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9Dragons: Steven-Elliot Altman, Lead Writer

DanaDana Member Posts: 2,415
in News & Features Discussion

Author Steven-Elliot Altman is leading up the lore and writing for the North American adaptation of 9Dragons by Acclaim. Our Carolyn Koh recently asked him a few questions.

image MMORPG.com: Since 9 Dragons is actually an existing game in Korea - have you been given a blank slate apart from the historical basis to work on or are there some “don’t touch” elements in it?

Steven-Elliot Altman: Well Carolyn, I must admit that at the beginning I felt lost in translation. A lot of the early documents I read based on the backgrounds of the Clans (those are the groups you can join in-game, each with their own special philosophy, ideals and Kung Fu) were rather confusing. There are elements of Asian culture that simply do not translate. So, the earliest part of my job was trying to ask the right questions (through translators) to the designers to find out how clan history was actually interacting with elements like alliances and quests. Once I understood what elements were essential to game-play, I could choose which historical information would be fun and accessible to English-speaking gamers. The Korean team’s writer and Loremaster, Jwa Baek, a rather famous best-selling author in Korea, did an amazing job at weaving the original story with compelling characters and Chinese mythology. So I felt a little nervous when I started changing story elements to suit the English market… but he has been very accepting of the new work as they translate my “Remastered English” back to the Korean designers.

There weren’t any real “don’t touch” moments, but everybody did get a little antsy when I explained that we had to adjust the names of several of the clans. Sure, our gamers have probably heard of Shaolin and Wu-Tang Clan, but other clan names would have been meaningless (and difficult to pronounce). So a good example might be that I studied the “Mojiao Clan”, thought about their arcane ideals, read up on their Bloody Fist Kung Fu technique, and then renamed them Heavenly Demon Clan.

So, rather than a blank slate, it was more like an empty plate I could fill… and when I couldn’t understand something on the menu, I asked them to bring the cart around and let me taste the food. Then I did my best to describe each delicacy.

You can read more here.

Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios

Comments

  • Thekobe8Thekobe8 Member Posts: 57
    This games gets better and better with every interview, i can't wait to play it 

  • GorukhaGorukha Member Posts: 1,441
    This game is different than the 90 other asian mmorpgs how ?  AZN devs are really into the quanity over quality mentality. it is quite sad.  The only thing they seem to offer to set them apart is a slightly different take on asian mythology.  

    It's better be hated for who you are, than loved for who you aren't.
    image

  • eburneburn Member Posts: 740
    I think there's a lot of differences one can easily assume to be there.
    Already it seems like they've put in a lot of work on a lore related quest system. On top of that it seems you get to dictate exactly how your character gets to play with the training system. Not just level up and hope to have enough gold to buy your next move.

    So far in text it looks to Buddah Palm the hell out of the rest of the Korean translated games. Maybe even a few Western developed games? Needless to say, I agree that each bit of info that's released to us perks my intrest a lil' more and a lil' more. I'll probably try it, hell I have Rising Force / City of # / Horizons and countless other 'different' MMOs a shot. Most of which with lore actually lacking any of my intrest.

    I kill other players because they're smarter than AI, sometimes.

  • AntiocheAntioche Member UncommonPosts: 132
    I'm wondering if you've actually read up on the game Gorukha. Thanks for bringing us this interview, it is good to know that we'll be able to understand the story presented in 9Dragons. Hopefully they have an open beta soon. One of the things that I would like to know is how much "grinding" is there in this game? How long does it take a person to learn the basics of breathing properly? Do I need to spend hours in game practicing that kind of stuff? Any kind of Asian mmorpg that gets ported over tends to be a huge grind, and western audiences don't particularly like that kind of thing. I don't mind having my character learn how to properly breath as long as it gives me an edge in combat. The same goes with any other skill, and I want to know why/how it gives me an edge, not simply that it does. It would be even better if there was a visible difference between how my character, who knows how to breath properly, and another player's character, who doesn't know, when they fight each other. Also, I don't think there has been a solid statement on pvp in this game. I know there will be a dueling arena, but I was hoping there might be more significant pvp than that. Such as clan warfare etc.

    It is pathos we lack, and this lack of pathos makes the worlds we explore quite stale.

    http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Antioche

  • AthyrAthyr Member UncommonPosts: 12
    I've been following this since I heard about it just because I like the premise behind the game. Now after hearing more about the story line I'm really really excited about getting to play!

    If they put in everything that the writer is talking about then even if it is a translation from an asian game it may be a big hit in my eyes just for the story part! I always love a good quest !!!


  • KillaDreamnKillaDreamn Member Posts: 38
    I've been trying to keep up with this game since it was first announced on MMORPG.com, I just want to say I love you Steven, and everyone else involved with this game, I can feel this becomming a religion to me just like Guild Wars. 

  • ElaamanteElaamante Member Posts: 1
    I have to say my limited experience with Korean mmos wasn't good.  Playing L2 for a little over a year and RFO for a few months I didn't have a good time like I feel I should.  However, I'm going to try to toss that aside yet again for this game and by all means give it a shot, nothing more, nothing less.  I am a huge fan of martial arts and I sincerely hope this game will be of my likeing.  This is like a last chance, if this game turns out to be a grindfest with no story/no quests with a point or full of farmers and nothing going for it then this will be the last Korean mmo I will ever look at thats my promise...

  • jezz310jezz310 Member Posts: 3

    Wow!! this game is good just reading it.... i just cant wait to play it with my buddies in the cafe...in fact we already install the game at all of the units.....and were hoping we can play the closed beta....

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