Shining Lore Online Q&A

The world of online role-playing games seems to keep getting bigger and bigger--it can sometimes seem as though new online games are appearing on the scene all the time to challenge the current heavyweight champions, EverQuest and Ultima Online. One of these up-and-coming games is Shining Lore Online, a new fantasy role-playing game from developer Phantagram. Unlike a lot of other high-fantasy role-playing games, Shining Lore seems considerably more lighthearted and colorful--the game isn't simply about hacking your way through hordes of orcs and dragons to gain experience levels and the most powerful weapons and armor for your characters.

In fact, the game will have a comprehensive set of trade skills that will let you develop your characters and actually gain experience levels from practicing your cooking and armor-crafting skills, rather than always being forced to go out and pummel monsters. And like any good online role-playing game, Shining Lore will also have a developed social system that will let you easily chat with other players and form player guilds with your friends. Finally, Shining Lore will even have a number of different minigames that will let you take a break from fighting, crafting, and chatting.

For more information on this unusual online role-playing game, we sat down with Phantagram producer Jay Kim.

GameSpot: Thanks for taking the time for this interview, Jay. Can you discuss your role in developing Shining Lore Online?

Jay Kim: I'm a producer at Phantagram Interactive, currently in charge of managing the entire production of Shining Lore and directly involved with the concept building process as well.

GS: Shining Lore Online definitely looks like an unusual online role-playing game--very different from most PC online RPGs. How much inspiration did the designers take from console RPGs?

JK: Shining Lore is indeed a console-like online RPG for the PC. It strongly emphasizes cute game characters, a user-friendly interface, and a learn-as-you-go type of gameplay that used to be a style only possible with consoles. If you take the most popular RPGs in history on both consoles and the PC, such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy for the consoles and Baldur's Gate and the Wizardry series for PC (the list goes on and on), while they still fall in the same genre of role-playing games, each platform has produced totally different games. Shining Lore has been specifically designed from the outset to narrow down this gap between PC and console as much as possible by utilizing the most advantageous features of both platforms, bringing the systematic structure of PC RPGs and the strong storyline typical of console RPGs.

GS: However, Shining Lore will be a PC game, and many PC role-playing game fans have different tastes and different expectations. Can you discuss what steps you'll be taking to make sure that the game will appeal to fans of PC role-playing games? How will Shining Lore compare with EverQuest or Dark Age of Camelot, for instance?

JK: Unlike some other massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) set in a fantasy world, which are sometimes too flat or too predictable, Shining Lore is in a distinctive category with unique gameplay, items, environments, and characters. Yes, our hearts raced [in other games] when a giant ogre attempted to slice us to pieces, and, yes, we were fascinated when mysterious sorcerers struck down enemies with their mighty magic spells. But in Shining Lore, you will be able to meet ordinary people such as a chef, an engineer, or a designer (these are the actual careers from Shining Lore that you may choose to be). Each character will be furnished with extraordinary abilities in a world that would have normally only existed in our imagination. This is why we dared to say, "Say good-bye to tedious, meaningless, hack-and-slash MMOs." You can level up and gain experience from playing every game element available in Shining Lore, from the minigames to party-based [adventuring]. Simply put, you'll enjoy living in this virtual world as well as dealing with monsters. We don't want players running around a field with no primary goal to achieve.

Shining Characters

GS: Can you describe Shining Lore's character creation and development? What sort of characters can players create?

JK: This question can be answered by mentioning the "avatar" character system that Shining Lore uses. What this allows you to do is create your own unique avatar character from five different choices, or "inclinations," which are fire, water, wind, sand, and, last but not the least, thunder. Then from one of the inclinations you choose, you can raise your avatar to be an expert in a certain profession, which diverges out from each of the five inclinations.

GS: Can you discuss how combat will work in Shining Lore? What sort of weapons and magic spells will players be able to use? What monsters will they be able to fight?

JK: Again, Shining Lore is mainly focused on achieving the console type of action on PC, very intense and [good-looking]. Instead of confronting skeletons, zombies, orcs (well, you know the famous lineup), the monsters in Shining Lore will be rabbits, boars, and pandas. They may seem too cute to be monsters or too adorable to slash them down mercilessly, but they can be brutal and deadly with their unusual powers and abilities derived from their mutations. The weapons and spells [available to players] will be distinctive to each career.

