Lose yourself in the world of Ganareth

Amidst the many massively multiplayer online role-playing games in development, NP Cube’s Dark And Light (DnL) is especially notable for its size and scope. The world of DnL is certainly one of the largest and most ambitious, with the game taking place over 15,000 square miles of land (all in one continuous zone), and able to hold tens of thousands of players.

Many people will be drawn to the game by the promise of two entirely different types of gameplay, with both social activities and combat rewarded.

Not only does DnL have a large land area, comprising the two protected beginner Kingdoms plus ten more advanced Kingdoms, but each Kingdom is also filled with monsters and quests. Within the 12 Kingdoms, there are 213 cities, and countless villages. The Kingdoms themselves are broken down into smaller administrative entities; duchies, counties and baronies. Every barony has 13 fortresses, which means that several thousand players will each have the opportunity to control their own fortress. Fortunately, there will be various forms of transportation available in the game. There will be an extensive teleport system available (to places the character has already visited), plus some form of public transport system. Players will be able to use various mounts, including flying dragon shuttles and hot air balloons, while boats will link destinations over the seas.

Races, Classes and Advancement

With a choice of 12 different races, ranging from Faeries and Gnomes to Half Trolls and Braves, as well as 14 different classes, players will have a lot of scope to customize their character. Different races will be given different possible classes to play, and some races may even be limited to joining either the Dark or the Light faction. NP Cube are keen to point out, however, that Dark is not necessarily evil, as Light is not necessarily good. My one concern when it comes to available races and classes, is that the majority seems to be taken straight out of the Everquest mould, with all but two of the classes having identical names to Everquest classes. Hopefully only the names will be based on such a classical template, and NP Cube’s implementation will make them unique to DnL.

Characters in DnL advance in levels by gaining both “Social” experience and “Fighting” experience, with no level cap. As opposed to many of the existing MMORPGs out there, it will be possible to focus on non combat pursuits, and group leaders will need to make sure that their group contains both social and combat based characters, as some activities will require a mix of skills. For example, in order for a group to capture a city, they will need to bring a Noble along – a character with a high social level. But of course, the actual fighting will require players more focused on combat. Knowing what type of character will be needed for each action will separate the good group leaders from the mediocre.

NP Cube has chosen to go with a “combination”/special attack based combat system. Melee based classes will be able to combine different types of special attacks with a normal attack mode, depending on what skills they have. In the same way, ranged classes also have their own special attacks. Casters will choose their different spells depending on the situation, and their abilities will increase when they are in a group with other casters, group spells being more powerful than single ones. The two healing classes, druids and clerics, receive their powers in different ways, with clerics receiving their powers directly from their god, and druids being focused on nature. Clerics and druids are considered fighter/healer hybrids, having more in common with the fighters than with the magic casters. When not needed for healing, they will probably be seen engaging the enemy alongside the fighters.

In keeping with the PvP focus of the game, each class will be balanced by being weak to one other set of classes, for example, the Fighter classes will be weaker against magic attacks than physical attacks, and so their most feared enemy will be the Caster classes, who can attack with magic from a distance.

Details about the game’s magic system are scarce, but we do know that the skill point system means that all characters will have to pick and choose which areas to progress in. Magic users will have to choose carefully what skills to increase, as these will dictate what spells they can cast. After using skill points to select a particular skill set, characters will be able to improve their abilities by practicing their skills or fulfilling special quests. Characters will be able to further improve all their skills in a certain area by choosing to specialize in that skill line. As a specialist in a specific discipline, they will then have the ability to gain special spells through quests.

For players more interested in the social or exploration aspects of the game, there will be a variety of ways to advance. Social experience will be gained by trading, politics and the player managing their domain. There will also be social and exploration quests to reward those players who do not only participate in combat. The more social experience players gain, the higher their rank in the Nobility gets. A minimum rank will be required in order to manage the various territories, while the territories themselves will be acquired either through combat or by election.

Conquering and managing enemy territory

The game is mainly based around Player versus Player combat, and as such the developers have focused on creating a suitably balanced combat system.

Characters will be born into either the Kingdom of Dark, or the Kingdom of Light, the two opposing forces in the ongoing war. As such, they will start in the one “safe” kingdom available to their faction, with no opposing players allowed inside the safe zone. Within this area, players will have the chance to learn the basics of the game, group with other players and explore the substantial amount of Player versus Environment (or player versus monster) content available in each Kingdom, before moving out into the other kingdoms and facing the possibility of PvP combat.

The Player versus Player content is based around conquering the various Kingdoms scattered around the game world. Once players leave the “safe” beginner Kingdoms, they will be open to attack by members of the opposing faction. There will be systems in place to discourage higher-level characters from attacking much lower level ones – direct intervention by the disapproving Gods has been hinted at, as has a feature where offenders become “Wanted” and therefore fair game for headhunters. Whether these will be Non Player Character headhunters, or actual players themselves, remains to be seen. Another interesting twist is that players will want to make the most of their opportunities to prove themselves to their chosen deity, as only then will they be able to receive help from their god.

