Asiatische Spielewelten sind für europäische Spieler eine durchaus gewöhnungsbedürftige Angelegenheit. Ihnen haftet immer der Ruf einer repetitiv angelegten Spielmechanik an, die für wenig unterhaltende Momente beim durchstreifen eines virtuellen Kosmos sorgen kann. In der Kombination mit dem heiligen Gral der Branche, dem Free-To-Play Konzept, ist die Chance einen, wie von europäischen Spielern abschätzig betitelten Asia Grinder, zu erhalten relativ hoch. Doch die Dinge ändern sich deutlich und während in der Vergangenheit kostenlose Spiele eher mit Qualitätsabstrichen vorzufinden waren, hat sich das am aktuellen Markt erfreulich gewandelt. Längst haben aufwändige Titel für Qualität und Aufmerksamkeit im F2P Markt gesorgt. Seit Oktober 2011 beweist Vindictus vom südkoreanischen Entwickler und Publisher NEXON auch in Deutschland das fernöstliche Spiele für neuartige Spielerlebnisse sorgen können. Im Kern ist Vindictus eine Mischung aus typischen Online Rollenspiel Mustern mit einem schnellen, harten Kampfsystem, das eher an ein actionreiches 3D-Beat’em Up erinnert und gerade hier weit entfernt ist von ausgetretenen Pfaden eingefahrener MMO Mechaniken.
Die NEGATIV Games Redaktion hatte die Gelegenheit mit dem Leiter des Entwicklerteams von Vindictus, Jae Ho Han, über die Ideen und Hintergründe des innovativen F2P Titel zu sprechen.
NEGATIV: Obviously, Vindictus is a very story driven game. What emotions and feelings do you as a developer seek to evoke in your players and are they appropriate to the game's theme and mechanics?
Jae Ho Han:
The world of Vindictus is a game with a background that has been built independently from the real world. When the player starts for the very first time, the player begins as a mercenary for a small village. As the game progresses, the character develops along with his/her status. The player can enjoy various episodes according to the rise of his/her social status. These elements can be naturally encountered while talking with NPCs near the player.
Various NPCs with strong character share their stories with players and request them with a new quest using various reasons. Unlike movies that give one-sided story, Vindictus uses game as a tool that immerses the users into the game through various methods using various elements within the game.
For example, each boss monster does not exist simply to obstruct the player. Each monster has a background about its involvement in combat, and there are various elements that absorb users into the game through various methods such as encountering previous monsters with a new story and changed forms due to the progress of the story.
If you allow yourself to be immersed in the gameplay within this world, you won’t even realize that you are lost in the world of Vindictus. Next thing you know, you will be enjoying the game due to your anticipation of the following story. The structure of these elements is an entertaining factor that is different from other games. I think this is one of the reasons that many users enjoy Vindictus.
Rather than simply enjoying as an action game, searching these elements one at a time as you enjoy the game can lead to the finding of more enjoyable factors.
NEGATIV:Let's talk about the game in respect to competing with other titles. If you could pick but three features which you feel are responsible for the game becoming a truly unique experience in comparison to all the other MMO's out there, which features would that be and what makes them unique?
Jae Ho Han: 1) The very first feature we would like to point out is the high realism. Vindictus is the first game to use the Havok Physics Engine in the online game. When the background is destroyed using this Physics Engine, natural factors are produced. Not only does Physics Engine increase the real-time effects but also it can be used in the actual game play such as lifting and throwing objects that are destroyed.
2) The elaborate attack system that cannot be seen in other MMO games is one of the characteristics of Vindictus. By introducing the attack system that was only in Console games to the online system, it adds excitement through subtle controls such as narrowly avoiding enemy attacks or attacking the enemy by calculating the distance between the enemy and the player.
This elaborate action is one of the charms of Vindictus that can be experienced due to the tension during the action.
3) Although it is an exciting game played alone, an excitement through a cooperative gameplay is a point that cannot be missed. A fun and exciting gameplay is possible for players due to the existence of many elements of cooperative gameplay. For example, there is an item called “Hook Chain” in Vindictus. If used correctly on the leg of a massive boss, it will be subdued and fall down by the “Hook Chain” for a moment. At this time, the boss cannot be roused, so the combat can be easily won if one of the party members can use this skill. Since there are many methods and tools that strengthen these cooperative factors, we strongly recommend playing with other players due to the fun of taking down boss monsters with others.
