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So... tell us about this game you're working on.

RPG Vault chats up The Chronicles of Spellborn developers in this interesting article on the state of the game.

Jonric: What kind of online world will The Chronicles of Spellborn be? When did the project get started, and how did you pick the distinctive elements to incorporate?

The Chronicles of Spellborn - Its Past, Present, and Future: An Interview with Marco Van Haren

Stratics has posted this interview with Marco Van Haren that looks at The Chronicles of Spellborn.

Jerome "DeadAvatar" Bohaychuk, a staff writer here at Stratics, recently had the opportunity to inquire with Marco Van Haren, Marketing and PR Manager for Chronicles of Spellborn, about the past, present, and future of Spellborn. Many of these questions involve not only the typical "dying to know" bits and pieces of any new MMO, but also about how TCoS came about and what the team of developers think of and dream about as they go about creating this enticing new game.

Head over and see what he was able to learn.

Marco van Haren, Marketing and PR Manager Answers Questions

WarCry.com has updated their site today with this Q&A with Chronicles of Spellborn's Marco van Haren.

WarCry: Your FAQ says "we've taken measures to make [PvP Arena Battles] more interesting". Can you explain specifically how you hope to achieve this?

Marco van Haren: Using a FPS style combat system offers the perfect opportunity to create some interesting PvP options. At release the Arena will contain 5 different map setups that will allow for 1 on 1 or group vs. group battles with options such as death matches, time trials and last man standing. Combine these option with a tournament and ladder system and a statue reward system and I think we can safely state that the Arena offers some interesting PvP gameplay.

Get clicking to find out what else they were able to learn.

An Interview with Marco van Haren, Marketing and PR Manager for TCoS

For a few months, very little was heard about the dark, fantasy-inspired MMO, The Chronicles of Spellborn - at least very little in the U.S. However, the folks at Spellborn NV are getting close to finalizing their deal with a U.S. publisher and recently held a European press event that featured new screenshots and videos. Since mid-March, news about TCoS has begun spinning about the web, and the Ten Ton Hammer team has been lucky enough to get a chance to chat with Marco van Haren, the Marketing and PR Manager for The Chronicles of Spellborn.

Spellborn's character creation system doesn't contain any sliders. We think that offering many different 'skins' will allow for much more actual visible difference than a slider that enlarges a nose or an eyebrow. While a nose slider might look interesting in character creation, in game these difference are almost impossible to see.

You don't want to miss a word! Get clicking to read more!

Mirage Chats with French Fansite

French fansite Jeuxonline has updated their site with a recent Q&A with Mirage. This session leads to some interesting information...

Are there free PvP zones?

Spellborn contains several free PvP zones. These zones are for example mines, different fighting pits and the Quarterstone Arena. It’s not only limited to these zones for there are some other zones in Quarterstone where PvP will be possible.

Keep reading to learn more.

Marco van Haren Interview

Gamesplanet.be has posted an interview with Chronicles of Spellborn's Marketing and PR Manager. Luckily they offer an English version too!

Will you be able to attack players of another House on sight or will there be certain safe zones where you cannot harm other players?

From a story perspective it currently doesn't make sense at all to have open PvP in all the zones of the world. The five High Houses currently serve as political parties and the real backstabbing only happens in places hidden from the eyes of the general public.

The rest of this answer and more is just a click away.

Spelling It Out - A combat-focused Q&A with Spellborn's Marco van Haren

Marco "Freeze" van Haren discusses combat encounters and other player expectations surrounding the highly anticipated, storyline-centric fantasy MMORPG The Chronicles of Spellborn (from the Dutch development team Spellborn International). If you saw our latest batch of TCoS screens, you know that this game has a ton of personality. Van Haren, the PR Manager for Spellborn, was kind enough to bring some of that personality to our network and "spell" out some answers to our every question.

"Marco van Haren: 'What we try to do with the encounters in The Chronicles of Spellborn is to make strategy an important factor. Not only the players use a skill deck in combat, so do the enemies. Players need to learn the attack tactics of enemies to be successful in combat. Players also need to take their surroundings into account since the Spellborn world contains no big open fields but instead offers a dense world with danger around every corner.'"

Keep reading to learn much more. Are you looking forward to playing Chronicles of Spellborn? Let us know in the Ten Ton Hammer Forums today!

Marco van Haren Brings Us Up to Date

MMO Portal has updated the site with an interview with Marco van Haren, PR and Web Content Manager for Spellborn International.

We recently had the pleasure of tossing some questions at Marco van Haren, PR and Web Content Manager for Spellborn International. Read on to learn a bit more about the completely unique world of ‘The Chronicles of SpellBorn’ and see just what truly sets it apart in a busy field of upcoming MMOs.

How many players are currently testing the game? When are you shooting for more invites to go out?

During the first phase of beta testing we had more than 800 testers in the game. We recently fired up the second phase of Beta testing, and in addition to the 800 testers from phase 1, new waves of beta invites are being sent out to fill in many additional slots.

Keep reading to learn more about the progress of Chronicles of Spellborn. Are you looking forward to playing this game? Share your thoughts with us in the forums right here at Ten Ton Hammer.

The PR Manager for Spellborn International Talks With MMORPG.com

MMORPG.com has posted an interview with Marco van Haren, PR Manager for Spellborn International.

MMORPG.com: We finally got to see the Daevi after many months; can you tell us a little bit more about them?

Marco van Haren: Daevi are the racial offspring of the Humans and the Mumia. Although they are humanoid, they spot some “demonic” body parts as a proof of their Mumia origin. All Daevi are born with an ancient mythical birth sign used by the Eight Demons to control them. Currently, only the Tempest birth sign remains. Each birth signs bestows a Daevi with specific physical features, with the Tempest birth sign giving them similar horn-like features as the long lost Thorn birth sign. Daevi also live slightly longer than humans because of their immortal heritage.

