Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

The staff at Ten Ton Hammer has been thoroughly impressed by the gameplay we've seen in Atlantica Online over the last few months. With an incredibly solid and stable launch along with a myriad of content updates already integrated into the game, Ten Ton Hammer bestowed Atlantica Online with the top F2P game of 2008 award. Since MMOs never quit being developed, updated, and upgraded, Ten Ton Hammer's Danny "Ralsu" Gourley got in touch with Peter Kang, CEO of NDOORS Interactive, who was gracious enough to answer all of our Atlantica Online questions.

---

Peter Kang, CEO of NDOORS Interactive

On Succeeding in a Market that Does Not Embrace Free-to-Play Games

Ten Ton Hammer: The Western market is still leery of games that use an item mall as the revenue model. The chief concerns that I have noticed are finding an enjoyable experience without have to spend more than the standard $14.99 for most subscription games, being part of a large, mature, and helpful community that will be policed by NDOORS, and receiving quality customer service. Can you please address how Atlantica Online will deal with these concerns?

Peter Kang: What it comes down to is that we have to put together a fun game that people want to play. It’s just that NDOORS Interactive is committed to putting out high-quality games that happen to be free-to-play. We think we’ve created an enjoyable experience with Atlantica, judging by the response and the awards. But what’s important to note is that anyone can enjoy all the main features of Atlantica, from the turn-based combat and the recruiting and managing of mercenaries to the guild dungeons and crafting, without having to pay a dime. Non-paying players can participate in every facet and level of the game and travel to all parts of the Atlantica world that a paying player can.

Sure, we want people to use the item mall, but the things that will be found there will only make the game more convenient or provide them with an accessory that’s not essential to the game. Plus, they have the flexibility to spend how much they want, whether it’s less than $14.99, or perhaps more.

But regardless of how players use or don’t use the item mall, we are committed to devoting resources to ensure a quality gaming experience. We have a diligent crew of game masters working to keep things in-game running smoothly. Plus, our designers and developers continue to work on creating new content for future updates, which there are many planned. Providing a fun game that evolves and grows will ultimately lead to an even more active and helpful community.

Ten Ton Hammer: Atlantica Online has had to open a few new servers and expand the limits on the servers to accommodate more players. It seems the game is catching on well. Is there one feature or service you would identity as the catalyst for the booming start?

Peter: It would have to be the turn-based combat. The fact that Atlantica offers something unique and fun with this type of action seems to be catching on with people. Plus, we’ve received some great feedback from players that we’re very thankful for, and the positive reviews and the awards, we hope, will only help to spread the word that Atlantica is a game worth trying. And on that note, thank you, Ralsu, for naming Atlantica the best free-to-play game of 2008.

The response to the official launch of Atlantica Online was bigger than expected.

Ten Ton Hammer: Subscription based games often set their sights on 100,000 or more active subscribers to achieve a successful launch. Does Atlantica Online have a similar metric, and can you tell us about your goals for the number of players and the number of item mall customers?

Peter: We can’t disclose specific numbers, but the response after the official launch exceeded our expectations. Now we’re just trying to keep that momentum going and grow our numbers. And of course we’d like more of our players to take advantage of the item mall, so we’re trying to make available cool, new products like fashion accessories and mounts that might lead to them buying stuff. But again, it’s merely an option to use the item mall, not a requirement, for playing Atlantica.

Ten Ton Hammer: A recent patch made it so that players level 30 and below must expend 50% Will to send in-game mail to players not in their guild or friends list. This means gold spammers get two emails at a time before having to recharge Will. What else are you doing to stop gold spammers?

Peter: As I mentioned earlier, we have an active group of game masters, and they are trying to stay on top of the game, rooting out gold spammers and other third-party nuisances. They are using some of the tools and third-party programs that are available to block spammers. In addition, we’re coming up with some exciting new techniques and tools on our own to identify and disable spammers, which we can’t go into much detail on here. But please know that keeping in-game annoyances like gold spammers out of the game is very important to us and a goal that we take very seriously.

On Stamina

Ten Ton Hammer: When Atlantica Online introduced the Stamina system, there was quite an uproar in the official forums. Some gamers saw it as a cheap way to force players to buy Stamina potions in the item mall. Once this rumor was dispelled, people began to complain that it was a mechanic designed to force grouping and telling gamers how to play. Can you please describe how Stamina works and why it’s really in the game for our readers?

Peter: The Stamina system assigns players a 120 Stamina points each day, with one point being deducted each time they fight a monster. Once a player runs out of Stamina points, then his or her ability to gain experience and acquire items is reduced.

