By Mark Arsenault

There is a new game on the horizon called Earthrise, a sci-fi MMO set in a post-apocalyptic world where mankind is struggling for its very survival. With a skill based character development system planned, and extensive PvP combat, the hope is to fill a void in the current MMO marketplace by offering something not widely available to gamers. The game is being developed by Masthead Studios, and will hopefully be entering a beta phase sometime later this year, and a planned launch in 2009.

Here is a brief excerpt from the site:

In the aftermath of the Third World War, mankind has managed to survive and build a new society: the prosperous city of Sal Vitas. Cloning, nanotechnology and quantum engineering are part of a new reality. Thanks to these technological advances, the human species has become immortal; each individual's consciousness is stored in a data vault, ready to be uploaded into a cloned body as necessary. New energy sources have been discovered. There is a unified government that takes good care of those citizens who abide by its strict laws. Paradise, it appears, might really have come to Earth, and the people have embraced it.

But not everything is as perfect as it appears. By exercising full control over the cloning process, Sal Vitas' government decides who will live and who will not, playing the role of God on Earth. Insurgent forces have accused the city's rulers of crimes against humanity. Armed factions fight for resources and power within the new system. And from the waves of discontent, a rebellion has fomented and formed a shadow government: Noir.

I had the opportunity to interview Atanas Atanasov, CEO of Masthead Studios, and grill him about some details of this upcoming title.

Mark: Can you give us a brief overview of who Masthead Studios is? Who started things up, and what goals did they have in mind?

A.A: Masthead Studios was founded in 2005. We are a team of young, but experienced professionals, focusing on the development of next-gen MMO titles. Our first project, Earthrise, was in my head even before the studio was founded. During that time I felt that the MMO genre as a whole needed a sci-fi title with a more sandbox approach. After the studio was founded, the lore and game design evolved a lot, but the initial idea was kept. Our goals have not changed since then - first and foremost, we want to deliver what we have promised - a skill based post-apocalyptic sci-fi game focusing on PvP and player driven economics.

Mark: Often, newer development teams are comprised of designers and programmers that have moved on from other companies. What experience has your team had in the MMO arena?

A.A: Our technology and art department consist of people who have worked on single player titles before. Although it is our first project as a studio, the screenshots and our internal tests of the engine prove that we have some great professionals and we will deliver Earthrise as planned.

Mark: There are very few sci-fi MMOs on the market today. Can you give us a brief overview of what Earthrise holds in store for gamers?

A.A: Earthrise is a post apocalyptic science fiction MMORPG. The game setting takes place on a devastated pacific island, named Enterra where the only survivors after the Third Wolrd War are trying to build a new society and preserve mankind. It is not an easy task however as a new conflict emerges. On one side we have a totalitarian government in the face of Continoma, a large mega corporation, founded before the Third World War, which has the technology to preserve the human consciousness and make an exact replica of everyone. On the other side, there is a rebel group called Noir, which fights to overthrow the government and change the current policy on the island. In regards to gameplay, Earthrise will offer a lot of freedom to the player. In terms of PvP this means that you can attack anyone you want to if you are in a non-secure area. PvP will be an important aspect in the game as players are fighting for territory control and domination. When building their character template, players will have a lot of options to work with. They can customize almost every aspect of the character - attributes, skills, abilities and clothing. Adding a sophisticated crafting system, players will find a true sandbox experience in Earthrise.

Mark: I see mention on your web site that there will indeed be PvP combat, but not without consequences. Can you elaborate on what you mean by this? Will there be negative repercussions for failure to win, or by fighting in the wrong place at the wrong time?

A.A: There will be consequences for both the attacker and the victim. The attacker for example will be flagged as criminal. The way the authorities will react will depend on the record of the attacker. The more kills he has, the worse the reaction of the authorities will be, leading eventually to inability of the criminal to enter certain areas. The victim on the other side will have to spend some money in order to protect his items. If he is not willing to spend or doesn't have the necessary amount, his items will be available for loot on his corpse. Players will have two options to protect their items - insurance and item recovery upon death. The second option will be much more expensive.

