Rage War Interview with Nadejda Danabasheva

February 10, 2014 15:05 ( Interviews ) 1

 

QUESTION:  First of all, thank you for giving us the possibility to interview you about Rage War. Would you be so kind to introduce yourself to our readers?

Answer: Hello. It is a privilege for me that you invited me for this interview. Thank you very much for your interest in Rage War. My name is Nadejda Danabasheva and I am the CGO at XS Software. In the recent years at XS Software, 35 million players chose our games. I have been working at the company and creating browser games for the past 9 years. I have participated in the creation of games such as KhanWars, Lady Popular, Nemexia and of course am now working on issuing a closed beta version of Rage War.

QUESTION: How would you describe Rage War to someone who has never heard of it before?

Answer: Rage War is an adventure that lets you build the city of your dreams, ride a tiger into battle or attack you enemies in Leonardo da Vinci’s famous flying machine. The game is not historically accurate, but rather represents the past as we wish it had been. It allows you to preserve the best of the achievements of each era and, of course, to complete all the challenges we have prepared, with a smile on your face. We present our history, filled with lots of humor and unexpected plot twist. A good example is the case where Thor gets angry at you.

QUESTION: On which platforms will the game be available? Is it a cross-platform title?

Answer: Yes, our initial goal is to allow users to play using a browser and on tablets (iOS and Android). We are also planning a smart-phone version, but it will appear at least a year later. The game will be cross-platform, allowing you to play on both your mobile device and on your computer, without losing your progress. In other words, you will be able to not only play the game, but to manage your account from different places and devices and control your progress in the way that best suits your needs and gaming style.

QUESTION:  What makes Rage War to stand out in its genre? Why should a player choose to play Rage War over other similar browser games?

Answer: As year-long fans of strategy games, we have always been disappointed that developers often emphasize on particular game mechanics, but the users overall experience is not receiving the needed attention. Different strategies have different focuses, some focus on economic development, some on eye-candy and social interactions, some on a very complex and rich plot line and some on very complex and strategic battles. We wanted to supply the user with interesting game-play and high quality in every aspect. Regardless of whether you insist on having the most beautiful and well organized metropolis, you prefer to conquer new lands or simply want to prove that you can beat anyone with the most complex and cunning strategies.

QUESTION: Can you tell us something about the game's social features? What kind of player interaction can we expect to see?

Answer: Rage War is a game that you can play by yourself, but playing with friends is not only more entertaining, but is also easier. One of the mechanics that we expect to receive a lot of attention is the assistance given when visiting another player’s city. Whether the boost will be to the city’s military or economic development, depends on the player. All options that have proven themselves through the years will be in the game, such as guilds, quests common for all players, guild quests, chat and a global map on which to conquer new lands with your friends and of course, later protect from other guilds. All this enriches the game play and we hope will have a profound role in making people a part of the Rage War community. We rely on f-connect a lot and the fact that in a week we gathered over 30 000 likes, proves that social response to the information we are issuing is very positive.

QUESTION: Would you describe Rage War as a casual game or more like an hardcore game? What kind of audience are you aiming at?

Answer: If I have to label it, Rage War will be a mid-core game. In some of the game’s aspects we rely on mechanics known form casual games, such as an easy to manage and balance economic system, a campaign map that gradually gets more complex and allows you to request help from a friend, the possibility to manage the income of you city depending on your daily schedule. For hard-core players we have an exceptional battle system, of which we are very proud. Of course, you can fight in a simple battle which will not be much of a challenge, but as the gameplay progresses the battle system unveils a limitless array of battle strategies. Last but not least, we must mention the GvG aspect, which we think will appeal to more dedicated gamers. According to our plan it will become relevant after at least 8-10 months of playing, but you can always continue playing without participating in GvG and still have a lot of fun.

QUESTION: Will there be a clan system and ladders for clans and individual players to compete for?

Answer: Yes, there will be several types of rankings. Amongst them are an economic development ranking, a military ranking and a guild ranking. We are also discussing all-time winners rankings, monthly and weekly ones. We have also thought about several tournament options, but they are currently not a priority. We are by no means abandoning them as an option and the gameplay allows us to develop them relativity easily.

QUESTION: Tell us something about the lore of the game and its background story.

Answer: Rage War will not have a story. We want each player to write their own story and give their own contribution and input. Nevertheless, we have prepared some events, which will supply a sort of story at slower stages of the gameplay; some of them are dramatic, while other are quite funny.

QUESTION: Can you tell us something about the combat system? How will it work?

Answer: As I already mentioned, we are extremely proud with the battle system. Players have at their disposal a few unit types, some of them are land-based, some are machines with a large range and some are airborne. We think that the biggest advantage in our system is that each layer individually prepares their defenses, which makes the amount of combinations, of traps that can be set, limitless. The fact that the attacker is able to attacks a city from whichever side they choose, means that the defender has to defend an all sides. If we have to use familiar terminology, the defense of a city resembles a tower-defense game, while the attacker plays a gradually developing 10 wave attack, in which the battle order is critical.

QUESTION: Tell us something about the game's progression system.

Answer: The play goes through 7 ages of development: Stone age, Bronze age, Iron age, Early and Late Medival ages, Renaissance and of course Colonial age. The city’s overview and look will change when entering a new age. We have not ruled-out the possibility later add more ages, following humanity’s development. As I already mentioned, players will be able to enjoy a serious GvG aspect a few months after starting the game, when the player’s city is developed well enough and has accumulated enough assets and army to allow them to conquer new lands. A very rich quest system will guide and lead the player. Just like the rankings, quests are also diverse. There are daily quests, time-bound, plot-line associated, guild quests, individual ones according to the player’s development, etc.

QUESTION: Will there be a cash-shop? If yes, what can we expect to find inside?

Answer: We are still not sure whether to use free-to-play or premium, but our know-how is mainly in the free-to-play business model and with it we feel more secure and well prepared. We have discussed the premium store and currently we plan to sell vanity items or convenience for the players. If you don’t have enough time to play your favorite game, you can still catch-up in your progress. One of the things that we strongly emphasize on is the balance between paying and non-paying users. Our goal is for the rankings to have an equal amount of both groups in them, if not more of the non-paying players.

QUESTION: Thank you for all your answers. Would you like to add something?

Answer: When planning Rage Wars, I gathered a team of great professionals. Without them this game could have never become the game we were planning to make. Their experience and the great eagerness with which they work, combined with their attention to detail in every aspect, makes me confident that we will not disappoint our players. Each of us invests additional time, ideas and motivation in the project and I can tell you that I wouldn’t be creating this project with any other people. I would like to use your platform, to thank them for being awesome and thank you for the interest in our project. If you want to sign-up for the closed beta of Rage War, you can visit our web site at www.ragewar.com or like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ragewarxs. Our team is eagerly waiting for all and any feedback and input. We will gladly answer all questions that players have for us.

To create this game, XS Software starts a crowd-funding Kickstarter campaign to boost the game production. You can check and support the project at KICKSTARTER HERE (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/764706004/436969801?token=8db889ed )

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