NEGATIV: Gaming, especially e-Sports, is huge in South Korea and one could get the impression that other parts of the world are still a bit behind in that respect. As a South Korean developer/publisher, would you say that you have a different approach, culturally or artistically, to designing games, compared to developers from Europe or the USA for example, and how much of that has gone into making Vindictus?
Jae Ho Han:
It is a fact that e-sports has been developed and popularized in South Korea. However, e-sports has not actively formed other game genres. Although various attempts of various games that were created in South Korea were attempted in e-sports, not all games were successful in e-sports except for limited genres. If Vindictus successfully settled in e-sports, it has been approved for fun gameplay as well as a game that is also fun to watch. We would feel happy if Vindictus has successfully settled in e-sports for its popularity, which is an objective criterion.
Currently, Vindictus has not introduced any special factors. However, Vindictus is a game with a fun and entertaining gameplay screen that is just as exciting as playing the actual game. If further developed, we expect that it will add more excitement to e-sports.
The game can either be an entirely new e-sports section with two groups that have similar objectives, where they would compete against each other, or use an elaborate action feature to broadcast PvP between users to provide them with similar excitement as an all-out war action. These various factors are being considered and attempted, so we anticipate experiencing Vindictus as one of e-sports game.
NEGATIV:How much does the component of interactivity in MMORPG's influence your process of development in terms of storytelling throughout the game? How interactive should games be to tell a functioning story and yet be immersive for the player?
Jae Ho Han:
There are more limitations of interactive components when compared to Console games due to the characteristic of MMORPG genre, where number of players must play in the similar space with each individual gameplay in order to convey the story. While following with the story, it is difficult to bring changes because it can affect an individual player from experiencing a certain story due to changes such as the sudden destruction of a region or a transfer of an NPC to another village. However, if these changes do not take place, many users can experience boredom of the repetitiveness and redundancy of the current world.
Therefore, in order to solve these problems, we are making various attempts in the MMORPG. Through these attempts, we think these strongly emphasize users to be immersed into the MMORPG. We think these methods allow us to search for MMORPG methods that are not in console package games. Although we realize that there are interactive limitations in the MMORPG genre, individuals searching for various interactive methods within the limitations of the game is an ideal method.
In Vindictus, various methods were attempted to use the advantage of story-telling as an interactive component within the currents limits. Among those components, each NPC that will be interacted by the user has different settings. The NPC dialogues in Vindictus are different according to the status and condition of each player. Although players within a raid can talk to each other, the conversation between a player and an NPC is one-on-one. This shows that other players are not aware of the situation even though the NPCs react differently to each player. Due to the changes of NPC types as well as NPC reactions according to the current progress status of a character, it was somewhat possible to create a world that was adjusted to the status of individual characters. These components were used in various events according to the current progress of the character as well as NPCs within a village. Since these components exist, an excellent story-telling component is being used without collisions between players, who have different progress of storyline within the similar space.
NEGATIV:There are currently many Games out there that aim to try something new, be it in terms of payment models, storytelling (like the multiple choice dialogues in Star Wars: The Old Republic, for example) or otherwise. Where would you say lies the future of gaming and making games? Could you give us a little outlook?
Jae Ho Han:
Unlike the past games that had a specialized genre with one objective, we think that recent games are slowly changing due to the diverse preference of users, which led to the creation of new genres that are a combination of two or more genres. We regard this as a natural change to the market where the creation of new combination of genres that was previously hard to find or the release of new imported models. Due to these fundamental reasons, we consider this as a result of diversified consumer preferences. Like other Cultural enterprise, there are many changes to the main consumers. If games were a means for small number of people who enjoyed special games, current games have become one of the medium that can be widely accessed just by turning on a cellular phone. Furthermore, Social Network games are used as various means to expand personal relations through games that were very had to find in the past. Just as the consumer preference has become more diversified and complex, we think that games will be more diverse and complex. We cannot put our finger on which area on the prospect of future gaming market. (If we were actually confident about the prospect of future gaming, would we not be developing that game right now? Haha!!)
However, one thing we’re certain about is that if a game is developed and released according to the understanding of the current flow of trends and change of user preference, the least condition that this game would satisfy would be its popularity.
