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All Points Bulletin: Interview with EJ Moreland

MikeBMikeB Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555

MMORPG.com's Angie Webb sat down with APB's Lead Designer EJ Moreland for an interview during her recent visit to the offices of Realtime Worlds.

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MMORPG.com:

After the news from GDC and PAX, could you talk about some of the new information that has been released since then?



EJ Moreland:

I’m trying to think what we actually announced at PAX and GDC, I don’t think we talked about the business model. Basically the business model is the biggest new thing … and open beta starting basically about a week to a week-and-a-half from now (ed. interview was on June 2nd) That’s what the current plan is. It’s moved a little bit, but somewhere within the next few weeks ... and our release date being June 29th for the US and July 1st/2nd for EU/UK.



MMORPG.com:

For someone who’s not familiar with APB can you kind of sum it up?



EJ Moreland:

APB is an online action game at its heart. That’s really the kind of core experience that we expect people to walk to the shelf and buy it for. I kind of relate it more to “paintball online”. We don’t do locational damage. It’s meant to be an easier transition then say Modern Warfare or Counterstrike, and it’s not akin to those games. I’ve played those games quite a bit. I think there’s a bigger audience out there that enjoys player-to-player competition. It just can be so free formed that they get overwhelmed. I think with the structure we have and what we are trying to do, that there is a big enough audience out there that just really going to enjoy the game. If you like paintball, I think you’re going to like APB.

Read the full interview here.

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Comments

  • JestorRodoJestorRodo Member UncommonPosts: 2,642

    APB will be this "Play This" as opposed to "The Agency" being a "Don't Play That" 

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  • WardropWardrop Member Posts: 462

    They had a rule set that really appealed to my guild, the chaos rule set... but its scrapped.. I wonder if they will do a turf wars type of rule set in its place.. the game is begging for that type of competition. Something with more the 4 players in a group fighting over areas of the maps etc. i mean we are going to have at least 34 members playing the game, yet only 4 in a group is kind of blah...





    There has to be a place for dedicated guilds with larger player bases in APB.



     

  • eric_w66eric_w66 Member UncommonPosts: 1,006

    The Agency might be cool as well, but we'll see since it seems to be going a lot more in the direction of microtransactions.

    APB, which I got to play briefly in the KttC event currently going on. I highly recommend grabbing a key and playing it if you are even remotely interested in the game. It'll tell you whether or not to take the plunge. Be warned: Time spent customizing your character and in the tutorial counts against the 5 hour maximum "action" time. I blew through my 5 hours in no time. I had a blast doing it too. The match making system is pretty good (better than Global Agenda's at least), though it still seems to rely too much on your "Rating", though I suppose that will even out as people "level" up. Being a "threat 9" and getting 2 or 3 "threat 1" newbies tasked after you is nearly impossible to overcome, as they still have automatic weapons, even if they are the starter weapons. They still hurt.  And I was using only 1 step above the newbie weapon, which isn't a huge delta in power (which I like).

    I received a cool custom truck and a cool custom LMG for rewards for doing well in some of the bigger missions (I don't know which is which, but hey...) sadly, my ranking was/is in the mid 40's, and they require level 75 and 85 to use, which I cannot achieve with 5 minutes left of action time :)....

    The customization is pretty fun as well, I am up to "Tuner 6" and "Fashionista 5" (car and clothing respectively). I just wish I could drive my pimped truck.... and I wish you could test stuff out in the social district.

    Sadly, all my designs and stuff are going to be dumped in the giant bit bucket in the sky. /sigh

  • burningburning Member UncommonPosts: 10

    Originally posted by Wardrop



    They had a rule set that really appealed to my guild, the chaos rule set... but its scrapped.. I wonder if they will do a turf wars type of rule set in its place.. the game is begging for that type of competition. Something with more the 4 players in a group fighting over areas of the maps etc. i mean we are going to have at least 34 members playing the game, yet only 4 in a group is kind of blah...





    There has to be a place for dedicated guilds with larger player bases in APB.



     


     

    Chaos ruleset is NOT scrapped...it WILL be in for release it has been confirmed on the forums a few times by devs

  • zaylinzaylin Member UncommonPosts: 794

    Ya they should have really implimented some sort of Turf Mechanic would have made the game more interesting. And I cant belive they scrapped the Chaos rule set,thats just lame.

  • DjfusionDjfusion Member Posts: 186

    I just have to disagree with "this can be played on pcs under $500" claim. I have a quad core 2.2ghz processor, 4 gigs of RAM and a little old 9800gt and the game is practically UNPLAYABLE.. I have about a 12 mb connection so its not lag, it just becomes almost impossible to play....anyone else have that problem?

  • KorithianKorithian Member Posts: 243

    'It’s because I think the majority of players care about their own stories more than they care about ours. And while there are certainly other companies out there that disagree with me, and are putting all their eggs in that basket.'