GS: How will player characters fight each other? Will there be full player-versus-player (PVP) fighting or special arena areas, or will Shining Lore have separate servers for PVP and non-PVP characters?

JK: Shining Lore basically pursues a world created upon a specific concept: peace. But we didn't want to limit the fun you can have playing this game. We had no choice but to create an arena where no-mercy-in-your-soul fighting with other players is possible with no penalties.

GS: We also know that Shining Lore will have noncombat trade skills, like cooking. Can you discuss some examples of these skills? Will players be able to practice their trade skills and gain experience levels without ever having to fight?

JK: Yes. Other than cooking, an engineer will be able to combine or fix weapons, and a designer will do what they do best, which is designing armor. We call these skills trade skills. Assuming you're a member of a guild or an individual that just doesn't see the appeal of hunting monsters in the field, you can house yourself and sell food (which allows the instant recovery of health points to other players who eat there) or fix other players' dull weapons at a cost for the service. By repeatedly doing this, you will gain experience levels and live a comfortable economic life, while others choose the adventurer's life of battle.

GS: We've heard that Shining Lore will also have minigames for players to play when they're not fighting monsters or practicing their trade skills, such as playing games at an in-game arcade. Could you give some examples of the minigames? Will they just be for fun, or will players be able to gain experience from them?

JK: Off the top of my head, Shining Lore currently has 3D battle chess, trump, typo, UFO catcher, and more [minigames] to come. Not only are they fun to play, but also as you play them, you will be able to gain experience levels without putting your life in jeopardy on the battlefield.

A Shining Society

GS: We know that there are plans to include player housing in Shining Lore Online. Can you describe how housing will work? Will players build or buy houses? Will houses be "safe zones" where players can't be attacked? Are there any plans to eventually let players use their houses as businesses or to let groups of players who own houses that are near to each other create their own towns?

JK: We are still tossing ideas around on how we should develop the housing system in Shining Lore [in a way] that can match players' expectations. In concept, I repeat again, in concept, you will be able to buy land and build a house, then decorate the insides any way you like. Whether it's going to be expandable for business uses or [whether you can] form neighborhoods with other players are remaining questions, but I guarantee there will be some sort of secured place you can live in and stretch your legs.

GS: Can you discuss what kind of social and chat elements will be in the game? Will players be able to form player guilds? Will player guilds enjoy any special advantages?

JK: Socializing with other players online is another key element of Shining Lore. In towns on each continent (there will be a total of four different continents available), you will run into entertaining places like a hotel, a bar, a chatting café, and so on, where you can mingle with other players and party up with someone who catches your interest. Or you can just hang out for fun. Forming a party or guild is important in Shining Lore because there will be shared points and experiences when you fight in a group, and others could have useful skills you lack. In the PVP arena, you can fight for glory and honor against rival guilds.

GS: It sounds like there will be plenty to do in the game besides just fighting monsters, but what about players who don't have a lot of time on their hands? If players want to quickly log in and play for an hour or two, will they be able to hunt monsters or perform trade skills productively, or will they have to wait for a group? Will Shining Lore have "downtime"--that is, time spent waiting for wounds to heal and spell points to replenish after fighting monsters?

JK: I admit that playing every game element in Shining Lore (such as combat, forming guilds, minigaming, practicing noncombat trade skills, questing, and so on) in a limited time span is nearly impossible. However, the true concept of Shining Lore is to present gamers another imaginative world where they can live a simulated daily life and experience the most entertaining parts of it. Shining Lore is not all about finding a certain item or completing a mission in a couple of hours. The Shining Lore we created is to give an opportunity for gamers to log in at any time, on any day, and simply enjoy playing the game.

But, yes, because of Shining Lore's systematic balancing, even players [with limited schedules] will be able to hack and slash monsters to gain levels quickly.

GS: Finally, is there anything else you'd like to add about Shining Lore Online?

JK: Absolutely. Enjoy playing Shining Lore Online, available soon in your area. Your interest in Shining Lore is always appreciated.

GS: Thanks, Jay.