Skyforge Developers Answer Your Questions Part VII

Immortals! We've rounded up the most interesting questions posed by players on our forums and had the Skyforge developers answer them! Check out the long-awaited response below!

How many years have you been developing Skyforge?

The development of the Skyforge as you see it today started in 2010, but some groundwork – initial references and ideas – had been laid much earlier.

Where can we download the game?

The game client will be available for download via our Game Center platform once testing begins.

When will the second wave of testing start?

The development teams are still working on the game. A lot of things depend on first impressions, and it is important to provide the public with a quality product. Therefore, launching CBT at any cost and as soon as possible is not always the best idea. When it comes to such large-scale projects, developers require a large amount of time both to create the game and to fix the found issues between stages of testing. We will collect a lot of great data during this test, and will have a lot of things to fix. Once we are able to announce the exact dates, you will hear about them in the news on our site.

Will there be sets of early access to CBT available?

The possibility is still under discussion. The decision will be made before the start of testing.

Can the servers handle the influx of players on the first day of CBT? Will we have to wait in line for several hours and not be able to complete any starting quests due to an excessive number of players?

Skyforge is being developed by an experienced team of MMO developers, the Allods Team. We are doing everything possible and drawing on all of our past experience to ensure that the game stands up well under day one load and beyond. From our unique server architecture to dynamic world loading as needed, we hope to be able to prevent many of the issues which commonly impact games at launch.

What are the system requirements for the game?

We have not finalized the exact system requirements yet, but we are trying to make sure Skyforge is accessible to as many players as possible, not just to the owners of high-end PCs. If you adjust your graphics settings, you can play comfortably on a mid-range computer. Thanks to Skyforge’s propriety engine, reducing your graphical settings will not have as significant of a negative impact on the game’s overall visual quality.

In recent years, there have been a lot of different online projects stating that they "only work on 64-bit systems". Will Skyforge run on 32-bit systems?

Skyforge will support 32-bit systems.

What is the approximate size of the client?

The client size will be about 10 GB, but this figure may change by the time of launch.

Can we change the gender of our character?

Yes, Skyforge will feature a robust character creator. Players will be able to create and customize male or female avatars.

Will there be a mobile version of the forum and website for smartphones and similar devices?

Skyforge features an integrated game portal and social network which allows players to interact with one another and certain game features. This portal will be available outside of the game through a web interface and can be accessed on any web enabled device like phones or tablets. We are working on an adaptive layout for the site to ensure it appears correctly on mobile devices, tablets and laptops with a non-standard resolution or a small screen.

Will we be able to play other races? And if so, how many races are planned? Will there be unique races?

At launch, only one humanoid race will be playable. The Skyforge universe is full of diverse and hostile races, each with their own distinctive features, for players to encounter and interact with.

We would like to learn more about guilds or clans. What are they called? And how does this system work? Will there be any benefits to being a member of a guild or clan?

Guilds in Skyforge are called Pantheons and there will definitely be benefits to joining one. Be on the lookout for more information concerning Pantheons in a future article.

Will there be combined classes? For example, if you play as the Cryomancer, can you pick some of the skills from other classes?

While playing as Cryomancer, you will not be able to use, say, the Paladin's abilities. But since you can quickly switch classes, each character is kind of a "mixed class" as you can perform any role that is required in a given situation.

Will there be any mechanics implemented that let you evade abilities from other characters (both ranged and melee)?

In Skyforge, you can use Dash to evade AoE abilities.

Will there be crafting professions?

In Skyforge, we have mechanics similar to crafting in other games, but there are no professions available to the character. Players are immortals, fighting to protect their world and its inhabitants. Crafting is carried out your followers. Only Adepts have professions – they are the god's special followers. You can read about them in our in-depth article concerning orders.

Are there any ways to quickly restore health during combat?

At this stage of development, the game has special mechanics for restoring health that were inspired by other hack and slash style games. For example, in PVE there are healing orbs dropped by monsters. These orbs are particularly useful in battles against bosses. Their proper distribution in a group and timely use when playing solo is an important part of Skyforge’s combat. There are also consumable regeneration items in-game, as well as a healing ability available to players in their god form. However, there are limitations on how often they can be used.

Will it be possible to acquire some sort of transport to move across the expanses of Aelion faster (water, ground)?

Yes, but we will talk about the details later. There will be no personal water transport in the game (at least at the time of the launch), but there will definitely be ground transportation.

How diverse are PvE activities? Earlier, you mentioned that there are activities to fit any taste. Does this mean there will be instances where I don't need to kill any mobs, for example, and only need to get to the finish line while navigating difficult obstacles? Maybe some puzzles?

For the sake of diversity, in our team we have people with different tastes and preferences in gaming working on the activities found in Skyforge. So the game has obstacle courses, resource gathering quests and quests with cunning multi-phase bosses. Adventures are easily added to the world of Aelion, and we plan to expand the assortment with ongoing updates.

How does the god's form work? Is it temporary or permanent?

Once your character reaches the point where they can become a god (unlocking their God Form in the Ascension Atlas), the ability to use your God Form stays with you forever. However, to activate the divine form, you need a certain resource - the faith of your followers. You can spend and accumulate it, as well as increase its maximum amount by gaining new followers.

Will it be possible to reset skills? Will we get back the resources we put into them? If so, how?

As you progress in the Atlas, it's not just skills you will learn – you also develop your character on the whole, increasing defensive stats, health, etc. permanently. It is not possible to reset the character to "zero" at this point. But, since you can endlessly complete quests and receive the resources required to unlock new nodes, you can change the direction of your development towards another build or class at any time - without losing your previously improved stats.

Will there be a maximum allowable difference in Prestige for characters in a team? Can a newbie and an experienced player both be on the same team?

There are a number of activities where a big difference in the development of players is not allowed (eg, PvP), but most of the adventures and locations can be visited by a group with players at any prestige level.

How is trade between characters implemented? Auction or from hands to hands?

Trading with players will be implemented through the trade interface – the Market. It is not an auction with bids, but an actual marketplace that will be impacted by the supply and demand of a particular product. There is no direct trading in the game.

If I'm a solo player who is not able to play for hours on end – will it affect the quality of my equipment? After all, best items are usually obtained in a raid or a group.

Good equipment can be crafted or obtained in solo instances, so you don't need a group for that. We can't promise that there will be no difference at all, because MMORPG’s are traditionally focused primarily on player interaction. Players who prefer to play solo often naturally won’t be accessing some of the content.

But keep in mind that only a third of your power comes from on your equipment. Two other components which factor into your power are the faith of your followers and your progress in the Ascension Atlas – both of which are not affected by your play style.

Secondly, group quests, instances and even raids in Skyforge are not designed for long hours of non-stop gameplay. Instead, they are mostly focused on relatively “short” sessions. Even so, if you don't have a regular group of allies you complete content with, you will not have to search for allies as there's a system in Skyforge that will randomly pick players for you to team up with.

11/15/2014