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

Ten Ton Hammer: This may be a tough question, but I’m confident you guys are willing to answer it. There have been a number of players accusing the Acclaim team of caring more about the item mall and Acclaim store more than the actual bugs and glitches going on inside the game. Is there anything you could publicly say to your critics and if you are working on all these bugs, why not just tell the player base that they’re being addressed?

Altman: That's a totally valid question. Bugs happen in a world as complex as 9Dragons, just like they happen in many pay-to-play games of a similar caliber. Just like they happen in the real world. We want them fixed, because we want the game to shine so players get maximum enjoyment from the game. Different teams are assigned to correcting bugs and operating the Item Mall, so there’s no real conflict or prioritizing going on. If there were no more bugs and the Item Mall was malfunctioning, we’d hear about that just as fast I assure you.

Acclaim is working on laying out the strategy for releasing the three advanced clans: Black Dragon, Union of Noble Familes, and Discipline of Iron Fist.

Ten Ton Hammer: Looking to the future, what’s the biggest issue that you guys are working on at the moment? Is there something that the player base feels needs to be changed, or does the development team have any major projects that you’re looking to undertake in the next few months?

Altman: In the short term, our eye is on preparing and testing the two new maps and their associated quests, so that higher level players have more of the world to explore. In the long term, we’re currently laying out the strategy for releasing the three advanced clans: Black Dragon, Union of Noble Families, and Disciples of Iron Fist. I think that’s about right in-line with what our players want to see.

Ten Ton Hammer: Will there be free upgrades to the content in 9Dragons or does the free-to-play business model make free content hard to justify? Could we see new content for the game in a year or two, or are you expecting something sooner than that?

Altman: I think you’ve sort of got it backwards. It’s the pay-to-play games, that have you locked into subscriptions, who string you out and release new content once in a blue moon. Our revenue model calls for players to be viewing ads and buying new items once in awhile, which means we have to keep them satisfied with constant upgrades, or why would they stay? So heck yeah, we’ll be adding upgrades, features, maps, events, items, levels, pets, monsters. All of them scheduled for THIS year. You can quote me on that, Cody, and I’m quite sure the players will hold us to it.

Ten Ton Hammer: It looks like events are going to be a major part of the 9Dragons scheme, since Acclaim’s other title, BOTS, also boasts Double XP Weekends and constant events. Clan vs. clan warfare seems like an obvious choice for an event, are you guys preparing to do this? I see a White vs. Black Clan event, is that as close as we’ll come?

Altman: You ain’t seen nothing yet. We’re in the final stages of testing our Storm vs. Storm system. In-game, your team will be able to storm several new fortresses and attempt to wrest control of it away from some damned tough Non-Player-Characters. If your team is successful, then you will control the fortress (as well as the indentured NPCs) and need to defend it from other teams. We are also implementing a system whereby aggression levels between clans will be displayed, and when tolerance and diplomacy fail… there shall be clan war indeed. Bets on that Heavenly Demon and Wu-Tang Clan will be the first to clash.

Ten Ton Hammer: How has the “Acclaim Coins” store/item purchase idea worked out for you? Are people actively buying Acclaim Coins, or is it something that is slowly catching on with more and more people buying them?

Altman: There will always be players who want to spend a few dollars to customize their characters and those who are happy to just play for free. We are quite pleased with the amount of people who have been purchasing and spending coins on all of the Acclaim games. I run around in-game as my character (The Hermit) and I talk to players about the mall. The consensus seems to be that people are pleased we’ve given them the game for free, and they don’t mind spending a few dollars here and there for cool new items (most of which you can find in one way or another in-game), as long as we don’t unbalance the game with them. We’re also well aware of the fact that not every player who wants to use the mall has a credit card, so we’re about to release prepaid cards with Acclaim Coins at Rite-Aid and other retail locations.

New items will be added to the mall on a monthly basis.

Ten Ton Hammer: As people grow more comfortable with the “Acclaim Coins” idea, will there be more items that are purchasable with Acclaim Coins? Things like weapons and gear, rather than potions and/or outfits?

Altman: Yes, we plan on adding cool new items to the mall on a monthly basis. Everything from weapon refinement insurance to outfits that have more pockets and raise stats. We’re taking our notes from the players.

Ten Ton Hammer: Finally, what has been the most exciting part of working on the 9Dragons project, both as a developer and as a gamer in your own right?

Altman: Once upon a time, I walked through The Land of 9Dragons, as my in-game character, The Hermit. In an alternate universe (Korea) the game had 5 million players running hither and fro. But here in our version, I was all alone. Just me and a bunch of NPCs with no dialogue installed. All was quiet. The game was filled with a sense of potential. The Land was at peace but I was agitated by all the tasks I needed to accomplish. Countless struggles to understand translations ensued, and I was engulfed. All I could do was sort it out one day at a time as best I could.

Eventually, with the help of our wonderful US and Korean teams, as the game was slowly remastered, all the people and places had names, the quests made sense, the game made sense. We looked at each other with eyebrows raised, nodding in silent agreement. We were pretty sure we had something special here. Then one day (the first day of closed beta) I logged in and saw the first few dozen players running around, off on their first quests. Someone stopped and chatted, “Hi Hermit” and then ran off. I’d never even seen the chat function enabled. The Land began to blossom with activity but I was finally at peace. Suddenly everything we’d been stringing together made perfect sense. The Hermit was no longer alone in The Land. That moment filled me with awe, and it’s my answer to both questions.