The penalty on death is scaled so that low level characters will lose no items at first, but will lose progressively more as they become higher level. Players will be able to fight all members of the opposite faction, but not members of their own faction. They will, however, be able to challenge them to duels. Players killed in PvP combat will be able to have their gold looted from their body, but no items.

Communication between Dark and Light sides will be limited. There will also be a time lock so that players with both Dark and Light characters must wait a certain amount of time before playing a character of the opposite faction, in order to prevent the passing of critical information. Some spying skills will be available for characters of an appropriate class, but no information has been released about these skills to date.

NP Cube have assured us, however, that it will be possible for players to avoid PvP completely, either by staying in the beginning safe Kingdom, or by staying out of combat zones. If players choose to do this, though, they will miss out on a large amount of game content. One whole sub game, for example, will involve the management of captured fortresses, with players able to fortify them further, and to develop the nearby village so that non-player character (NPC) tradesmen will be available for use.

For those purely interested in PvE combat, the safe Kingdom will contain a wide range of monsters at various levels, able to keep all levels occupied and challenged. The disputed Kingdoms will be arranged in a logical progression, so that characters will be able to access them as they become more skilled.

Adventuring with allies

With such a large world to play with, NP Cube have developed some fairly robust tools to enable people to find one another, or to find people in the same level range to group with. Most intriguing, however, is the power that group members will have to teleport to one another’s location. This is certain to make grouping much more efficient, and to make it much quicker for groups to get on with the important business of actually killing something!

Grouping in DnL will have many benefits, including an experience bonus for being in a group, or in a multi-group “raid”, to use Everquest terminology. Some actions, such as attacking a city, will not actually be possible solo, so you will have to group if you want to experience the full range of game play that DnL offers. Added to the extra options available for magic casters in a group, this seems to be designed to encourage players to team together throughout the game.

Making a living as a trader

Tradeskills and crafting will be a major focus in the game, with forty-two different trades available. Due to a lack of available skill points, characters will not be able to become Grandmaster in all trades, but must choose instead a few to specialize in.

The best news for crafters, however, is that monsters will not drop the best weapons or armour in the game, and that these will all be player made. NP Cube have not yet decided whether loot drops will be upgradeable through crafting, but this would seem to be a good way to make both the crafters and the fighters happy. What is known is that ingredients will need to be either looted or mined, so that the crafters will need the help of other players in order to create their wares. Resource extraction (for resources such as wood, metal and stone) will take place either from unworked seams, which will have limited resources, or from neutral mines, where larger amounts of the resource will be available.

The innovative crafting system sees items made by lower level crafters needed as components by higher-level crafters, even those of Grandmaster level. The higher level the crafter, the better the finished item will be, rewarding dedication and hard work. Grandmasters will be able to stamp their trademark on their finished product. For those who have always wished that crafting could be more of a social activity, there is good news. Grouping will be required for crafting too, if a character wants to achieve the best possible results. It seems that even grandmasters will need some sort of support from others for success at the highest levels.

But those who prefer not to spend all their time online hunting for a crafter have no need to worry. NPC merchants will sell all equipment, but buying from them will be more expensive than buying directly from the player crafters. Players will also be able to set their character to “NPC Merchant” mode in the marketplace, so that they can sell their wares while offline. There is a possibility that vendors will be allowed in player’s homes, so we may see player shopping emporiums throughout the world. Each player will be able to have one home, and characters of the same faction on one account will all use the same house, sharing storage space and leading to the easy transfer of items between a player’s different characters. More storage will be provided by the purchase of a mule, which will be able to follow the character around carrying their items for them. Whether he will be any use in a fight is not yet clear though!

Buying and selling items is obviously a big part of any MMORPG, so having some sort of centralized marketplace is a must. There will be several of them in the game, with the capital city, Al-Drifa, having what will probably become the main one. A search tool will be used to browse through the items for sale, an absolutely essential function in a game intended to have so many simultaneous players.

Story and Atmosphere

The world of DnL looks to be incredibly dynamic, with each character under the influence of one of ten constellations. Characters will receive their god’s attention when their constellation is visible in the sky, affecting both combat and crafting. The game will also feature an undersea world, although this is not scheduled to be available at launch. Eventually, players will be able to go deep sea diving. The developers are also very proud of their ambitious weather system, which will limit access to some areas depending on the season.

As far as ongoing story is concerned, DnL will have a huge advantage over other games, as the entire game is based on one server. This means that the players will truly be able to see the consequences of their actions in the unfolding storyline, unlike other games where the storyline may not correspond to the particular events on any one server. The history of the world of Ganareth has been laid out in detail, and the PvP basis of the game, along with the goal of conquering different Kingdoms, looks set to lead to an epic storyline. Game Masters will be used to organize events for the players, as well as providing in game customer support.

DnL looks very promising and, as you can see from the screenshots, will certainly be one of the best looking games on the market. While of interest mainly to players interested in Player versus Player combat, it will also attract the interest of those interested in crafting and the Kingdom management features. Dark and Light is scheduled for release in the autumn of 2004 and is currently undergoing internal beta testing. For more information please check out the game’s website at http://www.darkandlight.com