1) Who are you?
Most people know me by Synon, or the crazed undying (though some may wish!) Atriarch fanatic! I run a small fansite called Ends of Atriana, lead a faction called the FoA, and am a member of the Atriarch's Players Development Team.
2) How long have you followed the development of Atriarch?
I started following Atriarch early summer 1999 before Middle-Earth Online was canceled, so almost a year and a half now.
3) What game(s) did you play before finding out about Atriarch?
I played a game called The 4th Coming before coming into the Atriarch community, not a terribly great game, but the community made it all worth the while. I did try EverQuest for a while but really wasn’t an enjoyable experience. Besides the RPG’s I play FPS’s, mainly Rainbow Six and some Counter-Strike.
Gaming Aspects
1) What gaming design aspect are you glad is included in the game?
The ability for the players to change the world. I think the problem in past MMORPG’s has been a static world, where no matter what you do it will always be the same the next time you get on. I hope Atriarch will completely turn around what we have seen in the past, and let the players change the world physically with terrain, cities, etc. to how the world is run and how people will deal with the different problems that arise.
2) What would you like included in/removed from the game?
That’s a tough one… the World Fusion team has really thought out their ideas. But if it came down the one thing I would remove would be the Global Chat feature, I think it takes away some from making a tighter community. People won’t gather and hang out as much, it essentially becomes a single player game with a chat room window. If I were to add something, as impossible as it may be, would be water dynamics. It could add so many more possibilities (and problems!) to the world.
3) How much/what innovation do you think Atriarch brings to the industry?
More then they are given credit for. What Atriarch is doing is completely new and completely original, no game has attempted what the team is doing until now. They know what they want, and if they want it bad enough it WILL happen.
Atriarch Community
1) What factors build/destroy the Atriarch community?
The community so far has been wonderful to say the least. You can always find someone to help you learn more about Atriarch on your first day, talk about that new creature released, just about anything and get a good conversation going. In my opinion the most important aspect of an online game is the community, if people can have fun just by hanging with their friends and the rest of the community, it doesn’t matter how fancy the game is, you have something you can hold on to that will never change.
2) How can the schism between longtime and new followers of the game be breached?
Unlike some message boards I’ve seen for other games the veterans try to help newcomers as much as possible. Where some places you may have a new guy get told to “go read all the threads and find out” we have dedicated people like Soralis who will explain everything to his knowledge and give you links relating to your questions. What more could you ask for??
3) Should visibility in the community curry special favour in the (pre-)game?
Yes I think it should. Anyone can sit back and check the website every week or so for new updates and when they can start to play. But the people who talk about Atriarch in the IRC rooms, message boards, and who send their ideas and discussions to World Fusion are the ones who are really dedicated and would like to help in the development of the game. Not necessarily the people who have the most dev board posts, but those who put some thought into their ideas and questions. Those are the people who have made the effort to be apart of this game and to make it enjoyable for players years to come.
Discussions
1) Where can people find your threads (site/url)?
I’m not the most active board poster, I pretty much discuss everything in the Stratics IRC room. But when I do post it will probably end up on the Crossroads Dev boards or ATS.
2) What thread was your favourite to start or see thrive (site/url)?
The infamous karma birds of course! The one subject that has never failed to be brought up over and over until every single aspect of it has been thought through and analyzed, then we will bring it up again!
3) What do you think should be discussed more amongst the communities?
Anything that will make the players gaming experience more enjoyable really. Not just the things you enjoyed in past games but what you think you might enjoy in the future.
Other aspects you think would interest folks?
The sheer amount of control they give you, your decisions and attitude will affect what happens in your alien life and to those around you. Choose them carefully!
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