Interview with Jon-Enée Merriex, Producer for Sword of the New World

Courtesy IMC Games Co., Ltd.

Sword of the New World: Granado Espada is a Korean fantasy MMORPG developed by IMC Games Co.,Ltd., and published in North America by K2 Network. It launched in the summer of 2007.  Granado Espada features a unique art style based on the Baroque period of Europe, differing from the standard “sword and sorcery” fantasy themes of the genre. I recently chatted with Jon-Enée Merriex, Producer for Sword of the New World. He is in charge of planning and executing the game's strategic vision as well as working with partners and other departments to keep the Sword “ship” running smoothly.

MT: How did Sword of the New World get started?

JM: Hakkyu Kim the Lead Designer for Sword was on a trip to Europe promoting his previous title Ragnarok Online. He was inspired by a lot of the history and architecture there. Originally they were thinking or making a game about Europe, but one of the artists was a big American History buff and the team eventually went in that direction. Sword of the New World has many places where it mirrors history and many places where it takes history a step beyond. I think that is the fun part about this game. There are a lot of places in game that are almost exact replicas of real world locations and there are a lot of places that are what a real world location would look like if say an evil necromancer went crazy and razed the land.

MT: Your Features web page mentions "bringing the game to the West." It this game an import from another market? 

JM: Sword of the New World was originally developed and released in Korea as Granado Espada. In its release year it won Korea’s Game of the Year award as well as a number of other design awards. It had a great reception stateside as well becoming PC Magazine’s Game of the Month in August of 2007. In a lot of ways Sword of the New World led the march to the prevalence of Free2Play games. It was one of the first games to really show that Free2Play (and to some extent Korean) games can be about more than grinding.

MT: Sword of the New World seems like a fantasy take on the early age of exploration that ultimately founded America.  Can you elaborate?

JM: In a nutshell that’s our game. Players play explorers sent by the Queen of Vespanola (think Spain) to conquer the New World. The thing is, this new land that they arrive at is nothing like they expected. The land itself seems to possess a magic and presences of its own. Add to that the fact that Vespanola is being spread thin by waging wars in Orpesia (Europe) and trying to conquer a whole new continent and you get our basic plotline. Quickly players find themselves in a heated fight for the New World. Some can side with the Queen, some against her.

MT: The game takes place in Europe's exploration of America.  What timeline is that precisely?

JM: We have intentionally not set a specific timeline. Sword of the New World occurs in its own universe so many things are different from the real world, but some things are similar. We definitely have made a habit of drawing from real world histories though. Specifically during the Baroque period.

MT: Opoluto seems to be an analogue to Italy. Can you provide analogues for the other in-game countries with the real world?

JM: Opoluto would be analogous to Italy, yes. Katai we feel is closer to South Korea or Japan. Bristia and Britian may seem very similar but Brisitia is more akin to Ireland or Scotland. Targa is more Middle Eastern, I always think Egypt or Morocco. Vespanola as I said above is definitely Spain.

MT: What are the core statistics (Strength, Dexterity, etc.) for each character?

JM: Strength gives a bonus to melee damage, Agility gives a bonus to ranged weapon damage, Constitution gives a bonus to Hit Points, Dexterity controls a players accuracy, Intellect affects a players spell damage and Charm gives a bonus to a player’s summoned allies and pets.

MT: Does this game use the traditional hit point/spell point/endurance point system?

JM: Basically, we have hit points and what we call skill points. Every character has both. Hit points of course tell you how many hits you can take before dying and skill points tell you how many skills you can use.

MT: How do stances work?

JM: Basically a stance is a collection of 3 to 5 skills. To use a stance a character must have the corresponding weapons equipped. The stance itself gives the character a passive bonus as well as access to the skills with in the stance. Stances level independently of characters. Most characters know 5 to 20 stances and can quickly switch between them in the middle of combat.

