Earth and Beyond Online Updated Q&A

Recently we were invited to visit Westwood Studio's offices in Las Vegas to follow the progress of what's easily shaping up to be the company's most ambitious project to date: Earth and Beyond Online. The idea for a space-based game that lets a great number of people interact with one another was hovering in the mind of Brett Sperry, Westwood's cofounder and chief creative office, well before the company's early days of Red Alert and Command & Conquer. Games like Ultima Online spurred Westwood into action, and nearly five years ago, the game that was then simply called G and that's now known as Earth and Beyond Online began to take shape. And while the game might never truly be done--online RPGs constantly receive enhancements well beyond their release dates--it is finally to the point of being feature-complete. While we were able to play the game during our visit, we also took that opportunity to sit down with Sperry to talk about additional details about Earth and Beyond Online that we didn't discuss in yesterday's preview.

GameSpot: Brett, even though Earth and Beyond Online was not announced until earlier this year, it's obviously been in development for quite some time. Can you tell us exactly when you started work on this game and when you thought to do the game?

Brett Sperry: For as long as I can remember, even before we were acquired by Electronic Arts, I've been interested in creating a game experience where a lot of people could participate simultaneously in the same environment. However, the technology wasn't really right until about four years ago. Design on Earth and Beyond Online began in earnest around March 1997. For the next two years, a small team of about nine people worked on design concepts and visualization systems. Full development began shortly thereafter with a team of around 20 people.

GS: About two years ago, you told us that one aspect of 21st century gaming would be the advent of "meaningful cooperative play." How does Earth and Beyond Online fit into that statement?

BS: It's important that with Earth and Beyond Online we give players a compelling reason to engage others and participate with them in the game environment. We want to have a good benefit for players to socialize and participate with others in the game. For example, some players may choose to be a Jenquai explorer and play that role to the hilt. They'll play all the way through the experience, max out their particular skills, max out their spaceship, and have a great time. But what if they encounter another Jenquai that might not even be as evolved or developed as they are, but they've got some real cool item or skill? Hopefully that player will want to find out how they acquired it. In so doing, players will come to understand that there could be a whole new layer of experience and benefits that they'd be missing if they didn't communicate and cooperate with other players on missions.

Another aspect of the game we hope to incorporate post launch can be loosely called "social engineering tools" that will help to maintain burgeoning relationships that will inevitably be created. Let's say you see a friend you've made in the game universe, and you attempt to contact him or her, but they don't respond. Maybe they're in their own intense game moment; maybe they're away from their computer. All you know is that they're ignoring you. What if we could integrate a tool that, after a few minutes, would send you a message saying that person's away from their computer or tied up with something and can't get back to you right away? It might sound relatively minor, but it's the kind of tool that we think will help maintain the fabric of community that we're hoping to achieve.

GS: Many gamers still hold true to the belief that combat is and always will be an irreplaceable part of online RPGs. Do you think the majority of people who play Earth and Beyond Online will migrate toward the Progen warrior faction?

BS: It's likely that the Progen warrior will be the easiest to play for most people at the start. Incorporating a PVP [player vs. player] element in the game is a challenge we know we'll have to address. We might make some sectors of the game universe strictly PVP for those who want to test their skills and progress their careers by space dogfighting. As I mentioned before, you can still have a great time if you follow that path all the way and acquire all of the benefits and attributes associated with that race and class, eventually becoming the most feared Progen warrior in the universe. As you increase in stature and prowess, you'll even see the NPCs [nonplayer characters] interact with you differently.

But again, bear in mind that there's another layer of gameplay, chock-full of goodies that you can only begin to access when you start working with other players in the universe. A Progen warrior might lust after a certain type of weapon or navigation system but find that his technical acumen prevents him from using it. Perhaps helping a Terran explorer on a mission will result in the kind of upgrade that will enable the warrior to utilize the technology he craves.

When all is said and done, our intent is to leave it completely up to the player to determine how he or she plays the game.

GS: At what point in development will the initial launch of Earth and Beyond Online be feature-complete?

BS: At this point, it'll be really hard to say until we get through the first three months of stress testing. Feedback from the testers might provide us with a wealth of things we want to work into the game!

GS: Are you planning to add new features and functionality to the game after it launches?

BS: Absolutely. It's kind of tough to predict the myriad number of things that could be added to the game pre-launch until we get to the polishing and balancing part of development. Even when the game launches, you might have forgotten things that you wanted to add during the final stages of development. Fortunately since Earth and Beyond Online takes place in a universe that is constantly changing, we're afforded a certain luxury in being able to add new features.

GS: Earth and Beyond Online is scheduled to enter into public beta in a couple of weeks. How long do you anticipate the beta to last?

BS: Not an easy question to answer. I'm a bit reluctant to use the term "beta;" I prefer to think of what we'll be doing over the next few months as a "stress test." When a product reaches "beta," it's sometimes inferred or determined that it's feature-complete and all remaining work involves game balancing and bug fixing. We won't be in that phase for at least several months. The content, compatibility, and infrastructure are being tested each time we give more people the chance to participate. With each build, you'll see more features being implemented and more polish on the game. It also gives us the chance to get feedback from gamers on what they'd like to see added to the game.

GS: Can you give us an example of a game master event that you have planned for Earth and Beyond Online?

BS: GM events as they are commonly understood won't happen in Earth and Beyond Online. Keeping in mind that the game experience takes place in a living and changing environment, there will be key events, skirmishes, and dramatic changes, such as an entire system getting wiped out when a star goes supernova, tensions and conflict arising between Progens and Terrans, or a rumor surfacing that, in a particular part of the galaxy, enough advanced Jenquai have come together and created a new star port that never existed before.

GS: You know what happened with the launch of games like Anarchy Online and World War II Online. Is Westwood capable of handling the technological hurdles and bandwidth strains of launching a massively multiplayer online role-playing game?

BS: There's no doubt that persistent-state world (PSW) games are a big challenge. They're by far the toughest and most different kind of game to build, technologically. Although no amount of testing can perfectly mimic the real thing, we are implementing a very robust testing cycle to minimize any problems that may arise. We're also working hard to assemble the strongest staff possible for things like customer support, player conflict/resolution, and even billing.

GS: Last question, Brett. By now, fans of the game know that there are a total of nine archetypes that players can choose to play as. Which one is your favorite?

BS: I was wondering when you'd get around to asking that! The classes are so well divided that this early, I don't have a clear favorite right now. I am looking forward to playing as a Progen explorer or Terran warrior, however. But as we add more layers of content, that could change...

GS: Thanks for your time, Brett.