Nostale Global Exclusive Interview
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Nostale is a unique MMORPG with easy-to-access events which allow players to interact with other players in PvP and survival objectives. Uforia brought popular MMORPG Nostale: Global to North American market in January 2009 as their first title. We got this opportunity to interview Stefano Mauri and Chris Keswani from the team of Uforia about the details of Nostale Global.
MMOsite: Hello, thanks for taking our interview. First off, would you please introduce yourself and your company Uforia to our readers? Chris:Thank you for giving us this opportunity to talk about Nostale: Global. Our game Master is Stefano Mauri and my name is Chris Keswani. I handle the marketing and overall branding strategy for Nostale: Global. MMOsite: Could you tell us what is the storyline and backdrop behind Nostale Online? Stefano: Basically, a long time ago, there were these demons that were kept out of the human world by the ancient gods. But now there have been recent sightings of them everywhere as they've been slipping through the Stones of TimeSpace that are spread throughout Eastmile. These Demons want nothing more than to bring destruction to this world, they've been putting evil thoughts into people's heads and causing riots and strikes down in the local mines, but that's only the beginning. There's a rumor that the demons are working to awaken the sleeping Tree of Fernon, a being which has the power to destroy all life on the planet. This is where you come in, check out if you can see what's causing the strike down in the mine and find clues to figure out just what the demons are up to. MMOsite: What kinds of gamers are you most likely targeting? Do you think it will be appealing to both hardcore and casual gamers? Chris: The great aspect of Nostale:Global is that it appeals to a wide range of gamers. We classify this game as a cute MMO. I personally like the more hardcore games genre, but the first time I played Nostale: Global I was hooked on the game play and the overall feel. Casual gamers tell us that they like it because it does not take ages to get into the game and that they can just have fun with it for a short time and then move on. On the other side of the coin, our hardcore gamers tell us they like the fact that if they want to be involved for hours at a time exploring the various maps and being part of the ever-expanding community, then they have plenty of opportunities in Nostale:Global.
MMOsite: What core concepts and features do you emphasize most in Nostale Online? And what's your favorite feature form now on in your opinion? Stefano: The core concept we try to push in Nostale is a unique sense of ownership that goes along with the game. There are a lot of different animals and partner NPCs that you can get which will help you in your journeys and all the things you get can be viewed in your Mini-Land, which is our personal take on Player Housing. But this is much more than just a house; it's a personal hangout spot for you and your friends. In the Mini-land, you can decorate your house, plant flowers in your garden, or even add mini-games to your property. MMOsite: What led you to import this MMORPG into the U.S. market? Why do you believe it will be viable? How will your game set itself apart from other fantasy MMORPGs? Chris: Nostale: Global is a title that has universal appeal. In a world filled with hardcore games, we thought introducing a cute MMO which has appeal that reaches across a wide spectrum of gamers would be well -received. There are two main points which set Nostale: Global apart from the competition. First, the character design. It has a very cutesy look and feel to it. The second point would be that the events are easy to access and also our GM tries to create events that appeal to various interests among the Nostale: Global gaming population. Some are more creative in nature while others are more analytical. |
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MMOsite: Can you basically introduce the four classes in Nostale Online to our readers? What sort of unique traits will each of them have? And what is their typical role in a team? Stefano: The first class, and the one that everyone starts off as, is the Adventurer. You can consider him the "jack of all trades, master of none" sort of character. He has some ranged attacks, some melee skills and a little bit of magic, but none quite as good as the other three classes. People looking for a challenge sometimes decide to never pick another class and see how far they can level their adventurer. The other three classes are Sorcerer, Swordsman and Archer which as their name suggests are masters of magic, swordplay and ranged attacks respectively. This will also have an impact on the specialist classes that you can get with those classes as well.
MMOsite: And how about the specialist? Is that a new class? Can you give us some details about that? Stefano: The Specialist card system is a great way to make your character's class unique but still go back to the basics if you need to. Basically, by completing certain challenging missions you can get Specialist cards tailored to your character's class that allow you to take the form of a new (and potentially more powerful) class that the player can play and level, and can be unequipped to go back to your regular character. A player can get multiple amounts of these cards to level, and the stronger your character is, the more powerful the Specialist card he/she can equip. MMOsite: Can you introduce some other features of Nostale Online for our readers, for example the mini house, pets, etc.? Stefano: One feature that we particularly enjoy is the fun and easy to access events that happen every hour or so. These are two basic events that players can join in no matter where they are in the game. The first is called IceBreaker, and it's a free for all PvP game based on the concept of freeze tag, once a player gets killed he becomes a big giant ice cube, then that player joins the team of whoever defrosts him first. The game ends when there is only one team left standing. The second is Instant Combat, where you and your fellow Nostale players have to work together to fight of waves of continually harder monsters.
MMOsite: How often will GMs host in-game events for players? What are some examples that have already been run recently? And any exciting ones on your schedule? Stefano: We tend to have live GM-hosted events every two weeks. Some are simple but the prizes are really great, we've even had users emailing us saying that are prizes are almost too good. The last GM event that we did was a math style event, in which players were asked to come up with answers to simple math problems in order to figure out what item they needed to give the GM. It may seem like a slightly nerdy event, but players responded really positively towards it. I think people really want to try something different than the same style events they get from other games. The next GM hosted event will be happening on February 23rd and will be the Hero Mission Time Trial. Users will have to join up in teams to race through a dungeon and see which team gets the best time. The top prize for the winner is 50,000 UFOs which can be used in the in-game cash mall. MMOsite: Finally, do you have anything more we didn't involve in this interview about Nostale Online that you'd like to tell our readers? Chris: We will be adding new items and other features in the upcoming months, so players should be ready for those exciting new developments. Also, our GM is planning more and even better events over the next month and beyond. |
