MacG
02-12-2004, 10:03 PM
http://www.homelanfed.com/index.php?id=20653
http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft1t.jpg (http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft1.jpg)http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft2t.jpg (http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft2.jpg)http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft3t.jpg (http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft3.jpg)
It's perhaps the most anticipated MMORPG that's due out in 2004 and very soon Blizzard will begin the all important best test for World of Warcraft. Before the beta test officially begins, HomeLAN got a chance to chat with Blizzard producer Shane Dabiri to find out more about their beta plans for the game and what will happen after World of Warcraft goes live.
HomeLAN - With the beta about to begin, how do you feel about the current status of the game in terms of its stability and content?
Shane Dabiri - We are very confident in our approach to our alpha/beta stages of testing. We are taking the approach of steadily increasing capacity and addressing issues along the way. We are also extremely happy with the level of content in the game. World of Warcraft is a rich environment and has been evolving over the past 4 years in the hands of the Blizzard art staff. I think people will be very delighted with the look of the game.
HomeLAN - Can you give us an idea of what will be included in the beta in terms of actual content and what won't be available at this time?
Shane Dabiri - It is our plan to give access to all 8 races and the majority of the classes. The classes that are not included in the initial beta will be released in later phases. We will also be bringing up PvP, if not during the first phase of the test, then in one of the later phases. Players will have access to the majority of the world, but certain areas will be kept secret.
HomeLAN - What will you be looking for the beta testers to actually do in the game that will help with World of Warcraft's development?
Shane Dabiri - Out of our early goals, we will be looking to do additional load testing of the servers and test patch distribution. We will also be looking for feedback on class balance, rate of advancement, tradeskill balance, economy tweaks, and PvP feedback.
HomeLAN - How will Blizzard's excellent CGI unit be utilized in the making of the game?[Shane Dabiri] There will be an intro cinematic for the final product. However, this will not be included in the beta and will only be available after ship.
HomeLAN - Will there be any big "story arc" events in World of Warcraft during the beta?
Shane Dabiri - Much of the story is built into our quest system and will lead players through the world, allowing players to experience the World of Warcraft first hand. Players will be able to see the treachery, conflict, and dark powers at work and also act as the hero in many cases and feel like they are really a part of the world. We have much in the way of content in the game already and I would go so far as to say it's become an epic saga. Don't expect this to stop after the game is live, as our content creators will be always looking to advance players to even greater adventures!
HomeLAN - Are you pleased with the graphical look of the game so far and will there be any added graphical features added to the game before its release?
Shane Dabiri - We are very pleased. It was very challenging to take the tiny units people saw in our RTS games and make them life-sized. Yet, we were able to get that same cartoony/painterly look and advance the Warcraft art-style even beyond what it had been at. Also, adding that humor to the animations really rounded out the Warcraft experience. As for environments, the limited scope the RTS games took you through had to be taken to the next step. We not only take you to the same battlefields, but had to create a multitude of locations that players had never seen before. They range from enchanted forests to volcanic wastelands, from searing deserts to noxious swamps, and even to other out-of-this-world locations through the Dark Portals!
As for the graphical features, we have much of the 'eye candy' people have come to expect from 3D games such as this one. It is our goal to do as much as possible without impacting the gameplay experience overall. It's easy to be drawn to the 'bling bling', but it always comes at a cost. In a single player experience, that cost is more manageable and less of an issue, but in an MMO you never know when you will have 4 players on screen or a hundred. Scaling technology only gets you so far. But rest assured we want you to see the Warcraft universe in all its glory.
HomeLAN - What features in World of Warcraft do you think are most important and make the game stand out from other MMORPGs?