     

     Pretty much a comment on Star Wars the Old Republic that has said that Story has been lacking in MMO's. I wonder which is going to be the more sucessful game and prove if players want story or PvP?

  • RealbigdealRealbigdeal Member UncommonPosts: 1,666

    The game need freedom. Thats it. It need to be like a real sandbox. Dont stop me from killing grey players. I dont want to see anymore grey players. This is what i hated. I had to wait for a mission that involved only 4 teamates and 4 enemies. Nothing different then a game of red vs blue.

    I want to raid criminal's crack house with my clan. I want to raid police stations with my clan.

    What i think is, APB developers should take a look at the 1st the god father the game. The way you could take bizness and get paid every weeks, the way you could take over banks and steal plenty of money while the cops would wait for you outside..

    Anyway, i hope they will deliver all that for release. Also, they should fix the chat system. Bubble chat, text flauting over players head is what we need for a perfect communication.

    Seriously, they should get reed of players in grey. Period. This game should be FFA with penalities. For example, if i am a police and decide to kill an other police, i become a criminal for my bad action.

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  • Soldier101Soldier101 Member Posts: 111

    I played the beta and it was awsome, the beta did not have alot of people, and i think that this game is going to be free for action dis.

  • burningburning Member UncommonPosts: 10

      Is it me or is everyone blind as shit? I just said THERE WILL BE CHAOS RULE SET...meaning you can go kill anyone you want just like the "sandbox" you people cry about AND IT WILL BE AT LAUNCH NOT BETA!! So come launch you WILL beable to play play the chaos rule set, so stop crying

  • eyeswideopeneyeswideopen Member Posts: 2,414

    Originally posted by burning

      Is it me or is everyone blind as shit? I just said THERE WILL BE CHAOS RULE SET...meaning you can go kill anyone you want just like the "sandbox" you people cry about AND IT WILL BE AT LAUNCH NOT BETA!! So come launch you WILL beable to play play the chaos rule set, so stop crying

    And considering you have about as much clout as any other anonymous poster here, perhaps you should provide a link and a copy of the dev statements instead of just bitching because people are ignoring your so far unsubstantiated claims?

    -Letting Derek Smart work on your game is like letting Osama bin Laden work in the White House. Something will burn.-
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  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726

    Pure pvp games have struggled.  I don't see this game being anything different.  It will have a small niche audience.  I just don't see how they are going to pay for it.

  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 22,823

    “I really think this game is as gender neutral as a game has been.”

    It is about guns and killing people, it was funny to see Moreland try to make out that girls will want to play this as much as guys. He went round in circles - after all sterotypes are not real, but they are real, but it will appeal to both, but maybe men more than women.

    Lets make sure we get a maximum player base, no one is excluded, ask your grannie, maybe she will want to blow someone away.

  • VhalnVhaln Member Posts: 3,159

    Originally posted by Scot

    “I really think this game is as gender neutral as a game has been.”

    It is about guns and killing people, it was funny to see Moreland try to make out that girls will want to play this as much as guys. He went round in circles - after all sterotypes are not real, but they are real, but it will appeal to both, but maybe men more than women.

    Lets make sure we get a maximum player base, no one is excluded, ask your grannie, maybe she will want to blow someone away.

     

    Yeah, that's odd.  Either he's blatantly lying, or really that clueless.  Just because they add all that customization doesn't change the fact that people need to enjoy the gameplay, too.  And the driving-and-shooting action-PvP gameplay is just about as guy oriented as it gets.  Sure, there are some girl gamers that like that sort of thing, but I'm sure that even they must know they're the rare exception.

     

    From what I've read, and how they seem to be trying to sell the game, maybe they really do think that the customization, including the music, clothes, car detailing, and all that, is a large part of what the gameplay is about.  Except there needs to be some kind of game there, not just customization tools.  Is anyone really going to be playing it just for that?

    When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.

  • WardropWardrop Member Posts: 462

    Originally posted by burning

      Is it me or is everyone blind as shit? I just said THERE WILL BE CHAOS RULE SET...meaning you can go kill anyone you want just like the "sandbox" you people cry about AND IT WILL BE AT LAUNCH NOT BETA!! So come launch you WILL beable to play play the chaos rule set, so stop crying

    Heres my link to them scrapping it.

    http://apb-evolved.com/news/141-community-day-q-a

    http://apb-evolved.com/news/141-community-day-q-a

     

    Wheres yours at Captain Eggface?

  • eric_w66eric_w66 Member UncommonPosts: 1,006

    Originally posted by Wardrop

    Originally posted by burning

      Is it me or is everyone blind as shit? I just said THERE WILL BE CHAOS RULE SET...meaning you can go kill anyone you want just like the "sandbox" you people cry about AND IT WILL BE AT LAUNCH NOT BETA!! So come launch you WILL beable to play play the chaos rule set, so stop crying

    Heres my link to them scrapping it.

    http://apb-evolved.com/news/141-community-day-q-a

    http://apb-evolved.com/news/141-community-day-q-a

     

    Wheres yours at Captain Eggface?


