Interview with David Allen, the co-founder and CEO of Quest Online.

CRUSADE brings the player into a world dominated by Deities that are representative of two warring organizations known as the Asheroth and Kujix. Order and Chaos. Unique in their culture, skills, and physical abilities, these two organizations are battling for dominance of the two largest continents in the world, Alganon and Harraja. Recruiting only the most skilled followers, both the Asheroth and Kujix have spread throughout the world and infiltrated the culture of nearly every major race.

Now, David Allen takes us into the game world of Crusade.

MMOsite.com: To start, can you give us a brief introduction to Crusade and the team?

David Allen: CRUSADE is an upcoming MMORPG that takes place in the world of Andarus where two ruling organizations fight for power and control ¨C the Asheroth, who represent the ways of order, and the Kujix, who represent the ways of chaos.  Players must choose which side they wish to represent, and also which deity they will become patron to.  There are numerous deities for each side, and each deity has their own set of benefits. 

There are also many other advanced and unique features to CRUSADE.  To name a few: Families, Crusades, Hybrid character progression system, large-scale party support (battalions & legions), a grand library that players can participate in the information gathering for, and dynasties ¨C just to mention a few.  More detailed information on the features can be found at http://crusade.qol.com/features.htm. 

Additional details on the game can be found on the main CRUSADE website http://crusade.qol.com. 

MMOsite.com: How will CRUSADE please both hardcore and casual gamers?

David Allen: Our goal was to create a character progression system that was based on both action and a support system that ran in real-time.  This means that a player could get instant reward for going out and beating on monsters, building items, or gathering materials ¨C however, they would have to wait just as long as any other player to raise ¡°studies¡± that affected their overall skills and actions.  While a power gamer can go out and raise their skills much quicker than a casual gamer, the casual gamer can train their studies both online and offline just as a hardcore player can.  This allows for a more balanced system where character¡¯s aren¡¯t just ¡°built¡± through play, but are enhanced the older they become (if their studies are properly managed). 

MMOsite.com: Can you give us a brief introduction to the 6 races and 6 classes available in CRUSADE?

David Allen: There are three races and classes available for each side.  So far we have announced only two of the six races ¨C the Humans for the Asheroth, and the Talrok for the Kujix.  We have announced all six classes though.  For the Asheroth, there are the Guardians, the Rangers, and the Wizards.  For the Kujix there are the Warlords, the Shadows, and the Sorcerers.  While this may not sound like a lot of diversity, the magic is what¡¯s on the inside.  If the player chooses to represent one of the melee classes (such as a Guardian) they will find that there are many variations of Guardians ¨C those who specialize in certain weapons, shield defense, armor defense, attack tactics, area of effect actions, enhancements for parties, and more.  With the extensive studies system, a player can then refine even more what direction they want to take their character (within the applied template).

MMOsite.com: Crusade supports parties (6 players), battalions (36 players), and legions(216 players) mode, I?m wondering, how will the leader manage the group, especially legion which is so large?

David Allen: We are creating a custom combat management system for our extended parties.  When players form a party, they can be invited to (or invite another party) to start forming a Battalion.  The leader of that battalion has a new set of communication options for the party members ¨C he can communicate just with the party leaders, and the party leaders then relay the orders (automatically or manually) for the battalion leader.  Same thing with a Legion.  The leader of a Legion will have an even more enhanced interface to monitor and communicate with his troops ¨C he can then issue orders to the battalion leaders, which are automatically or manually filtered down to all leaders.

Our goal is to design a very easy to use system where communication and monitoring is as easy as possible ¨C and allow players to participate in large-scale battles even when they aren¡¯t on a PvP server.  Generally, only world events or large-scale Crusades will require battalions.

MMOsite.com: Gamers can form a very large team in Crusade, so will there be any large instances for party gamers?

David Allen: Yes, we will have content specific to parties, battalions, and legions; although as mentioned above, most of the legion-related content will be world event-based.

MMOsite.com: What role does family system play in Crusade?

David Allen: Families act as the player¡¯s first community within the game.  When a character is created, they are born into a family with other players.  They can instantly communicate with those other players, and gain prestige for their family as they play the game.  This directly addresses the main issue that today¡¯s MMOGs have ¨C when new players come into the game for the first time, they are very much alone.  In CRUSADE, when a player enters the game for the first time, they will be welcomed by other members of their family, as well as receive help on how to play the game.

As a family grows in strength through accomplishments, they may earn recognition in the world that is recorded in the library.  We are also debating the possibility of family alliances and feuds for PvP servers.