We spoke with Jeffrey Edwards and Derek Brinkmann from Citadel Studios about their sandbox MMORPG Legends of Aria. It turned out that the MMORPG aims to grow beyond the nostalgic Ultima Online experience.
In the conversation with Citadel Studios, we talked about the last major update for Legends of Aria as well as how the MMORPG will continue to evolve.
Mein-MMO: At the end of January, you released a comprehensive overhaul of the dungeons of Legends of Aria. How did that go?
Citadel Studios: Very well! We released a second level for all our existing Wilderness Dungeons and additionally made a graphical overhaul and redistribution of all levels. We have received great feedback on our changes and are now looking for new dungeons and monster experiences that we want to introduce in the coming months.
Mein-MMO: Will we see more dungeons in the future and can you tell us what we can expect from such new dungeons?
Citadel Studios: Our upcoming expansion The Frozen Tundra will introduce new dungeons into the world of Aria, primarily our Mythic Dungeons. We can’t go into detail at this time, but these dungeons will offer players entirely new challenges and opportunities to tackle.
LoA starts as a classic sandbox but intends to become more
Mein-MMO: Shroud of the Avatar had little success as the “spiritual successor to Ultima Online.” Have you learned anything from the release of SotA that will help you with LoA?
Citadel Studios: We have always said that only Richard Garriott can create a true spiritual successor to Ultima Online, and it is a privilege of the “creators” to take their “creation” in new and exciting directions. We are sometimes referred to as successors, but we would prefer to be seen as the younger sister of UO who is similar in the most important point but differs in every other aspect.
We have approached things a bit differently and did not intend to reinvent the wheel. Instead, we have tried to recreate this unique social sandbox gameplay that Starr Long and Richard Garriott discovered many years ago. This means knowing what can and cannot be done to create an experience that is based both on old-school sandbox games and makes use of the many advancements that games have undergone to create an MMORPG experience that is both new and “old”.
Mein-MMO: Legends of Aria is a kind of spiritual successor to Ultima Online. Are you primarily targeting UO players, or do you hope that LoA will also appeal to new MMO players?
Citadel Studios: Absolutely. One of our main goals is to become a gateway for modern MMO players to experience old-school MMORPGs again, which requires a very healthy mix of new and old gameplay experiences. We are not doing this out of a strong sense of nostalgia (although that is obviously present!), but because modern MMOs no longer make interactivity, social interaction, and virtual worlds the core of their experience. We have no interest in developing action-based quests and content that is level-based. But we intend to offer something varied to this type of player.
While our current offering in Early Access can be called a rather “classic” experience, this is mainly because LoA is still in development. Our upcoming expansion The Frozen Tundra will include a range of features that both new and old players will equally enjoy.
The Early Access version offers a new player experience
Mein-MMO: People are waiting for the early access launch on Steam, which has been delayed. What can players expect from the early access launch compared to the version they can currently purchase on your website?
Citadel Studios: The release on Steam will coincide with our expansion The Frozen Tundra, which will be a content expansion for the game.
In Aria, players can today take on roles such as bartender, adventurer, or sage, build and decorate their houses, fight in dungeons, and create countless authentic and immersive existences. We largely see this as a “classic” experience. The foundation of a true sandbox MMORPG has been at the heart of our vision. While we continue to shape and balance this experience to be the best it can be, we are moving Legends of Aria into the next stage of development.
Our upcoming expansions will fundamentally change how players can engage with Aria by introducing new and exciting systems that complement and build upon the classic Aria experience.
One of our key features is our Mythic system, which allows players to acquire and enhance artifacts, improve the user, and reveal the powers and magic of ancient schools and professions. The Mythic system provides players with the exclusive opportunity to delve into the otherworldly, divine, or dark arts, and offers a completely new advancement, a PvE challenge, and an exciting new way to customize and develop characters.
Mein-MMO: Thank you for the conversation.
