It's never easy to get a new MMORPG off the ground, especially for smaller, independent game companies. Quite frequently art and other assets from a failed project will be purchased and brought back to life by a different developer. Such is the case with Loud Ant Software, which has acquired the remnants of Mourning, a MMORPG some of you may remember as Realms of Torment, in order to bring their own concept, Thrones of Chaos, to fruition. I recently had a chance to ask Colton Burgess, Head of Operations for Loud Ant Software LLC, about the ongoing developement of company's first MMORPG.
I understand that Thrones of Chaos will make use of assets from at least one MMORPG that is no longer in development. Can you give us a little background on the project?
CB: We procured a few different assets from numerous areas to help us get a functioning MMORPG title on the market in a very short time period. Either way, we have all the tools and experienced team members needed to put together an interesting MMOG experience in a timely manner.
Do you have an ongoing relationship with any of the developers of those assets? Are any of them working for Loud Ant Software or Nuanced Entertainment?
CB: Thrones of Chaos' current team is formed solely of experienced developers located within the United States. The team is completely new.
As well as market leaders like WoW which show no signs of slowing down, there seem to be more MMORPGs than ever in development. What will separate ToC from the rest of the pack?
CB: We look at games like World of Warcraft as areas to draw disgruntled player vs. player fans from. And there is plenty of them around! =) Thrones is more of a niche game catering to the hardcore player vs. player so it offers quite a different gameplay atmosphere than your typical PvE type of experience that you would find in games like WoW or EverQuest 2. There really isn't many good options out there right now for the player vs. player crowd. That is the area we will be filling.
I find it interesting you would say that, especially since WoW has a large number of PvP servers, PvP battlegrounds, a PvP rewards system, and plans to implement persistent-world PvP objectives in upcoming patches. In what ways do you feel that WoW PvP is lacking?
CB: WoW was not designed from the ground up to be a hardcore PvP game. It is is more of an EverQuest style game with a PvP system tacked onto it. It has many restrictions and imbalances to it's PvP systems.
