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MMORPG.com: The community is also worried that the mall items will ruin the in-game economy. How do you plan on balancing this issue?

Steven-Elliot Altman Talks About 9Dragons

MMORPG.com has posted an interview with 9Dragons lead writer and loremaster, Steven-Elliot Altman.

Garrett Fuller quizes the man whose responsible for adapting 9Dragons to a Western audience. Here is the official brief on Altman: "Steven-Elliot Altman, best-selling author and Hollywood screenwriter, is the lead writer and loremaster of 9Dragons, the first authentic martial arts massively multiplayer online game. Think of the world of Hero,
House of the Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or even Jackie Chan's classic Drunken Master. In 9Dragons you can rise from a beggar on the streets to become a master of martial arts as you train with some of the greatest masters of ancient China."

MMORPG.com: How historically accurate will 9Dragons be? What liberties will be taken to keep 9Dragons a long running MMO?

Get clicking to see the answer to this and many more questions. Are you looking forward to playing 9Dragons? Share your thoughts with us today in the Ten Ton Hammer Forums.

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting! A Q&A Session with CEO Howard Marks on 9Dragons - Acclaim's MMORPG Kung Fu Debut

What gamer doesn't love a quality kung fu movie on late-night cable? In our first interview with Acclaim Games, CEO Howard Marks tells us how 9Dragons, a martial arts MMORPG set in Ming Dynasty China, will bring that singular kung fu experience from a Korean concept into the hearts and focused minds of young grasshoppas in North America and Europe.

"While 9Dragons did originate in Asia, Acclaim has made substantive efforts to ensure that the game translates well to the Western market. Or, rather, doesn't 'translate' at all. 'What we did right was to rewrite the game's story and dialog rather than opt for a loose or literal translation. This takes a lot more time and money but the quality speaks for itself,' Marks stated. One of Marks's first publicized moves was to hire Steven Eliot-Altman, a Cantonese-speaking American author, to help rewrite the 9Dragons lore."

Get clicking to read the rest of this exclusive Q & A. Tel lus your thoughts on this and all your favorite MMOs right here at MTen Ton Hammer.

Free Play?

RPG Vault has an interview with Acclaim's CEO, Howard Marks.Find out what business model they plan to use to let players have a free and a premium option for 9 Dragons...

Our conclusion is that depending on your playing style and goals, you will decide to buy items or not. The cost in itself is not high, so it is really a playing style decision rather than an economic one.

Get clicking to read more! Been watching 9 Dragons and chomping at the bit to play it? Share your thoughts with us in the forums here at Ten Ton Hammer.

Dave Perry on 2Moons

GameSpy talks with the creator of Earthworm Jim as he takes his first adventure in making MMOs with 2Moons.

Dave Perry might not be the first name you associate with MMOs, but the creator of Earthworm Jim is hard at work trying to blaze the trail that may just define the future of the market in North America. He's partnered with a newly resurrected Acclaim Entertainment to bring us 2Moons, a fully localized (and from the sounds of it, heavily reworked) Korean MMO that he hopes will serve as the benchmark for what a free-to-play, ad-supported, persistent-world game can be. We recently sat down with Perry, and picked his brain.

Read the full interview to learn more. Are you looking forward to seeing what this title turns out to be? share your thoughts with us in the forums right here at Ten Ton Hammer.

Author Steven-Elliot Altman answers questions about 9Dragons and his role in it

MMORPG.com has a great interview posted with lots of information about 9 Dragons and Steven-Elliot Altman's part in the production of the forcoming game.

MMORPG.com: How did you feel when approached to write for what essentially is a video game?

Steve Altman: Glad you asked, Carolyn. I was hesitant for a moment when Howard Marks, Acclaim’s CEO, took me out to lunch and asked me if I’d be interested in coming on-board to create The Lore for 9Dragons. He knew my work, that I’d written novels, scripts and comics. I knew he was responsible for making A-level games. He convinced me that 9Dragons was a game that had a strong story component… and that he felt confident in my grasp of East meets West storytelling after reading a novel I wrote called Zen in the Art of Slaying Vampires. Then he showed me the in-game visuals and well… as you’ll see, they are very compelling. I felt like I was being given a chance to live inside the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It was sort of irresistible.

Get clicking to read the rest of this interview. When you're done be sure to share your thoughts with us in the forums right here at Ten Ton Hammer!