board.tera.gameforge.com/wcf/index.php?attachment/5602/
JeuxOnLine – Interview with Daynos de Nory and the editorial team
[LEFT]
- How long has JoL TERA existed? What gave you the idea to create this fansite?
Daynos: I really am a veteran of JeuxOnLine but 10 years before that I rejoined JoL’s Baldur’s Gate II fansite and then those for Neverwinter Nights and Lineage II. It was over a year ago that I heard about TERA – doesn’t time fly? Even from the first images and videos I knew that TERA was going to be huge and it seemed right to give it its own section without delay. The JoL TERA section was created on the 22nd of October 2009.
Gectou4: I had planned on opening the section with Crowzer, but Daynos was well ahead of me. I therefore decided to join the team as quickly as possible.
Daynos: In the end I hired both of them! I needed a graphical artist as well as a PHP/HTML programmer to launch this section of the site.
Gectou4: What gave me the idea? Even from the early days and the first glimpses of TERA I knew that this game would take even more of my attention than Aion. In terms of game design, TERA seemed very innovative and, also considering the attention to detail, I knew TERA was bound to be a success. Its success on our side depends a lot on Frogster and we’ve invested a lot of hope in them.
- What can visitors expect to find at JoL TERA?
Daynos: We’re still bound to our NDA, so at the moment we just rely on any official information on the game we come across, e.g. texts, images, trailers.
Mintia: We try to be as quick as possible in uploading the latest TERA information to our site and everything we post is first translated into French.
Gectou4: JoL specialises in MMOs and takes an interest in information which other less specialised websites ignore or deem useless. We also include guides and articles on the game itself and its content.
Mintia: Interviews too!
Daynos: Besides the site itself, the section also includes a number of forums for the community…
Gectou4: …to share ideas, to create things, to give advice, and to bring breaking TERA news to our members.
- How did you first come to hear about TERA?
Gectou4: By keeping up-to-date with Korean MMOs and the developers of Lineage.
Mintia: I came across it through researching into new MMOs still in development. I just happened upon some TERA screenshots and I immediately fell for its charm.
Daynos: If I remember correctly, someone in my guild’s forum had posted some information about ‘Project S1’.
- How old are you and what do you do alongside working on JoL TERA?
Daynos: I’m 33 and I work on integrating multimedia aspects into websites. Apart from that, I’m a member of an MMO association which participates in, as well as organises, LAN parties, live action role-playing gaming sessions, and ‘Troll Balls’ etc..
Mintia: I’m 21 and am currently studying IT.
- Why do you call yourself Daynos? Is there a story behind it?
Daynos: Ooh…That takes me back to 1993….Originally, Daynos was one of the main characters in a script I’d started to write. He was a strange person who constantly flitted between darkness and light – so the name consists of the English word, ‘day’, and the Breton word for night, ‘noz’. Daynoz soon became Daynos since it sounded better. As for the rest of the story, I’d need to write a whole book! Which I have started, by the way…
Mintia: Mintia is my username at JoL and everyone knows me by this name. I normally choose the username, Sphax, out of habit, but when I tried to register for JeuxOnLine I found out it was already in use. So I chose the first username that jumped into my head, Mintia, which is also the name of my main character in WoW.
- What MMOs have you played before or do you still play actively?
Daynos: The first games I played were Diablo II, Baldur’s Gate II, and Neverwinter Nights. My first true MMO was Lineage II, which I had played since the Taiwanese and US open betas. I stopped playing Lineage II last week after six years. I quickly moved on to testing some F2Ps like Atlantica and Silk Road and tried some closed betas such as Dark Age of Camelot, The Chronicles of Spellborn, and Warhammer Online. And recently, Focus Groups 1 and 2 of TERA!
Mintia: I used to play WoW a lot but quit since it had become too ‘casual’ for my tastes. I’m now getting some rest before diving headfirst into TERA.
What do you expect from Frogster in the near future? What could they do to make you happy as an active community member?
Gectou4: I’m hoping for a new style of MMO management. Lots of player feedback is neglected in MMOs and certain MMOs have been mismanaged into the ground. So how do you manage an MMO in an innovative way? Ideas are not lacking – good ones and bad ones alike – but I just hope Frogster can tell them apart. Finally, more proactive participation from GMs in-game, in a way which would enrich the game and add depth.
Mintia: I hope Frogster will build a fun team which will bring a lot to the community through events and that the service they provide will be second to none.