Mark: There is always a juggling act when it comes to balancing PvE vs. PvP in MMOs these days. What ideas or precautions have come into play in development to handle this issue?

A.A: Players will have a lot of customization options and they will never have to start a new character from scratch just to make the perfect PvP or PvE template. One character in Earthrise will be enough to meet all expectations of the player. Attributes and abilities respec will be like a walk in the park. While designing Earthrise, we put a lot more attention on special enhancements and their combination and effect in combat rather than raw power and damage that allows stronger players to overcome weaker players. While players can expect to face powerful challenges in both PvP and PvE, it will usually resolve around player skill and item design strategy rather than feeling sorry that the player didn't invest enough time advancing his character or acquiring that new tier or rare items.

Mark: With regards to crafting it is expected that items will be "…unique and potentially ground breaking". Does this mean that you plan to have elements of chance involved in the crafting process? Or that players can take their ideas and weave them into crafting with little or no restrictions?

A.A: What we believe will be the most ground breaking in Earthrise is the freedom and power given to crafters, not just the amount of options and gameplay mechanics they can use. In many other MMORPGs all items and item variations are first decided by the developers, then the crafters are allowed to make a portion of them to support their gameplay; that works well, but the crafter's role in the world is downplayed. In Earthrise loot provides predominantly common items and components, and all special and powerful items are left to crafters to design and manufacture. Suddenly, crafters are allowed to take the role of game designers themselves. The crafting process will involve some level of chance and risk especially when crafters attempt to "overclock" the manufacturing process of certain items. Some designs, applied to item recipes, will not provide static effects but will give crafters freedom to define the effect value for each crafting process. By forcing the value too high, the crafter is taking serious risk that his investment in components and work might not pay out.

Mark: What reward system do you have planned for people that partake in PvP combat? Will people that opt out of PvP find themselves with any serious disadvantages?

A.A: Apart from bragging rights, players who participate in PvP may have the chance to steal the items of their victim if they are not insured or the victim doesn't want to spent money on recovering them. The territory conquest will not be possible without PvP. Guilds will be able to conquer their own part of the island, gaining access to resources and a territory where they can impose their rules. There will also be arenas and other types of PvP competitions with rewards. People who do not want to engage in PvP will not feel alienated in Earthrise. There will be certain areas in the game, where PvE skills will be more important than PvP. Quests, crafting and trade are other examples of the non-PvP gameplay in Earthrise.

Mark: Do you have plans for instanced dungeons and / or PvP areas? By what mechanics will they function?

A.A: Instances in Earthrise will be minimized. We don't want to break the immersion of the players. We want to make a virtual world, not small virtual areas, where your team is artificially separated from the others. For those people who are concerned about gankers and campers, I would like to say that the game will not be item centric. Players will not need to grind for days to get the item they need. Dungeons will be designed for character experience and fun. Then we have those people who are afraid that they will have to wait for hours to kill their quest mob. They should not worry about it because quest mobs will be easily accessible and quests will not have the same usage as most MMO titles up to date. In terms of PvP areas - yes there will be such places like arenas and some other types of competition zones, but I can give you more details on that later this year.

Mark: Are there going to be closed and open beta stages? Do you have any rough timelines in place for beta phases?

A.A: Yes, we are planning for closed beta, starting this summer and open beta just before release date. Closed beta will have several stages. I know how it feels to wait such a long time to get the beta invite, but I would like to ask our community for patience. The most important thing for us is to stick to our promises and deliver the game on time.

Well there you have it - Earthrise definitely sounds like it has the potential to be a ground breaking title like it promises. With the variations planned for PvP vs. PvE character development, coupled with the intriguing crafting system, I am looking forward to trying out the beta when it becomes available. I'll be sure to post some more information on MPOGD as it becomes available - so stay tuned!