Forums @ Prydwen.net

Overview:
Q. What is Hero's Journey?
A. Hero's Journey is the new 3-D Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game from Simutronics, the same people who brought you GemStone IV, DragonRealms, Modus Operandi, Alliance of Heroes, and CyberStrike 2.

Q. When will Hero's Journey be released?
A. It is slated for a 2007 release. However, play testing will ultimately determine when HJ is ready to go.

Q. Who is creating the game?
A. Simutronics is one of the pioneering companies in this dynamic field. Founded in 1987, the company has seen more than a million paying players through the Web, Microsoft's MSN Gaming Zone, Prodigy, CompuServe, America Online, and GEnie. Development partners over the years include most of the leaders in the online, media, and computer game industry including Universal Studios, Sony, Viacom, Time Warner, and Microprose.

Q. What 3D engine will HJ use?
A. Hero's Journey uses a proprietary game engine developed by Simutronics Corp.

Q. Do I need a broadband connection, or is my modem okay?
A. Broadband is highly recommended, but it will be possible to play via a modem.

Q. What are the system requirements to play HJ?
A. At this time we do not know what the minimum system requirements will be, however, we are making an effort to make them as low as possible without affecting the quality of the game environment. We will provide more information on this as it is available.

Q. Will there be monthly fee to play the game?
A. Yes.

Q. Will there be multiple methods of payment besides just credit cards?
A. Yes. In addition to credit cards, we offer the opportunity to make advanced payment by check and by electronic funds transfer directly from your bank or savings account.

Q. Once I subscribe, should I expect new content to be added to the game?
A. Simutronics is a company that prides itself on its ability to frequently and dynamically upgrade its games. The tradition of regular updates that we started 15 years ago will be alive and well in Hero's Journey. Players should expect frequent mini-releases as well as larger boxed expansions.

Q. Will HJ come out for any platform other than PC?
A. No, Hero's Journey is being developed specifically as a PC game.

Q. How many people will be able to play at one time in HJ?
A. Thousands. We expect our population limits to be commensurate with most existing MMORPGs that use multiple game servers.

Q. Will there be a tutorial?
A. Yes.

Q. What can I do in HJ?
A. Custom-tailor and advance your character, form alliances with other players, join in-game organizations, complete multi-tiered quests and story arcs, collect and customize hundreds of items, discover a rich fantasy world unlike anything you've seen before, and much more!

Q. Will there be playtesting (Beta, Alpha, pre-release testing)?
A. When the time comes, yes.

Features

Q. How will HJ differ from other MMORPGs?
A. Simutronics' design motto is "More Fun. Less Tedium." and Hero's Journey shows it. The game elements focus on fun, action-packed, adventure-style roleplay. With less waiting and more playing, Hero's Journey provides an innovative mix of familiar game play elements and some fresh new ones.

A special emphasis is placed on Character creation tools that provide an extensive amount of flexibility, both in terms of character appearance as well as character abilities. This attention to detail is also reflected in beautiful environments, and compelling, dynamic mini-quests.

Q. How can I get involved in Hero's Journey?
A. Have your guild leader join Hero's Journey's Hero Council. The Hero Council invites gaming community leaders to come together and act as representatives of their player communities and express their desires, thoughts and ideas for game design. In this manner, Hero's Journey will continue to be developed with a broadened range of input and more accurately depict what the player population wants. Ideally, it is a mechanism by which ideas can flow from the community to the community leadership to the Hero's Journey developers, eventually reaching a stage where these ideas can be considered for inclusion into the game. If you do not yet have one, you can create a free play.net account and then fill out the Hero Council application form here.

Q. Will Hero's Journey use multiple servers?
A. Yes. Some may be themed or have original rule sets such as PvP servers or Roleplaying servers.

Q. Is the Hero's Journey world zone-based or seamless?
A. Hero's Journey is zone-based and utilizes both common areas and instancing.

Q. What is the game's backstory?
A. In Hero's Journey, Simutronics returns to the world of Elanthia. More later!

Player Characters

Q. What classes will players be able to choose?
A. A character selects two classes, a primary and a secondary. The combination of those two provides the ability lists the player will choose from.

The tentative list for the nine classes to choose from is: Warrior, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard, Necromancer, Gearknight, Healer, Cleric, and Bard.

More information about the classes and their abilities will appear on the site as we finalize them.

Q. Will Hero's Journey offer live events run by GameMasters?
A. HJ GameMasters will number in the hundreds. It will be their responsibility to architect original and challenging adventures, and run special quests and live events just like in other Simutronics games.

Q. How detailed is character customization?
A. Players will be able to customize their characters with a system that is unmatched compared to other MMOGs.

Not all options will be available to the player at character creation. We still want to preserve the fun of finding cool stuff that you can add to your outfit, or maybe trade or sell to other characters. Some of these items will have special abilities as well. This keeps loot interesting while still preserving the fun of character creation.

Q. How will combat be handled?
A. Auto-attacking is reserved for your most basic combat moves. The real skill of the fight is in everything else a player does. Players will need to be very conscious of what is going on around them and make split-second decisions.