The Legend of Ares?will launch in North America. The title pits two factions, the Empire and Alliance, against each other for control of an entire continent. Both sides have four classes of combatants to help them assert their supremacy in a variety of encounters that can range up to large-scale battles; Knights and Spearmen are the melee specialists, while Archers and Sorcerers deal damage from a distance.I am glad that we had an interview with June Lee, the Lead Designer with MGame for The Legend of Ares.let him take us into the game world of The Legend of Ares.
Includes?Three exclusive screenshots

Simon:?To start, before getting into the heart of the questions, can you tell us something about you and your company?

June Lee:My name is June Lee and I¡®m a Lead Designer with MGame for The Legend of Ares.? Mgame has been in the onine MMORPG since 1997 and we¡®ve created many successful games in the Asian market.? Our current goal is to bring these games to the U.S. and form them to appeal to the American market.? Eventually, our goal is to develop games here in the U.S. but until then we¡®ll see how it goes.?


Simon:?Compared to other MMORPGs, what do you think will make The Legend of Ares stand out?

June Lee:The Legend of Ares focuses primarily on PvP and cooperative play with features including: territorial warfare, guild warfare, elaborate quests, and customizable weapons and skills.? In my opinion, of all of these features, the territorial war is our most unique feature.? Territorial wars, or T-wars as I call it, will be organized PvP events where players come together and fight for areas of the maps.? Those players who win territories for their nations will receive significant character bonuses including: increased Exp gain, increased money gain, intensified attack power, and fortified defensive capability.? Another feature, I?m quite proud of is the guild organization and warfare system.? In LoA, players will have the ability to create guilds and build rank within them.? But to make guild organizations more interesting, we have also included a salary and reward systems for the guild master to utilize.? Players can literally create positions in the guild that have salaries as well as give rewards to those who perform exceptionally.? Being a guild master could very well be a full-time CEO-type job.?

Simon:?There are quite many differences between the North American version and the Korean version. Can you tell our readers more details about it, what have you done to cater to the interests of North American players?

June Lee:While the heart and spirit of the game will remain the same, we have definitely taken into account the differing desires between American and Asian players.? Keeping this in mind we have implemented (and will be continuing to) several new content including more party-based quests, storyline, PvP elements, and game structures.? We will also be keeping our eyes and ears open to feedback from our Closed Beta participants to see what we can do before release.? So if players want to make a difference in the formation of an MMORPG, they should sign in with IGN and our website to participate in our Beta events!


Simon:? For the readers who are not familiar with your game, can you make an introduction about the concept and the background story of the game?

June Lee:LoA refers to a legend where Ares was captured by giants, using a mysterious object, for over a year.? Ares was so distressed by his enprisonment that he was willing to do anything to be released, even give up his position as god of war.? Fortunately for him, he was rescued by another god right before having to concede anything and was spared humiliation and defeat.? Centuries later, the need to defeat Ares has arisen, and the legendary object in the legend of Ares is needed once again.? The Legend of Ares is the story of two nations striving to find that object.

Simon:?What kind of player economy can we expect to see in The Legend of Ares?

June Lee:Items and equipment will be very very important with regards to the strength of a character.? So in the higher levels, stronger equipment will of course require significantly more in-game money than the lower level items.? But player economy is a funny thing, really.? It is exactly what the name implies: economies made by the players, so every server has the potential to be dramatically different.? We¡®ll see how the first Closed Beta goes and make adjustments (or not) from there.

Simon:?You set two factions in the game, what are the differences between them?

June Lee:The factions of the game are the Empire and the Alliance, and besides the name not much is different....just kidding.? Because of the history and culture of the two nations there are a lot of differences between the two.? To begin, the skills of the classes between the two nation are different.? The look and feel of the armor and even the characters are also different.? Quests are different, and the gear will be different.? We have strived to create two nations with their own experience, while maintaining the spirit of the game in each side.

Simon:?National war is one of the features of The Legend of Ares, so, what would you like to tell our readers about this?

June Lee:National war is the backbone of our PvP system, and it is the general category which almost all PvP falls under (guild wars and PK¡®s do not fall under this category).? Through it, players can increase their honor points (PvP EXP) and achieve rank within their country, which ultimately leads to bonuses in the character?s attack and defense.? There are a lot of aspects to national war and it would literally take a novel to describe them all.? The best way to find out about all the intricacies (and fun) of national wars is to play the game.

Simon:?Tell us something about the skill system, and can the stat points be changed when they are allocated?

June Lee:Players will get skill points every time they level, and each character will have a skill tree to distribute their skill points into.? With several branches and a limited number of points, players must choose carefully and wisely the skills they wish to play with.? Unfortunately, once skill points have been allocated, they cannot be changed, so players must choose wisely.

Simon:?Interaction is very important to MMORPGs, so how do you encourage teamwork, and on the other hand, how does the PK system work?
June Lee:Teamwork will be very important in the game.? Boss monsters, territorial wars, guild wars, high level monsters, quests, and more will all require players to cooperate and work together.? For those players who wish to travel along the darker path, Player Killing will also be available.? PK is the killing of players in the same nation, who are not in a guild war.? In a combat zone, if a person has turned their flag from ¡®peace¡® to ¡®PvP¡®then anybody can approach and attack them including members of the same nation (if their flag is set to PvP as well).? But if the flag is set to ¡®peace¡®, then players are safe from attacks from their own side.? If a player kills another player from the same nation, they will lose honor points.?

Simon:?How does the quest system work? What kind interesting quests have you designed or will you design to enrich the game?

June Lee:There are many quests that are already in place from the original version of the game.? However, we are continuing to update our quest database to provide our players with custom quests that will entertain and reward them.? Storyline quests as well as boss monster quests are just a few of what we are continuing to add to The Legend of Ares.?

Simon:?Anything else you¡®d like to share with our readers?

June Lee:The Legend of Ares is an incredibly immersive game that focuses on cooperative play through PvP, guild, and party elements.? While playing solo is entirely possible, we highly encourage players to get involved in the LoA community to make strong connections in order to increase the enjoyment of the game.? With that having been said, I would just like to add that during the Closed and Open Betas we will be paying close attention to what our players have to say and it will definitely have an impact on the decisions we make for the release.? So go to IGN¡®s website to get the digital key and client, and register on www.legendofares.com to participate in the first Closed Beta!? Our first Closed Beta will start on April 24th and end on April 30th!? We hope to see you there!?

Article By: Simon