David Perry Interview about 2Moons on MMORPG.COM

Another Interview on 2MOONS is now up.
MMORPG.COM

The man behind 2Moons to the West answers our questions about the game
David Perry talks to us more about the MMO he and Acclaim are importing to North American audiences from Korea. Originally known as Dekaron, 2Moons is being redesigned, re-written and recast as an ultra violent MMORPG for adult gamers.
MMORPG.com: Give us a little background on 2Moons. How did the idea begin? What was Acclaim’s motivation for an MMO?
David Perry:
I’m just one of these people that want to fire up a game and have fun. If I’m required to know the back history of 5 clans, or watch 20 minutes of cinematics, or read a website before I can have fun, it just bugs me. So I’ve been toying with the idea of making an MMO that’s easy to get into, easy to understand, possibly funny at points, but that makes you feel bad-ass. Not wanting to wait 3 years to find out how it went, I looked for games/engines that could be a match. The closest I could find was a game called Dekaron made by GameHi in Korea. So now I had to convince the creator of that game to let me make any changes (not small ones, big ones, like “Erm… Would you mind if we changed the entire story?”) They agreed! So being on a roll I made a list of “difficult requests” and flew to Korea again to explain those in person. Again, they seem receptive and are working on those. The great news is that we are just a few months away from launch.
So I’ve teamed up with a publisher with no Baggage, in the form of Acclaim. Howard Marks (the CEO) was one of the guys that brought Activision back from Bankruptcy, and as you know it’s massive today. He’s now doing the same thing with the Acclaim brand. He’s backing this concept 150% and so I say he’s either crazy or a pioneer. Only time will tell, but you can be certain he’ll have a lot of consumer fans that got to play his games for free.
MMORPG.com: There has been talk of your business model involving a free game that creates funds from advertising. How will this impact players as well as Acclaim?
David Perry:
Some of the hardcore Gamers often believe that in game advertising is evil, that’s because we mention the “advertising” word, we must suck. Maybe we do suck, but the funny thing is that I agree, advertising (in general) does suck today! I remember buying Tivo stock hoping someday TV advertising (as it is today) will be forced to change. I am still waiting!! Games are the same, the solution is not to ram advertising down a gamer’s throat. (Or like websites do today, they drop the advert right over the text you’re trying to read!… I just love that! ARGH! I believe it’s all about an exchange. We know that advertising pays the bills, but don’t ruin my service over it. What I mean is that if the TV companies found a way to ram even more advertising down your throat they would. Hold on, they did that already, they now have a device that scans shows tearing out individual frames (including fixing audio pops the lost frames cause) they think you won’t notice, so they can get one more advert in.
>>For me, that’s the wrong direction. What I prefer is, if I don’t want adverts and they’re truly annoying to me, then just let me turn them off. If I don’t mind the adverts, then reward me, like let me watch the Pay-Per-View for free. Then advertising could be a win/win. If you want to pay cash for the pay-per-view, go ahead, if you want it for free, turn on a single 128×128 static image in the bottom right corner of the screen, sit back and enjoy.
Which would you want? Different people have their own opinions and that’s the core point, we respect those opinions by giving choice. I expect many will just turn off the adverts and thank us for an innovative options. Some will choose the rewards. (In 2Moons you level up faster if the static advert is on.)
So we then did a test and asked the gamers, how many would CHOOSE to turn the adverts on if they were rewarded. Amazingly the statistic sits at about 97%. So this to me seems a pretty safe bet.
I’m happy to work with the in-game advertising companies, to help them improve the relationship between their audience and their clients. I feel that making gamers watch adverts they frankly don’t want to see is actually a disservice to their advertising clients.These concepts seem a long way off for the TV world, but they can certainly work for games. So Acclaim will be the first company to deliver the promise of truly free games, yet backed by a perfectly viable business model. For me this is interesting and could change how people think about funding games, so I’m having fun. If I fail, nothing changes, if I succeed, then in the future you’ll end up reaching in your wallet a lot less, and that will drive the message home to publishers, that you want them to experiment with new models too.
MMORPG.com: Can you tell us about how advertisements will be displayed or used in your game?
David Perry:
Well that’s a good question. It turns out we have not chosen the company yet that will source the adverts, we are getting pitched by them, but have not signed on the dotted line yet. They each have their own size rules and we will work with the art director on the game, to find places to put the adverts without breaking anything.
MMORPG.com: What storyline does 2Moons follow? What is the setting for the game world?
David Perry:
To cut it really short, the story is focused on a giant Door that when opened, beasts are unleashed into the lands of Haran and kill almost everyone. Two cities remain and once you step outside, you’re in ever-increasing danger. It’s up to you what you do, we don’t lead you. You can be a wimp and sit around town all day, or go fishing, or you can gather up some friends and just see how far you can penetrate into the unknown. You will have no idea what’s coming next and you can bet it’s dangerous. You and people like you must try to survive until the two moons cross, only then will Trieste – the white lady, be re-incarnated and can once more seal the gate closed with her own blood.
MMORPG.com: How will characters be represented in the game world? What classes or careers will they be able to choose from?
David Perry:
We have six classes: Warriors, Knights, Summoners, Magicians, Hunters & Healers. These characters have very different skill trees, I like the Knights, my friends are playing as Summoners (to control pets) and Hunters (for the ranged weapons). That said, I just got a new build with the Warriors, and I must say, I expect a LOT of people to choose them.
MMORPG.com: “No mercy for the weak, no pity for the dying, no tears for the slain.” Can you tell us a little about your tag line?
David Perry:
This is one of the first violent adult content MMORPGs.
Violence has an unfair stigma in games thanks to Take 2 with their dishonesty when questioned “is there adult content in your game?”. Our industry demands you’re honest up front, or the whole system fails. In this game, there is a lot of blood, a lot of profanity and a lot of violence. I enjoy this kind of game, and I don’t feel it should be any problem as we are VERY clear on this. It’s not a game for Children.
MMORPG.com: With a tag line like that is it safe to say there will be PvP in the game? Can you tell us about the PvP system you plan to use?
David Perry:
As I’ve spent a lot of time playing the game alone (I have my own server), I’ve not really spent enough time experimenting with the PvP system. It’s set up so you get thrown in jail if you cross the line, but overall PvP is an option when in PvP territory. We also have duels, which are fun with similar level players as it becomes all about strategy.
My new build will enable for me to explore PvP more and so I will report back on that.
MMORPG.com: How closely tied is 2Moons to the Korean MMO Dekaron? Can you tell us about the success of that game?
David Perry:
I like Dekaron, it’s one of the most arcade like MMORPG’s I’ve seen. Big giant bosses, big visuals, lots of blood etc. So to be clear, we’re starting with something that’s already successful in Korea. We will however change things like the story, the dialog and give hundreds of design changes, from cameras to interface to balancing to fighting etc.
MMORPG.com: Will players be able to use crafting in the game? How will this be set up?
David Perry:
No we don’t have crafting yet. I expect we will add this in the future updated.
MMORPG.com: What can we expect as far as a beta and launch is concerned?
David Perry:
Yes, I’m looking for gamers with designer DNA. I’m not looking for testers. I want them to really get into the discussions on every feature from balance, to interface, to cameras to controls. I want them to be able to make a difference and they will be communicating directly with me.
Feel free to sign up at http://www.2moonsgame.com so you can track when our beta access becomes available. (You can help me make the game good!) And also at http://www.dperry.com I will try to keep my Blog updated so people can see how this process is going.
If your readers have specific questions for me, have them just post them to our forums and I will answer.