MT: The classes seem divided amongst the traditional fighter (fighter/musketeer), blaster (wizard/elementalist), sneak (scout), but the healer is lacking. How do characters heal in the game?

JM: Ah, but you listed the healer. Of the basic classes the Scout is the healer. The Scout uses potions to buff and heal their allies. The Scout can also act as a standard ‘rogue’ type character if you equip her with daggers. But without a weapon the Scout is the most prominent healer in the game. There are others of course but the one you see the most is the Scout.

MT: There seems to be player vs. player combat, but it's highly regulated.  How does that work? 

JM: If you are on a PvP server, yes you can kill anyone outside of a city or safe zone at any time. However, if you do you will be marked as a Baron. Barons are a major part of the story for Sword so I won’t spill all the beans but basically once you become a Baron all other players can kill you without becoming a Baron themselves. Basically as a Baron you’ve been marked as a threat to society. The more players you kill as a Baron the stronger you become. Which can be good sometimes, however there is a downside. As you become stronger, when you die you no longer can lay claim to your items and players can loot your dead corpse after they kill you.

There is a path to redemption though,  you can simply pay your debt to society and kill the multitude of monsters that threaten the burgeoning New World. Kill enough and you will not longer be marked as a Baron. The more players you have killed the longer it will take for you to redeem yourself.

MT: How many levels are there? 

JM: Currently there are 120 levels, our new expansion due out in February will increase that to 130 levels. In addition to that your Family (which is what we call the collection of characters you own) has levels of its own based on the levels of characters in your family. Families can currently level up to 50, that will be greatly extended in our next update in February – Echoes of an Empire: Volume 2.

MT: Speaking of Families, there's mention of multi-character control (MCC), where players control up to three characters simultaneously.  Does this discourage multiplaying?

JM: Not at all, in fact the opposite is true. The MCC allows players to control three characters at once. This means that while you are out and about you don’t have to worry about finding a tank or a healer. Which is great. There are also ‘Squad’ or ‘Group’ missions you can go on with up to 11 other players. Most raiding is done in this format. The great thing about the MCC is you don’t have to wait to find someone to heal for your run. With every player being able to create up to 63 characters (as of our update in February) it is highly likely that SOMEONE will have a Tank or Healer laying around to use.

MT: Players can recruit Unique Player Characters (UPCs).  How unique are they? 

JM: Some are very unique. Technically all players can get every UPC. Logistically that isn’t very possible. There are some UPCs such as Catherine the Summoner and Grandma who are extremely difficult to obtain. Additionally there are some UPCs like Kurt and Eduardo who you have to choose between. If you help one you cannot help the other. Ultimately UPCs fill out your party by bringing special ‘unique’ skills and stances the basic classes do not have access to.

MT: How many players are on at one time? What's an average player number?

JM: Our servers hold thousands of players at once. Unfortunately I am not at the liberty to give specific numbers at the moment.

MT: How does Sword of the New World support itself?

JM: Mostly we sell costumes… we sell lots and LOTS of costumes. We also sell things like XP boosts and healing potions but costumes are by far our #1 seller.

MT: What currency does the game use?

JM: In game players use "vis" to purchase items from each other or from the NPC merchants located through-out the New World. Players can purchase Gold from our website which is then used to buy items from the in-game Bazaar. These are the costumes and XP boosts I was speaking of above. Finally players can either find in game through raiding or in-game minigames or purchase Feso from the Bazaar. Feso is an intermediary currency. Like vis it can be traded to other players (Gold cannot be traded) and like Gold it can be used to purchase items like XP Boosts and Costumes for the Feso Exchange.

MT: What's in store for the game in the near future?

JM: Currently we are working on the next expansion Echoes of an Empire – Volume 2. This will extend the level cap, introduce a new raid, a new set of weapons and armor, 2 new UPCs Helena and Ania and a lot more. After that is released we have a MAJOR announcement regarding Sword of the New World.