MMOWatch Feature: Mortal Online Interview

Dhruin

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While at the Games Convention, Myrthos accepted an invitation to visit the guys from Starvault to talk a bit more about their MMO in development, Mortal Online. Here's a sample from the start of the conversation:

MMOWatch: According to your website Mortal Online advances the way an MMO game is played. Can you explain that claim?

Mats Persson: I would agree that Mortal Online is very different from most MMOs. It is first person and it is a sandbox game -- as opposed to a theme park game -- where sandbox stands for much more freedom in the world. We have chosen to have a truly action based combat. It reminds somewhat of a first person shooter in a different setting, with a lower tempo.
Furthermore, we have no levels. It is entirely skill based - the skills that you train define your character, not the levels. We also don’t have any regular classes; you don’t choose to be a warrior, priest or mage. You choose the skills you want to have and then you train your skills by using them in the game. As we have removed levels entirely from the game you won’t meet other players that are at a higher level than you are. You have to watch them move and act to learn what they are good at and by looking at how they use their skills. The game is about the player’s personal skills and how they interact.
If you compare most MMO’s on the market with i.e. Counter Strike, then most people would say that counter strike is about your skills as a player, whereas in most MMO’s it is about what character you play, what skills and level you have.
Read it all here.
More information.
 
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hmmmm (over)ambitiousness of the title aside, there's something that strikes me.

You can hit the skill cap quickly. Items don't matter much.
- So as a player I very quickly reach more or less the maximum level of personal development? Trade skills for weapons and armour won't matter all that much due to this, either. Once you've had your 100th pvp fight with no real differentiator, what's to do? Have 100 pvp fights as a guild? - same thing.
 
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No. For a given skill you can reach the cap of 100 quickly and there is a total of 600 skill points (numbers are only an example at this moment) You could invest another 100 points in a defense skill for example or in mining, or in skinning animals or in throwing fireballs or whatever skills there are until you invested all 600.
It does however not stop once all 600 are used. You could decide to invest skill points into another skill because it suits you better. To do that you have to select from what skill(s) you want to deduce points as the maximum of 600 stays in place. So you might end up with 20 less skill points from your mining skill but have 20 skill points in the beer drinking skill (I don't have a clue as to what skills there are so this is only an example ;)). You can fiddle with this continuously, by taking skill points from one skill and investing them into another and changing your personal development that way.

Items don't matter in increasing your stats or skills, but they can be unique and/or expensive.
 
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They have the system outlined on their site here.
 
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Yeah I understand the system perfectly. What I mean is that if getting to the skill cap of 100 for a given skill is relatively quick, then you're bound to hit the 600-point limit before too long as well.

For the sake of argument let's say it takes the average player a week to reach 100 points. That makes 6 weeks until 600 points. Yeah there'll be differences and so on in various skills and how quickly they go up, but just on general principle to support the discussion let's stick to a fixed rate :)

So in a month and a half you're maxed in your first choice of skills. If you were to go TOTALLY in another direction you have another month and a half. In all likelihood, though, you'll only change, say, 50% maximum of your first time chosen skills. A little over half a month there, then.

How many career changes do people need? When gear does not matter, it's not like you'll find a Tower Shield of Supreme Monkeykicking, leading you to respec towards shields (as an example). In other words - with gear being relatively unimportant, a large part of moving skills around seems to be unimportant. AND since gear does not matter *that* much, then why would you want to switch between a number of crafting professions?

Even when you throw in the various derived abilities that open up at different levels of a skill, I don't see this adding a whole lot, longevity-wise. Whether you can see them in your char sheet from the get-go or whether it's a matter of the short time until someone posts a full listing, you'll soon no longer spend time experimenting (much).

As I see it, the coupling of a skill cap you reach quickly COMBINED with gear not mattering much - and with full PvP loot it kinda has to be that way :) - you have severely limited interest in long time player evolution. If you never really grow your character, skill or gear -wise, after let's say maximum half a year, then what keeps you coming back?

They've pretty much said that both your character and the items you find/create will quickly be as good as it gets.

So it seems to me, anyway...
 
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They say it will be hard to get good items so it'll certainly have some itemisation. I guess like SGW was when it came out where you'll need to hunt tough mobs for hides to make certain armours etc, just have to wait and see what's in the game as they release more info.
 
