Questions by Garrett
Fuller

Answers by Chris 'Ulric'
Dye, Community Manager for RF Online



When it comes to dealing with imported games, few companies do it as
well as the folks at Codemasters. As one of the first companies to
begin importing games from the Korean MMOG marketplace, Codemasters
Online set many of the standards concerning localization and commitment
to product. Over the last few years, Codemasters has released titles
like ArchLord
and RF Online
to eager audiences and have continued to
work their way into the MMOG marketplace.



Yet Codemasters also tried to push many of their games from the Korean
companies as full-blown MMORPGs – which they are –
but many of them have been developed to essentially operate as
free-to-play games. Recently, Codemasters decided that their previously
pay-to-play game, ArchLord
would become completely free-to-play,
resulting in a terrific increase in users online. With that in mind,
they opted to switch another of their imported MMOGs, style="font-style: italic;">RF Online, to the
free-to-play model as well.



To get a few more details on this business decision, Ten Ton
Hammer’s industry relations specialist, Garrett Fuller, sent
some questions to Codemasters to get their take on the entire process.
Chris “Ulric” Dye, the community manager for style="font-style: italic;">RF
Online, was selected to respond to Garrett’s
questions and
we’ve posted his answers for you – the readers
– to view. Enjoy!

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Ten Ton Hammer: Tell us
about RF Online’s choice to go free to play? How will this
benefit players and bring in more competition?


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style="font-style: italic;">RF Online is now
completely free-to-play.

Chris Dye:
There are literally hundreds of MMO’s on the market and a
large majority of them charge a monthly fee, which can represent a
barrier to anyone who may want to play but aren’t prepared to
pay monthly fee. Also there are groups of gamers who for various reason
cannot or will not pay monthly fees.



We feel that by making RFO free to play we help remove these barriers
and enable a much larger and more varied player base to try out what we
feel is one of, if not the biggest free to play MMO’s in
existence. Additionally, by making the game free to play and removing
that initial barrier, we’re making the whole style="font-style: italic;">RF Online
experience a lot more enjoyable for both new and existing players.
There is no denying that RF
Online doesn’t work quite as well
when there are only a small number of people playing. style="font-style: italic;">RF Online shines
when the game world is full of players, competing and working together
to ensure that their faction/race is the dominate force within the
galaxy.



Since we went free to play, our more “mature”
existing players have been great in helping any new comers to the game.
It’s in their best interest to get these guys on their side
so that they can assist them in the fight against the other factions; I
mean we even have more established members of each race trying to
recruit new members on the forums!



Ten Ton Hammer: The game
has been out for a while now, can you talk about its lifecycle and how
it has been doing lately?



Chris: RF
Online has gone through a crazy 18 months which has seen three major
content updates that have grown the RF game world by over 100% and
added many features for both solo  players and groups alike,
such as all new monster AI, New Level caps and various armors and
weapons.



In terms of its lifecycle, I would say style="font-style: italic;">RF Online has just
had its 21st
Birthday, has shaken off its adolescence to become a very mature MMO
offering which I'm confident new and returning players will enjoy.



Ten Ton Hammer: What can
players expect in the near Future for RF Online? Do you have any
development plans on the way?

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style="font-style: italic;">Don't be afraid of
the RF Online community. According to Chris, they're nice people.

Chris: Both
ourselves and the Korean development team at CCR are working
extremely  hard on the future of RFO. We have many things on
the horizons, from new NPC races to a brand new space battles system
which will enable players to leave their home world and take the epic
battle into space and beyond.



But its not just about new content, we hope to build on both the
quality of the existing game, and add in features such as improved
community interaction to give RF
Online a much more inviting place for
solo players and guilds looking for a new MMO home



Ten Ton Hammer: Now that
the game is free to play, what would you say to a player coming in to
try the game for the first time?



Chris:
Don’t be afraid to ask anything. One of the strong points of
RFO is the community that builds between players of the same race due
to the strong emphasis on race vs. race combat (RvRvR). This means it
is in the best interest of the more established players to assist newer
players with advice, quest help etc. Also, I would recommend they sign
up to the forums and say “Hi.” This is a great
first step to making contacts in the RFO player base.



Ten Ton Hammer: Is there
anything you would like to say to the community about RF Online that
players and fans might enjoy?  



Chris:
Whether you like huge robots, sci-fi cyborgs, or are a magic casting
fantasy fan, RFO has an epic blend of sci-fi and fantasy that is
unrivaled, as such I believe there is a race and class for any style /
class of player and as its free to play there nothing to be lost in
coming in and giving it a try.

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