Asiatische Spielewelten sind für europäische Spieler eine durchaus gewöhnungsbedürftige Angelegenheit. Ihnen haftet immer der Ruf einer repetitiv angelegten Spielmechanik an, die für wenig unterhaltende Momente beim durchstreifen eines virtuellen Kosmos sorgen kann. In der Kombination mit dem heiligen Gral der Branche, dem Free-To-Play Konzept, ist die Chance einen, wie von europäischen Spielern abschätzig betitelten Asia Grinder, zu erhalten relativ hoch. Doch die Dinge ändern sich deutlich und während in der Vergangenheit kostenlose Spiele eher mit Qualitätsabstrichen vorzufinden waren, hat sich das am aktuellen Markt erfreulich gewandelt. Längst haben aufwändige Titel für Qualität und Aufmerksamkeit im F2P Markt gesorgt. Seit Oktober 2011 beweist Vindictus vom südkoreanischen Entwickler und Publisher NEXON auch in Deutschland das fernöstliche Spiele für neuartige Spielerlebnisse sorgen können. Im Kern ist Vindictus eine Mischung aus typischen Online Rollenspiel Mustern mit einem schnellen, harten Kampfsystem, das eher an ein actionreiches 3D-Beat’em Up erinnert und gerade hier weit entfernt ist von ausgetretenen Pfaden eingefahrener MMO Mechaniken.
Die NEGATIV Games Redaktion hatte die Gelegenheit mit dem Leiter des Entwicklerteams von Vindictus, Jae Ho Han, über die Ideen und Hintergründe des innovativen F2P Titel zu sprechen.
NEGATIV: Obviously, Vindictus is a very story driven game. What emotions and feelings do you as a developer seek to evoke in your players and are they appropriate to the game's theme and mechanics?
Jae Ho Han:
The world of Vindictus is a game with a background that has been built independently from the real world. When the player starts for the very first time, the player begins as a mercenary for a small village. As the game progresses, the character develops along with his/her status. The player can enjoy various episodes according to the rise of his/her social status. These elements can be naturally encountered while talking with NPCs near the player.
Various NPCs with strong character share their stories with players and request them with a new quest using various reasons. Unlike movies that give one-sided story, Vindictus uses game as a tool that immerses the users into the game through various methods using various elements within the game.
For example, each boss monster does not exist simply to obstruct the player. Each monster has a background about its involvement in combat, and there are various elements that absorb users into the game through various methods such as encountering previous monsters with a new story and changed forms due to the progress of the story.
If you allow yourself to be immersed in the gameplay within this world, you won’t even realize that you are lost in the world of Vindictus. Next thing you know, you will be enjoying the game due to your anticipation of the following story. The structure of these elements is an entertaining factor that is different from other games. I think this is one of the reasons that many users enjoy Vindictus.
Rather than simply enjoying as an action game, searching these elements one at a time as you enjoy the game can lead to the finding of more enjoyable factors.
NEGATIV:Let's talk about the game in respect to competing with other titles. If you could pick but three features which you feel are responsible for the game becoming a truly unique experience in comparison to all the other MMO's out there, which features would that be and what makes them unique?
Jae Ho Han: 1) The very first feature we would like to point out is the high realism. Vindictus is the first game to use the Havok Physics Engine in the online game. When the background is destroyed using this Physics Engine, natural factors are produced. Not only does Physics Engine increase the real-time effects but also it can be used in the actual game play such as lifting and throwing objects that are destroyed.
2) The elaborate attack system that cannot be seen in other MMO games is one of the characteristics of Vindictus. By introducing the attack system that was only in Console games to the online system, it adds excitement through subtle controls such as narrowly avoiding enemy attacks or attacking the enemy by calculating the distance between the enemy and the player.
This elaborate action is one of the charms of Vindictus that can be experienced due to the tension during the action.
3) Although it is an exciting game played alone, an excitement through a cooperative gameplay is a point that cannot be missed. A fun and exciting gameplay is possible for players due to the existence of many elements of cooperative gameplay. For example, there is an item called “Hook Chain” in Vindictus. If used correctly on the leg of a massive boss, it will be subdued and fall down by the “Hook Chain” for a moment. At this time, the boss cannot be roused, so the combat can be easily won if one of the party members can use this skill. Since there are many methods and tools that strengthen these cooperative factors, we strongly recommend playing with other players due to the fun of taking down boss monsters with others.
