Over at G-Star 2014, Chinese media outlet 17173 managed to interview 2 important figures in the Lineage Eternal development team. While not sure on how to translate their names, they are the Development Director and Producer. And no, there will not be a worldwide simultaneous launch!
Q: Players are making comparisons with Diablo III. What are your thoughts on this?
A: Players might have this opinion solely based on watching the game trailers, but they will have a different impression once trying out the game themselves. Other than the camera view and style of attack, Lineage Eternal has much more content and interactive features between players.
Lineage Eternal is currently showing off its RPG elements, but as a MMORPG product, we will be adding more multiplayer elements and interactive features. For example, Diablo III only allows parties of 4 players, but we have parties of 20 and even more in the future for the game.
And for character progression, Diablo III focuses solely on rolling better items. Lineage Eternal will have the blood pledge feature (term for a guild or clan), castle siege and more. The game does not just focus on individual strength, but also requires the need for cooperation between players.
Q: Can you explain more on interactive features between players? Does this imply a combination skills combo of sorts?
A: We are currently not showing much of interaction between players, but we will have a open world boss system, just like Guild Wars 2’s, where players can help each other (not possible to be defeated solo) and also share quests (players in the same zone complete the quests together).
More on the open world bosses, they have a gauge where they will be weakened at certain points. Solo players will find it very hard to get boss monsters to these points, and will require the help of other players nearby to defeat them. There are no specific roles such as tank or healer as well.
Q: Diablo III uses the rune system to upgrade character skills. What sort of system is Lineage Eternal using?
A: Each character will only have 8 skills initially, which is not a big number. The aim is to let players get familiar with these skills. While leveling up, players will have the option to choose how each skill progresses, with 2-3 advancement paths to choose from based on playing style. At level 50, players will have a “Hero” status and gain access to Heroic skills, which further expands the skill tree mentioned above.
Q: Smilegate revealed Lost Ark at G-Star. Will it become a competitor for Lineage Eternal?
A: Actually, having competition is positive for us, as it will strive us towards creating an even better game. As Development Director and Producer, it is a good thing.
Q: How different will the blood pledge system in Lineage Eternal be compared to the one found in the previous games?
A: In the previous games, the blood pledge system tends to be in favour of high level blood pledges. In Lineage Eternal, we will have a match-making system to solve this issue. The system will match blood pledges based on their strength and number of members. The blood pledge PvP can range from 40 vs 40 to 100 vs 100. For castle siege, the number will rise even higher due to multiple blood pledges in one map.
Q: What are the rewards and benefits for castle siege?
A: We have yet to confirm that, but will design according to trends and feedback from veteran Lineage players.
Q: Lineage was in 2D, Lineage 2 in 3D, so why a quarter-view camera design for Lineage Eternal?
A: In the game, a fixed 2.5D quarter camera view will be used. For battles against giant monsters, the camera will automatically pan out. We hope this system will not distract players’ concentration from the game itself.
Q: In the trailers, the dynamic dungeon system seems to be one of the core features. How does it actually work?
A: The dynamic dungeons in Lineage Eternal will have infinite combinations, just like LEGO blocks. The more number of blocks, the number of possible dungeon structures will increase as well. Our aim is to put more of such blocks into dungeons, and let players enjoy the ever-changing environment. The monsters, quests, events and even traps will be randomized as well in dungeons.
Q: In the 2011 trailer for Lineage Eternal, there was a scene where a character uses a shield to actively block a monster’s flames, protecting the team mates behind him. Will there be such a gameplay feature?
A: We actually did develop such a system, and was playable internally. However, it was impossible to get it perfect, and taking into consideration of our casual players, we decided to scrap this system off.
Q: Is it a concern that Lineage Eternal will get stale missing out on such a interactive system?
A: We are preparing more content where a larger number of players can enjoy together. The current version does not have too many of such features, but they will be added in future versions, and also try to match the scrapped system.
Q: Are there gear upgrade and crafting systems? What about pets?
A: Lineage Eternal has both gear upgrade and crafting systems. As for pets, we are currently choosing between implementing a mercenary system or an actual pet system.
Q: How many classes will Lineage Eternal have?
A: For Open Beta, there will be at least 5 classes or more.
Q: Are there effects such as day and night?
A: There are currently no such effects, but there will be environmental changes.
Q: How many bosses are there now? And what is the max character level?
A: There are currently 80 boss monsters. The max character level is 50, but Heroic level is infinite.
Q: It has been 4 years since Lineage Eternal was announced at G-Star 2011. What is the development pace for the game now?
A: During these 4 years, we have many ideas for Lineage Eternal, but many were technically impossible. With technology advancements now, we are trying our best to put these ideas into the game now. To please the gamers, we have used much development time, and we apologise to them.
The current development is 1/3 completed, but the rest of the content can be developed at a faster pace. We will be using feedback from players in future test phases to optimize the game.
Q: When will Lineage Eternal enter Open Beta in South Korea? What about plans for China?
A: According to the current schedule, the latest Open Beta will begin in South Korea will be 2016. If development picks up pace, we might have it earlier. We will also take into consideration of our China gamers and optimize the game for different systems. We will consider the China launch around 6 months after Open Beta here.
