by Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle

Irth Online, the freshman offering from fledgling developer Magic Hat Software, is the newest MMORPG to hit the market; boasting a novel PvP setup and unique skill-training system. Tony Pungitore, Lead Developer of Irth Online, agreed to talk with us about what makes this fantasy MMO one-of-a-kind.

Ten Ton Hammer: Could you tell our readers who you are, what you do, and brag on some of your accomplishments? :)

Tony Pungitore, Lead Developer - Irth Online: Hi.  I’m Tony.  I wear a lot of different hats.  Alan and I manage the company together.  We really have a lot of shared responsibilities.  We manage the workforce and lead the design team.  Together we have developed concepts, features, mechanics, functions, management applications, and game-play scenarios with the help of course from the design team and the community.  It is really a joint effort.   I am also the second largest investor in the company.  I wrote the storyline.  I manage the database, developed most of the crafting systems in place and a whole host of other things.

Ten Ton Hammer: How did you come to be involved with Magic Hat Software's Irth Online?

Tony Pungitore: Well Alan and Dennis formed the company first and shortly thereafter Alan asked me to come on board.  As soon as we started talking I knew they were on to something great.  Alan and I go way back.  The first computer I ever bought was Alan’s old computer in 1985, an 8086 I think it was.  My next computer I bought in 1987.  It was also Alan’s old computer a 286 I think.  Hey it seems there is a pattern here, that guy is always after my money! That’s it! I don’t buy Alan’s old junk anymore!  Sorry.  Alan also turned me on to Ultima Online after it was first released.  That’s where it all began really.  That’s when the MMORPG addiction started in my house. 

Ten Ton Hammer: In your own words, what's Irth Online all about? What makes this game different from the EQ-clones and WoW-wannabes that saturate the market?

Tony Pungitore: Irth Online is a skill based 3d fantasy MMORPG.  The basic premise of the game integrates four different civilizations, with deep rooted ideological disparities, which are in pursuit of world domination.  This premise stems from an ancient plague that separated one united civilization into four distinct groups. Each group holds the others in contempt.  Through the crisis and devastation of plague rose three fields of reactionary thought, 1) Stay true to the king (Arcadian), 2) Stay true to divine authority (Mezotek), 3) Stay true to Shantimar, the first of the exiled plague victims (Morbus).  These three civilizations are PvP and seek world domination through combat and conquest.  The fourth Nation, Avaria is Non-PvP.   They are made up of immigrants from the other three civilizations and seek world domination through economic might.

What makes us different you ask?  We set you free with few restrictions.  How?

#1) We are Skill Based not Class Based.  No level grind.  Develop your skill or a combination of skills any way that you feel is appropriate.  There are numerous professions and skills you can develop.  There are about 50 different professions that are available for players to develop and more are being added.  Each one is intricate in detail and options.  If you are an Alchemist there are 500 different potions to make. Cooks can make about 200 recipes, Pharmacists about 200 bandages, Brewers about 200 beverages, Scribes about 400 spells, etc.  There are literally thousands of things to craft.

#2) We are Civilization Based not Race Based.  We have four playable races and none of them are limited by predefined set of static abilities.  You develop your own character any way you want to.  In many respects the players are responsible for balancing their own characters.  If you do not like what you have become, you can change your character by doing different things and learning new skills.  You can forget a skill if you want too.

#3) Who likes free stuff? Raise your hand.  Well we recognize that everyone likes free stuff. We also recognize that everyone loves a home. So, a+b=c.  Everyone gets a free home!  It’s so hard to get a decent home in games today.  Some are just too expensive, others are virtual rooms, some there are just no home available.  We have none of that on Irth.  Everyone gets a home in a player run village.  If you do not like your neighbors kill them.  No only kidding.  If you do not like your neighbors, move out!  Find another neighborhood to your liking.

#4) Some people hate PvP.  Some people love PvP.  So on Irth you choose.  If you don’t like PvP become an Avarian and build your fortune.  If you like PvP choose the civilization that you identify with and go out and kill something.  If you want a change you can migrate and become a citizen of Avaria.  If you are Non-PvP and want a change you can return to your civilization of ethnic origin and reclaim your authentic citizenship.

#5) We are committed to our players.  This game will always be under continuous development and we will be adding content in reaction to what our player base demands.  We are here to serve you.

#6) Game storyline content will also be added in reaction to what players are doing.  Players in essence will become the stories and the basis of storyline direction in the future.

#7) The level of interaction with the environment is enhanced.  For example if you see a tree you can chop it down, harvest the logs and all is left is a stump.  If you see cotton you can pick it.  If you see an item or rock you can pick it up and throw it.  Oh hey wait a sec, a pie throwing contest might be fun..ahh sorry I digress.  If you see water you can take a swim.  If you see an herb you can harvest it.  If you find a rock you can mine it.  If you see a lamp you can light it.  You can chop down a tree, mine a flint and make a campfire in the wilderness.  Then you could cook something over the open flame and buff up your character to prepare yourself for battle.  If you see an animal you can try and tame it.  If you see a horse you can mount it. Etc.

And might I add much much more. 

Ten Ton Hammer: What feature of Irth do you personally consider the most fun?

