Interview with Knight Online's Joseph Willmon

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Written by ReesyCup

Monday, 17 March 2008 20:33

Knight Online Community Manager Joseph Willmon speaks with MMOFury and fills us in on the new KOL website features, their dedication to player events, and some upcoming features the dev team is working on. Its a great interview you don't want to miss, have a look...

MMOFury	You just redesigned the KOL website, can you give us an overview on some of the new additions you have put in place?

Joseph Willmon	We didn’t redesign it so much as we streamlined it. The layout is much simpler making it easier to find your way around, and now it loads quicker, but the biggest addition to the website is a clock that displays the Knight Online Standard Time. Because we have such an extensive population of international players, this clock helps everyone keep tabs on when wars and events take place. We’ve also given more space to the clan ranking section so players can easily tell who’s the top clan on their server.

MMOFury	How has the reception been so far?

Joseph Willmon	To be completely honest, I didn’t think a little thing like streamlining the site would generate so much positive feedback. It’s even more exciting because with this design because we’ve begun integration with our parent site, GamersFirst.com, which means in the future players can expect more features, greater customization, and even additional content from the site.

MMOFury	Gamers have long requested that more games have events like the Lunar PvP event, what was your main focus when developing the event?

Joseph Willmon	Unlike other games, our conflicts aren’t just for the fun of smacking the other guy around with a sword; we provide players a real incentive to go to war. In the Lunar Wars specifically players are fighting for the chance to ransack the enemy nation’s homeland--which means they are simultaneously fighting to "defend" their own homeland. In Castle Siege War clans vie for control of a castle. The victor gains access to an exclusive dungeon and collects all tax revenue generated while they possess the castle. It’s a fun, unique experience truly unlike anything you can find elsewhere.

MMOFury	Has the participation been as anticipated?

Joseph Willmon	We had high expectations, but the participation has blown us away, quite frankly. The PvP events in Knight Online are the force driving our players’ gameplay experience. Even things that are common in other MMORPGs like raiding boss monsters must first be earned through PvP superiority. It’s a fun and challenging approach to MMO design.

MMOFury	There have been some disconnect complaints just after the 1520 patch, have you noticed an increase in the number of DC issues following the release, and what has the dev team done to trouble shoot it?

Joseph Willmon	Thankfully that’s all behind us now, but it was such a high priority that we actually flew the developer’s top network engineer out to our offices to fix it. It’s an understatement to say that our chief concern is making sure our players can log in and play whenever they want for however long they want.

MMOFury	Knight Online is one of the most popular games ever released, what is your primary focus to build on that success?

Joseph Willmon	Events! When you’ve been running as successfully and for as long as we have, the key to longevity is mixing things up. Besides the regularly occurring wars between nations, we also handcraft spontaneous GM events for our players. In the past this has ranged from quick “Find the GM” events to full on zombie invasions. My personal favorite are the interserver wars, where players of both nations on one server band together and battle against warriors from another server. Soon we also plan to reward loyal players who introduce their friends to Knight Online. The more the merrier!

MMOFury	What are some of the big content updates players can expect in the near future for Knight Online?

Joseph Willmon	With the MMO world the future is unlimited to what we can do. I wish I could tell you everything, but keep an eye on www.Gamersfirst.com for exciting news and updates.

MMOFury	Well we will definately keep an eye out for what the Knight Online team has in store for us. Again, thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Players can visit the official KOL site at http://knightonlineworld.gamersfirst.com