ROSE Online and RO2: An interview with Gravity’s David Kim

Fighting through the crowd, Hawkeye had a few moments to talk to David Kim:

Hawkeye: What inspired the creation of ROSE Online?
David Kim: I can't really say, I'm not one of the developers. But I think when they sat down to make it they were trying to target a younger audience so they looked a lot of fairy tales, especially the Little Prince.

Hawkeye: Do a lot of adults that play ROSE or is it mostly a younger fan base?
David Kim: It's a pretty wide fan base, what we found really odd was that a lot of older MMO players with children really looked around for something they could play with their kids.

Hawkeye: Does ROSE offer any special events for the holidays?
David Kim: That's something we definitely do. We mostly keep to general holidays since we deal with a lot of different countries. So a lot of our ideas are things like special items, like a party hat or things like that.

Hawkeye: What does ROSE online offer that most MMORPGS don't have, what's your big thing?
David Kim: ROSE offers a very different game. With like WoW you just go around and kill things, but with rose you can go out and adventure and explore. It's a bit more light hearted, and laid back.

Hawkeye: So this is where I'm going to ask a few questions about RO2. Will it have a larger emphasis on storyline more so then the last one?
David Kim: Well, in the first one there is a lot of story line, but there was no continuous story line. The players had to go out and look for it. This one takes place later on in the RO world, but like the last one it'll be the fans taking it and making it their own.

Hawkeye: When is RO2 expected for translation and release in the US?
David Kim: We're expecting it to be in 2007, we're not sure on when exactly, but I want to say the beginning of the year.