Since the birth of the massively multiplayer online game, developers
across the globe have explored different variations on that theme.
While some continue to strive towards that classic
“massive” model, others are doing things a bit
differently, introducing player-filled hubs but allowing players to
experience the content in their game through instances and in much
smaller groups.

This is the case in href="http://www.mytheongame.com/index_en.html" target="_blank"> style="font-style: italic;">Mytheon,
an upcoming online action game where thousands of players can
congregate in centralized hubs, but only a small group can actually be
in the same dungeon. This upcoming fantasy-based action title is being
published by True Games Interactive, which many Ten Ton Hammer readers
may be familiar with thanks to titles like Warrior Epic. Recently, the
crew at Ten Ton Hammer sat down with style="font-style: italic;">Mytheon’s
lead designer, Chris Rubyor, to talk about his feature title.

Ten Ton Hammer: Your
official site features a pretty prominent display of Poseidon (or
Neptune, depending on your favored mythology). What can you tell us
about some of the interaction with gods we’ll find in style="font-style: italic;">Mytheon? Is it
simply about kicking the crap out of them, or are we going further than
that?



Chris Rubyor:
In short, The Fates have determined that man is ready to take control
of his own destiny. They've given man the power to challenge the gods
outright, and that's where these power stones come into play. The
player sets out on journey to collect these power stones which will be
used to kick some godly butt: Zeus, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Hades, and
more.

At launch, Mytheon
is all about challenging the Greek and Egyptian pantheons.


Ten Ton Hammer: With the
expanding of the game, are you looking at other pantheons that you
might explore? Everyone loves the Norse pantheon...
style="font-weight: bold;" />


Rubyor: I
can tell you that the core design behind style="font-style: italic;">Mytheon was built
in such a way to seamlessly integrate new pantheons.

Ten Ton Hammer: Character
creation is a huge part of the MMO gaming process. Should we expect a
cut-and-dry system – pick a race and/or class and
that’s it – or something more in-depth?
style="font-weight: bold;" />


Rubyor: We
do have a character customization system: Players will be able to
choose different hair styles, different facial expressions, different
accessory types, etc. But for the most part, it is very streamlined.
Once inside the game we will potentially support additional vanity
options via micro-transactions for players to further enhance their
look and develop a unique presence from other players in the game.

Ten Ton Hammer: Are the
characters going to advance in their looks as they progress? 
New armor types and clothes and that sort of thing?
style="font-weight: bold;" />


Rubyor: style="font-style: italic;">Mytheon will offer
players a plethora of unique items that will make their characters
stand out.

Ten Ton Hammer: Would you
say Mytheon
is a gear-based game?



Rubyor: Sure,
but gear in Mytheon
really compliments the power stone gameplay. You'll pick up things that
might increase the duration of the creatures that you summon onto the
battlefield or perhaps it improves the run speed of those creatures. We
always say gameplay in Mytheon
is all about the stones. The types of items and gear in our game should
make for a really fun and engaging experience for the player.

Ten Ton Hammer: Can you
talk in-depth about the power stone gaming? How does that work with the
online gaming portion?



Rubyor: We
believe Mytheon
will offer a very unique experience as it combines action, strategy and
RPG with a highly addictive collectability element. (Power stones)
There will be hundreds of different types of these stones in game, and
collecting them will be paramount to your struggle. Power stones
contain the essence of many powerful beings and earthly elements.

From our perspective Mytheon
isn't a classic MMORPG. We see Mytheon
as an online action game where thousands of players can group up and
adventure. Our world is not open like WoW.

Ten Ton Hammer: So it's
more like what we've seen out of Guild Wars or Warrior Epic?
style="font-weight: bold;" />


Rubyor: Along
those lines. It has some similarity to Guild Wars, and it also has some
Diablo type skill to it as well, yet it's very unique as a whole.

Ten Ton Hammer: Back to
the power stones...



Rubyor: Power
stones are essentially a combination of spells, creatures, and cool
structures. From a back-story perspective, I already mentioned that the
Sisters of Fate gave humans these stones, which contain the essence of
many mythological creatures including: Gorgons, Cyclops, Cerberus,
Disciples of Anubis and many more.

As players build up their stone libraries, they have to pick what
stones they want to use at a particular time.. The stones you select
are the stones that you're going to bring with you into tactical
combat.

