[ArcheAdmin]

Merry Christmas, ArcheAge fans!

This article has been edited from it's original version so that it could be more easily read.

Future Trends

The Korean game market has gone through several phases and has seemingly formed a healthy environment where various game genres share popularity rather evenly. A variety of genres available in the market is essential for good games to appear, for it allows developers to produce games that satisfy the preferences of gamers from all around the world. However, this trend is a double edged sword for videogames. It lures developers to churn out the most popular varieties of games recklessly while simultaneously providing new opportunities to (perhaps accidentally) increase variety in the market.

A new game was introduced at G-Star 2010 this year that took a different approach to the MMORPG genre. Archeage, developed by XLGames, showed off ship-to-ship naval combat at the convention and seems to be pioneering a new path in the market. Song Jae Kyung (Jake Song), one of the most renowned game developers in Korea, is leading the expedition. We had a short interview with him...

Q. After you resigned from NCsoft you took a long break. What have you been up to lately?
A. Some people have heard about ArcheAge and think that development just started this year or the last, but the truth is I've been designing the game since 2006! XLGames buckled down and started seriously working on ArcheAge in 2007, so it has been in development for a long time. Before that I developed a racing game and I enjoy playing other games as well.

Q. As a first generation game developer representing Korea, what is your perspective on today's game development environment compared to past?
A. When The Kingdom of the Wind was developed it was awkward to even use the term "development environment." We didn't think about that kind of thing at the time. Now technology has developed a lot and more people are involved in the business. The increased competition weighs me down a bit.

Q. Compared to 15 years ago, the game market in Korea has exploded in variety and popularity. Can you feel it?
A. Yes, I attended G-Star last November and noticed a surge in the market.

Q. Even now Lineage remains one of the most popular and most-played games in Korea. Do you have any idea why older games remain popular for so long? We'd like to hear your opinion.
A. As you know, Lineage was one of the very first MMOs, so it might have attained a formidable head-start advantage. Also, MMORPGs let you build social networks among peers you met in the game. Also nonstop updates provided gamers with ever-changing gameplay content.

Q. In recent years there have been few games that become truly successful. Some games drew attention before launching but they did not deliver on all their promises and hype. What do you think is the reason?
A. Well, since I am the one who is supposed plan to satisfy gamers, it's little hard for me to say. However, I have been paying attention to the failings of other games and plan on trying to avoid similar pitfalls with ArcheAge.

Q. Is there any part that you paid special attention to while designing ArcheAge? Anything that you're carrying over from past game?
A. The most unique feature is that the environment in the game is affected by player choices and activities. This means that each server may have different maps and histories. Gamers will be the heroes in the game.

Q. There have been lots of changes in videogame trends recently. How does ArcheAge respond to these?
A. There are several positions I could take, but I focused on the player's desire to be more autonomous in the game. A more convenient UI is also important to them. ArcheAge will introduce to gamers a new system where behavior and decisions will be directly reflect changes in the game world.

Q. What's your thoughs about the impact of Korean games on the world market?
A. In my opinion, Korean games have built a very firm position in the Asian market. Of course, we cannot overlook the rapid growth of China as well as Japan's interest in online games.

Q. What do you think is the most essential thing that must occur for Korean games to have a greater impact in the world market?
A. Creative, unique games should continue to be developed and funded in order to advance in the global market.

Song Jae Kyeong
CEO, XLGames

[1992] M.A. Department of Computer Science, KAIST
[1992~1993] Dropout Ph.D. Department of Computer Science, KAIST
[1994] Developed MUD Game, 'Jurassics Park'
[1994] Co-Established Nexon Company
[1995~1996] Developed and commerciallized the first MMORPG in the world <The Kingdom of the Wind>
[1998] Developed <Lineage>
[2000~2003] Vice President and Chief of Development in NCSoft,
[2003] Established XLGames, Currently CEO of XLGames
[2005. 6] Publishing contract of XL1 concluded with Neowiz
[2006~] Developing next generation MMORPG <Archeage>

Source: http://us.aving.net/...178424&mn_name=

[Malice]

Good article and good read, thanks for posting.

I guess if I was to ask Mr. Song some questions, they'd be in regards to the "abilities" system they have on their website, asking how skills work and if there would be "classes" (fighters, healers, assassins, etc), or if the classes would be eliminated and a player could play a "hybrid class" based on my ability choices.

I'd also like to know if there will be stealth warfare alongside of mage, ranged, and melee (kind of like a rogue in WoW, with the ability to cloak into the shadows or hide from enemies and attack from a flanking position)

[Delfy]

I hope Jake Song will keep this way until the release and after...

Other project didn't stay in the way as they said in the beginning.
They changed only for touching a maximum of players around the world from all ages and satisfy the investors.
I know, business is business... But I would like to meet a game with new features and ideas not based on money back.

One of the first completed and good mmo was L2.
And more I see the mmo to day and more I think L2 was really good, risky and innovate!

An other guy from NCSoft start a new game we speak all around but I was very, very disappointed with regard to the changes...

We will see

[Eligor]

Jake left ncsoft for that very reason

[Entaro]

Quote

Q. There have been lots of changes in videogame trends recently. How does ArcheAge respond to these?
A. There are several positions I could take, but I focused on the player's desire to be more autonomous in the game.

Ummm... that sounds like he's trying to make it bot friendly. That better not be what he meant!

[KeksX]

no name yet, on 03 February 2011 - 02:54 PM, said:

Ummm... that sounds like he's trying to make it bot friendly. That better not be what he meant!

I think you mix up autonomous and automatic here.

[Entaro]

Yeah, I'm used to autonomous being used in conjunction with robots and robotic controls. Though it really means 'self-governing' or 'freedom in your actions', which is something really awesome to be striving for in a game actually. It's gonna change the way we look at gaming forever! Now I can't wait for the game to come out again. AAAARG!!! Just release the game already!!! Lol. I'm not very good at waiting for games to come out.

[Delfy]

Eligor, on 03 February 2011 - 01:59 PM, said:

Jake left ncsoft for that very reason

Yes but Yong-Hyun Park left NCSoft for the same reason.
At beginning, Tera Online project was amazing.
And now, it's really far far away from the objective/project!

[ArcheAdmin]

TERA still has its non-target system intact, though, which is its main innovation and the reason why I care about the game.

Sure the PvP and some other features aren't ready for prime-time yet, but they will be eventually.