MMOHut Faxion Online Interview

A Few weeks ago UTV True Games asked me to do an interview for their upcoming game Faxion Online. Since there wasn’t too much info available out there about the game, I figured doing an interview would be an awesome way for me to learn more about the game and to share that info with MMOHut readers. Anyway, on with the interview!

Erhan Altay (EA): Hi, this is Erhan from MMOHut, Can you please introduce yourself and tell us your position at UTV True Games.

UTV True Games (TG): Hello, I am Mike Madden the Creative Director for UTV True Games.

Faxion Online Combat

EA: UTV True Games publishes free to play games including Mytheon and Warrior Epic, but Faxion Online will be their first internally developed MMORPG. Can you give us a brief overview of Faxion Online?

TG: I would love to. Faxion Online is, as you stated, our first internally developed product. Faxion Online is a persistent world MMORPG, delivered with a competitive edge. Players will choose to join the armies of Heaven and Hell, and fight over key locations in the world of Limbo. Each Territory players can fight over is represented through the lens of one of the seven deadly sins.

EA: Tell us a little more about the theme and backstory in Faxion Online. Players can chose between good and evil, Hell or Heaven, but what kind of characters will they control? What kind of environments will they explore?

TG: What details? Who wants details?! Heh. We have set to launch the game with three base classes, with each faction getting their own representation of that class. So for example, our base class of Fighter is represented as a Crusader for Heaven, and a Reaver for Hell. It’s not just a difference in name, the abilities available to them will differ to help separate the classes as they progress. This carries across to the other classes as well. We will be revealing more on our website very soon, so please do check in! (yah I know shameless plug, marketing threatened me)

As for the world, Limbo, we run players through a host of unique location types. From high altitude mountain ranges and swamps to dusty canyons and lush jungles. We really wanted to give each location its own unique feel, while giving a good representation of the sin. We may not always play up an angle that some might expect…

Faxion Online Firey Environment

EA: The varying classes between the two factions is neat. Faxion Online bills it self as a combat-driven MMORPG, what kind of PvP features and combat system can we expect from the game?

TG: Well, one thing that makes me a happy pvper is being able to progress my character through pvp play, so yes we will offer pvp progression. One area we as players really wanted to address was how stale combat can get, or how often it’s sold as one thing but then plays out completely differently. We noticed over and over again how often times fights result in a player standing in a single location, and rolling a series of buttons. Not much fun, not very exciting, and honestly no strategy! Players should be aware of their environment, and those that are should yield benefits from that. Height advantages, flanking maneuvers and other spatially aware players will find they can actually look to capitalize on planning and execute proper ambushes on opposing players. Pay attention is the key to combat, and we are capitalizing on that point.

We have a few wrinkles we have thrown in as well that are class specific, but we won’t reveal those just yet.

EA: I don’t think any other MMORPG requires players to be spatially aware to do flanks and other maneuvers, so that’s original. PvP is great, but as a fully-featured MMORPG, what PvE content will be included? What kind of end game content can we expect?

TG: We are supporting familiar formats of PVE. This is an area we really see growing in post launch as well, with the help of players. We will have a fully functioning quest system offering chained quests, dailies and even pvp questing. As for guild raids and the such, we are not offering dungeons initially when we go live. It’s something we have built a framework to support as we develop the world of Limbo and ultimately expand Faxion.

Faxion Online Skill Animation

EA: The lack of dungeons at launch is disappointing, but at least they’ll be added post-launch. How will progression work in Faxion Online? Will players level up, gain skill points, or some other method? Will progression be driven by quests, or other activities?

TG: Can I give the fast answer of yes? We do have levels, players do get skill points as well as the ability to decide where their attribute points are going.

One goal for me and the rest of the team is to remove the burden of playing an MMO. Not everyone is able to devote the same amount of time, and is that fair that someone who has the same desire, but is unable to compete due to games demanding too much? This is something I think many of us face at various times in life. Faxion and the team really set out ways to relieve this, and I think we have achieved those goals. We have offline progression as our most unique part of character advancement. This is a topic I would love to get into deeper, but I think its best I leave that for another time….(I think they are listening right now)

EA: An MMORPG without grind? This I’d like to see! Will Faxion Online include a crafting system, mounts, special guild features, or anything else along those lines?

TG: We fully intend to support crafting post launch, but it was not a focus for us initially. We want to focus on getting as solid a game experience as we can deliver in the time we have. Better we have a few things at 100% than “lots-o-stuff” at 70%

Faxion will support guilds and offer those groups the tools they need to manage their members. This is another area where we really feel we want players feedback to expand on this system. We can sit in a room or read forums all day long and never get it right. We want to see it in action, talk with the players and be sure we are reacting to their requests appropriately. We do not want to design and implement a system that is massive and bloated, to then only find a 30% usage by players. We have a tremendous framework that we can continue to improve and expand on as players evolve their uses of the guild structure and systems.

We will also have some unique social platform integrated features that we will be sharing with the public soon.

Faxion Online Forest Environment

EA: The official site is thin on information at the moment, when can we expect to learn more about Faxion Online? Is there a release date or beta phase date set yet? Feel free to share any final words!

TG: I already said they are listening, so I don’t think I can answer this one as I would like…

The website should be getting regular updates as well as we are active on Facebook and Twitter!

Final Words…scary thought for a guy who has been living with the dead in Purgatory for over the past year. I guess I would like to take this opportunity to say I think Faxion is shaping itself to stand tall in any framework of MMORPG’s, be it free to play or box. The team is very excited to reach a point we can begin to share our passion for Faxion with the players. We hope people enjoy what they read, and eventually love what they can play.

Last but not least, Thank You Erhan for the opportunity to talk about Faxion and for having us here on MMOHUT.

See you in HELL!

Well there you have it guys – Even though Faxion Online is far from release, it seems interesting. I say this because it’s one of the only free to play MMORPGs developed inside of the United States (Austin, TX actually). So we’ll see how it holds up against the mountain of Korean and Chinese MMORPGs already released. Oh and for those that don’t know – UTV True Games also publishes Mytheon and Warrior Epic.