Forsaken World: Interview with Jonathan Belliss, Director of Marketing

December 9, 2010 11:53 ( Interviews ) 0

We have interviewed Jonathan Belliss, Director of Marketing for Perfect World Entertainment, about Forsaken World, a long waited MMO game for us.

It’s a pleasure to have you today, first of all, could you introduce yourself to our readers?

Answer: My name is Jonathan Belliss and I am the Director of Marketing for Perfect World Entertainment. I oversee all of Perfect World Entertainment’s games and have worked closely with our international development team on Forsaken World.

How would you describe Forsaken World in a few words?

Forsaken World is a dark, fantasy MMORPG where players will be tasked with deciding the fate of the in-game world called Eyrda. Built from the ground up for the western market, Forsaken World is Perfect World Entertainment’s most highly anticipated game to date.

Why the name ‘Forsaken World’? Does it mean something for you?

The reason for calling the game Forsaken World is based on the fact that the gods that created Eyrda have left and “forsaken” the world. Additionally this game is a strong departure from our more famous game “Perfect World International”.

Why do you think that Forsaken World is different from the rest of MMOs in the market?

What sets Forsaken world apart from other MMOs is that it’s doing a lot of things that have never been done before in the industry. A prime example of that can be seen in the God System, which will give players the opportunity to play gods themselves and grant them special abilities such as the power to teleport to anywhere on the server. Additionally we have a guild housing and guild economy system, which add an entirely new level of content for player guilds.

Talk us about its development. For how long it has been under development?

Forsaken World has been our longest game in development to date having been in development for three years. With Forsaken World, we’re spending a lot of time thinking outside of the box to redefine some of the features that have become common in so many of today’s MMOs.

Do you have a final release date?

We have not yet announced a final release date and are currently still in closed beta. We planned this to be our longest closed beta to date and have been rolling it out in phases due to the tremendous player response we’ve received for the game. The third and fourth closed beta phases are scheduled for January 21, 2011 and late February or early March respectively.

I think that Forsaken World is one of the first games where we can find a vampire as a class instead of a race. Why did you create a vampire class? By the way, I guess Vampire is the most popular class.

The Vampire is a class that is specific to the Kindred race and while that definitely has been one of the most popular classes, we didn’t want to pigeon hole Kindreds as just Vampires. Kindreds can also be Assassins and Mages, which will have unique skills that will set them apart from Human Assassins or Mages.

Could you talk us about PvP? Are there going to be different kinds of PvP? Does the PvP matter in Forsaken World?

Forsaken World has a variety of different types of PvP ranging from open world PvP, which starts at level 30, to closed PvP, where players can compete in 3-on-3 or 6-on-6 competitions. While open world PvP will not yield rewards, PvP areas will reward players with special gear, character customization pieces, pets or weapons.

What about PvE?

There will be plenty of PvE in Forsaken World and in fact, based on if players on a particular server are leaning more towards PvE or PvP, the server world will reflect this by opening more player preferred content.

Can you tell us something about pets and mounts?

Pets and mounts play a very important role to help players throughout Forsaken World. Pets, for example, have the ability to heal, deal damage and even perform special skills.

There are also a variety of different mounts players can obtain from racial specific ones, guild mounts and ones from the cash shop. Mounts help players travel much faster in-game as well as access areas that you can’t get to on foot.

What can you say about the system requirements?

With the updated proprietary 3D engine, Angelica, Forsaken World will look good on all types of computers. We are always mindful that when making a great looking game to not only limit it to those who have high-end gaming rigs.

Front your point of view, why this game is more fun than others?

Like other Perfect World Entertainment games, Forsaken World pushes the industry bar of what players can expect from their MMOs in terms of quality as well as features. From the God System to the unique PvE and PvP content, players will discover a plethora of new content throughout Forsaken World.

Finally, do you have something to say to your future players, directly?

I’d like to thank our current players for their patience and enthusiasm for Forsaken World. This has been the longest closed beta date and we definitely want to make sure that we live up to their expectations when we launch. I’d also like to tell potential future players to give Forsaken World a try. As with all Perfect World Entertainment games, Forsaken World is free-to-play, which means there is very little to lose to try it out, but a whole lot to gain if you really enjoy it.

Thank you for your time.

 

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