October 1st, you may have noticed, is right over there peeking at us from around the corner, dragging along the upcoming Amazon-published NCsoft title, Throne & Liberty. In fact, if you’ve paid for the preorder, your headstart begins this week.
So when Amazon agreed to answer a few of our questions ahead of the launch, I jumped at the chance to ask them. As a PvE-heavy and PvP-light player, I wanted to know more about what I – and MMO players like me – could look forward to. Daniel Lafuente, Globalization Design Manager at Amazon Games, kindly took up the challenge. Let’s dig in!
MassivelyOP: Sometimes MMORPG PvP can overshadow PvE a bit because it is so dynamic and exciting, with winners and losers. What’s fresh, dynamic, and exciting in T&L’s PvE?
Amazon Globalization Design Manager Daniel Lafuente: We think Throne and Liberty has some exciting parts of PvE as well. Just like with PvP, one of our core principles is scale. In Throne and Liberty we have Abyss Dungeons which are massive, underground, open-world dungeons that allow players to explore as far as six levels deep in some cases. These dungeons have more difficult enemies the further you go and can house thousands of players at a time. It’s safe to say you can get lost while exploring down there.
With other forms of PvE content we also have worked to create both casual and competitive aspects of PvE. On the casual side we have the base version of Taedal’s Tower or the co-op version of Dynamic Events, which have you working with others to complete a common task. For more competitive PvE players, we have co-op dungeons (followed by Challenge dungeons not long after launch), Gate of Infinity, and Peace Mode Dynamic Events which all have rankings and leaderboards tied to them for flexing your skills against other players.
What are the most attractive features of PvE for players who enjoy a more peaceful playstyle such as crafting or exploration? Are primarily PvE players going to be viable recruits for PvP guilds?
Throne and Liberty has put a deeper emphasis in recent updates to expand our Lifestyle content. For the Amazon Games Launch, players will be able to engage in Cooking, Fishing, and Amitoi Expeditions. All three of these feed into each other. So for example, the fish you catch and the ingredients your Amitoi [Editor’s note: They’re basically pets] gather while on expeditions can be used to cook up fancy dishes that provide excellent buffs to you and your party. The best part is that food created through the cooking system will be sellable on the Auction House, giving a great avenue for lifestyle-focused players to earn Lucent (premium currency).
We expect guilds will recruit like-minded players, and we’ve empowered them to do so by adding a tagging system. There’s no right way to play Throne and Liberty, and we already see a wide range of guilds recruiting in our official Discord.
Will small guilds still be able to find their place in massive battles?
Definitely! Castle Sieges have been designed with a wide range of player assembly in mind. While the largest and most powerful guilds battle for control of the throne and castle ownership, there are other points of interest that can be captured during the siege. One of these nodes is called a “Pillage Zone” that when claimed rewards Lucent and Sollant (standard progression currency) at the end of the siege. Smaller guilds can focus their efforts here or ally with larger guilds to strategically combine forces.
With respect to insights gleaned from previous play opportunities, what changes can players look forward to? What changes are in the pipeline?
We’ve been closely analyzing all the feedback and data from our previous beta tests and play opportunities for Throne and Liberty. Acting on that player input has been critical to making improvements.
A major area of focus has been refining and enhancing the core combat experience through our new Skill Specialization system. Players will now have more customization options to create unique character builds tailored to their preferred playstyle. We’ve also made significant improvements to character movement and camera controls based on recent open beta feedback.
Beyond combat, we’ve improved the player journey through the leveling phase to bring tons of fun early and often, which includes a variety of content to cater to different player interests.
In our upcoming roadmaps, we’ll be discussing more about what’s to come, including some fresh seasonal events and juicy new content that we’ll announce first for our global audience. Our goal is to rapidly, but appropriately, close the gap with the Korean version’s content timeline. Ultimately, our focus is on delivering an incredibly dynamic and immersive experience at launch, while incorporating player feedback to keep iterating and improving Throne and Liberty for years to come. I’m excited for everyone to see the fruits of our efforts when we release on October 1. I encourage you to check out our recent Launch Release Notes article for more specifics on what players can expect at Launch!
