At Cologne, this August, NHN showed his european debut, Karos Online, and we talked with Heejin Jeong, Senior Manager at the Overseas Game Sales Team at NHN, about this anticipated MMO.



GS: Could you talk about the background of the game ?
  Karos Online is a brand new MMORPG, released almost simultaneously in Korean and in English versions. The game has been developed by Galaxy Gate, a team including the lead developers of Laghaim and Last Chaos. It is brought in the West by NHN, a leading Internet company which operates the biggest search portal in Korea. NHN is operating about 600 games through game portals in Korea, Japan, China, and the United States, and is today entering the European online games market with Karos Online.

GS: What kind of setting does the game have ?
Karos Online is taking place in the world of Asmara, during dark times where it is threatened by the Lord of Darkness, Malyx. All the races in the world are uniting to protect the magical energy, the Fletta, from falling into Malyx’s hands and to prevent him from releasing its Curse of Darkness upon the world.

GS: What are the main features of Karos Online gameplay ?
 Karos Online’s  gameplay is based on traditional MMORPG features polished to a high degree of quality, with some unique features that are adding a lot of fun into the game.
At the core of the game is the concept of Fletta, the magical energy of the world. Players can collect Fletta Points by killing monsters, which are used for many things including developing character attributes.
There is also an elaborate crafting system in the game, based on Fletta Gems that can be mined from the ground or obtained as quest rewards or monster drops. These can be used to craft powerful magical Fletta weapons and armour that not only give you bonuses, but also evolve with your character. Fletta Gems can be obtained through quest rewards, monster drops, or via mining in Fletta Mines and fishing in the game
The game also features a PvP system based on guild rivalries and Fletta mine takeovers, and will at a later stage include massive Castle Siege warfare with hundreds of players, along with original dynamic dungeons with shifting paths and mazes for PvE fans.
The players can also acquire Holy Creatures, which serve as mounts and can be summoned from a piece of the character’s armour. These are upgradeable through crafting.

GS: How does the character’s progression work? Is there a lot of grinding/farming in the game?
There is a fair amount of quests in the game that allow you to level up your character, and it is also possible to hunt monsters as you like. There are also diverse systems like crafting, mining and fishing in the game, so you can progress through different activities, not just combat.
 In addition to the level-based character progression, the players can further develop their characters by using Fletta points earned while killing monsters, which can enhance certain attributes, be used  for certain very powerful skills, help them level faster or be donated to regional NPCs for access to special items.



GS: What about races and classes ?
The game is featuring 5 different races (of which 2 will be revealed at a later stage) and 9 original classes, with 3 of them available in the current Closed Beta phase. Each base class can specialize twice during the course of their progression, once at level 15 and once at level 45, giving a total of 36 sub-classes.
The races that have been announced so far are the Humans, the Shadows, a mystic race of blue-skinned creatures who are very proficient with magic, and the Seroines, half-human, half-elemental beings blessed with natural powers.
The available classes for this stage of Closed Beta are the Blader, a two-handed weapon melee class, who can specialize in handling Swords or Spears, the Rogue, a dual-wielding expert who can specialize in damage evasion or doing maximum damage, and the Bowmistress, a ranged combat specialist who can specialize in either mesmerizing opponents or pure ranged damage.

GS: PvP and PvE : How is content balanced between these?
Karos Online has both PvP and PvE features to appeal to different types of users.
At the moment there is open Player Killing(PK) outside of towns, with a Moral Value system which makes life much harder and more dangerous for those who choose to become evil and kill a lot of people. We are also listening to feedback from users and are considering opening non-PK servers.
The main focus of the PvP is Guild versus Guild, with an alliance/rivalry system that makes it possible to kill your enemies on sight without taking Moral Value penalties in the context of wars. This GvG system is very tied to the economical system of the game with the possibilities for guilds to fight and take over Fletta mines, and control them for up to 7 days before the next takeover takes place. At a later stage, massive Castle Sieges battles opposing hundreds of players are also planned into the game.
There is also a lot in Karos Online for PvE fans, with dynamic dungeons full of challenges and surprises. In addition to regular non-instanced dungeons, players can experience two types of special instanced dungeons : Event dungeons, where players actions are triggering random events and offering a variety of different paths to get through the dungeon to the final boss, and Maze dungeons, where players have to find their ways into a real labyrinth which walls are shifting, to get to the boss and the exit. The path is dynamically generated when you enter the instance, so finding the way out is a real challenge. Players will need a ticket to enter certain dungeons, and may find tickets to enter higher-level dungeons with their party when they beat a boss.

GS: Is the world of Karos totally open, or will some of it be instanced?
Karos Online features a seamless world (with no loading screen between zones), but some of the dungeons are also instanced for a party of five or a larger group of players.

GS: What is crafting like in Karos Online?
The crafting system in Karos Online revolves around the concept of Fletta, which is a component in creating weapons and armours, and even Holy Creatures. Fletta weapons and armours come in six different grades of quality, and can be upgraded through crafting with other components that can be dropped from monsters or earned as quest rewards.
Players can also enhance items by setting special gems on them which enhance certain attributes.

 

GS: What’s the state of the game right now ?
We have already done our first Beta Event,  with more Closed Beta Weekend events planned before the beginning of Open Beta. Karos Online’s commercial launch is planned for Q4 2009.
Because it is just the beginning of Open Beta, NHN is looking forward to listening to the feedback of Western players and working together to adapt the game to players tastes  and build the community. There will be updates every six months after the commercial launch, so we have very long-term plans with this game.

Thanks a lot for your interest in Karos! Hope to see you in the beta!
 

 

 

Thx to NHH for the interview.