MMORPG just posted an interview they did today

[Tanglor]

Check out this link at MMORPG.com they interviewed David Bowman and Ed Andercheck...

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/loadNews/5808

[D0ZeR]

Ed Andercheck’s EI Interactive has purchased Horizons and, as of last Friday, the deal means that nearly everyone who worked for Tulga Games is out of a job.

“I’m a gamer and I saw a mature and exciting group of people,� explained Andercheck of why his company decided to purchase Horizons.

He added that the culture of the community, the game’s rich potential for storytelling and the way players can grow the world all made Horizons an extremely attractive product for him.
Andercheck added that his company has no plans to radically alter the course Tulga Games had laid out and hopes to stay true to the spirit of Horizons.
The agreement transfers ownership of all intellectual property and relevant technology related to Horizons to EI Interactive, as well as the rights to operate the title. The Evolution Engine, an MMORPG development platform built by Tulga Games, and Dark-World Online remains the sole property of Tulga Games.
During the transfer, four Tulga Games employees in relevant fields - including David Bowman - will remain on staff at Tulga to assists EI Interactive.
“The owners are definitely gamers and intend to give [Horizons] the best possible future,� said Bowman
Despite this short term arrangement, Andercheck told MMORPG.com that they have “no specific plans for [David] to be part of the new company at this time.�
At E3 2006, Tulga Games announced Settlements, an expansion to Horizons. This was acquired by EI Interactive and they are evaluating the concept. However, at the time of the transfer Settlements was still in the design phases and EI has not yet decided whether they will pursue it.
While Andercheck says he has no plans to radically change Horizons, he added that his team was intrigued by the original Race Wars concept for Horizons. As some may recall, under its original design, all the races of Horizons would have been at war in a PvP-oriented title. Andercheck was clear though that he does not plan to alter the current game world, but will evaluate this and other concepts as options for entirely new servers.
EI Interactive, which also runs and hopes to expand their other title Savage Eden, plans to expand their Phoenix, Arizona offices. The agreement did not transfer a single employee to EI, but Andercheck says he plans to interview many former Tulga Games developers for positions at EI Interactive.
For his part, David Bowman added that he “strongly, strongly recommended they hire every single one of the developers that were on staff… [and] if they do they will have a strong future.�
As to Tulga Games, David said they are hard at work seeking new contracts that take advantage of the Evolution Engine in the hope that they can hire back as many people as possible in the near future. However, at this time no deals have been signed.
“Tulga Games is not focused on Dark-World Online,� David added, saying only that they are committed to making MMORPGs using the Evolution Engine.
EI Interactive is an in-game support oriented company and in the short term, fans of Horizons should expect the company to have a strong presence in the game world as they find out from their players where they hope Horizons should go next.
From MMORPG.com

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/g...oadFeature/776

[Deth]

This does not settle any of my worries in the least. Clears up some things but does not settle my worries.

[Senkeleron Fell]

Sounds very positive to me (except that PvP part :-)

[Duergos]

I think what they would do is keep the existing servers as they are and then add new servers that may or may not incluse PvP. I am totally against open PvP it sucks. But consensual PvP can be very fun. However the multiclassing system as it is greatly skews class balance and makes PvP very hard to balance. For PvP to be viable, I feel that multiclassing would have to go away or be severly limited.....but yes overall I was impressed by what the man said.

[Sergon]

Racial wars in a PvP system? *scratches head*

[Sledge99]

Just a couple of questions from the interview.

1. Tulga retains control of the engine. Is there an agreement in place for maintenance and enhancements to the engine requested by EI and performed by Tulga?

2. Nothing was mentioned about Unity. Should there have been?

For myself, unless something drastic happens, I intend to keep on enjoying the game and look forward to a long and prosperous experience in Horizons.

[Tantalyr]

Sounds very positive to me (except that PvP part :-)

Senk, reread the last sentence of that paragraph:

While Andercheck says he has no plans to radically change Horizons, he added that his team was intrigued by the original Race Wars concept for Horizons. As some may recall, under its original design, all the races of Horizons would have been at war in a PvP-oriented title. Andercheck was clear though that he does not plan to alter the current game world, but will evaluate this and other concepts as options for entirely new servers.

