chinese version,
players will not be able to give their character funny/weird/rude or
English names. From what I see, the Chinese server actually has a wall
library of words for players to choose from when creating
names. There is an automated name creation function as well.
5. NPCs in the game will not be
stationary at the same spot all the time and will be moving around
(don't expect the bun seller to keep moving around though). Each NPC
will have a different response to player's actions. Of course, players
who chose different "novels" at the beginning will have to meet
different NPCs.
6. Mr Shi Hai continues to talk
about the "Karma" system, or rather the NPC relationship system for
easier understanding. For example, there is this rare skill manual which
shops don't sell. The game's system will record players' actions
towards the NPCs and players' achievements in the martial world. When
the time is right, NPCs will start to give hints and small quests,
eventually leading up to the quest to obtain the manual.
Personally, I think this is an awesome system. While not confirmed,
players might be able to choose and do bad stuff, activating quests to
get the "evil" skill manuals. Hope this will be implemented.
7. There will be no "fixed
strategy" in Age of Wulin. Rewards from quests will differ and given
based on the NPC relationship system. Another example will be some
players walking across a field with no problem, but some others might
fall into a cave traveling through the exact same spots.
8. Age of Wulin is developed
using the in-house Flexi Engine. The game is continuously undergoing
optimization, and while there is currently an active weather changing
system, there is still no day-night feature yet.
9. There will be voice overs for all NPCs in the Chinese server.
10. As for the Wind Steps, the
movement feature where players can travel on water, above tress and
scale walls, players may use this skill to reach every place the eye can
see, including mountain tops, above giant status and more. However,
there is death if players fall from high grounds.
From the screenshot below, there will be 10 skills under Wind Steps. As
mentioned, some will be for walking on water surfaces, some for scaling
tall buildings and some used on the ground. One of it is rather
interesting, which apparently allow players to deflect from walls.
Players may also dive underwater, but there will be a meter bar acting
as an air supply gauge.
11. Much details are crafted
into the environment and structures, so players will not see the same
rock being copy and pasted all over the world (lol @ Final Fantasy XIV).
12. As a MMO without a level
system, players will still obtain "Training Points" from the various
activities they do (quests, interacting with NPCs, talking to other
players etc). I am finding it hard to translate this part, but just be
informed that skills will be upgraded through these points. There will
be no character stats to add as well (seems like equipments will be the
ones adding).
13. Mr Shi Hai declare that
most martial arts MMO are still stuck at the "kill mobs, gain
experience, level up, add stats: vicious cycle, including Perfect
World's Swordsman Online (gasp!). In Age of Wulin, the game will not
focus on all these and introduce something new instead. For example,
there will be 4 basic fighting stance available for PvP and PvE. Each
stance will have its own "counter" from the same group and players who
engage in PvP will be able to observe opponent's stance and predict what
skills he will be using, similar to the scenes in martial arts dramas
and movies. Players will also be able to dodge in time if he guess the
next skill correctly.
14. For combat, there will be the combo system as well, for aerial attacks, chain attacks etc.
15. For the Chinese server, Mr
Shi Hai said that the business model is still being looked into.
Apparently Snail Games is still looking for some sort of new model
instead of just plain cash shop, but at the same time insisting that the
focus will not be on forcing players buying items to aid in their
equipments' upgrades.
16. Next, he talked about the
guild system. Guilds will be able to own their own piece of land,
including setting up a guild base and also placing their guild's name at
the front gate, as seen in the screenshot below. Guild bases will also
provide players with exclusive content and abilities.
Looking at the world map, guilds can also carry out assassinations or
all-out strikes to exterminate another guild or simply takeover it base.
Finer details are not available yet.
17. When players log off, they
are not really "offline". Their characters might be used by other
players as slaves, used as a deliveryman or aiding someone to finish his
quest. Players will hence find themselves in a different location when
they log in again. Of course, this system will have its limitation and
will only be activated once certain requirements are met. This system
will also allow players to have "rare" encounters, which will provide
them good rewards.
18. The game has already been
licensed to various regions, including Taiwan, Europe, Korea, Hong Kong,
Russia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. North America was
not mentioned.