INTERVIEW WITH WARCRY ONLINE GAME MAGAZINE

In a recent interview with Larry Dunlap, game designer, he goes into depth about Imperial Wars, what category its in and how the game is constructed.

WarCry: Imperial Wars bills itself as unique style of online game. Would you give us a quick description of it before we start?

Larry: While Imperial Wars can be considered one of the 'persistent world' games, it's very different from in the online game universe, it defines its own category of games: EPMG (Episodic Metagame) (Wikipedia).

Imperial Wars is a mix of several game styles combined into in online game experience. It includes elements of strategy, empire-building, and role-playing diplomacy set in the ruins of an ancient stellar civilization and its played in a persistent environment that lasts through the several weeks of a single game. That’s kind of a mouthful so it has helped define a genre of game, EPMG, or Episodic Metagame. Episodic because each episode ends with the completion of simultaneous action during the move phase and synchronizes all the players into the next episode during game play. Metagame because so much of the game is in the roleplaying and communication action that takes place. It is often the main determination why star fleets are moving and epic armada battles through star systems are fought. This communication and diplomatic gameplay is almost required to do well in the game because of the competitive dynamic, specific to this game. Players need each other to do well just by the way the characters are defined. So while you are competing for the best score with everyone in the game you will also need to identify those characters, who by definition or placement or personality can work well with you to enhance both your chances. Declarations of Enemy and Ally status are all-important in creating short or long term relationships with the other players in the game. It is a big game with 350 systems and 16 players in each universe. You will get to know each other's avatars very well.

The strategy aspect follows naturally as each Starlord begins with control of an industrially rich Homeworld with a straight forward world/empire economy and 5 star fleets waiting only for shipbuilding and a command to begin exploration, the most important first dynamic. The roleplaying begins with a choice of a Character Type from 7 science fiction archetypes – Baron, Raider, Terminator, Philosopher, Trader, Warlord, or the chameleon Houri. While actually roleplaying a character is not required, each player gets points unique to their character’s attributes and to maximize their points they need to negotiate relationships with other Starlords, which requires offering services that enhance both parties. Roleplaying, as the leader or “voice” of a civilization, is one of the most effective ways to entice another Starlord to support a relationship. So while competing with one another for points throughout the game, all parties to these alliances also need each other and that brings its own creative tension throughout the gameplay. While conflict is rampant in any competitive game, conflict solved by simple combat is rarely the best answer here. Players who battle too much will consume needed resources, make their neighbors uncomfortable and eventually find themselves weakened targets. As these dynamics make points for players, the game evolves through a beginning exploration phase into a middle game of building and solidifying relationships and star systems followed by the final and often cataclysmic rush to an endgame. The political intrigue heats up as players jostle for position, join alliances or leave them to jump out from the pack. Mixed into the play are ancient artifacts with various values and powers and several kinds of worlds that affect how the game evolves.

WarCry: I'm still a bit confused here. Can you please define the term "Persistent world"?

Larry: Webster’s dictionary defines persistent as “existing for a long or longer than usual time or continuously”. Recently on a game industry panel that I was on, several online publishers agreed that the definition for a persistent world was a game space where things changed whether the player was there or not. I would also add to this specific use of the term persistence, the quality of constant or persistent communication between players throughout the game. So I propose that there are “infinitely” persistent worlds and “finitely” persistent worlds. We fall into this latter branch.

We are episode-based rather than a game where time flows continually. There haven't been many successful strategic games with a similar play style despite the fact that this game mechanic plays more strongly to the strengths of the Internet. Without going into great detail I believe that by closely integrating web communication into our graphical game engine and automating nearly every facet of the game we have maximized the episodic play cycle in this style of game. It was a conscious decision to allow episode length be determined by the players in what we call the Metagame, building to mini-conclusions at the end of each episode.

All multiplayer games have a “Metagame” aspect to them. It is the very specific sense of community that surrounds game play. In Saturday night poker, it is bluffing, hanging with your buddies and table talk. In Monopoly it is the ”local” rules and deals that go way beyond the rules but are agreed upon by the players. In pickup sports it’s the interpretation of the rules to fit the situation like say, “the driveway is out of bounds.” We have made every effort to bring this sense of open play inside the game structure with almost no limit to how the rules can be interpreted.