NEGATIV: Gaming, especially e-Sports, is huge in South Korea and one could get the impression that other parts of the world are still a bit behind in that respect. As a South Korean developer/publisher, would you say that you have a different approach, culturally or artistically, to designing games, compared to developers from Europe or the USA for example, and how much of that has gone into making Vindictus?
Jae Ho Han:
It is a fact that e-sports has been developed and popularized in South Korea. However, e-sports has not actively formed other game genres. Although various attempts of various games that were created in South Korea were attempted in e-sports, not all games were successful in e-sports except for limited genres. If Vindictus successfully settled in e-sports, it has been approved for fun gameplay as well as a game that is also fun to watch. We would feel happy if Vindictus has successfully settled in e-sports for its popularity, which is an objective criterion.
Currently, Vindictus has not introduced any special factors. However, Vindictus is a game with a fun and entertaining gameplay screen that is just as exciting as playing the actual game. If further developed, we expect that it will add more excitement to e-sports.
The game can either be an entirely new e-sports section with two groups that have similar objectives, where they would compete against each other, or use an elaborate action feature to broadcast PvP between users to provide them with similar excitement as an all-out war action. These various factors are being considered and attempted, so we anticipate experiencing Vindictus as one of e-sports game.
NEGATIV:How much does the component of interactivity in MMORPG's influence your process of development in terms of storytelling throughout the game? How interactive should games be to tell a functioning story and yet be immersive for the player?
Jae Ho Han:
There are more limitations of interactive components when compared to Console games due to the characteristic of MMORPG genre, where number of players must play in the similar space with each individual gameplay in order to convey the story. While following with the story, it is difficult to bring changes because it can affect an individual player from experiencing a certain story due to changes such as the sudden destruction of a region or a transfer of an NPC to another village. However, if these changes do not take place, many users can experience boredom of the repetitiveness and redundancy of the current world.
Therefore, in order to solve these problems, we are making various attempts in the MMORPG. Through these attempts, we think these strongly emphasize users to be immersed into the MMORPG. We think these methods allow us to search for MMORPG methods that are not in console package games. Although we realize that there are interactive limitations in the MMORPG genre, individuals searching for various interactive methods within the limitations of the game is an ideal method.
In Vindictus, various methods were attempted to use the advantage of story-telling as an interactive component within the currents limits. Among those components, each NPC that will be interacted by the user has different settings. The NPC dialogues in Vindictus are different according to the status and condition of each player. Although players within a raid can talk to each other, the conversation between a player and an NPC is one-on-one. This shows that other players are not aware of the situation even though the NPCs react differently to each player. Due to the changes of NPC types as well as NPC reactions according to the current progress status of a character, it was somewhat possible to create a world that was adjusted to the status of individual characters. These components were used in various events according to the current progress of the character as well as NPCs within a village. Since these components exist, an excellent story-telling component is being used without collisions between players, who have different progress of storyline within the similar space.
NEGATIV:There are currently many Games out there that aim to try something new, be it in terms of payment models, storytelling (like the multiple choice dialogues in Star Wars: The Old Republic, for example) or otherwise. Where would you say lies the future of gaming and making games? Could you give us a little outlook?
Jae Ho Han:
Unlike the past games that had a specialized genre with one objective, we think that recent games are slowly changing due to the diverse preference of users, which led to the creation of new genres that are a combination of two or more genres. We regard this as a natural change to the market where the creation of new combination of genres that was previously hard to find or the release of new imported models. Due to these fundamental reasons, we consider this as a result of diversified consumer preferences. Like other Cultural enterprise, there are many changes to the main consumers. If games were a means for small number of people who enjoyed special games, current games have become one of the medium that can be widely accessed just by turning on a cellular phone. Furthermore, Social Network games are used as various means to expand personal relations through games that were very had to find in the past. Just as the consumer preference has become more diversified and complex, we think that games will be more diverse and complex. We cannot put our finger on which area on the prospect of future gaming market. (If we were actually confident about the prospect of future gaming, would we not be developing that game right now? Haha!!)
However, one thing we’re certain about is that if a game is developed and released according to the understanding of the current flow of trends and change of user preference, the least condition that this game would satisfy would be its popularity.