The stones and the mobs have a unique "rock paper scissors" element
them. Players will encounter monsters that may be really tough for
their particular deck. So they will have to reassess their stones and
figure out if they need to change up their deck.

The strategy in the game is very simple. Basically, you have attackers,
defenders, and ranged creatures. For example, using an Ice Archer stone
in tactical combat will allow the player to dramatically slow enemy
movement for a limited duration. Now team that Ice Archer up with an
Arrow Volley Tower stone, and you’ll be able to slow the
enemy pummel them into oblivion.
The gameplay is very fun and offers players a very unique and
challenging experience.

Ten
Ton Hammer: Would you
mind explaining how the power stones work with the individual classes?
style="font-weight: bold;" />


Rubyor: Let
me go into class differentiation first...

Ten Ton Hammer: You got
it.



Rubyor: We
have three classes: Warcaster, Elementalist, and Eidolon.  The
Warcaster class is all about creature control and has a secondary focus
on structures. This means that the Warcaster is the "tank" powerhouse
of the three classes.

The Elementalist primarily focuses on AOE and range spells with a
secondary in structures. So most of his spells are derived from the
elements and he can control a variety of different structures that
manipulate the battlefield. He's like your wizard in an MMO.

The last is the Eidolon. He's very much a hybrid of the three classes.
He’s great at healing and does decent damage if configured
well. His stones can be spec’d out in a way that can be all
healing, a combination of healing and damage, or all damage. He's a
great class to have, especially in the higher tiered instances.

All stones are class specific for launch. But we do allow players to
equip stones from another class through unique slots. As the player
levels their cross class stone slots will increase in number allowing
them to equip more stones.


Ten Ton Hammer:
You’ve made comments alluding to the fact that your
microtransaction system will be worked seamlessly into the game. How
does that
work? Whenever you’re altering gameplay for one person over
another, it means
that someone is gaining an advantage, correct?
style="font-weight: bold;" />


Rubyor: We
truly believe that micro-transactions should really be limited to cool
visuals and convenience rather than game-breaking unique epic items. It
would just stink if players were able to buy their way to the top....
that isn't any fun or fair.

Let me give you some specific example of buyable versus droppable items
that we have in our game.

An item a player will see as a F2P (Free to play) is the Shield of
Perseus. It drops off the god Hephaestus. Anyone can get this with a
little luck. Or you could go to an RMT vendor and buy the Mirrored
Shield of Perseus... it has the exact same functionality, but has a
cool glimmer effect on it. It's all very cosmetic.

Ten Ton Hammer: Does a
player have to have the dropped item before they can buy it from the
vendor?



Rubyor: No.
There will only be level reqs.

We've also done some fun things with potions. A lot of our RMT potions
affect a group as a whole. For example "The Speed of Hermes" RMT Elixir
will affect your entire group and everyone will get a speed boost.
"Protection of the Titans" does something similar and gives everyone a
damage resistance buff. So when you have a paying player in your group,
you're definitely going to get the benefits of it.

Ten Ton Hammer: Is there
a limit to what players can buy? Are the items level restricted?
style="font-weight: bold;" />


Rubyor: We
do have level restrictions in the game, so if the Shield of Perseus is
level fifteen, then the Mirrored Shield of Perseus is also only usable
after level fifteen. It just wouldn't be fair to do it otherwise.

Ten Ton Hammer: How many
stones are you planning on having in the game?
style="font-weight: bold;" />


Rubyor: At
launch, we'll have close to 200.  We'll continue to add more
stones on a bi-weekly or monthly basis as content updates and sales
promotions.

Ten Ton Hammer: The game
seems set up to have competitive or tournament play in the game...
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Rubyor: We
do have competitive play, and there's going to be a ranking system
within the game.


Ten Ton Hammer: Final
question: Can players progress through PvP matches?
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Rubyor: That's
something we're experimenting with. I don't think it's a bad idea, but
I'm just not sure how well it will work in style="font-style: italic;">Mytheon. After the
game releases, maybe it's something we could further explore.

We are looking at implementing some scenarios where two teams battle to
reach a kill count goal. The winning team will have the right to fight
the PvP boss for the map. Dropping the boss will yield the team some
awesome PvP gear and stones. It should be fun.  =)

Ten Ton Hammer: Thank you
for your time, and I hope we can talk again soon!