Recently, Community Manager Laura Genender of mmorg.com had the chance to ask a number of questions to Jae-Hyuk Han, the Lead Game Designer for Lineage 2 and Adam Davidson, the Producer of Lineage 2 in North America and Europe.

MMORPG.com: How do you feel about Hero capabilities? Do you think they are overpowered, underpowered, or just right?

Jae-Hyuk Han: I think it is just right. Skills and weapons for Heroes are privileges that "common" people cannot have. Hero weapons will remain as one of the best features in the game in the future.

MMORPG.com: What changes between Interlude and the Chronicles - is the content different, or just the name? What will come after Interlude?

Jae-Hyuk Han: In the previous Chronicles, we focused on general MMORPG content such as PvE, PvP, castle sieges, etc. Starting with Interlude, we are considering larger scale content based on the foundation that we have made so far.

Read the full interview here.

Please join us on Wednesday, February 28, 2007, for a House of Commons with the developers of PlanetSide at 4:00 PM Pacific / 7:00 PM Eastern in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client or you can visit our new Downloads section to choose a suitable client. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:

• stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
• irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
• stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

We will be discussing the new Combat Engineering weaponry with the developers, and general chat will be in our IRC channel #planetside before, during, and after the House of Commons.!

We hope to see you there!

Mistryl has announced on the official Lineage II forum the PTS (public test server) and launch schedule for the Lineage II - The Chaotic Throne, the next exciting chapter of the Lineage II game

The first chapter of Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne , Interlude, is currently scheduled to hit the Public Test Server in March and planned for launch in April. This game update will add a challenging new area, new items, new skills, and much more! Visit the official web site for more news and information about Interlude in the coming weeks.

NCSoft is holding a contest for Lineage2 wallpapers again, submissions open February 21 - March 14, 2007.

The Lineage II Wallpaper Contest is back! Design a beautiful or eye-catching desktop wallpaper to be featured on the official Lineage® II site for your chance to win some great prizes. This is your chance to win rare, unique jewelry specially created for Lineage® II players worldwide, so send us your best creation!

You can use the following to create your own unique wallpaper:

• Logos and images from the official Lineage® II web site and fan site kit
• In-game images that you capture yourself
• Your own original work

The first prize includes for instance the Tateossian necklace set:

More detailed information here.

One of our reporters, The Traveler, recently had the opportunity to chat with Dan Bojanowski, the WoW TCG Product Manager regarding the WoW TCG.

Stratics: When Through The Dark Portal is released will we see the Heroes of Azeroth sets removed from store shelves?
DB – Heroes of Azeroth is a base set for the WOW TCG and has many staple cards with recognizable in-game spells and characters. We want this product to be available to new players that begin playing the WOW TCG anytime within the first year. Also, for certain types of tournaments, Heroes of Azeroth booster packs will be used in addition to Through the Dark Portal booster packs.
As such, we have printed what we feel is an appropriate amount of product to remain on retail shelves well beyond the release of Through the Dark Portal.

Stratics: At the sneak preview events for The Dark Portal on March 31st and April 1st will players be able to acquire starters and boosters?
DB– Yes, in limited quantities. Anyone that enters these Sneak Preview tournaments will be given some booster packs which they will use to construct their deck. There will be extra booster packs awarded to top finishers for these tournaments. Additionally, special prizes will be available which may include promo cards, deck tins, play mats and t-shirts (prizes still being finalized). If you can’t make it to a Sneak Preview tournament, be sure to look for Release Celebration tournaments on April 14-15 for more chances to win exclusive prizes.

Stratics: Will there be a sneak preview event for Molten Core raid deck as well?
DB – No, Sneak Previews in general are only done for booster/starter launches.

Stratics: For the Onyxia Raid deck, will you make ever make the hero cards smaller or just large ones? This also applies to the upcoming Molton Core Raid deck which will be released in 2007.
DB– Yes, we do plan on printing all three copies of the Onyxia hero card in normal card size. They will likely be available through the UDE Points Store. The same will probably be true for Molten Core Raid Deck.

Stratics: When Heroes of Azeroth hit store shelves it sold out pretty quick. Will there be more sets of Through The Dark Portal made available at release time than there were for Heroes of Azeroth?
DB – In short, yes. When we printed Heroes of Azeroth the first time, it was based on pre-orders and estimated demand. As you noted, it sold out very quickly. We were super excited about this, and immediately went back on press and got more Heroes of Azeroth on store shelves by early December. For Through the Dark Portal, we will print what we feel is an appropriate amount, based on pre-orders and our knowledge of the market. Now that retailers and distributors have seen the customer’s response to WOW TCG, the supply should become more in line with the demand.