I absolutely despise PvP, but I won't have a problem with it at all if it's implemented only on another server.

I also noted that EI did not purchase the Evolution Engine. And to that I say a very heartfelt Hallelujah!

[Valornyx]

"While Andercheck says he has no plans to radically change Horizons, he added that his team was intrigued by the original Race Wars concept for Horizons. As some may recall, under its original design, all the races of Horizons would have been at war in a PvP-oriented title. Andercheck was clear though that he does not plan to alter the current game world, but will evaluate this and other concepts as options for entirely new servers."

This does not sound promising - despite not affecting existing servers, if you are planning a PvP envirnoment, you are not likely to invest an awful lot of time into a more labor intensive PvE one - perhaps.

[Landowyn]

If I played on Unity I would be realy worrried.

[Varangaard]

Well for one part I can add an easy comment. Add in the Race War concept, or any other form of PvP, and I'm out. I can't speak for others, but I feel a good portion of present HZ playerbase is strongly anti-PvP.

[Fratricide]

All I know is.. if full on PvP shows up in HZ, it will no longer be the game I want to play, and will thus depart it with only the remorse of the loss of the community that I have grown to enjoy the company of.

[Tantalyr]

Though I personally loathe PvP, I wouldn't have a problem at all if it were implemented on a completely different server than the one I play on. It just wouldn't affect me in the least.

And to the contrary, Landowyn, if I played on Unity I would have at least a little hope for a brighter future. It is perfectly obvious that any relationship between Tulga and GN was dead and buried. Now with a new owner, and new management at the helm, it would seem quite possible that the relationship could be revived and the Unity database either fixed or purchased by EI.

[Qualin Midashan]

Well for one part I can add an easy comment. Add in the Race War concept, or any other form of PvP, and I'm out. I can't speak for others, but I feel a good portion of present HZ playerbase is strongly anti-PvP.

Well, I got the impression that the PVP aspect would be a brand new server... sort of like how it is/was done in EverQuest et al. Ie., you have a number of 'regular' servers, then some team-based PK servers and some free-for-all PK servers.

[Varangaard]

Yes... but Horizons classes are not balanced for PvP. Nor would I want see them to be.

[Senkeleron Fell]

Yea Tantalyr, I did notice the comment about 'entirely new servers', that was why there was a smiley face. My normal attitude when it comes to PvP is right there with Fratricide.

[Jazmyn]

Well for one part I can add an easy comment. Add in the Race War concept, or any other form of PvP, and I'm out. I can't speak for others, but I feel a good portion of present HZ playerbase is strongly anti-PvP.

I agree. I have three HZ accounts for me and my children to play on. I do NOT want them in a PvP environment. They are not allowed to play games like EQ and stuff like that because I don't agree with PvP. HZ has been a shining example of a game where families can play together. I hope it stays this way, at least on the established servers.

[LOVWYRM]

*totally agrees*

pvp does not fit to our philosophy

[Tantalyr]

Yes... but Horizons classes are not balanced for PvP. Nor would I want see them to be.

I'm not sure I can agree with that assessment, Varangaard.

Now I've never utilized the Arena for, as I've said, I despise PvP in all its guises. But I do know some folks on Order who have. And I seem to recall Kwinn--one of the mightiest bipeds on Order--mentioning that he'd gone several rounds with an Ancient dragon, and batted .500. That says to me that Ancient dragons are indeed fairly well balanced with multi-multi-classed bipeds.

Now it's certainly true that a single classed biped likely wouldn't stand a chance against an Ancient dragon or a heavily multiclassed biped, but then all bipeds have the option to multiclass as much as they wish to balance them against other multiclassers.

And please folks, do not overlook what was actually said in the interview--PvP is being explored as an option for other new servers. If, like me, you don't like PvP, you can just continue playing on the non-PvP servers and not be affected in the least by the fact that there's some PvP server(s) out there.

[Lasivar]

I agree on this, Horizons is a game that families can play together, and it should be kept that way. I have four characters of my own that I've worked hard on and if PvP is planned for the future I'm not going to stay...