It was during the opening ceremony of the Summer Game Fest that Throne & Liberty unveiled a slew of new images with great fanfare – and to clarify its free-to-play business model. On the continent of Solisium, the factions are struggling to recover the fragments of the Star of Sylaveth, essential artefacts of power in the hope of putting an end to the schemes of Kazar, the incarnation of evil par excellence and master of legions of various and varied monsters. . A fantasy world influenced by constant weather changes, widely highlighted by the com team, but also by the powers of metamorphosis that will play a key role in exploration and combat. As many systems as questions to ask for this little interview carried out in the din specific to events of the genre: Merv Lee Kwai, in charge of the game at Amazon Games, and Jongok Ahn, producer at NCSoft.
In the presentation video that we saw before our hands-on, you said that you took into account the feedback from Korean players during the tests that took place a few weeks ago. In what ways and how are they integrated?
Mervin Lee Kwai: We did indeed receive a lot of player feedback during the Korean Closed Beta, much of which had to do with the combat and progression systems. We have actively analyzed feedback from gamers, forums and traditional media which we take into account and which have subsequently been correlated by the teams at Amazon and NCSoft. It is very important to us that players experience the game and give us their opinion, because it is an opportunity to answer them very honestly.
Why did you choose F2P?
Mervin Lee Kwai: It is above all a choice of accessibility. Throne & Liberty Being a PvP and PvE game, it is very important for us to have a large user base on the server. It would have been difficult to attract an audience if it incorporated a freemium model or an initial sale price. I also think that Throne & Liberty lends itself really well to the free-to-play model, but it comes back to this need to have a massive user base. The title will be released on PC, PS5 and Xbox, and everything is connected through crossplay, as it is of critical importance to cultivate an environment capable of accommodating so many players.
Is it difficult to design an MMO of this scale in cross-platform, between gamepad players and keyboard/mouse players?
Mervin Lee Kwai: Yes, it is absolutely a challenge. But it’s something we’ve paid a lot of attention to, especially on the gamepad controls to ensure we have an experience equivalent to that of the PC. As a result, we still need to go through iterative testing. In our next technical tests, players will be able to test the PC version, but also the two console versions and crossplay. We are waiting for more feedback from this technical test, similar to the Korean closed beta, in order to continue our optimization.
As we have seen in a gameplay video, it is possible to transform into the image of a boss after defeating it. Given that we are in an MMO, how do we maintain a semblance of visibility when several players are present?
Mervin Lee Kwai: Let me answer you as a player. It is precisely this ability that I loved when I started playing Throne & Liberty. There’s a large catalog of bosses, and all of them grant players techniques that they can use for a set amount of time. At some point you may need a heal additional, and it will be possible to use the polymoprh of the boss which makes it possible to be looked after. The same goes for AoE attacks, for example. It is therefore up to the players to plan which form to use for the right occasions. Now, when it comes to large-scale PvP combat in this kind of game, it’s usually quite chaotic. We can then imagine that a guild decides to use the same polymorph in a synchronized way to take the competitive advantage, which will push the defensive forces to react accordingly. It’s part of the dynamic interactions we love with the game.
How did the ideas of the day/night cycle and the weather come about? How were these systems implemented while remaining consistent for all players?
Jongok Ahn: The reason we implemented these mechanics in the game was to ensure diversity in situations on the field and to encourage interaction between players and surrounding environments. Players go into battle in PvP and PvE in the same place – due to the weather and weather cycle, which gives them a constantly different feeling.
Are weather changes specific to certain regions?
Jongok Ahn: At first there was talk of having a specific weather for the Pacific region – but the idea ended up not being adopted, because we wanted to bring together all the players around the world, that they have the same information and the same interactions over time. So weather changes are common to all regions.
Mervin Lee Kwai: When I first experienced the weather system, I thought it was great. Some areas of the world are accessible depending on the weather, whether it is raining or not. For example, there is an advanced dungeon that only opens when it rains. So we find ourselves in a situation where, when it starts to rain, our whole guild leaves its current activity to go to this dungeon, which creates pressure points with all the other people who pursue this same quest. These game moments could not happen without this weather system that influences the game conditions in real time.
Does each transformation into an animal have its specific gameplay and statistics?
Mervin Lee Kwai: As for power and speed and other such statistics, they are innate to the character and are part of his progression.
How did the idea of having two weapons in hand at all times come about?
Moonseop Lee: When playing MMORPGs with character classes, we are often asked to switch roles depending on the situation, which requires different tools. It is then necessary to restart his character progression from the beginning to allow him to acquire enough experience. Rather than going through this system, we want to give players the choice to switch weapons and thus immediately switch roles. It is also possible to transfer stats from one weapon to another. Another essential part of Throne & Liberty’s combat relies on skill combinations between weapons – switching from one weapon skill to another. We try to constantly make the player think about the right combinations to use according to the combat situations.
Can you give an example of how a PvE/PvP dungeon works?
Mervin Lee Kwai: The dungeons of Throne & Liberty are persistent open-world dungeons. They are not instantiated: any number of players can enter them at any time. It is up to the player to find out what is going on in these confines. In my personal experience, when you venture far into these dungeons, say the third floor for example, after half an hour of exploration. When we see another group of players, our first instinct is not to confront them, because there is an inherent risk in this kind of interaction. It is then necessary to assess the situation, communicate with the other group, and perhaps go in different directions, or simply fight them. PvP encounters are still enabled in these dungeons in the current build, but we will also be evaluating player feedback during the next tech test.
And how does the loot system work?
Mervin Lee Kwai: The loot is distributed according to the contribution of the player. (laughs) That’s a simple answer.
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