GamersInfo.net: The game's basics remind me of Shining Force - a game by Sega a long time ago. Are there any concept games that have influenced PoxNora?PoxNora Developers: I was an old-school Dungeons & Dragons fan growing up, so I would say that was a big influence. Another influence was the way Blizzard handled the talent trees for different classes in World of Warcraft. That was the inspiration for us adding the ability upgrades to the PoxNora units. Final Fantasy Tactics, Advanced Wars and traditional miniatures games like Warhammer all contributed as well.
GamersInfo.net: Expanding on question one, how much influence did the monster game Magic the Gathering have on PoxNora's base game?
PoxNora Developers: To tell you the truth, we were not MTG players until well into development. The main thing I knew and liked about Magic before actually playing was its sales and distribution model. Because we were a small game company, being able to sell small incremental game upgrades online would allow us to generate revenue without having retail distribution. Subscription-based models are difficult to maintain because they are competing with the big MMORPGs. After playing Magic last year, it reinforced our non-subscription, deck buying model. MTG is a great game, and we definitely have some elements it in PoxNora that are meant to pay homage to those guys. I think the people that play our game will see some similarities, but the more they play they’ll realize the similarities are superficial and the games are very different. PoxNora is more a miniatures game than a CCG at its heart.
GamersInfo.net: I've noticed that there’s only player vs. player games. Will there eventually be various levels of computer opponents for players to try against?
PoxNora Developers: Very soon there will be multiple AI player BOTS that can be used to test various strategies and battlegroup combos. These will eventually evolve into single player campaigns that can be unlocked and played as well. We have big plans for this in the coming months.
GamersInfo.net: How likely will there be for a story mode to introduce players into the PoxNora world?
PoxNora Developers: I’m glad you asked! We’re currently developing a single-player campaign. We’ll provide more information about it on the website once we get closer to launching it. We’re also in early planning on some other ways to explore the world of PoxNora in the future.
GamersInfo.net: With player vs. players - how do you intend to deal with people who drop link rather than loose the game (I.e. unplugging their network, forcing them to go link dead)?
PoxNora Developers: We are very sensitive to this problem. We will be keeping track of player disconnects so that other players can see if their opponent is prone to this tactic. Sometimes these things happen naturally, but sometimes it is used as an exploit. We are also implementing a system where if your opponent becomes disconnected, the surviving player can flag it as a friendly quit which will not count towards rankings.
GamersInfo.net: On rankings - Will you have any way to prevent champions of the game from being able to take advantage of total newcomers for the sake of an easy win?
PoxNora Developers: The ranking system is weighted so that highly ranked players do not gain that much from beating low-ranked players. Our “Quick Play” feature tries to match players of similar rank, if possible.
GamersInfo.net: Will multiplayer maps more of a battle royal or king of the hill type ever be introduced into the game?
PoxNora Developers: Absolutely. We will continue to add features and content on a bi-monthly basis. Our trading and auction system will be up fairly soon, and our first expansion will be released Oct. 1. We are also working on a “team system” so that guilds can form and compete against other guilds for rankings. Spectator modes will also be implemented so players can watch matches and challenge the winner, and 2 vs 2 player maps are also in the works.
GamersInfo.net: On the maps - I've noticed that you've included multiple levels of elevation - will these elevations have an effect on game play? i.e., slowing down infantry while allowing missile units to shoot further.
PoxNora Developers: We originally had the elevations slowing units down, but after testing this function people wanted a faster-paced game. We will be adding ranged unit boosts for elevation soon.
GamersInfo.net: From what I've seen the only way to get new runes is to purchase them through the store. Will there be any special ways to win runes rather than always purchasing them?
PoxNora Developers: Yes. We will be having many tournaments throughout the year that will award runes, credit and special prizes for winners.
GamersInfo.net: On runes - What exactly does level do for runes?
PoxNora Developers: Our level system is a bit different from the typical level system you see in D&D and MMORPGs like World of Warcraft. Those games are ALL about leveling and level = power. Our upgrade system is more about fine tuning a unit to customize it for a certain situation. In most cases you would not want to upgrade a champion past level 2 or 3. There are a few champions that benefit from multiple upgrades, but cheap, fast units are very important.
The best strategy is not to power-level these guys. In many cases if you do, they will cost too much to deploy and be rendered less effective. The key is honing your champions so that they are efficient and follow your overall battlegroup strategy. In my "ultimate deck" I played in beta, I only had 1 guy (out of 10) that was leveled past 3. 4-5 units were left with only a few points spent (still level 1) and 4-5 upgraded to about level 2. I would typically beat anything that was thrown at me, including a deck of level 5's.
The reasoning behind us allowing you to upgrade units is so that you can adjust them to serve different purposes, not so they become more powerful necessarily. Most CCGs are static - so when your opponent drops a Wild Elf you know EXACTLY what it is - which tends to get boring. In Pox, you drop a Wild Elf and your opponent is like "He has stealth? He has 10 speed? Mine doesn't." I can have eight of the same champion in my collection, but adapt them all to a different upgrade path so that I end up with eight very different units with the same name.
Got started in the gaming industry with the beta for Asheron’s call. From there I’ve pretty much done a huge amount of beta’s for the industry. I’ve beta’d games, worked in customer service for games – been a game cop (kinda like a higher level gm…), written articals for games, about games, hint’s and tips for games.
It’s probably pretty safe to say that I have either beta’d or played every MMRPG game that has come out onto the market since 1999 – And I’ve played muds, moo’s and mush’s as well. My likes about the game industry. Oh so much creativity! So little time. Dev’s doing what they say they will. Hmm, What else do I like about games. Well, I do like to explore… Some dislikes. Well, I really, really hate buggy games. Especailly buggy games that are actually really interesting. There’s nothing worse then having this super-hyped game that’s groundbreaking in many new ways – only to have it unplayable due to stupid little bugs that should have been cleared up waaaay before release.
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