RF Online Status Interview - December 2007

The Accretian Empire is an autocratic regime where independent thinking is unknown. Its citizens are completely devoted to the welfare of the collective, a quality characterized by their willingness to lay down their lives in the service of expanding its borders. Not that they die easily; indeed, being a mechanized race and carrying immensely powerful weaponry, its soldiers are extremely formidable opponents, possibly the most fearsome within the known reaches of the galaxy. Made up of many jurisdictions, the Cora people's Holy Alliance has also known many wars, invariably fought in furtherance of the deeply held spiritual convictions that unite them. Their considerable strength in battle is drawn from their faith. They make use of potent magic derived from their devotion as well as a selection of traditional armaments made even more deadly by adding the blessings of their deity.

CCR's RF Online is a persistent state world offering a total of three playable factions. The last, but not the least, is the Bellato Union. Typically short of stature due to the gravitational forces on their home planet, its members are very capable both physically and intellectually. When facing the prospect of hostilities, they can deploy a variety of armored mechs. This is not an infrequent occurrence since the race is constantly searching for new resources it can exploit, by force if necessary, in pursuit of its ambitious primary goal, economic domination of the cosmos. Last year, Codemasters announced its intention to offer the title in the North American and European markets. Following up on its release in the first quarter of 2006, Associate Producer Michael Rowland and Community Liaison Officer Kyle "Laeth" Rowley share. Community Manager Chris 'Ulric' Dye

Includes four exclusive 1600x1200 screenshots

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Jonric: Before we get into specific, what would you like to tell our readers about the basic concept of RF Online, its origins and the western version published by Codemasters'?

Chris Dye: Rising Force Online, or RFO as it's usually referred to by players is an epic, hardcore, sci-fi fantasy fusion of an MMO. It promotes one of the strongest RvRvR propositions on the market by having game mechanics that draw the three races - the magical elf-like Cora, the industrial Bellato and the cyborg Accretians - into enormous battles every eight hours to secure resources needed to grow, which is unrivalled in the market.

When we saw the future vision for RFO, we were confident the move to free to play would be the right option, even though there was an element of risk as we were stepping into new territory

RFO is developed by CCR, a development company from South Korea, and was released to the western market by Codemasters in February 2006. The launch came on the crest of a large wave of growing interest in the game from English-centric MMO fan sites who were looking for a break away from the typical fantasy-style titles.

Whilst we have made some changes to the western version of RFO, like increased drop and experience rates, wherever possible, we have tried to keep the game as close to its Korean version as possible, which we feel should mean less chance of delays or game-breaking bugs caused by the port over from Korean to English.

Jonric: Since we know the game recently switched to free to play with optional item purchases, why did you decide to make this change?

Chris Dye: Free to play is a popular business model in Korea, and as such the game's development headed towards this approach. However, in the western market, the monthly subscription payment model has dominated.

When we saw the future vision for RFO, we were confident the move to free to play would be the right option, even though there was an element of risk as we were stepping into new territory as one of the first truly commercial MMO publishers to attempt this business model in the west. However, initial results demonstrate that we made the right choice at the right time, and I'm confident we can grow RFO to be come one of RvRvR MMOs on the market... if not the biggest.

Jonric: What would you like to say to those who might wonder if this is a desperate move to salvage an unsuccessful game?

Chris Dye: All I would say is that whether or not they believe that, or our stated reasons for the change, the fact is they now have the opportunity to try RFO completely for free. All they have to do is request a free key from

http://www.rf-onlinegame.com/freetoplay.php and within minutes, they could be exploring the RF universe.

The game is going from strength to strength, and in the last month or so alone, we have opened two new worlds, including the newest one, Solus, which offered a fresh start to all players.

Jonric: In terms of the gameplay, is there much content for users who prefer to solo? How about for those who enjoy questing, or crafting?

Chris Dye: RFO doesn't hide the fact that it is a hardcore PvP and RvRvR game; it makes a point at being aimed towards group and guild activity. Whilst you could easily enough play on your own, you really would be missing out on the very heart of the game - the core reason and biggest fun-giver for playing RFO - which is the regular race battles every eight hours. There are PvE elements and quests, but these are really just a means to get characters to a level where they can begin to participate in the PvP / GvG / RvRvR elements of the game.

Crafters exist in RF Online, and play a strong support role with abilities not only to craft weapons, armor and ammunition in the field, but also special ones, from resurrecting fallen allies to getting certain unique ammunition... depending on which race is picked.