Interview w/ Jonathan Belliss, Director of Marketing @ PWE for Legend of Martial Arts

Legend of Martial Arts

Formerly known as Kung Foo, this is an MMO that puts the FU in FUN! As the first MMO to come into self awareness, LOMA has no qualms in making fun of other MMOs, taking their lunch money and then dating their sister. Jonathan Belliss, Director of Marketing at Perfect World Entertainment, was kind enough to take some time to answer our questions about LOMA.

Game Ogre: Legend of Martial Arts was originally called Kung Foo? What happened that led to the name change?

John B. Since Kung Foo!, we’ve made quite a few changes to the game, which is why we wanted to rename the game to emphasize all of the new game content, in-game mechanics and features as well as how players can become martial arts legends themselves.


Game Ogre: It seems that Legend of Martial arts is based on a popular Chinese TV Drama called “My Own Swordsman”. Will the game follow the storyline of this drama? For those of us who are not familiar with this drama, can you tell us the general plot and how the game’s story will be similar?

John B. We have made adaptations to the game so that players, even those not familiar with the show, can still enjoy playing Legend of Martial Arts. Players will discover more about the storyline as the game progresses where they will find themselves searching for a lost princess along with some quite unlikely allies.


Game Ogre: How will you westernize the humor and jokes from the Chinese version of the game? Can you give us a few specific examples of how you’ve changed the content to fit North American players?

John B. As with all Perfect World games, we’ve made sure that we’ve culturally localized Legend of Martial Arts as well as linguistically. We’ve made sure that the humor will resonate with North American players. In the Chinese version, some of the humor comes from the puns in Chinese words, so we’ve made sure that we’ve kept the puns that made sense in English or else translated it into something that would be humorous.


Game Ogre: What can players expect when they start the game for the first time? Can you tell us about the combat system and gameplay?

John B. Certainly, the starting zones in Legend of Martial Arts are dependent on the race that players select. For instance, in the Reavers’ starting zone, players will be greeted by a powerfully built, one-winged demon that will set them down the path to explore the rest of the world in Legend of Martial Arts.

Legend of Martial Arts has a lot to offer players of all levels. In addition to the new Reavers race, there are two new Reaver specific classes, PvP dungeons, Territory Wars, unique transformations as well as a Legendary Weapon System.


Game Ogre: Can you tell us a few details about the two races that are available? What was the factor with deciding to only go with 2 races for this game?

John B. Of course, the two races available in Legend of Martial Arts are the Humans and the Reavers. Kung Foo! originally only had Humans and with Legend of Martial Arts, we are introducing the first non-human, demonic race to the game, the Reavers. The Reavers add a whole new complexity to the game with two unique classes, the Berserker and the Oracle, and help to further progress the storyline.


Game Ogre: We are in great anticipation of the Transformation System that is unique to Legend of Martial Arts. Can you tell us what players can do with this feature? Is it transformation just for fun, or what benefits will it offer?

John B. The Transformation System is definitely one of the most unique features in Legend of Martial Arts. All the transformations have a variety of benefits from helping players complete certain quests to increasing health, movement speed, critical chance or even degree of damage.


Game Ogre: Legend of Martial Arts boasts some unique features, such as PvP dungeons, where players will have to battle against each other for the right to take down the bosses. Can you tell us more about this and other unique aspects of the PvP system?

John B. Definitely, unlike most dungeons, which are primarily tank and spank, the introduction of PvP dungeons with Legend of Martial Arts gives players an added opportunity to explore dungeons for loot and fight other players for the right to defeat powerful monsters and bosses. There will also be open world PvP and a territory wars-type system for players to receive rewards. Players will also find the Dungeon Matchmaking/Queue System helpful to find groups more easily and run raids.


Game Ogre: Tell us about the super rare and unique weapons that are given out to only the most elite players in the game. How will you know who deserves such a weapon, and what types of weapons are these? Will players be able to sell these items?

John B. Sure, I believe you are talking about the Legendary Weapon System, which reward the most elite players in the game with rare and high level weapons. Each server will have their own ranking board, so players will know who the most elite players are and these players will be given rare and special weapons. The rankings will be based on a number of things such as PvP, PvE etc… and since these weapons are so hard to obtain, they will be bound to characters.



Game Ogre: Legend of Martial Arts will have mounts and pets in game. What are the benefits of having a mount or pet or both? How can players obtain mounts and pets?

John B. Players can obtain mounts and pets from completing quests and some can be purchased from the cash shop. While dragon pets are especially neat because they allow players to customize their pet skills according to their play style, certain mounts can even act as transformation items which will be greatly beneficial in-game. As players level up their pets, they’ll be given points to allocate to particular skills that can unlock new ones, even whole new branches.


Game Ogre: Legend of Martial Arts will have a cash shop. Can you tell us what players can expect to find in the cash shop and how it will affect gameplay?

John B. As with all Perfect World Entertainment games, the in-game cash shop has an emphasis on character customization, fashion and convenience items that players can also obtain through alternative methods without spending money. We do not offer items that allow players to “purchase power” because the cash shop is just there to compliment the gameplay experience.


Game Ogre: What is your favorite thing to do in Legend of Martial Arts and Why? What would you recommend that players definitely try out when they are playing the game?

John B. One of my favorite things to do in Legend of Martial Arts is to check out all of the different transformations. While the Transformation System is open to all races and classes, in the new Reavers specific class, the Berserkers, have the ability to transform into a cat or wolf for greatly enhanced physical abilities and I definitely recommend both veteran and new players to check it out.


Game Ogre: Is there anything else you would like to tell us about Legend of Martial Arts?

John B. Thank you for your time and letting me tell you about our latest MMO, Legend of Martial Arts. As with all of our games, Legend of Martial Arts is free-to-play, and I like to tell players that you have very little to lose, but a whole lot to gain from playing the game.