The sandbox MMORPG Legends of Aria (LoA) will soon launch on Steam after several delays. We took this opportunity to speak with the developers.
What is Legends of Aria? It is a sandbox MMORPG, heavily inspired by the classic Ultima Online.
- You can forge your own path in the vast fantasy world of Celador
- It’s not just about exploring dungeons and defeating monsters; you can also become a merchant or crafter and participate in the player-driven economy
- Team play is important. Together, you influence how the world evolves
- You improve your hero through skills
Many new features for a good start
When will the game be released? After the Steam release was postponed multiple times, the developers now stated that the release will take place on August 6.
What is the cost of the game? Legends of Aria is currently priced at $29.99. Starting from August 6, you can join through Steam.
What’s new? The Citadel Studios have taken the time to consider the feedback from previous testers. This has led to some new features and changes to the game. Overall, Legends of Aria is intended to become more accessible for newcomers, as this was previously difficult due to the rather harsh PvP rules. The changes include:
- The Bard skills: Bards have useful buffs and abilities
- You will be better introduced to the profession system to make it easier to transition from beginner to grandmaster
- A new system for enchanting weapons and armor that expands crafting with unique ingredients. This allows you to obtain more high-end items
- The PvP system is changing to avoid ganking and griefing (that is, the constant attacking of weaker players). PvP will now be more consensual
- A new server where players can start fresh
- An optional premium subscription with bonuses
- A ton of new cosmetic options in the in-game store
- Many improvements to “Quality of Life” features, functionality extensions, and more!
Interview with the developers
We spoke with Derek Brinkmann, founder of Citadel Studios about the launch of Legends of Aria on Steam.
MeinMMO: With the new update, you want to tackle the issue of ganking in LoA. For many (especially fans of Ultima Online), open PvP is a very important feature. How do you combat ganking and griefing without upsetting PvP fans?
Derek Brinkmann: In an open PvP environment that supports both PvE and PvP, a status quo quickly establishes itself. If this is not finely tuned, it can frequently lead to an imbalance in player participation in different areas as well as in confronting content, and ultimately in the long-term success of a virtual world.
The changes we are making will adapt our rules to what our players do week after week. However, we absolutely want to improve the opportunity for players to participate in our new and future content in Celador. This means that we have significantly expanded the size and content of our safe zones.
What we have done with this release is place the majority of the “mid” to endgame items in the protected areas of the world while ensuring that high material, gold, and skill resources can still be obtained in the unrestricted PvP area.
This gives players who want to play relatively safely access to most of the game’s content. Nevertheless, we still have appropriate rewards for players who want to take the risk of adventure in unrestricted areas.
This new approach to the rules of Legends of Aria also benefits PvP players. No more teleportation restrictions for evil players, and they are no longer banned from cities and communities. We offer various consensual PvP options that allow for unrestricted PvP combat anywhere in the game (alliances and guild wars).
By reducing the wilderness area to the “Barren Lands” (which is still a huge area), open PvP fights become more concentrated, and it will be easier to find battles.
The “Awakening Spawns” remain fiercely contested events with great rewards and will be expanded. In this update, we are launching a new Awakening encounter in the cult city Ruins of the Artificer, which is a great place for a “King of the Hill” experience.
MeinMMO: There will now be a “guided player experience.” Many players don’t like to be “hand-held.” How will players be guided through the game without being overly guided?
Derek Brinkmann: Character creation in Legends of Aria consists of creating templates. This is a collection of one or more skills that represent a powerful combination of our abilities to create unique and exciting characters.
This was not obvious for new players in Legends of Aria. That’s why we developed the profession system, which provides players with a companion mechanic that creates achievements and quest-like goals to teach players the mechanics and guide them in the right direction on their way to grandmaster.
Each profession offers a sort of epic quest consisting of five parts, which players can unlock as they develop their skills. The first one aims to teach new players the basics they need to practice that profession. The remaining tasks present players with increasingly greater challenges and offer them a small bonus content on their path to grandmaster, leading to the final and most difficult task.
These tasks do not require much time. Most of the time, they involve things that experienced players are already working on. However, new and inexperienced players will see this as a great learning tool when working to master their professions. Experienced players should have no problem finishing them quickly and reaping the rewards.
MeinMMO: When the game launches, will it still be in early access? And if so, how long do you plan to stay in this phase?
Derek Brinkmann: We have come a long way since we conducted our first alpha test in 2017. The world is ten times larger, there are countless new systems, places to explore, and items to acquire.
However, there are still two areas in the world that we have not unlocked yet, and there are some professions we still need to add before we can consider the vision for the game complete. We also plan to spend a lot of time moving forward on bug fixes and optimization before launch.
Once this version is released, we will focus fully on completing those last areas and professions to finally realize the full vision for Legends of Aria and remove it from early access. We do not have a specific timeline for this, but we expect it to happen around this time next year.
MeinMMO: LoA is a sandbox, but MMORPG fans are also looking for a “theme park” experience and are searching for the next big theme park MMORPG. What can these players find in LoA? Will it be a game for them? Do you plan to introduce stories and quests as well?
Derek Brinkmann: We do not believe for a second that any fan of theme park MMOs cannot enjoy an open sandbox MMORPG experience.
It is true that Legends of Aria does not offer the “theme park on rails” experience that other MMORPGs provide. Typically, these are games that offer a fixed path with quests, experiences, and levels, where you continually acquire better gear.
This does not mean, however, that we are averse to content, a sense of progression, or guided experiences; quite the contrary, we have been working on these things leading up to the Steam launch. However, we will always insist on player freedom, allowing for as many options and paths as possible for each player, and ensuring that every activity plays a role in the larger picture.
In Legends of Aria, it’s not about reaching the endgame as quickly as possible. It’s a virtual world that we are constantly improving and expanding. In this game, anyone can play for five minutes or five hours in a session, having unlimited opportunities to have fun with friends.
Someone might love the quests and dungeon runs in a game like WoW or Final Fantasy, but we definitely believe there is room for a game like ours. We believe that many players who are done with such a “grind” could find a new home in Celador.
MeinMMO: Thank you for the conversation.
