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

It's the lore and history of a game that creates the framework that will transform you from a person sitting at your computer to a character immersed in an alternate reality and that's something NetDevil understands. Jumpgate Evolution's Producer, Hermann Peterscheck took some time recently to answer some questions about the lore of their universe from one of our space combat junkies, Eric "Dalmarus" Campbell.

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Ten Ton Hammer: For some players (myself included), the lore of any game is just as important as the virtual world you find yourself in. Did the team take any "real life" events or characters from the first Jumpgate and add them to Jumpgate Evolution?

Peterscheck: Jumpgate Classic had a lot of really cool things in it and we’ve built Jumpgate Evolution by using the best of Classic combined with a fresh perspective.  Obviously ideas always draw from pre-existing fiction of all sorts and I suppose you can’t help but be influenced by real life events, but we haven’t done anything specific to incorporate details of real life or other fiction, yet.

Ten Ton Hammer: Three seems to be the magic number when it comes to conflicting cultures/races in MMOGs today. Can you explain why this number also works so well for you, compared to adding a fourth playable culture?

Peterscheck: Honestly I don’t know why three is such a magical number. From a balance point of view, two is much simpler as you can make a point-counterpoint design. I think what makes a three sided game interesting is that it automatically creates diplomacy. It throws a wrench into the balance of power and that creates a natural state of conflict. This might be bad in world politics, but it’s fun in games.

Ten Ton Hammer: The Solrain are currently in the lead for appearing to be the most fleshed out in comparison to the Quantar and the Octavians in terms of the lore available on the website. What intrigued the team the most about them as their lore has expanded?

Peterscheck: I don’t think it was because Solrain appealed to us more or less than the other two groups. Honestly, it was just the first group we started with and since we wanted to build the game by putting together a slice of game play first, it’s natural that they seem to be the most fleshed out. I think what intrigues people is simply mixing all the various pieces of the game together and how those pieces influence and extend the fiction. We’ve tried to make Jumpgate a bit more gritty. It’s easy to split groups into warriors, miners and spiritualists; but we wanted to ensure that all groups were more human and believable than that.

Ten Ton Hammer: With the majority of the Solrain people being part of the corruption that appears to be rotting it, will players be able to rise up the ranks of the various mega corporations? Will they be able to join up with the Commonwealth Restoration Organization to fight the system? What different advancement methods can players use to gain reputation with the various factions?

Peterscheck: There are two distinct types of associations. On the one hand we have the large corporations which the player affiliates with in order to gain access to their production facilities located throughout space. As you work with them, you gain trust (affiliation) which then grants you access to build more valuable and powerful equipment. The other type is faction rating. This is your relative standing to the various groups including the CRO (although there are many more). As you do things for them, your rating goes up which gives you access to things such as CRO specific equipment and ships.