Shane Dabiri - First and foremost is the ease of use and getting past the learning curve. It has always been a mantra for us to adhere to our idiom, 'easy to learn, difficult to master'. That is of course the core to any successful game. In today's day and age, one doesn't have the time to spend several hours just trying to figure out what you're supposed to do. But adversely we also don't want the experience to dry up after playing for a day. We have built upon our game design philosophy from our past games, as well as learning from the mistakes of many games already out in the market. We also will promise players a wide variety of thing to do in the World of Warcraft. Things that will appeal to different gamers such as player created content through a wide variety of tradeskills, meaningful PvP and PvE rewards, an in-depth quest system, player mounts, unlimited player customization, vast exploration of strange and mysterious locales, and a guild system with guild insignias just to name a few. We believe that the success of an MMO is not just based on its features, but how many people it will appeal to. Also, to know that one's success in a virtual world is not based upon how many features they partake in. So if you want to be a master at certain tradeskills, you can totally skip the PvP aspect of the game and still have lots of fun. Much like an amusement park, we've got rides for all ages.
HomeLAN - How long do you think the beta will last before the game is actually released?
Shane Dabiri - Once we have achieved our primary goals of server stability and general gameplay balance, we will be ready to go live. I can not give you a specific release date, and therefore can't tell you how long the beta will go for. All I can say is we won't ship it till its fun for everyone.
HomeLAN - After the game is officially launched, what are Blizzard's plans to add new content and featured?
Shane Dabiri - We are very familiar with not having finished everything we wanted to add to a shipped product. We continue to tweak and add content to many of our other products to this day (StarCraft or Diablo balance patches for example). These other games do not have a live team associated with them, yet we have managed to give players what they desire. With World of Warcraft, we are going beyond this extra step and will have a staff of almost 100 game masters that will support players around the clock (24 hours a day/7 days a week). We will also have a dedicated 'live team' of programmers, designers, artists, and sound engineers continually creating content for the game, as well as fixing any bugs that might pop up.
As with all games in development, there are so many great ideas that inevitably get dropped onto the cutting room floor. The difference with an MMO is that the cutting room floor is our live team's feature list and I assure you that quests, monsters, items, features, classes, full continents, you name it and we will be continually adding them into the game to enhance the world and keep players engaged for years to come.
HomeLAN - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about World of Warcraft?
Shane Dabiri - It's taken us 4 years to develop and I could continue to talk to you about it for the next 4 years. :) It'd definitely be better for you to see for yourself, so we hope to see you all in WoW!
http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft1t.jpg (http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft1.jpg)http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft2t.jpg (http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft2.jpg)http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft3t.jpg (http://www.homelanfed.com/images/jcal/worldofwarcraft3.jpg)
It's perhaps the most anticipated MMORPG that's due out in 2004 and very soon Blizzard will begin the all important best test for World of Warcraft. Before the beta test officially begins, HomeLAN got a chance to chat with Blizzard producer Shane Dabiri to find out more about their beta plans for the game and what will happen after World of Warcraft goes live.
HomeLAN - With the beta about to begin, how do you feel about the current status of the game in terms of its stability and content?
Shane Dabiri - We are very confident in our approach to our alpha/beta stages of testing. We are taking the approach of steadily increasing capacity and addressing issues along the way. We are also extremely happy with the level of content in the game. World of Warcraft is a rich environment and has been evolving over the past 4 years in the hands of the Blizzard art staff. I think people will be very delighted with the look of the game.
HomeLAN - Can you give us an idea of what will be included in the beta in terms of actual content and what won't be available at this time?
Shane Dabiri - It is our plan to give access to all 8 races and the majority of the classes. The classes that are not included in the initial beta will be released in later phases. We will also be bringing up PvP, if not during the first phase of the test, then in one of the later phases. Players will have access to the majority of the world, but certain areas will be kept secret.
HomeLAN - What will you be looking for the beta testers to actually do in the game that will help with World of Warcraft's development?
Shane Dabiri - Out of our early goals, we will be looking to do additional load testing of the servers and test patch distribution. We will also be looking for feedback on class balance, rate of advancement, tradeskill balance, economy tweaks, and PvP feedback.
HomeLAN - How will Blizzard's excellent CGI unit be utilized in the making of the game?[Shane Dabiri] There will be an intro cinematic for the final product. However, this will not be included in the beta and will only be available after ship.
HomeLAN - Will there be any big "story arc" events in World of Warcraft during the beta?