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Sounds a bit like Guild Wars to me: easy respeccing and available items (the most powerful sword, for example, would be 3-20 and cost millions, while the 5gp sword is 3-19, or something like that). Still, GW did have actual classes too. Does sound somewhat interesting, in any case.
 
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I'd really like this to be good. A proper fantasy MMORPG sandbox would be heaven. But I have a bad feeling about it from what I've read so far.

But hey - early days for it still.
 
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There are always problems when a game tries to codify a system of law into a game. There are always exploits; not just minor little quirks either, but major game breaking flaws. I'll give them credit for trying to build a better sandbox though, the innumerable assortment of banal grindfests available today just don't cut it.
 
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Hello everyone, wanted to clear some things up about this game.

Hamsternator, seems you're worried that there won't be much to do in the game after you've "maxed out" your character.

Well, if the only thing you seek in an MMORPG is to grind for gear and levels, then MO most likely won't be the game for you. This game is designed around PvP, which means the main focus should in fact be on PvP, not killing monsters or doing boring scripted quests to level up your skills.

In a sandbox environment much of the content is player made, the developers only provide the tools.
 
MO will be the game to change the genre

LightsabeR is absolutely right. MO will be a sandbox game similar to UO, if you're familiar with it. the thing that will make it much different to the many MMOs out there currently is that the game's content doesn't focus around the experiences your player will have during the skill progression stage.. this is good news. as the interview mentioned, character progression will be quick unlike what you'll find in most other MMOs, but once you max out the skills you've chosen for your character, the real game begins (unlike many games where endgame content doesn't become available until many many hours of arduous grinds and repetitive quests).

for anyone who isn't familiar with sandbox MMOs, i STRONGLY encourage you to at least try MO. having played UO 5 years myself and WoW for over 3 years, i can safely say that the experiences are very different, yet both worth experiencing. however, sandbox MMOs give you much much more freedom to experience the game as you want, and they let you change the world around you, something you don't find in themepark games like WoW. sandbox games like MO give you a chance to be someone truly special, whereas in themepark MMOs, you're fed the storyline of a great hero, but because you happen to live in a world where everyone is a great hero, it doesn't really amount to much.

if you've played sandbox MMOs in the past, MO is shaping up to be a major upgrade from what you're used to. if you've never played a sandbox, i can't think of a better game to lose your sandbox MMO virginity to (assuming it delivers what's been promised so far).
 
LightsabeR is absolutely right. MO will be a sandbox game similar to UO, if you're familiar with it. the thing that will make it much different to the many MMOs out there currently is that the game's content doesn't focus around the experiences your player will have during the skill progression stage.. this is good news. as the interview mentioned, character progression will be quick unlike what you'll find in most other MMOs, but once you max out the skills you've chosen for your character, the real game begins (unlike many games where endgame content doesn't become available until many many hours of arduous grinds and repetitive quests).

for anyone who isn't familiar with sandbox MMOs, i STRONGLY encourage you to at least try MO. having played UO 5 years myself and WoW for over 3 years, i can safely say that the experiences are very different, yet both worth experiencing. however, sandbox MMOs give you much much more freedom to experience the game as you want, and they let you change the world around you, something you don't find in themepark games like WoW. sandbox games like MO give you a chance to be someone truly special, whereas in themepark MMOs, you're fed the storyline of a great hero, but because you happen to live in a world where everyone is a great hero, it doesn't really amount to much.

if you've played sandbox MMOs in the past, MO is shaping up to be a major upgrade from what you're used to. if you've never played a sandbox, i can't think of a better game to lose your sandbox MMO virginity to (assuming it delivers what's been promised so far).

Well... may be it will... but not 1st game definatly! Darkfall online will do it first! more over comparing this 2 gaims i feel that DF is more open and have much more freedom!( beta starts in November 2008... feel free to join comunity and game!) DF doesnt have any cup of skills, it just make it slower to learn + u have to keep practice it, other way it will go down to 99-98-97... + DF will have all this bonuses like Full PvP and Full Loot + ship crafts, fight on the water and a lot, lot more! DF doesnt support 2 characters! 1 charakter per 1 server, and u can quickly retrain your char from one direction to another! and i have feeling that even if MO includ PvP they still try to srict it! in DF example... it is main action to let people fight each other and get loot! well... DF have same features even more and i have feeling that DF more freedom game! will see...
 
Has anyone experienced this game yet?

It is due out soon I gather and a firend is trying to get me to pre-order so would appreciate any observations.

Cheers
 
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