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Enter the Dragon
9Dragons Publisher Howard Marks plans to harness the MMO beast
LQGaming Services:: What about the engine that runs 9Dragons? How many shards, or servers, will it be running on? Will there be different one's depending on the sort of gameplay you wish to experience, PvP, RPG, etc.?
Howard Marks: The engine used inside the game is called TripleX. It was developed inside of Indy21. It is a very detailed and fast 3D engine with 360 degree rotation and zoom in and out under the player's control. Each server can host up to 3,000 concurrent players. This is leading edge technology at the service of a great game. PvP is built right into the game. Actually, PvP is also weaved into the story as you can challenge other players in your clan or outside your clan. You can put some of your items at stake where winner takes all. However, there is not death penalty inside the game.
LQGaming Services:: 3000 players at once? I picture Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon taking on an entire martial arts army. When do you plan to release the final version of 9Dragons?
Howard Marks: We plan to launch the commercial release in November 2006.
LQGaming Services:: Just in time for the Holidays. Good thinking. Will there be a beta, and how can I apply?
Howard Marks: We plan to start the closed beta service in June 2006 and interested players can register at www.9dragonsgame.com and in Europe at www.9dragonsonline.com (this is operated by our partner Persistent Worlds). The open beta should be in August 2006.
LQGaming Services:: Got any pull to put me at the top of the list . ? Anyway, why do you think now is the right time to release a Martial Arts MMO when medieval fantasy and science fiction seem to be the most common genres available today?
Howard Marks: We strongly believe that we have the only authentic martial arts game coming soon on the market. This game won in 2005 the coveted prize of "Game of the year" in Korea. We think that players are interested in playing new and different exciting themes such as Martial Arts against a overload of European Medieval fantasy games. I guess, being different brings to us some advantage in that we are not launching a "me-too" game in an existing crowded market. Think about those Martial Arts movies against an unending slew
of formula driven action movies.
LQGaming Services:: Too right, too right. Finally, get out your crystal ball and tell us where you think the MMO industry will be in the next three years. What changes can we expect and look forward to?
Howard Marks: This is a tough question to answer. Given the opportunity, I think that MMO's have a very bright future, especially for games designed for the consumer mass audience. What we are learning today about players is critical to designing games that will work for the rest of us. One big opportunity I believe would be casual MMO's that appeal to kids and young adults. Imagine a game that is being played by 70 million people. It is mind boggling to think it will happen but I really believe it will.
--David Dichter
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