The Study System seems like a great idea for players with little time on their hands. Is this your idea for balancing the MMO genre and do you expect it to be adopted by other games?

We more than expect it to be adopted by other games; we look forward to other games taking advantage of the innovations we've added to Alganon. Everyone on the QOL team is an MMO fanatic, and we love to see MMOs learn from one another in order to advance the genre. Our study system is one of those elements that can be used to make the MMO genre better for all players, but, unfortunately, it is not the kind of thing an existing system can "tack on" and still work.

In order to get the study system to work correctly, and to prevent it from causing major balance issues, we had to design Alganon from scratch with this system in mind. When you play an MMO, you only get to see a very small fragment of the actual combat system. You may click on the enemy, watch your avatar swing a sword, and see numbers rise over the enemy's head, but the actual mathematics that go on under the hood are far more complex. From hit chance, to crit chance, to resistances, to abilities, to passive buffs, to combat procs - there are thousands of variables and calculations that happen in the blink of an eye. We had to design each of these variables and systems to work with the study system in a way that remains balanced and fun. Even when the numbers that float over the enemy's head turn out the same, the "under the hood" systems in Alganon are completely different. They had to be, or else the study system wouldn't work.

Hopefully, designers of future games, take a look at how well offline advancement, like our study system, works to provide casual players with a way to keep from falling behind in progression, while also providing hardcore players with added benefits.

The Family System brings different players together. How does it work and what are the main advantages while adventuring in Alganon?

When players create a character in Alganon, they are able to choose a family based on the style of play they enjoy. This allows players to easily find players who are interested in the same style of game play that they are. If you are a crafter, and you join the crafter family, you know that your family channel will be a great place to talk about places to find materials, progression planning, and trade partners. If you join the socializer channel, you know there are plenty of people in family chat looking for someone to talk to. If you join the achiever family, you can find others who want to complete every accomplishment and can help you find those little things that many players overlook. It's a great way to meet players who enjoy the same things you do.

Likewise, there are a few items and quests that are restricted by family, and we are adding more every day. We're looking to make sure that players who choose a specific style of game play always have a way to advance their character that falls within that style of play.

Is the MyAlganon portal succeeding in joining players and making them more involved with the game?

The community system of MyAlganon is as much a part of the game as our combat or crafting system, and as such, has helped players to form a dedicated community. Numerous MyAlganon groups have formed to allow players to meet others with similar out-of-game interests, without forcing those players to leave their in-game guilds and groups. It has also helped players to organize trade groups and, as we add additional group content, will be a place where players can plan large group events.

What are your plans for expanding on Alganon? Regular expansion packs, and will the new content be free?

We are constantly adding new features and content to Alganon and we plan to release this content on a regular basis. In addition, we will also be adding large chunks of content in packages we call World Evolutions. These World Evolutions operate in a very interesting fashion, and the first of these Evolutions, known as The Dawning, is already underway.

Each of our World Evolutions will be preceded by a large game-wide event in which players will compete to complete the tasks which will change the game world. For example, in The Dawning, players are competing to gather three crystals that will be used to destroy the Four Storms which have begun to gather over all of Alganon. As players complete these tasks, the record of their actions will be recorded into the game lore as the reason for the change that comes with the World Evolution. For example, players who participate in the killing of the Four Storms bosses will find their actions written about in lore books and items that will enter the game in the patch following The Dawning's completion. Since the largest change that comes with The Dawning completion is the introduction of instanced dungeons, the player who completes the Dawning content first will get the chance to meet with the developers and provide input on how the gear from these dungeons is named. We plan to do large scale events like these with each of our World Evolutions, so as to allow our players to become the most important lore characters in the story of Alganon.

Thank you for your time!