War of Legends exclusive interview

With RuneScape and other games still going strong, Jagex is thinking about new market opportunities. War of Legends is a free strategy MMO game and the first third-party game to be published by Jagex. Free MMO Station spoke with Mark Gregson, Community Manager, to learn more about this venture and future endeavors.

Could you introduce yourself to our readers?

I certainly can. I’m Mark Gregson, Community Manager for War of Legends. Pleased to meet you! 🙂

How would you describe War of Legends?

I’d describe it as a massive online strategy game, with plenty of scope for building and developing cities and armies, and wielding incredibly powerful items. War of Legends is geared towards getting players playing together, forming alliances and battling each other across a huge landscape. It’s a lot of fun!

The Chinese mythology theme is one of the most used nowadays. Do you think War of Legends may bring something new to the table?

Definitely! Chinese mythology is incredibly rich and detailed and there still seems to be a real hunger for games based around this theme. We’ve already seen players on our forums requesting more information on the history and mythology behind the game!

As far as free-to-play real-time strategy goes, do you think it appeals to players as much as MMORPG games usually do?

I hope so. I’m a gamer myself and I love both MMORPGs and RTS games. There’s a lot of depth to WoL and it’s very easy to form Alliances, and therefore lasting friendships, which is generally why a lot of people play online.

Is the game mostly focused on building or on combat? And what exactly are the Legends and their role?

It depends on what stage of the game you’re at, I would say. In the early days players will more than likely be concentrating on building up their cities before their 7 day protection runs out. Once they’ve reached a certain level, and have maybe joined an Alliance, that’s where the combat kicks in. The Legends are the game’s focal point, and lead your armies into battle, equipped with powerful weapons and clad in legendary armour!

Do you plan on improving the original game based on player feedback?

We’ve already done that and will continue to do so. Our players are incredibly passionate and we have a hard time keeping up with all the suggestions for tweaks and improvements. We also have a strong relationship with the developers, and that makes things much easier.

You’re also premiering your micro-transaction system JCredits. What sort of items will be on store?

We have all sorts in the store from items designed to increase your production output for a period of time, chests that contain high level items, to Tokens that provide several long term benefits all at once. We also regularly run special offers where we heavily discount certain items, and the players really look forward to those.

How did the Beta go? Is the player-base already in high numbers and concerned in improving the game?

The Beta went really well actually, and we’re very happy with player numbers. In fact, we’ve just opened up our 6th server, Black Dragon. I have to say the players were superb during that time. They’ve been incredibly patient and a great help to us, and very passionate about what they’d like to see in terms of improvements.

Finally, is Jagex already thinking about other third-party games to publish?

Oh yes, watch this space! 🙂