Daynos: Nothing would please me more than a team which doesn’t tolerate cheating becoming the norm in-game. In terms of the community, I think we’re just hoping for a frank discussion of the game. All too often in promotional campaigns we see mountains being made out of molehills – and even downright lies – which, at the end of the day, only damage the game’s image in the wider community.
- What do you think of the stereotype that online games are designed solely with antisocial nerds in mind?
Daynos: Being an antisocial nerd myself, I’m totally behind it! Keep it up!
Gectou4: What? Even in this new era of casual gaming!?
Mintia: Computer games have always been perceived negatively to some extent. Even if this perception is changing due to the arrival of casual games, online computer games still have a bad image. I think their addictive nature in particular gives them a bad name and these sorts of games mostly attract hard-core gamers, which only adds to their image problem. However, I know that the developers are doing all they can to make sure their games are played by casual as well as hard-core gamers.
- Describe yourself for us – only using adjectives
Gectou4: Passionate, cunning, versatile, fair, tough.
Mintia: Timid, curious, persevering.
Daynos: Old, powerful, hairy, fat, grumpy.
- What would your main character’s race and class be?
Gectou4: Castanic, a race which seems new and mysterious – it makes me think of a Dark Elf from Lineage. As for a class, my first choice would be Warrior, next would be Sorcerer or Archer, mainly due to the targeting system. I like all the classes. I’m going to give them all a try.
Mintia: Castanic Warrior
Daynos: Amani Berserker or Baraka Sorcerer...or perhaps an Elven Lancer ? Mm. I still haven’t decided yet…
- What do you like about MMOs? PvP, PvE, raids, crafting, chatting etc.?
Gectou4: Friendly and dependable players you can join up with and who you can easily find again. Players you can do everything with, like PvP, PvE, raids, crafting, chatting, challenges, quests, and other things.
Mintia: What I like most in MMOs are raids. I like the leveling phase and the learning curve that comes with them. And when I’ve got a bit of time on my hands I wouldn’t turn my nose up at a bit of PvP either ^^.
Daynos: In Lineage II I had the reputation of being the richest and best equipped casual gamer there was thanks to my penchant for trading. I acted as a walking bank and store cupboard for my guild. There’s a chance that I may reprise this role in TERA. High-end content and competition with other players doesn’t interest me much since I know from the outset that I don’t have enough time.
- Complete the sentence: “I want to play TERA because...”
Gectou4: I’m expecting to really like it and I’m sure I won’t regret investing my time in it!
Daynos: I just want to. It’s as simple as that!
Mintia: For me, this MMO offers the most possibilities in terms of gameplay, the in-game world, and the community.
- What would you like to do in the future?
Gectou4: It’s a bit of a vague question. As a job or in-game? As a job I’d like to be involved with keeping players happy in the game they’re playing. I’d make sure they really enjoy themselves!
Mintia: Start working on the conception of computer games, MMOs in particular, and work on graphics engines.
Daynos: Go travelling a bit more in the real world. As pretty as some virtual worlds may be, they’re no substitute for the real thing!
- What makes the TERA community stand out from the rest?
Gectou4: The common ground it has with the developers of TERA – they’re essentially old Lineage players.
Mintia: In my opinion, the TERA community is very orientated around PvP and has a lot of expectations for this feature. They’re also very impatient for TERA’s release.
Daynos: Personally, I’m of the impression that the people who are following TERA are people who are on the search for a new MMO. These are people who are tired of or disappointed with their ‘old game’ and are keeping their eyes peeled for new releases. So I think the community of today doesn’t quite reflect what it will be in a couple of years. It’ll undergo certain changes before it stabilizes.
- What do you hope to see in TERA (such as features etc.)?
Gectou4: Rich and versatile game content, a rich and pleasant community which keeps its promises, which stands out from the crowd and has longevity.
Mintia: Extremely hard end-game raids which you can turn into great guild competitions the likes of which we saw in Wow before the Burning Crusade expansion. An immersive environment which plunges me straight into the intriguing story of TERA and makes me feel like I’m in a completely new world. Finally, I’d like to see a system allowing interface customization with the help of add-ons.
Daynos: A game which I can play a little of one day, and then all day in another sitting! But definitely a game which favours intelligence and mastery of your character over level and equipment.
- Any closing remarks?
Gectou4: Hmm…Good luck Frogster! I hope the community has enough patience!
Mintia: I’ll leave the last word to Daynos.
Daynos: The end already? For me it’s hardly the beginning…In any case, thanks Frogster for having spoken to us, good luck for the future, and see you soon in-game or in the forums!
- Link: TERA Jeuxonline
[/LEFT]