In the Spellborn world, Daevi will have a different color palette for their body then humans and they can select from different “skins textures.”

Keep reading to learn more. Are you waiting for this upcoming game? Head over to the forums here at Ten Ton Hammer and tell us what it is about this game that has you eagerly awaiting its release.

Marco van Haren fills the community in on the current status of the Spellborn International team's fantasy-themed online world

RPG Vault has posted this interview with Marco van Haren. He talks about the plans for launching in the US, where they game has come over the past year and more.

According to the official site, closed beta has begun, with development on track toward launch in the second half of this year. Given this time frame, the team has been working to raise the title's visibility. As a result, we've learned a number of important facts during the past couple of months. For instance, we can see from the available visuals that the art direction is imaginative and stylish, and it's also known that the graphics will be delivered to our monitors by the Unreal technology. In addition, we can read some intriguing things about the design philosophy, one being that a player's strength in battle is determined by the skill with which a given weapon is used, not its inherent numerical characteristics. To see how this intriguing endeavor is progressing, we checked in with team member Marco van Haren.

Head over and read the rest of the interview. Are you looking forward to playing Chronicles of Spellborn? Share your thoughts with us right here in the forums at Ten Ton Hammer.

Beta, Storyline and More...

WarCry posted a Q & A with the developers of Chronicles of Spellborn. Covered among the questions is an update aboutthe staus of beta testing...

Q: In the June Producer’s Letter http://tcos.com/news/?id=465, it said you decided to put the beta on the backburner to address some issues that came up. Could you give us some examples of the issues you ran into and what you’re doing to correct them? Do you feel that delaying the game was the right decision?

A: The first Beta phase brought to light some combat core and network related issues. None were 'game breaking,' but we decided to completely redo this code to ensure a robust platform that is ready for future enhancements. The game's combat system relies on a lag free environment, so we ensured that the base level of all systems are as optimal as possible. Of course there also was a truckload – if not two – of the usual bugs that needed to be fixed.

The delay for the game was not a result of these issues. The initially communicated release date has always been based on our initial development expectations defined at the start of the project. The six month 'delay' is a result of a more realistic estimate that we were able to make once development got well on its way.

Keep reading to learn more. Are you looking forward to playing this game? Tell us why in the forums here at Ten Ton Hammer!

You say chronicle. I say interview.
RPGVault has posted a Chronicles of Spellborn interview featuring Marketing Manager Barry Hoffman and Community Manager Corwynn Maelstrom.

" According to the official site, development is currently on track toward beta in the first half of 2006, with a target launch date in mid-year. Given this time frame, the team has begun to build the title's visibility. As a result, we've learned a number of important facts during the past couple of months. For instance, we can see from the available visuals that the art direction is both imaginative and stylish, and it's stated that the graphics will be delivered to our monitors by the Unreal technology. In addition, we can read some intriguing things about the design philosophy, one being that a player's strength in battle is determined by the skill with which a given weapon is used, not its inherent characteristics. Just recently, Marketing Manager Barry Hoffman and Community Manager Corwynn Maelstrom volunteered to tell us more. "

You can read the entire Chronicles of Spellborn Interview at RPGVault.
Other Interesting Links:

• Other Chronicles of Spellborn News

Spellborn? Story-born, more like.

Gamona poses some questions for Spellborn Community Manager "Corwynn" (apparently they're roleplayers). If you were wondering what makes Spellborn different from the gaggle of fantasy MMOs already on the market, you might find a roundabout answer here, maybe. I think it has something to do with being totally story-driven, but I'm still confused. Perplexed is my natural state, though!

Whats the difference between Spellborn and other MMORPGs?

As I said above, it's a bit complex at times to explain given our design. Our setting is very different in terms of the opportunities it gives people for play. While other games allow you to perhaps mold the course of events, we link the exploration of the past with the struggle in the present. The two combined determine the course of the future. Within Spellborn you will see differences between the various servers based upon the conduct of the players.

Read up on Spellborn via the Community Manager interview at Gamona.
(In English, however there's a German translation if you want to try out your akzent).

Other links you might enjoy:

• Past Spellborn news.

We have ways of making them talk.
MMORPG.com has posted a Chronicles of Spellborn Interview posted featuring Barry Hoffman. Dustin Hoffman claims he has no knowledge of who Barry Hoffman is, but that the following may or may not be true:

" Barry Hoffman is the head man on the recently announced MMORPG out of Europe "The Chronicles of Spellborn". This exciting project recently caught our attention, as we released the first part of this interview last week. "

You can read the entire Chronicles of Spellborn Interview at MMORPG.com.
 

You say Spellborn, I think maternity cost savings.

MMORPG.com interviews Barry Hoffman of "The Chronicles of Spellborn," one of the newest fantasy MMORPGs to join the in-development parade. What's conspicuously missing: what, besides a different backstory and no death penalty, makes Spellborn different from the other 50 quality fantasy MMOGs on the market. Hmph.

MMORPG.com: Many references have been made to "puzzles" which "unlock" doors in the game. Are you talking about puzzles along the lines of the Myst series? Could you elaborate on what we can expect of these "puzzles"?
Barry Hoffman:

Our subtitle already says it all: ‘What lies hidden must be found’. It is not so much about physical puzzles, but exploring mysteries, lore and background. Solving the riddle what has happened in the past and you will see the present world in a different manner as parts of the world get more meaning for the player. And by knowing history the player understands what to do next or gets access to new parts of the world.

We envision our world not as the biggest world to explore in miles of walking, but more in what is to be found out about the world.

There will be much interlinking in the game through time and space for both individual and groups.

See the rest of the Chronicles of Spellborn Q&A at MMORPG.com!