The intention of the system is what you touch on: to encourage players to group, for players to interact with each other. Whether it’s fighting in the Free Leagues, partying to battle a difficult monster in a dungeon, or mentoring new players, we want players working with each other, or fighting each other, as part of the Atlantica community.

I’ll disagree with the characterization that we’re telling gamers how to play. Rather, the Stamina system fosters new options for players to choose from. They can fight in the Free Leagues and recharge Stamina points. But if they’re not interested in the Free Leagues, or are intent in just not engaging other players, that’s fine, and they’ll have other ways to regenerate Stamina points.

We really want to stress a sense of community for the game, where players are actively engaging one another. This helps foster a mature and helpful community. And having this kind of active community is what will keep players involved, and continuing to play the game.

The Stamina system has received some criticism from players.

Ten Ton Hammer: Not too long ago, Atlantica Online offered Stamina regeneration of 1 Stamina per 10 minutes not in combat for all players. What brought about this change, and how does that fit into the philosophy behind Stamina you describe above?

Peter: We anticipated that some people wouldn’t be happy with the Stamina system, Still, we always had planned to take some of the feedback players gave us during closed beta to modify it. Finding other ways for players to recharge their Stamina was part of that feedback, and the one Stamina point per 10 minutes reflects our players’ input. In addition, we changed the system so that players could still gain experience and loot items even when they don’t have any Stamina points, since that was a frequent player recommendation.

On Auto-Move

Ten Ton Hammer: When the update came to give players the ability to use Auto-Move without a license, several people asked why the gift wasn’t permanent teleport licenses. Why is that a bad option?

Peter: We felt Auto-Move was the more useful function. It takes players exactly to where they need to go, whether it’s to a certain place or to a specific NPC. If you don’t know which NPC to talk to for a quest, for example, teleportation can’t help you. Sure, it can take some time to get wherever you need to go with Auto-Move, but overall, Auto-Move is more crucial in providing a smooth, streamlined gaming experience for players.

Plus, teleporting from town to town is already available, through the travel agency, and players can teleport to Rome whenever they need to. The only distinct benefit of teleportation is that it shortens the time it takes to travel to dungeons.

On the Satisfaction Guarantee

Ten Ton Hammer: Atlantica Online offers a Satisfaction Guarantee that states that players who reach the halfway point (level 50) and don’t like the game can sell their characters to you for $20. How did this idea come about?

Peter: As the game was being produced, there was a lot of confidence around the office that people would like Atlantica. So with this promotion, the plan was for us, in effect, to put our money where our mouth is. The NDOORS parent company in Korea first tried the program during the open beta of the Korean version, and then again in the summer. And it proved to be a successful promotion there, with just a small number of people wanting their money back. So we repeated it here with the U.S.-based servers, and the response was similar. Out of the thousands of new players who started the game during the promotion period, just a small handful of people requested the refund.

Ten Ton Hammer: Some of our readers fear the Satisfaction Guarantee this will allow gold farmers to make a profit from you and hurt the game overall. How to you respond to that concern?

Peter: We established some strict rules for the Satisfaction Guarantee program, to try to ensure that it was truly just a single individual dissatisfied with the game, and not gold farmers or other cheats. And I think the small number of people who tried to take advantage of the program indicates that what we set up worked out in the end.

Mercenary aging will be introduced in an update in the future.

Reader Submissions

nywlanas: Players in the Open Beta enjoyed periodic gifts from the GMs, usually treasure maps. Quite often, the treasure chests that spawn from these maps only contain potions or other items easily obtained from random battles. Is there any chance to have rare crafting items and a higher chance to get a mount added to the loot tables for the chests?

Peter: There are a few ways to get high-value items. For instance, players could get a mount by gambling an equipment box with the NPC Gambler de Mere in Rome’s Bazaar. And there will be more events in the future like the recently completed Christmas event where players can receive rare items like jewels. So the opportunities are out there, but we also must be discreet, so that certain rare items stay rare, and are not too easily attainable.

Pugla: In your first interview, you mentioned that mercenaries could age and that new mercenaries could be descended for previous ones. Are these features still in the game?

Peter: The aging of mercenaries has not yet been introduced into the game, but will be added in an update in the future. It’s a feature we think will add to the game’s strategic quality, since a mercenary’s aging will be another factor to manage and take into account when going into battle. And it adds yet another real-world element into Atlantica, giving the game another detail that players could connect with.