Tony Pungitore: The most fun.  My oh my.  It changes every day.  It was making High Vaccum Electronic Chambers and Irthonium Rods so that I could lower the reqs on high end armor by changing the polarization properties.  But I’m talking Tinker Shop in Irthlish right now so you have no idea what I’m talking about.  I’m such a geek. 

The greatest fun right now, right this very second, is the new Golem hot off the presses.  #1 he is awesome looking.  As Paris Hilton would say, “It’s hot.”  The specific Golem I speak of is Orbius.  Orbius carries a unique resource called Orbium Shavings.  Only he knows how to do this.  I guess he uses his sharp rock hands to shave unicorn horns and his essence combining with the act of shaving creates this unique resource.  He also carries an instruction scroll explaining how the Orbium Shavings can be used.  I can say no more! I have been sworn to secrecy.  Mums the word.  But it is the most fun I’m having with the game today.  That may change if you ask me tomorrow.

Ten Ton Hammer: Congratulations on launching the game in November, but personally were you happy with when Irth Online shipped? It is, of course, a mistake to think a beta is going to flush out everything you'd like it to, but were all of your major concerns addressed before launch?

Tony Pungitore:I think the answer to that is yes and no.  Irth will always be in development.  Irth isn’t the type of game that we can ever say there…it’s done…finished…now play it till you’re done.”  That’s not the kind of game it is. It’s an evolving world with a committed dev team that perpetually adds content.  We had to make hard choices.  Where do you draw the line and say, “Ok players can have fun with this ….now.”?  That’s really what determined the release date.  We’re in it for the long haul.  The launch itself went really well.  But the game wasn’t exactly where we wanted it to be on 11/01/05, so all the players who bought the game early got two free months of play and no one who bought the game was required to subscribe.  That was our way of trying to tell the public, “Hey, we care about you for the long term and it’s not all about the short term money.”

Ten Ton Hammer: What do you feel the feature most in need of tuning at this point is? How is it being addressed?

Tony Pungitore: Well combat was entirely overhauled and is absolutely great now.  Crafting is awesome although we want to add more.  Performance has been improved greatly and we are sill doing more enhancements, oh quests, that’s it.  There’s actually a few but I’ll stick to quests.

The quest system is not being taken advantage of to its potential.  Most of the quests in the system were put in as wham bam thank you mam.  They are, “learn a craft”, “kill monster ”,“ loot something”, “find something,” blah blah blah.  They are starting quests to get players familiar with the environment, professions, features and mechanics.  We haven’t entered any significant storyline quests that will send players on an adventure of discovery, danger and will ultimately change the course of Irth history.  We have tons of ideas for exciting Quest adventures.  It’s about time that we put them in as Irth has been on the shelf, so to speak, for two months now.  Players are ready.  I have so much storyline stuff that players have never seen.  The stories were being held back specifically for quests. The First one I’ll put in is Almedes Tomb.  It’s a good story and will connect players to Irth lore.  It will bring purpose and honor to their actions and civilization.  It will also give them an opportunity to change the course of direction in the quest series itself.  The in depth storyline quests are not static but rather reactionary.  As players react to quests situations subsequent quests in the series will change depending on what they do.  This new batch of quests will be loads of fun.  I can’t wait.

Ten Ton Hammer: From a quick look at the forums, most adventurers seem pleased as punch, but crafters, well, not so much so. Perhaps this ties into the last question, but can you give us Magic Hat's take on the high quality of items seemingly available to players from NPC merchants at this point, and how this affects crafters trying to make a buck? Will this problem melt away as crafters increase in level?

Tony Pungitore: Well, let’s be clear.  The players are not upset with the crafting system.  They love the crafting system.  They’re upset with the rate of transition from a management economy to a player economy as it effects their professions.  I almost mentioned that but I decided to go with quests.  In a nutshell this is the problem that we need to correct; we have designed this game to be a player economy.  Players, through supply and demand, need to place value on items.  Value should not be determined by management.  But we cannot just give the economy to them. Players need to be weaned off a management economy and into a player economy.  So it’s a real delicate matter.  If we leave items for sale on vendors, then crafters cannot make a livelihood because they are in competition with NPC vendors.  If we take the items off the vendors too soon, players can’t buy what they need if other players are not making the merchandise available. 

On the surface you might say, “So what, it’s a player economy, supply and demand.”  It’s not that simple.  It depends on what end of the equation you find yourself on.  I have been routinely and regularly decreasing the amount of items on vendors, anyone who has been playing the game over the last couple of months knows this.  If I remove too much players complain such as “I can’t find any, folded cloth.” If I put more on, “Hey I can’t sell my folded cloth.”  So we could simply increase the price of folded cloth on the vendor to make it less competitive for the weaver, but then all associated products that use folded cloth will proportionately be increased from the increased value of the resources.  Again that may be ok on the surface, but if a player is looking for what is now an overpriced cloth shirt and there is no player made cloth shirts available we put the player-buyer at a disadvantage.  AHHHHHHHHHH!  So yes it is a juggling act.  The problem will all go away as soon as crafters are adequately supplying the auction house with goods.  It takes a little time and we’re almost there.  But unfortunately we’re just not ready to get out of the business of selling merchandise on vendors yet.  Soon soon.

Thanks to Tony Pungitore, Dan Milewski, and Magic Hat Software for this interview! We wish all success to Irth Online and hope to talk with the Magic Hat team again soon!