     

     



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    Chaos districts will not be in for launch day, however the wait is going to be totally worth it.



  • eric_w66eric_w66 Member UncommonPosts: 1,006

    So, saying they are "scrapped" is a bit much.

    No, they won't be in for launch.

    Yes, they will be coming in some form.

  • GevaudenGevauden Member Posts: 21

    OMG what an informative interview I'm left happier then ever I love APB, and yes the Freedom of it all is what it's all about.

     

    every other MMO is so restricting, people need to wake the hell up and realize what an awesome game this is and should cherish it, if you guyslet this game fail. can you imagine how long it will take to find another remotley like it with this much freedom and custimization are you kidding me ppl?

     

    Everyone needs to get this game, I have made my pre-order you all should do the same if your a real gamer.  

  • DaedrickDaedrick Member Posts: 168

    I didnt have high expectation when I downloaded the beta, BUT GOD DAMN I had a blast. Its rares the games that keep me playing through the night and I barely felt it, the night I mean. Even in world of warcraft when we were running black temple I didnt care enough to stick to the raid all the night long. But that game, wow, so refreshing.

    People need a solid computer, or at least know some basic about how to make your old machine optimal so all the power is used for the game and nothing else. People tend to have dirty computer, fragmented and desorganised, so even if they have a decent setup, they still cant run shit because they barely know how to keep their stuff in good shape.

    Best custumization I have seen so far, a lot better than CHAMPIONS online which is quite impressive custumization wise.

    Driving is perfectly fine, at least for me. After playing GRID on the PC it take a lot more than the driving in APB to make me cringe. Some people lag ingame and latency lag, so of course they cant drive for shit, they have 10 frames per seconds.

    They can add so much to this game, the CORE is perfectly implimented all they need now is more meaningful objectives, territorry control and more players on the field.

    About the girl not liking this game, what can I say? I mean, what would make them play this game? What kind of gameplay do they want? They want to be healers? They want to work for the fire departement? The hospital? What would a girl like to do in this kind of game? Thats what I wonder... What make them play SECOND LIFES over this game? Its the pron or what? Because both game are glorified big chat box just like every other MMO... but this one got micros tough, which is aaaaaaawesome.

    Bleh, you guys can go to hell anyway, I like it, a lot more than the same old point and clic crap that you guys seems to be so nostalgic about.

    -------------------------------------

    Before: developers loved games and made money.

    Now: developers love money and make games.

  • KruxKrux Member Posts: 274

    APB is fun, a win for the money at this point.  The depth and bredth of free-form dynamic game-play is with their blend of mmo and third-person shooter and the customization of everything is just refreshing.  Maybe not a "main" mmo, but certainly replacing my static third-person shooter, whether it be left 4 dead, BF, etc.

  • RealbigdealRealbigdeal Member UncommonPosts: 1,666

    Problem with APB, cannot focus on one player base. If you want to attract girls gamer, leave them with female character custumization and nothing else. Dont focus on the social district, players dont care about that place. We did not ask for second life so that cinema plan is quite stupid.

    What we want is the most freedom. we want a chaos server where we can kill everything that move. IF i am a cop and i kill a cop, i should become a criminal. Criminals should be able to kill other criminals period. If i am a cop and i kill a criminal when he done nothing, i sohuld lose points. The more i lose points, the more i have a chance to become a criminal. Simple.

    add freedom and penalities for each bad actions. I am sick and tired to see players rolling around in grey.

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  • ZakaneZakane Member UncommonPosts: 71

    I was able to play APB, one thing that did bother me was I could not stop people doign crimes unless they were part of my mission.

    I agree thought, If I could fight any criminal and stop any crime, and ahve criminals who could fight cirminals for turf it would be so much better.

    Also Realbigdeal, I don't mind the social district - I love the vast amount of thing you can costumize. If anything I think it would be cool if the combine the distracts, have shops and movie theaters outside in a huge city. With crime and cirme fighting going on in the back ground.

    More options, more outfits, more aciton would all make the game even better.

  • AlyndriAlyndri Member UncommonPosts: 6

    Open it to Oceania please

  • DaedrickDaedrick Member Posts: 168

    Yeah its always fun to make some huge tatoo and before you save it get a shotgun to the back... How fun would that be? What kind of idea is that....eeh...

    -------------------------------------

    Before: developers loved games and made money.

    Now: developers love money and make games.

  • sadeyxsadeyx Member UncommonPosts: 1,555

    I've spent some 200 hours on APB so far..

     

    Cant wait for release, good luck RTW!

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