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Atlantica Online is turn-based strategy MMO from NDOORS that combines combat with character and party development and city management.  Players take on the quest to destroy the Oriharukon energy, a powerful sensor from Atlantis that is poisoning the world. Atlantica has spent most of the time at the top slot in Danny "Ralsu" Gourley's Top Ten Free MMOs list, and the title continues to grow its fan base.

Ralsu recently had a chance to catch up with NDOORS Interactive CEO Peter Kang. Ralsu peppered him with questions about the past, present, and future of Atlantica.

The April release of the Titan server allows for cross-server interaction and PvP tournaments. How has this special server been received by the player base?

Peter Kang: So far we’ve experienced an overwhelmingly positive response, not only for the good but also for the not-quite-so-good. The Titan Grand Championships have been without fail an absolute blast, and it has been a pleasure to watch players cheer for their own teams and taunt the others. Drawing from all of Atlantica’s player population has produced some spectacular fights, many of which players have uploaded to the internet. However, there is as yet not much to do on Titan aside from fight and answer help requests. We’re working on adding new content to the server, but in the meantime, it’s only really a happening place during Sunday’s tournaments.

April also introduced a major patch for Atlantica Online. One feature that caught my eye was the Macro Block to stop cheaters. Can you assess how big of an issue this was and how successful the Macro Block has been?

Kang: Fortunately, we have developers and GMs who are very devoted to keeping the playing field level by preventing activities such as macro use. The Macro Report function is meant as another tool in our macro hunting arsenal, rather than a be-all-end-all of macro control. To that end, it has done its job beautifully. While the ideal of a bot-free MMO may but nothing but a pipedream, it is an ideal that we get closer to every day. 

The April patch also noted some changes to crafting ingredients. Players are able to exchange old, obsolete craft ingredients for their new counterparts. Why did the ingredients change, and what are the benefits of these changes to players?

Kang: There were two main reasons for raising the elements needed for crafting gear. The first reason was to help stimulate the market. The developers felt that by increasing the elements, players would be more liberal in dismantling their gear and selling the ingredients on the market, helping it spur growth. The second reason for this change was because the cost of crafting ingredients were too high, which resulted in only the wealthiest being able to craft their high-end gear. We wanted crafting gear to be more readily available to all players.

It’s also no secret that some items do not have any value; these are the items that are not being traded. By consolidating some of the cheaper ingredients, it helps raise their value and increase trading in the market.