Below are a few questions asked by GameOgre.com to the developers of the incredibly deep MMORPG, Rubies of Eventide. Keep in mind that this was interview was held before the game closed down and returned with a different model. 

Why have you decided to go with turn-based combat over real time
combat?

Our combat is not actually what one would call truly "turn-based". It is somewhat of a hybrid between a true turn based system, and a real-time system. In the previous incarnation of Rubies of Eventide the combat system was mostly turn based in that the actions waited upon the actions of other players and NPC's to complete. You could however select your action once your current one had completed, so the turns came into play in the execution of actions only, not the selection of actions.

When the re-design for the current version of RoE came about, the Design department wanted to speed up the combat to decrease wait time between combat actions, but keep it slow enough to allow time for decision making and strategy. To give the player time to analyze their most effective course of action, based on their stats, weapons, spells and special maneuvers. So it has become more timer based, where your actions will have a preparation and recovery time based on your skills. The thought in all versions of RoE combat was to make moving a factor in the player's decision making, where it would cost them a turn, or cost them time when they could alternatively choose to perform an attack instead.

After going through both versions of combat systems, we still find players feel restricted by point and click movement as opposed to the freedom of real-time movement. We are currently working on a prototype for a modification to our combat system that includes free movement. We pride ourselves on allowing our players to give their input on the direction of the game development, and we will do so in the case of these combat system modifications as well.

There are several things which distinguish us from other MMORPG's. The combat system is obviously one of them, although the above mentioned changes will start to make it a little more similar. We will be adding and keeping some of the notable differences however, such as our instanced combat feature. Basically this means that when a player (or group) gets into a combat with one or more enemies, that combat is "instanced" in the sense no one outside of the player and enemy sides can join. This eliminates problems such as "kill stealing", and other such external annoyances. It gives the players in the combat some control over who they want and don't want joining them in it.

Also, with our current combat movement system there are certain strategies, such as "tanking", where melee fighters use their high hit points and body armor to take physical damage from enemies, thus protecting the spell casting group members. We plan to keep this strategy with the real-time movement system, allowing players to "plant" themselves in a stationary position, to still block enemies from passing through them to protected allies in the rear of the battle. We feel these items, along with a few other surprises will keep our combat system unique, but retain the familiarity and freedom our players’ desire.

Of course our class/profession system certainly sets us apart from the pack. With over 100 potential professions to choose from, all with their own unique combination of starting skills and modifiers, truely unique character development becomes possible. It is far and away the most comprehensive system in any MMORPG on the market today.

Our live event system is the last item I'll mention. It allows us to run persistent game events, whether they be combat related or not. For example: Shortly after the game was released, a small army of Kobolds invaded a mining town named Kajblood, setting fire to it, blocking off critical points of access for player reinforcements. It was a grand, chaotic battle. The town of Kendall Falls was invaded by a Hobgoblin army, in which the player eventually fought back the oppressors and deposed the Hobgoblin General to win back the town. These events will play a big part in the continuing development of the storyline, and the player reaction to them, will determine the path the ongoing story will take. For example if the players hadn't beat back the Kobold invasion of Kajblood, the town would have become Kobold run, been named Kajbold, with Kobold shopkeepers replacing the humans, elves, dwarves, Ogres and Leshy's formerly doing business there. Players also can acheive a place in the game lore if they play a significant role in these live events. Currently the in-game Ralix scrolls foreshadow dark times to descend upon the land where more brave adventurers will be needed.

What do you think could use the most improvement in the game?

There are always areas to improve on, it is a never ending cycle because we always want to make the game better than whatever its current state it. The improvements we are currently focusing on is the aforementioned combat system changes, as well as graphical/visual improvements. We are integrating a 3rd party 3D tree library to give us a greater ability to display extremely realistic trees, and dense forests. We are also revamping our character models as we have decided to go with a slightly more realistic look to them, as they are somewhat cartoony at the moment. We soon hope to port to a later version of our 3D engine which will allow us additional capabilities of doing spectacular effects on the models and the game world.

And of course there is always the fine tuning of gameplay to be done. But because we have such a close relationship with our players, they get a lot of opportunity to influence adjustments and improvements to how the game plays and balances out.

Do you feel that your PvP system is properly balanced?

Currently PvP combat exists in Rubies of Eventide in the form of consensual duels between two parties. Each player is given the choice whether or not to enter the battle, and any that refuse are prevented from entering the combat instance. As expected from a completely consensual system, it is a rather minor focus in the game at this time.

We are, however, planning on increasing the meaning of associating with certain factions in the game, and giving people that openly join a group certain in game advantages, with the disadvantage that they would now be considered consenting to war with the enemies of the NPC group that they have chosen to affiliate themselves with. As always, players must choose wisely in their actions, and decide for themselves whether or not they want the responsibility that comes with affiliating with powerful allies.

What was the reasoning behind adding the Gentry account this soon?

We wanted to reward our early adopters with a nice package combining discounted subscription rates, free timecodes, magic items (including a teleport ring), more character slots, and access to otherwise hidden zones. Although all these perks make The Gentry a bargain, most of the people who've upgraded to Gentry do so for ideological reasons. The #1 reason being, "I really like what's your building here and its tremendous potential". We're glad its worked out this way because positive players who care about the game community stick around longer thanks to the Gentry package.

Care to mention any future additions worthy of note?

Yes, an Eeeevil city.. coming soon along with a beautiful new northern megazone! We'd also like to introduce a new (non-credit card required) trial membership option sometime in early November.