Interview with Gala-Net: Space Cowboy Online & Flyff

Our interview began with Chris Tou, Producer of Flyff.

WarCry: Was there any real world myth or lore that contributed to Flyff's world creation?

Chris: To be honest, the developers (Aeonsoft) did not intend to create Flyff's world based on any existing myth or lore. However, once you have a closer look, you can easily point out that the Flyff lore is a congregation of some of the oldest and well-known lore.

Roika Mainland, which is the main stage in Flyff, is where every creature lives together in peace and harmony. This is reminiscent of the Garden of Eden.

Also, the five Gods of Lais and three Comedian Clowns are the symbols of 'good and evil' competing in our minds all the time. The Comedian Clown especially represent farcical and devil at the same time in our culture. The tarot card, "The Fool", depicts an illustration of the Comedian Clown, representing the beginning of an adventure. The invasion of the three Comedian Clowns on the land of Roika inspires the exciting adventures that players will experience during their time in Flyff.

WarCry: Are there any major expansions or upgrades planned for Flyff?

Chris: In early summer, we plan on adding a large content patch to Flyff. Here is a brief glance at what is planned.

1. Flying Combat

Flyff's flying system is the most important and what attracts most players to first play Flyff. However, at the moment, unfortunately, the flying system is not fully developed. While there is "some" aerial combat, the feature is mostly used as a simple means of transportation, when the possibilities could be endless. With that in mind, we realize that this is not enough, and so, in the future, you can expect us to expand on taking advantage of the flying system to give players more aerial-based adventures with a realistic struggle for the acquisition of power, featuring huge airships, for a unique, never-seen-it-before-experience.

2. Community

Community is the basis of every online game and it is very important to allow users be to meet and communicate with others in-game in order to establish new relationships. Therefore, content is being prepared in order to realize this goal. There will be a special pet system that will be implemented as well. We don't have a concrete plan to develop the marriage system yet, but we know many users want it, and it is something we will be looking at in the future.

3. Others

As in any MMORPG, it is all about the "ph4t l0otz", and we are aware of that there are not enough of them in Flyff. We are currently developing some brand new exciting rare items and will be ready to release them to players in near future. Also, we are revamping our current guild-war system to make guild-wars more fun and exciting. Finally, we planning to implement a new type of class system based on the present fame system.

Flyff is constantly being developed, with new content updated. This will continue well into the future in order to ensure the players' experiences continue to be refreshing and new. The developers want the users to be able to feel the same interests, expectations, enjoyment, and excitement we feel. Online games are developed not just by the developers, but also the users.

WarCry: What does Flyff offer that's different from other MMORPGs?

Flyff can at the same time appeal to both casual and hardcore MMORPG gamers, as well as both male and female players of all ages. No matter what you're looking for in an MMORPG, there is something for everyone. Even though we're a free-to-play game, we still try to offer our players the same type of high-quality gaming experience that they would normally come to expect in a monthly-subscription MMORPG.

Best of all, did I mention Flyff is FREE? Who can say no to free?

With that, we switched to Jason Park and started talking Space Cowboy

WarCry: So what's this Space Cowboy MMO all about?

Jason: Space Cowboy Online is a new 3D space shooter MMO game that follows on the tradition of skill-based games, giving the user the opportunity to indefinitely improve his or her skill to become the best that they can be. Different from the standard fantasy-themed MMORPG, this game involves the user to maneuver his or her space ship (called Gear) to engage in action-packed battles. Also different from many PC space shooters, the game's control is mouse dependent, giving any PC FPS player an easy and natural movement style. As a Free to Play and Free to Download game, Space Cowboy Online is available for gamers of all ages to play that can handle the extreme excitement.

WarCry: Is the combat and exploration purely in space ships?

Jason: Combat is available only in Gears. Character exploration is possible within the city maps where item can be purchases, Gear can be upgrades, and player can interaction calmly away from the warzone. There is a variety of different types of maps and terrain where many distinctive kinds of enemies inhabit.

WarCry: Is combat strictly against NPCs or is there PvP combat as well?

Jason: This game is very heavily oriented on PvP. Leveling is based off of NPC kills, but upon achieving level 11, the user must choose one of 2 opposing nations. Each nation must attempt to take down the rival faction's mothership to enable map unlock and nation benefits as well as be involved in protecting their own mothership. Space Cowboy Online allows creation of 40 member guilds (called Brigades) and allows these brigades to challenge each other in battle, for Fame. The leader of the nation's brigade with the highest Fame is given the title of nation leader or "president" and has the opportunity to use limited game functions to organize the nation into combat or setup a surprise attack against the other nation.

WarCry: How customizable will the ships be, as far as color, design, and weapons?

Jason: There are hundreds of different combinations that a Gear be customized with graphically as well as to supplement performance. A color shop is available to allow color changes, and most of every equipable item can change the design of the Gear.

WarCry: What led to the decision of Space Cowboy being free?

Jason: This new MMO gaming concept (item shop based), picking up rather quickly in the US, has been a very successful style in South Korea for years now. What we here at Gala-Net, Inc. do is to carefully look through all the MMO games in Korea (there are hundreds!) and find which one we think will suit the North American market as well as other International markets including Europe, Oceania, and the English speaking countries in Asia, such as Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore. Gala-Net, Inc. provides all our games Free to Play, and profit from the sale of GPotatoes, our micro-currency, which can be traded in for cosmetic mods or performance upgrades for this game as well as any of our other games we publish. Instead of the monthly subscription fee, we give the player the option to boost his or her character with these items.

We at WarCry would like to thank everyone at GalaNet for sitting down with us!