Stratics: Are there plans to release pre-constructed decks for game play?
DB – Every starter decks come with a 33-card preconstructed deck. While this is not a big enough deck to take to a sanctioned tournament, it provides players with a basis for building a solid deck. In the Heroes of Azeroth starters, there were nine different pre-constructed decks (one for each of the classes). There will be nine NEW pre-constructed decks in the Through the Dark Portal starters.

Stratics: Are there plans to release clothing featuring artwork from the cards?
DB – We will not be doing a full line of clothing, but we will create t-shirts with card art that will be used as prizes through our Organized Play programs.

Stratics: Do you know of any new items that will be added for in-game rewards?
DB – Yes, lots.

Stratics: Any chance we will see codes made available as loot in World of Warcraft that can be exchanged for card products?
DB – Hmm… interesting. There are no plans for anything like this right now.

Stratics: What's your favorite card and why?
DB – Rise to the Challenge – While this is not the most competitive of cards, it is definitely very flavorful and fun. In the MMO, there is such satisfaction when you level up. I feel that this card does a fantastic job of bringing that feeling to the TCG. It takes a LONG time to pull it off, but when you do, the rewards are great!

 

This is also permanently located here, as well as on our left side menu under INTERVIEWS.  

Please join us on Wednesday, February 21, 2007, for a House of Commons with the developers of EverQuest at 5:00 PM Pacific / 8:00 PM Eastern in the #StraticsHoC channel onStratics IRC.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client or you can visit our new Downloads section to choose a suitable client. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:

• stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
• irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
• stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

We will be discussing general topics with the developers, and general chat will be in our IRC channel #everquest before, during, and after the House of Commons.!

We hope to see you there!

Bred and Niar has made us this special Valentines Comic Strip named "Love Love Potion", will Bred finally find love? Check out the Lineage 2 Valentines comic here. Below is a teaser

Imagine the Caribbean in the early 1700s, when man was intent upon staking their claim upon all things the eye could see... including other men. And many men felt they should be the ones doing the conquering! A time when pirates and countries both desired to rule the open seas of the world, trying to make their mark on the lands and conquer all in their paths.

You can make a stand, whether it be as a soldier in the Royal Navy, a privateer, a merchant, or a pirate - the choice is yours to make. But !
be certain of your career, for you may very well catch the ire of others who most assuredly oppose you!

Pirates of the Burning Sea is brought to you by Flying Labs Software, creators of Rails Across America and Delta Green are bringing to us in June 2007 Pirates of the Burning Sea, a game, to quote the devs, "With pirates".

With that being said, we welcome you to Pirates of the Burning Sea Stratics. To celebrate the opening of the portal, we give you SIX Exclusive Screenshots brought to use by Aether at FlyingLabs.

A port of call	Storms at sea
A port at night	Meeting at night
Storms at sea	A wrecked ship on the beach

We look forward to meeting you both in our community here, and on the high seas! Aargh, matey!

To celebrate Valentines Day Bred&Niar has given us these two special Valentines comic strips, one featured below, check them both out here.

Bred and Niar's comics join Stratics. Their comics and mini comics can be found on the left side menu or click the direct link below. The mini comics are a continuation of the Bred and Niar comic series spanning a prologue and 3 chapters:

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Udari's Mini Comic

Below is a little teaser of the comic, enjoy

Our Ask the WoW Developers Q&A has started back up again. You can submit your question here (one question per person please).

All questions need to be in by February 15^th, we will take the top ten questions and forward them onto Blizzard. Make sure you check back on February 25^th to see if your question was answered by Blizzard!

We are hoping to make this a monthly event so make sure you keep checking back!

Thank you!

Scions of Fate is entering into their next Closed Beta stage, and you have a chance to secure your very own beta key! That's right... you can participate in the closed beta stages. MGame and Stratics have teamed up to offer you the chance to request a beta key for the third and final phase!

MGame recently brought us Legend of Ares and Hero. Now they bring Scions of Fate to join in their fantastic lineup of titles.

If you don't know of Scions of Fate, you're definitely missing out:

In China, Taiwan, and Thailand, Scions of Fate has received many ovations and has now become a community that has members all throughout the countries. While bringing the joy of martial arts and garnering more fame in Asia has been a goal of Scions of Fate since the beginning, it is now time for the whole world to experience the world of Scions of Fate.

So join the millions of others who are enjoying the fun and entertaining world of Scions of Fate. Request your key today!

Lineage II - Oath of Blood has won the Stratics Editor's choice for 2006 "Expansion of the year" , congratulations to the team at NCSoft for bringing us this great expansion.

Lineage II was also the runner up in the "Game of the Year" Category.