Shane Dabiri - Much of the story is built into our quest system and will lead players through the world, allowing players to experience the World of Warcraft first hand. Players will be able to see the treachery, conflict, and dark powers at work and also act as the hero in many cases and feel like they are really a part of the world. We have much in the way of content in the game already and I would go so far as to say it's become an epic saga. Don't expect this to stop after the game is live, as our content creators will be always looking to advance players to even greater adventures!
HomeLAN - Are you pleased with the graphical look of the game so far and will there be any added graphical features added to the game before its release?
Shane Dabiri - We are very pleased. It was very challenging to take the tiny units people saw in our RTS games and make them life-sized. Yet, we were able to get that same cartoony/painterly look and advance the Warcraft art-style even beyond what it had been at. Also, adding that humor to the animations really rounded out the Warcraft experience. As for environments, the limited scope the RTS games took you through had to be taken to the next step. We not only take you to the same battlefields, but had to create a multitude of locations that players had never seen before. They range from enchanted forests to volcanic wastelands, from searing deserts to noxious swamps, and even to other out-of-this-world locations through the Dark Portals!
As for the graphical features, we have much of the 'eye candy' people have come to expect from 3D games such as this one. It is our goal to do as much as possible without impacting the gameplay experience overall. It's easy to be drawn to the 'bling bling', but it always comes at a cost. In a single player experience, that cost is more manageable and less of an issue, but in an MMO you never know when you will have 4 players on screen or a hundred. Scaling technology only gets you so far. But rest assured we want you to see the Warcraft universe in all its glory.
HomeLAN - What features in World of Warcraft do you think are most important and make the game stand out from other MMORPGs?
Shane Dabiri - First and foremost is the ease of use and getting past the learning curve. It has always been a mantra for us to adhere to our idiom, 'easy to learn, difficult to master'. That is of course the core to any successful game. In today's day and age, one doesn't have the time to spend several hours just trying to figure out what you're supposed to do. But adversely we also don't want the experience to dry up after playing for a day. We have built upon our game design philosophy from our past games, as well as learning from the mistakes of many games already out in the market. We also will promise players a wide variety of thing to do in the World of Warcraft. Things that will appeal to different gamers such as player created content through a wide variety of tradeskills, meaningful PvP and PvE rewards, an in-depth quest system, player mounts, unlimited player customization, vast exploration of strange and mysterious locales, and a guild system with guild insignias just to name a few. We believe that the success of an MMO is not just based on its features, but how many people it will appeal to. Also, to know that one's success in a virtual world is not based upon how many features they partake in. So if you want to be a master at certain tradeskills, you can totally skip the PvP aspect of the game and still have lots of fun. Much like an amusement park, we've got rides for all ages.
HomeLAN - How long do you think the beta will last before the game is actually released?
Shane Dabiri - Once we have achieved our primary goals of server stability and general gameplay balance, we will be ready to go live. I can not give you a specific release date, and therefore can't tell you how long the beta will go for. All I can say is we won't ship it till its fun for everyone.
HomeLAN - After the game is officially launched, what are Blizzard's plans to add new content and featured?
Shane Dabiri - We are very familiar with not having finished everything we wanted to add to a shipped product. We continue to tweak and add content to many of our other products to this day (StarCraft or Diablo balance patches for example). These other games do not have a live team associated with them, yet we have managed to give players what they desire. With World of Warcraft, we are going beyond this extra step and will have a staff of almost 100 game masters that will support players around the clock (24 hours a day/7 days a week). We will also have a dedicated 'live team' of programmers, designers, artists, and sound engineers continually creating content for the game, as well as fixing any bugs that might pop up.
As with all games in development, there are so many great ideas that inevitably get dropped onto the cutting room floor. The difference with an MMO is that the cutting room floor is our live team's feature list and I assure you that quests, monsters, items, features, classes, full continents, you name it and we will be continually adding them into the game to enhance the world and keep players engaged for years to come.
HomeLAN - Finally is there anything else you wish to say about World of Warcraft?
Shane Dabiri - It's taken us 4 years to develop and I could continue to talk to you about it for the next 4 years. :) It'd definitely be better for you to see for yourself, so we hope to see you all in WoW!